Monday, December 31, 2007

Thanksgiving for 2007

~Silence Sand

Thanks God for all He had done in 2007, as i am trying to recall this whole year events..

In the First half of 2007, Everything was fine, did not have any major up or down in life, life is still same old same old kind of things.

As most of u should know my birthday is in Aug, for past few yrs, before my BD i will ask God to fill my birthday with interesting things. This year BD wish turn up to be a sad story regarding my brother's case, but Thank God that it is sunlight after the rain.

From Aug until now, there are times of doubts, and struggle in my spiritual walk, as everything seems to be uncertain and fear of security had rooted in me. But I knows that God is there, I should not let go on my trust in Him. As I seek God n trust in Him, and draw strength from Him, and also thank him for whatever He had done in my life, things started to change slowly. And also thank Him for small little thing that He had favored for me like, as u know i m driving a van, finding a carpark lot at Geylang area was terrible, after going 2 rounds at the same place, but God is good, He blessed me 2 lots so that I dun need to perform parallel parking for the van, i never done it before, it will be a great challenge.

First of all, thank God for my brother salvation in Sept 2007 and secondly is my mum salvation on 23 Dec07, during Chinese Xmas drama. In the beginning of the year, I prayed and fast for my family salvation, and God answered my prayers. I believe alot of us really wanted to see our love ones to get to know Christ, please continue to pray and it will go to past.

For my mum, she had been following me to chinese service with my bro for the past 3mth or so, during the Xmas Chinese event, i asked a chinese SP to SALT my mum, I am surprised when she agreed to go forward to accept Christ as Lord. The last time, abt a mth or so, i asked her before, and she was very determined that until my brother's case is over, then she will talk about this, she will just said that it is not the right timing. But I Thank God that my mum has changed. After the service I asked her, does she knows by saying the Salvation prayer what does it meant and where is God? She told me, God is with her(PTL). And usually when she go to work, she will go to chinese altar to pray, but for the past few weeks, she did not go n pray anymore, praise God.

I am even more encourage when Laura told me that in the beginning of the year when she is praying for me, God had already planned for my family salvation.

I strongly believe that this new year 2008, will be a year fulfilment and I really looking forward to this new yr.

Let's us contiune to ASK (ASK, SEEK and KNOCK) God for His direction and plan in our life in 2008.

Blessed New Year 2008!!

師奶殺手:

On behalf of web master and YS653, I would like to wish everyone a very Blessed New Year 2008!

May we advance together to this new year and harvest for God!

Jesus Christ (once again)

~lola
hi guys
i luv this song as it talks about what Christ has done for our lives - the biggest sacrifice He made for us all...that which we never fully deserved.
As we end the year 2007, the best gift of thanksgiving we can offer Him is our hearts totally surrendered to Him for the year 2008.

I really hope all of us will be blessed by this song as we meditate on the words.... :)




Jesus Christ, I think upon Your sacrifice
You became nothing poured out to death
Many times I’ve wondered
At Your gift of life
And I’m in that place once again
I’m in that place once again

And once again I look upon
The cross where You died
I’m humbled by Your mercy
And I’m broken inside
Once again I thank You
Once again I pour out my life

Now You are exalted to the highest place
King of the heavens, where one day I’ll bow
But for now, I marvel at this saving grace
And I’m full of praise once again
I’m full of praise once again

Thank You for the cross
Thank You for the cross
Thank You for the cross, my Friend

Hosanna - Hillsong Live (Saviour King)

Have been singing this worship song in church for the past couple of weeks. Have begun to enjoy the song, especially after Tin taught me how to play a pattern on the drums for this song ;)
luv the bridge!

~lola

Friday, December 28, 2007

Still

I love this song ...

StillWords and Music by Reuben Morgan

Hide me now

Under your wings

Cover me within your mighty hand

When the oceans rise and thunders roar

I will soar with you above the storm

Father you are king over the flood

I will be still and know you are God

Find rest my soul

In Christ alone

Know his power

In quietness and trust

SuperG

It's me after a five hour KTVing session

you can never get tired of singing...

anyway just to share the good news that Lawrence has just been transferred to a normal ward and docs and nurses said that his recovery is very fast! Praise God! and thanks to all who have been praying and visited him.

SuperG

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Qian Bian Wen Ta Ti part 2

Question contributed by Leann:

Which one is noiser? Kopi or bread?



Superman (I just changed my car theme)

Monday, December 24, 2007

Merry Christmas to Y653 Family

Dearest all,
A Very Merry Christmas to all of you.
I feel really blessed to be in this cell, I've never felt more at home. Thank you for always caring about one another, showing concern to one another (inc. me)...it's really a display of affection and love for our brothers and sisters.
Though I've not been active in cell this year, I never felt left out because you always update and include me in all your activities.
Let's continue to make our cell a loving place for everyone, we'll multiply and harvest in abundance.
Happy Holidays with Love,
Candid Mama

Monday, December 17, 2007

Thank you for praying

Dear all,

I reached home at around 145am. Just bathed. If there is a chance, I would be checking out the blog and here I am... I just want to extend my thanks to those who have been praying for my buddy's husband, Lawrence, who is warded at Changi in critical condition. I really thank God for protecting his life. He has since regained consciousness, and condition has been improving. His lungs is the critical part now. Please continue to pray that God will heal his lungs and him and also for God's love to be shown.

I came back and searched for the news and there it was, on the second page of straits times. My mum really comforted me and what she said made a lot of sense. She said that in times like this, we must keep thinking that he has recovered since God spared his life and must have the peace within our hearts that God is in control no matter what. (ting tian you ming) My buddy must also be strong and fill herself with positive thots as she needs to be a good support and as frens, we have to keep filling her with hope.

I am also very touched by your messages of assurance of prayer especially from Julia who offered to visit Lawrence on my behalf.

I would also be praying for you all.. take care...

Mushroom

Sunday, December 16, 2007

hmmm....okie i hope this works eh....

dearest peeps, I MISS Y'ALL SO SO SO MUCH...... been so out of action, i am actually happy for the two weeks i am having tat i can stay in SG :) might have to fly immediately after christmas, but crossing my fingers :)

havent realli felt the impetus to post mainly cos i am a little out of tuned with wat's going on in your lives - hence also dun realli know wat to say, and many a times back in the hotel room at night, i am up to my neck clearing emails and work, and when i am back in SG, i am usually so tired, i spend a lot of time sleeping :(. Work has also been tough, with some politics and all, which is just so tiring and irritating....... To be honest, its been very diff trying to keep up at my spiritual walk,...its kinda like i knoe tat God is Lord of my life, but slowly i had begun to lose the feeling of being in love with him in my heart. It was more like i was in love with God only in my mind.....

Just a few days ago, my vision became quite blurred, immediately went to TTSH, doc said due to length of time i had been wearing contacts (11 years +) the surface of my eye became dry and uneven, leading to blurred vision. And with adequate rest and all, within 1-2 mths, the eye surface should regenerate itself with medication. I just wanna thank God for his early warning. Took some leave and all......

But more so, having some time out of all this busyness and hectic schedule, I began to force myself to start just spending time with God. I was very blessed by Lola's song when i was just reading through the blog. God has placed new friends, many non-christians and backslided christians in my life even during this time. Other old friends have become even more entrenched in their other religions, they are more and more convinced about their faith in Buddhism etc......However, some come to me and ask me to pray for them in crisis, like when they are out of job and all, and my prayer is tat God can somehow just change my heart to be back in love with him (heart-wise), so that i dun waste the opportunity that he has given me to somehow be of blessing to them.

I dunno how to as well, cos some of them have very alternative lifestyles, and i have never been one to disassociate myself from because of the things they do, but more of a passive sorta sister-in-christ. however, i feel that perhaps i could just do more, be more vocal about this God, be more excited about him, be more full of his joy that somehow something is different.......

Hoping that at least for this Christmas, a couple of my oikos will come.....will see ya'll at Christmas :)

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Before I fly ...

Hello everyone,

I would be flying off for Hongkong in two hours time, decided not to sleep in case I cannot wake up. After Hongkong, I would return to Singapore for 1 day and then fly off to Bangkok again. If not for the family bkk trip, I would not have opted to go as I really miss the time to just relax in Singapore and walk the local streets without a care in the world until I feel like going back to work. But it is already a blessing to be able to go on a holiday! Please pray for safety and a fruitful trip..

I also would like to praise the person behind the new outlook of the blog. It is so in tune with Christmas with the snow falling and I really like the photo gallery idea except for one pic whereby I was wearing this orange t-shirt and all the gals look so tired.

I am all for the christmas lunch and looking forward to 29 dec... Lets play Zhong Ji Mi Ma for the gift exchange? Do you like the idea?

As for the prawn fishing, I did a crazy thing. I went to get my own rod! Ha ha ... I have already successfully pestered my best buddy to join me for prawning when I come back kekekeke ... yeah guess I am a outdoorsy person at heart..

Okie signing off le, rem to pray for me and for yourself!!!! I heard quite a lot of badnews recently. Remember to pray for divine protection k! Take care and miss you... and also those who are active and strong, look out for those who are busy like Julia, Aileen.. and also those who cannot make it for cell like Aaron (I still rem he once fessed up in cell that he would like very much to come back to God... his testimonies by his Sunday school kids really make me feel like encouraging everyone to encourage him even if he is in China) and also Michelle (who also might be busy and not able to be as regular)... candy mama, at least I know you are a happy mama now and that is realli cool! Hope to see u real soon k :) Okie I sound a bit naggy le ... going to sign off... I really love this cell group.. you guys are great... Oh yes not forgetting Christine, my lovable SP... whom I just couldnt manage to meet up for NB... :( May God bless you with the best job for ya!

Byeeeeeeeee wave wave

Mushroom

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Caught SEA games anyone?

~Lola

Stayed at home for dinner after discomfort in my stomach since afternoon....and had a chance to catch our own homegrown Singaporean swimmers swim in the Sea Games....

It's funny how I never thought I could actually feel proud of being a Singaporean just by watching these athletes compete for the nation on TV, but I must say it was a refreshing emotion...

When 2 of our female swimmers, one of whom was homegrown and wasn't really expected to win, stood on the Gold 'stand' with the Singapore anthem playing behind, it was a proud moment for them and also for me as i sat alone on my living room sofa...

I remembered how 2 months ago, I had asked my better half how come the big burly rugby players were actually so emotional as they stood on the fields at the beginning of every game while they sang their national anthem.....i guess such emotions can never be fully comprehended, but at least tonight, I felt that I finally understood a little more how it really feels to be proud of your country :)

Monday, December 10, 2007

You must watch this! Amazing!:) ~lola

25th December programme?!

~Lola
hi folks!

You guys wanna do anything on Christmas Day after our morning service? Let's head down for 9am Christmas service @ Adam, and head for nice brunch somewhere?
Any suggestions? Who's interested?

Any takers?


Drumming workshop/ Guitar workshop

A Big Hello....to all music crazy revellers out there....ever thought of picking up an instrument to play or simply hit something to vent your fustration??? ....this is it YS653 ....drums in session. No Fees.

No GST.

No service charge.....

Not for the faint hearted.

individual snare drums would be provided.

oh yes and your choice of sticks too....

Requirements:

Able to tap your toes.

Snap your fingers.

Shake your booty....er...nah!

ok looks like we're all set to hit our hearts out....

Venue as stated.... ***Address Deleted*** To protect the interest of family safety

Time...3pm to 6pm ....Makan session after 6pm....

Sunday, December 09, 2007

North Thankgiving Rejoice 2007




Brilliant Rose... Look very carefully. Each perfect model with a perfect cut on their finger.. :P

Mindy! Our lovable host! and owner of 3 wandering turtles... Camera woman: Oei guys do something funny leh like pull each other ties!

Gals: hmm what action? Can we act cute? Camara man: Can lah can lah!

Our Go Green Recycled Cell Poster





Last minute idea but everyone's effort! Through the poster making, I realise I am an autocratic democrat. Joseph has an exceptional talent in cutting chinese characters at a fast rate. (you know who to look for as CNY is not exactly very far away or if you are getting married and you need the "Xi" :P) Laura is gifted in making sure the heart's colour has gradual tones. Issac is to be credited for his inspiring piece of "light" in the heart. Valerie and Christine for having a sharp eye for the lovely patterns to be tear out from the mag... Ling Yeow and Martin for designing the Chinese characters (once again CNY you know who to look for) Ooops did I miss out anyone??? and of course, the moral support of the rest of the YS653.

Saturday, December 08, 2007

Our Prawning Session


That is our first catch of the day! I simply love Martin's serious expression examining the prawn..keke. 30 plus prawns for 2 rods hmm not bad lah ... we will improve... We ate a lot for dinner. We had Zi cha (furong dan, vege, Kungfu Pork ribs), bbq chicken wings, satay and of course Alvin's BBQ Prawns. Suddenly, someone mentioned DURIAN and off we went to buy durian and had our little picnic at AMK. Very satisfied ... zzzzz

Prawning Session

As conversation, Im posting some pictures of moi prawning session. =)

1st prawning session - Abt 50 prawns with 4 rods (Beginner.. 1st time!)

2nd prawning session - 24 prawns with 1 rod ( Getting abit better.. Hee..)

Comparision between big prawn and small prawn of our catch.. BIG different.. Lolx!


The 3 big prawnies among the prawns.. Keke..

By: 師奶殺手

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Waiting..... 2nd time Mummy at last


around 14 Nov- had a weird dream, someone told me to read The Bible - Duetronomy... I awoke wondering if there was such a chapter. dismissed the dream and carried on doing some last minute preparation for baby's arrival.


17 nov - checkup at gynae... he said quite likely have to go c-section cos i'm not dilated. we were a little disappointed as I was reluctant to be under the knife again.. for some reason. was told to return for another checkup on 19 nov, 5.30pm. Went home, told the Hubby about the dream, he told me to find that chapter and read it. Tried to read it but not getting any enlightenment. so i quietly told baby to decide how he'd like to borne. Meanwhile, some friends of mine are concerned my baby was overdue...lol


19 nov, 5.30am - at last, i had some symptoms of labour. called gynae and went to clinic at 10am. was told to admit hospital at 10.30pm. Me and Hubby decided to spend some quality time, we went to watch Beowolf. While my Mum's was fretting at home, thinking I'll go into labour anytime.


20 Nov 12.30am - finally admitted to Thomson Medical. Contraction had started and I was gripping to the bed rail every hour when the cramps start. By the time I was at labour ward at 12pm, contraction had shorten to every 15 min. I was considering to have C-section but Hubby Alex said that I had already tolerated for more than 12 hours, we should go ahead for the birth. HE TOLD ME TO PRAY. By then, I could only call for Jesus, dunno what to pray anymore. My hubby then played a Kylie Minogue's song that i listened to for jogging. It's kind of funny cos I started "seeing " Jesus with a very sexy Kylie... lol. Then gynae came. Conversation went like this:


Gynae: oh at least now u not smiling (i was grining whenever he came to see me at the hospital, to the extent that he said i don't look like delivering baby)


Me: frowning


Nurse: Mother's in distress, dilation 3cm


Gynae: distress is good, be patient.. still long way to go. maybe afternoon.


And then he's Gone with Wind!


Me thinking ' Wa lao eh!'


When the contractions shorten to every 3mins, I was holding on to Alex's hand and the oxygen mask for life AND I remember "calling" "Jesus come" in my head.


When Nicholas was finally borne, Alex and I made a V sign. We were both very happy and exhilarated that the actual delivery was very smooth and Nicholas was healthy. It's a very special experience because we went through it together. This birth has brought Alex and I closer together.


As for the pain, it's all over after the delivery and what's left is a Little Angel from God to warm our hearts.


Still, anyone can enlighten me on Deutronomy?

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Jesus I bring You...

~LOLA
This tune was placed in my heart and inspired by the Lord during one of my low moments on 15th March 2005. It was God's way of reminding me that indeed HIS strength is made perfect in my weakness....

God gave me the tune and lyrics within a couple of minutes while i was preparing to lead cell one of the Tuesday evenings.....and those few minutes of worshipping God was really a time of intimate worship with God, a moment of powerful encounter which i will never forget....

Taken from this verse: “”…My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
(2 Corinthians 12:9-10),
I pray that this song will uplift and encouarge you during your moments of discouragement:

Jesus I bring You – inspired by God (15th March 2005)

Jesus I bring You my problems
Cos I can’t solve them alone
Jesus I bring You my burdens
Cos I can’t carry them alone

Cos I am weak
But You are strong
Your strength is made perfect in my weakness
Cos when I am weak
Then I am strong
Because of your power that rests on me
I am strong

Jesus I bring You my mountains
Cos I can’t climb them alone
Jesus I bring You my giants
Cos I can’t fight them alone

Bridge
Jesus I need You (x3)
More than anything
Jesus I need You (x3)
More than anyone



Monday, November 26, 2007

Little Riddle Time

From: 師奶殺手

Question: Why did the chicken cross the road?

Pls submit your entries via the comments!

^^v

Our last cell of thankgiving for the year - 29th December 2007 Saturday!

~Lola
For those of us who have not yet been informed, we will be having our last cell for the year 2007 on 29th December (Sat). It will be an informal cell but also a time for us to come together to really share from our hearts how 2007 has been and what we would like to thank God for.

TinTine have generously opened their home at Woodlands for us on this day. Tin has also verbally agreed to orientate any of us drummers-wannbes in his music room. Since the post prior to this mentioned that Mystery would like to conduct a guitar course, I am thinking of merging all these on 29th for our first session :)

Thanksgiving cell officially will start at 6pm. We shall discuss food plans during cell this Tuesday.

I am proposing those of us who would like to learn drums or guitar, let's meet earlier at 2pm at TinTine's residence. Those of you who would like to rest at home more will just meet us direct at 6pm....

This will be our last cell for the year and will be a great time of bonding and fun. So i hope that all of us will be present to come and be blessed and to bless each other :) Oh yes, i think this would be a great opportunity to also invite our oikos who would like to learn either instrument and/or just join us for a good time. They don't have to necessarily share, but I pray that our sharing will touch their hearts :)

Are you all okay with the above arrangements?
Please inform your prayer buddies and please revert indiciating your attendance and "'D" for drums and "G" for guitar :)


Thursday, November 22, 2007

Cell Guitar Workshop


Hey dear northpolers, I am thinking of organizing a guitar workshop to train up more guitarists to lead worship in cell and also to empower more of you guys who wants to worship God at home. Let me know those who are interested ya. Btw,ITS FREE

Pre-requisites :
1) Guitar
2) Availability
3) Willingness to practise

Mystery

A Beautiful Piece of Worship Song

-=[師奶殺手]=-

This is a very beautiful piece of worship song which I love.
I believe you will be ministered as much as I did.

In Christ Alone

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! who took on flesh
Fulness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones he came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave he rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Wild grass in my garden....

~lola
As i was reversing my car this morning down my car porch, i turned my head to glance at my garden...and realised that wild grass and weeds had already covered the once flat piece of carpet grass!! Some grass has grown up to almost my knee level!

It got me thinking: how come I never noticed the wildgrass has growing so wildly over the past few months?... and I also sweetly recalled my childhood days where I would sit on a little chair with my dad to pluck out the weeds every week.

To answer the first question, I guess that all this while, I have taken my garden for granted .....and taken the weekly weeding efforts of my domestic helper for granted. Every morning as i rush out to work, i seldom take a look at the the flowers and the beauty that God has created. And only now when the grass has become long and unkept has it caught my 'attention'.

I can't help but think about how, in the same way, we often take God's goodness around us for granted...our health, our families, our friendships, our work...all the good things that God has blessed us with...And only when things 'grow wild' to an attention-seeking state, does it suddenly get our attention. But by that time, is it too late?? Surely, my grass took a few months to grow wild...but i never noticed it....

Comparing with years ago when i was in Primary School...for a season every week, I would sit down and go through the at times back-aching, but yet beautiful experience of pulling out those weeds one by one, so that would stop attacking the rest of the healthy grass. Those minutes/hours forced me to appreciate my garden and at the same time, helped me to weed out regulary, things that were making my garden 'grow wild'.

It brings to my mind how i ALWAYS marvel at new buildings that seem to SPRING out of nowhere once they are completed! Does that ever marvel you? It's like the building suddenly appeared without having to be constructed over months.

Time seems to fly too fast, things often seem to happen suddenly without much notice...
Friend's children seem to grow too fast.....making me wonder where those years went to! :)

Anyway, for those wondering why on earth my garden is getting so wild .... it's because we have been procrastinating doing some landscaping :) Soon though, the wild grass will be gone, and replaced by beautiful flowers and trees once again. And hopefully, this time around, the garden will be given regular care and contstant loving attention by its owners :)








Thursday, November 15, 2007

Finally! :)

Hiya! I finally got into the cell blog to contribute too! It's really quite a refreshing breather popping into the blog to see what has been added and how everyone is getting on. I would have wished to jump into the fun earlier if not for a mean bug invading my laptop and creating havoc. But yes, I'm better off today with a new laptop!

Since I'm on this mode of confession, I shld admit that I'm not a good multi-tasker (if you havent noticed!). Yes yes, I've observed I tend to get very absorbed in the one (ok, maybe two??) activity for the moment and it's difficult to have multiple foci in the same instance. And this seemed to be my way of life - to the rest of the world, I seemingly lead a very busy lifestyle (maybe I do too...) but it's mainly because by the time I spread everything out in the finite timespan we are alloted, not much excess is left! So, I hope you can understand (just a little bit will do!) that it can be a struggle for me to juggle work, family, friends, social/sports activities and church altogether. There's just too many things to do, isn't it!?! :) When it comes to the crunch, my solution is first-thing-first and I will put on priority the agenda that has the greatest impact subsequently.

Long story short, I figured this is why I just can't seem to find the bandwidth for cell activities in the past few months. Not to say that cell's not important but there's nothing to worry about on cell-front. This year had been a harrowing time, with huge adjustments at home and work - I can't say I've ironed out everything yet, but suffice to say, it'd been more manageable. In fact, I'm quite happy the laptop has not followed me home except for last nite this week! :) [when it does, it means more work waiting!] I don't know if it's because the rhythm is tapering for end of the year, but let's hope it's sustainable and step-by-step, I will get to see more of you! :)

Aileen

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Cherish your gift

I thought Lola's entry reminded me of what God spoke to me during praise and worship. We all love gifts and surprises and during pnw, I was asking God for directions and I sense the words "Cherish the gift that I give you" I was very ministered as I look at my life and saw all the gifts that God has given, people that come along, family members etc.. How many times have I truly cherish God's gifts to me? Or that onli when a problem cooped up e.g. favourite wallet kana chilli sauce or frens drifted away then I start to cherish.
Feeling inspired by what God has spoken to me, I spent more time with my family. I was very happy when my parents enjoyed their first Jalan Kayu trip and also bought fish for aquarium. :)

Mushroom

Friday, November 09, 2007

Don't we all love surprises?

~Lola

Just like little children, even adults could do with an ocassional surprise (pleasant one, that is!) in this busy world!

Yesterday, my colleagues and I gave my boss (aka my mum;)) a surprise bbq birthday party. Running up to the day, it was really funny how she was getting anxious and a little disappointed with the seemingly lack of interest in arranging any agency get-together for her birthday (as per our annual tradition). A few of us were approached by her to find out if we needed her to block out any dates for this special celebration. Of course, we all kept very mum about the whole thing..shrugging our shoulders and giving the 'we're too busy' look.

Last week our colleague told her that he wanted her to meet his big client with him on Deepavali evening, which of course was half-truth. He does have such a client, but there was no such meeting with her that evening :) But she bought into it, thanks to my colleague's Oscar winning skills!!
She reached the condo in the evening..my colleague continued the show....brought her along an apparently 'shortcut' to get to the neighbours house, around the swimming pool, and pass a bbq pit....only to find 14 of us with our backs facing her suddenly turn around and sing the happy birthday song! The almost semi-shocked and surprised look on her face was something I haven't seen in ages....and it was indeed heart-warming to see how our efforts had not gone to waste.
She took some time to get over the moment...touched and really surprised....and then she expressed her amazement at how well all this had been kept under wraps for the past week! And kudos to our super actor colleague!

Indeed, pleasant surprises are always welcome. I know that i could have never been in my 'Oscar-winning' colleague's shoes....cos i would let the cat out of the bag within minutes! have never been somebody who could bluff with a straight face. I guess it isn't so much of the lack of acting skills, but rather, the empathy/guilt within me that would really make me feel bad tricking the person....i would call it....compassion? haa!!

I sheepingly joked with my better half after the party....'You know? Gals like surprises! How come i haven't had any surprises from you in such a long time??" , to which he had no answer......haa!

So, have you given anyone a nice surprise lately? It takes time, it takes effort...but when the surprise really succeeds in being a surprise, the effort put in more than pays off when you see the happy look on the face of the 'victim' ;)

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

High Lvl Lip Synch 2



High Lvl lip synching part 2

Waiting ....Being Mummy by Candid Candy


What's the longest time you've ever waited for someone? I remember waiting for a prospect for 3 hours at a coffeeshop just to "force" him to turn up...and he did.

Now as I wait for my baby to be born, there's a mix feeling of anticipation, excitment, boredom, worry, wonder...When I had Isaac and I had to go for C-section at a specific date, everyhing was planned and systematic.
Now I wait with wonder, just waiting for the signs to show up, can't plan anything far into weeks and filling my days by catching up on my reading, watching movies and serials.
The most uncomfortable part for me was not being able to move as fast as I'd like to be. Now every step makes me feel like a big pail filled with water and climbing up stairs is like dragging a 10kg of rice with me. And there's those aches and pains here and there. And also having to slow down my work activities, losing out on some in career opportunities.
A friend asked me the other day, don't I feel regret by losing out these opportunities cos sometimes opportunities come by only once (he knew my career plans this year)?
But I enjoy motherhood, it gives me a chance to be a better person, live my childhood again, and children gives unconditional love and joy. To me, no achievements can beat the feeling. That in itself is an achievement to me already.

Having this baby is a concious choice and decision me and my husband made. And I was pregnant not long after you guys prayed for me. I knew it's a gift from God, knowing many among my peers have difficulty conceiving.
So everything else can wait. After all, how many more children can we afford to have?
So I take this period of time to slow down and smell the flowers :-)
I look forward to seeing my baby's face and getting back my lifestyle again.

Lip Synching at its best



Check this out. High Lvl lip-synch

Korean KTV



Hey guys this is what I am talking about. Check out these 2 girls.

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

A greater affection for lizzies after this? ;)

~Lola
This is a little gross at first, but really hilarious! ;) My friend sent it to me....hope it doesn't gross any of you out! ;)


Monday, November 05, 2007

Where we belong


Letter to our new fun loving family in Christ YS 653....Me Christine and Zion boy have enjoyed your hospitality, fellowship and er...... contagious sense of humour too. A Big thank you in helping us to adapt with the new Christian enviroment in TTC.Praise God for placing us here in YS653. Its been an honour meeting you laura,Annie,Sandie, Aileen, Julia,Alvin, Candy, Melvin Ling yeow, Joseph, Valeriee...Did we miss anyone?....oh yup Mindy and Michelle...HAHA

Saturday, November 03, 2007

My Guitar Hero



My guitar hero, one day i am gonna play like him. one day... but when will that day come hahaha.. anyway enjoy! :)

Mystery

This Guy Rocks!!

From: 師奶殺手

If I could ever play like him... Lolx! ^^v

Friday, November 02, 2007

TGIF!!!

Dear NorthPolers, guess wat? Its Friday!!! The long awaited weekend is here... so what's up this weekend? any plans? I am planning to swim tomorrow... Anyone care to join me?

Mystery a.k.a Mel

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Studying Mushroom :)


Due to popular demand, the Mushroom artise has decided to publish more of his original artwork just for his cell group.
Have fun and take joy in life everyone! :)
LY

What are you today?

Today I feel like a Marking Machine. What about you?

Mushroom

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

KTV Mushroom :)


Hi Everyone,
I just got an inspiration for this drawing after yesterday's KTV. For those of u who are stressed by work, I hope u remember the gd times we had during our KTV and let it cheer you up. :)
Cheers,
LY

How to come up with witty answers for relatives and friends?

Hi hi,

have you ever in your life found yourself in a situation in which you were running out of ideas of how to answer a concerned colleague or friend over the state of your love life (for the singles), or the rate of proposal (for the attached) or the rate of giving birth (for the married) or how smartie or nottie your kid is (for the parents)???

Hmm, today, a Mrs Soh (name protected) was trying to convince me to quickly find a guy and settle down happily ever after. After my feeble attempt at replying her, a concerned Mrs Soh went on with her advice... I believe there are many Mrs Sohs in your lives. How on earth did you respond?? I remembered my male cousin (a very handsome lad which laura's fren knew) and I brainstormed for answers. My male cousin came up with a really sombre and dark one. He suggested saying quietly to the concerned fren or relative, "My gf just passed away." A guranteed 5 sec silence would be followed by a weak apology. I told him it was too self cursing and too dark. So he downgraded to, "sigh, we just broke up. I dun wan to talk about it."

Lalalalla

Mushroom

Church Membership

The long awaited day is here! I will receive my church membership on 25 Nov 2007, Sunday!

Do i have any supporters and my cell members cheering for me? Haha!

Venue: Trinity@PL
Date: 25 Nov 2007, Sunday
Time: 0830am
Service: Adult Service

I just simply love Trinity!

Blessings,
Alvin

The story behind the rainbow....

Post by: Lola

Thanks for your sharing, Melvin.
I am encouraged as i read it....that indeed God has been faithful :)

Anyway, I wanted to blog on Sunday evening after i was blessed by Ps Gerald's Noahic Covenant on Sunday. For those of you who missed it, go download it from the website. It was a good sermon which ministered to me.

I believe many of us already know this....the meaning behind the rainbows that we so often see after the rain....but on Sunday, as i heard it preached again, it brought a smile somewhere in my heart....just to know that the promise God made to Noah has truly continued through the thousands of years....He is indeed a faithful God!

God was speaking to Noah, after the storm came to wipe up the rest of the earth:
Genesis 9:12 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come:
13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.
16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."
17 So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth."

As I read/heard the paragraph, i remembered the picture on the left, where we saw the beautiful rainbow in Melahbou, Aceh last year during our humanitarian trip.....it was a beautiful beautiful rainbow that just swept across the sky after a bout of rain....we stood there with the rest of the team for a good ten minutes taking pictures and just enjoying the sight....

So, the next time i see a rainbow, I will not forget the reason behind this beautiful display...it is not just a scientific thing that happens, but truly a display of His splendor, AND a strong reminder of His faithfulness to all the promises He has ever spoken and given in the Bible, as well as to us individually!

God is so amazing............. :)

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Our God is an awesome God!!!

~ Melvin ~
Wanna give all glory due to God. Been extremely stressed out for the past week. Handled a grand total of 8 managerial calls so far since last week. For those of you who are wondering if its normal, its not!! On an average you probably get one in 2 weeks or maybe in a month. So 8 in a matter of 5 days is madness man. To make matters worst these calls that I handled are extremely unreasonable. So almost every call I get screamed at non-stop. 2 of our team leaders have resigned and 1 is down as her grandfather passed away. So only 3 of us are left to fight the fire. Hahaha I feel like fire chief now. Though I dun show it out, I am stressed out totally. Cant sleep well at night. Dint enjoy myself during the off days also. Left office on Thursday night with a heavy heart, only to know that there is managerial call pending on Monday. As I looked at it I will probably have to take up the call. As positive as I am I was unable to bring myself out. I knew I needed divine help. On Saturday during Weelin's wedding I started to request for prayers from my beloved cell members, on Saturday I was praying to God to grant me an assurance of his favour. God spoke to me during service through Pastor Gerald on the Noahic covenant. Recharged I went to work prep for the worst. Guess what!! I had the most laid working day I could ever ask for. The disputive spirit which was hovering over my office was gone. Cases were moving slowly and everything was in order. Filled with faith I entered Monday confident and God delivered me from the managerial call as my fellow TL volunteered to take over the call. Our God is an awesome God who answers all our prayers. When we cry out to Him from the pits His mighty hand lifts us up above our troubles. Psalms 34 has been evident in my life, we can have many troubles but God delivers as from them. All glory be to God!!!

On a lighter note, I have been starting a swimming routine. Making it a point to swim every weekend, at least 10 laps per swim at Yishun Safra. It’s a shout out to all who are wanting to work out. Swimming is indeed a good sport and its theraputic. Feel free to join me, since I started this routine my stiff neck problem seemed to have been cured as my muscles are not stiff due to the work out. Do join me ya :)

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Finally!!! But will it last???

~Laura~
Today, i'm so proud of myself...I finally made it to....THE POOL!!! Yes!! I finally dragged myself out of bed at 7am today and headed down to take a dip....I have been telling myself for weeks..almost months now...that this cannot continue any longer - I haven't been regularly exercising (and i mean once or twice weekly) for almost a year plus now!

Looking back at my healthier days not so long ago, i used to go to the gym for an hour every week, and play tennis or squash once a week....i remember how people used to comment on how fit i look. How well toned i looked ;) My mum used to comment proudly (actually even till now) to other people, that her daughter plays squash, tennis, and is so active, healthy.....Nowadays, I cringe at the sound of those words from her lips...and a feeling of slight shame creeps in. Actually now i hear more friends commenting .... 'you have been losing weight!'

Of course, my better half has been bearing the brunt of my blame for my recent lack of physical fitness. haha....what can i say.....a year plus....quite falls in line with the duration of our time together ....i tell him that it can't be any other reason....haha...So of course, needless to guess, he was also dragged in to join me for the morning exercise today....after much persuasion...or would i say, without much of a choice....:)

We did only 10 laps (3/4 of an olympic size) but i felt really good after that. It took less than 45 mins....no perspiration...That's why i always prefer swimming to running....:)

The result of the morning swim tho....was half an hour siesta in my car at the office carpark in the afternoon.....and 3 meals between swimming and dinner!! There goes all the calories!!

Anyway, at least i got myself into the pool today..i'm proud of myself.
But like all types of inertia....i need more than just one morning to make myself convinced that i can start getting fit all over again!! ;)


Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Are we trapped in a system?

Today was a long day for me. I felt bullied because at 1220pm after time with my angels, I had to go for meeting which was a weekly meeting for all staff until 2pm. There was no lunch break. And I was told there was a short meeting for key personnels at 2pm. So I rushed from the canteen to the meeting which lasted until 225 pm. At 230pm, the key personnels have to chair departmental reviews until 4pm. My fellow colleague gobbled down her lunch in ten minutes but I opted to survive on chick peas which Imran kindly bought for me. Apparently, it was a wise decision to eat chick peas as halfway during the meeting, my colleague clutched my hand and said she felt like puking.. So, is this a system problem that all the meetings have to be back to back?

During the meeting, there was tension between my boss and one of the colleagues. She suggested doing away with an entire chunk of meat. My boss was saying something along the line of "stop suggesting things that are against the system because the changing of the system is beyond our control; If you cannot change the system, either you get out of it or you change yourself" My colleague then teared (she was an emotional person by nature lah).

Hmmm ....

Annie

P.S Words such as "angels" and "meat" are used to protect the sacred identity of my profession. :P

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Informal Cell Outing 30-10-07

Hiya Peepos! Next week Tues we having informal cell outing @ SAFRA Yishun!

Lets meet up for dinner (Zi Cha?) and canal washing aka bowling!

Any suggestions where to fill our stomach?

-=[Alvin]=-

YS653 FM regulations

Oh yah... I forgot to add that besides no xxx stuff.. please also identify yourself after posting so that we can imagine the scenario with a face attached to it.. the "Mummy I will try" is by Annie Kong, which is me. I know I sound a bit lame but I feel a little corny... keke Hope you all would be AMAIZED...

Mummy I will try ...

Hello ... A few of us are thinking of starting a cell blog for us to air all that we want among those that we want to hear... you can sob and wail till thy kingdom comes but of course the usual cell blog rules applies, no xxx language, no xxx pictures blah blah ...

Anyway according to the title "Mummy I will try", I was saying I am too tired to listen to my mother's download so I tend to give the usual "Orh.. Ummms...Okie.." with occassional nods before disappearing (I rather not use escaping) into my room. So what happen was, there was this morning, I really willed myself to listen and participate actively in a conversation, I forgot what's the topic is about,(maybe about some happenings on the papers), I had a GOOD time. What's more, she treated me like a princess for the next few days... kekeke.