The Singing Muffins 2!

WOO!

Entertainment filled week.

On Sunday, i watched The Phantom of the Opera, the musical with lotsa OCFers. Someone backed out at the last minute, and i was asked to fill the gap. WAS so tempted, cos' i had all along wanted to watch it, just didn't get the chance. But i already planned out what i needed to study for the day, and so turned it out at first.. After alot of persuasion, i decided to indulge for once, and just not study for the day. heh. IT WAS SOOOOO GD. I even cried at the end when Christine left the phantom for Raoul, and the phantom looked so miserable. Anthony Warlow's singing was Fantastic. So i was in the 'opera' or 'singing' mood for the week.

Watched Angels and Demons today too! Right after class. OMG. I read the book before, and the intense emotions of apprehension and curiosity, and the drama i felt for those few days, was all squished into a 2hr+ show. I was literally grabbing HuiYee most of the show, while nibbling on our homemade popcorn that we brought to the cinema.. HAHA. We had lots, and it was sooo much cheaper and nicer to make our own too. Feeling very emo after both Phantom and Angels. Haha. Why you say? I can't really put my finger onto them also actually. But it starts prob cos' it touched 2 things that are very dear to my heart. Relationships and religion (and science intertwined of cos'). I still gotta think thru' abit more stuff to figure out my response after my emo reactions after the great shows. :)

Anyway, Opera got me really hyped up for the rehearsals i had for the week before Music Night.

We sang well i think! Managed to have fun, over all our nerves, and just entertain ourselves and others. Sang in the same format as last year.

Lame song: 'Onions make my Cry' by the dog, from The Muppets
Nice chinese song: '小酒窝' by 林俊杰 and Asa.
Nice English song: 'Everything in its Time' by Corrine May

Yup. I was chocolate muffin this time. Sam was Strawberry Muffin, and Han Ee took over as the new flavour of the season, banana muffin! Haha. We just change flavours as we change shirts anyway. So it's easy and just fun. Blueberry muffin (Anna), was busy... :( But we did include her in our intro to the grp.

Had some warming up, and giggles from the first song. So it broke the ice, and was exactly the reaction we were looking for. And we sang our hearts out for the next 2! Yay. Thank you all who came to listen to us sing. It's really nice to have friends around! If not it would be quite meaningless. Esp, since it's super duper assignments and exams around the corner season.

Heard that the video might be put up on facebook? Haha.. That would be cool. It's memories that i cherish right here on my hill. (Flinders Housing, Uni, Adelaide) The new things that i tried (actually singing in front of ppl?), and the heart warming occasions we shared.

Anyway, back to work! So much to dooooo.

Music Night

The Singing Muffins are up again tonight for Music Night at the Village!
Another 3 songs, in the same genre and style, with one replacement muffin.
I'm chocolate tonight! Cos' i'm wearing brown... Hope all goes well, and I REALLY don't go off key. haha.

Off to my last rehearsal!!! :)

L-O-V-E

Perhaps it's time to level up after getting 'feedback' from others.

Tried so hard, and did more than what i could ever do with my own strength. Right motivations, but perhaps I need to love with that little bit more, even though i thought i was doing my best already.. Seems like it's still not enough eh.

Ha. I wonder whether i'll ever find out what it means to lay down my life for my brother, just as Christ did for us.

I do want to love, and i don't want to stop, even if there's no return, even if the reciprocation is negative. If i was worth it, you're worth it too, cos' we're all the same.

Besides that, my only justification to the 'honest remark' is that...

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgement, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out all fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:16b-19.

I seem to be quoting alot of the bible nowadays. Think i'm not very creative, or 'entertaining' anymore eh? It seems like the world is changing soo fast, soo much, that many things seem blurry already. 'Advancing' from conservative thinking, to much more freedom may be what many want. But without discipline, we'd never know what's good for us isn't it?

Anyway, I get to say almost anything i want on my blog...

So it's thanksgiving time again! :)

God has been MOST faithful, even during these times! It's amazing how he works, and slowly teaches me.. Ha. One day, perhaps after a long long time, i'll finally understand what it means to have pure joy in facing trials of many kinds. (Aaron Wong! Your sharing was my inspiration to apply this scripture!)

Wanna list a few ppl, who have shown me how God never lets me endure beyond what i can bear, cos' they've uplifted and encouraged! Of cos there's more, but i hope i don't leave anyone out! (Just for this season la hor?)

Mel's hall of fame for the season: Betty, Grace, Naomi, Norman, Aaron, Chin Ting, Cheryl, Alethea, Chin Chin, Raymond Lim, Aunty M, Aunty Vanessa, Glenn, Taiwei, Kim, etc..

And special thanks to BROTHER HO! hahaa.. Thanks 'gor'. Your attitude towards 'an always exciting ministry' still stays in my head, and always sets me up for the right mindset when i'm dealing with issues. Haha. I Likes your style. The more stuff happening, the more exciting it is! Grins. Altho' i haven't spoken to you for some time now, you're still in my heart. :)

Nights all! Full moon night! Enjoy..

None...?

Sigh. It's a cloudy night. I can't even see 1 star! :(((

Anyway, it's good reason to put up my glow-in-the-dark stars that i brought from Singapore now. I told myself i'll wait for a good time before i put them up. This is it! They'll accompany me to sleep, other than fierce scary but very shy sharkie. :)

Stars!

It's a bad season. Two extremes in a day! Super happy cos' we celebrated a birthday, but also bugged by super little things. Perhaps i'm in the emo state these days. But.. I wonder what God is trying to say through it all... Anyway, quite tired emotionally.

But i cooked chicken rice. And i was happier, but the gathering i cooked for didn't happen in the end. :( So perhaps, it's good to get a breather, even though i was sooo looking forward to it!

Anyway, at times like these, it's good to read Ecclesiastes. Apart from all the meaningless bits, which take away my stress a little, for just once i really wanted to be selfish, and take away something i'm looking for to just to encourage myself a little in these trying times. I don't really care if its out of context. haha.

3:10-11a I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time.

So there. God knows my burden(s). And he's going to make everything beautiful in its time. But i'm going to take the 'beautiful' bit, and use that to just go back to my normal state. A 'feeler' and not a 'thinker', and just look at the moon and the stars tonight. Cos' they're beautiful and they make me happy.

It's just too bad i'm looking at them alone outside... on a cold cold night. Silly ol' me.

Bridesmaids!

I found someone who i am able to share my heart's cries with. We're going to be at each other's weddings, and will be each other's bridesmaids, and we're gonna make sure we approve of each other's other half first.

Haha. I guess when you go through the most trying times with someone, and you find someone you can really cry and pray and still encourage each other in the midst of it, and still quote bible verses to each other. Still trusting and having faith and seeing what is not yet seen, still having the courage to move from 'mistakes' to the next best step, it is comforting...

God is good, he's providing, and he's still speaking and moving. Even though i couldn't answer the question WWJD for my situation.

When i said i needed to bake a super rich chocolate cake, it was going to be a good outlet. But i think i should just sleep, and not let it affect the whole of my tmr. So distracted, I couldn't even finish studying and making notes 1 human physio system for the whole of today...

Even though things are not looking too optimistic, it is written,

'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.' So we say in confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?' Hebrews 13:5-6

'And now we know that in all things, he works for the good of those who love him, who havef been called according to his purpose.' Romans 8:28

'Is anyone of you in trouble? He should pray... If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.' 1 Peter 5:13-20

Hopefully, my sighs will quickly shift back to his glory? What will happen next? Exciting journey with God eh, Mel?

We were discussing how much easier it would have been if we just gave up bothering a long time ago. But we couldn't, and we didn't, and now it's even bigger than ever! WOO.

The truth has and will continue setting us free.

Blog...

May i get the chance to blog properly soon. So many things i wish to blog about. So many extremes happening.

The news, the issues, the human relationships, the birthdays, the cake i baked!, the dishes we whipped up, the OCF events, the 1, or even 2 conversions to Christ, the staying up to finish assignments and study for a test that went well today, the new jap vocab i've been learning, the someone who accompanied me to walk home for just that 5 mins that meant alot, the big news that someone told me that took me aback cos' i have no idea what will happen since long long ago, the smiles, the laughter, the pain, the tears, the need to call back, the lingering feeling about another thing that's perhaps happening and brewing and perhaps will turn out to be exciting,

the suffering that's leading to perserverence to character and always to hope.

Emotionally drained, but so encouraged by by God too. Wanna blog about those sermons too. I have so much i'm learning since Easter camp, leadership retreat, life beyond uni workshop, 15mins gang, personal prayer, and I WANNA BLOG.

Wanna cry my heart out, need a shoulder to cry on, to cry with ppl, for ppl, with God, for God.

Missing ppl back home too.

But first, another night up to finish my literary criticism essay on Ruth Chapter 1 for tmr. What a romantic love story, filled with so many themes and meanings and application points.
Can't believe this is the 2nd time someone is also staying up, and has been encouraging me while i'm doing work. How blessed am i? Biggest thanks to you!!!

Lotsa favour from God and from men...

Lotsa luvs,
mel

Current affairs

Haven't been reading news at all. But just heard about the news about the AWARE grp. With all the sharings about homosexuality and lesbianism in schools?

Sigh.

What's your stand on it? I know mine...

Romans 1:18-2:8

God's Wrath Against Mankind

¹⁸The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, ¹⁹since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ²⁰For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

²¹For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²²Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools ²³and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

²⁴Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. ²⁵They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

²⁶Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

²⁸Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. ²⁹They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; ³¹they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. ³²Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

God's Righteous Judgment

¹You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. ²Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. ³So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? ⁴Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance? ⁵But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. ⁶God "will give to each person according to what he has done."^e]">[e] ⁷To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. ⁸But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.

Birth verse

Apparantly, this is my birth verse. Haha. I wonder how they chose the verses, but mine sounds romantic. I like nature. Looking forward to a less cloudy night cos' someone has just resparked my passion for stargazing, but i guess it's a gd reminder of God's blessings too. :)

Zechariah 10:1 NIV
Ask the LORD for rain in the springtime; it is the LORD who makes the storm clouds. He gives showers of rain to men, and plants of the field to everyone.

http://www.birthverse.com/mybirthverse.cfm

CherMel again!

CHERYL'S BACK!

big and heavy secret withholding too. *grins* i likes. :)

Have a gang

Have just started a 15min gang to stay accountable to friends to spend time with God, away from distractions and really pray and seek his word. So far, we've got 3 in the grp! I should be more structured in how we keep accountable though.

One of the main reasons was that i've been been very inspired by how much Aunty Merrilyn depends on God and shows it through her emphasis and urgency to pray and read God's word. I was SOOO sad and feeling so guilty for calling her up quite late to ask her to speak at our centre for OCF. I msged her, then called her. But she didn't pick up or reply.. so i waited till night time, before calling her again. When she answered her mobile, she started telling me about how busy her whole day was: supposed to meet only 2 girls but in the end another 12 turned up unexpectedly, and her pastor and also her doctor. She haven't had time to eat dinner till 9pm+, and all her 6 bags of groceries were not yet unpacked too. And she kept saying also that she needed and wanted to pray before she called me back cos she hasn't had time to pray since 10am+. And she sounded soooo frustrated, not because she had to meet and talk to so many ppl, but because she just needed to pray and retreat with God. Found out that after she put down the phone, she wanted to pray for the couple she's meeting the next day for pre-marriage counselling, and also for our centre too. Found out also, that she prayed till like midnight before going to bed. Even though her meeting the next day was early in the morning.

So i realised how much.... i 'know' that prayer is impt, but that i'm not actually convicted by it! That i haven't been praying for soooo many things that bother me. That i'm not enough sensitive to the Spirit because i'm not talking and listening to God enough! I was soooo sad for myself, but yet spurred on by Aunty M.

So... in the 1 week after Easter camp, 15mins increased to 30-45mins for me. Since i lie in bed doing it anyway, before i rush to the toilet to pee or brush my teeth, which signals my stomach to start getting hungry for breakfast and wanna start my day. And... so far, reading the Gospel Parallels is fantastic. And as of today, 2 prayers have already been answered miraculously! It's a long time since i've felt this experience. The most major one i can last remember is gd grades with the Golden key, or Chuan Zhi agreeing to come for Easter camp. But not more than that. Cos' i haven't been praying much more than that.

Anyway, 1 of which, i must share. I've got a new mentor!!! I've been praying for another mentor cos' Darrell left last yr.. :( And it's difficult to catch up... Ok. Alot of it's my fault, cos i didn't really call her in Spore, facebooking now is not enough... Only in the past 2 weeks have i been seriously praying, cos i'm feeling a lack of discipleship. Both being discipled and to disciple others. So.. I persisted in prayer.
And... God told me very silently... Aunty M. I was like.. Woa. God, are you sure? Busy busy woman, board of advisors for whole OCF Australia, missionary to so many countries, currently ministering to already so many ppl......
I have this reverent fear for her. Her authenticity makes me so excited and spurred on, yet there's always this conviction too when i'm near her. Like i've got so many things still not sorted out right in my spiritual life. (e.g. Perhaps not walking right? not having the right attitude for God? not knowing my bible well enough? not giving many issues enough prayer? I don't know. Maybe it's her seniority also, and the fact that she knows so much more and has so much more experience too. That's why i'm usually very quiet when i'm around older and much wiser ppl. Cos i've got sooo much to learn, and i think the best thing to do is just keep quiet, listen and learn, rather than give opinions.)

Anyway, to cut the long story short. SA Leaders met up with her at her house, and just out of the blue, totally off topic, she just asked us all if we're currently being discipled. I said i was still praying for one mentor. And she simply asked if i didn't mind her being my mentor! Gosh. That was such a confirmation. I was thinking of asking her, but didn't have the guts at all. She actually asked me instead!


Aunty Merrilyn. When i talked to her for the first time at Convy 2008.

Wow. Mentor number 3 now. So many ppl have sown into my life. And i have learnt tons each time. Aunty M says she'll give me homework, with a firm tone. And i know that it'll not be pretty if i don't do it. :S But still, i respect her lots. Not cos of her title, but cos' of her Christ-likeness. And each time she shares, i feel that i need soooo long to actually apply her teachings / preachings / or even just simple stories about her life into my life.

I'm VERY grateful for a God who listens, who cares, and who loves me enough to teach me. And i'm blessed to have women of God sowing into my life. Thank you all...

Time to start discipling too... We're called to make disciples of all nations. Doesn't matter how young we are, or how un-knowledgeable we feel... Will Chin Chin say yes?

3 salvations on the edge for Flinders... What will i do about it?

Easter Camp 2009

Easter Camp 2009 was.... THE BEST. Let me share some experiences:

1. Managed to get to know so many new ppl from UniSA and AU.

2. Spent alot of time getting to know the newer members from Flinders.

3. Had a word in season encouragement by a friend, plus we've decided to start a spiritual discipline together. Simple, but practical. 15mins time alone with God every morning before we do anything else. (Already, 1 more friend has joined us in our accountability grp, and.. God has already answered some prayers of ours!)

4. Aunty Merrilyn, the most outstanding (to me) of the Board of Advisors was our speaker.. And she showed Christ in an INCREDIBLE light. Her face literally lights up when she talks about Christ and I would daresay, the best example of Christ i've ever met in my life. Her feet carries the gospel to the ends of the world in various countries, and she never ever stops ministering, showing love to the needy, and even us members and she never forgets out names or what is happening to us. Thing is, it's not about the theology or the teaching or the charisma or the eloquence. So what if she always gets carried away with her countless stories? So what if we're all sitting on the wooden floor and our butts are really sore by the the end of each sermon and the muscle (or fats, haha) aches even after camp? I think we were all sooo ministered to and inspired to live for Christ with just her living example. Modern day Paul equivalent.

5. 2 ppl gave their lives to Christ!!! And 3 non-Christians from our centre went for camp as well. 1 of which i've been trying to sow (in lots of frustration, but not yet tears) and i hope one day someone will reap in joy. They didn't commit but the seed has been sown, 2 of which in fertile soil.

6. A prophecy was spoken that really shot through my heart. 'The arm of flesh will surely fail you, but I will never fail you'.

7. Learnt about the pre-requisite to the title 'Leader'. Which is servanthood. Ok, we prob all knew this already. But somehow, it's the determination now to want to serve, rather than just be pulled along with the programs. I say this now. I hope i won't be discouraged later...

8. Attended a 'Reaching out to unsaved family members' workshop too. I learnt tons. All along i thought reaching out to unsaved family members are like reaching out to any other non-christian. But there are differences, and those usually make it Very difficult. However, i'm gonna try and see if i can put what i learnt into practice. Again, it falls back not onto what the teachings are, but the real life example that the speaker showed. One point that really spoke to me, and i'll share cos' i think it'll benefit many others is that: Usually the closeness you have with your family members are the factors that are pulling you back. You might be too frank with them, you might feel awkward cos' you're spending so much time with them everyday that it makes it SO difficult to share. However, turn this around and use the proximity to SERVE them. Preach the gospel by first serving and touching their lives. Give your time to them, instead of just hanging out with Christians ALL the time. Two other very impt points that cannot be left out are also PRAYER and preparing how you're going to articulate your story, cos sometimes the opportunity just arises. So write a 2 min, 10min, and 30min testimony. Ready to share whenever you've got the chance.


It was freezing cold there at nights. The 1st night, it even reached 8 degrees. And all i had was a 16 degrees sleeping bag. Guess what? My water bottle spilled onto my bed, and half my bed and sleeping bag was wet that night too.
3/4 of the camp was girls, about 60-70 of us, and we only had 3 toilets and 4 showers and 4 sinks. Even so, 1 toilet couldn't flush and another shower broke. So all of us shared them all.
Some guys had to sleep in the freezing cold gym cos there wasn't enough bunks.

But so what? I'm not complaining, cos we're not going for a rest and relax comfortable resort. We went there because we're hungry and thirsty to 'Focus on Jesus' (Theme for camp). And our hearts were realigned.

I've been praying for a new mentor... and someone to approach Aunty Merrilyn with me if she was to be the one. Interestingly enough, i talked to Naomi yesterday just out of the blue when we were having dinner and watching TV together. She told me her vision from a long time ago, and I just found out of her desire to want to be a missionary in Nepal. GUESS WHAT? Aunty Merrilyn is coming to Flinders this Fri for OCF, and she's a missionary, and her compassion for the ppl is mainly in NEPAL! Gosh... We're gonna approach her this Friday. Keep me in prayer that i will be in the centre of God's will... I wanna learn and get a diffusion of her passion for Christ and ppl, how to reach out and disciple and also, just how to shine like never before as a Christian. Managed to, in this way, persuade Chin Chin to go to. Heh. She's a non-Christian, but her heart is almost ready... Just abit 'nua' sometimes. So needing lots of encouragement!! And prayer... :)

WOOO.
Pictures!

E camp

Easter CAMP! With 11 non-christians in our midst. And 3 of them i'm quite close to. May God do something great... *EXPECTANT*

Facebook will be flooded with another thousand photos next week. haha.

And i'll also be able to stock up on chocolates for more chocolate dessert projects after Easter cos of the sales. YAYYY.

HD! and Golden Key cos of past HDs!

God has blessed me abundantly. More than I asked or imagined!!!

I took back my exegesis essay. And I got a HD for that!!! Furthermore, my prof said that my paper was the best of the whole class, so she wants a copy so that she can print it out for the class to learn from. Oh my gosh.
I still remember i was so stressed during the whole week of attempting to do it, cos scholars all agree and disagree and there's so many different stands (unlike many foundational scientific theories). And they make me SOOO confused. When i finally finished it, and printed it out just in time to catch the bus to my class to submit the paper, i read it one more time on the bus.. and went something like... 'Shucks. I think i got the emphasis wrong. Don't even know whether i'm using the right tool to exegete the passage...'
But i actually did well!!! Somehow, i need to thank God for making me a perfectionist at times... Well, 1 down for exegesis. 3 more to go!

Also, today i got a letter from Golden Key International Honour Society. I've been offered to become a member cos i'm top 15% of undergraduate students at Flinders University in 2009 (meaning my last yr's GPA i guess)!!!!!
I have to pay a hefty sum of $95 for a lifetime membership. But it's a non-profit organisation.. and a summary of the benefits i get are:

• Official recognition of your high academic achievement by an international organisation
• Undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships available only to members
• Career development guides
• International networking with students and academics when travelling within Australia, the US and Canada for conferences and postgraduate study
• Opportunities to participate in the chapter's community service, career development, social activities and to serve on the executive committee

www.goldenkey.org

It's been such an amazing journey being with my God, and obeying his command to come to Australia, to serve in his ministry, and to continue being a hardworking student. May I continue to know his heart more, and walk in step with his plans...

:)

Back to more work.... and more meetings... and another presentation for OCF tmr... and another Katagana test to study for next monday.

But had a great Korean dinner just now and am refreshed, and probably fatter. (homemade and simple style. SUPER duper healthy cos we finished two big bunches of different lettuce and 2 whole carrots too. We made wraps with them and rice and kimchi and hot chili paste and sliced garlic. ) with ex-Korean housemate, Naomi and Cheryl... Pictures still with Cheryl, cos my camera is too lousy. So we used hers. haha. Show you all another time.

OnWARD, to honour God even more.

Planet Cake

I invested in a new book!



Let's see if i have the time to actually learn more cake decorating skills.

The best I have done (together with Criss) by far is:
Shawn's ARMY (pandan fudge cake with shredded coconut) birthday cake 2008!


Think i can do a better work of art next time, esp with this new book? I wonder...