Christmas Carols Medley

Hark the Herald/Joy to the World/O Come All Ye Faithful

(Arrangements Veronica Abednego 2006)

Imitating art...

This is awesome...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqDa67WNSEQ



This is me trying to be awesome, but not quite succeeding...


(starts from 2nd chorus)




In other news...

• 20 days until Central Asia!
  
  http://teamtocar.blogspot.com/ (recently updated)
  
  
• One exam until graduation!
  
  .... (recently procrastinating)

Here am I, send me

"Here Am I" - MercyMe

On the other side of the world
She stands on the ocean shore
Gazing at the heavens
She wonders, is there something more
Never been told the name of Jesus
She turns and walks away
What a shame

Just across the street in your hometown
Leaving from his nine-to-five
Gazing down the road
He wonders, is this all there is to life
Never been told the name of Jesus
He continues on his way
What a shame

Whom shall I send?
Who will go for me
To the ends of the earth
Who will rise up for their King?
Here am I, send me
Here am I, send me

Whether foreign land or neighbours
Everyone's the same
Searching for the answers
That lie within your name
I wanna proclaim the love of Jesus
In all I do and say
Unashamed

Whom shall I send?
Who will go for me
To the ends of the earth
Who will rise up for their King?
Here am I, send me
Here am I, send me

How beautiful are feet of those who bring good news
Proclaiming peace and Your salvation

Whom shall I send?
Who will go for me
To the ends of the earth
Who will rise up for their King?
Here am I, send me
Here am I, send me
Here am I, send me

A dose of realism

"Learn To Live With What You Are" - Ben Folds

I know that you're in there
I can see you
You're saying you're ok
I don't believe you

And now that the gig is off
The spell is broken
The fat lady sung
The president has spoken
These days that you were waiting for
Will come and go
Like any day
Just another day

There's never gonna be a moment of truth for you
While the world is watching
All you need is the thing you've forgotten
And that's to learn to live with what you are

So freak out if you wanna
And I'll still be here
Don't call me for years and when you do
Yeah, I'll still be here

I'm not saying the effort is a waste of time - but I
Just love you for the things you couldn't change
Though you've tried
These hours of confusion they will soon expire
Like everything
Does

There's never gonna be a moment of truth for you
While the world is watching
All you need is the thing you've forgotten
And that's to learn to live with what you are

Sometimes
Everything you've ever wanted
Floats above
He's sticking out his tongue and laughing while
Everything
Anyone could ever need
Is down below
Waiting for you to know this

There's never gonna be a moment of truth for you
While the world is watching
All you need is the thing you've forgotten
And that's to learn to live with what you are
You got to learn to live with what you are
You got to learn to live with what you are

Blog death :(

Haven't posted in more than a month, and blog is dying....So here's some suitably emo lyrics :P
(Been trying to do a piano version of this song....)

The Kill
30 Seconds to Mars

What if I wanted to break
Laugh it all off in your face
What would you do?
What if I fell to the floor
Couldn't take this anymore
What would you do?

Come, break me down
Bury me, bury me
I am finished with you

What if I wanted to fight
Beg for the rest of my life
What would you do?
You say you wanted more
What are you waiting for
I'm not running from you

Come, break me down
Bury me, bury me
I am finished with you
Look in my eyes
You're killing me, killing me
All I wanted was you

I tried to be someone else
But nothing seemed to change
I know now: this is who I really am inside
Finally found myself
Fighting for a chance
I know now: this is who I really am


Come, break me down
Bury me, bury me
I am finished with you...
Look in my eyes
You're killing me, killing me
All I wanted was you

Come, break me down
Break me down
Break me down

What if I wanted to break?
What if I, what if I... (bury me, bury me)

PCRs

OK, it's lunchtime and my assignment isn't happening...so here's what I was thinking about as I was consuming my cooked proteins, fats and carbohydrates....

[if I had a label for "church stuff", this post would go under church stuff]

So...we've all had plenty of BGR (Boy-Girl Relationship) talks at church and plenty of BGR-based discussions in camp dormitories, in Bible studies, while generally hanging out, why you may even have had your youth group leader unsuspectingly spring a BGR talk on you while drinking coffee at a social...but anyway, my point is, BGRs have been done to death. Don't get me wrong, they are good to have once in a while (I mean, we're having one at Glue this term, which I think will be a good thing), but we are always doing BGRs.

What about PCRs? No, not Polymerase Chain Reactions (for those of you who know what that is), but Parent-Child Relationships. Cos you know, I know some people who have really good relationships with their parents, but then I also know a lot of people who don't. It's not necessarily that it's a bad or antagonistic relationship, but can just be a bit...indifferent? Better? Anyway I'm sure at least some of you get what I'm talking about.

We had a few parents/kids forum things at Glue ages and ages ago....but yeah, that was ages and ages ago. And I'm sure we've had sermons on passages about husbands/wives/elders/parents/children and what not...but yeah, I dunno, they've never really stuck.

So recently (i.e. about half an hour ago while eating lunch) I've been thinking up burning questions such as these:

• How should you relate to Christian parents? (I mean, on a practical level, what should it look like?)
• How should you relate to non-Christian parents?
• Does 'not fighting' with your parents constitute a 'good' relationship with them? Or should you be striving for more?
• What if you have a better relationship with one parent than the other?
• [In an Asian immigrant culture] How do you maintain relationships with "astronaut" parents? (sorry, direct translation from a weird Cantonese term - anyway it means the situation when typically the dad goes back to Asia to work and only sees the kids in Australia a few times a year)
• What if your parents are divorced?
• Do only children have a different relationship with their parents than children with siblings? What if your parents are overprotective? (What if your parents are Asian? lol)
• Actually, yeah, what if your parents are Asian/ have a different culture...and yeah, various issues stemming from that...
• What about (arrrgh!) ministers' kids? Missionaries' kids?? (OK, is it just me, or do people have certain stereotypes about what these families should be like?)
• Who should the parents love more, their spouse or their kids? (hmmm!)
• How should you relate to your parents once you move out of home/ get married?
• And from a Christian parent's perspective: how should you relate to kids who fall away?

Could go on forever...

But yes, PCRs! Because who else here thinks it's relevant and is sick of BGRs? (OK, I could be alone on this point here...)

more kyck

If you want a copy of the kyck07 poem...

...it can now also be found here =D

I'm 21

Woot.

last.fm

Yet another way to procrastinate...

http://www.last.fm/user/certainhope/


(hahaha thanks sam...)

I've been thinking, thinking...

"I will show him how much he must suffer for my name" ~Acts 9:16 (what God said about Paul)


The Loser - Switchfoot, Learning to Breathe

Only the losers win
They've got nothing to prove
They'll leave the world with nothing to lose
You can laugh at the weirdos now
Wait till wrongs are right
They'll be the ones with nothing to hide

'Cause I've been thinking, thinking
I've got a plan to lose it all
I've got a contract pending on eternity
If I haven't already given it away
I've got a plan to lose it all

I've been the burnout kid
I've been the idiot
I'll turn the other cheek to be hit
You can take what you want from me
Empty me till I'm depleted
I'll be around if I'm ever needed

I've been thinking, thinking
I've got a plan to lose it all
I've got a contract pending on eternity
If I haven't already given it away
I've got a plan to lose it all

I wrote this song for you
To show how I'm selling out
I'll take the benefit of the doubt

Because I've been thinking, thinking
I've got a plan to lose it all
I've got a contract pending on eternity
If I haven't already given it away
I've got a plan to lose it all


"For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" ~Mark 8:35-36

----------------------------------------------
Why am I here? Where am I going? Why am I lonely? What does it mean to suffer?

All these questions I've been asking for years, I think I'm finally finding answers for (hmmm, quite amazing when you think about it.) Well, the first three, I think I now know the answer to about 90% of the time (yeah I realise the third one could do with some *action* as well, but at the moment, I feel content with just knowing the "why")...the fourth one, I only really just started asking recently, and I think I will be working on it this year, so to speak...Well, I've had Acts 9:16 stuck in my head like a song since we first touched on it in one of our Bible studies this year...it might be a sign...

[Edit]
So based on all the above, my ambition in life is to....
be a loser!

=)

Insight

I had a staff meeting early this morning so I caught the bus into Broadway. At Croydon a man with a black guide dog got on. I've seen him on the bus before and have sat next to him once or twice. Anyway it was one of those newer buses and I usually sit on a window seat about two rows behind the back door (the ones that are rasied up on the steps) with the vertical railing next to the seat in front (so you have easy access to the stop button). So even though the bus was pretty empty, the guide dog chose the seat next to me, and I spent the rest of the bus trip chatting with the blind man (whose name is Ian), with the guide dog (whose name is Ink) sitting on my feet...I was rather surprised at first that Ink wanted to squish up against my legs and lie on my feet, but it wasn't overly uncomfortable or anything; he was a very nice dog.

Anyway when Ian and Ink sat down next to me I said hi, and Ian asked if we had talked before...and in fact we have talked before, cos once I sat next to him on a crowded bus on the way home and was rather surprised to discover a dog squished in the corner...but anyway, I wonder if he recognised my voice or if he was thinking about someone else, cos he asked me if I did dentistry (which I guess is pretty close to pharmacy as far as courses go...).

He also picked up that I had an accent, which I guess is something people wouldn't normally say to me, but for him he could tell that I spoke another language at home...Which I thought was pretty cool, considering that I've been in Australia for most of my life.

I asked him how they knew when to get off the bus (cos I've seen them going home before and the dog always gets up at the right stop), and he said he's been living in the area for more than 30 years so he knows the road pretty well, and the dog gets into a daily routine as well, but sometimes when he hasn't been concentrating they have gotten off at the wrong place and have had to ask where they are.

He works around Town Hall in the telephone industry, and he's been in that for about 37 years. I didn't really understand all of what he said, but I think he used to do switchboards and stuff, back in the days when they were around, and now he does some form of software programming for phone systems or something?...like when you put people on hold and transfer calls and stuff, I think he knows how to make all of that work...which is pretty amazing, I wonder how long it took him to learn his trade...but I guess he's been doing it for a long time. And he mentioned he uses computers as well... hmmm how would that work? Anyway I was too polite to ask...

So that was my cool bus ride for the week...we talked about other stuff as well, like having pets, and working in pharmacy, and other various things...I was half asleep when I got on the bus but I was wide awake by the end...it's cool to meet interesting people who want to have a chat on the bus =)

alive and kycking

Oh yeah, before I continue, I should probably mention that KYCK is a Katoomba Christian Convention for highschoolers, and this year's theme was Follow; the talks were on Luke 9-19.


a random (mostly) rhyming summary of talks 4-6

case one: the story of a scandalous son*
didn't think his father could forgive what he'd done
but the father was filled with nothing but joy,
compassion and love for his lost and found boy
through jesus we get what we never deserved
and not what we think we've earned

case two: the story of a rich young man
reluctant to let go of all the things he had
"who then can be saved?" asked those who heard
"what is impossible with men is possible with God"**
money or jesus: who is your boss?
The way to life is the way of the cross

case three: the story of a short tax collector
who climbed up a tree to see jesus better
sinner welcomed jesus and counted the cost
for the son of man came to seek and to save what was lost***
'he is no fool
who gives what he cannot keep
to gain what he cannot lose' -Jim Elliot

------------------------------------------------
*Luke 15:11-32 (the parable of the lost son)
**18:26-27
***19:10

kyck me down and build me up again

KYCK 2007: Follow

a random rhyming summary of talks 1-3
(note: if you weren't there, some bits might not make much sense! - talk anecdotes and stuff)

the cross = rejection, death and shame
for all those who glorify his name
foxes have holes and birds have nests
but the son of man has no place to rest*
how do you know if you've passed the test?
don't look back once you have decided**
you can't follow jesus if your heart is divided

you fool! you fool! don't waste your life
when faced with a choice you must sharpen your knife
be on your guard against all kinds of greed***
seek first his kingdom in all your good deeds
don't worry, don't worry, what good will that do?
where your treasure is, there your heart will be too^

die to yourself and take up your cross
wanna follow him? gotta count the cost
gotta make the cut in your own story
i heard someone say "no guts, no glory"
this is what it takes to walk the road with the king
dying to your own desires: it's everything or nothing^^

talks 4-6 coming later....

----------------------------------------
*Luke 9:58
**9:62
***12:15
^12:34
^^14:33

The Random Rhyme Challenge

Just one passing comment’s all you need to get started
Then stuff in your memory that you thought had departed
Resurfaces, tries to break free from the grip
Should lock yourself up once the words start to slip

Need to write, need to write it all out on a page
Got thoughts in your head, set them free from their cage
It’s like a disease that becomes its own cure
Can’t stop until everything’s let out for sure

It’s twice the fun when all the words need to rhyme,
(Don’t ask – it just some how became this thing of mine)
And it’s also quite hard to make things stay in time,
(Sometimes you’ve just got way too many ideas and you want to say them all in one line…)

ANYway…

So if the writing bug’s bitten you hard on the head
Don’t stay up tonight tossing and turning in bed
Get up and log on and show us what you’ve got
There’s no better place to write stuff than on Blogspot…

This is sounding so random and a little bit weird
But I’ve had writer’s block for about half the year
Don’t write very well but keeps me entertained
Avoiding assignments is my favourite game

The way that I’m going, won’t get any work done
I wonder why? This is just so much more fun
Now for half the week I’ll have rhymes on my brain
If I start talking like this, I’ll drive people at KYCK insane

Now I really should go, got so much to do,
Don’t know what the point of this post is, do you?
To take up the challenge, let it rip on the comments,
(Just keep it clean, or straight to the trash it'll be sent.)

Gotta go, gotta go, but now I’m feeling much better,
There’s something therapeutic about lines and letters,
Don’t take this too seriously; this week’s been rather long,
But if feeling adventurous, you could even try a song…

Words! Excuse me while I turn your comments into a poem...

Ice-cream remnants pooled at the bottom of your bowl
Could drink it now but it would no longer be cold
Black coffee steam condenses closely on the lens
Flashes capture lines and hues, they gently blur and blend

Going slowly crazy and then quickly insane
Falling into dreams of the mentally deranged
Visions of the future in a dark, low resolution
Forecasting your evenings of short-lived absolution

A pure sugar high doesn’t let your brain know why
The sweetness no longer makes your tastebuds dance
With salt in your wounds is it hard not to choose
A shrunken core over fruitless romance?

Slowe-ly going insane

Need to write

give me some words

Sick

Aaarrgh God, why am I so crap?










That's why we have Jesus =)



Happy Easter everyone.

Random

Found this taped to the glass of one of the shelters at Victoria Park bus stop yesterday...came back today with a camera just to take a picture of it... *click to read*

10 second update of my life

1. Work: argh!
2. Uni: argh!
3. Glue: awesome!
4. Music ministry: awesome!
5. QTs: better than last year due to No.3, but still lots of room for improvement.
6. Social life: pretty good, I have awesome friends =D
7. Family: um...same old...with new bathroom in house =)
8. Guitar, and jazz piano stuff: at the moment, gathering dust =( (probably due to No.1)
9. Driving: let's not go there!
10. Song/poetry writing attempts: none over the past few months (refer also to No. 1...and prob no.2 as well)

OK, that probably took more than 10 seconds.
So. I might as well keep going.

11. Recent CD purchases:
The Beatles - 1 (Yay, 27 tracks for $15! I love Dirt Cheap =) Anyway, this album brings back memories of lounging around in Cat's parents' house in England...)
Switchfoot - Learning to Breathe ($10 from Koorong =) Better than their new one!)
Compliments of Gus - Neon Show & Live At Baker Street (limited edition 2 disc set) (cos I felt guilty for having a cassette tape of Neon Show ripped off from Pun's CD in Year 12)

LOL

12. Keeping up-to-date with people's blogs: rather eratic, but then a lot of them don't post very often anymore either...
13. Posting on own blog: whenever I feel like it...
14. Chiro appointments: down to fortnightly starting from this week!
15. New addictive TV show: Heroes! (8:30 Wednesday nights, Channel 7)
16. EU: not going to public meetings this semester anymore, but going to a cosy three-person small group on Friday arvos...hopefully will get more ppl...?
17. 21st planning: getting there slowly...Mum is probably thinking about it more than I am at this stage...

Um....can't think of anything else that's going on at the moment!

So...



How are YOU?

Ooooo....Ahhhhh

Singing is fun =)

Amazing Alliteration

I discovered this poet's website from a friend's email...

The Messiah’s Model Message

My Master
most magnified be your moniker.

May your monarchy be made
and your mandate manifested
in the mundane domain of man
as it is in your Mystical Mansion and matching meadows.

Maintain my milk and munchies.

Make minimal mention of my many mistakes
as I make minimal mention
of the many mistakes made against me.

And may you manoeuvre me in such a manner
as to miss the mischievous movements
of the meddlesome Master of Meanies.

For you are the Monarch of Monarchs -
the most mighty;
the most magnifique!
For millennia and millennia…

Amen-ia



--Cameron M. Semmens

=D


Check out one of the other poems, "Wine, Women and Wild Wonders " as well...

Awake is the new sleep

You know, it's just dawned on me that I have at least 15 waking hours in a day....now if only I had the energy or the will to use them all effectively...

Praise You In This Storm - Casting Crowns

I was sure by now
That You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say "Amen", and it's still raining

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
"I'm with You"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
Every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to You
You raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can't find You?

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
"I'm with You"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
Every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth

~~~~~
Psalm 121:1-2

New-ness

So. It seems like over the past few months I have acquired a whole lot of new things. New job, new mobile, new mobile number, new mattress/new bed, new bathroom, new ministry roles, new Bible study group, newly diagnosed health problem, new Ps (yes, as of last Friday, but it doesn't mean anything, I'm worse than I was when I was on my Ls), not to mention that this blog is on the new Blogger, and this week I shall get a new haircut (finally). And of course, this is a new post, for those who have been getting bored of the Valentines' Day one....speaking of which, one thing I can't add to the list of new things is "new relationship status" (unlike a seemingly large number of people lately) , and thank God for that, because that certainly would have been one new thing too many. But I think what I am starting to get is a new (or not so new?) perspective of certain things...anyway, hopefully this year will be all good. Well it will be busy and different, but all good, I hope.


And for those who are wondering, no I haven't finished uni yet, still going...one subject this semester, one subject next semester...and then....I don't really want to think about next year's...
**hums funeral march**
....PGTC (that's the pharmacy graduate training course, for those of you lucky enough not to know what it is)


Oh and Happy 21st Cat!
(and then there were two... =P)

Cupid strikes

So I guess Valentines' Day didn't turn out to be such an insignificant day after all...

There was:

• 1x engagement (church ppl)
• 1x wedding (pharmacist from work)
• 1x birth of twins (church ppl)
• 1x loss of an eight(?) year bet (school ppl)..

...As well as 1x Broadway construction complications (see comment on previous post), which had a reprise today when at around 4pm, some panelling from the newly erected escalators came loose, and so they had to fence off our area of the shopping centre again.

Which meant nearly no customers for the rest of the day! (= getting paid to do very little)

YAWN + YAWN = ??

...I guess it would equal a dislocated jaw.


So...it's Valentine's Day tomorrow.


Mmm-hmmm.


Like, whatever.


So....I'll be working 9-8 tomorrow (yes, I'll be there alllllllll day) and 9-6 on Thursday, so come and visit me if you like =)

How To Save A Life - The Fray

Step one you say we need to talk
He walks you say sit down it's just a talk
He smiles politely back at you
You stare politely right on through
Some sort of window to your right
As he goes left and you stay right
Between the lines of fear and blame
And you begin to wonder why you came

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

Let him know that you know best
Cos after all you do know best
Try to slip past his defence
Without granting innocence
Lay down a list of what is wrong
The things you've told him all along
And pray to God he hears you
And pray to God he hears you

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

As he begins to raise his voice
You lower yours and grant him one last choice
Drive until you lose the road
Or break with the ones you've followed
He will do one of two things
He will admit to everything
Or he'll say he's just not the same
And you'll begin to wonder why you came

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

Waaahs and Yays

Waaah no. 1
I think I've forgotten how to play guitar. Plus I haven't written anything in ages. Oh well. Maybe I'll come back to it a bit later when I'm *more mature* and have more writing material...cos at the moment I think if I try to write anything it will be kinda sucky...

Waaah no.2
What am I going to do for my 21st?? Hmmm it's February....am I meant to start planning now?

Waaah no.3
Bathroom renovations = no showers at home

Yay no.1
Glue is back on!

Yay no.2
My collection of freebies from work is growing. I might post a picture up sometime.

As an aside, I think my workplace is rather "worldly". Hmmm, probably need to be "on guard" in certain areas.

Yay no.3
Um....can't think of one. I suppose that would make it a Waaah no.4.

Waaah.


[EDIT]

Wait I've got one!

Yay no. 3
Finally got to see what Wii looks like at Lena's party last night. Quite a good game for large parties, as can be played by lots of people simultaneously.

Waaaah no.5
I have a wonky spine! (scoliosis) We'll see how that's going in a few months time...

Plus I had my BP measured and it barely made 90/60. Hrmmm....

...

I should sleep

When I Survey

When I survey the wondrous Cross
On which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it Lord that I should boast
Save in the death of Christ my God;
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, HIs hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down;
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were an offering far too small,
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my life, my soul, my all.

Isaac Watts (1674-1748)

KYLC

Off to Katoomba for five days...

Quack

New year, new me

Or at least that's what the whole New Year's resolutions thing is about anyway. But I've never really made any. Maybe this year I should?

Resolutions or not, I guess this year will be different anyway, because for the first time I will be working more hours than I study. (And I will actually have money. Wow. How scary.)

Work is a funny thing. Unlike study, you can leave work at work when you go home for the day, but at the same time it can s l o w l y t a k e o v e r y o u r l i f e......well, it's very easy if you let it, anyway. But then work also makes rest and play more....how to put it....well, it makes rest more restful and play more enjoyable. Yes. Hmmmm.

Hmmm.


[EDIT]:
spot the difference...