Flap my wings and.... fly

Though i believe that i can fly, i am still learning to flap my wings with greater faith, towards the dreams God has placed in my heart.

O Lord, please be patient with me. i want to breakout... and soar too!

Love in Your eyes
Sitting silent by my side
　　Going on.. holding hands
　　Walking through the nights

　　Hold me up Hold me tight
　　Lift me up to touch the sky
　　Teaching me to love with heart
　　Helping me open my mind

　　I can fly
　　I'm proud that I can fly
　　To give the best of mine
　　Till the end of the time

　　Believe me I can fly
　　I'm proud that I can fly
　　To give the best of mine
　　The heaven in the sky

　　Stars in the sky
　　Wishing once upon a time
　　Give me love Make me smile
　　Till the end of life

　　Can't You believe that You light up my way
　　No matter how that ease my path
　　I'll never lose my faith

　　See me fly
　　I'm proud to fly up high
　　Show You the best of mine
　　Till the end of the time

　　Believe me I can fly
　　I'm singing in the sky
　　Show You the best of mine
　　The heaven in the sky

　　Nothing can stop me
　　Spread my wings so wide

What did my actions communicate?

This afternoon I chanced upon this devotional based on the scripture

Let us have real warm affection for one another as between brothers ... (Romans 12:10, Phillips)

The author goes on to say:

Genuine warmth is communicated more by our actions than by what we actually say. Speaking the right words will most likely be totally ineffective if our body language reflects condemnation or impatience or if we seem distracted or unfocused.

A caring tone of voice, eye contact, non-possessive touch, pleasant facial expressions, friendly gestures and a relaxed stance impart a sense of warmth and caring. A warm voice and a caring touch can bring peace and calmness to a brokenhearted person.

I was reminded of an incident last Saturday when a dear girl was pouring out her sorrows over things at home to me. But I chose the wrong timing and setting, and found myself looking away a few times to check if the programme i was overseeing was over. And once i saw the students flowing out, i said an abrupt 'Sorry dear... give me a minute', brisked off to attend to matters, and..... never got back to our talk till we were standing on the mrt platform near our homes. :S

Just now i smsed her to apologise for these, even though she did not express any sense of negligence or rejection.

I thank God for reminding me the importance of not just having sincere concern for someone, but most crucially, showing it.

I admit that sometimes I still have allowed myself to be sucked into the hurricane pace of life and getting work done in Singapore.

I am deeply sorry for those times when I expressed irritation and impatience to my mother when she asked me to help her with something the moment i plonked my tired body on the sofa after coming home.

O Lord, help me to fix my eyes on the person who needs me and give me the compassion and deep sensitivity to his/her needs, so that I will be focused on the promptings of the Holy Spirit to minister to him/her through warm and sincere gestures of affection.

To my cherished loved ones and friends, i am sorry if i have shown disinterest or unfocus when you speak to me. The truth is, i really care.

And i am learning still to be a better and focused listener. My attention spans are quite short.

Please do not stop coming to me and go to a teddy bear instead.

Anyway i know you won't. =p Heehee.

I sobbed myself to sleep because of these!

Thank you the many of you who dropped a birthday blessing for me physically, thru' the smses and celebrations etc last weekend. I was indeed overwhelmed. Birthdays do not mean a great deal to me, but nonetheless I am always deeply touched by every little loving gesture, especially the unexpected ones, on this day. *smiles*

On Thursday evening my date picked me up from my office and brought me to HER house for self-cooked dinner. Yesh my dear Ahmi Yp lovingly cooked for me! Awww I love her cooking.. and her. Ha. *wide grin*

After that on my way back i met up with a dear girl Xianglin who gave me a BIG bottle full of *stars* that she made herself, for me! *eyes almost twinkling with tears*

I was at my church's Encounter camp to serve as a guide over that weekend. Towards 12 midnight on Friday, after receiving a few smses (my dear daughter Amanda wanted to be the first to wish me, but alas she was not =p) and dozing off at the same time, my spiritual nieces Fidelia and Baoling suddenly woke me up at the tick of 12, and Fidelia presented me with her handmade present! What a precious doorknob hanger with my name on it!

The next morning i woke and was welcomed by my daughter Meiqi exclaiming 'Happy Birthday mi!' to me, while my eyes were still blurry. *grins*

As dawn broke, I took a while to admire the forest and morning sky - shades of yellow and orange were spilling over from the dazzling rising sun. Smiling, I exclaimed quietly 'Good morning Father' and then I heard a tender voice from heavens 'Happy Birthday, My daughter'. Awww that was the best birthday present I could ever get! My heart leapt with such joy and strength.

The day passed on quietly till evening when Ps Josephine came to me "I heard today is your birthday. So you must treat us Macs!" Ha. And she got all the guides and her tribe's leaders, together with Ps Seng Lee to sing and pray for me. I felt so blanketed by the love and warmth of the big spiritual family.

Everyone knows the guides usually wake earliest and retreat latest. Ha. As i dragged my feet back to my room that late night after a looooong debrief, the door opened to me, with a sudden burst of light and mighty chorus "Happy Birthday Mirabel!". Wow ALL the girls from YP tribe who were at encounter were inside with a slice of cake which i seriously didnt know how they smuggled in. Ha. They sure shook the whole level.

Straight after Encounter ended, some of my other daughters joined us to celebrate for me!







Thank you Meiqi for organising this, and making it so special for me, together with the above dearies. (To those who could not come and smsed me your blessings, I had been truly touched too!) *hugs*

Below: The videos containing my daughters' blessings that night! (Disclaimer: I seriously don't know why their blessings sang the same tune! Huh huh huh. Ha.)

And Novie, how come my voice and Meiqi's sound so 'deh' in the video. Eeee. Haha.

That night as i laid on my bed, thinking about these beautiful moments, and reading the cards of my daughters and others, i sobbed and sobbed and sobbed myself to sleep. So touched.

Especially that all these showed me a big portion of God's love for me. God's love through these wonderful people in my life. And yet it is only a fraction.

How great is Your love, my Lord.

In the dozens of prayers i received for my birthday, i heard a consistent thread of victory that the Lord is telling me through the words Tree, Reaping, Harvest, Many, Enlarged Territories.

I remember that when i began serving in ministry, i told God i want to be a Tree that shades, shelters and supports many. And He is affirming me now that i will be a Tree with branches even more widely spread out! =) Amen!

Thank you.

It has been a significant birthday for me this year. Awesome awesome awesome.

I am so overwhelmed by love, overflowing. Love leaps and bounds in my heart even. So much i cannot contain.

Will share more with pictures here. Right now just allow me to continue bathing and waddling in God's shower of love... ...

*wide grin*

After being Robbed

Saw this quote from biblical commentator Matthew Henry (pictured here). He wrote the following in his journal after being robbed:

“Let me be thankful—
First, because I was never robbed before.
Second, because although they took my wallet, they did not take my life.
Third, because although they took my all, it was not much.
And fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed.”

Can you do the same?

God calls us to "give thanks in ALL circumstances, for this is God's will for us in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Not just in favourable situations.

Mothers' Day pressie from my Daughters

So cuddly sweet.

And it's especially lovely that the bundle contains t w e l v e flowers (that look like mini rainbow apples).

Thank you, my precious-es,
Momobel

Booo

My eyebags are bigger than my eyes now!!

This is incorrigible. Heh.

Excuse me, are you Phantom?

(Alternative Post Title: When Christine kissed Phantom)

I watched the Phantom of the Opera on Tuesday, my second time since my primary school days. Gosh. Ha

There was a scene that especially captivated and touched me. Nope, not the part when Raoul and Christine serenaded to each other. But the part when Christine kissed the .unmasked. Phantom.

(For the sake of those who do not know, the Phantom is a horribly disfigured and deformed musical genius, as depicted in Gaston Leroux's originial 1910 novel of the Phantom of the Opera. Modern editions of the musical downplayed the extent of his disfiguration.)

It was at that scene, that moment, when the hardness of the Phantom's heart fell away.

It was then he decided he could let go for the best of his love, for the sake of love.

It was at that point ironically, when he finally found acceptance.

I wonder how many of us wear a mask in life.

Nope, it does not have to be physical deformity. But because of past rejections from loved ones and friends, many people do not dare to be themselves. They feel ugly. Some try so hard to dress or behave like another person that they lose themselves.

Let me clarify that it is okay to slow down revealing all of who you are, especially your weaknesses, to other people until you feel more assured that you can trust them.

But i suspect most of us let our self worth hinge on the opinion of the world so much, that we live lives through a mask and seek desperate means to conceal our flaws, weaknesses and mistakes. If someone else finds out about them, bang! No longer can we lift our heads high. (When Christine snatched the Phantom's mask away out of curiosity, he was intensely agonised and ran around frantically, covering his face with his hands).

Now, let's turn the scenerio back to when Christine kissed Phantom.

Finally someone looked beyond the flaws on his face.
On a surface which nearly every person scorned at and rejected, Christine instilled love, acceptance and grace, which seeped right through to the heart and softened it.

+ Do you feel like Phantom today?

I don't know if there's anyone around you who accepts you unconditionally. But i know Jesus always will. He did that for me, received me into His arms time and time again, whether i did well, did badly, felt beautiful or not. He is the only one who can give unconditional love and acceptance at all times anyway.

Let the magical touch of Christ' love and compassion receive you into His arms. If Christine, a human, could soften another's heart amazingly, Christ can change your heart and transform your life beyond your imagination.

+ Do you know any Phantoms around you?

You know them. They live lives behind a mask, and anytime their flaws are exposed, they shrink back in self-defeat and -condemnation.

It is your choice today whether you want to look beyond their mistakes and weaknesses, and offer a heart of compassion and hand of acceptance to them. Remember, a simple and sincere gesture of love on your part could unlock someone's heart and set him free today.

(Ehh, but please don't go around kissing others flippantly too. Save your best kiss for your husband or wife on your wedding! =) )

Nice. Niece + Spidey. Saturday

Had a nice lil' catchup over finger foods and drinks with my spiritual nieces, Joadine and Sijia last Saturday afternoon at Terra Cafe. =)

Then at night, a few of us, including Joadine went to catch Spiderman 3!

Enjoyed the show a lot, together with the additional 'entertainment' beside me. From the moment Kelvin's gigantic cup of drink could not fit into the cup holder to the incessant giggles he gave throughout the show (i seriously didn't understand too), i found myself giggling and laughing hard, half the time, at him and not about the movie scenes. =S

Niece Joadine and i took picture together for the first time!

Why two similar photos:

Pict One: Taken with Mirabel's Nokia N70

Pict Two: Taken with Eejay's Sony Ericsson K750





Daalaaaaaaaa... A spontaneous mobile phone comparison moment. And i was talking about the camera flash only. =p


I teared quite abit at the last part when the Sandman (played by Thomas Haden Church) repented and apologised to Spidey for killing his uncle Ben. In fact this character touched me terribly right from the beginning - i thought his fatherly love shone more brightly than any other aspect of him, to me.

it made me miss my own dad a lil (he's usually overseas). Aww...


Well, go catch Spidey 3! i like the seemingly unstyled image of Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson in this episode. =)


* * *

Thought i could add on yet another version of the first picture above. Daalaaa the effect of one simple step of Brightness/Contrast using Photoshop (Okok i agree that my N70's camera flash is lousy, ha)

[Newly Added]

a beautiful family

Look at my pretty sisters!

(From left. Stella, me, Aunna, Belle, Julee & Yvonne)

My Ahmi Yp and i happened to dress similarly that night. Even our poses seemed symmetrical. So funny.

The ever adorable Anna and Elsie!

Date with Yati

Yati is one of my life coachees in whom i have witnessed transformation thru' our journey together.

Reason? She has a desire to improve herself and pursues it.

And that, always touches me.

Boo, she said she still does not consider me a friend now. I exclaimed "WHYYYYYY??" and she told me she will always view me as her life coach.

I shan't debate over our differing definitions of a friend, ha, but really there is no need for the 'level difference' between us. =)

She shared many many things tonight. I had no solutions for her, but she expressed that tonight was already a breakthrough for her to be able to tell someone that much.

I can't tell you how, once again, i am so proud of her to dare to be brave.

To the rest of you and even for myself, i think we can learn from Yati in her courage to face up to her weaknesses and circumstances. That very first step of daring to be brave marks the beginning of the breakthroughs and breakouts for our lives.

Mirabel's up and mighty again!

Today, after one entire week of MC and of feeling groggy from medication,

I am up, bouncing strong and on fire again!

Yes i feel it so in my Spirit; i am already thinking of the people i want to invite for service this Sunday (heehee) and this morning i had an amazing time of worship with Jesus, declaring His victory over my family, ministry, etc.

i was especially moved to tears at one moment during worship, when i realised how close Jesus has really been for the past week. Once again i bow at how deeply HE really knows my heart - i wanted to structure my time of MC to spend quality time with Jesus, but the non-high-D and groggy me just could not and did not.

Nonetheless, Jesus initiated (as He always does). Arising out of this period of rest, i am so sure that i have fallen even more deeply in love with Jesus... through the random book-, bible-reading, and praying etc.

But hey, nothing is random in God's sense. He is a God of order (Romans 13:5, The Message Bible). =)

I'm singing.... for the glory of the Risen King!!!