There’s a rock that doesn’t move,
It hasn’t moved, it will never move,
Even though the waves come crashing down.
There’s a tower on a hill, its always strong,
It will never shake,
It was standing there before the world began.
There’s a wave that’s coming in,
Washing over this town, it will make or break us, reinvent us,
It’s time to lay me down.
On Christ the solid rock we will stand,
All other ground is sinking sand.
On Christ the solid rock we will stand,
We’ll climb on your back, take us to higher ground.
There’s a song that doesn’t fade,
It never fades it was custom made,
To raise the sons and daughters of this earth.
There’s a sound that’s coming in,
Rushing over this town, it will make or break us, reinvent us; it’s time to lay me down.
My hope is built on nothing less,
Than Jesus blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus name.
When darkness seems to veil his face,
I rest on his unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
His oath his covenant and blood,
Support me in the ‘whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.
When the last trumpets voice shall sound,
O then I may in him be found,
Clothed in his righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before his throne.
11 CREATIVE HABITS
shape the game i play :D, not play the game i know
1) Watch a foreign movie once a month.
2) Use my left hand to write for one whole day.
3) Learn to say "Hello" in twenty languages.
4) Learn to juggle 3 balls.
5) Learn a magic trick and wow some friends with it.
6) Create a children story. Read it to some children.
7) Learn a new language - Korean, Thai or French.
8) Memorise and recite a Tang poem. Write it out too.
9) Read a magazine on a totally unfamiliar subject. (Like 'Australasia Scuba Diver')
10) Read a Chinese fiction book once a month.
11) Memorise a Bible verse a week.
P R O F I L E
Yvonne Low
Happy. Grateful. Loved.
Finish strong
Quotes Meaningful
"Were the whole realm of nature mine
That were an offering far too small
Love so amazing, so divine
Demands my soul, my life, my all."
(Isaac Watts, 1674-1748)
"My life is a gift to me from my Creator.
What I do with my life is my gift back to my Creator."
(Billy Mills, Winner of the 1964 Olympic 10,000m)
Quotes Quirky
The rain to the wind said,
"You push and I'll pelt."
(Robert Frost (1874-1963), U.S. poet. "Lodged.")
"Many people buy what they want, so they will not want. But the truth is that much of what they buy they do not want."
(Edward G. Dobson)
RANDOM 17
quintessentially yvonne a woman of grace and courage
1) Love my dearies, Samuel and Sarah.
2) Stll miss my Sam and Sly.
3) Read extensively.
4) I have at least a 1000 books at home.
5) Drink moderately - alcohol, coffee and tea.
6) Run regularly. That's a good time to be alone.
7) Don't box me in or clip my wings.
9) Don't like to compare myself with others.
10) I try to be better than myself.
11) Living Lasting Legacy.
12) Connect with creative people.
13) A loyal friend.
14) Love Hong Kong drama serials.
15) A maverick at heart.
16) Love to encourage people.
17) A dreamer
PLAYS, MOVIES & BOOKS
if i am too busy to read and watch, i am too busy
June 2009
1) Movie: The Taking of Pelham 123 - John Travolta, Denzer Washington
2) Play: The Crab Flower Club - Toy Factory Productions Ltd
3) Movie: Cashless - Danny Jow
July 2009
1) DVD: Road to Perdition - Tom Hanks, Paul Newman & Jude Law
2) Book(f): The Mark - Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins
3) Book(nf): The Charm of Simple Things - Maren Scott
4) Youtube: 伤城(Confession of Pain) - Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro & Shu Qi
5) DVD: 茶舞(One Last Dance) - 吳镇宇,狄龙,若瑄Vivian Hsu
6) Book(f): Our Iceberg Is Melting - John Kotter
7) DVD: 家(21集)- 黄磊,陆毅
8) Book(nf): The Integrity Factor: A Journey in Leadership Formation - Kevin W. Mannoia
August 2009
1) Book(nf): Teacher Man - Frank McCourt
2) Play: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare - By Reduced Shakespeare Company
3) Movie: Up
4) Book (nf): What I Talk About When I Talk about Running, a memoir - Haruki Murakami
5) Book (nf): Inspired To Pray - Phil Pringle
September 2009
1) Movie: Blood Ties - 还魂 (Blood Ties)- Joey Leong, Cheng Pei Pei, Kenneth Tsang, David Leong
2) DVD: The Proposal - Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds
3) DVD: X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Hugh Jackman, Ryan Reynolds
4) DVD: Mel Gibson's Passion - An interview with Primetime, ABC New's Diane Sawyer
October 2009
1) DVD: Amos & Andrew - Nicholas Cage, Samuel L Jackson
2) Book (nf): Tribes - Seth Godin
3) Book (nf) : Servant Leadership - Robert K. Greenleaf
November 2009
1) DVD: Ice Age
2) DVD: Up (in Cantonese)
3) Book (nf): God Is My CEO - Larry Julian
4) Book (nf): Focus on Leadership - Larry C. Spears & Michele Lawrence
5) Book (nf): Insights on Leadership - (ed)Larry C. Spears
6) Book (f): The Road to Cana- Anne Rice
December 2009
1) Play: 苏醒(Awaken)- By 佳禧传媒(Jes Media Production)
2) Book (nf) : The Bait of Satan - John Bevere
3) Book (nf): Beauty for Ashes - Joyce Meyer
T A G B O A R D
yakkity yak yak
Saluting all Teachers
1:06 AM - Sunday, August 30, 2009
These inspired words [composed in a superduper short time] will be broadcast to all teachers in Singapore. How cool!
Dear Teachers,
You are the unsung heroes behind many great men and women.
Excel and stay true to your calling and believe that your
Markson is only in his early teens but he has vision, spunk and determination.
Just early this year, he was awkward in his sharing of his magic skills, but on Friday when he rehearsed before his cell group his act for the coming Magic Show competition, i saw confidence and sure-footedness.
Mark me, Markson will excel on the stage of magic. Not only does he work hard on perfecting his skills, he's willing to invest time and money. He showed me who his teacher is and from what i gathered, he doesn't come cheap. An amazing trick can cost him $5000 and this guy Markson hopes to raise enough money just to learn that trick. And though costly, he believes he can earn back that amount in time to come.
He is also a humble guy. Exaltation to a high level of influence will be given to those who are humble.
A buddy quipped that i knew how to celebrate life cos i enjoy dining, drinking, chilling, attending parties, etc, etc.
It's true that i celebrate life more than before. And in a deeper way too.
To truly celebrate life is to be doing what you are designed to do by your Maker. When that happens, every day is a celebration, not a chore nor another day. Because God, the Maker of heaven and earth, is so creative, He has endless ideas of making His children happy.
When S & S were very young, i used to think of many ways to make them happy. One that worked very well was that of buying "surprises" for them every day. These were inexpensive chocolates, sweets, crackers, ice-cream, stickers, etc. When they heard the door bell rang, they would dart to the door and wait expectedly for me to say, "I've got a surprise for you!"
Their expectant and delightful tiny faces thrilled me no end - cos i knew i'd made them very happy.
Now that they are older, they would spell out specifically those things they wanted. Though their faces fell when i was unmoved about buying another pair of branded shoes or I-pod, they were nonetheless over the moon when i surprised them with a 'yes'.
If as a parent i think of ways to make my children happy, how much more will my heavenly Father do that for me?
In the next post, I'll share more thoughts on another key to celebrating life.
Today Singapore is 44 and I think of my place in this nation and how my life is so intertwined with her. I’ve never lived in another country so I can't compare nor judge if I truly will like Hong Kong, a city I like a lot or Sendai which I am still so fond of.
Sometimes I wonder what it’ll be like to be born and live in another place. But I’ve stopped all the fantasising after I came across this in the Bible:
From one man He has made every nation of men to live all over the earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live, So that they might seek God and perhaps they might reach out and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. Acts 17: 26-7
Knowing that God is the one who is fully responsible for putting me where I am – the family I’m born in, the relatives I have, the schools I studied in – and it was in my final year in RGS that I became a Christian, the companies I’ve ever worked in, the churches I go to, the country that gives me an identity in this world – helps me feel at peace.
God knows everything and He never makes any mistake. That’s why I’m comfortable about the education system [bilingualism, streaming, meritocracy], political system [inherited British system, dominant one party], cultural climate [acceptance of different races, customs, religions, languages] and I can go on, but I shall stop before the list bores you, the reader.
My identity is significantly shaped by the country’s identity and experiences. I feel so at home in Singapore and I don’t understand why some people berate this nation and pick on things like banned chewing gum or CCTV in the lift and how PM Lee is the son of MM Lee.
I say, just go and live somewhere else and while you are there, stop slinging mud from that distant. But remember to be a good citizen in the country you have chosen to pledge your loyalty to.
"God is good to my family. My sister is taking a sabbatical break from work life and one day she prayed to God to provide for her. Today, McDonald's Delivery called her and told her that she won a $10 000 cash prize. To God be the glory."
God is a perfect loving Father. He provides for His children who ask Him. The good news is that God has no adopted, foster, step or god children.
i love this verse tugged in the last chapter of Genesis. It's in chapter 50, verse 21 - "Therefore don't be afraid. I will provide [take care] of you and your little ones." The speaker here is Joseph, a type of Jesus. He was speaking kindly to his brothers who had once rejected him, wronged him and wanted him out of their lives. Joseph did not bear any grudges but benevolently forgave and comforted them.
It's the same as how we turn away from God and put ourselves in a dangerous state. God in His love and mercy will reach out to us and bring us safely back to Him. He will not give us the "I told you so, you foul sinner" tone or attitude. That is NOT the way of our loving God.
The little word "therefore" in particular reminds us how God always knows what we go through - whether it's finanical anxiety, mental instability or emotional bankrupcty.
"Therefore" is uttered to show how He understands that fear can assault us. That's why He assures us with these three words "Don't be afraid". When we are afraid, we sometimes think that we are stepping out of faith and not trusting God enough. But God did not say, "Don't be faithless". He recognises the fear that presses on us. Very gently and kindly, He says, "Don't be afraid".
He is never harsh or upset with us like some people do.
The genius of Shakespeare is that after all these hundreds of years his plays are still watched and appreciated by the 21st century man.
The audience at Drama Centre totally lapped up all his plays - wickedly twisted and compressed into 2 hours of rapid slap dash display of comedic timing and slapstick hilarity by 3 funny men of the Reduced Shakespeare Company.
From the moment a serious-looking English announcer stood on stage to remind the audience to switch off all sound devices and to get a handphone if they still have a pager :), there was not a dull moment. The 3 players leaped, danced and jostled on stage all the time - no exaggeration. It was full energy all the way. Volunteers got pulled onto the stage and were given names like Barbara and Bob [??]. The front row audience got vommitted on, theatrically, and some got sat on, physically.
It's money well spent, the players reminded us, and i so totally agreed. All $154.80.
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