Monday, December 29, 2008

After last YNet service


Yiting, why did you disappear at this second?? :p

Sher Minh, Michelle, Meiqi and Amanda, you were missed!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Song: Only Hope

I remember when i was only a one or two-year old Christian, this is one of the songs that God used to draw me near Him. I remember myself spending beautiful moments with Jesus singing this song to Him.

The female character who suffers from terminal leukemia in the movie 'A Walk to Remember' sang this song to God, proclaiming Him as her only hope - shown in the video below.


Only Hope - Mandy Moorp>


There's a song that's inside of my soul.
It's the one that I've tried to write over and over again
I'm awake in the infinite cold.
But you sing to me over and over and over again.

So, I lay my head back down.
And I lift my hands and pray
To be only yours, I pray, to be only yours
I know now you're my only hope.

Sing to me the song of the stars.
Of your galaxy dancing and laughing and laughing again.
When it feels like my dreams are so far
Sing to me of the plans that you have for me over again.

So I lay my head back down.
And I lift my hands and pray
To be only yours, I pray, to be only yours
I know now, you're my only hope.


I give you my destiny.
I'm giving you all of me.
I want your symphony, singing in all that I am
At the top of my lungs, I'm giving it back.

So I lay my head back down.
And I lift my hands and pray
To be only yours, I pray, to be only yours
I pray, to be only yours
I know now you're my only hope.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Beautiful Christmas Service


WELCOME CHIEW LI!!!

SO GOOD TO HAVE YOU, AMANDA!!!

SHER MINH AND MICHELLE, YOU WERE MISSED! :)


Dear girls,


I found this year really beautiful to have journeyed with each of you in different ways. I must say, many of you have grown in the Lord significantly. Praise God!

In the new year, we will still find ourselves at different faith levels and journeys. And i think the description of the body of Christ as the human body is most apt in depicting how we should move forward.

1 Corinthians 12:12-27
12The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13For we were all baptized by[c] one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

14Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

21The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" 22On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

27Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

It is extremely important and strategic for us to build one another (not leaving anyone aside) up in the new year themed for FCBC 'Love Our Neighbours' (L.O.N). God will be using us to love and serve many. The My Hope parties were a good beginning; and each of you have done well. :)

love,
Mirabel

Monday, December 15, 2008

Dear Ying Shuen!

We had a guest with us before the My Hope meeting last Thursday. Especially for me, it was great to catch up with dear Ying Shuen again. :)


Sunday, December 14, 2008

December 14th Group Photos

Hi lovelies! :0)

Here are the group photos taken for this Sunday's after service dinner. Ha ha, we had SUCH a blast, should we not do this more often? These are all the "resized" group photos, those personal shots that we took like 1-1 or those random ones, please get them to me through MSN ok?

Please click on each image to get the full-scaled version.

GroupPhoto1Resized

GroupPhoto2Resized

GroupPhoto3Resized

GroupPhoto4Resized

GroupPhoto5Resized

GroupPhoto6Resized

GroupPhoto7Resized

GroupPhoto8Resized

We're too amazing. Hope you enjoy the GG-inspired pictures above (the girls know what we mean right?) Hahaha, OH YES. DID ANYONE NOTICE THAT MICHELLE IS WEARING A DRESS? MIRABEL! MIRABEL!

Lotsa Love
God Bless

You know you love us.

Happy Xmas in Advance!

Monday, November 17, 2008

This is our GOD



Hey girls!

Here's a short message right before i go to take a short nap & after that get ready to fly off to bangkok. I really had such a wonderful day, and you girls were SO awesome, you know those that there there. You all looked SO AMAZING, Ha ha and everyone was so lovely and warm towards us.

I remember there was a really sweet moment when i met jamie (cos I had a committee meeting earlier) and we met this uncle in hall 9, this really sweet and lovely old uncle who'd ALWAYS greet us so friendly and warm, and he wanted some money to eat. It felt so great at that moment, because it was like when he asked me and Jamie, i felt like the person asking wasn't Him, but it was like Jesus Christ. And i remember in the Bible, it said once "Whenever you give, Give in the name of Christ" it was so great, and i really felt the presence of God the WHOLE WHOLE day.

Anyway, long story short. I was really exhausted and i could not WAIT to get home and sleep during chingay rehearsal, and i was looking on youtube for "This is Our God" by Hillsong, because we sang it today in service :0) and I found this video.

The lead singer was sharing what happened right before she sang this song, and how she had just a week ago before she had to do the album, she gave birth to a baby but it was only 23+ weeks old (so it was premature and really young) and how, she and her husband spent the day praying and accompanying the child, in the end, the child didn't last & it went back to Christ.

What really pulled me in was the motivation, the STRENGTH, the COURAGE, and the Faith that She had to trust in God so mightily and readily, with such insane excellence. She mentioned in the video that it didn't change anything, God was still the most awesome God, He was still the glorified One, and that she'd still always serve Him and love Him just the same.

It encouraged me, i know today Pastor Khong was preaching about having the spirit of excellence and after service, how all of us had shared how much we wanted to change, and really have that spirit of excellence in us. And yet, i wanna tell ya that, after today when you go back to the weekdays, to the workplace, or to any area where God wants you to serve

When you face a obstacle, and you feel discouraged and feel declined to give your best and your most excellent, God is still gonna be there, He's still gonna be the SAME, and that no matter what, He's never gonna change.

If today, we feel inclined by this sermon to do our best, our most excellent just cos the Pastor said so, just cos a cell leader said so, than change that thought. Because no matter WHAT you go through, all the problems, all the worries, and all the changes, Nothing has ever changed.

Dont be discouraged just by one small little thing,
But be encouraged by EVERY LITTLE ACTION.

It doesn't change anything in your life when something goes wrong,
But it changes EVERYTHING in you :0)

Ha ha hope it's not toooo long winded, have a wonderful week!

XOXO
Nicolette

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Why is it so hard for me to get to sleep?
I'm practically turning in at 4am (earliest) everyday.
Damnnnnnnnnnnnnn.
I better take care of myself.
Can't afford to miss dance practice anymore.
Burnnnnnnn fatsssssssssss.
Bye.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Sher Minh's 16th Birthday



Happy 16th Birthday!

Yeah, in the month of November we're in the full-fledge mode of Celebrating Birthdays! And this time, it's Sher Minh's SWEET Sixteen Birthday :D Dear girl, your finally out of 15, reaching 17 soon but now your super sweet candy lovin' 16.

All the uploaded photos for Minh's Birthday can be found here, they're just nice to save' or to print out in 4R photos, if you need bigger piccys, you know who to contact.


(Click the picture above to get to the pictures)

XOXO
Nic.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Jamie, Nicolette & Dina at July's Encounter Camp



With Qingxiu and Joey from Lindee's cell

Friday, November 7, 2008

Nicolette's Reflections

Hi guys, here's some reflections i had this week, wanted to share with you guys in more detail and what God has shown me through this week, i hope that He worked in areas of your life this week & that His blessing and providence will always be upon you & your family :0)
God Bless
Nicolette

I had a very blessed and "emotional" encounter this week as I was heading to cell. My friday was really peaceful and blessed indeed as God had shown me alot of areas which I had been neglecting and taking for granted, I repented and I felt that "warm" sense of His presence that hugged me so greatly - Indeed, He IS:

Holy and Faithful
Saviour, and Friend
All I ever need

You are every question answered
You are every reason why
You are moving, you are still.
You Are.
(Part of the song "You Are" by Mike Roach)

Along the way to cell, I met a old lady in about her late 70's perhaps, She had went to collect cardboard boxes and all those miscellaneous items like most people I'd see in my area doing, but for some reason I felt a jerk as I stopped to look at her.

God popped a question in my head "How would Jesus react if He saw this old lady? Would He say "Oh no, I can't help her now. I have Cell" or "She'll be fine, God is with her"? Would He even take a step to PAUSE and think of what to do? Indeed no, He would just walk over to her and offer to help her, because He is Jesus, the Jesus we know." I knew I would be slightly late if I did walk over to help her, but it isn't about time, what you have to do, or what was important i realized. When someone was in need, a person in your life stepped in and helped you, He even died for you. That person was Jesus.

As i helped her carry the bags, train of thoughts started running in my head. She was limping, and couldn't walk very well, in slow and steady steps, she used a old shaky umbrella as her "walker" to keep her steady, each and every step she took sent a sharp pain in my heart. I felt like crying right there and than, it was aching pain in my heart, I couldn't bear to see her walk those steps.

She lived at the 7th story, she had to climb up a short flight of stairs, before steadily getting into the lift to get to the 5th floor, after than she still had to walk a route preceding to another staircase and walk up two flights of stairs, as I followed her, I felt intense pain and worry for her "Why was she staying so far up? with such inconvenience! What kind of horrible building is this?! It's so inconvenient for old people!" "Where was her family, her sons, her daughters, didn't they care about this lady here?" So much unjustified thoughts infiltrated my head.

When we finally reached her house, she thanked me, and she slowly stepped into her house. At that moment, I really wanted to forget everything i had, every appointment, every worry, i felt at that moment, the most important person i wanted to spend time with.

When I was walking to stairs, I was fighting back the tears that was held in my eyes. There was so many things that I had taken for granted, i had a house that was easily reached, i had hands and legs to guide me, i could change my clothes or throw away anything that was "old" or "broken". I was richly fortunate. I can't explain exactly how I feel inside, but i feel as if i don't deserve all of this. God showed me, and He said that He came down not for the fortunate or the wealthy, or people who were already well. He came for the sick, for the needy, for the poor, for the misfortunate.

For every person at the mrt, in the street, in orchard road, for every old man and woman, and begging child and needy person you saw overseas, Jesus came down for those people.

Sometimes, I felt "weird" whenever I was more compassionate than nessecary, or more giving in the way i do things. I wouldn't mind giving someone $10 to a random stranger who asked me for it, even if that meant i didn't have anything to eat. God showed me, that if it was Jesus, He might have even invited this complete stranger into His home to eat, to fellowship, and to start a friendship with the stranger. What more if it's just a small token of whatever I could afford? God works in amazing ways and today He worked and untied more knots in my heart than I could have ever undone myself.

:0)

Also! This verse spoked out greatly to me while I was doing my QT.

"Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control" Proverbs 25:28.

Many times i'm not able to have such strong self control of my feelings, but what God spoke to me (or made me realise, and open my eyes) was that He was my wall, Jesus Christ, God, Him, He was my wall. My pillar of support, that LEANING grace that I could hold on to through all things.

Through all wars, difficulties, problems, and fears, His wall will stand firm and protect me. He is like the wall that surrounds me, protecting me from all evil, knowing that He is there, I have nothing or no one to fear of, and that wall cannot be broken, it cannot be shattered, or pulled down. No matter what happens, He always live in me for "Christ Jesus has crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires" (Galations 5:22-24, part of it).

I have been written clean! :0) And so have you.

Yup, thats my reflections. Ha ha sry it's a bit long!

XOXO
Nicolette

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Fruit of the Spirit: Patience

Patience

  • Jesus' Patience - Isaiah 53:27 'He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open his mouth'

    - An attitude of forbearance under provocation, entertaining no thoughts of actions when wrongfully treated

    - An attitude of courageous endurance under difficult circumstances, without murmuring, complaining, or quitting BUT waiting in hope


  • History of the word
    Greek word for patience is macrothumia - macro: long, thumos: temper
    - idea of anger taking very long to build before it is expressed
    - if and when expressed, it is under control.


  • Divine order: Love, joy, peace, patience... Has first 3, we will have patience.
    (Mirabel emphasised the importance of knowing the Fruit of the Spirit in the order Paul wrote in the Bible cos' it implies a divine order)


  • God is patient with us.
    Read Nehemiah 9:6-9, 11-13, 15-17, 19, 21, 25, 28, 30-31.

    v.30-31 For many years You were patient with them. By Your Spirit You admonished them through Your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you handed them over to the neighbouring peoples. But in Your great mercy You did not put an end to them or abandon them, for You are a gracious and merciful God.

  • Do you have God's kind of patience? Rate 1-5.

  • What block patience? (2 main things)

    i. Impatience often comes because of faulty or inappropriate goals
    > perfectionist?

    ii. Holding on to rights
    - Do you dare to leave things totally in God's hands?
    - Do you dare to be out-of-control, and to admit you are?

  • Lack of patience WILL cause us to disobey God.
    - Read Numbers 20:10-12 - Moses was angry with the Israelites for their disobedience and was unwilling to surrender his anger to God even while carrying out God's work.
  • -Result: Moses could not enter the promised land.

  • How is patience developed?***

    i. See (others) through Jesus' eyes

    In the scenarios below, Jesus' thoughts are marked in italic:

    We may wonder:
    Why are they acting the way they are? It could be because of tremendous pain or loss in their lives.
    Why do they seem so arrogant, distant or unwilling to develop a friendship? It could be that they are protecting themselves from rejection.
    Why does their heart seem so hard towards the things of God? It could be that they have had an incredible loss and they are blaming God. (very easy for anyone to do so)

    Our patience and understanding can be used by the Holy Spirit to help others.

    ii. Imitate Christ who is our example;
    stay close in your relationship with God and His character

    - 1 Peter 2:20b-23
    But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps.
    "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth."

    When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted himself to Him (God) who judges justly.


    - Remember the character of our patient God in Nehemiah 9:30-31.
  • Saturday, October 4, 2008

    My beautiful friend on my China trip

    Gotta post a nice photo to 'counter' the funny photos in the previous post. Ha.

    This is the 70+ year old lady whom i told some of you about. She has a childlike spirit that i am really drawn to. I also prayed for her to encounter Jesus again in her life! :)

    Wednesday, October 1, 2008

    Are We Crazy?

    Please See note: Please note, that we don't mean any harm when we post up such cute funny pictures of our brothers and sisters, ha ha! But we really want to extend our gratitude to the funny and adorable people who unknowingly/knowingly posed for such "photographs" :0) Because it really is worth showing as to how "crazy and mad" we can get, especially when We Live for God!

    Let me know if you feel sensitive/uncomfortable with the photos below, and I'll take it down asap.


    Hey Guys! :0)

    Just for perks, here are some cute and funny photos I found when going through my photography folders. Ha ha, some perky snapshots of some of us and even our brothers having the weirdest/funniest pose in a picture, and also at that time not realising that one day it could be posted up on the World Wide Web for all to see.

    Mwahahaha, Ulterior Blackma-- Okay. It's just a small collection I gathered up from the recent events, Ha ha there's lots more! But that's going to be kept for Christmas ya know?

    Hugs
    XOXO
    Nicolette

    Subject: "Snap! Your on Candid Camera!"
    What were they thinking, and how did that picture appear?






    Taken on MRT - Michelle's Birthday
    Person(s): Jamie and Michelle (They're a little wonky, but we still love them just so you know)


    Taken on MRT - Michelle's Birthday
    Person(s): Kai, Michelle, Sherminh


    Taken on MRT - Michelle's Birthday
    We deny knowing them and classified them as crazy people.
    (Okay fine, the one with the hat is called Chris, and the other one Kai....)


    On the MRT - Michelle's Birthday







    Okay, Ha ha! So just so you know, this is for fun and not saying that we're really crazy or insane in anyway. It's just a set of funny pictures at random events, and some of them we staged because we love making funny faces and acting like crazy people! (and sometimes admitting it)

    But on the otherhand, Incase you think we really are sane.... We thank you. Yes, but I wanted to show to you one photo which was captured au naturel meaning, no staged whatsoever! So, you can think for yourself inside of your great brain: Is She Crazy? Are we Really telling the Truth? Are we Lying? Oh no..... Are we crazy?!?!?

    Have a nice day!
    God Bless and Much much Love
    Thanks for viewing this :0)

    Thanks for letting us toy with your brains ha ha.

    Thursday, September 25, 2008

    21st September 2008

    Happy Birthday to Our Special Gir! :)

    I Plead Guilty! Ha ha I confess, I'm sorry I'm late in posting up the pictures! I've been spending my days at Trybe playing monopoly, eating lunch and copy writing things for my literature lol :0) Anyway, b-t-w I got the photos on Sunday night from J's camera but only managed to successfully resized and chose the awesome & brilliant pictures to capture a very eventful and memorable day.

    *


    *

    (DRUM ROLL) ......

    *

    *

    *


    Huiming's 18th Birthday!
    Gosh, your such a bashful fun to be around gir!
    :)

    Yeah, it's finally her big happy day! So it's like super dooper awesome isn't it? Anyway, we secretly had a present for her with her favorite color in mind (shh) we tried to hide it in church and hopefully we did manage to keep it away from ya, right Ming? Ha ha! And it was DIY ok!

    After service & processing, We went to 18 Chefs which is absolutely a beautiful and fantastic food to dine at, their baked rice is to die for, and there's just option after option, so yeah we actually spent 10 minutes trying to figure out our sauces/main ingredient/topping/drink/etc. On top of that, the chef Benny has a great history to where the restaurant has come to today.

    If your interested click here (a food review done by ieatishootipost but it also tells about the history of Benny, the chef too!) to explore :0) Lets just say, that He was trained by Jamie Oliver.... Yeah, so no, Not our Jamie Lim!!! er Jamie can cook good instant noodles though! Hahaha

    Without further due, here are the wonderful photos!

    P/S: We also had some wonderful sweet brothers who came along to celebrate Huiming's Birthday at 18 Chef's :) They're: Chris, Chee Aik, Cerwin, Shawn, Kai and a new brother that came to church last sunday mostly-known as: Max! Welcome to Max Pavillion, Expo Hall 9 FCBC Max! Hahah!



    The boys were seriously anticipating their food arrival/or consuming them as you can see, Oh well (rolls eyes) typical.. pi- Patient, brothers we have. :0)



    Cerwin's food was the first to come, Look at that cheese man! It looks like creme brulee here, but it was really cheese! Isn't that amazing?! Thank you God for cheese! Ha ha, and Cerwin, decided to show you guys how much he LOVES the cheese!

    Readers, I present to you, Cerwin's Photo of Affection to: Cheese.





    Oh yeah, Jamie was there too! She & her brilliant spunky shade of emerald green dress (which she bought) that brought out her sunny cheeky tan, and her shiny teeth!






    We were saying grace by the way :0)



    Two more cheese photos, above and below!.... Melt away at that cheese Jamie Lim (if your reading) Hahahahaha! And whoever else!





    Do you notice a certain shade of bright yellow glaring into your eyes?
    Yeah, that's Sherminh the Lemon Lover! Later on, you'll see how the title incoporates into our new clique gang, just scroll on down!





    Okay, Can we do this? Yeah We can....

    Happy Birthday to you!
    Happy Birthday to you!
    Happy Birthday to Huiming!
    Happy Birthday to YOU!

    Your finally beautiful, wonderful, amazing 18. Embrace the moment, girl! :0) You are a special talented, gorgeous and aspirational daughter of God that never settles for less than what is worthy of you!







    Although it can't really be seen right, there's one doodle on the bottom left hand corner which was drawn by Sherminh! :0) And it's super fantastic, it shows a future drawing of one of Huiming's dream career: Hairdresser! Ha ha, it shows Huiming washing/cutting Jamie's hair, Gosh so glam!





    ....Introducing....

    The Powerpuff Girls v2
    FCBC "M" Parade Version
    Coming soon to Theatres

    Here are our hot, spicy and warm girls!
    with a newest addition to the group...

    Introducing!



    Lemon lover, most commonly known as Sherminh!
    She's got character, she's got spunk, she's sometimes tangy and sends a shiver up your bone, at other times she's sweet as can be and makes your life go yellow like the sun ;)

    Welcome to the group!



    Our group shot!
    Due to certain restrictions and limited supply on-hand, we were made to substitute certain spices/ingredients to sub as one of our girls, please note that we made it according to the character of which the power puff girl was sporting that night.

    Go figure out yourself how we were that night by reading that! :) No guarantee that you'll get it right though, Ha ha ha!



    Contrary to popular belief...
    We are actually very nice, and kind, and sweet to all! We have lovely smiles, and we are not crazy, nonsensical or sometimes absurd at any times....



    But usually conditions change, depending on whether or not we take our medicines or not ya know?



    Yeah... er. But we still love Huiming and wanna wish her Happy Birthday! :D









    That was the end of this day.

    It was such a memorable filled, inducing with laughter, happiness, sweet sorrow, and hugs and blowing kisses everywhere! We absolutely enjoyed, embraced and loved every single moment, and especially for one girl in our cell.

    This is what we want to say to her!
    (You know who you are... huiming!)

    You are the sunlight to our days,
    You are the random happiness that fills into our lives,
    We just want to tell you,
    How much you make us smile
    And no matter what anyone else says bout' you
    We want to say that, We your family k!
    So we're always here for you!

    You inspire us, time and time again
    Encouraging, Motivating, Telling us
    In your own way,
    How much we can fight and dare to dream
    For the unknown!

    When you tell us all about your aspirations,
    In our hearts, we want to have that kind of courage like you do!
    To step up, take faith and be Bold for Christ.

    We never once doubted the great future He has planned out for you,
    So no matter what happens
    No matter how deep, down, or bad you feel
    Be motivated! Be strong! Remember,
    Christ lives in Us all. His Love overcomes all fears.

    You are beautiful both outside and inside,
    Your side swept bangs, your cheerful big laughter,
    And your friendly demure sweeps us off our feet! (literally!)

    Think of it this way Ming :0)
    When someone says something bad about you,
    Christ tells you 100 things He loves about you!
    When someone says you are Awesome
    Christ tells you 1000 things more to top that off
    When someone says he/she loves you
    Christ says to you that He is Love, and He shows to you
    His scars, When He died on the cross for you, and that He lives through you.

    Yes, Never give up!
    Cos your 1 Year Wiser,
    1 Year Older,
    1 Year Much better than the last
    If you ever think, that you're not ready to grow up
    Know that, Christ had it all planned up.
    His time, His way, and Your life in His hands :0)
    So don't worry about a thing ya?
    Cos "Trust the Lord in All things..."
    "Cast thy Burdens upon Thee Lord"

    Much much love
    We love love you so much!
    Hugs XOXO

    The "M" Parade
    Mirabel, Nicolette, Jamie, Sherminh, Dina, Eunice
    Cassandra, Dina, Meiqi, Michelle, Amanda