STS Symphonic Band Concert

>


Last Saturday, we all trooped excitedly to watch Heather's school band concert. The school band has been working hard for the concert as well as the upcoming trip to Singapore for the music exchange programme.

Overall the girls did well. We managed to take some photos during the concert.

The band kicked off with the “Band Overture” and throughout the night you see the band girls having different attire for the different kinds of pieces played.

The Taylor Swift songs saw them all in pink and whites.




The flowery hippy dresses for the Beatles Song “ Here, Now & Everywhere”.

The black number for the "Full Throttle Funk".

Apart from the band performance, we had the Holloback girls performance. Faith enjoyed the very upbeat hip hop style.
Then we were highly entertained by the Desperados an offshoot of the band. These girls won the St Joseph School Idol Competition. They were cool.

Few days before the concert, Heather was asked to fill a 3 min gap between presentations. She chose “Croatian Rhapsody” coz she said it will not require a lot of practice time.
This video clip sees Miss Tan just out of the shower and having a final go at home before the real thing.

Grandpa was worried that Asher might doze off half way thru but he was wide awake till the very end. Faith was swinging and feet tapping or was is stomping ?? to the upbeat numbers. Hubby had a difficult time holding the camera with all that movement next to him.

As the curtains fall , and the instruments kept temporarily we just want to say we are proud of you HAT....eventho u make a lot of noise with the trumpet when u practice but you sure was good in all the presentations.

Not Your Typical Mom

I know a lot of moms who are very zealous in getting their kids involved in many activities (be it in or out of school) , joining competitions , learning a thousand and one stuff etc etc. I on the other hand wish that my kids are not so involved. I am always telling Heather... no more activities for you whether in school or in church. Being involved in the school brass band already consumes a lot of her time especially with the upcoming concert and Singapore trip. It's practice practice practice!!!!

Jordan is another one who gets this raw deal. Just keep to the minimal i.e Red crescent (no choice as he has to choose 1 uniform body ) and the Swimming Club. No Futsal or Football Clubs or Choral Speaking or whatever and also no tuition.

I take my hat off to moms who ferry their kids for the countless tuitions and activities. They are always on the road weaving thru traffic or jammed up somewhere.

I like to have my kids at home with us instead of out everywhere involving in various activities. Doing things together as a family is important to me and that includes doing house work together. Though chores are not high on their lists of nice things to do yet they are expected to do them as I believe that their contribution is not only towards their school, church or community but it is also towards their family. Helping each other is of utmost importance. My children grow up in an atmosphere where they see family members helping each other. We are a close knit family and we know that when help is needed we can call on each other. Heather was very touched and encouraged by Alex who helped her raise funds for her school brass band concert.

I also know of moms who let their kids do what they want and leave all choices to them... and in addition, they feel guilty if they were to chastise them saying that they couldn't bear to hurt them. I for one would not be able to walk that path. My kids make choices with our advice. Sometimes we let them do certain things and sometimes we put our foot down. They get grounded if they go out of line n Jordan will get spanked if he goes way out of line. My kids will tell you that mom is strict. My son has this phrase “ Mummy you are so bad.” Why ? Coz I tell him to study and practice piano!!! I had a tough time getting him prepared for his Grade 6 piano exam . It was a battle to get him to practice an hour everyday prior to the exam. My prayer then was “ Lord .. I only ask for a pass. 100 marks will do.”

Jordan's final practice before going to exam on 4 April.

My kids know I have expectations for them to excel especially in their character building. Many parents push their kids to be straight A students and give them plenty of tuitions etc but I find it sad that they stop there. They neglect the character building part where godly values are not considered important. All the parents are interested in is the scores of their test papers. I hear comments like “ As long as they do well in their studies that's all that matters.”

I beg to differ coz I feel that the call to be a mom is a high calling and I need to make sure that I do my part well.

I am sooo pleased

Yes I am real pleased coz we did better in the sales this year. The overwhelming support from the general public was most encouraging. To all who helped in any way big or small , I just wanna say I really appreciate what you have done for the children with special needs. Without your support, we could not have done what we can with them.

We all have dreams for our kids and parents with children with special needs also have dreams for their kids. We at Perkata want to be able to make a positive difference in the lives of not only the children but also their families as well. Being an NGO we have to be very proactive in soliciting funds and making sure the school runs smoothly.It Is always a big challenge to raise funds for the school as there are so many NGOs in Kuching.

However, I am glad to hear positive reports about our sales. Crowds comment that there is such a variety of things to buy and eventho food is expensive, they are always many good bargains around. We even have phototaking with a snake this year and Starbucks was in with their coffee. I had an overdose of Starbucks coffee !!! I mean it was only RM3 so I just drank lah. OK!!! Now I know why I had soo much energy. I even went back on the night of the sales to clear up stuff with hubby. The coffee must have given us this hyperactive rush of adrenaline!!!

After the sales, there is usually a lot of loose ends to tie up and of course the post mortem. We try to improve on our sales to the best we can so we would appreciate any constructive feedback.

Until the next charity project comes along, I am going to put up my aching feet and have a good rest.





Jordan and Nathan selling Nee's cakes at the sales.

Sarawak Tanah Air Ku

This upcoming state election; just days away must be the hottest one in Sarawak. It’s really tense and the battle rages on. Being a Sarawakian I want the best for my beloved homeland. So I pray this day…..




Our Father in heaven, I ask that godly leaders be raised into positions where they govern with wisdom. May they be like Joseph who helped prosper the nation. May they be like Daniel, fearless in standing for Your cause. May they be great leaders like Moses and Joshua. May our women leaders be highly favoured like Mary and Esther.

May those who get elected be reminded to serve the rakyat humbly . May they be man/woman of their word… keeping their promises and walking the talk.

Help our leaders to have a heart for the poor, lowly, disabled , sick and the down and out. May they be sacrificial in their serving … doing out of love and compassion and not personal glory or gain. Lord, show our leaders how to implement policies that directly benefit them without burdening them.

Grant the elected a mindset to be good stewards of the trust which the rakyat have placed upon them. Help them focus on doing what is right and honourable.

May they be free from the love of money which corrupts. Keep them in the fold of integrity and sincerity.

Lord we also ask for Your forgiveness in the areas we have erred. We ask for forgiveness for not being good stewards and for all the sins committed which have not glorified Your name.

For this election, we ask Father for Your Holy Spirit to move in the hearts of the people. May we choose wisely, without fear or intimidation. Send forth your angels O Lord to fight for righteousness. May Your angels be at every polling station to guard against any unscrupulous acts. In Jesus name we bind all evil tactics. May righteousness prevail for good always triumphs over evil.

In Jesus most precious name I pray , AMEN.

With the battle so fiercely fought , we must be on our knees. We all want a better future and a better tomorrow for our children and the generations to come. May the Land of the Hornbill be a place where we can all live harmoniously with each other and with nature.

God help us and grant us His Grace & Mercy.

The Case of the Invisible Laundry Basket

I wonder whether this happens to your family or not but it does to mine. Normally after I put the laundry in the washing machine, I would place the laundry basket at the side of the stairs ..reminding that whosoever is going upstairs to bring it up. But what usually happens is that my hubby n kids would walk right by it and head upstairs without bringing it along. It really vexed me so I decided to place it right smack in the middle of the stairs. But it didn't work either. They would walk around it and be completely oblivious to it.

Sometimes I think we are like that when it comes to obeying God's word. He spelled out the instructions/commandments clearly in the Bible but we either fail to see it or we navigate around it .. not paying heed to His word for one reason or another.

We know that He said “ Do not let the sun set on your anger.” yet many a times in marriage this happens. This allows the devil to have a foothold in our lives. And then we wonder why marriages are not as good as it should be. God also says that we should esteem and look upon and be concerned for not our own interests but also the interests of others. Yet we find that in some marriages, one of the partners expect to have his needs and wants met at the expense of another. The wife or the husband becomes a tool to be used instead of someone to be cherished and loved.

The Word of God is alive, a double edged sword, filled with heavenly wisdom and useful for righteous living in any situation. Let not His word be like the invisible laundry basket where it can be easily missed eventho it is obviously infront of us.

Marriage takes effort. It becomes less effort when we obey His word together. We are blessed to celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary recently. God has taught us many things about each other and how to dance the marriage waltz without stepping on each others' toes too much.

We wanted to have dinner at Magenta but they had a private function so we adjourned to Magna Carta. We still had a good dinner . Heather was busy trying out her phototaking skills.

Ministering in the Lord

Many a times when we think of ministry we tend to think of it in terms of evangelism, music, mission, youth etc. It is so easy to compartmentalize that to several hours a week of ministry or service rendered.

Last Sunday during our adult church school as we were discussing the topic of ministry, Ivan, our friend from Singapore raised a good question. He asked “ What is the scope of our ministry ?”

For me , ministry is 24/7 . It has no boundaries. We are to minister whether we are in church, at home, at work or in the community. That is how the love of God is spread. Whatever ministry we are called to do in church, or whatever field of work we may be in... we are to do everything as unto the Lord.

To minister effectively, we must spend time with God.... listening to Him. As we listen to Him, we will be able to have the knowledge and the strength as well as the boldness to minister. This is very important because at times when we are too consumed about doing good we end up doing what we think is good and sadly enough it could be the wrong move. Over eagerness could lead us to say or do the wrong things. It might make us insensitive to people's moods or feelings. In ministering , we must also learn to wait at His feet.

I remember once a visitor came to my school for an official visit. Oddly enough she began to share her personal life with me. There and then I heard the Lord said... “Tell her why I want her to wait , tell her the best is on the way. Tell it from a parental perspective”. I mustered up all my guts and told her and prayed for her. She cried and cried. This was a case of listening to God who gave the knowledge, the strength and the boldness to minister. But there was another time when I met another lady whom I did not get an opportunity to minister to until much later. Again it happened in my office. After a few visits I had an opportunity to pray for her and I was glad to have waited coz the timing was only right then and not before.

I wish I can say that I have ministered well in every occasion, but that is not the case. There is room still for much improvement. My prayer during this month of Lent , is that ... may our hearts be opened to His heartbeat, may our ears hear His voice and may our hands do His bidding . Let us move in the power of His presence so that wherever we may be, we are ministers of our heavenly King.

Revive Us Now

Isaiah 57:15
For this is what the high and lofty One says —
he who lives forever, whose name is holy:
"I live in a high and holy place,
but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly
and to revive the heart of the contrite.


When Heather was about 4 years old, one day she came back from her school and told me she could recite Bible verses that her teacher had helped her to memorize. Isaiah 57:15 was one of the very first scripture verses she memorized. Needless to say, both Doreen and I were hugely impressed by Heather’s ability to memorize the entire verse at such a young age, and since then this verse sank into my mind so deeply that God began to teach me concerning His ways of dealing with His children, a demonstration of His amazing love. Here, Isaiah painted a beautiful picture, highlighting the vast contrast between the lofty One, the Almighty God in His holy place, and the lowly ones, those who are contrite in spirit. It seems unimaginable for God to reach out to the lowly, but the good news is…. God did it ! He reached down to us and save us ! and He is still doing that today for us ! No wonder the Psalmist proclaim this : “For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies”.(Ps 108:4).

So, who are the lowly and the contrite in spirits ?
I searched some Bible commentaries and found 2 possible explanations:
1. Those who are humble. The pride and self-righteousness of the hearers in Isaiah’s time were the stumbling block in the way of their acknowledging God. We could be guilty of making the same mistakes today by thinking that we can do all things on our own without God. Without the grace of God, we can’t even carry on our daily routine and lead a normal life. So, be humble. Thank Him for your life and acknowledge Him, worship Him and honour Him for who He is, and He shall revive you.

2. Those who are spiritually dead. To revive is to bring life to the dead, or the almost dead. Many times I ran into the problem of having my mobile phone with me but failed to realize that the battery was dead. So I could not be connected at all. You see, I could carry on having a dead battery in my phone, making fake calls all day long but that doesn’t change the fact that my phone is dead, unless I recharge my battery. To revive a dead spiritual life is to be recharged by God’s power. I know none of us, even if it is true, would like to admit openly that our spiritual life is dead. But the most beautiful thing here is that if you happen to fall into the category of the spiritually dead group, you are “qualified” to receive God’s mercy according to this verse, at the expense of Jesus. You may be lowly and contrite now, but God promised to be with you ! When you re-connect with God, you will be transformed to be alive in Christ. So, no matter what state you are in right now, God can revive You and give you a new beginning. He has done so for me, many times. If ever there is a time when we most needed to be recharged spiritually, the time is now. When you look around at the political turmoils in many parts of the world, as well as in Malaysia, you will realize that we need revived Christians to fight on our knees, in earnest prayers.

Here’s my song: Revive us now. Hope it brings encouragement to you today.
To my God, who live in high and holy place
To my King, the high and lofty One
Thank You for remembering us
Thank You for being with the contrite and lowly in spirit

Revive us now Lord, revive the spirit of the lowly,
Revive us now Lord, revive the heart of the contrite
We humbly seek You face for Your healing touch
Lord, make us whole again.

Revive Us Now