Monday, 2 April 2012

April dawns...and March fades

Blessed Sunday, folks! :)

Thanks for the prayers, with regards to my health.

While I'm not 100% recovered yet and there's still a lot of ambiguous gunk clogging up my nose, the passage-ways between my nose and throat as well as my windpipes (which makes me choke, splutter and cough at the randomest times), my voice isn't doing too badly. In fact the terrible raspiness cleared up quite a bit yesterday evening and that was really a good thing (for me). I could worship-lead this morning. Yes!

It happened to be Alanis' first time as a back-up vocalist; I must say that she rooted for me quite well. My musicians (mostly the youths) were again very punctual - 10.30am and they were all clambering up onto the stage to get ready! Despite some difficulties during our rehearsal on Friday, everyone gave their best. So grateful for their commitment as well as their patience with their sometimes-mong-cha-cha (in one word, "Blur") worship leader. God has given me much grace. Personally, I don't find worship-leading very appealing because I seem to lack the confidence and assertiveness for it (not to mention that I feel very helpless most of the time). I have tried to escape worship-leading many times, in the past few years. However, I cannot deny (any longer) that there is a call upon my life to worship-lead (please don't let my WAM chairman know that I said this, haha! :P) and every time I step out in faith and obedience, God's grace just keeps flowing and I enjoy His favor. For instance...  
  1. My musicians are always co-operative ~ even though they may not be perfectly skilled ~ and that's OK, coz we can all afford to grow. I need to grow much myself.
  2. God never fails to guide me in my song-selection and so that songs are always relevant to the message of the day.
  3. I often fall sick/have stressful workloads the week I have to prepare to lead worship (this isn't the first time) and yet, God always grants me the joy and strength to get all my work and preparation done.

All by the grace of an Almighty, sovereign and loving God. By this same grace, I will find joy and fulfillment in serving Him the way I was made to serve. I will trust in His plan, yes.

Well, my voice is back to its sexy, husky state. Not sure if I'll manage to keep up with group performance thingy for Easter Sunday, but I'll try.

Accompanied my in-laws from graveyard to graveyard today, as a way of observing Qing Ming (according to the Wikipedia, it is a traditional Chinese festival on the 104th day after the winter solstice, whereby people go out and finally enjoy the greenery of springtime after a bitter-cold winter and sweep the graves of their departed loved ones). I never appreciated the festival before I got to know Ben, because back home my parents never emphasized on the necessity of observing it. Since my parents-in-law gave their lives to Christ, Qing Ming has become a much simpler, non-religious affair than before (praise God!) ~ In fact, I find it pretty meaningful to meet relatives over reunion meals, chat about ancestors, Grandpa and Grandma (etc)... and appreciate God's sovereign foundations for my husband's precious existence in this world - imperfect as they may seem to be. And if God hadn't been sovereign, Ben wouldn't have come this far ~ most of all to know Him, fear Him and love Him.

Random thought ~ I'm not sure if dad has been sweeping mom's grave back in Nilai though. Haha. The mosquitoes at that place must have a gala everytime Qing Ming comes because they can feast on the ankles of filial people while they sweep their ancestors' graves. What an annual treat! It must be some sort of Thanksgiving Day for the mozzies, I suppose.

What a day to visit graveyards on the island of Penang. The sun was ferocious. My ankles were being slyly seared by its rays, even as I stood beneath my huge umbrella. The dust that rose from the dry graves was thick and seemed to stick at the back of our throats. The Taoists (most of whom came before our group) had been burning joss-sticks for their ancestors and so the wind whipped remnants of ash into the air and diffused the smoke. At the end of the visit, my hair and clothes emanated the smoky scent! The little ones had such fun running around the graves and laughing everytime the wind blew off someone's hat. Where do they get such energy when the sun was sapping all of mine away? The day ended with everyone having dinner at Song River (Gurney Drive)... and as for Ben and I, we went grocery-shopping at Tesco's.

Pretty happy to have the husband back from his retreat.

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