New Year Resolutions for 2008 - first draft

New year resolutions are no stranger to me. Some goal settings 'experts' said that the goals must be measurable, not sure mine are measurable enough, but here are mine.



I want to be working 85% of the time during 2008. Yes, I will be contracting and will not be working as a permenant staff. 15% of the time I can do what ever I want - namely mission work and holidays.

I want to be more hospitable. I will plan to host dinner at least once every month. People are getting busier. If I can book them in weeks ahead, I can catch up with some old friends and get to know some new friends.

Healthy living, now, this may be little bit hard to measure, but stil can do. Exercise at least 3 times a week, must have vegie and fruits in my meal all the time.

Active in the small group and ministry of my new church:- weekly small group meeting including leading study or leading worship and be part of the worship team.

An oversea mission trip this year.

Changes in Melbourne

Things changed.
Railway corssing is no longer causing traffic jam during peak hours near Whitehorse road and Middleborrough.

Friends changed.
Some of them moved on to start their business,
some of them have just become parents,
some ...

I've changed.
Ready to start a new season of my life.

I am coming home in September

Yes, I am coming home to Melbourne. I cannot believe that it has been almost one year since I left. It has been a very good year for me. I have learnt much about myself, I have seen how prayer works.

Friends that I made here made it hard for me to leave.
Friends at home made it hard for me to stay.
What do I do? I can't move them from one place to another or another to one place.

I do look forward to go home.

I am grateful

This Sunday at church, while getting ready with the music team. I greeted John, he gave me an envelope and said it's for my trip to Spain. I could not believe it!! John and Jill, they are the music director for St Paul's. They have been such a blessing to me since I attended the church. Invited me to their place for meal a number of church, drop me off on Wednesday night after music practice. I am so grateful for the gift they gave me. God is good, He sends people to bless you.

Another retired couple (Wilf and Winnie) whom I met in a meeting had offered to take me to the airport. They are not even from St Paul's. It's a 90 minutes trip. What can I say? I am almost speechless!

Look around you, may be people like John and Jill, Wilf and Winnie, whom God has sent to pour His blessings into your life.

Thank Him today!

Thanks those wom He sent too.

Marmite Guinness

Yes, it's Marmite made out of Guinness yeast.

Alcohol free, sorry guys for those who love Guinness. Apparently according to some post on Internet, Marmite only made 300,000 bottles. Thus the Limited Edition printed on the label. Some people had tried it and said that it is better than the original Marmite.

See, it does not taste like Guinness, it uses the yeast extract from Guinness what ever that means. But any way, I bought one.

It's all about Him

You heard that phrase before ... 'It's not about me, it's about Him.'
I forgot about another one, 'It's not about them either.' Sometimes I tend to blame others.

Why can't they this?

Why can't they that?

Very often I missed the point and loose focus, at the end of the day it's still about Him after all.

what will I do?

A thought came to me the other day, remember last time when I posted on my blog about will I be convicted for being a christian, is there enough evident to charge me? The thought was ... if I was asked to stand as a witness to give testimony whether the person on trial is a christian, what will I do?

Don't think I want my brother/sister to go to prison.
On the other hand, I don't want to be stupid enough to tell the judge, 'hey, I am christian too, send me to jail.'
How do you apply wisdom in such case?

Tin Whistles

I started getting involved with whistles not long after I arrived in U.K. I was captivated by the haunting sound of the tin whistle. Remember the intro to the theme song in the movie Titanic? Such a beautiful sound ... so I've decided to pickup the instrument and learn to play it. It is not hard to learn how to play the notes, but to capture the Celtic mood is another story.

I spent 5 quids on a Feadog, nearly worn out that whistle practicing the instrument using the on line lessons. Not long after that, I've decided to upgrade my whistle to a very good one. This is the Kerry Songbird (D). Immediately I've notice the difference between the 2. Kerry Songbird off course is a more expensive one. I've got it on a very good discounted price.

The whistle has only got 6 holes. Normally it allows the player to play the tunes written in the key of the whistle, in my case songs written in D, I can play, other keys in C or F, I will need a different whistle made for that key. I also realised from the lessons I've learnt, you can stretch it to other keys. In my case it was key of G, E minor, and A. The key of A is a little bit tricky but can be done.

From that point onwards, I could not put the instrument down and I also explore to another area of the land of whistles:- the Low whistle. It is tuned to lower octaves, and therefore bigger than the high whistles. Yes, I ended up buying one. The fingering is the same, but the grip is slightly different. They call it the pipe grip, the pipe in this case is referring to the Scottish bag pipes.

The whistle I am holding now is Kerry Low D, yes, it's D again. Why D? I don't know. May be most of the worship songs are written in D, G or A. But that is also another low whistle that I can afford.

By this time, you would probably think that I am hooked on whistles.

On a serious note, this instrument has a sound that moves me, I am sure that it will move others. Wouldn't it be nice that this instrument can be used to express the wonders of God, the mercy of Jesus?