wouldn't it be nice!

im sure most of you wld have seen the latest cadbury ad on tv - the one with chocolate surfer dudes & babes, surfing on chocy waves and eating chocy binoculars. they parodied the beach boys song, wouldnt it be nice in the most adorable way - the cutest line in the ad has gotta be:

And if a shark came up and tried to bite you

You could say "I'm chocolate I invite you!"

(at which point chocy surfer dude wiggles his bum to the happy, griny shark.. hahahah)

turns out they have FOUR versions of the ad (of which only 2 shown in sg, of which ive only seen 1 - the surfer one). check out the other lyrics, hyakhyak:

http://www.cadbury.com.au/contact/adcampaigns.php

the tune of wouldnt it be nice CANT STOP ringing in my head. so ive gone to check out the lyrics and turns out, its a sweetiepie of a song abt a young couple in love wanting so much to be tog! it goes...

Wouldn't it be nice if we were older

Then we wouldn't have to wait so long

And wouldn't it be nice to live together

In the kind of world where we belong

You know its gonna make it that much better

When we can say goodnight and stay together

Wouldn't it be nice if we could wake up

In the morning when the day is new

And after having spent the day together

Hold each other close the whole night through

Happy times together we've been spending

I wish that every kiss was neverending

Wouldn't it be nice

Maybe if we think and wish and hope and pray it might come true

Baby then there wouldn't be a single thing we couldn't do

We could be married

And then we'd be happy

Wouldn't it be nice

You know it seems the more we talk about it

It only makes it worse to live without it

But lets talk about it

Wouldn't it be nice

Good night my baby

Sleep tight my baby

awww. so innocent, aint it? reminds me of first loves, JC - boys in baggy berms & girls in cutesy skirts w ponytails! there's just something about youth & love (tho immature, idealistic even) thats so sweet &... uncomplicated. dont worry, im not feeling cynical or moppy about it... (i cant cos the song has such a cheery tune, i cant help but smile just thinking abt it!!! :)) there's sweetness even in love post-adolescence, i know. i just think its a simple song w a great tune that brings out the unadulterated side of being in love; written in a time when most people still believed you can only live tog if you were married to each other... a notion thats pretty much lost its meaning these days hey? song's not perfect by any means: we know getting married won't necessarily make us happy, and love shouldnt be selfish & couple-centric, etcetc. nonetheless, i think its quite the perfect song to propose with! just gotta change bits of it - idea idea for clueless bfs out there haha ;)

in fact, im thinking if we should play it at eels' wedding - what say you babes??! :)

come to think of it, i like quite a few beach boys classics - surfer girl, why do fools fall in love, kokomo, i get around. they are a fun, sweet lot those guys...

guess what?

just as i thought ive seen the last of departures - i just got news that a good gf is leaving for SYDNEY to work! what was i saying abt this being a pattern? haha actually im way too delighted for her at this point to feel sad... at least not yet. i mean how cool is that? i for one wld love to go given eels baby & shings are there *dweedle thumbs* hmm maybe its time to pray & let my fingers do the searching? ...*click click click*

on another guess what? note - I JUST BOUGHT A CAMERA!! my VERY OWN! yippees. i know im abit lag lar. you must be thinking: what century is it & this girl didnt have a camera?! cut me some slack kay. for the longest time i didnt have good reason to spend the money cos daddy's got a pretty good one. BUT i just cldnt bear his im-so-sophisticated-ive-got-ten-thousand-types-of-flashes-you-cant-figure-me-out-haha generation one nikon coolpix anymore. SO! ive been scouting around & i finally bought the baby yesterday. its a pwetty olympus miu 5 mp that looks sth like this:

its easy to use (good for a tech dummy like me), gives sharp images & its small enough to slip into lil' bags. hehehe, i love my new baby!! look out world - here i come!!!

snap snap snap *SNAP*

ps: if you wanna get good prices at sim lim, i highly recommend alan photo (first floor). they really do good, honest business there. dont need to play games :)

shoez mooze

bear with me, its one of those weeks. ive been working too hard. i need relief. i want me some new shoessssss!

arent those 9westies pwetty?

i want shoes! i want shoes! i want shoesssssssss!

missing & risking

its strange really how in the midst of the mundane & routine, sudden gushes of sadness & longing can overwhelm you.

look up 'missing' in the thesaurus and words that pop up include: devoid, absent, forlorn of, for want of, not found, not present, taken away, wanting, lost to sight... incomplete. it takes a sum of these to articulate the heart's pine.

this feeling of longing, of want... was felt at scattered times during the past month. each differentiated by the person for whom i longed, the magnitude of the longing, the circumstances surrounding the separation - emotional, geographical, transient, irreversible, imagined...

each triggered by random random incidences - my stumbling upon a friend's blog, the old love note tucked away in the drawer, the photo on the board, emails from the sweet friend, a chance glance across the hall...

death. the breakup. the departing flight. the job. the marriage. the turning away. the misunderstanding. the resignation. the almost-but-could-not. the unspoken words.

all these lie between me and the ones i love (some more deeply than others) & for whom my heart aches. i miss the times spent, wondering if it will ever return again. i wonder if they too, have at some point, felt the same. i cant express my ache or desire for their friendship, companionship to all of them. for some, my longing can find relief when we next meet or converse - next week, month or year. for others, mere words cant seem to bridge the barrier that has creeped up between us. for still others, there's that hope of reconciliation, that assuring warmth of friendship, love renewed.

in the face of this string of 'missings', i wondered to God: is it still worthwhile to give my heart to the new people You send my way? why do You always draw me into intimacy with people who have to leave?

part of me wants to close my heart, wished i was less open, less relational. it hurts Lord when they leave - im always the one left behind! in some ways, ive gotten so used to saying goodbyes, ive kinda grown numb to it.

maybe its God's way of ensuring my reliance on Him. maybe its really what love is about. taking that risk, opening one's life up to the other even in the face of uncertainty.

to love is to make the choice,

take the risk

a dear sister quoted cs lewis to me in a card 2 years ago, it reads:

"There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully around with hobbies and little luxuries, avoid all entanglements and lock it safe in a casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe and dark, airless and motionless, it will change. It will not be broken, it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only safe place outside Heaven where you can be safe from all the dangers and pertubations of love is hell.

I believe that the most lawless and inordinate loves are less contrary to God's will than a self invited and self protective lovelessness. We shall draw nearer to God, not by trying to avoid the sufferings inherent in all loves, BUT by accepting them and offering them to Him and throwing away all defensive armour. If our hearts need to be broken, and if He chooses this as a way in which they should break, so be it."

love here doesnt just apply to that special guy that God sends. but also the sisters & brothers that i meet along this journey... many for whom my heart pines are indeed part of Christ's body. help me Lord to keep risking to love even though it could hurt. if my heart needs to be broken, so be it.

RAVE!!

okay ive just heard songs by this band called APOLOGETIX and tis waaaaaay cool! seriously. they do parodies of popular secular songs and they do it brilliant. from eminem to beatles to five for fighting - i mean these guys have raw talent alright!

check out some of their lyrics on www.apologetix.com. the site also gives info on who they are, what they stand for & answers many qns on christianity in their FAQs. real cool bunch of bros using their talent to reach the masses for Christ.

reading the lyrics (tho fab & ingenious) won't do it as much as listening to the songs proper tho. im gonna go get me some of that muuuusic!! :)

courage & choices

courage is not the lack of fear. it is acting in spite of it.

~mark twain

im struggling with certain choices this week... in the midst of mulling, ive encountered the issue of courage. what does it mean for me, a child of God, to be courageous?

some who displayed courage in the bible include abraham, david & of cos Jesus himself. they each acted against human weakness, fear & stepped out in faith to do what God called them to. so is courage = faith for the believer? i think so. faith in who God is & what He promised was what allowed these men to do what they couldnt or wouldnt naturally do.

so where does that leave me? perhaps it isnt so much abt courage as it is discernment. discerning if the choice i want to make is what He is calling me to or simply my own willing. id have courage to do the hard thing when i know its where He's leading...

grant me wisdom, Lord to make the right choice, a choice that doesnt compromise our relationship. a choice that demonstrates faith in You, Your goodness, Your ability to provide according to my needs. give me clarity as i discern whats wise & not. give me courage to face the tough road if thats whats necessary to grow me.

hold on to me

a quiet conversation
a solitary prayer
listening in the silence and knowing You are there
emptying my troubled heart
my secret hopes & fears
You speak to me in whispered words that the heart alone can hear

i love You so
won't let You go
hold on to me

i could never offer You the praise that You deserve
the thanks for all You've given me
with nothing in return
i would give my life to You
my moments & my days
if only for the peace i find everytime i hear You say

i love you so
won't let you go
hold on to Me

keep me near this day
never let me stray
from Your everlasting sweet embrace

another conversation
another quiet plea
stumbling for a way to say how much You mean to me
once again You give me more than i can give to You
so ill just sing this simple words cos its all i know to do

i love You so
won't let You go
hold on to me

~ hold on to me by point of grace
photo courtesy of web.uvic.ca

itchies | heaven?

itchies

ive got the itchies & it aint fun

these red itchy spots are spreading all over my body as we speak. cant imagine where i cld have gotten them from other than the blanket on qantas. i know, eeks. thing is, ive had a similar rash a year ago (tho not from a qantas blanket i reckon) so i know it will go away... in time! managed to sneak off to the dermatologist at lunch so hopefully spots will stop appearing once i administer the treatment.
boohoo. hope i dont scar too badly

heaven - what do you imagine it to be?

we had a really good study yest nite on 1 Peter 1. it began with us pondering aloud what heaven wld be like & there were some pretty interesting responses: "many angels, shining.. with harps!" "lotsa singing!" "an old man with beard??" "paths of gold..." "we will be very happy!"

not all biblical (esp the old man bit), but interesting :)

learnt that even as we struggle to live right & godly lives here in the big, bad world, there really is comfort & joy to be had. Peter was encouraging the early church by pointing them to the living hope that we are born into & the inheritance that is kept for us who believe. an inheritance that will not perish, fade or spoil. not sth we naturally think of or cling to when we are faced with stressful deadlines, a loved one in poor health or the crippling loneliness of the night, is it? i mean, inheritance is such a faraway notion - how can it help me now?! we ask. yet its far more real & enduring than the temporary struggles we are grieved with today. we are told trials are i. temporary & ii. to prove our faith & bring glory to Jesus

"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold...- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed." (v6-7)

what touched me was the passage in Ezekiel 36 (God's promise to the Jews which is also relevant to us)

"I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and to be careful to keep my laws...

You will be my people, and I will be your God."

can you imagine? no more struggle with sin, no more battles within, no more distractions. amazing! what im really looking forward to in heaven is no more tears, no more suffering... and being in that complete, perfect relationship w God & Jesus. wholly immersed in adoration & fellowship with Him for all eternity. its really a wonder & relief, wont you say?

help me Lord to truly believe & cling to the living hope that i have in You... help me to live in the light of eternity, to be faithful in the trials You allow in my life (yes, even the itchy spots!) most of all, help me to live like i belong to You, my Maker & God.

my virgin blog

my virgin blog posting! inspired to start my own... a playground for my thoughts... a place to rant & rave, toss & turn, sing & shout... just gotta figure out how to change ze colour of this thing!!

i think i attempted to start this twice before, wrote some drafts but never posted them. the notion of owning a piece of cyberspace with my mark (scribblings, doodles, whirls...) on it appealed to the gen y baby in me, YET i never saw it through!! guess i was giving myself a hard time... you see, i didnt want to blindly hop on the blogging bandwagon without knowing why i was doing it. i thought: no point having a page dedicated to all things me when thats the last person i need to give more attention to. no point journaling in the open when i could do it in private (that was when i was still disciplined to journal). no point starting sth that would add to my already expanding to-do list. no point putting up sth that isnt really me (im a tech dumbo & couldnt imagine having the time or know-how to beautify a page as prettily as id like it to be)...

so why are you here? you ask. well, partly cos ive concluded that i was thinking too much & there isnt really any ill motive in my starting this! mostly cos ive seen some really inspiring blogs and ive been (for lack of a better word, haha) inspired to share my own life, struggles here in the hope of being an encouragement to you... friends on the same narrow journey through life! realness in sharing my walk with Jesus is just about the best i can offer you - my neighbour & fellow pilgrim.

so here i am. come walk, run, fly with me. may i be real to you & God in this space...