Brave new world

Was a little emotional when I got home on Sunday... it's been a crazy-wonderful, mountain-climbing 40+ days... I had this amazing vision of the future in church this morning and was chock full of hope but events of the day, weariness and pressure got me all weepy and was asking God, now that's over and done with, what's next? Out of nowhere this song popped in my head and I knew that Holy Spirit was singing to me. Hadn't heard it in forever and was not feeling sing-songey in the least but the lyrics so illuminated that moment of self-doubt and confusion. I just love how He speaks to us in ways that delight our hearts.

I can show you the world
Shining, shimmering, splendid
Tell me, princess, now when did
You last let your heart decide?

I can open your eyes
Take you wonder by wonder
Over sideways and under
On a magic carpet ride

A whole new world
A new fantastic point of view
No one to tell us no
Or where to go
Or say we're only dreaming

A whole new world
A dazzling place I never knew
But when I'm way up here
It's crystal clear
That now I'm in a whole new world with you

Unbelievable sights
Indescribable feeling
Soaring, tumbling, freewheeling
Through an endless diamond sky

A whole new world
(Don't you dare close your eyes)
A hundred thousand things to see
(Hold your breath - it gets better)
I'm like a shooting star
I've come so far
I can't go back to where I used to be

A whole new world
(Every turn a surprise)
With new horizons to pursue
(Every moment red-letter)
I'll chase them anywhere
There's time to spare
Let me share this whole new world with you

A whole new world
That's where we'll be
A thrilling chase
A wondrous place
For you and me

Gettin Crafty

Making crowns for Sarah Lin's Sunday school kids. 

Elves hard at work aka Sarah's minions

Daughters of the High King!

The Sarahs

HRH Queen Sylvia


Sunita got this word for the night:

Psalm 21
The king rejoices in your strength, Lord.
    How great is his joy in the victories you give!

You have granted him his heart’s desire
    and have not withheld the request of his lips.
You came to greet him with rich blessings
    and placed a crown of pure gold on his head.
He asked you for life, and you gave it to him -
    length of days, for ever and ever.
Through the victories you gave, his glory is great;
    you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty.
Surely you have granted him unending blessings
    and made him glad with the joy of your presence.
For the king trusts in the Lord;
    through the unfailing love of the Most High
    he will not be shaken.

                            

This was our workshop jam. hmm yes.
also just realized my hair is taking on strange animal shapes.
Time for a haircut. Angela, here I come!

Furious Love

His love is deep, His love is wide
And it covers us
His love is fierce, His love is strong
It is furious
His love is sweet, His love is wild
And it's waking hearts to life

Galaxies

By the word of the Lord were the heavens made,

their starry host by the breath of his mouth. 

For He spoke, and it came to be;

He commanded, and it stood firm.

                                                                                                          Psalm 33:6-9

                                                                     Polar Ring galaxy

                                                                        Cosmic skyscape


                                                    Deepest image of the universe ever taken in visible light


                        

When you sing
When you sing
Stars fill up my eyes

Galaxies 
Pour down my cheeks 
Galaxies

Galaxies
They flood the street
Galaxies

all images via Nasa

Star Clusters

Psalm 19:1

The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 

Galactic star cluster Pismis 24

 

Eagle Nebula 

                                                                       Pearly wisps of a reflection nebula around a central star                  (images via Hubble & Nasa)

 

Hearing God

Such valuable teaching!

Luke 10:21
At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.

Matthew 13:10-13
¹⁰ The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”
¹¹ He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. ¹² Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. ¹³ This is why I speak to them in parables:

“Though seeing, they do not see;
    though hearing, they do not hear or understand.

le sigh

 

  That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, 

in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  

For when I am weak, then I am strong. ~ 2 Corinthians 12:10


Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, 
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven ~ Matthew 5:10

I Capture the Castle

 

Cover art by

Puppeh!

Baptism, here I cometh!

Cool testimony at baptizmo class today:

This guy had a tattoo on his chest that said, "satan lives here" or "I belong to satan", something icky like that. Guess he was dabbling in the occult before he was saved? So anyway, at baptism class he mentioned that one of his biggest regrets was getting that tattoo. No kidding, cos laser-removing that sucker would be painful and expensive. Even then it'd probably still leave a stain or scarring on his skin.

But pshaw! No matter, our God is greater!

Fast forward to the day of his actual baptism: He gets immersed in water, comes up all squeaky clean and whatnot then goes to change into dry clothes; which is when he realizes that the ick-nast tattoo is GONE. Poof! Bam! Boom! Finito! Jehovah Rapha in the house! haha wonderful God! Yay Jesus! /cool story.

Now I can't wait to get dunked. Like a donut in coffee. Cookies in milk. mmmm. Always thought it was more of a public declaration, but now I believe there are significant spiritual implications that go along with water baptism. Jesus got baptized by J-Bap before he started His public ministry so that pretty much settles it. Just imitate Jesus, seek God and everything will come up roses.

Pastor Cui Xian also mentioned to be alert for spiritual warfare in the coming days. Be self-controlled and very alert, your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. (only like a roaring lion though, not an actual one) boo. hiss. But I put on the full armor of God so that I can take my stand against the devil's schemes.

My cousin once said, "There's a tiger inside of you!" aka Lion of Judah! Watch out yall, we be takin' the land.

  Rawrrr!

Also Maori tiger. Cos he funny.

Great success!

♥♥ Thank you God for friends who bring light and love. ♥♥

Joyful Joyful

aaahhh God is good. All the time. Seriously. He really is the Lover of my soul, my Savior, my Creator, my Healer, my Righteousness, my Strong Tower, my Rock, my Sun, my Shield, my Refuge, my Light, my Provider, my Helper, my Sanctifier, my Peace, my Best Friend, my Papa, my Banner, the Lord Almighty... He will never leave me nor forsake me...
I could just go on forever and I will! Could He be any more perfect and merciful and kind and patient and loving and fun and generous? Computer says YEAH! haha JESUS! Just a few years ago, I was in the depths of depression and oppressed by suicidal tendencies, sickness and a whole lot of pain and never thought I'd make it to age 30, much less 31, but here I am today, alive in Christ and kicking like a pony! He loved me, saved me, healed me, strengthened me and lifted me up with His righteous right hand. He restores the years the locusts have eaten.There couldn't be any truer statement than these (other than you know, the entire Bible):

 God is love.

He has loved us with an everlasting love. 

God is faithful.

He will not test us beyond what we can bear.

His love and faithfulness endure forever.

His grace is sufficient for us.

We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Yeehaw!

 Every good and perfect gift is from above, 

coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, 

who does not change like shifting shadows.  
~ James 1:17

Psalm 147
Praise the Lord!
How good it is to sing praises to our God,
how pleasant and fitting to praise Him!

The Lord builds up Jereusalem,
he gathers the exiles of Isreal.
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
He determines the number of stars
and calls them each by name.

Great is our Lord and mighty in power,
his understanding has no limit.

The Lord sustains the humble
but casts the wicked to the ground.

Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
make music to our God on the harp.

His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his delight in the legs of a man;
the Lord delights in those who fear him,
who put their hope in his unfailing love.

Extol the Lord, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion,
for he strengthens the bars of your gates
and blesses your people within you.
He grants peace to your borders
and satisfies you with the finest of wheat.

He has revealed his word to Jacob,
his laws and decrees to Israel.
He has done this for no other nation;
they do not know his laws.
Praise the Lord!

Colossians 3:17

pretty

Bought these lovely embroidered pillowslips from a nice chap in Hong Kong for a steal. happy clappy. 

Forget gangnam style - vintage is where it's at.

rubber bandits

We made zero point ropes for Evan's birthday.
He's been going through a 'jumping over things' phase for a while.

feathered friends

birthday boy

birthdays galore this month!

puffy paint

Epic Fallon

The Enrique bit.. *dies*

Patchwork peacock by Abigail Brown