A Mother's Day Song for you

V1

Blessed is the mom whose mind is stayed on Christ

Trusting Him by faith, and not by sight.

Seeking first GOD's kingdom, His righteousness

The LORD, her Shepherd and her Guide

 

V2

Daily fix your eyes upon the LORD

Casting all your worries and cares on Him

Asking Him for wisdom in all you do

And grace sufficient to see you through

 

Chorus:

 

(So you sing) 

Love lifted me

Love lifted me

Jesus' love overflows through me

Love lifted me

 

 

Our praise band is up for duty this weekend and it happens to fall on Mother's Day.  So I suggested to the guys "why don't you all sing us moms a song or give a special item to encourage us :)"  It has been quite sometime since we have special items to minister to the worshippers and some have asked why.  Anyways.  One of them said "cool idea, how to go about doing it?"  So I started searching the website for Christian songs but most of them consists of words from children to mom. 

 

That night, I asked the LORD for a song that would encourage the moms from His Word.  The next minute, I started to compile Bible verses and that's where the words of the above song came about.  After that, a tune came to mind but it was kind of from the 70s.  Anyways, I sang out the song and whatsapped the bandleader and the guitarist brother who said it was a cool idea, hoping they would use their talents as musicians to fine tune, edit the words, etc.  In the meantime, I also sent the words of the song to the other guys in the band, hoping they as musicians would also give some pointers or help to improve it.

 

The bandleader responded and said he's quite busy at work but would go home and take a look at it.  The next evening at the Northpoint Cold Storage, I heard a song and another tune came to mind.  This time, I think, it's more in the 80s (hahaha am much influenced by the songs back then).  So I came home and edited the words and fit them into the new tune.  Then I recorded the song and whatsapped it to the same two brothers.  That same evening the bandleader sent the chords for the song and also did very minor edit to the song and said the mp3 would follow suit.

 

Today, he sent me an email that the song,needs more tweaking, like new wine, must let it mature and maybe debut in 2014.  My first reaction was "sure, as I also agree it could be improved further."  Then the worship leader sent another email saying that after listening to the mp3 said "it sounded like it needed more input to improve to give it a lasting impression.  Appropriateness of the lyrics, theme and biblical soundness is only part of a package to a great singable and lasting song." 

 

These words came after I asked the LORD for a song to encourage the moms of the church.  And GOD inspired with words from the Bible and a tune.  This kind of thing does not happen everyday, at least to me.  Plus He gave it about a week in advance so that the musicians could put their heads together to fine tune it.  May be it is just for this season that He wants to use this song (be it not perfect in tune, musically, etc) to just encourage the moms.  Some more, I thought it ties in well with the respond song of this week's sermon :)

 

Frankly, am disappointed because we always want to "perfect" things and not let GOD use the broken and imperfect things for His own purposes.  We tend to see things our way, do things our way and believe we can do it better rather than let the Holy Spirit do the convicting and empowering.  I believe GOD's Word is a double-edged sword and He can use His words to accomplish His purposes even though it may not be 'matured" or polished.  His word will last, not the tune or the lasting impression or whatever package the song may come with.  Hebrews 4:12.

 

Since the moms of the church will not get to be encouraged by the above words, may you be encouraged to look to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. 

 

A Blessed Mother's Day to you :)

 

April 2013

Looking at the pictures I have taken, I realized I did quite a bit of cooking and baking for the month of April :)

Was curious how the Japanese Chef make the Charshu (Char Siew) so I searched the Internet and found out how they did it.  Guess what, I went to the market that particular day and bought about S$30/- worth of pork belly!  And to the supermarket to buy Sake and Mirin, etc.  This meal is quite expensive and took many hours but it was worth it as long as my husband and son like it :)

 

On that same day, I also marinated another lot of pork to make Hongkong style Char Siew.

 

Love this recipe which I found also on the Internet.  The Char Siew tasted so good that I decided to keep this recipe for good ;)

My husband and I ate this Japanese Charshu Rice at a Japanese Restaurant in Nex and I decided to use some of the Char Siew I had to make this dish.  It is really yummy - I used the Char Siew sauce and some teriyaki sauce to cook the Char Siew and they tasted just like the ones from the restaurant :) 

My husband "craved" for American Breakfast without carbo. So I woke up early that particular Sunday morning to cook him and our son this :)

Thank GOD for my Petite Square Pan - love using it to bake bread and cakes.  This is Cranberry and Blueberry Bread with Cream Cheese in the centre.

Made Char Siew Buns to bless some friends.  They love them :)

My husband went for a business trip to Jakarta and brought home some green apples so I used them to make this Apple Strusel Tart.  Shared some with our neighbours.

This is Roti Pete :)  My version of the Malay "Roti John".  I used the baguette I made,  dipped with beaten egg and some vegetables and pan fried them.  Delicious :)

Wanted to play with colours so I tried this rainbow bread loaf.  Pretty right?  It brightens my day :)

Served it with kaya and butter for breakfast. 

Again using the Petite Square Pan, I baked this Marble Butter Cake.  So easy to handle, No cutting, just take a piece and enjoy ;)

This plate of Hokkien Mee was cooked using a packet of Mojo Hokkien Noodle.  I just added an egg, prawns, vege and squid.  Really simple to make :)

Had some extra chocolates so I used them to make a Cinnamon Chili Chocolate Tart for CG meeting.  They love it :)

Ran out of homemade jam.  Made these four bottles of Six Berries Jam.  Gave two away and shared one with some of the people at the school where I did some part-time subbing.

 

This time, I pureed the six types of berries; Blue, Cran, Straw, Black, Cherry and Raspberries thus it is not as runny as before.  I love eating them on plain crackers :) 

 

Another batch of Char Siew Buns to share with more friends :)

 

 Notice the texture of the buns :)

Baked these Cranberry Muffins for some nurses and doctors at the Rehab Hospital where my cousin was in.  Just to thank them for their services.  Thank GOD for blessing me with this ability to bake because if I were to buy them from the shops, they would cost quite a bit and I know I will not get the quality I want. 

I used some of the Six Berries Jam to make this Sour Cream Berries Swirl Cake for Genesis Praise band rehearsal. 

These are just muffins with dried blueberries which I had bought from Japan, baked in tube pans.

A simple lemon Sour Cream Pound Cake lightly frosted with Nutella and topped with Strawberries for our children's godma's birthday.  It was a rushed job.  Had only 2 hours after Sunday service to bake this.

Pretty Anpan Flowers.  Made my own red bean paste.  I like them with some whole beans.  Tasted like those you buy from the Japanese bakery :)

This Bacon Ring Buns were made with the Water Roux method.  The rings disappeared at the second rise but the buns still tasted yummy delicious.  You can't go wrong with fried bacon and onions :)