Will I Love You?

One of my friends recently got me into Robert Pierre's music. He's a Christian artist, and he's 17 years old. I think he made his first album when he was 15 or 16. He sounds like Chris Tomlin, except better. (in my opinion :P)

I was listening to "I will love you" a few minutes ago, and a particular line made me think....



I'll live a life that says//You give me every song
With my every breath//I'll make Your mercy known
With every soul on earth//or all alone
I will love You//I will love You.

It's easy to say we'll worship God with all the other Christians. But if No One on earth was a Christian - would you still love God? Okay, so realistically that probably won't happen. But there are real situations in life where I'm the only Christian in a group, or the only one who holds a certain view. Do I still live my life to show that Jesus gives me my song, my breath, my life?

Not only that, but do I really love God? With everything in me, striving to put Him first?

The more I realize the fallen-ness of myself, of the world, the more I stand in awe of God's grace and love. And the least I can do is return what human love I have as a living sacrifice for Him - whether with every soul on earth, or all alone.

This is where you comment

What do you think of the little picture I made up at the top? Can you read the verse? Does it look nice? Yes, I'm picky and I want to know. :P

Tournaments Do Weird Things To Us

Verve Tournament was last weekend!!! =D

Seriously, who doesn't love giant pieces of chocolate cake the size of your head and half-crazed line dancing to live bluegrass music and winning piles of trophies?

Okay, so I didn't win piles of trophies. Just one. (It's shiny and extremely sharp on the end. ::grin::) But other people did.

I love how speech tournaments end up being some of my best, most memorable weekends. I've only been to 2 and already I'm getting them all mixed up. But oh, I love it.....running frantically to a round, tournament pizza, meeting new people, slippers, blazers, breaks, skits, sharp trophies....

My Illustrated Oratory got 2nd place, which was extremely surprising. My dramatic only got 13th, but it was still loads of fun.

I ::cough:: will admit I memorized my speech the night before the tournament. And I was pretty nervous about it too.

So, a friend of mine and were having a conversation on gmail the other day about memorizing speeches. (this was pre-tournament as I was frantically trying to memorize)

Me: Thing is, I tend to do a good amount of forgetting when I'm extremely nervous.......
Friend: ah
hmm.
so don't get nervous! =D
Me: That's a good point.

About a day later, I sent an email to my sister and asked her to pray for my speech tournament. She wrote back and gave me this verse:

I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.

I honestly thought this was the coolest verse in the world that God could have given me. Not only did it say "I will go in the strength of the Lord" (as in, He will give me the words, strength, and calm nerves for my speech), but "I will make mention of your righteousness..."

If you've seen my speech, you know that it's on Chinese characters and their connection to the Bible - and that the climactic point (and pretty much my thesis statement) is righteousness.

Is God amazing or what?

It was absolutely amazing how peaceful I felt during the rounds. Yes, I messed up, which usually caused my heart to go ::kerthump:: and my face to turn pink and I would fumble with the boards to pass the time while I remembered what came next. But that only happened once or twice, and for some reason I could still keep going smoothly and enjoyably.

It's amazing the peace God gives you when you know you are doing it for Him, that there is nothing to be afraid of, and that His joy is your strength. =)

I'll post more pictures soon!

My Book of Days

I got this song stuck in my head last night, and it reminded me of my friend Rachel's post on her blog about the gifts God has given us of the present, cherishing the moments we have - because everything we do is going into the past...into our own little "book of days".

Even when we fall - those go in the "book" too - and are part of the giant story God is making of our lives. "'Cause sometimes when you lose your way, it's really just as well....cause you find yourself" (Find yourself, Brad Paisley)

The lyrics are below because sometimes it's a little hard to understand...esp. when she sings in Gallic. ;) I really like the way this video was made - I think it captures the song well.



One day, one night, one moment,
my dreams could be, tomorrow.
One step, one fall, one falter,
east or west, over earth or by ocean.
One way to be my journey,
this way could be my Book of Days.

Ó lá go lá, mo thuras,
an bealach fada romham.
Ó oíche go hoíche, mo thuras,
na scéalta nach mbeidh a choích.

No day, no night, no moment,
can hold me back from trying.
One flag, One fall, One falter,
I'll find my day may be, Far and Away.
Far and Away.

One day, one night, one moment,
with a dream to believe in.
One step, one fall, one falter,
find a new earth across a wide ocean.
This way became my journey,
this day ends together, Far and Away.
This day ends together, Far and Away.
Far and Away.

The immediate thought is "what's in my book?" and this feeling of guilt/regret seeps in because if you read my book now it probably wouldn't be all that great of a story. But it's not talking about the past. The question we ask is "what am I putting into my book now?" Because really, that's going to affect the end of the story - and we want it to end well.

I noticed that the pages of the book in the video go backwards. But I think they should go forwards, don't you?

You know that novel-writing quote that says something to the effect of it being your character's "fault" for the way your story is turning out?

I think life is sort of like that. Not that God blames us, of course, but that He is authoring this huge story and He already knows the end. However the choices we make are going to take us there - and they are writing our "book".

What's going in your book?

Wisdom From The Inside Lid Of A Peppermint Box

No matter where you stand in your business, career, or life (and no matter what challenges you now face), when you make the conscious decision to become a person of action (rather than being indecisive) you instantly turn the tide of life in your favor. -Andrew Wood

Yes, this was printed on the lid of a tin of peppermints. They were organic peppermints, if you were wondering. St. Claire's Certified Organic Allergen-Free Vegan Purely Delicious Herbal Peppermint Breath Mints.

(that was off the front)

And now I've destroyed the very poetic effect of the quote and the title. So go read it again.

Adventures at Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's has always amused me....oh, the things they come up with. I'm sure I haven't seen the best of them, seeing as we don't shop there very often. But mom came home today with Brownies with this name:



Alright, so perhaps not everyone finds them as amusing as I do. But I also must tell you the story of one of my experiences at Trader Joe's.

I'm sure they're quite used to the strangest people coming in there, being one of the stranger stores themselves (But oh, how I love those stores) So we probably weren't the worse case they've seen.....but nevertheless it was quite amusing and very fun.

So, I'm in the car with some friends of our family, who we will call Mr. & Mrs. H. - they're like my second grandparents and I absolutely love them. They were taking me to a flute performance. So we are dressed up. Note that it was a Jewish Hanukkah event I was playing at....and Mr. H was wearing a yamaka, one of those Jewish hats.

May I also remind you that I am part Asian.

So, we pass a Trader Joe's.

Mrs. H: Oh! We should go to Trader Joe's and get Hannah a tissue box!!!!

*I give a questioning look to Mrs. H, who is leaning eagerly towards the front seat to Mr. H, who is driving.*

Mr. H: Oh! Yeah, we need to get her one!

*I smile and nod....*

(this is all on the spur of the moment)

Mrs. H: (rather excitedly) See, there are these tissue boxes, and they are the funniest thing, because instead of normal designs on them, they have writing!

*I smile, nod, and think to myself that I am sure I have seen tissue boxes with writing on them somewhere before, but didn't know why they were so special.*

We park, pile out of the car, and enter the store. We don't want to be late for the flute performance, so we're jogging a bit.

In our black skirts and white shirts. And yamakas.

We run around for a bit, and then find the tissue boxes....which turn out to be much more amusing than I had expected. And very fitting that this family would enjoy them. =]

(click to enlarge)







Aren't they awesome? I love how the pictures are so old fashioned. It's quite a creative idea.

So, I am amused, and they proceed to buy one for me. Then they decide they want to buy about 7 more for some more of their friends.

So I'm running around in my performance clothes with Mr. H with his yamaka, Mrs. H, who is about 2 inches shorter than me, and about 5 or 6 tissue boxes piled in my arms.

Then Mr. H decides he wants to get my family some jam.

Mr. H: You must try some of this jam, we have about 3 jars at home, and it is delicious.

*We wander for a few minutes*

Me: (through the armload of tissue boxes) Mr. H, it's alright, you don't have to worry about the jam...

*No reply from Mr. H, who is searching the shelves.....*

Me: Mrs. H, would you like me to get a basket? (we now have tissue boxes, nuts, and one or two other things)

Mrs. H: Oh, sure, that'd be great....

*I hurry to a basket (tissue boxes and all) and am all the while thinking Oh, I love my life...and all the people in it.*

We can't seem to find the jam, so we run up to the store clerk, who couldn't quite figure out what we were talking about, (I mean...yamaka, tissue boxes, and all...) to ask for the jam. So, he sent us to the refrigerated department, where we found other kinds of fruit spreads, but no jam.

(mind you, this is a special kind of jam we're looking for)

After asking around a few more times, we locate the jam.

Checkout:

Mrs. H: (after piling the 6 or so boxes onto the counter along with the jam and a few other things) Don't you just love those tissues boxes?

Checkout boy: Yeah, aren't they great?

Mrs. H: We don't need the tissues....we just buy them for the box!

*Checkout boy smiles, obviously amused*

We run out to the car, get in, (yamaka, jam, tissue boxes, and all) and make it to my flute performance early.

I love my life. And my "grandparents". And being weird in grocery stores. =]

Endless Emotions

Awhile ago, I wrote something along these lines in my facebook status: (although it was much shorter than this to accommodate facebook's word limit)

Chopin's thought process while writing his prelude in C♯ minor:

"I think I'll write a random prelude. Let's give it 4 sharps...and make it in C♯ minor."

::poses thoughtfully::

"I'll make a gorgeous melody, quite simple, for the first page. But then, I think I'll take ALL those notes and turn them into FLATS! Yes!"

::rubs hands together gleefully::

"Next, I think I'll write it so that the pedaling is so intricately delicate that students will get foot cramps trying to do it right"

::scribbles notes madly::

"Oooh! I have an idea. Let's put in a cadenza at the end. A *chromatic* one."

::the scheme deepens::

"Not only that, but why don't we make it be chromatic in FOUR DIFFERENT PATTERNS!"

::triumphantly publishes music, only to have it become a rarely played piece, left alone as the only piece in Op. 45::

As you can probably see, the learning process of this piece has not exactly been pleasant.

But if you look beyond that - the world of classical music is so intricately deep, with things you never imagined weaved into a single note.

I just finished up 2.5 hours of piano practice, with about 1 hour of that consisting of Chopin. But today was not a day of tedious chromatic scales and foot-cramping pedal patterns - today was a day of discovery.

Previously, my teacher asked me what I thought of when I thought of this piece. She wanted a story for me to think of.

I told her that it wasn't the type of piece that could be expressed with something material. It was an emotion, a color....anything but something you could touch or see or express in concrete terms.

So, taking the situation I was currently in, I played it with the kind of emotion that comes from pain, from something lost, from something you so desperately need.

Today I discovered that it's not that kind of a piece - at all.

I like to call a piece of joyful serenity made perfect with pain and sweetened with God's grace, blessings, and love.

It's the joy you find in the midst of the pain.
The peace you find to accept what you have lost.
The grace God gives you to give up what you know you cannot keep.
The blessings He lavishes upon you to show you His everlasting, eternal, all-encompassing love.

It's not bittersweet, because it's not both at once. It's not just plain happiness, because there is pain in there.

You've probably heard that it's the darkness that makes the light beautiful. It's the pain that makes the healing wonderful.

This piece is a full, deep, meaningful joy that you won't experience fully unless you have endured the pain beforehand.

Doesn't the depth of music that God has created excite you? Does it not leave you in awe and wonder of our Father in heaven?

There are so many different feelings you can pull out of this piece, and that's why I love it.

Love...bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

PS - I wish I had a decent recording to give you, but I don't. I will be recording all my pieces at some point though, so eventually I will be able to share it with you.

Boredom + Lego Men + Marble Balls = Epicness

So, we had some friends over the other day...and my friend and I, in interest of preserving our sanity from the clutches of boredom and our younger siblings' time-wasting, pointless computer games, decided to be destructive and bomb 40 innocent lego men.......throw into the picture that your brother is a pro at video editing, and this is what you get.