Our first snow.

Dearest,

Pretend those are your feet, and that the crunching snow I heard beneath my feet, were what you heard.

This is our first snow.

Merry Christmas, sweetheart!

With love,
Phoebe Lee Mathius
(Your sister who loves you very very much!)

August 10th Approaches!

Tomorrow's the Day!

Our New Wave Worship Live Concert is Tomorrow Morning and I can't wait!

We've got several virtuosos, guest musicians if you will, coming down from Butterworth, Penang and Petaling Jaya, Selangor -- to help amp up the celebration!

Taking this opportunity to thank everyone for agreeing to do this with us:

-The Leo brothers, and close companions of Phinny, David and Desmond. They will be supporting us in the venerable guitarist and vocalist positions.
-The Goh siblings from UK/Butterworth. They will be presenting a short musical, as well as supporting us in the much needed violinist, syntherseizerist, and guitarist positions.
-Kevin Alphans from Taiping/Butterworth. He'll be our accoustic guitarist.
-The rest of the Taiping team. It is an honor to be serving alongside you guys!

Tonight there'll be a HUGE get together with all the musicians, and it is going to be SICK! (in every sense of the word!) Praying that we will gel as best we can come the end of the session. Covet your prayers as we step into this - that we will go forward fully knowing that this is all for our One and Only.

"Not to us, But to Your Name be the Glory."

But before the huge practice we're all gonna go fatten ourselves with unhealthy food, walk around lake gardens and the zoo, have tea by the park, talk ourselves to death - then head off to church to strain our voices and blister our fingers!

Glad everything's coming together nicely. Just like my 3m x 2m backdrop piece! Things are looking GREAT!

PASSION Came to Town!

....and I am still breathless!

Parmena just arrived from KL just now and she was still raving about everything! It was beautiful time spent and very timely too! My one and only always seem to know how to cushion my hardest of moments. My leaving KL for good was very emotional and by lunch I was feeling very heavy.

But when we got into the car to head over to Sunway that Sunday, the excitement EXPLODED! And needless to say, I had a blast of a time, because,

PASSION.WAS.AWESOME.

I am so going for the Conference in the States. Was already planning to go even before i heard Passion was coming down to Malaysia. Gotta meet David Crowder afterall, don't I?

Thanking Joshua Entol and Joshua Ong for the great pictures!

My Future Decided

Like i blogged a couple of months ago (and just to refresh memories here), I am going to the States....soon.

How soon?

That soon!

The countdown's begun and it is freaking me out. I have a little more than a month to visit/hangout/sleepover/talk/mamak with all my friends who can be available between now and take-off, chill with my family, and to pack, pack, PACK! Gosh.... just typing the word "PACK" already makes me feel exhausted! I've got a major pile of rubbish at my temporary abode in Wangsa Maju, and I hate the thought of having to fold everything up and bag it. Gah. The inanity of it all!

But oh well. Nothing has ever come easy and it's not about to start. I just have to grin and bear with, cause I have the most incredible future ahead of me. I just know it!

Ever grateful to my One and Only for paving the way for me to go overseas. You're so amazing. No words can describe how complete you make me feel, even in my times of fear, frustration and sorrow. The partial sponsorship was a pleasant surprise and just your way of encouraging me and I promise to do my bestest!

And the excitement continues to brew! My University application went by in a flash, so did my VISA. (Although it was quite a hassling process!) Even that has already been approved and my flight ticket's confirmed. There are people in Minnesota who are expecting me even! And me? I'm almost exploding!

So much to do, so much to say..... and hardly any time to do everything. I'll be away for two years, you see. Gotta make sure i leave a sizeable imprint on the lives of the people around me before i fly, less i return to a bunch of strangers! *laughs*

That's it for the Phoebe Show. Come back and look for updates!

From Vincent

The SleepOver Aftermath.

Thanks Vincent.
You're the coolest 21 year old I know.

Hot Chocolate (or The Kid at Christmas)

I bite into a sugar cracker and gently stir my little mug of thick, hot chocolate. I can hear tiny clinks of my teaspoon's ocassional meet with the ceramic-wall, on the inside.

Clink.

"Phoebe, don't dream! Hang the angel already!" I heard my elder sibling say. My 5-year-old stubby little fingers stopped playing with the little bell around the pretty angel's neck and began peering between the leaves for a place suitable to display it. That angel, I remembered, was my single, most favorite ornament then. After hanging the angel, I turned back to our little box of glittery decorations to pick another piece to hang on our Christmas tree. Something twinkled at the bottom. I reached for it.

Blink.

How the little bits of sugar on my crackers twinkle so. It reminds me so much of Christmas ornaments. My mug of hot chocolate reminded me even more of our favorite time of year. I chew my biscuit quietly in the deafeningly silent night. I bring the mug to my lips and take a long...

Sip.

"Don't take so long with your drink! When it gets cold, it's going to taste horrid!" I heard my mother say. "But I'm waiting for the marshmallow to melt," I heard myself protest, in a voice i'd forgotten and ceased to use for so many years now. How strange I sounded. I saw my mother put her hands on her hips to complete the "Look". Bah, I thought, rolling my eyes. As if that was going to work on me. It was then, that I noticed her hands looked different. They were pale-white and young. Where was the age,... the tan,... the freckles? "Well?" Mother prompted. The tiny heart that pumped in my little chest, began to beat furiously. Why was I so afraid? And as if by reflex, I quickly tipped the heavy cup higher, at a steeper angle. The brimming hot chocolate rushed down my throat, scalding my lips and tongue! My little eyes widened as I placed my cup down in a hurry.

Thud.

I place my little empty mug on my table. It's still warm from the hot drink that was in it. It gives me the best feeling in the world, hot chocolate. I feel sad somewhat that my mug is now void of the drink. It feels so much like my...

Heart.

Check. Mind. Check. Soul. Check. Body. Check. Strength. Check. Great! They're all in place, I thought, as I closed the envelope. Yes. That's my Christmas present to you this year, my friend forever. I'm sorry they're second hand. But they're all I have and ever can afford. I sealed the envelope with a kiss. I know you'll know how to use them. Yes, they are weak, tainted and a little broken. But only just a little. I smile meekly, ashamed of my immature attempt at deception. As if I could ever lie to you. But... you'll take them, won't you? You can make them new....,

Right?

Left? Why are there so many roads? And where do they all lead to? I was looking out into the world through my little left window. "Phoebe? What are you thinking? Are you alright?" I heard a gentle voice ask me. I turned to the driver's seat on my right, smiled sweetly and answered, "Oh, nothing. Yeah, I'm good. Just looking out the window." The voice laughed and said, "All right, we're at my house now. It has wireless internet connection, so you can use your laptop!" There was a certain kindness to the voice that I couldn't comprehend. "Coo~," I remember responding gratefully, still in my stupid grin. I gathered my things, opened my car door and stepped out.

Crunch.

Yum! More sugar crackers. Gosh, I miss Christmas! I distractedly reach out for the teaspoon laying idle in my empty, used heart.

Clink.

I think I need to fill it with more hot chocolate.

Going places.

Finally.

I'll be off again to Genting and to Kuala Lumpur after.

Awana beckons. Youth Pastor's School will be in session. (6th - 9th August, '07)

Then, i'll be in KL for a good few days, babysitting my little sister, mamaking with old friends, meeting some fellow PKs in a (hopefully) large scale gathering!, attending a cutie's birthday party, and..... visitting HELP university!

(can't hang in Subang Jaya, this time around, guys! Schedule's PACKED! next time, promise!)

Right after i am to attend the POWER conference held at GTPJ. (16th-18th August, '07)

So, tata my darlings! See y'all soon!

The Essence of Phoebe

Somehow, I've always suspected this.....

You are the Mad Hatter

You are completely insane.

Hatters usually went mad in those days because of handling mercury

(which makes anyone go mad after long exposure) while making hats.

Your Role:
You continuously drink tea,

because to you it is always 6 o'clock (tea time)

You Take Test Too Yes?

I took the "Alice in Wonderland" Character Quiz.

And believe it to be accurate! *laughs hysterically*

I honestly do fancy seeing myself being the Mad Hatter!

"Twinkle, twinkle little bat

How I wonder what you're at!
Up above the world you fly,
Like a teatray in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle—"

And oh,

Query #1: Guess what?
I've actually heard that there is a Mad Hatter's Day! Hoho, I kid you not!

Query #2: When, in the Cause of Time and the Second Law of the Theory of Thermodynamics, is Mad Hatter's Day?
You daft bat! Why, the Sixth of October, of course!

(Refer to Mad Hatter's Hat: "In this style 10/6") Unless of course, you want to read it as the tenth of June, which totally vacuums because we would've missed it already!

So i still like the idea of it being on the sixth of October. I don't really care if you agree with me. It's not really a free world, if you think about it. (But seriously though, it's already officially celebrated on the sixth of October. Nothing doing.)

Query #3: What, in the purple supermarket, do you do on Mad Hatter's Day?
We generally celebrate silliness! You eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, spreading the peanut butter and jelly all over on top rather than between two pieces of bread. Write backwards. Don't just speak, SPELL! Wind the clock 3 hours back and let kids stay up a little more. Send wedding invitations and shock the living daylights out of everybody. Sabo somebody with weird flavoring! (I've personally ordered a sabo-ing of dark chocolate and black cherry!)

ETC.

Oh, but don't harm. Save that for April Fool's.

And before i forget:

A very, merry unbirthday to you! *throws confetti* Whoopee!

(unless of course your birthday is today, in which case, i apologize profusely)

Want the history?

Go here: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~ari/madHatter.html

It's worth the read!

Picture Sources:
http://www.kafejo.com/holidays/hatter.htm