Now It's Complete

There are some things i needa get or do over the next few years..

1.   Sell off my current Yamaha Alto Sax 82-Z saxophone and upgrade to the unlacquered
Yamaha Custom 82Z!

2.   Invest in an Oleg gold plated 'Maestro' sax mouthpiece. Killer mouthpiece :D

3.   Invest in a Selmer 'Artys' series Bb clarinet!

Wah the tone is KILLER! Now i aint a Selmer saxophone fan nor enthusiast (Yamaha ROCKS!) BUT, i think the Selmer 'Artys' series clarinet beats the Buffet RC Prestige and Yamaha Custom SEV HANDS DOWN. The tone is pure, pristine.. the projection is absolutely superb! I fell in love with the tone after hearing it~

4.   Invest in a soprano sax~ Which one, i'm still not decided yet.. no hurry for this~ Yamaha is definitely a consideration, Yanagisawa also is high on the list~ Well, i'll see how it goes~

I just recently went out with one of my bandmates to try clarinets. After booking out on New Year's eve, we went to check out Yamaha, Buffet and Selmer clarinets. It was a good time spent cos i got to hear the tones, lower and high registers of the different brands. We tried Selmer clarinets the last of all and yeah the guy bought an 'Artys' series Bb clarinet. The tone was just too good lah.. beat the yamaha and buffet clarinets hands down~

However, the dude bought it for a huge sum of $5200 bucks.. price of which is kinda crazy lah~ And then this morning, thank God~ I decided to go take a look at the Woodwind & Brasswind website - the site where i normally go order mouthpieces online. Yeah and my goodness, i found out i'll be saving like over a thousand dollars on the same model of clarinet! The savings were enormous! i could do so much with a saving of over $1500 bucks! And yeah, i found out dat if i get my unlacquered YAS82Z online, i'll be saving a over thousand bucks too~ So yeah, thank God cos He led me to great deals such as these :D

I never thought of getting instruments online but this morning i was just curious ya know.. and yeah i was led to this revelation~ And i just remembered wat i was reading in Pst Pat Avanzini's book about tithing and offerings - that when you tithe your 10%, God's gonna stretch your 90% to the max~ And yeah dat's how i got to find out great deals like this :D

I just found out dat one of our CHC trumpeters is a regular in the SAF Bands~ Pretty cool :D I should ask him about matters regarding signing on. At this point in time, i am pretty much decided about signing on. If i do, i'll be signing on as a clarinetist~ Wat about the sax then?? Well, i'll still be playing dat~ i was told dat i can double up on sax anytime there is an available place~ And besides playing in the Central Band, i'll very likely be playing saxophone in gigs outside~ Wat's even better is dat i'll be playing sax primarily in church! So dat's gonna give me a very adequate balance of playing both instruments.

I know dat, in a short period of time, my clarinet skills will improve tremendously~ Considering the amount of training and time i'll have to practise~ I think it's truly a blessing dat i got converted into a clarinetist~ Really, it's probably the only time when i'll get to learn a new woodwind~ and wat dat means, is dat i will be effective in both sax and clarinet and my chances of getting paid gigs outside will increase~ In future, when i wanna teach music, i can teach sax or clarinet or even both! It's truly beneficial for me since i wanna do music full time~

As for signing on, i'll have my local music diploma paid for by the SAF and yeah dat earns me the qualification to teach in future~ wat i'll study will be classical music which i think is really challenging. It's harder to sightread, harder to play accurately as compared to jazz where you can freely express~ And given it's rigidity, classical music trains discipline, and once i'm grounded in the rules of classical music, i can then break those rules :D

I was just reading the list of goals i made a long time back.. and yeah some i achieved while others i didnt. Some were halfway there and some havent. Well, at least right now, while looking back, i can see how much i've accomplished and how much more i still have to do :D Also, many of my goals differed from before. Some were dropped, some new ones made the list.

Learning from wat Pst Kong taught us during yesterday's service on goal setting, i realised dat some of the goals i made previously were unrealistic. And in others, i was too rigid, and held onto them even though it was a goal dat wasnt meant to be. And some goals i made were beyond my control. Many of these goals i made were way before my life got right with God :) And yet even then, i knew the importance about setting goals in life. However, after yesterday's service, i found out dat it was a totally different thing to set goals as a borned again believer.

I realised dat yes, God wants us to plan our life in advance, and even though many of our plans seem real good, but they can never be better than the plan God has for us~ And dat set me thinking about all that i have planned in life.. to do music full time, to master the sax, to serve in the mission field with my skills.. etc etc.. And wat if one day, God told me dat all dat i had planned was not better than the plan He wants me to have?! Whoa.. now dat's quite a thought for me personally.. i dunno wat i'll do when dat happens BUT one thing's for sure, if God told me to give it all up for something better in store, then I GOT TO OBEY HIM :) Even if it means not being able to be wat i planned to be in life. Nevermind dat~ God's ways are higher than ours anyday anytime~ Nevertheless, i'll keep on planning still~

This new year, i aim to be S.M.A.R.T.E.R in the way i plan and be dat in all areas of my life basically~ Specific, Measurable, having an Action Plan, Realistic, Time Concious, Expectation Management and REVELATION! Yes the most important part is to get my visions and goals straight from heaven!

I think my most pressing immediate goal will be to get proficient in the clarinet in a short space of time. I dun have very much time with dat so i needa work extra extra hard with dat.. i need strength and guidance and focus from the Holy Spirit! Next in line will be to do with my soon-to-be ministry in music! Gonna keep seeking God for anointing in the area of flowing in music praise and worship~

In summary, i wanna receive the breathe of the Holy Spirit in watever i do this year, to see the things He sees, to receive His anointing upon me, and burn brighter and hotter for Him!