My 50th Birthday Concert! The Five-OH! Report

My Five-OH! Birthday Jam! Thank you everyone for showering me with love on my 50th in February. Thank you to the many "birthday slaves" who helped out behind the scenes and performing. It was all fun, including a short but exhausting Zumba lesson, as seen in the photo above!  Thank you to those old and new friends who came that evening just for the fun. Four of you I'd never met before! And thanks to those of you far and wide who sent greetings. You all made it a very special life event for me. I still marvel at how it came together and that it went so well despite my having lost my voice and having such a horrible sore throat. You'd never guess it listening to the recording! It was really nothing less than a miracle for me to give God all the glory! Before too much time slips away, I'm sending a photo collage of some of the highlights of the best birthday party ever! Let's keep encouraging one another to turn up the music and live full and joyous lives walking closely with God!  Discouraged that things weren't coming together I said to God, "Well, it's turning out more like a circus than a concert..but a circus is fun..." Later that day, this gal Iryna (whom I hardly know) contacted me on Facebook:"I've decided what I want to contribute to your birthday:BalloonSculptures!" PERFECT! What a fan club! Even though this was only 6 weeks in the planning, my parents got airline tickets as soon as they heard what I was up to. They came from California bringing decorations for a Luau theme.I thought these flowers were much smaller on the website, so I ordered 3 dozen! The party venue became a hibiscus paradise! The stagemanager hardly ever gets in the photos! Leezibet has returned to Singapore after being a "tentmaker" flight attendant with a Middle Eastern airline. She's been doing kingdom work in the region on layovers & during her breaks. She contributed from the booth, adding fantastic lighting, and having it video'd. Included "Worship Hula" Since 2005 when Namiko (front/center) and I spent Monday mornings praying for artists and the arts in Singapore, we have been dear friends. A multi-talented artist and earnest lover of Jesus, she sings, dances, and is an award winning portrait painter! Two years ago she took up hula (after flamenco and belly dancing had been mastered!). It's been delightful this year to see the ministry of Islandgals develop this past year; one that she feels God has been preparing her for all her life. The guys from Agapella sangChange the World wearing Hawaiian shirts and board shorts. I wouldn't let them sit down after their song. See them below as they stayed on stage and added the background part of the dog voices for my version of He's a Tramp from Lady & the Tramp. One of the funnest parts of having a birthday jam, is that the birthday girl got to pick the songs...and choose who performed them. For All of Me(Selah), Paul Seow sang andElaine Chan danced. Even though I know my Chinese pronounciation really stinks, I love showing off that I can speak (and sing) in Mandarin. Rita, our intern from China sang Relection from Disney's Mulan with me. A great memory since she'll be going back to Kunming next month. I wonder if I'm ever going to get better at Chinese, or always just be a wannabe hack. Nevermind. I'm a cute hack. HIstory of Christian Rock & Roll For the last 3 years funny, talented Ty and his wife Paula (missionaries with HCJB) had become good family friends. They moved to Malaysia last year, but the date of this concert was set based on Ty's travel schedule. It couldn't happen without him!The only singing I've done in the past 3 years was as his background singer when he was the worship leader at church. He provided the Five-OH! audience with Creasman family favorites: Randy Stonehill's Great Big Stupid World and Larry Norman's Sweet Sweet Song of Salvation. Our son Tyler couldn't make it and sent avideo. My brother also sent one from USA. Like Family. Entertainer Asherhas known us since 2002 when we were in the iTheatre production of Rainbow Fishtogether. Since then he's been at my dinner table for nearly every major holiday party or just over for supper to hang out. We like being his surrogate family. I met Annabelle and Daniel(above) 6 years ago before they were married. She posted letters to me when we moved back to USA for a year in 2007. It was nice to know I was missed. I thought: I gotta get to know her better!  And that's what we've done since 2008. It helps that Daniel grew up in our Clementi apartment block where his parents still live. They're also attending Redemption Hill Church, and Wednesday nights we meet together for our small group at our place. Lord, thank you for your goodness to me. After so many years feeling lonely here, you've surrounded me with dear friends. I'm thankful for the reports of how this Five-OH! not only was just a bunch of fun, but ministered to people and drew them to yourself. Thanks for giving me the guts to do such a crazy thing for my birthday! Can we make this an annual thing? (ie. "Five-OH? Again?") I think everyone should get a Birthday Jamfor their 50th! How You LIve, by Point of Grace absolutely captures my heart and my message for the night. I'd never heard the song until 3 weeks before the party. While on a prayer walk, I stumbled upon it on my ipod in a way that could have only been God saying: Listen to this one, I think you'll like it. Now it's my K!Mberly theme song! BTW: Performers and those who want to be my best friend, there are now more photos on flickr, and a video (of just the first few songs) online in dropbox.