Days to come

Mahabang bakasyon ito!!!

...especially sa mga nag-wowork in office hours gaya ko..hihi! Sorry na lang sa mga operational ang nature ng work, like my dad na nagda-drive ng train sa LRT. Ganon din naman sa elder sister ko na sa PAL naman ang work at sa isa ko pang sister na sa SM naman nakalocate. Sayang naman...it's better to spend holidays with the whole family.

Anyway, ok ang schedule ko this week but it will not be as free as this sa next week. We (the association where I work as the executive assistant) will have an event on Nov.9-11, that's Friday to Sunday, a Christmas Pavilion at World Trade Center. So, kumusta naman ako?! I just pray that I can still attend the worship service on Sunday. Lord, Sunday is for You... (huhu!). But then, I still believe that everything will be in order 'cause God is in control.

Well, dahil mahaba ang holiday, medyo matagal ko ring hindi mabubuksan ang blog na ito, maging ang sa inyo. :)

God bless you guys!

Saved by the Wings

My sister, Karmina, celebrated her 18th Birthday at Metrogate-Dasma last Saturday, Oct.27.

Since maraming nag-aakalang ako ang nag-debut (thanks to you...feeling ko teen pa rin ako! hihi), I attached her picture below.

Ako nga pala ang nag-layout ng backdrop nya (upper left corner)...wala lang.

Anyway, we enjoyed the party. Maraming bloopers! One of which is my youngest sister, Keith, na walang ginawa kundi maglakad at bunutin ang lahat ng balloons on stick na nasa pots.

Sobrang sumakit ang ulo ni Mama sa kalikutan at kakulitan n'ya. Hanggang sa nasabi na lang ni Mother, "Buti na lang may pakpak ka, kundi..."

Haha! She was saved by the wings! :)

Lord, I will worship YOU!

Last Sunday, I was so blessed with the entire Worship Service (anyway, wala namang sunday na hindi nakakabless...).

Sobrang nadurog ako sa song na 'to as it mentions who is GOD.

Every time I hear this, all I can do is to bow down before God, raise my hands and cry. I feel like an ice, melting before God's holiness and greatness.

I Will Worship You

Judy Jacobs

My God is faithful,
My God is truthful,
My God is boundless
in all He is.

My God is wisdom,
My God is righteous,
My God is vision for all who seek.

Chorus:
So I will worship You
in the beauty of holiness,
And I will worship You
for the things You've done in me
And when my life's complete
I place my crown at Your feet
And I will worship You
on bended knee

My God is power,
My God is glory,
Lord, You’re the ruler
over all that is.

My God is timeless,
My God is justice,
My God is mercy, mercy, mercy

To Thee, O breath

Repeat Chorus

His Name is Love
His voice is thunder
His heart is tender
His hand is strong

Repeat Chorus

And I exalt Thee

I exalt Thee

I exalt Thee

I exact Thee, O Lord

Just Love

"There was a man who saw a scorpion floundering around in the water. He decided to save it by stretching out his finger, but the scorpion stung him. The man still tried but the scorpion stung him again. Another man nearby told him to stop saving the scorpion. But the man said, 'It is the nature of the scorpion to sting. It is my nature to love. Why should I give up my nature to love just because it is the nature of the scorpion to sting?' - Don't give up caring, don't give up your goodness, even when everyone around you stings."

I got this text message from Kua Nad and Charm, my co-leaders in the ministry. I deleted the message when I received it from Kua Nad. Few days later, the same message was sent to me by Charm. God might have something say...

I have a friend, a very close friend. We treat each other as real sisters. Though we are separated by distance ('cause she works in Dasma and I, here in Manila and stays here during weekdays), we're able to keep the connection through text and chat. Sometimes, we meet during weekends.

All of a sudden, everything has changed. For the past two weeks, I received no text or phone call from her. I sent messages to her but have received no response. When I saw her somewhere in Dasma (and I knew she saw me too), it seemed that I was a stranger, deadma ba! It's very obvious that she's avoiding me. I didn't know exactly why.

I've been praying about this for several days and I'm really crying out to God. Sobrang hindi ako sanay sa ganong set-up since I treat her as akin. Like with my sisters, 'pag may galit sakin, umiiyak din ako. But then, I'm acting as if nothing happens. I'm texting her, sending her quotes and bible verses, greeting her good morning and so on.

Finally, last night she replied on my text message and said, "Ok lang..." (kinumusta ko kasi). I'm trying to establish a good conversation but she didn't cooperate. Ang sagot nya lang lagi, "Ewan ko sayo...," "Bahala ka..."

That caused so much pain to me...(along with other hang ups) until I said, "Lord, suko na ko!" If she wants it this way then, fine with me! I want to shift my attention to other things. But the Holy Spirit is saying in a soft voice, "Just Love" and a follow through, "You're not designed to be rude. Repay evil with good."

I've learned so much from this circumstance. God taught me to...
...have patience.
...understand.
...keep my eyes on Him.
...pray and be honest before Him.
...trust Him more when it comes to relationships.
...entrust myself not to anyone else except from God (John 2:24-25)
...consider Him as my one and only true friend.
...love.

When people avoid you, just love.

When people leave you, just love.

When people malign you, just love.

When people misjudge you, just love.

When people hurt you, just love.

Just love...

...just love them like Jesus.

Patience

I'm reading the book by Oswald Sanders, "Spiritual Leadership." From chapters 1-8, the author tells about the qualities of a leader. One of such is having patience and this is how Sanders defines the term.

Patience
- it is victorious endurance and constancy under trial
- a courageous and triumphant ability to bear things

With the abovementioned definitions, I tried to assess myself. I must admit I fall short.

It is not:
- being half asleep
- ignoring things

I also agree when Sanders said, "Patience meets its most difficult test in personal relationships."

Point to ponder:
"The evidence of our strength lies not in the distance that separates us from other runners, but in our closure with them, our slower pace for their sakes, our helping them pick it up and cross the line"

"We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves."
- Romans 1:15

Jesus, Lover of my Soul

Harana ko kay Lord ang song na 'to.

Jesus, Lover of my soul
Jesus, I will never let You go
You've taken me from the miry clay
Set my feet upon a rock and now i know

I love You
I need You

Though my world may fall
I'll never let You go

My Savior
My closest friend
I will worship You
Until the very end

- Hillsong

Lord, You are my Savior...
You are my closest and my very best friend...
You are my world...
You are the reason why I live...
You are my God...
You are my King...
You are my everything...

Glorietta 2 Blast

It was around 1:30 in the afternoon when a blast in Glorietta Mall II created a chaos in Makati. Latest update: 8 killed, 70 injured. Below is a copy of a flash report from GMA 7.

For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV
Photos taken from http://www.igma.tv/

I was supposed to be in Makati area today but have decided to stay at the office because I have bulks of work for our upcoming event. Thank God!

But then, victims need our prayers. Pray for our country. Pray, pray, pray...

Balik College

Last Tuesday, Oct.16, was our Ministry Head's birthday. We had an overnight bonding at Ate Ann's place (beside Robinsons Imus). After eating fetuccine and sapin-sapin, we started the program for the birthday celebrant, that was around 11:00 pm.
- voice over (recorded messages from various COG workers)
- heart puzzle (each piece contains a short message for Ate Ann)
- candle lighting
- prayer
- movie marathon ("Celluar," part of "Final Destination 3")
Mae, Ate Thine and I slept at around 5:00 am (ung iba kasi start palang ng first film tulog na!).

---------* * * ------------
I woke up at 7:00 am...I need to go to work. I had my breakfast with some of my co-leaders (kwentuhan included). After several hours of discussing our team's concerns, I finally decided not to work that day.

At 2:00 pm, we went to Robinsons Imus and spent almost two hours at Tom's World (arcade).
We played...

• basketball (at first, sari-sarili kami ng ring. later on, tatlo na kami nila Charm at Hannah sa isang ring. haha! we need to score at least 50 to have another game)
• car racing (actually pag nag-aarchade ako, car race lang talaga ang nilalaro namin ng friend ko. I tried new games yesterday.)
• water gun (medyo non-sense ito sa totoo lang, babarilin mo lang ung mga gulay [target] hihi!)
• wild monkeys (there are monkeys na patutumbahin mo using small balls. you get tickets after)
• hockey (sobrang enjoy kami ni ate ann dito at nanalo sya...score: 3-5)
• bowling "kuno" (we had six balls per game. throw namin yung bola like sa bowling. aim is lumusot ung bola sa highest scored na butas.)
• piso game (di ko talaga alam yung name ng game pero ang gagawin is to insert a one-peso coin at hintayin kung saan tatapat ang coin. if it's in 10, you'll get 10 tickets, kung sa jackpot naman, you'll get 50)
• can alley (this was the the game I enjoyed the most gaya ni Ate Peps. Simple lang yung game. There's a can with cover, pag tumaas yung cover, shoot mo yung small balls. pag marami kang nalagay na bola sa loob, you get more tickets. so ang technique namin ay magtulungan sa paghakot ng bola at sabay sabay ihagis sa can pag-open ng cover. sobrang sakit ng tiyan namin katatawa! nauubos nga namin lahat ng bola. Pag naubos na namin lahat ng bola, tatawagin namin yung staff tapos dadakutin naman nya lahat at ilalabas uli.haha! sabi nya nga, "Pa'nong hindi mauubos eh pinagtutulungan nyo kasi..." parang masama pa loob. hahaha!)
• biking (four lang samin ang nag-try nito, ako hindi kasi mukang nakakapagod masyado. bike race naman sya, as in magpepedal ka. Si Mitch at Mae nga, akalain mong magpaa! Si Ate Ann at Ate Peps naman, medyo pa-girl and pagpepedal. after that, nagsakitan mga legs nila. hay, we discovered another way of having our warm-up! hanggang sa archade ba naman?! hihi)

- Magbubump car sana kami kaso hindi pala pwede ang slippers (we are all in slippers!). After that, kodakan kami sa may Coffee stall dun and took out a pan of pizza at bumalik na kina Ate Ann. Nauna na kami ni Hannah umuwi kasi manonood pa sila ng movie.

I just missed my college days when there were semestral breaks. Feeling ko yesterday college student din ako at nakikisem-break ako sa kanila! hahaha! Thank God for that opportunity to have a bonding with my co-leaders.

Special Thanks

Gia lent me her MP4 last week, save ko daw yung songs nila Mary Mary and Natalie Grant. Since I stay in an apartment (near Philippine Airlines Medical) during weekdays at weekends lang ako umuuwi sa Cavite, I have her MP4 for five days. I really appreciate it!

For two consecutive nights, mag-isa lang ako sa apartment. Rest day ng sister ko. Di naman ako nabore, I had much time with God. I spent almost two hours in prayer. Then, nakinig ng music.

I want to share this song (nakasave sa mp4 ni gia):

Your Love is Extravagant

Casting Crowns

Your love is extravagant

Your friendship, it is intimate

I feel like moving to the rhythm of Your grace

Your fragrance is intoxicating in our secret place

Your love is extravagant

Chorus:

Spread wide in the arms of Christ

is the love that covers sin

No greater love have I ever known

You considered me a friend

Capture my heart again

Your love is extravagant
Your friendship, it is intimate

Thanks ulit Gia! May God bless you more!

Rich Generousity

I want to quote this one from Pastor Anthony's sermon last Sunday.

God created the sun, it gives...

God created the moon, it gives...

God created the ocean, it gives...

God created the earth, it gives...

God created man...

Rich generousity is best defined in the Bible:

2 Corinthians 8:3-4

"For I testify that they gave as much as they were able (not bound by the law and not limited with tithes), and even beyond their ability (work diligently to give more). Entirely on their own (from their own pockets), they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing (looks for the opportunity to give) in this service to the saints."

God is really testing me in terms of giving. He definitely does not need my money but rather wants me to be free from the love of it and to trust Him.

God speaks

Hi! Sobrang namiss ko ang diary kong ito... no time to update for the past few days dahil sa sobrang daming load sa work.

Anyway, it is wonderful to experience God's Omnipresence. God is really talking to us. Not necessarily with an audible voice but through the things we encounter each day. Let me share these:

• A guy courting a girl - I was about to go back to Cavite from work, that was Friday night. Sobrang haba ng pila sa bus terminal (sa may MRT station). There was a booth there, "Kiss King of Balls," a kikiam/fishball stall. Nagliligpit na ung 2 girls, closing time. May 2 guys na dumating and they waited for the girls. Nung paalis na ung mga babae, syempre ang dami nilang dala. Pinipilit nung guy na agawin ung dala nung isang girl. So meaning, she's trying to win the girl's heart. Ung girl naman sobrang naiinis, pero wala na syang nagawa kasi inagaw na nung guy ung dala nya.
  
  

  God also tried to win our hearts. He even gave His life to express His love to us (John 3:16). Minsan parang nakukulitan pa tayo kay Lord but then we realized that He's all we need. As for me, His stubborn love has won my heart.

  • Waffle Time - I bought waffle (cheese delite) and ate it on the bus. Tapos, nabasa ko sa paper wrapper nya...
  
  
  
  

  Correct! It even applies to us. God refines all our ingredients (character, heart, mind, etc.) so that we will become perfect before His sight.

  • Meet the Robinsons - When I reached home, my sisters were watching a film "Meet the Robinsons." Nakakatawa lang kasi it's almost finished when I arrived. Pero sa final credits, nabasa ko 'to: Keep on Moving!

  In this life, we are in a race. The race is not a competition, not about who'll be the first to reach the finish line. It's simply about running and reaching the finish line. So no matter how bruised are we because of falling, we need to get up again and keep on moving!

  It's amazing how God speaks to His children. We just need to pray for a listening ear and a receptive heart so we can acknowledge His voice.