The Alphabet Meme

Posted by on . No comments.

Only because I got a tag from Kaye! Sige na nga :)

My Alphabet Meme

A: Attached or Single? Hmm. Haha! Technically single, but happily attached. Bakit ang complicated ng mga sagot natin, Kaye? Yes or no lang dapat eh!

B: Best Friend? The One who knows me inside and out. And the one He gave me.

C. Cake or Pie? Cake. Uso ba ang pie dito sa Pilipinas?

D. Day of Choice? “looking forward to that day when God restores what has been taken from us. :) ” -I agree with you, Kaye. I may not be able to travel to every nook and cranny of this world, not today. But when everything is restored to its original beauty, that is my day of choice

And in case he’s reading this, our wedding day! Haha

E. Essential Item? ItemS. It’s hard to live without a phone, a charger, wet wipes, and a Bible

F. Favorite Color? Red, orange, blue green

G. Gummy Bears or Worms? Worms

H. Hometown? Quezon City

I. Favorite Indulgence? More of guilty pleasure — isaw and anything red velvet :)

J. January or July? July of course

K. Kids? Mia!

L. Life isn’t complete without? JESUS! — I’d have to retain this answer :)

M. Marriage Date? Uhm.

N. Number of brothers/ sisters? 2 brothers

O. Oranges or Apples? Oranges

P. Phobias? Flying ipis, lizards, and chickens

Q. Quotes? This isn’t really a quote, but it’s what I live by: Sola fide. Sola gratia. Amo Dei. (Faith alone. Grace alone. Love God)

R. Reasons to smile? Incomprehensible divine hope

S. Season of Choice? Do I really have a choice? The later half of the year

T. Tag 5 People. Liee (muwahaha), Khay (bakit ba), Carol (long time!), and you!

U. Unknown fact about me? If it’s unknown, how would I? yes pilosopo Tasyo lang ang peg

V. Vegetable? Any except pechay

W. Worst habit? :)

X. Xray or Ultrasound? Ultrasound

Y. Your Favorite Food? Chinese food and pizza

Z. Zodiac Sign? Hmm.

Finally. Now it’s your turn! Don’t forget to grab the button below, tweet about it (#OSBlog) and tag your friends.

Always Unaware

Posted by on . No comments.

This is a looooong overdue post that was supposed to come out on December 22. As an in-your-face kind of write-up to the epic fail that is the accurate prediction of the end of time.

Well, 6 months later, we’re still here. The Mayan prediction (or maybe it wasn’t, just a bunch of doomsday sayers) that the world will end on the 21st of December definitely flopped.

To make the long agonizing story short, no one will ever be sure about when the world will “end”. Do you believe that? That the world will simply cease to exist? That there will be no more human beings — if human beings can help it?

I don’t. There is too much “original beauty” in this world created that even the Creator Himself promised not to destroy it again (with water – Genesis 9:14-16).

But I do believe God will restore. In what manner it will happen, that’s up to Him. You can read the book of Revelation in the Bible for that. That’s open to interpretation sometimes, but we are not without a guide.
“If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.” James 1:5

Back to restoration. True enough, no words can express the hope and truth of all creation.

“..the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.” -Romans 8:21-23, NLT

Do you know Noah’s story?

“When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat.

People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.” -Matthew 24:37-39

Caught unaware.

“However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.” -Matthew 24:36

What else can you do, right? But, “keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming.”

Posted from WordPress for BlackBerry.

A different kind of orchestra

Posted by on . 4 comments.

Tonight was different. A shining planet rose like a jewel beneath the crescent moon. Stars slowly emerged as members in the choir… The ocean tide slowly rose to the occasion… The setting sun turned the barn to orange and, later, to crimson… I felt inklings of a symphony behind which might be a score and a conductor… I sensed a story with a wooing author… And we have minds and hearts that are free to reject or to receive the gift and the Giver of it all — to join the dance or to wait it out.” -Kelly Munroe Kullberg

The devotional text I read today was nothing short of being descriptive in amazement. And I wondered, sitting in my sauna of a room, in the sweltering heat, trying to breathe normally and looking out the window with an awesome view: the occasional coconut tree at a standstill (because there was not a breath of wind), the landscape of drab buildings and roofs, the parked cars baking under the sun. I wondered, how it is possible to appreciate the wonderful symphony of nature in this kind of environment.

It was impossible. But You reminded me of last night, walking in a cooler summer breeze somewhere in Bulacan, hand in another’s, savoring the contrast of that place against what I had to go back to later that evening; sitting along the hi-way, watching the occasional truck rumble by, surrounded by the simplicity of that kind of life, I had that choice to reject or accept that moment.

I unfortunately chose to reject it — initially. Honestly how can one appreciate the beauty of it all, as it was created, in such a busy city like this? The art of awe has been tragically lost.

And then You made me realize the fact that I was where I was supposed to be, spending time with people I love, that I have moments like last night to enjoy, are enough to make me be in awe. After all, You do orchestrate the greatest stories of our lives (love stories included!).

It’s not like living in the city is all to our disadvantage. It’s just that most of the time, the attitudes that go with it get to us. I want too much, I need to much.

I forget that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him“. There’s a different beat in the background, a unique harmony, and a pulsating rhythm that transcends everything that we know in this universe. There’s an orchestra that’s being conducted by the Master Himself, one that we cannot always see or understand, and it has been playing since before the world began.

It’s a wondrous thing, it really is. And I’m truly sorry that I missed it at first. I didn’t have to go to a secluded rural area to realize that. All that was needed was a gentle reminder.

cityscape

But it wouldn’t hurt to have that kind of simple life too. :)

 

Parenting: What I’ve Learned So Far

Posted by on . 2 comments.

I’m a single parent. That usually doesn’t make a difference until you’re traveling, enrolling at a private school, or applying for extra leave credits (and/or tax status, which isn’t much, I tell you). Other than that, practical parenting is pretty much a standard discipline that applies to all kinds of people.

2

 

When I had M, I had lots of help from my mom (yey for family support groups!). Some tips may be old fashioned, but they worked. Others needed some updating.

But if there’s anything I’ve learned as a first-time parent, is that you must always have wet wipes handy. That, and these 7 other things:

(But please, the list isn’t comprehensive so by all means, add yours)

  1. Ziploc bags are your best friends. You never know when you need snacks to entertain a toddler, or pack away really messy stuff. Don’t ask me what they could be.
  2. Cute printed bandages. Just make sure you don’t use them more than your kid would.
  3. Other than wet wipes, always have alcohol in your bag. No matter how big or small your handbag is, when you’re with a kid, these 2 things are your savior.
  4. Pens and papers. Glitter glue, if you have room to spare and if you have a girl. Just anything that can entertain when you’re chatting with friends over dinner, or waiting for your doctor’s appointment. These have never failed me so far. Even Katie Holmes agrees with me.
  5. Cereals (in ziploc) and milk (in tetra paks). You spare yourself some guilt when there’s nothing to eat and fast food is the easiest way out.
  6. A really good and entertaining story, complete with voice modulations. Yes, practice your storytelling skills; you never know when it will come in handy.
  7. And an explanation for every “why?” question. Even if it seems existential or just plain silly, be ready for it.

However you think you’re not ready, when you’re already in that situation, you will know. Parenting isn’t for perfect people. It’s for perfecting people like you and me. I didn’t know what I was doing when I took M home from the hospital — sometimes now I still don’t. Trust your parenting instincts, and above all, pray and ask for wisdom. Nothing beats that tip.

;)

Posted from WordPress for BlackBerry.

Waiting In Line

Posted by on . No comments.

I have now been standing in line for a taxi for almost one and a half hours. In the cold, in a foreign land. We’ve been in queue and a lot have already dropped out, moving us up to 2nd in line. But still, no taxi would take us.

And then I realize, waiting for love is a lot like what I’m experiencing now. You wait expectantly, knowing someone would let you hitch a ride, eventually. But then you get disappointed and they speed away.

Some would stop, consider a few moments, and then when they realize you’re not the passenger they want (maybe because you’re not going the same direction or maybe because, well, you wouldn’t pay for what they want and quite frankly, they’re not really worth it anyway), they drive away.

Unfortunately some of the people in line decided to go with these drivers, even if they had to pay the price triple.

There’s also the taxi driver who only wanted one thing. One destination, all or nothing. They’re even very rude if you don’t give them what they want. So we shoo them away; good riddance.

Then the temperature drops — you get older, your doctor says you are “expiring”, all the good ones are getting taken, or your friends all walk down the aisle — and it gets a little bit more unbearable. Everyone starts to panic, or be irritable, or both.

Now there are just a handful of us waiting in line because everybody else has decided either to take the long way home — the MTR — or take a shortcut (care to guess what that means?).

All in all it’s a pretty unpleasant situation. Waiting can be like that. It gets unbearable when you get impatient.

Realizing that whining wouldn’t do me any good, I decided to make myself comfortable on the floor. It wasn’t expected, but I did it anyway. I shut up and preoccupied myself. Most of our companions were complaining about being cold or tired or how bad these drivers were being. That would have been the easiest thing to do. We do that a lot, don’t we?

And then suddenly, another taxi pulls up. This time it doesn’t run away. The group in front of us (by this time we were best friends with them) makes a victory fist pump in the air, looks back at us and signals they’re ok. You know what? Everybody actually cheers. How nice it is to see that one of us finally seals the deal! The joy was just precious because we knew we were next — there was hope that the waiting in line will end.

It finally did for us. The relief, the happiness of being able to sit comfortably, and looking forward to getting home were priceless.

What started to be an ordeal of waiting was suddenly turning out to be a good lesson. I had started to write about the experience, all while sitting on the floor of a taxi queue, never mind that I was reprimanded for doing so. All these emotions within one and a half hours.

So, yes. Waiting in line for a taxi is something like waiting for love. It tests your EQ, your patience, your trust in His wisdom. Sure you get all these disappointments but you have to say no to them and shut their doors. You need to wait for the right kind, board it, and enjoy the comfort of finally getting to your destination together. It’ll be worth it because it’ll come at the right price and the reward? Priceless.

Lego love 006: anywhere i go you go

Posted from WordPress for BlackBerry.