Of postures and word vomits

Just spent my evening (yester...night) with two of my high school friends. We just realized that the last time we chilled or even just talked (virtually or not) was almost a year. Still, I love how we can still talk like we were just together the day before, like nothing changed.

We spent the first half of the night at Greenbelt and had the funniest conversations due to our inability to hear each other. There were just too many people in Greenbelt that time. The usual me then suggested that we go to Starbucks Dela Rosa then as I've grown to love the place so much. As of the moment it is one of my happy places. Finally, we had a decent conversation over coffee and a peaceful environment (which we totally disturbed).

I enjoyed our small time together and realized how much I missed them. I remember how my colleague got a quote from work today which said:

"If we don't spend regular, quality time with those we love including God, our relationships will be shallow, meaningless and unfulfilling."

We've spent so much time together before that our friendship grew roots which goes deep. That made us overcome the threat of distance. Still, as we were not able to spend quality time together for a long time, we actually knew very little of each other. I hope it would not lead to a time when our friendship will be considered "meaningless". We should see each other more often.

I am very thankful to God as He has blessed me much with true friends. Hope to meet up with them again; soon and with the others as well.

As we GO

I was reading an article about the "end times" and how we are getting closer and closer towards that moment. The article focused on the signs, all of which were prophesied in the Bible, and it challenged us to make a move. To stop being complacent and start running the race towards the finish line bringing more people as we go.

I realized then how much time I am wasting. Every second is critical, yet I waste it. Even if we say that we are busy, that should not stop us from serving god and sharing of His love. I remember when Ptr. Woody preached at LJBC about the "Great Commission". He said that it should be the "Everyday Commission"; that as we go we should make disciples. As we commute, as we work, as we buy or do whatever it is that we do, we should stay in the presence of God and we should make disciples. As we go about our usual business, we should remember to always be in God's light, so that when people see us, they see God.

We do not know the exact time when Jesus will return, but we know that He will return and so we must prepare. We must stop wasting our time and start doing what God wants us to do.

Running the Race

I just noticed that I haven't had a single post for February. So let this be my first (and possibly last) for February. I just want to say, I wish I have a vacation. SOON. I don't know why but I am really tired lately. :(


I also just want to say how excited I am for this Sunday. I haven't been to our church's service for this past 3 Sundays. I went to HCF for one Sunday and was at Sunday school on the other two days. Even though I know I missed a lot, I also know that I learned a lot and was really blessed in Sunday school and HCF.

God also reminded me of an old Christian song while in HCF that rings true to me and is one song that I would be singing a lot.

WE'LL BE FAITHFUL

Forgetting what lies behind
Setting our hearts on the prize
Always keeping our eyes on our Lord Jesus
We're running the race to win
All the way to the end
Breaking down every sin that would seek to hinder us

And we'll be faithful to our calling
For you are able to keep us from falling
For in your promise, we will trust
We'll be faithful to finish
The work You began in us. 

So even though I am tired, I'll keep going. God is my strength and He is more than able to keep me from falling. He mapped out a very beautiful plan for me and I will continue to follow Him all the days of my life.

Change, I welcome thee.

A lot will change and I am learning how to welcome it.

A lot is changing and I am currently welcoming it.

I am looking forward to the time when I will say that a lot has changed and I welcomed it well.

Angela, God wants you to know that...

There is an application in Facebook called "God wants you to know" which gives you daily insights on, well... what God wants you to know. Even though it is just an application, I still believe that God talks to us through it as well. I only open it on certain days, and on those certain days, the messages are really "sakto". It is usually so timely and exact that we cannot really ignore the fact that God is trying to talk to us through it (I'm guessing it is because most of us are turning into Facebook zombies and tend to neglect everything else).

Lately, as written on my previous post, I am going through certain paths in my life that I am really not used to. I suddenly felt like using the application one day and realized that God was telling me something, and He keeps on talking to me about it continuously.

I want to write it all down here so that it would not get lost in the flood of posts. So lately, God wanted me to know that:

(1) there is no need to obsess over a decision. God has more in store for us than we can ever predict, and what we fear are bad choices frequently turn out for the best, because our hidden aspirations know better where we are going than our rational minds.

(2) you are not to shut love out of your life by saying it is impossible to find and keep. The quickest way to find love is to give love. If you want it too badly, you will not find it. The most secure way to keep love is to give it space and care to grow. If you hold it too tightly, you will lose it.

(3) your task is not to seek for love, but to seek and melt all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. God loves you with the very air you breath, the very light that touches your skin, the very ground that supports you. Love is everywhere, - ...melt your barriers, and you will have love in abundance.

You can just see the connection and the progression. You will also see what was going on in my head around those days. I was obsessing over it too much hence number 1. I kept thinking that it is impossible to keep which is why I would not bother anymore hence number 2. Number 2 wants me to give love and give it space and care to grow, but there are so many barriers within me that stops me from doing so hence number 3. I am sure that there would be a number 4, 5, 6... N.

Until then... I just want to burst!

Heart and Soul

I need to find my passion again.

Wait.

Slash that.

I need to find my passion.

And by passion I meant my heart and soul. Something that I know I was shaped for. One that God has placed in my heart, and one that only I am supposed to do. Not in a sense that only I can do it, but in a way that it will be different from all the other things God has asked others to do.

I was made to worship God.

That I know.

That I am passionate about.

Maybe that is enough.

I don't know. I may be thinking about things too much. Maybe.

God's best gift

I remember talking to a friend about what I look for in a guy, and not just any guy but my perfect man. Of course there were the usual requirements; like being a God-fearing person, good, loving, etcetera etcetera etcetera. We have all been so picky that we have a hard time finding the right one because we always compare them with our "perfect man". Not just that, but we tire ourselves out just to look for him.

All the things we do just for love.

So starting today, I will not tire myself out by looking for him all the time (or by trying to make sure that the person I like fits the category). It is a good thing though that God is involved in my love story; and not just merely involved but He is the author of my love story. I am sure that He has prepared the best man for me who I will come to know in His best time as well.

Thinking about it though made me realize how much I have been blind. You see, everything I look for in a guy I can actually find in Jesus Christ. He is the perfect man, not just for me but for all of us! Wow! That actually made me feel more at peace knowing that I do not have to live life like I have no one, because I actually do.

Cheers to a very romantic life with Christ and His perfect "gift" to all of us.

Job hunting

I'm getting really tired of looking for a job. Well, I haven't really searched for so long, but the constant silent rejections, transfers, and whatnot is just so emotionally draining. Okay, maybe I am just over reacting, I guess it is just the hormones talking. I hate pms. :(

I know God has prepared the perfect job just for me, I just have to believe and trust Him. Though it is hard to keep moving forward, I will always cast all my cares upon Him and rest in His promises. Okay, I'm fine now. :)

A commitment to wait

When God wants you to remember something, He reminds you. And he keeps doing so until you understand. Which is exactly why I am wondering why I was able to read another blog about waiting for God's best and why I received a recycled paper with a True Love Waits Commitment at the back. Hmm... I wonder why.









So here are the five commitments of true love waits as written in the paper:

- To God: Matthew 22:37 - Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'

- To Yourself: Matthew 22:39 - And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'

- To Your Family: Philippians 4:5 - Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.

- To Your Friends: John 15:13 - Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

- To Your Future Mate and Children: 2 Timothy 2:22 - Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

And with that, "Believing that true love waits, I make a commitment to God, myself, my family, my friends, my future mate, and my future children to a lifetime of purity including sexual abstinence from this day until the day I enter a biblical marriage relationship."

I shall now say, Ok ok ok... :)

On Fireflies and Firefly

"I'd like to make myself believe
that planet Earth turns slowly
Its hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep
'Cause everything is never as it seems"
-Fireflies by Owl City

I really like Fireflies by Owl City. I loved it ever since the first time I heard it and to satisfy my musical craving I asked my younger sister to download it. At that time however we still do not know who sang it; so my sister typed in "Firefly" (Which was already a mistake) and there were several artists who had such a song. Not knowing who really sang it she downloaded from two different artists who sounded like they could be the right one. It was obviously none of them, since the real title of the song is "Fireflies". Later on, we were able to download the one I really wanted plus, from that minor mistake I learned to love a new song.

Now I may sound like I'm blabbering on again, but I do have a point; it's not much of a point but it is somewhat like a point. I am always afraid of making mistakes thinking that it will always lead to an undesirable result. That however is not always the case, sometimes mistakes can open us to newer possibilities, it can show us things we've never seen before. In my case, this tiny mistake which made a great big difference also led me to find a new song to love. It's great how God reminds us of a lot of things even from the simplest things in life, things that we don't usually notice as well. Were always usually so busy we forget to just pause to take a deep breath and look around. I pray that we never miss God's simple reminders from all our small or big daily activities, that we never forget that God is always at work in our lives.

"It’d take a thousand colors just to paint your eyes
Like saving grace, they raise me up to paradise
This ain’t opinion, it’s consensus from my heart and mind
You make me happy to be alive"
-Firefly by Jimmy Needham

Now what?

Kind of excited for my sister's wedding, however I still don't have anything to wear. So here I am looking at gowns. Hmm... what to wear? what to wear?

Being Jack-not-in-a-box

I remember my professor asking us a very typical question just to prove a point. He asked us what we want to do in the future or something along that line. Of course, with a typical question you would also get a typical answer. Most of my classmates answered that they wanted to be employed and climb up the corporate ladder blah-blah, be rich blah-blah, rule the world blah-blah, and a whole lot more. The weird thing is, almost everyone wanted the same things, or maybe some just said so because those are the easiest things to say. What made us all say so? That we want those things and that somehow we are sure that it really is what we want? Are we really considering the depth of the question or are we just following blindly what our "ancestors" told us. I am not however trying to spark up hints of rebelliousness here, you can think deeply of the question whether you want to or not. I just want to tell you something about my professor.

Those deep questions about following blindly, those were his words. I guess he wanted us to make a difference, to not be stuck inside a box.

My professor is sick. He has leukemia, although he is getting better (He was found in stage 3 before, now he is just in stage 1) he still is always pale and tired. Somehow we just want him to rest and get better, and he could have, but he chose not to. He just wants to teach.

I am ending my post right here because I believe that I do not need to add anything else.

Little Things

It's great how God keeps blessing us even on the little things. We sometimes overlook those small blessings and anyway we sometimes think that God is planning this huge thing that he would not even try to plan small ones for us. Yes, God is preparing something big for all of us, however He is also pouring those small blessings for us every single time. We just have to notice it and realize how big a blessing those small things are.

Lately, I have had stressful situations while commuting. Very insignificant, but God has been blessing me greatly. I usually only bring the exact amount I need to commute, so when I suddenly needed another ride (because of the great floods of Makati or of other petty little things) I end up giving whole amounts and the drivers won't let me ride anymore. During these times, God used complete strangers to bless me. Now, I'm not giving any ideas here on how to avoid paying, I'm just saying that usually we don't notice it, but God is already at work in our lives and He always is. It took complete strangers for me to realize this.

Now it is up to us to notice all these things; that every thing and every day is God's blessing.