Happiness is self-induced but inner joy comes from having a relationship with God.
“The wise person understands that his own happiness must include the happiness of others.” —Dennis Weaver (1924-2006), actor
“He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.”—Proverb
“Character is that which reveals moral purpose, exposing the class of things a man chooses and avoids.”—Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), philosopher
“He that has patience may compass anything.”—François Rabelais (1494-1553), writer
“The most fortunate are those who have a wonderful capacity to appreciate again and again, freshly and naively, the basic goods of life, with awe, pleasure, wonder, and even ecstasy.” —Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
“The whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards.”—Anatole France (1844-1924)
“In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.”—Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945)
“Gratitude is the most exquisite form of courtesy.”—Jacques Maritain (1882-1973)
“Happiness is inward, and not outward; and so, it does not depend on what we have, but on what we are.” —Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933)
Just like I predicted, we're at the point of no return We can go backwards, and no corners have been turned I can't control it, if I sink or if I swim 'Cause I chose the waters that I'm in
Ne jamais devoir choisir Avoir raison ou tort Au-delà de mes faiblesses J'ai la force d'y croire encore Même si l'amour s'enfuit J'en inventerai les couleurs S'il est trop tard, pour revenir, Je remonterai les couleurs
There's no way, You're changing, 'Cause some things will just never be mine, You're in not love this time...but it's alright.
J'aurai voulu t'offrir le meilleur de tout mon être Au lieu de partir, entre nous tout faire renaître Plutôt que de mentir, Aborder nos différences T'aimer autrement qu'à contre sens
And it makes no difference who is right or wrong I deserve much more than this 'Cause there's only one thing I want If it's not what you're made of You're not what I'm looking for You were willing but unable to give me anymore
Et ce dont je suis fait Tout entier je saurai te le rendre Même s'il faut tout apprendre, tout apprendre What's your definition of the one?
Comment définir l'amour sans toi ? Mais prêt à tous les sacrifices je refuse celui là J'aurai voulu t'offrir le meilleur de tout mon être 'Cause these are the waters that I'm in
Même si l'amour s'enfuit J'en inventerai les couleurs S'il est trop tard pour revenir Je remonterai les heures Et ce dont je suis fait, tout entier Je saurai te le rendre Même s'il faut tout apprendre Même s'il faut tout apprendre Même s'il faut tout apprendre
Rest In Peace Grégory Lemarchal (13 mai 1983 - 30 avril 2007) - Mon ange, J'envoie vers ton paradis blanc mes plus tendres pensées et des bulles d'amour pour que tu te sentes bien. Dis, c'est bientôt que tu reviens. Je t'aime
- Zen Institute Gift Certificate/Medical Spa worth P10k valid for one year. - The full amount of the gift certificate is consumable, you may redeem it on several visits until the full amount is consumed. - Gift certificate is transferable. - Zen institute website: www.zeninstitute.com
Branches: - Unit C1 and C2, Bonifacio Stop Over, Global City, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig, Manila and - #69-D Scout Rallos St. Tomas Morato, Quezon City
selling for P5k only, i prefer meet-ups (makati area, ortigas,trinoma) or send by courier. payment: g-cash or bank deposit (if by courier)
Nice brought home a month ago a small bunny, we named him Hiro or Ando in his vet records. I'm glad he isn't a naughty pet, he's done well in his litter-training although there are still some slip ups from time to time. I like that rabbits aren't noisy. We both enjoy the silence and when he's on the mood for playing (usually at night) that's when we baby talk him. During the day he usually lounges around on one of his favorite spots, (see the first three pictures below.)
I'm bursting with gratitude and utter joy as I'm typing this blog.
My dad has finally arrived!
We arrived just in time since the plane has already landed for an hour, time enough to accomodate for immigration and baggage claim but then we waited for another hour and a half. An hour and a half of anxiously waiting, maybe our dad got impatient and left? or maybe got tied up by immigration? silly thoughts but yeah, we couldn't help it.
I finally got a call from him, saying he'd been waiting two hours from the middle part of the airport, turns out he forgot there was a passenger's waiting area and he wasn't too keen on going out for fear of getting mugged. Poor daddy, I guess it's been a long absence.
My thank you list:
1. My dad got here safely, no flight delays
2. A brand-new laptop (answered prayer!hehehe hello online world!)
God has been continuously revealing and pointing out to me on my faith in Him. In these years that I have spent my life, the past year and a half has tested my faith in more ways than one. I have gone from abundance to not so much and there was one particular thing that stood up.
During the abundant times, I gladly go to church service because my tithe offering was a good deal of an amount(for my age that is..) but that was the only thing that I could offer, I was living a double life, I became a sunday christian without my thinking.
Romans 2:13 - "For merely listening to the law doesn't make us right with God. It is obeying the law that make us right in His sight."
I didn't involve myself in church activities, avoiding it if possible. I felt that I had nothing to offer since my whole heart wasn't wholly set on Him.
Matthew 6:24 - "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one or love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."
Then came the not so much period, during that time, I was already immersing myself on God's word, attending discipleship classes, serving in ministry and never missing church service but everytime my budget would get tight and I would only be able to put in a small amount of money for offering, I felt guilty and ashamed.
I recently shared this thought with my discipler and she told me 2 things: 1. God looks at the heart, at your inner most thoughts and 2. guilt doesn't come from Him.
First, Romans 12:1 And so, dear brothers and sisters,
I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done
for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find
acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.
Second, it was presumptious of me to think that I could "bribe" God, that He would only be satisfied with monetary amount. The fact is,He doesn't even need my tithes since all of it come from Him. Tithing for me, is one of the many acts of worshipping Him, I gladly give all that is His, money, talent, time and my life.
I want to share this blog from Pastor Steve about Miss Tessie Aquinio Oreta "7 Seconds destroyed my political career", there's been a lot of stories and fodder going around. I didn't get the chance to go to the open forum with Miss Aquino-Oreta hosted by Cito Beltran last tuesday at the ENLI bldg. Please click on the link: "7 seconds destroyed my political career"and Pastor Joey B'sWho danced on national television and embarassed herself?"
As I strolled along the unusually quiet streets of Makati hoping that the neighborhood Coffee Bean branch was open (which unfortunately wasn't *boo*) I couldn't help but savor the awesomeness of God, the blue skies, the trees and the birds were soothing to my soul. Summer time for me is always family time, with the families of my two best friends having arrived from the Middle East, I felt a teensy pang of loneliness and envy.
Unfortunately my family and I have always been separated, we were lucky to spend a month or two with each other for the entire year. I've always longed for their presence, that was why I have tried to bandages on it, looking for various substitutes to cover up the loneliness,none were good at all. I grew up in a Christian family, my dad was one of the elder at the church there but I never really had a personal relationship with God not until my college years even then it wasn't a deep relationship.
Then, I went to various tough, depressing, an emptiness that no one or nothing could cure and that's when I turned to Him. He comforted me and showed me that even though my family wasn't here, I had a spiritual family here and He was always with me, my heavenly Father, watching, comforting and loving me.
Whenever the enemy tries to use his weapon of envy, despair, hopelessness I am comforted by God's never ending grace for I know He made me to live a life of victory. I enjoy serving Him and His church, they are my family especially when mine aren't here physically.
As I'm typing this, my only brother Paul called me just to say he misses me and that they will come as soon as possible. My youngest sister Nicky pitches in that she wants a hamster and a poodle to welcome her when she gets here. *Uh-oh* I think we can only accomodate the hamster.. (*^o^*)
I'm ending this post with a verse that has struck me from the start of this week from: Deut 28:1-2 If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:
I'm posting this message at an internet cafe located downstairs of our house. My sister's laptop which I have been sharing with her for the past one and a half year has crashed (again) and my friend said it cannot be reformatted since it cannot read drive C:
I'm praying for a miracle,
1.that God would repair our laptop
or if it's "irrepairable"
2. for provision for a new one say a Mac Book. It boggles me how the drive got corrupted since we only surf the same sites everyday and download from a secure server (except for limewire, i guess.
I won't be able to surf the net as I used to, so I won't be able to quickly reply to emails
I just got back from the province and I'm still reeling from the tiredness. Picture this, travelling for 5 hours in 1 day because our uncle insists on driving a maximum of 60km/hr on a minimal traffic road. Whoa! He's so into the defensive driving thing that every time he sees a person walking *not even crossing* just walking along the road, he'd honked like mad. Ugh! It gave me headaches galore but at the same time I'm very very thankful that they drove for us the entire time. I missed out on VCF's convergence today, it's disconcerting not to attend the friday youth service and regular sunday service. I was really looking forward to worshipping and hearing God's message with the entire metro manila VCF family but unfortch I couldn't due to Angkong's birthday. Priorities 1.God 2.Family 3.Church 4.school/work Thank you Anna and Mara for patiently waiting for me so I could have someone to eat dinner with,hehe thank you ladies.(=^o^=)
I'm off to Ozamis tomorrow for Angkong's 90th birthday (Thank you Lord for blessing him with a long life). I'm filled with excitement and burdened at the same time. I'm so excited to see Ama and Angkong since I couldn't visit them for years, I look forward to seeing them again. Burdened, because I want to be able to leave with them accepting God in their lives. We leave Manila, friday 4pm and leave Ozamis at Sunday morning because we have to go to Cagayan de Oro airport for our 6pm flight. Not a lot of time to make chit-chat and this would be the opportunity since I don't know when I would be able to visit them again but I know the Holy Spirit is guiding me and is with me. It's also my chance to restore my relationship with my 2 aunts and cousin, I've been praying to God that I would be able to surrender my broken relationships and everything that's hindering me to Him and I know that by His grace I will be able to overcome that. I want to be able to praise, serve and worship Him completely no holding back. Today's prayer meeting was so empowering to me and made my spiritual walk with Him refreshing. I have faith that even tonight as I post this blog, God is readying the hearts of angkong, ama, my 2 aunts and cousin. Praise you Oh Lord for you are magnificent, awesome, majestic, wonderful, my provider, healer, teacher, counselor and most of all my Father!
A few months ago, I came across a thread at one of the forums I often visited. It was about Mineral Makeup, its benefits and benefits(it's worth mentioning twice) all beneficial ingredients and no fillers, that started my curiousity to this amazing world of mineral makeup. I started researching and reading up what my fellow sisters were saying. You see, I have to be very careful on what products I put on my face or else breakouts galore for me. I've tried high-end brands, Clinique, Chanel, Mac, Lancome, Estee Lauder, Smashbox and such, even products from pond's and johnson & johnsons but alas they didn't work. I only used NuColour from NuSkin but only the tinted moisturizer, facial powder and blush for my everyday use for the past two years. Being a girl like any other I want to try other brands, be able to play with different palettes and go out with different "looks." Thank God for Sophie's announcement of Monave Day last December, I eagerly responded to her invitation and telling her I would be there. That day came and she eagerly told me to grab a chair and gave me shade consultations. I was just stunned and overwhelmed with everything. I met these fabulous and beautiful girls who are just so happy to share their secrets and tips. It opened up a world that I always thought I couldn't be in.
Now I have makeup brushes from MAC and EDM Some of my mineral makeup loot. Foundations from Monave and Valerie Paula and W2 w2 isn't dark in person, it's actually more of the same shade as paula.
Blushes, Illuminizer and Bronzer from Monave neutral pink and mystic rose
Inside every adult lurks a graduation speaker dying to get out, some
world-weary pundit eager to pontificate on life to young people who'd rather
be Rollerblading. Most of us, alas, will never be invited to sow our words of
wisdom among an audience of caps and gowns, but there's no reason we can't
entertain ourselves by composing a Guide to Life for Graduates.
---
I encourage anyone over 26 to try this and thank you for indulging my
attempt.
Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97:
Wear sunscreen.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it.
The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas
the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering
experience. I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not
understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust
me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way
you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you
really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.
Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as
effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The
real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your
worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing every day that scares you.
Sing.
Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who
are reckless with yours.
Floss.
Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're
behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.
Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in
doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch.
Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The
most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with
their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.
Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're
gone.
Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you
won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on
your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself
too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are
everybody else's.
Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what
other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.
Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.
Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.
Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be
nice to your siblings.They're your best link to your past and the people most
likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should
hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the
older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in
Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will
philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when
you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children
respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe
you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run
out.
Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look
85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it.
Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from
the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it
for more than it's worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen. -Baz Lurhman Sunscreen song Class of '99 graduation song
I just received a text from dad: "I received my 2nd award kanina, Employee of last quarter 2006 IT Department. The First one was Top 20 club of the whole Saudi British Bank - HSBC. Glory belongs to God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Love you, Take Care and God Bless" I'm just so proud of him. Thank you Lord! (=^o^=)
My 7 year old sister called me out of the blue just to say "I love you ate, I miss you."
It's these kind of instances that remind me how blessed I am to be an ate (older sister).
See you soon my sweet. (>o<)
Thank you Lord for your unfailing love. No matter what trials I am facing and will face, I thank you Lord for your mercy and As I hear of the news from my mom that my dad has suffered a mild stroke yesterday, a roll of emotions swept through me, concern, sadness that I couldn't be there, longing but surprisingly no bitter questions of "why us God?" I believe and will continue to hold on to God's promise that He will never forsake His children.
Ephesians 3:20 All glory to God, who is able through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
I thank God for always keeping watch on my dad, even though my dad was in terrible pain God didn't allow him to collapse in the office parking lot but gave him the strength to drive on and get home safe. When he got home, ashen-looking and complaining that the right side of his body was numb and that it looked like the right side of his face drooped down, my mom immediately called one of our family friends so that someone may drive them to the hospital. We are still waiting for the test results to come out but I just praise and thank God because He is always there,keeping watch and loving us. Praise you Lord!
Lamentations 3:31-32 For no one is abandoned by the Lord forever. Though He brings grief, He also shows compassion because of the greatness of His unfailing love.
Psalm 50:23 But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me. If you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God.
Psalm 89:1-2 I will sing of the Lord's unfailing love forever! Young and old will hear of your faithfulness. Your unfailing love will last forever. Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens.
Ephesians 5:20 And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Many thanks to those who have prayed/are still praying for my dad's recovery. Godbless us all.
Walking with God means, among other things, holding
to His promises no matter what we face. Abraham held to the promise of
a son for twenty-five years before he saw an answer. Some of us hold on
in faith for a few months, or even a few years, then we give up and let
go. Some trust God for Mr. Right, but give up and settle for “Mr. Right
Now.” If we want God’s best for our lives, we must learn to hold on and
never let go.
What does it mean to hold on to the promises of God?
Henry
Dempsy knows what it means to hold on. He was a pilot on a small
commuter flight from Maine to Boston. Hearing a noise in the back of
the plane, Henry turned the controls over to his co-pilot and
discovered that a door had not been completely closed. It was
potentially a dangerous ground-crew mistake that had to be corrected
mid-air. As Henry struggled to close the door, the unthinkable
happened. Suddenly the door flew open and Henry was sucked out of the
plane. The co-pilot radioed for a search and rescue team, hoping that
Henry may have survived the 4,000-foot fall into the ocean below.
The
plane was cleared for an emergency landing at a nearby airport. As the
rescue team searched for Henry in the ocean, the runway workers
discovered a man in a semi-conscious state holding on to a ladder on
the side of the plane. Somehow, Henry Dempsy had been able to grab the
ladder as he was sucked out of the plane.
Henry held on as
the plane flew at 200 miles per hour. He held on as the plane bumped
and skidded to an emergency landing. Henry held on because his life
depended on it. He held on to the ladder because there was nothing else
to hold on to. He held on to the ladder and nothing else.
After
the plane landed, it took the co-pilot ten minutes to pry Henry’s hands
from the ladder. That’s exactly how we need to hold on to God’s Word.
If we are to walk close with God, we must learn to hold on to His Word
and to His promises—no matter who or what is trying to loosen our grip.
We must hold to the promises of God as if our lives depend on it. We
must hold to the promises of God and nothing else.
. . . holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. (1 Timothy 1:19)
There
is no middle ground—either we hold on in faith or we suffer shipwreck.
Henry Dempsy had no option but to hold to the ladder. We have no option
but to hold to the promises of God. -Pastor Steve Murrell
