My Inaanak

I remember a time when i was asking my mom why i still do not have any inaanak seeing that my housemates have long lists being ticked off during Christmas season. And she answered maybe because my friends are still not married so there's no one to ask me to be ninang yet. Then friend Jing got married and lo, I had my very first inaanak, Malynn! Pagkatapos nito, naku sunod-sunod nang nagsipag-asawa ang mga kaibigan ko. Tama nga naman at may mga trabaho na. Kaya sunodsunod na ding dumami ang aking mga inaanak.

I still can't believe that it's been 12 years since. Ang tanda ko na! Hahaha...

To my inaanak, Malynn! May you grow up to be a wonderful lady and obedient daughter to your mom and dad. And be a good model to your younger brother and sister. You know they look up to you. Stay rooted in your faith and continue to serve the Lord in your own little way. God bless you, sweetie!

Life Here Now

April's come and about going... soon it'll be May. Back home, April showers will have started to kiss the summer starved earth. But here, the beginnings of summer can already be felt. And i'm really wondering how i'm gonna survive the summer heat now that i've got shifting sched at work. Mid-day shift's gonna be a scorchingly hot walk outside. arggggh!!!!

will be posting some pics of our Desert Safari adventure some other day. still have to get a copy of some pics from my cousin's cam and my brother's phone.

I miss my family and friends terribly. Maybe my work's gonna take much of my time to have to worry about homesickness now. i certainly hope so.

I'm So Excited

" I'm so excited!
And I just can't hide it..."


i remember these lines of an old song way back in elementary. migosh, baka di pa kayo naipanganak nun, siosy.... hahaha, i'm so old. ",)

but anyway, there's no age limit to getting all fired up and revving for whatever life brings to us. the Lord knows and continues to give us something to keep us moving and raring to go. and i do look forward to whatever each day has to offer. dahil nitong mga nakaraang araw, papalit-palit talaga ang ihip ng hangin. kaya itinataas ko na lang sa Kanya ang lahat dahil Siya naman talaga ang masusunod, kahit gaano ko man nilalabanan ang buhay.

i am grateful for your blessings Lord. they are countless. you continue to humble me and you continue to nudge me deeply. what i have now, all these by your grace, Lord.

Thank You

i turned 36 yesterday. i've been through 3 sets of the chinese 12-year cycles.

i say thank you to God for everything. Lord, you are and always will be.

thank you to my parents for seeing me through all these years. you've been really, really wonderful.

and to all family and friends for being there.

Renewal or Catastrophe?

yesterday was ash wednesday. managed to get myself to church right after work for mass at st. mary's. thanks to a kind soul, kabayan dennis, who let me ride with him in the taxi. ang hirap pa naman makakuha ng taxi in our part of deira.

crisis, the father said, can either bring about renewal or catastrophe. it depends on how you react towards the crisis. whether it's a personal crisis, spiritual crisis or economic crisis, its ultimate outcome in your life would be considerably affected by how you handle matters as they come. any kind of crisis is an alarm- an alarm for us to do something with our life or with our outlook on life. sometimes the Lord brings us to a crisis in our life because He wants to bring us closer to Him. else, if we do not change and continue with our old ways, this will lead to a catastrophe because there is no renewal.

during these difficult times, it is always a good thing to hear counsel from the Lord. it may be through dear friends or family or leaders in church or in school. even tiny wisps of wisdom that come to you in unexpected moments.

"create in me a clean heart...."

One More Week

i've one week more to go before i turn another year older. another year to write on my tabula rasa. another year to learn more and laugh more and face life's challenges. i do not understand why all these have to be. but still, i thank the Lord.

Thank You Lord
I thank You Lord, for the trials that come my way
In that way I can grow each day, As I let You lead
And I thank You Lord for the patience those trials bring
In that process of growing, I can learn to care

Chorus:But it goes against the way I am
To put my human nature down
And let the Spirit take control of all I do
For when those trials come
My human nature shouts the thing to do
And God's soft prompting can be easily ignored.

But I thank You Lord, with each trial I feel inside
That You're there to help lead and guide me away from wrong
For You promised, Lord, that with every testing
That Your way of escaping's easier to bear

Chorus

Yes, I thank You Lord, for the victory that growing brings
In surrender of everything, life is so worthwhile
And I thank You Lord, that when everything's put in place
Out in front I can see Your face
And it's there You belong


yes, i'm thankful. i'm thankful as well that my bro is back here in dubai now.

Faithfulness

woke up lighthearted; was aiming to atttend the early morning mass with my cousin and aunt but decided instead on the 9am one which actually gave us ample time to relax a bit as we ate our breakfast. we were early in church and able to pick a good seat.


the Gospel was about the healing of the paralytic who was lowered down from the roof by his friends. faith played a big role in this story. it is the faith of his friends that moved Jesus to heal him. when Jesus saw the determination of the friends to get the sick man to Him, overcoming obstacles of the big crowd and making a hole on the roof of the house, He saw that they were clinging to their faith.


i realized that my worries are really trivial compared to the lot of so many people around the world. and to think that these last few days, i've been really feeling down in the dumps. and already, i've lost hope. so much for my faith, huh, or the lack of it is more like it. seems that my niece has more faith in me than i have in myself.


the priest also mentioned that praying for others is one way of moving the Lord because He is easily moved by prayers that are not self-directed but are intended for other people. i now appreciate more fully the Prayers for the Faithful that we pray during mass and to really mean it when we recite the Apotle's Creed (I believe in God....)- truly mean it, believe it and have faith.


as they say, faith can move mountains. and my sis-in-law reminded me that i should continue to dream, hope and have faith. after all, these are free.