Gen, Tin and Tats' Birthday dinner

I always relish being with my small group.  This evening was filled with tons and tons of laughter as we played Unspeakable. 

Happy birthday Gen, Tin and Tats!

Effort to write birthday wishes under the table

Super fun!

They didn't mean to do this at the same time hehe

Team Left

Team Right

A glimpse at a gift

source

That's exactly what it feels like.  




Today, it struck me (after getting out of the bathroom I had to pause from changing clothes and went to a spot where I cried and thanked Jesus repetitively) to realize how these specific prayers in the past are underway:


1. Prayer: My cousin ate Mitch and her family to be found by Christ and to know God for who He really is.


What's happening now: 
All the kids in their household were sent to a kids bible camp of CCF and they plan to do this again.  One of the teens wants to join Kids Church in teaching kids.




2. Prayer: Mocha to be delivered from her relationship with a same-sex friend


What's happening now: 
They broke up last week.  6 months ago when we were relaxing in a resort Mocha said that if she will pray to God her prayer would be, "Lord if You think this relationship is not right, take it away. But let it come from her not me because I can't leave her." And in February of this year her partner got attracted to a young girl and began building relationship in the last two months with that young girl while she's still with Mocha.




3. Prayer: Lord save my family. Let them enjoy Your glory while they are still on earth.


What's happening now: 
My youngest sister accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior last year. 
My older sister was awestruck in January of this year when what Jesus did on the cross sunk in and she is slowly but steadily getting to know more about God. 
My mom listens and participates in our discussions about God and I couldn't help but notice how she agrees with what's being taught in the church that we go to which was different from her church.
It is very, very difficult for me to honor my parents because of our dark past. But my perfect Father in heaven is enabling me, slowly but steadily, to honor my earthly parents.  When I was in high school i would tell the people I know that I don't have a mom because of this hatred for her.  A week ago I posted a picture of her that has her best angle in my facebook wall. People liked the picture. But beyond that picture where people cannot see was a startling reality that I love my mom and when before I was ashamed of her now I want to brag about her.




I am expectant, gleefully waiting to watch God bring supernatural levels of reconciliation in my family. 








Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 
-Romans 12:12

Desperate for a Christian friend

Yesterday, my youngest sister, Jen, was filing me in on her recent trip to Baguio (yes, her first time!) 

Invariably, the topic changed to God about how He has been so generous with us. We never tire of discussing happily how we have been playing church all our lives until God finally got our attention, our real attention.  


It was just me two years ago but God is so awesome to keep to yourself so I began to engage this young sissie of mine and lifted her up to God especially during our church's 7 days of prayer and fasting.  And now she's growing deeper in Christ. 


I looked at how I discipled her and thought to myself, it would be hard for our ate who lives abroad to hear too about this Jesus that saves and transforms lives since I am far from her. 


But of course I was looking at it the wrong way.  It's not me who will change my ate. It's God. I am only tasked to push against the rock, but only God can move it. 


I didn't realize that right away but I kept praying for her anyway. My specific prayer was that God would send Christian friends to my ate and to her husband who lives in Europe so that both of them would be encouraged to pursue God... that somehow having Christian friends they would be exposed to a lifestyle where there is a God and He is active even in the most mundane detail in their lives.


More than a year later, I never heard any excited news from my ate about meeting Christian friends.  There's a flat mate and a staffer at her work but neither was introducing Jesus to her. And I want a Christian friend for her!  I have been growing deeper in Christ through my small group that's why I was adamant in my prayer that ate will find one too.


In January of this year, I BBM'd my ate to join the annual prayer and fasting. I didn't expect her to agree but she did.  At the end of the 7-Day Fasting, my ate inundated my blackberry with messages about how amazing God is. Anyone can easily say how amazing God is especially if there's an answered prayer but then often it's the answered prayer that's amazing and not God. 


But when my ate sent a long message about how awesome Jesus is to take our sins and put them on Himself and take off His righteousness and put it on us, now that's the encounter!  It didn't sink in right away but when it did I found myself down on my knees in worship. What did?


Well, if you were reading the entire blog you would've noticed that what I specifically asked was for God to send Christian friends to my sissie so that she will hear about this Jesus.


Guess what? God didn't.  He didn't send even one Christian friend.




Because He sent Himself instead. 






Sooo amazing!!! 






Jesus is indeed in the business of healing lives, opening eyes and revealing Himself--the Only exceeding joy.

Mothers' day snapshots

No more hoarding in my drive. Everything goes up. :)

This morning...

and this...

Mom's gift to her momma: beautiful scarf

Early dinner after church

Nate's Craft at Kids Church. Apparently, he's not the only kid in the family he envisioned.

For his momma abroad. 

Visited mom's momma and the rest of the best moms in the family

Capping up the day with this...and F.R.I.E.N.D.S.!

Great day! Thank You Lord for every blood-bought thing that we enjoy and for the mommas who are often unappreciated!

If there's one thing I don't want to forget

I so relish the rare moments of having our house to myself.


It's Sunday and we would probably celebrate mothers' day later this evening because mom is still asleep. But when I woke up there's only one thing I'm itching to do.


The first thing I saw is the T.V. that is in stand by, the DVD player is still plugged in from where I last left it last night, and the DVD itself is paused at the credits of the last episode I watched last night. 


It will just take two buttons to get this started again.

source

I will never get tired of watching them over and over but not today because it's Sunday. 

Although I only have two rest days per week I don't like the only other day for God to be used for something else (I don't like it but I don't always do it) 

Whenever I go to church without filling my mind with the things of God first it sort of throws me off.  It's like coming to church just like going to work: perfunctory. 

Let me put it this way, whenever I start my day praying, playing worship songs and praising God or listening to podcasts and not doing anything else (like blogging), I have a stronger sense of God. I go to church with feelings to it and it feels very much like going to a place to meet and be with someone you love.

Someone said that God does not have recollection issues of who He is, we do.

And yes, I forget all the time. 

I forget that He works all things for those who love Him when things go wrong.

I forget that greater is He in me than he that is in this world whenever I'm afraid.

I forget He is the provider whenever I'm hesitating to give my savings to someone needing money.

I forget the goodness of God whenever I watch the news...forgetting that He is not slow in keeping His promise, He is actually patient with us FOR OUR SAKE, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to repent.

I forget that He nailed every sin on the cross whenever I'm too ashamed for my sins

I forget that He is not human like us with moody and conditional love. His is steadfast. 

And I forget each time I wake up that every day He withholds everything I deserve because of my sins. I forget that His mercy is new every morning. 

So F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and even catching up on my pending blogs will have to wait for my me-time later tonight. Come to think of it, I typed the last paragraph above and already it took my appetite away from wordly things that steal my heart away from God.  I read what I typed it brought tears to my eyes recalling how great, how good, how loving our God is! I found myself singing in front of my PC (with my voice breaking) the chorus of

"...His mercy never come to an end. They are new every morning, new every morning, great is Thy faithfulness oh Lord...great is Thy faithfulness."

Nuts about Nutella

1...

2...

3...

VOILA!

This is what happens when you wake up and the first thing you see on the table is this tempting jar. 

And a red spoon. 

Beau and Rein's red velvet cupcake

Just got home from Beau and Rein's wedding. They are friends in church. I woke up last night at 11pm for my shift and didn't have a chance to sleep which makes me exactly 25 hours awake...so I am sooo dead-tired. But before I change for my jammies, this cupcake is too cute and so YUMMY to not blog.

 Unfortunately, the icing already melted.

Salie and J.D.

Through the life of this friend of mine, I am witnessing how God works all things for those who love Him.  I am seeing how God does not abandon them (see my blog before about Salie and J.D.)...how He is patient and gentle and forgiving and generous.  


It's hard to feel God's presence during difficulties. We hurl complaints and grumblings at Him, either vocally or deep inside our hearts. But look at this God! He is so patient, gentle, forgiving, generous--wait I just said that, didn't I? Haha, oooh how I worship this Lord!


To Jesus:  Lord, J.D. is so handsome, thank You Lord for him! I pray that you don't let our corrupt generation influence him.  Please let J.D. be Yours and Yours alone. Amen.


To Salie: You may have taken on such a difficult path, sweetie.  But as long as you don't push away the Hand that guides you, hems you in, provides for you and protects you...you will be alright. 


To JD: Baby, do you know what kind of dad you have? Read below (when you're older hehe)



Father to the fatherless, defender of widows—
    this is God, whose dwelling is holy. - Psalm 68:5




And do you know what your Dad wants to tell you?



So do not fear, for I am with you; 
    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. - Isaiah 41:10

Psalm 139--a comfort even in daily trivialities

A large chunk of my score card at work depends on the result of customer surveys on my service.  The clincher is, no matter how you give your best, if the customer doesn’t feel like it, you will always get a zero.  

Earlier today we had our team meeting and I was bummed out because I received my first survey score out of the 4 surveys this month and it's a fail.  I knew already how it will significantly affect my scorecard and my incentives and it’s hard to be cheerful that moment.  After our meeting, I took my lunch break inside our company’s prayer room and talked to my Father in heaven. I told Him that I will need three perfect 10’s in order to maintain my high scores.  But I also told Him (more like reminding myself) that He is my boss and I will praise Him whether I flunk or I pass.  After lunch, we received an email on the latest update on our survey scores for the entire month.

And guess what? Three perfect 10’s for me!

I blinked back tears when it dawned on me that He has long answered my prayer before I even uttered it.

I couldn’t feel more secure than when I strongly feel that God is involved even in little events in my life.  Not just as a Spectator watching me quietly as I pray but Someone who..

knows when I sit down or stand up

knows my thoughts even when I’m far away

knows everything I do and what I am going to say even before I say it

goes before me and follows me

recorded every day of my life before it even happened.

Yes, it’s Psalm 139.  And like I said in my blog in the past, no one ever is going to be more involved in my life or your life than the Person described in this passage. 

Read it. Meditate it.  Even alter the pronouns and make it seem as if God’s talking to you.

I love it when He woos.  He’s the only Wooer who means every word.

His love is too lofty to understand!

War

A tension is growing between the Philippines and China, first about Spratlys and now the Scarborough Shoal.

source

It's not "trending" right now but I know that wars are real and it can happen anytime. 


So more than reading news about this island or shoal tug-of-war, I am reading a lot of stuff and topical posts about what the Bible has to say about wars.  


I would rather be unprepared practically for an attack and find myself scrambling for shelter amidst the bombs than be unprepared spiritually and find myself scattered inwardly and feel that the passion for the Gospel is eons away. 


I am not yet done reading and praying for it but I am going to post here snippets of what struck me from John Piper's post, "If Christ Predicted War, May Christians Pray for Peace?"




1. "We should pray that God's will be done on earth the way it's done in heaven by the perfectly holy angels (Matthew 6:10), not the way it's done on earth through the agency of sinful men."




2. "In fact, Paul teaches us to pray for peace among nations for the sake of the gospel. (1 Tim 2:1-4)"




3. "It is not our business to decide the sovereign purpose of God in ordaining that some wars happen."




4. "Our business is to pray that justice, peace, and the proclamation of the gospel prevail."




5. "Our business is to pray that the Christian church not be complicit in national affairs as if nation and church were one. Ours is to pray that the church be seen as aliens in the cause of Christ-exalting love and justice with no supreme allegiances to any nation."




6. "In such cases our prayers would be for the minimizing of misery and the speedy triumph of justice and the restraint of animosities and cruelties." 


(Notice the words MINIMIZING, SPEEDY and RESTRAINT. It's like we are not asking God to not make any wars happen..but we pray for mercy that it will be minimized, restrained and justice to be speedy.)


7. "So let us pray for the love and wisdom and courage and power and fruitfulness of the church of Jesus Christ around the world."


8. "Let us plead that she (the Church) would be distinct from all the nations and all the national and ethnic manifestations of pride. Let us plead that she would be a peace-making presence of salt and light everywhere. And that she would be unafraid to call every nation into question for the sake of justice and humility."




9. "And that Jesus Christ would be magnified as no national deity, but as Lord of lords and King of kings. And let us pray that all lords and all kings see this and humble themselves and make way for the Lord of glory."






Disclaimer: The whole point of this post may be altered here since these are just all excerpts. You can read the entire post here. 

Quickie lunch

Tuna & Egg

and

Pork & Beans

They taste so good but I really, really need to stay away from this junk that was canned.