precious

Art by my adorable baby sister Bieni.

Precious, aren't they?

"... that your joy may be complete"

So it says in the Gospel of St. John.

The whole chapter from where I got this verse (or part of it anyhow) from talks about Jesus being the Vine, God being the Vine Grower, and we, the branches... that apart from Him, we can do nothing... that to bear fruit, the Vine Grower prunes us. 

It could've been said any better.

This whole month, that has been one constant message. Joy. In God. With Him. Through Him. Only Him.

***

Two thoughts, beliefs, truths pretty much summed up tonight's prayer meeting with the girls: faith and eyes fixed/focused on God.

We talked about JOY, in the context of lasting joy - in and through everything. In and through all the ups and downs of life; in and through all the weaknesses, strengths, and what have yous... about finding joy in everything - the littlest, pettiest of happy things to the biggest of all afflictions.

It's not a walk in the park, believe me.

 

I have been in community for years now and it's been one amazing, wonderful journey. But it hasn't been a bed of roses.It has been one rough ride, too, what with moments of strengths tested, drowned in all weaknesses, temptations abounding, the list goes on...

But lasting Joy is about finding it in Christ Jesus, in a life committed to living for Him and Him alone.

For truly, when one commits His life to God, all else has meaning. All else makes sense. 

I speak for myself here when I say that I have been always blessed with almost everything. I have been raised well, I've had such a blissful childhood, I belong to an amazing family, and I can think of a million more reasons to say I am simply simply blessed by God. Almost spoiled even.

But when I look at those times when I was way up there, enjoying the triumph of a blessed life, and thinking to myself that I accomplished all those for myself, it just didn't make sense much. Or there was a certain void or incompleteness that sucked the life out of the triumph I was experiencing. Something was somehow amiss. 

Modestly speaking, I finished my entire early education in elementary and high school almost always at the top of the class. I was always sure of myself and of the things I wanted to accomplish. And I did accomplish many, most even, of them. And I always believed that I did it, I accomplished all, by myself. Simply because I felt I was good. I was very good. But at the hype of it or after the hype, I simply go tumbling down. It was like reaching the top of the mountain successfully, then I could no longer figure out what was next to do, so I rolled down back to the ground...

But ever since I devoted myself to God and struggling to live my life for Him, even the simplest of things I appreciate. Even the smallest of blessings, I see His hand in them. Everything suddenly just had meaning. Suddenly, reaching the top of the mountain meant so much more because I acknowledged the One Being who brought me up there. This time, after reaching the top, I don't simply roll down back to the ground. Instead, I savor the feeling on top and I appreciate all the beauty I see from the top, I look back in awe at the journey toward the top... everything has meaning, all makes sense. All lead back to God. I am appreciative.

That is the difference. Drawing joy from my faith.

Through the bad times, I am reminded to look beyond the difficulty. My friend Junjun always reminded me that when these tough times come, instead of asking and questioning God, "Why God why?" I should be asking Him, "What are you trying to tell me in all these, God?"

Again, choosing joy over wallowing in sorrow when these afflictions arise. Choosing faith. Focusing on God, believing always that He will see us through and won't allow us to drown in difficulty.

***

Life is blissful, truly.

Joy in Him, through Him, with Him. 

 

here's looking at you, kid

I finally watched that well-loved classic! 

It was a bittersweet love story, but beautiful, to say the least. A unique story about love during the time of war, love in the midst of Hitler's Germans invading the rest of Europe.

A story of selfless love.

Ahhh love. The beauty of it.

a long day's reward

I love Ormoc - for the laid back life that it offers; for places to go to that are technically just a five-ten minute drive (banks, restaurants, movie theater, etc.); for having so much family around (trust me, this can become such a non-perk too!)... All in all, it's the feel of the city, of the warm people around - you meet people and can smile at anyone on the road. 

I'm not saying it's all perfect, too. It has its own share of idiosyncrasies, too - what with nosy people (aka relatives) always watching your every (wrong) move and making a fuss about anything and everything; crazy tricycle/multicab/jeepney drivers who don't move to the right side to let passengers up or down, they stop at the MIDDLE of the road (beat that!)...

But it still all boils down to one important factor in every person's life - family. Ormoc is about family. Ormoc is about home. Being at home with family.

****

At the end of one long work day - after having such a heavy headache that lasted all day, after being "sapot" with people or instances during the course of the day, when, after working from 9 till past 5 and still feels you've not done much; simply put, after having such a rough time in the office - it is such a treat to just have a relaxing evening ahead - and am not talking about going straight to bed relaxing. I mean, the de-stressing that cousins/friends provide - through conversations and laughter over lots and lots of food (sisig, chicken skin, lotsa rice!!!). Such is life. 

Such was today - one long, HOT Wednesday!

But meeting up with the "berks" at the end of the day made today seem not too long a day anymore.

Presenting the amazing berks:

Angela aka Hely, Tsiler, Tshily - such a happy soul, makes me laugh just when I need it. Uber talented, she just opened her boutique TSHILYS and I'm just sooo proud of her!

Monica aka Boodik, Boodak, Berkydude, Kaikai - such a calm, patient, contented, loving soul; she's a happy listener and one of the best friends one can ever wish to have; she's such a hard worker, I admire her financial management ways (aka TIHIK to the nth level)

Ida Mae aka Iderns, Idernsmae, Mae-mae, Tiki, Tikling, Dada - the spicy, cool, collected soul; the life of the group; the hungry-all-the-time-but-still-remains-skinny berky in the group; love her for her spunky, crazy, zany ways

Julina aka Juni, Nilar, Nini - definitely the emotional soul; she's funny, charming, accommodating, uber thoughtful! she's happily married now, and we're all expecting her to have a baby soon!

They make Ormoc harder to leave. (Of course it's enough that it's crazy difficult to leave my parents, Bieni, Mayong's, and Lingkod already!!!)

Ida, in her no nonsense way, today said without a blink, without even looking at me (just concentrating on her food - what else is new?), "I don't want you to leave, Maics." To that, of course, I had to throw back: "Look who's talking, miss-i'm-leaving-for-scotland-soon."

There. We got what we both needed to hear.

More food, more laughter, more conversations. More. We finally called it a night, but not before we planned on our next berky de-stressing activity: Tagalog movie marathon on Saturday - now that's what I call total weeklong-destressing!

finding august rush returning to me with no reservations

Sorry, the title sounds lame, I couldn't help it. Read on, anyhow..

I am a movie buff. I’ve been blessed with a loyal pal in my MacBook, and thanks to my Mac mentor, dear cousin, IdaMae, I am in constant supply of well-recommended movies to watch.

During my Cebu trip this past weekend, I had much time to myself, just being lazy and a couch potato (trust me, I haven’t had such moments for a loooonnngggg time now) and it felt GOOD! My usual trips to Cebu are all scheduled from morning till late at night. It was such a relief when I actually found myself just at home. I eventually concluded that the trip was such a breather from the already laidback Ormoc - imagine the irony in that! Nonetheless, that’s exactly how I felt. It was a good time away from Ormoc - don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Ormoc to death - wouldn’t trade it for anything, any place ever! 

Like I said, it was a relaxing trip. I was supposed to take the last trip out from Ormoc on Friday but earlier last week, D, my great love, um, I meant, my very good friend from college, told me Sasa, one of our friends from college, was in town for a two-week vacation. She’s based in California now. The gang was gonna meet up Thursday night, so I decided to go to Cebu earlier than planned, and met up with them (another blog entry altogether - it was one fun evening!).

Moving right along, I got to spend quality me-time in Cebu at home, I was actually able to watch three films in my laptop - good ones, I’d have to say - not all in one day, though, let me make that clear. I did other things too, other than being lazy at home - I was being lazy at the salon, too; and lazy with cousins on both Friday and Saturday nights. Hehehe. 

movie 1: return to me

Starring: David Duchovny & Minnie Driver

Awww. I still remember the first time I watched this movie, I was in college. I remember crying like anything even when the movie was still starting - I couldn’t help it, why did bob’s wife die sooo early on in the movie? Big duh. My friends wouldn’t let me hear the end of it!

The story just beautifully unfolded, what with the supporting characters - Gracey’s Italian grandfather and his friends, Gracey’s bestfriend & her hubby & their kids! Such a riot! But a fun one.

The love story was simple yet unforgettable. This movie will remain a classic favorite.

Five stars of five definitely!

movie 2: august rush

Now this is one movie that’s a classic through and through.

A story of a young boy who is a music prodigy, born to two talented musicians, separated even before they started anything. A moving love story of a little boy, believing in his heart that music is everywhere, it can be created and heard everywhere, from every single thing around us; you just have to hear and listen well. He had so much faith that the music he creates would eventually unite him with his parents, that they would all find each other through music.

I don’t have to say that in the end, they did. It was a given from the start. But how it all unfolded made the movie one of the most beautiful, most touching, most moving ever.

I can only recognize Keri Russell and Robin Williams as the familiar ones from the cast, the young boy almost looked like the kid from the Sixth Sense and Pay It Forward (hmmm, who is he again?), and  his dad in the movie is a gorgeous guy with an Irish accent. Gorgeous.

I’d have to give this movie 5 starts (out of 5 of course!).

movie 3: no reservations

This one was one of those cute, feel-good, no-fuss movies. Catherine Zeta-Jones was, as in always, gorgeous in this flick, she portrayed the role of a demanding, excellent chef convincingly. 

Love indeed knows no bounds, not even in the kitchen, or especially in the kitchen?

Gave a few laughs, cute love story, but forgettable. Sorry, Catherine.

About 3 stars of five. Two even. Nah, I can't be that mean. It was cute after all. And she did cook well in the movie. ;)

So there, one weekend, three movies, three fun night outs, and curly curly hair. I'd have to say I had one productive weekend.

for you, a thousand times over

That line alone speaks volumes. The book a thousand times more.

I’ve stopped reading for the longest time. I just never found the time to, or so I keep convincing myself. I hate it when people say they don’t have the time or that they can’t find time - now I should give myself a good beating.

The last book I read (and finished) was a Coelho, The Zahir, about two years ago? It was moving, beautiful, or so as far as I can remember. I should read that again and prove my recall, myself, right.

The Kite Runner by Khaleid Hosseini. My sister had been raving about that book for the longest time - I always trusted her taste, admired her passion for well-written books and beautiful stories. I finally started reading it about a few months ago. Then stopped again. Re-read it again about a week ago. I never stopped - I’d read the book right before I went to bed, then on the boat coming to Cebu, then again at the salon when I gave myself a bit of pampering, and lastly, as my sisters went “malling”, I hid myself in the book.

It was a beautiful story of friendship, loyalty, betrayal, love, forgiveness, humility, and redemption.

Amir, the Afghan narrator, wrote eloquently about pre-war-torn/pre-Russian/pre-Taliban Afghanistan. In vivid details, he spoke about the Afghan culture in a way that sweeps your imagination off to such a magnificent world, barely existing as it may be of present. 

Nonetheless, he wrote with much clarity, even the gory details of the many violent, blood-related incidents in the story. Urrrgggh.

“For you, a thousand times over,” was a line used a couple of times in the story - which practically gave the bottomline of the book in those six words. Hassan, the ever loyal friend/servant of Amir, said those very words and meant every word. Farid, the driver of Amir towards the end of the book, said the line. And at the last page of it, Amir said those very words, meaning every single one of them, to Sohrab, the orphan-son of Hassan.

I cried. And cried. And cried. Over and over. This may not be surprising for those who know me pretty well (I’m quite a “drama queen”, a “crybaby”, they’d say) but with this book, I cried more. I cried in my bed, on the boat, at the salon, in the mall reading that book...

I may not make sense here. I’m not making a review out of the book - I’m not THAT much of a writer - just sharing the beautiful experience of going back to my reading, something I’ve left off for a long time. In the end, I realized just how much of life you appreciate through words, stories, conversations; I’m definitely going back to my reading.

Next up, another book my sister (the ever bookworm that she is) has been raving about, The God of Small Things. 

So, Time, when do we start?

a family cup

Presenting the 7th Atty. Vicente C. Rodriguez Sr. Tennis Memorial Cup Tournament...

Another fun-filled family tradition!

(Click on title)

Still oh-so-happy at 27!

26+ years ago: Picture above was with Momsy pregnant with her beloved firstborn - ME!
And now, on their 27th wedding anniversary!
Now with their youngest - Bieni.
Above is Poppy's amazing card - he always gives her the cheesiest ones!

I mean it more than ever that if I marry a guy who is even half the man that Poppy is, I'd be darn lucky and too blessed!

A happy TSHILY birthday

Happy birthday Tsils!

You are an uber talented, dearly beloved cousin, and we're just sooo proud of you for this lifelong venture you've worked hard for and you've finally accomplished!

A happy birthday indeed! You deserve nothing less.

*Saturday night was just what we all needed. Thanks for the treat! Till our next Wengweng (shots from now on!) night out!

faith, hope, love

These are three of my favorite words.

"Faith is the way of holding onto what we hope for, being certain of what we cannot see." - Hebrews 11:1

"Faith goes up the stairs that love has built and looks out the window which hope has opened." - Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Faith is to believe without necessarily understanding.

I rest my case.

this is going to cheesy

I miss him like crazy.

I was hoping to see him sooner rather than later this year.

Was counting on a few months that I MIGHT get to visit him, since my mom is dead set on going to the States with Tita May, her beloved sister, to visit Karen, my cousin, who's giving birth in July. Of course, it would be too easy to convince her to bring me along.

It was probably wrong for me and Choobs to put our hopes up too high too soon. 

We just couldn't help it, you know. We were both hoping I'd visit him and see his world this time, after he spent two weeks with me in my beautiful, laidback world. He was already listing down the places he wanted to take me to - his favorite restaurants, hang-outs, and all the other beautiful places he wanted me to see with him. Awww.

Alas, reality bites.

Had a chat with Poppy this noon and he told us the news that it would be wiser to work on our US visas (which expired already) come December instead of June because there's a bigger chance we might be given just 6 months, 3 months at worst case scenarios (us being "single & mobile" - one of the consuls at the US embassy gave this reason to my friend who was rejected a visa), so it would be impractical for my other siblings to leave within that amount of time - they're all off to somewhere starting June: Iana off to her fashion school, Ivi to her new job in Manila, and my dear brod Tingtong off to Med school.

So to make the long story short, I told Choobs about it earlier and it just bummed us out. We were quiet. For a loooonnnggg time it felt like forever. And I was especially more quiet.

I stop and ask myself, "Why did I ever get myself into this?"

That caught Choobs off guard, hurt, that I ever asked that because he never once thought about that.

I made bawi, telling him that I know, for certain, this is all worth it. It's just difficult (VERY!), realistically speaking.

He agreed. All forgiven.

After hanging up, I still couldn't fathom the fact that this was a difficult situation I got myself into. 

Long-distance relationships.

This a first for both of us.

He never believed in these before. He thought it was stupid. Not until he met me, he says. He didn't realize he'd feel this much stronger for a person to ever fight for this, despite the distance that keeps us apart.

I can say the same, really.

After all, before he happened to me, I didn't expect nor did I want myself to get into a relationship. Period.

But he was just all worth it. He is just all worth it.

I should stop the pondering, I know.

I should stop the cheesiness of all these, I know.

Still can't stop missing him like crazy, though.

Bow.

reminiscing - the now & then

NOW

After 9 glorious years...

Met up with these guys and see how much has changed over those years!

The newlyweds Tasyo & Sasa 

with the girls (there's just 5 of us, out of the 12!)

THEN

Pictures directly above and directly below were taken about nine years ago!

1st pic: at a restaurant here in Ormoc when they visited me

2nd & 3rd pics: we, girls, loved studio pics! there's 12 of us!

Pic 1 above: at Visca, about 20 mins away from Ormoc, still during that same trip

when these guys visited me

2nd & 3rd pics: we loved studio shots!

Finally, graduation! with Dingkoy, Kate, Mylene, Jesi, Chey (1st row)

Dodong, Jijie, Tam, Ian, Edmund (2nd row)

This was in May 2003 at the Guadalupe Church in Cebu

That's me and my best friend of all times, Mylene 

Taken on the night of our Graduation Ball 

Our last studio shot 

Graduation Ball 

Shangri-la Mactan May 2003

"Your grade school friends will most likely be your friends till high school. But, your college friends? They'll be your friends for life." - a classmate from high school once wrote that on our classroom blackboard (we were graduating from high school in a few months)

True enough.

I miss my college days.

I miss my college friends! 

Man, they're part of who I am and who I've become. And these friends I know I'll have till the end of time. Things may be different now, we've gone our separate ways, living our own lives, but it's amazing how their names are so etched in my life, I can't seem to shake them off my life. Hahaha!

Oh, I miss you guys. Too much it hurts. But reminiscing about our old college days always brings such a bright smile to my face, and the hurt just fades away. That's when I remember every memory we shared, every laughter, every fight along the way, every trip out, every every every beautiful memory we've created...

***

GREAT NEWS: Tasyo (aka Ritch Patrick) and Sassy (aka Anansa Katrina) just got hitched! The first official couple from the gang who have tied the knot, finally after 8 years of togetherness! If I remember correctly, these two lovebirds started going out around the second semester of freshman year. They've been inseparable ever since - well, technically not quite for the past two years when Sasa moved to the USA. Sooo happy for you guys!

***

Thursday night last week (April 17) was definitely a night of reuniting and reminiscing with old college friends - many of whom I haven't seen in a gazillion years! It was such a fun night of catching up on each other's lives and lives of other people we know, too! It was also bickering night, much time was spent on picking on each other, making fun of each other's big tummy, of who gained weight and whatnot. 

All in all, it felt GOOOOD being reunited with those guys with whom I've shared not just photocopied notes, meals, or answers during exams with, but more so, we shared all those glorious years of amazing friendship, filled with so much laughter, tears, conversations, joys, sorrows, ups, downs, and everything else that truly made college life one of the best, most unforgettable experiences ever.

Till the next reunion! 

highs and lows

You know how it's a good thing to recall the day's events? 

We realize how we ought to be grateful for all the blessings we received.

We become grateful and appreciative. Of all the good. Little or big alike.

Then, of course, there's the bad part of the day, too. 

Hey, that's reality. Life can't be all that good, right?

But rather than rave about the good, and on the other hand, rant and whine about the bad, I'd like to think of them as the highs and lows of my day. So here's a quick rundown of the highs and lows...

*HIGHS*

- my prayer time - spending quiet moments in prayer, reading the day's readings, writing on my journal, just keeping still and silent while appreciating the beautiful morning, nature in all its "morning glory", realizing all the more how blessed I am; all in all, this precious time spent in prayer is such an every day high, prepares me for the day ahead

- Playing translation with Chooboy.

This cracked me up after having a rather tiring morning. Basically, I woke up really early even after coming home late last night from Tacloban (more on this whining under the LOWS - hahaha). So when Choobs called me right before lunch I was all pissed and as Chooobs put it "so out of it". That's how we put it when we're not our usual self, so basically he knew I wasn't up to it. I just sounded tired. He tried cheering me up, I smiled a bit. He has that effect on me. But I was still tired and getting hungry. Eventually, I hang up and told him I'd just go on my lunch break, then call him back after.

After lunch, I went back to the office, and saw that he sent me an email. It cracked me up! He sent me pictures of his family during his dad's birthday party the past weekend. Then he added a foreign phrase at the end of the email. I asked him about it, he told me to google it.

ego diligo vos which is actually "i love you" in latin.

It was the sweetest, that simply cheered me up! (shallow noh? But it was sweet!)

So that started our translation game. We came up with cheesier lines, then translated them in Latin, then we'd send them to each other via Skype messaging. It was hilarious. Took all my tiredness away. After all, he has that effect on me (so I say again). Love this guy to death.

- My amazing, uber-talented cousin and friend Angela opened her boutique TSHILYS finally - this has been her longtime project and we're all just sooo proud of her! We sent her flowers and dropped by her shop after work, enjoyed refreshments (Juni gifted Tsils with our fave choco fountain - with all the mallows, yum!), and just chit-chatted with my other cousins, Juni, her hubby Martin, Monic, and my sister Yani.

- I got to have a nice chat with Lani, one of the sisters in my action group (read: action group is the basic unit of my community, Ang Lingkod ng Panginoon). It was such a high in the sense that I got to know her more through that good hour or so we spent having coffee/tea. She's such a sweet little girl and very nice one at that. Very very nice. It was sucha pleasure spending that time with her.

- MAC PARTY! After dropping by Tsils (aka Angela), spent the evening with Juni, Martin, and Monic for what we call a "Mac Party" (term coined by IdaMae, another dear cousin and my Mac mentor!). Monic just got her new Macbook and we welcomed her to our "club" (oh something we just came up on our own!) after months of inviting her and she'd just watch us explore and play with our own Macs. Finally, "she's one of us!" Hahaha. Such shallow high really. But it gave me a high nonetheless!

- coming home from a long day out of the house! such a big high, especially with my little sister, Bieni, giving me a big hug and a big kiss! Awww. Such a high!

*LOWS*

- I woke up at 6:15am (as in always!) despite the fact that I had such a looongngg trip to Tacloban last night, got home at 12:30am and slept at 1am+! I tried to go back to sleep but I couldn't! So my day went on as usual despite the lack of sleep. Urrrggghhh.

- Talking to Choobs always gives me a high but missing him just makes talking to him such a low instead. I miss that guy like crazy. I thank God for him every single day, he's such an amazing person who brings so much joy and laughter to my life. This long distance relationship works well for us right now when we're both busy with work, but it's also taking its toll on us. So yeah, this is an every day low. :(

- I was tired and sleepy all day!!!

All in all, can't really say my lows were anything of the bad variety. After all, if I recall all the day's highs, they obviously outweigh all the lows! Simply put, focusing on the good part of the day is a high in itself - and we get to appreciate even the littlest highs, and the lows just fade away...

 

mornings

"Every morning is a fresh opportunity to find God's extraordinary joy in the most ordinary places." - Janet L. Weaver

I wake up to another beautiful morning, feeling lighter, freer, more blessed than ever.

God's brand new morning for me. Brand new.

I quote one of the most beautiful, most full-of-promise passage in the Bible:

"This, when I ponder, is what gives me hope:

God's love abides unceasingly. 

His compassion is never consumed;

every morning it is renewed.

And His love remains ever faithful.

'My portion is God,' says my soul.

'On Him shall I rely.'

God is good to those who hope in Him, to souls who search for Him.

It is rewarding to wait in silence for the Lord's salvation."

-Lamentations 3:21-26

I am very much a morning person. 

I love mornings! Sunny ones, especially.

They reveal so much of God's love, refreshed, renewed for the new day. Mornings reveal how God is such a faithful God. A God who blesses us with a new day to live, a new morning to start anew, a new opportunity to live life and live it to the fullest.

Not many are as blessed with a new day, a new morning.

Not many appreciate new mornings as new opportunities to start anew. Not many see life or God that way.

Not I.

I love waking up to either the chirping of the birds or the crow of the rooster (do hens crow too?). On ever better mornings, I even smile to waking up to the noisy barking of the dogs (trust me, am not that much of a saint, enjoying the barking of the dogs? There are mornings when I want to throw my pillows at them, too! Shucks, pillows lang? Um, my slippers? Hahaha)!

Nonetheless, the point being, I love mornings. I love waking up early! No matter how late I sleep the night before, I almost always wake up at a little past 6! I just feel like not wasting another minute of the beautiful day to doze off till late in the morning, missing out on all the morning sounds of nature.

More so, I don't like missing out on the early morning realization and reminder of God's love, all refreshed and renewed, for the new day that He's blessed me with.

No matter how bad the day before is/was, I look forward to the new morning to shake off that bad day out of my system, and start over. No matter how much hopelessness looms in my heart at the end of the day, I look forward to the new morning, when I know God will once again reveal to me His faithfulness, His unconditional love.

And by knowing such, I am good to go! I am once again ready to face the challenges of the new day, rejuvenated, and confident! After all, if God is with me, who can go against me?

Ahhh, pure bliss in new mornings.

fullness of life with God

I write this with full conviction.

It's a glorious Sunday and I woke up to a beautiful sunny morning.

Spent time in prayer and was awed by the beautiful readings for today.

This again as if on cue, was the First Reading for today (spoke volumes to me on God's faithfulness).

Acts 2:25-28

"I saw the Lord before me at all times. He is by my side, that I may not be shaken. Therefore, my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced, my body too will live in hope. Because You will not forsake me in the abode of the dead, nor allow Your Holy One to experience corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life, and Your presence will fill me with joy."

Psalm 16:8, 11

"I keep the Lord always before me; for with Him at my right hand, I will never be shaken. You will show me the path of life, in Your presence the fullness of joy, at Your right hand happiness forever."

Truly in Him alone is the fullness of life. 

Let me just say this, no matter where life brings me, I know for certain that I cannot imagine a life without Him in it. True, I discovered Him, accepted Him in my life, and established a deeper,more personal relationship with Him quite later in my life (yes, He was around before then but He was just that distant God I'd pray to when I needed to), but with Him in my life, everything just makes sense. To put it simply. Of course this does not make me a saint or anything to close to being one even. I'm still human, I falter and fall along the way still. I struggle with every single evil hounding. I fall hard and deep into sin still. But at the end of it all, I know I have such a loving (unconditional at that), faithful God who accepts me back with open arms. I know that having Him in my life brings so much meaning to life and living. Truly I say this with much conviction again, I cannot imagine a life without Him. Truly in Him alone is there fullness of life.

In today's Gospel (Luke 24:13-35), it talks about the two men who walked away Jerusalem after Jesus' death and was on the road to Emmaus when they met Jesus. However they didn't recognize Him immediately. It took for Him to break the bread during supper when the two men opened their eyes and saw Him for Him. I am in awe as to the passage that follows, "Were not our hearts filled with ardent yearning when He was talking to us on the road and explaining the Scriptures?" Truly, God's Word has so much power, so much effect on our lives, if we allow it to, if we accept it with all our hearts. 

When I was praying for my relationship with Panchoboy, I remember Ate Jen (a very dear cousin, friend, sister-in-Christ, fellow servant of God in our community) would always remind me pray and pray and listen to God speaking to me because He is never subtle. Truly, whenever He speaks, He speaks volumes. He makes clear His message as long as we open our hearts and minds to it. Like any message, if we allow ourselves to hear it, we will hear it with our hearts; if not, then we end up not hearing His Voice, His Word, His Message...

I may continue to struggle as a Christian, as His servant, but I continue to strive to be better, to be deserving of His goodness, of His faithfulness, of His unconditional love, and no matter what the circumstance, I say with conviction that life has no meaning at all without Him in it. 

In Him alone is the fullness of life.

Teatime with God

I read this years and years back and had this saved in one of my old files in college. Thought I'd post it here. It has such a beautiful message!

Read on...

Teatime with God

"Come in," God said. "So you would like to have tea with Me?"

"If you have the time," I said.

God smiled and said, "My time is eternity and is enough to do everything;

What questions do you have in mind to ask Me?"

"What surprises you most about mankind?"

God answered, as we sipped our tea, 

"That they get bored of being children, are in a rush to grow up, and then long to be children again.

That they lose their health to make money and then lose their money to restore their health.

That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present, such that they live neither for the present nor the future.

That they live as if they will never die, and they die as if they had never lived."

We were silent for a while and then I asked,

"As a parent, what are some of life's lessons you want your children to learn?"

God asked for more tea and replied with a smile,

"To learn that what is most valuable is not what they have in their lives, but who they have in their lives.

To learn that a rich person is not the one who has the most, but is one who needs the least.

To learn that it only takes a few seconds to open profound wounds in persons we love, and that it takes many years to heal them.

To learn that there are persons who love them dearly, but simply do not know how to express or show their feelings.

To learn that money can buy everything but happiness.

To learn that a true friend is someone who knows everything about, and likes them anyway.

To learn that it is not always enough that they be forgiven by others, but that they have to forgive themselves.

I sat there for a while enjoying the moment sipping tea with God. 

I thanked Him for His time.

People will forget what you said.

People will forget what you did,

but people will never forget how you made them feel,

the time spent in friendship over a cup of tea.

**An awww moment, huh?

I wonder to myself too how my own conversation with God would go, one day in His perfect time, in His perfect Heaven... 

For now, I'd like to focus on the beautiful message above on life and living, love and loving...

childhood favorite

It's been one lazy, boring, uber relaxed Saturday (my dream Saturday). I actually promised myself that this weekend, I'll finally sit down and read my sister's most recommended book, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, or clean up my very disorganized cabinet. Alas, it's 2:03pm, and I've done neither. Instead, I've been either blogging, surfing the TV, and chewing on some yummy wheat bread with yummy melted cheese. Ahhh, the life.

Anyhow, I decided to relive some childhood memory - one of the funnest, I'd have to add.

Filling-up an autograph. Not just one. Many of 'em. Autographs of friends, cousins, family. Mind you, this isn't an autograph in the context of a celebrity signature autograph.

This is the classic autograph with all basic, common, some nosy, questions, starting with... Name, Nickname... to What is Love? Who is your first love? (laugh now)

Now let me relive this childhood favorite by answering, no longer as that 5th grader but as a 26 year old adult.

Name: Maria Cara Tan Rodriguez

Nickname: Maica

Birthday: March 11, 1982

Birthplace: Cebu City (Cebu Chong Hua Hospital)

Ambition: To become a faithful servant of God all the days of my life; To marry the one guy God has destined me to be with all the days of my life & together, serve God who has brought us together and arranged such a beautiful love story for us ;)

Likes: hope, faith, love, happiness, laughter - all the good things in life and people who are positively practicing all these good things

Dislikes: arrogant, self-absorbed, indifferent people

Favorites

Books: The Bible (been a die-hard, trying hard reader), The Power of A Praying Woman, The Zahir, By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept, The Alchemist, Doctors, Only Love, The Love Story, Cain and Abel, more books from Bo Sanchez, Paolo Coelho, Francis Kong

Movies: My Bestfriend's Wedding, Pride & Prejudice, Sweet Home Alabama, Sabrina, The Love Affair, Sense & Sensibility, Juno

Colors: all shades of pink; bright sunny yellow; turquoise blue; apple green

Music: by U2, sarah mclachlan, colbie caillat, the fray, the beatles, green day, eric clapton; loving the string quartet big time!!

Songs: of late: anything by U2 (stuck in a moment, with or without you, beautiful day, the sweetest thing), old cheesy love songs

Hobbies/Interests: reading, blogging, watching movies, having dinner & coffee with friends and family, going to the beach (love sunrises & sunsets)

TV shows: of present, none really, been alien to TV of late; loooove watching friends reruns though; and i enjoy one tree hill, grey's anatomy, ugly betty & gossip girl on dvds

Websites (this wasn't in any of the autographs back then, but I had to include this): blogspot.com, multiply.com, google.com, apple.com

Going Personal

Define yourself: I'm tall - NOT! (my answers from way back always started with the whole, I'm tall, simple... naks!) Truthfully now, as a 26 year old young adult, I'd have to say I'm pretty much a fun-loving, life-loving, cheerful, talkative person! Simply put.

What is love? The eternal question! First definition that comes to mind (that is non-childhood-autograph-related!) is that love is more than just a feeling; more so, it is a decision. If love were just a feeling, you can just wake up one morning realizing that love feeling is gone. But when you consciously decide to love, you feel just that, at the same time, make a responsible decision to love no matter what the circumstance.

Who was your first love? (God, my parents would've been the safest, sooo-childhood-autograph-related answer, i know!) Truthfully, a boy named Ramon Munoz. Obviously, he's all grown-up now (should be!) and still a good friend!

Who was your first crush? Awww, there would be too many to mention. But I remember a certain Joey, who'll forever be a big crush!

Who was your first kiss? Shucks, this would be too scandalous, I'll have to stick with... my parents. ;)

Who is your greatest love? I have too many great loves: my ever-faithful God, my ever-loving family, my community, friends, my chooboy. ;)

Describe your loved one: Awww, my chooboy is the sweetest being, the bestest friend, the fun-nest, most loving boyfriend ever! He simply brings out the best in me. Makes me happiest. Need I say more?

**Hmmm, am I missing out some items? Hmmm... 

For now, that's it, kiddos. Enjoyed that portion. Brought out the child in me again. Ahhhh, life. And the beauty of reminiscing.