It is a such a marvelous blessing to wake up in the morning knowing how the mercy and grace of our Father in Heaven abound! Wow! A fresh start! New opportunities. New challenges. New victories. New hope. As long as there is Today, we will always have a clean slate in life, to put the past behind and enter into something new moving forward. Oh, Father! You are the BEST!
I have been swamped with work for the past weeks. I have taken on a new position as General Manager of one of the companies under a Holdings group wholly owned by Filipinos. Concurrently, I am also handling Lifeline Foundation’s Parental Assistance Program which is being supported by this company. So there! I got so engrossed in the daily grind I found myself losing out on the context of my life somehow. Why am I here? What am I doing? Who am I doing it for? And WHO told me to do it?
God gave my life a meaning, a purpose. I have then learned to align my way of life with this purpose. Our vision to build schools, libraries, livelihood projects, fishery, environmentally-friendly facilities, etc. –ALL for empowering lives of people. Changing one life at a time! Somewhere in the middle of things in the past weeks at work, I have forgotten about Him when my WORK is suppose to be my WORSHIP as well. I can’t compartmentalize my life –I only have ONE LIFE. Remembering I am a PACKAGE DEAL – mind, body, heart and spirit ALL IN ONE. Yes Father, I am setting my mind and keeping it set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on earth. I am keeping my heads up so I can only see YOU. Getting rid of all the stinky rubbish, rising up to the flak. I put my hands to the plow, moving forward and not losing sight of who I am in YOU.
Thank you Father!
8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.- The Amplified Bible
Good morning! Thank you Father for another day, fresh and full of challenges ahead. I set planks for my future today, I hold on to your promise of eternal life and salvation. I move forward like a good sheep, and keep my eye focused on that cross, like a loyal and precise archer, I aim purposefully at my target-- to advance your kingdom. Destructions also come fresh today, but I am ready to push them back and clear the road which I am in. I rebuke fear, witchcraft, lying heart, apathy, laziness and rebellious spirit. I will always remember where You took me from before You saved me, I'll take Your warnings well and act on them, and I'll remember where You promise to take me after all these. I am your child, I belong to YOU Father, and YOU alone!!!
29Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls.
30For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good--not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne.
Happy Father’s Day!!! I am also posting here “Daddy’s Corner” tag sent to me by Chloe.
There’s only one who deserves my praises, my soul boasts of the Lord, my Father in Heaven, my Divine Daddy!
He is my Refuge, my Strength, my Provider, my Strong Tower, My Deliverer, My Rock, My Redeemer, My Shield, My Healer, My Judge, My Shepherd, My Truth, My Wisdom, My Courage, My Righteousness, My Dread Champion, the Lover Of My Life. Lord, you are my Sanity! The greatest Father of All! Thank you Father! No one compares with YOU!
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Started by Mitchteryosa
Rules:
1) Copy from {Start Copy Here} to {End Copy Here}.
2) Blog Brag about your husband - yes, the father of your child/ren. As I’ve said singles may also join by bragging about their own fathers, or even grandfathers. It doesn’t matter! Of course, Daddy bloggers themselves may also join, but you have to blog about your fathers and not about yourselves, deal? Okay. Good.
3) Add your blog in the master list below linking to the post that you just made. Or if you wish, do it as how I’ve done it in my other blog by adding a new page.
4) Leave your comment here and don't forget to leave your link so you can be added on the masterlist. Yup. Here. Thanks!
5) Let’s not forget Peppermint Creative for the corner border I used for the badge.
Masterlist
3.Etc Atbp
7.A Mother of Today, Yesterday and Tomorrow,
8.Everything That Has Breathe Praise The Lord,
9.Kate Ashley,
11.Marilyn
12.Anything and Everything In Between
18.Race Corner
21. Geng's Journal
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I have seen a correlation between my recent post entitled “Potter Wasp” and this post. It shows once again how amazing God is. How His wisdom and understanding created the world and everything in it. How mind boggling how an adult wasp knows how to take care of its egg, how she prepares the nest with sustenance in it, to serve as the breeding vessel for her egg to grow and fully develop into an adult. Wow! Then I remember a preaching during one of our meetings in church on discipline. God, our divine potter, is looking after our life. He puts us under rigid training and formation of character and personality a.ka. discipline. As He is the potter, I am the lump of clay that He puts into the wheel. He puts an adequate amount of water, smashes, flatten, pinches, turns me inside out and upside down. Adding more water as needed to achieve that perfect texture and consistency required to mold me into a pot. I am bent into shapes, twisted sometimes pained or dismantled in the process. When He sees that He has already molded me into the correct shape and form, He then puts me in the oven, and strengthen me with fire. Finally, I have become whole and now ready to be put to use. Would you have resisted the moldings, the turns, the pinches and the smashes? Or Would you have jumped out of His wheel when you started to feel the hurt and the pains of the bents during the process? Knowing that He is an Almighty and Loving Father to His children, I will trust His ways and I will submit myself under His discipline because I want to be used by Him, as an instrument to carry out His plan. Thank you Father.
I was browsing the internet looking for some references for the new post that I am doing regarding pottery and I saw a very interesting subject. Since I was trying to google the word “pottery” , a “Potter Wasp” came out and caught my interest. So I decided to write about it first.
Potter Wasps obtained their name from “pottery” (obviously!) because they can construct a nest that shapes like a pot. It is usually made of mud and regurgerated water or chewed plant materials. This kind of wasp makes nest provisioning specifically for its larva, laying a single egg in an empty nest or just at the opening, suspended from a thread which it also makes. Adult wasp catches beetle larvae, caterpillars or spiders, paralyzes them then puts them inside the nest. As soon as the egg hatches, the larva will drop directly on the provisioned prey and starts to feed on it which normally takes a few weeks before it goes through the pupa stage. Its life cycle reaches its completion from a few weeks until more than a year before the egg becomes an adult.
What’s even more amazing is that it was believed that Native Americans based their pottery designs from a Potter Wasp’s nest. Wow!
“A Mother to her children, loves them, comforts and care for them, protects them, educates them, watches over them. Like God, she cannot forget her nursing child and not have compassion on the son/daughter in her womb.” – Geng and The Amplified Bible
1. Irresistible Fascinations / Naomi
4. Sheng's Simple Thoughts... / SHENG
5. Just Anot3. her Day / Emzkie
Thanks Race. I loved doing this pre Mother’s Day meme. I truly understood and appreciated my mom more when I became a mother myself. It is a serious and hearty WORK! So I believe that mother’s day should be celebrated everyday, not by material gifts or expensive dinners but by a sincere expression of our love for them. A simple “I love you Mom or Thank you Mom” everyday can go a long way. So I’ve decided to coin a quote base from my favorite book for this meme.
Tagging Shimumsy, Constance, Lizzie , Maline and Janet.
God never ceases to amaze me! As I’ve written in my previous post, we (Gabby and I) spent our Sunday afternoon at High Street with my friends. Irene and I have been good friends. It started when we got a chance to work together in a multinational company way back in 2000. We were “partners in crime” as they put it. Closing deals left and right. We met every quota given to us and have received commendations left and right. And of course, we were well compensated with incentives and commissions.
We went back to those days and realized how crazy we were buying all those branded and luxurious jewelries, clothes, bags, etc. I retired in 2004 when I had Gabby, while she still works there and now has her own family. But today is different, we have come to the realization that nothing we desired on earth compares to Jesus. As we were sharing how our lives are touched by God, Gabby blurted out happily “Wow. A rainbow Mom. Where’s the pot of gold?” as she pointed to the sky showing us the beautiful rainbow that seemed to be just above our heads. I answered, “There it is Gabby, that itself is the treasure from God!
I said this because as I gazed at it, I remembered the covenant made by God with Noah after the land was entirely dry from the flood which lasted for over a year in the book of Genesis. Noah built an altar and took of every clean animal as burnt offerings to the Lord. The Lord smelled a scent of satisfaction to His heart then He established a covenant with Noah and with every living creature, for all future generations (that includes our generation!)- that the waters will no more become a flood to destroy the earth. He then set a rainbow in the cloud as a token or sign of this solemn covenant. And God said that whenever it appears in the clouds, He will remember this solemn pledge to mankind. And that’s the love of God for us. Our real treasure!
Last Sunday Gabby and I were at Bonifacio High Street with Irene and Gege and their son Miguel. They are one of my closest friends. We spent time together to catching up with one another. It’s been a while since we last did something like this. We used to be seeing each other almost every week to bring the kids to park, dine out, go out of town, swimming, go to activity centers, and a lot more. I value every relationship that I have – with my daughter, my family, my friends, co workers, even my enemies. I believe that God put them into my path for a reason. And I know that one of the reasons is meant to enrich my being. Reminding us that we need one another to survive and thrive in this life. For life is all about relationship. The first, the most central and the most essential one of all is the relationship with God.
One of the things I remembered during our trip to Hamilo Cove as I gazed at nature before me is God’s commitment to us in Isa 54:10. I stood in amazement at how His understanding created the fixed ordinances of this world. How His wisdom stretched to give purpose to each and every creation. I lifted my head up to heaven and thanked God for His commitment of loving kindness and peace that cannot be removed, as those mountains created to be undetachable .
“For though the mountains should depart and the hills be shaken or removed, yet My love and kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall my covenant of peace and completeness be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you.” - Isa 54:10 (Amp)
It took us 1 hour and 30 minute to get there from Taal Vista Hotel, via their shuttle van. After viewing the coves, the shuttle brought us back to Taal Vista Hotel where were served sumptuous lunch and desserts. We also get to enjoy the scenery of Taal Volcano. Made me thank God again for His wonderful creations.
THE COVE
The nation took a break from school and work in observance of the Lenten Season. Some headed to the provinces, some flew to Boracay and other beaches, some stayed in their own houses and prayed. This is the season when the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins is remembered. In the tradition I grew up to, Holy Week is a solemn and religious time to repent for the sins committed from the past. It is also a time to remember what Jesus went through, to the point of dying on the cross for our salvation. Part of the tradition is to refrain from playing loud and fast music, refrain from eating meat or pork, refrain from going out on Good Friday and Black Saturday, etc.
When I become a Christian, I was enlightened to see what salvation truly means. And it should not take an occasion once a year to remember it nor believe in those "religious" tradition. Jesus is God's greatest love for us. Jesus is His only begotten son, offered as a sacrificial lamb to redeem us from our sins and transgressions. Wow! I could not imagine how hard and painful it was for God to do this--and how the pain continues up to this time because Jesus continues to carry and bear our sins up to this time. Every time we sin, the harder and heavier that burden on His shoulder becomes. Along with this, is the acceptance that we are indeed imperfect and flawed that's why we need a perfect God who can complete us and make us whole. That way, we can stand right back up whenever we fall or screw up, without condemnation and move along forward as His faithful sheep. I recognize that I stand today only because of His grace and loving mercy.
Everyday is a battle against sins, and I being imperfect and flawed, desperately need Jesus in my life everyday to win over each battle. I also rejoice everyday because I know that Jesus is risen and have overcome the world. Therefore I willfully remember Jesus and rejoice everyday knowing that He has overcome the world. This is my salvation! And I am living it everyday!
I posted an entry about Sonya's Garden in my other site as an introduction to my awesome and soothing experience at the garden just as my awesome and sweet experience with my creator. I used to ignore the beauty of nature, not a "nature lover" as they say. I didn't appreciate those flowers I received before from my suitors or even friends. I thought it was boring to go to those places overlooking a scenery or nature. But things change, people change. Now I can say that I love nature. I now appreciate those flowers, I find it worthwhile spending time and looking over a scenery or nature. Why? Because it is God’s creation and I see Him in it. It reminds me of His love, wisdom and power. It gives me peace and assurance that with Him, nothing is impossible. With the wonderful work of His hand I was created, and with it I am safed. Thank You Father!
I usually have somebody fixed the yearly registration renewal of my car. Just the thought of going to the city transportation office, waiting in a long cue with drivers and other people under the humid weather without the cool airconditioning air makes me not wanting to do it. The laziness and pride ruling over me. So I'd rather pay a "fixer" to get it done for me. What a lazy living creature! Then I realized, three years ago, I was not created a lazy person! We are designed to work, and in the process will develop and improve ourselves to be better creations. So this year, like the past three years after that realization, I filed the renewal myself again. I patiently waited in cue, and didn't think of the discomforts I will experience under this humid weather. Several fixers came up to me offering their services but I refused all of them I won't put my hard earned money to waste. I am able to do things on my own as God designed me to be, a healthy body and a sound mind. No more laziness!
I was up early this morning, prayed, then swung up to my laptop to blog. I was re reading “Mom’s Garden” and I suddenly remembered a verse in the Bible (1Cor 3:9) where it says that "we are God’s garden and vineyard and field under cultivation." Wow. Like the different plants and flowers in mom’s garden, each one of us was created uniquely by God, each has its own identity yet, we are all equal in His eyes. Each one is rendered His ultimate love, mercy and grace. Knowing and understanding that each one, being imperfect, flawed, blemished and uncultivated, needed His appropriate guidance and care. As our Divine Gardener, He knows best what kind of plants and flowers are to be planted in His garden, as well as allows some organism, bugs and insects to thrive to serve its purpose in the ecosystem. This diversity (as compared to life) aims to produce learnings from different experiences (happy and sad) that add meaning or color in our lives.
He tends His garden without fail, His Light keeps the plants green and alive without scorching. His Word keeps them covered and wet preventing them to wilt and to shrivel. He is watchful over the sins that are always trying to seep into our lives, like those unwanted weeds in mom’s garden. He plucks them out with His able hands. But His wisdom sometimes allow those weeds, thorns, harmful organism, bugs, insects, even drought or a torrent of water to exist in His garden just as He sometimes allow trials and tests to come into our lives. This I believe happens for a reason. And that is for us to realize how much we desperately need Him in our lives, to learn, to change for the better, to make us stronger and able stand any storm thus, helping us to survive, grow and bear fruit.
