Habang nagququiz:

 

 

 

 

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Tuwing enlistment / registration / CRS!

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Pag uwian na (yehey!) 

 

 

 

If you can’t see the moving figures above, click me!

I DO NOT MISS

• commuting for more than hour everyday… last Monday, the MRT broke down at Magallanes station and what was an hour 15 min trip from Makati to Diliman became 3 and 1/2 hours long.
• starving at midnight ’til sunrise because my boardinghouse is far away from convenience stores and has no kitchen.
• being a full time student with no regular income.
• thesis-writing, thesis thinking, thesis research…
• being unable to breathe properly… not sure if this is a virus or my allergic rhinitis flaring up, but I’m home sick right now, with the sniffles and a slight fever. and a voice about to become hoarse. oh no.

I MISS

• the 15 minute commute from Manigo to UP Diliman… and the two-block walk from Cosmo to UP Manila.
• chatting with my dorm mates
• J.Lo’s barbecue and chicken a** at Maginhawa St.
• monthly salary and 13th month pay and commissions
• going home and not having to think about homework or deadlines
• my little munster niece… here are her pictures last November 1 at Tarlac. Yehey, she now looks more like a baby girl!

Here’s the rule:

Click copy/paste, type in your answers and tag four people in your blogroll! Don’t forget to change my answers to the questions with that of yours.

Question # 1. Four places I go to over and over: CR? heehee
1. UP Diliman (Sunken Garden, Educ lib and EDL faculty ofiice), 2. Cosmopolitan Church (D3, LGI and Vesper), 3. Cardinal Santos Hospital (to fetch my mom from her work before midnight strikes and to chatter with my triad), and 4. Mcdo Philcoa (for the Thursday group).

Question # 2. Four people who e-mail me regularly
Jobstreet, JobsDB, BestJobs and Odesk. I’m not into emailing, blogging is more fun.

Question # 3. Four of my favorite places to eat?
Bakit four lang? Ah well, if I must. Here, there, everywhere, anywhere. For special occasions: Likha Diwa sa Gulod (at Krus na Ligas), Pancake House, Kimono Ken, and any resto basta may brewed coffee/unlimited rice/eat all you can buffet. Ang hirap ng question na ito!

Question # 4. Four places you’d rather be? 
Israel. Bed. Onstage. Anywhere I can stargaze

Question #5. Four TV shows I could watch over and over.
House, Pushing Daisies, Wild at Heart, Heroes. All of them I’ve only seen via DVD, never on actual cable/sattelite TV.

i Tag: Joni, Chuza, Anniefair and Marion

[A is for age:] 25

[B is for beverage of choice:] coffee or coke

[C is for career:] graduate student/part time graduate assistant/freelance tutor/and more!

[D is for your dog's name:] Don’t have any

[E is for essential item:] eyeglasses

[F is for fond of what:] food, friends, books, music, theater, sleep

[G is for favorite game:] word games

[H is for home town:] Manila

[I is for instruments you play:] vocal chords? hehe

[J is for favorite juice:] mango

[K is for kids:] I can’t see myself with any… yet.

[L is for last hug:] Given or received?

[M is for marriage:] I think? No rush, my parents got married at 32…

[N is for your nice traits:] Friendly and enthusiastic

[O is for what overwhelms you:] The love of God.

[P is for phobias:] flying cockroach… and heights because I’m afraid I might jump

[Q is for quote:] The place where God calls you is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meets. (Friedrich Buechner)

[R is for biggest regret:] Hurting them

[S is for unforgettable story] Summer 2003

[T is for your favorite time of the day:] 10:00pm until sunrise…and mealtimes

[U is for unusual things you did/do:] I chipped my front tooth because I bit a metal fork by mistake… I was half asleep while chewing.

[V is for vegetable you love:] Fried eggplant; tomatoes are fruit

[W is for worst habit:] procrastination and tardiness

[X is for x-ray result:] my impacted wisdom teeth… hay.

[Y is for yummy food you make:] I can’t cook. Does brewed coffee count?

[Z is for zodiac sign:] Is this edible? Wait, mine looks like a crab…which IS edible!

Sometimes I believe all the lies
So I can do the things I should despise
And every day I am swayed
By whatever is on my mind

I hear it all depends on my faith
So I’m feeling precarious
The only problem I have with these mysteries
Is they’re so mysterious

And like a consumer I’ve been thinking
If I could just get a bit more
More than my 15 minutes of faith,
Then I’d be secure

My faith is like shifting sand
Changed by every wave
My faith is like shifting sand
So I stand on grace

I’ve begged you for some proof
For my Thomas eyes to see
A slithering staff, a leprous hand
And lions resting lazily

A glimpse of your back-side glory
And this soaked altar going ablaze
But you know I’ve seen so much
I explained it away

My faith is like shifting sand
Changed by every wave
My faith is like shifting sand
So I stand on grace

Waters rose as my doubts reigned
My sand-castle faith, it slipped away
Found myself standing on your grace
It’d been there all the time

by Caedmon’s Call

Despite my lack of patience, stubbornness, laziness, selfishness, lahat na ata ng -ness na negative… Even though I doubt and question and argue with God, He still keeps His promises.

Thankfully, I’m not going through another wilderness or valley stage in my spiritual life right now. On the contrary, this has been a breakthrough year for me when it comes to my relationship with God. How?

I went back to the basics:

1. Regular quiet time… got into the habit again because of a one month camp last summer where daily devotions is part of the schedule. It helps that I’m no longer on night shift so my schedule is semi-sane again. And yeah, I love doing QT at the metal box in the UP Diliman Sunken Garden.

2. Spritual Retreat… 3x already for this year. One in Bacolod during KC 08, another in Augsut with my Philcoa small group, and two weeks ago at Silang, Cavite with my churchmates. Because of these times alone with God, I have a better idea of why I’m where I am right now.

3. Accountability people… I am truly grateful for how the Lord brought my accountability triad into my life. And of course, for the numerous friends who walk ahead and alongside me. Commitment is scary but necessary.

4. Discipleship. Finally, I have two consistent discpleship groups. One where I am mentored and the other one where I do the discipling. Scary-exciting-fun-heavy-funny-tearful-hyper moments in every small group/D3 group meeting.

5. Prayer and worship. Last but definitely not the least, these two are the main reason why I’m experiencing breakthrough right now.

In the shifting sands of my crazy schedule, crazier emotions, and topsy-turvy circumstances, these spiritual disciplines are my “solid foundations” which keep me from being swept away.

Buti na lang may grace ano?

 

To my blog on your first year of existence…. my gift to you is this spanking new theme.

Thanks to my gorgeous friend for the update and instant overnight bonding session.

Enjoy!

Now here is my Christmas wish list:

1. watch a Christmas Carol by Repertory Philippines - next week

2. Internet connection at home - check

3. shoes (leather, rubber, the works)

4. laptop

5. a 500G external hard drive

6. starbucks planner

7. KC 2k3 interisland reunion - coming soon!

8. to do something drastically wonderful to my hair

9. a looong vacation with my family - lots lots this December

10. a parttime job - check

11. a new thinline red Bible

12. contact lenses

13. and world peace

Being part of the body, a Christian has the following covenants – with the individual members of the cell group and the body as a whole.

 

1. AFFIRMATION. There is nothing you have done and nothing you can do that can make me stop loving you. (Luke 23:33-34, Colossians 3:12-15, 1Corinthians 13:7-8)

 

2. AVAILABILITY. Everything that is mine – my time, my talent, my energy, and everything that is of me is at your disposal to the limits of my resources. (Mark 3:14)

 

3. PRAYER. I will pray for you in a more or less regular fashion, believing that the Father wants me to bring your needs to Him. (Luke 22: 31-32)

 

4. OPENNESS. I will strive to become a more open person – a person who will not be afraid to express his needs, his weaknesses, or his failures to a sister / brother who will accept me and love me for who I am. (Matthew 26:36)

 

5. HONESTY. I will speak the truth in love even at the risk of discomfort for you and me. I will trust our relationship to hurdle difficulties that may arise as we confront each other with what must be said. For I realize that in speaking the truth in love that we both grow up into Him who is head. (Ephesians 4:15, John 21: 15-17)

 

6. SENSITIVITY. I will endeavor to be sensitive to your needs, to observe and not just to see, to listen and not just to hear, to feel not just with my senses but with my heart. (Luke 7:37-50)

 

7. CONFIDENTIALITY. I promise to keep what you have shared within the fellowship, realizing that is in keeping personal things personal that trust grows in the body. (Proverbs 11:13, 20:19, 25:9)

 

8. ACCOUNTABILITY. I covenant to be part of the fellowship, not just to come and go as I please. I am accountable to discover and use my gifts for the body. More than these, I covenant to guard my inner life, endeavoring to grow up in the Lord that I may be an asset for you and the body. If there is anything wrong in my life, anything weak in my relationship with God, I promise to struggle with it, in order that I may be a stronger person – a stronger person for you and the body. (Matthew 26:39)

1. Getting out of bed in the morning is torture. The cold air makes me want to snuggle deeper into my warm nest of blankets and pillows. (help)

2. Christmas carols are being played on the radio and hummed by people around me.

3. My calendar is filling up with Christmas cantata practices and performances and my ipod/tape recorder are dedicated to alto practice tracks.

4. I have to dig through my closet for our choir cantata costumes.. and try to lose weight so I can fit into them.

5. Buendia is lined with stalls selling colorful parols and other Christmas decorations. Sayang lang ang mahal nung mga higanteng parol.

6. Buildings begin to put up Christmas decors on their facade: my favorite is the ABS-CBN building, as seen from the MRT Quezon Avenue station. One side of the building is awash in deep blue lights, with lots of twinkling lights scattered like stars.

7. I begin to think of places to hide from my inaanaks. Hehe.

8. Puto bumbong and bibingka make a comeback on street corners and malls.

9. I’m excited for the Lantern Parade. Centennial ngayon, sana bongga-bongga ang gawin nila.

10. Schedules for parties and getogethers occupy all my free time (what free time?)

11. Tiangges and night markets sprout up like mushrooms.

12. I start think of a wish list. That’s for the next entry though.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 2Peter 1:9

Challenge: How to compress a week’s worth of mountaintop experiences in one blog.

The harvest is rich indeed, and nowhere is this more evident than in the mountains of Ifugao. Last sembreak, a weeklong leadership camp for college students was held in Lagawe, an hour away from Banaue ad its famous Rice Terraces. We stayed in tents in the freezing weather, with clouds hovering over and through the campsite. I was blessed to be invited as a counselor, special events coordinator, session leader and a speaker.

These phrases echo in my head whenever I think about the camp:

1. It’s a cultural thing.

During the precamp, we were served steaming bowls of what I thought was champorado (chocolate rice). It turned out to be arrozcaldo, or chicken rice soup, made with black mountain rice. Delicious,but weird;one of the counselors ended up commenting, “It’s a cultural thing!”

This became our tagline throughout the camp, which was very culturally diverse. Campers came from Tuguegarao,  Tarlac and various municipalities of Ifugao, while the counselors came from Metro Manila, Ifugao, and even Batanes! One can hear a babel of Tuwali, Kapampangan, Ilocano, and dialects of Tagalog from the 40 delegates. They also came from different socio-cultural backgrounds and we even had several higschool students and young professionals thrown into the mix. Given all these differences, it was surprising how well everyone got along. Despite the language, age and social gaps, friendships developed while washing dishes and life-stories shared during small group meetings.

The ice really broke during the third night, when the campers had an impromptu praise and worship jamming time (think mosh pit). As we were jumping around and singing “I’m trading my sorrows,” one of the Ifugao campers leaped to the middle of the hall and danced in their traditional way. Wow. Pretty soon, there were two circles on the floor - one for the guys and one for the girls - enthusiastically copying the Ifugao dance steps. The Lagawe and Lamut youth also presented an Ifugao dance during the session on “Being a Filipino Christian.” That session, and an AVP titled “Lupang Hinirang,” also reminded to affirm my culture and stop being a copycat of Western worship.

2. It’s a generational thing.

The age differences were minimal among the campers, but there was a generational chasm (hahaha!) amongst the 14 counselors. We had two distinct age groups: young adults (18 to 27 years old) and the not-so-young, old-enough-to-be-our-parents adults (aka as LT, secret ang meaning neto). Still, I was blessed by how well the team worked together and complemented each other. We youngsters supplied the energy and burned the midnight oil; they provided insights, ideas, years of experience and rose at an inhumanly early hour to sound the bugle for wake up call. I hope that I am still as active in the ministry when I’m that old mature. Okay, confession time: I was the oldest female counselor; the ate, atchi, nanay. And I loved it.

3. It’s an interactional thing.

I can count on one hand the number of times we had a purely lecture-type session. Most of the lessons were taught through games (think water balloons flung into the air), rope activities, buzz groups,artwork,and tent-hopping. Often, we learned more from the campers during discussions. We were also blessed with great speakers and facilitators who made the Word come alive and were able to connect with the campers.

4. It’s a spiritual thing.

We were undermanned, rained on, rushed, bath sleep-deprived, changed schedule several times and pressured by the fact that it was the first time to have such an activity in Ifugao. Yet the testimony time moved me to tears, as each student testified about how they encountered God and heard his calling. Also, the camp nurse ended up being the storekeeper since she had almost no patients, there were no fights, and everything just flowed. As my fellow counselor said, the Holy Spirit really moved during the camp; with us, in us, despite us.

Other memories: hypothermic bus ride with bibang and kuya manolo, going to my dream house, the free and gorgeous Banquet Night decorations, JACO’s songs, kuya M’s furry jacket that kept me from freezing, 3am bath (never again), going to greenview lodge again, the rice terraces, julie, riding on a jeep topload, sleeping in tents, my brand new sleeping bag, coffee mixed with rice wine, honey-dipped suman, giant kawayan, popped pant button (okay, I overate again), bugle made of a pvc pipe, bubuli, fog, pink socks, ratio of 3 guys to 1 girl camper, the ten-hour trip home, etc. etc. etc.

I miss going to my home church’s midweek service, also known as PrayerWatch. Back in the days when my schedule was sane, Wednesday nights were spent in praise and worship, prophetic prayers, and of course bonding with the CYFers. But frequent overtime, night shift and MA evening classes kept me from coming regularly.

I finally had a chance to reconnect tonight. Guess what the message was about? God is constantly calling people. Bull’s eye. Pastor Bing focused on the “struggle” part of calling, especially in the case of Nathanael (John 1:43-51) and Jacob (Genesis). The latter, in particular, had his name changed to Israel, which means “one who wrestles with God and with man.” And one who overcomes.

Here are the bullets that hit home as I listened to the message:

Wrestling with God means:

1. to let God know you are having a difficult time
2. to face up to God with your true self (sin, motives, doubts)
3. to exert effort to know God’s will
4. to ask God questions
5. an honest sprititual search

When does wrestling with God happen?

1. prayer
2. study of the Scriptures
3. meditation
4. thoughtful consideration of our actions
5. seeking God’s truth in circumstances

 

What are the results of wrestling with God? - spiritual honesty

1. we come out broken of pride, fully surrendered to God
2. we are cleansed of our sins… and of contradictions or “pagkukunwari” in our calling
3. we confirm God’s will for us and answers to prayers
4. we cross-over / change
5. we catch a glimpse of Peniel, the face of God

I am wrestling with God about so many things right now… but none as hard as in the area of my calling. I know what I have to do. Convincing my heart is another matter altogether.

Lord, I will not let go until You bless me…