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| almost back from the dead | |
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Yeah, that's right, I haven't posted in a quarter of a year... Whoa... Anyway, I have a little something to fill the space: HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHOM TO MARRY? You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like, if you like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep the chips and dip coming. Alan, age 10 No person really decides before they grow up who they're going to marry. God decides it all way before, and you get to find out later who you're stuck with. Kristen, age 10 WHAT IS THE RIGHT AGE TO GET MARRIED? Twenty-three is the best age because you know the person FOREVER by then. Camille, age 10 HOW CAN A STRANGER TELL IF TWO PEOPLE ARE MARRIED? You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids. Derrick, age 8 WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR MOM AND DAD HAVE IN COMMON? Both don't want any more kids. Lori, age 8 WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE DO ON A DATE? Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough. Lynnette, age 8 (isn't she a treasure) On the first date, they just tell each other lies and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date. Martin, age 10 WHAT WOULD YOU DO ON A FIRST DATE THAT WAS TURNING SOUR? I'd run home and play dead. The next day I would call all the newspapers and make sure they wrote about me in all the dead columns. Craig, age 9 WHEN IS IT OKAY TO KISS SOMEONE? When they're rich. Pam, age 7 The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn't want to mess with that. Curt, age 7 The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should marry them and have kids with them. It's the right thing to do. Howard, age 8 IS IT BETTER TO BE SINGLE OR MARRIED? It's better for girls to be single but not for boys. Boys need someone to clean up after them. Anita, age 9 (bless you child) HOW WOULD THE WORLD BE DIFFERENT IF PEOPLE DIDN'T GET MARRIED? There sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn't there? Kelvin, age 8 And the #1 Favorite is........ HOW WOULD YOU MAKE A MARRIAGE WORK? Tell your wife that she looks pretty, even if she looks like a truck. Ricky, age 10 | |
| Lamentations 3 is for me :D | |
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1 I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. 2 He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light; 6 He has made me dwell in darkness like those long dead. 7 He has walled me in so I cannot escape; he has weighed me down with chains. 8 Even when I call out or cry for help, he shuts out my prayer. 9 He has barred my way with blocks of stone; he has made my paths crooked. 10 Like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in hiding, 11 he dragged me from the path and mangled me and left me without help. 12 He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrows. 13 He pierced my heart with arrows from his quiver. 17 I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is. 18 So I say, "My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the LORD." 19 I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. 20 I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. 21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." 25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; 26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. 27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young. 28 Let him sit alone in silence, for the LORD has laid it on him. 29 Let him bury his face in the dust— there may yet be hope. 31 For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. 32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. I've shortened the chapter but this is basically what's speaking into my life right now. It's tough being mangled by God, but then that's the only way he gets us to straighten out. Like a chiropractor fixing a person with chronically bad posture, He has to hurt us to make us better. I've had the quite gory image of a person in prison, shackles on his hands and feet. Years of struggling against the chains have torn the skin off, and scabs have formed around and over the shackles. (Gross huh?) And when the Rescuer has finally opened the prison doors, you have to decide if you're gonna let him take the shackles off you (scabs and gangrenous flesh and all) because you know it's gonna hurt like nothing else, or if you're going to just stay and rot in that jailcell because you're afraid of the pain. This momentary pain is nothing compared to the glorious reward that awaits us if we remain plugged into The Source! | |
| mourning glory | |
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Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails. Prov19:21 I'm mourning the death of a dream. Sigh. A little disappointed with God, but I guess I have no right to be. It's one thing to think to know what God wants in one's life, it's another to hold Him to that idea, as if one understands God's thoughts perfectly. As if. This dead dream is something I've been clinging onto for three years. It's been my impetus for excellence. Now, no more flickering light at the end of my dark tunnel. Just darkness. Again. Sigh. All I can do is hold on to God's promise that ALL THINGS work together for the good of those who love God, who have been called for his purpose and that His plans are to prosper me, not to harm me, to give me a hope and a future. Even if I don't feel like hoping, like trusting, like keeping in keeping on, I choose to anyway. I've come to realize that the best offering I can give Him is not making my Good works list longer and longer, but going to him and washing his feet with my bitter tears and trusting Him even though I don't feel like it. Like David said, I will not give my God a sacrifice that did not cost me anything. | |
| meditating on trees | |
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Jesus never promised a storm-free life for those who followed him. What we do get is a storm-proof life. I was reminded of this last Thursday when Metro Manila got hit by a hurricane, and most of the city was out of power by lunchtime. (Ironic that during monsoon season there were no serious storms but afterwards we've had two so far and are expecting more) So there I was in my room with no power. Couldn't go out to see clients because of the bad weather conditions and the powercuts. I was a happy girl though, marooned in my room with my dozens of books (Wherever I am I just accumulate books!) but when night fell and I had to rely on my mobile phone's flashlight, it became less fun. So nothing to do but twiddle my thumbs. Or so I thought. But God had other plans. During the next five days he showed me that even when I feel dry (or rather especially then) he brings opportunities to minister to girls who really need to get encouraged, and then I get to claim the promise that (s)he who refreshes others with herself get refreshed! After my weekend with my family in Baguio I'm back in Manila to survey the damage. Uprooted trees everywhere, especially in the Ateneo and UP campuses. And it's not just "weak" trees, even trees that appear to be so strong and sturdy have fallen on their sides, exposing their roots for what they really are. And as I reflect on the trees, I saw three reasons why trees fall in the storms and found spiritual parallells: (1) Shallow Roots : In our walk with God, we have to build strong foundations, dig our roots deep in the Word. But it's not just about accumulating knowledge (knowledge of the Bible, of church history, traditions, etc.) but about letting these truths transform our minds, hearts and lives. As James says, faith that is not expressed in action is worthless and dead. Unfortunately a lot of people miss heaven by 18 inches. There's 18 inches between our heads and our hearts, and much of what they hear and learn about Jesus never makes it down the last 18 inches. (2) Deep but few roots: This is about how sometimes we overemphasize some areas of faith or of the character of God to the detriment of the other equally important areas. For example, focusing too much on apologetics and not enough on building relationships, or focusing too much on God as and ignoring that He is also a very just, holy and righteous God. This imbalance is one way people fall away from the faith. We must make sure to explore all the different faces of God, a quest that will never be exhausted or boring!!! (3) Isolation: Some big and large trees fall even with strong and deep roots. But these are the ones you find in the middle of a field, alone. There are no surrounding trees or other structures that could have helped buffet the force of the strong winds, hence the tree falls. We as Christians also need to stay close to other strong Christians! Take a red-hot coal away from the other coals and it won't take too long for it to cool off. But put it back in a group of red-hot coals and they burn brighter than ever! There is no such thing as a lone ranger Christian! God Himself is a relational Triune Being, He is the very epitome of relationships, what more us humans who are made in his image!? | |
| Character is who you are when nobody is watching. | |
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I've been complaining about the lack of storms in my life recently. Ever since I started leading small groups in Katipunan, I've been asking God if I'm doing a good job. I mean if I'm effectively advancing against enemy territory, shouldn't the enemy be running scared? Why then am I not feeling it? Two people I know have that ability to say what I need to hear, although I don't usually appreciate it at the time. That's Jen, my discipler, and my dad. I saw my dad when he got back from a year of research outside the country. He told me two things:1. Don't go looking for trouble. You'll find it.2. There are some fortunate Xians who have uneventful walks with God. No cancers, no weird deaths in the family, no threats of burning at the stake. Just normal lives. (Oh how I hate the word normal, but my dad does have a point.) Like Billy Graham. A storm-free life isn't a bad thing. I also grumbled to Kuya Jon and he said that this season is maybe just the eye of the storm, the quiet that comes right before intense shaking. I'm getting excited for France, but also a little scared. What kind of shaking does God have prepared for me then? Even the tranquil (ceasefire?) now is a kind of shaking for me. Jen (I love being under the leadership of this woman!) told me that this season of waiting is for me a shaking. Especially for those like us who are very action-oriented, just waiting on God to carry out the work He has started is an exercise of patience. I just have to try to be still, not to jump and look over the hedges he has placed around me, and just keep my eyes on the Father, not on the chaos around me. I have a tendency to lose today by obsessing about the past or planning too much about the future. Today has enough troubles of its own, and enough adventures too! Aren't we glad that His mercies are new every morning?! Recently I stumbled. Or to be exact I jumped eyes-open into a wide pit with gaping jaws and surrounded by sharp teeth. Twice. The first time my conscience was grating in my ear, beeping as irritatingly as the sirens outside my window. The second time my conscience was just a little blush in my cheek, quieter. It's funny how easily our conscience can get programmed if we go against it once and try to use our powers of reasoning with or against it. That's what happens when you take your eyes of the Father, have a look at the chaos around, and start joining the looting mob. I think that's why I got sick. Divine disciplining. I knew how David felt when he said, "When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; My strength was sapped as in the heat of summer." (Psalm 32:3-4) But thank God that David doesn't stop there! "Then I instructed my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord" --And you forgave the guilt of my sin." (Psalm 32:5) I am so glad for the gift of grace, for forgiveness, for the times of refreshing that are sure to follow if we only turn our eyes back to God! | |
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