The Misadventures of O and J : Best Laid Plans

O and I just booked our 2nd to the last supplier today. Booking them left me amused. See, this planning of ours has a recurring theme that leaves me amused and somehow, relieved.

Whenever O and I gear up to find a wedding supplier, we do extensive research. Of course, it's always our goal to find what fits our budget but delivers the best quality that fits our taste. Then, after weeks of research, we narrow it down to the top two or three suppliers that we think best. We further our research and try to decide among our choices BUT at the last minute that we're about to decide, we give each other bouts of second thoughts and end up finding another supplier in a much shorter time that fits our criteria to a T. 

Yes, this was how we were able to book our place, our caterer, our preps venue as well as how we found our house.

On our way home, I mentioned this to O and how I found it amusing. He, on the other hand, pointed out how everything shows God's workmanship and how God always makes His best plans prevail.

Amazing! God is surely amazing!   

Redeemed

More than being victorious, I would like to be called redeemed.

I have always been reminded that as a Christian I have been made victorious. In the course of its repetition, I realized the danger this statement contains. In hearing this again and again, I have reduced its interpretation by running after the successes in life believing that the promise of victory is Christ's way of beckoning people to follow Him.

But, the Christian way of life is not of pure victories. Any Christians' story is a story of redemption. I am not victorious but rather I was redeemed by a victorious God. Christ invites us to follow Him because only He is victorious and that in Him we will find our redemption. 

More than being victorious, I would like to be called redeemed because I would like to be reminded over and over again that I cannot be anything of value apart from the victorious God who saved me. 

Graciousness

There are a lot of inspirational books out there that effectively teaches us how to really follow Christ and without a doubt, I would love to read them all. I have actually encountered some that are so powerful I know reading them have really changed my life. I have always been a curious individual and as Christ's follower, I have always wanted to get to know more of Him and His teachings.

Now, my journey has brought me to search for a faith that matters. A faith that does not stop at knowing but also applying. If you've ever heard of the term "analysis-paralysis", my quest for more of God has a somewhat similar concept. I love to read books and sometimes find myself amazed at the revelations I get all the while thinking that I would be needing all these knowledge later.

But, God was never a God of later. God is a here and now God. And in the middle of this search, God made me realize that in order to act, it's really not about the theories. In order to act, it's really just about remembering and realizing that as someone who has been redeemed, God has transformed me to be a dispenser of His grace.

Random Conversations

My mind is full of conversations with random strangers I "meet" in my daily commute to and fro office.     I never do say them out loud lest I might get misunderstood. But as this is my turf, maybe letting it out here won't be such a hassle:

To the MMDA people who thought of the new traffic scheme in EDSA

"Gusto ko pong matuwa sa thought na at least kayo may tina-try to improve the traffic situation pero di nyo po ba talaga napapansin ang epekto ng scheme nyo sa commuters... para po kasing na-prioritize nyo masyado ang mga can afford ng kotse"

To MRT management

"Really? Ganito na naman? Hanggang kelan po ba? Wala ba talaga kayong paki sa amin?"

To the guy who offered his seat to me sa MRT

"Kuya, maraming salamat po. Hindi mo lang alam anong nagawa nito sa buong araw ko."

To the hot-headed person announcing his woes but still going to take the MRT

"Araw-araw naman pong ganito, hindi pa po ba kayo napapagod sa kakareklamo?"

To the people in the train who just won't budge to give space to others

"Sana na-ge-gets nyo na tulad nyo, ung mga taong nasa platform, may pupuntahan din."

To MRT riders that hates being pushed to and fro

"Can't you just be thankful that you're on your way already?"

To the Buendia MRT - Washington barkers

"Kaunting concern naman po sa trabaho ninyo... pwede naman natin pagbutihin e... wag naman po sahod lang ng sahod ng barya..."

To those people who like cutting in the line

"Seriously?! Di nyo ba talaga kami nakikita?"

To the long-haired girl in the jeep sitting beside me

"Ate, I admire your hair pero di ko naman sya gusto mapunta sa face ko lalo na sa bibig ko"

To God

"Sorry po sa mga naiisip ko. Kayo na po bahalang magturo sa kanila at sa akin."

Mindfulness

Today, God reminded me to be mindful of my actions. He came to the world bearing the message of love and He expects me to bear this news in my thoughts, words and actions.

Naisip nyo na ba itong katagang ito “Grabe… parang di kristiyano to… “? Ako, first time ever ko naisip yan today at the moment naisip ko sya inisip ko kaagad kung ano kayang naiisip ng ibang tao sa akin, Christian man o hindi.

I’m far from being the good Christ’s follower that people usually expects. But, with God’s grace, I strive to be one. I just hope I don’t cause anyone to stumble or think bad of God, Christ or Christians in general.

THIS is what I understand from this verse:

“I no longer live, but Christ lives in me “ - (Gal. 2:20)

I pray that when people meet and see me, they really do see the Christ that’s living in me.

Lead Like Jesus

There are the bossy, know-it-all ones who think that just because they’ve seen it done by others and heard the theories word per word they have every right to give out instructions not to mention, criticize how others work. There are also the OC, micro-managers who like to get their hands dirty and seem helpful at first but ends up leaving no room for others to learn and mature.

Both approaches are flawed. One may be irritating than the other but both are destructive to people who encounter it.

This was the debate in my mind that ensued the other day: If I were to be a leader, how would I really want to lead? I was actually so bothered by the thought that I ended up praying to God about it.

He, in turn, led me to this verse and realization:

   HEB 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

This is how God wants us to lead. Like Jesus.

While on earth, Jesus gave a lot of instructions with the call for us to be perfect not to boss us around and act like some theoretical know-it-all. He gave us a lot of instructions because He was able to experience the things we are experiencing in our lives: temptation, discouragement, disappointment, persecution, etc. Yet, Jesus did not micro-managed everyone’s lives and shoved his principle down our throats but rather, shared what He knows with a promise that should one chooses to follow, blessings will come. As our leader, Jesus got His hands dirty by living it out here on earth. As someone who knows [a lot] better, His presence is the hope that we have to get out of the mess we are in as He is always ready to share what He knows provided that we ask.

This is how Jesus is. This is how Jesus leads. I hope to follow in His footsteps should I be called to lead.

To God always be the glory!    

A Prayer

Speaking slower than usual
These images keep haunting my dreams
I'm trying harder than usual
But my efforts fail me
I'm bordering insanity

Teach me how to feel what's real
Let me learn to love and heal
Keep me far from the edge
I beg of you

Save me from these turbulent tides inside myself
I'm drowning deep in my sorrows I keep on falling
Pull me back to stand on my own two feet
And never leave me
Just keep me company

Holding longer than usual
My hand's still shaking, I'm tightening my grip and
I'm thinking louder than usual
The world can't contain me
This yearning's too much to defeat

I won't stop, no, won't stop
Until you save me from these
Turbulent tides inside myself
I'm drowning deep in my sorrows I keep on falling
Pull me back to stand on my own two feet
And never leave me
Just keep me company

Teach me how to feel what's real
Let me learn to love and heal
Keep me far from the edge
I beg of you

Save me from these turbulent tides inside myself
I'm drowning deep in my sorrows I keep on falling
Pull me back to stand on my own two feet
And never leave me
Just keep me company.

===============================

Our questions can keep on coming 'til we find ourselves lost inside the maze we created.

Finding our way back can only be achieved when we pray for help. 

I thank God that while I am unable to utter the words, He provided it to me.  

===============================

credits to Walkie Talkies 

A Pure Heart

Ok, we love and worship God. We minister to the brethren in the church. That’s good. We go and make disciples of Christ. Great!

Let’s ask ourselves: Are our hearts pure? Down to the deepest, innermost chamber? What are the stories we confess to our best friends? Feelings we keep to ourselves? Sincerely, are there repressed bitterness? Hate? Lust? Insecurity? Pride? Any speck of the inverse of Galatians 5:22? Unresolved and hidden matters of the heart are certainly not of the Spirit. We tend to think, we are OK for being “religious”, and so “into” church activities.

Remember we can’t just go on burdened with unreconciled heart issues and pretend that we’re in “a whole new world” during praise nights and discipleship sessions. Let David’s prayer in Psalm 51:10 be ours as we seek God’s guidance in our desire for a heart that is pure. A spirit that follows hard after the Lord. 

- O

Yes Or No

It's a Sunday, have you learned something today? Have you experienced God's presence today? Did you sing and dance and worship God with all your heart? Does it feel good? Do you feel refreshed, revived and renewed? Did you come to find answers with the questions in your heart? Did God convict you of something you've had in your mind? Did you enjoy the company of your friends and family as you fellowship with them in God?

So... 

Have you taught someone else today of what you learned? Did a churchmate or other friends of yours experienced God's presence thru you? Can they still sing and dance and worship God with all their heart? Do you make them feel good? Did you help others feel refreshed, revived and renewed? Did you help them seek the answers with the questions in their heart? Did you bring them to a conviction about God? Do you miss the company of the people who you used to fellowship with? Do you long to fellowship with people that are strangers to you?

Heaven on Earth

Whenever I hear descriptions of how we will spend our days in eternity, I always imagine God's people standing in a stadium praising and worshipping Him. This is what I saw and experienced last saturday kung saan first time kong nakita na jampacked ang Araneta... as in! I can't help but think Iba talaga pag si Lord ang star of the night! 

Being around Christ's followers praising and worshipping God is an overwhelming experience that I just can't help but pray that I will be able to do this... in heaven. :) 

I pray that at the end of my life God tells me "Well done my good and faithful servant" ... sabay yakap! :D Tapos magpupuri na ako forever sa kanya kasama ang Hillsong, Israel Houghton, Planetshakers, Chris Tomlin at kung sinu-sino pa... Isama pa natin ang stars as in literal na stars... hehe. Hay... :D 

You are truly amazing! To You be the glory :D

Holy Week Learnings

This is what I have proven true this past holy week : the key to have a meaningful, fun-filled time is not really where you spend your days but with who you spend your days with.

Aside from the much needed rest and relaxation, God showed me 3 things during the holidays that I may have started to take for granted. I know there's nothing extraordinary with what I did during the vacation but I thank God He allowed me to spend it the way I spent it. 

God reminded me about His unfailing, unending love for me as He retold to me the story of my salvation. 

He also showed me the goodness in people's hearts as I encountered hundreds of people praying and desiring to experience Him. 

And lastly, He taught me the importance and joy of being part of a family. 

God truly is a wonderful God :) He never ceases to amaze me. Thank you Father! :) 

Of Catholics, Muslims and Love

Last week, while I was at a book store, I picked up Paulo Coelho’s Like the Flowing River and randomly turned to a page. The page I found myself reading was entitled “The Catholic and The Muslim”. It was a short anecdote which touched me with its last two statements. And, I quote, “It’s a shame that people see only the differences that separate them. If you were to look with more love, you would mainly see what we have in common, then half the world’s problems would be solved.”

This week, I encountered 2 Yahoo! news clips involving Catholics and Muslims with both earning the ire of netizens. The first news clip was about a picture of a girl posing in front a cross “parodying” Jesus’ death. The second news clip was about an imam that said the phrase “sumabog na kung sasabog” in an airplane after a passenger denies their request of taking another seat because in their religion, a female is not permitted to sit beside a man unless they are married. Reading the comments after the news clip and summing it up, this is what I got: in the first news clip, the netizens slammed the girl because they feel they were violated by the mere fact that the girl violated the cross, a sacred symbol to their religion while in the second news clip, netizens slammed the imam for not adjusting to society’s rules (seating plan in an airplane) because of their religion’s rules and calls for muslims to adjust their beliefs. What I got disappointed me.

The sad truth is we all have this tendency. That is, to command respect to things that we consider sacred or important but to disregard that which we do not understand. I can understand why people called for respect to the girl when they saw the cross being violated but what I can’t understand is why they cannot give the same respect to the imam who holds his belief sacred and even resorted to calling the imam (and other muslims) degrading names (not that what the imam blurted out after his denied request is justifiable).

Here’s the thing, the religion that we all feel “fighting” for teaches us to practice love and it is Jesus who best said how. Mark 12:30-31 states “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself”. While our religion provides us a set of rules and symbols to be able to express our love for God better, a faith that is alive is supposed to not stop there. It also calls us to love our neighbors (with the same love that God loved us) even if it means accepting things we do not understand.

The quote from Coelho’s message is an application of Jesus’ commandment. It’s not a new revelation. It does, however, put it in a different light.    

Wednesday Mornings @ Mcdo

I am soooo loving this Mcdo commercial whenever I see it on TV. Aside from the fact that these old men follow people on twitter, use ipad and drink coke float instead of coffee, the premise that they have remained friends for a long time is what I find really cool. So imagine my amusement whenever I see a real-life version of this commercial.

I see them every wednesday morning at Mcdo buendia. They're actually a bigger group but for this certain morning, I only saw five of them. I really didn't get to catch what they were talking about but their group never fails to make me smile whenever I see them. Theirs is the real lifelong friendship. :)

The Misadventures of O and J : Words of Wisdom

After lunch, O and I went to his workstation to look at something over the net. As we were browsing the net, I accidentally but lightly touched his stomach to which he let out a loud “aray!”. He told me he had some bruise in that area and it still hurts. He continued on describing why it hurt and ended up saying “Pag unprepared ka, masasaktan ka”. We ended up laughing at what he said.

Pasa ba talaga ang pinag-uusapan?! Seems like a fitting warning for a heartbroken first-time lover. :P

Provision, Pro-vision

Whenever I pray for provision, an image of the material things form in my mind. Material things that God will miraculously give me for me to use to achieve my dreams. I usually pray for provision when God starts to stir a vision inside me and eventually, my prayers die down as the ball rolls on.

But, today, God made me realize that provision is something that God gives for the fulfillment of your vision. It is not something that comes to jumpstart my dreams. It is something He sends every step of the way. The material things are part of it but it also includes people, ideas, circumstances that will bring you to another level of His glory.

Do you have a vision? Is your vision according to God's will? Then, be excited and have faith for God is faithful to fulfill it. :) 

On Wedding Preps

Archbishop Tagle's comment about weddings comes timely for this season of my life. Nowadays, my social calendar includes fittings for a friend's wedding, bridal fairs, supplier meet ups and the like. I have experienced seeing my friends off to their new adventure and am now planning mine.

I have once described this experience as a "girly-girly" thing. Half of me feels I'm not cut out to conduct such activities while the other spends most of her time looking at pictures and thinking about the details (dreaming the day away... though I don't want to admit it :P). Somehow, I understand why a lot of girls (I should be using "couple"... i know ) puts so much pakulo in their weddings. They've grown up dreaming about their happy-ever-after's that they feel their wedding is their chance to make it come true.

To be honest, I share these tendencies. However, whenever I catch myself fussing too much about the details I really tell myself to stop. There are a lot of nice things to have for my own wedding but I don't want to fret over them. There are a lot of facts to consider while in the planning stage but I don't want to worry too much. It's not that I want to maintain my composure over these things, it's just really more on, I want what's essential.

And for me, what is really essential is my Master to be with my mate and I as we start our mission together that will glorify His holy name. The 3M's, that is what it's really all about ;)

The Misadventures of O and J : Dumbfounded

So it's my dad's birthday today (haberday daddy! :D) . I volunteered to buy the ice cream. Going home, O and I stopped by the grocery store. We lined up by the green cart lane as we only had 2 items in tow. The line was frustratingly long (at least in my own point of view...) for a transaction that involved only 2 items but as I already promised this at home, I had to fall in line. I looked at the big cart lanes for a possible option but as I was already hungry and tired, I was unable to gauge which would be faster for us. In short, we stayed where we are. I happened to remember glancing at my watch that time, it said 8:00.

So we tried to patiently wait for our turn, chatting our time away to produce the illusion of shortening it. True enough, by about 8:15 (mind you, that's already long for 2 hungry people), we found ourselves third from the cashier. We were still chatting and still waiting for our turn feeling relieved we were almost there when out of a sudden someone tapped me by the shoulder. O and I turned around to see who it was. "It" was a quite old lady (about 50 or so I guess... ) showing her shampoo sachets in hand who apologetically asked "Pwede ba akong makisingit?". O and I were actually dumbfounded. After the initial shock, I said, "Sorry po, nagmamadali din po kasi kami. Birthday ng dad ko." The lady went away (and I actually saw she went to someone else in the line but was again denied, so she went to look for a lane with a shorter queue... )

After we were done and as we went to the transport terminal, we talked about the old lady. We were trying to think of other ways we could have handled it. I ended up wanting to say this "Pwede ko naman po kayo pasingitin kaso po paano naman sila?" while pointing to the others in the line. O wanted to handle it in a different way. He wanted to say "Gusto nyo po magbotohan na lang po kaming lahat kung pasisingitin namin kayo o hindi?" then turns to the other people in the line for their vote. We ended up both laughing.

Haayyyy... People! They never cease to amaze me and how they feel they're always exempted from the social order of things...

Patience

During my first grade, I was assigned to I – Patience. I remember, upon hearing my mom inform me of my section, I immediately disliked it. Aside from the fact that it was the afternoon crème section (morning crème section was I – Diligence), I thought the word patience sounded plain and boring. There was no oomph to the word. Please forgive my ignorance but I did not care much for the meaning of words back then and I only judged them just by how they sound. Much to my dismay, they were unable to re-assign me to I – Diligence. This experience symbolically started my love-hate relationship with the word patience.

Googling the definition of patience, this is what I got:

patience [ˈpeɪʃəns]

n

1. tolerant and even-tempered perseverance

2. the capacity for calmly enduring pain, trying situations, etc.

3. (Group Games / Card Games) Chiefly Brit any of various card games for one player only, in which the cards may be laid out in various combinations as the player tries to use up the whole pack US equivalent solitaire

4. Obsolete permission; sufferance

The definition of patience highlights why I would want to love it. Being patient is having that perpetual calm EVERYTIME things don’t go your way. But, ironically, the odds are there are a lot of things that won’t go the way you want them to go: an MRT train bogs down when you need to be at the office as early as possible for an important meeting; your boss is pressuring you for an information you can get from the web but the internet connection suddenly slows down; you encounter a traffic jam while you are suffering from LBM; you haven’t had lunch and everything in the menu takes 30 minutes to prepare; the queue you pick towards the tollbooth seems to be the slowest of all the lines of cars. This is one of my many battles and, chances are, yours as well.

There are days that I win and days that I lose and it’s that losing that depresses me. Whenever I see how much of my patience I can stretch only to lose it at the very next second seems very frustrating. Like a rubber band, it feels like my patience is back to how it was the moment I lost it. Sometimes, I even hear myself saying “Back to square one”. And these times re-affirm my belief that it is never the rigidity of my battle plans that would win it for me.

Simply put, I want to be a patient person. But, I realize, it can never be achieved overnight. Patience is a process. This is one of the many things God changes within us that is “from glory to glory”. We have to be patient in becoming patient. ;) 

An Idle Mind Is...

Technically, it's my first post here but I've been blogging in another site during a time where FB meant something else other than facebook. And since that site has now been converted into a marketplace, I pretty much felt my thoughts have no room there. 

I've always liked writing but was not really much into blogging. I guess, blogging appeared to me as something only a professional writer or someone with a clear cut concept could sustain. But, this year, I challenged myself to create my own blog site just so I could practice writing once again. This blog site is really meant to serve me (as selfish as that may sound :P) rather than my readers but if you happen to come across this site... Welcome! :D 

The title of this blog was also the title of my previous one. Back then, I entitled it as such because I was really into dancing. Now, to be honest, I ended up with this title for lack of a better one. I am still a fan of dancing but I just have no time to practice it ( or is it ... no energy? ) Anyway, I decided to still name this one "dancing around" because I pretty much see life as a dance. Physically, not everyone is confident enough to dance but I believe, deep inside everyone is a dancer. 

Some may dance to the wrong beat while some may dance to the same tune over and over again. There are others who flows smoothly along with the music while others pops and locks with it. Others may end up breaking their bones just so they can express themselves while some confine themselves to small movements. Whatever the music is, those who can, dance. 

And in life, everyone can. We are all dancers to a tune we create. The important thing is that we don't give up in expressing ourselves or putting who we are in our every move. So whether it's a slow tune or a fast one... c'mon, let's dance! :D