Made to Praise

Hi! I just want to share my favorite song from my favorite album, the Praise Baby Collection: Born to Worship.

Peace, love and blessings! =)

 Made to Praise

From the earth to the sky,
I'm the apple of your eye
You created my form,
and knew me long before I was born

I was made to praise You
I was made to love
I was born to worship
the Father, the Son and Spirit of God.
Made in Your image and wrapped in Your love

From the sky to the earth
Lord, we celebrate Your birth
That You came as a man,
revealing to us Your wonderful plan

We were made to praise You
We were made for love
We were born to embrace You
The only God and Father above.
Made in Your image and wrapped in Your love.

Love and Faith

I remember a conversation I had with a 93 yr-old resident from where I used to work about a bike that was left abandoned outside their building. "Look at that bike, it was left in perfect condition months ago by its owner. I wonder what happened to him, I hope he's fine. But look at that bike, some people started to steal its parts, maybe, after they noticed that it was abandoned. Now, all that is left is its tarnished skeleton. Some of the residents here were left in perfect condition by their children but now they're just like a tarnished skeleton."

I don't know why but I just thought of that conversation that I had with him 2 years ago out of nowhere while I was walking in Manhattan. Then another conversation I had with some friends followed up...

Have you seen an abandoned building or a house? After leaving a place for years, some branches of some trees will go through the its walls, slowly tearing it down until it will collapse.

I reflected on that thought. Maybe God is telling me that no matter how "strong" I describe my faith, no matter how good I think my relationship is with Him if I will abandon it thinking that I can just leave it there and put our relationship on a pause, it will eventually weaken like a wall, deteriorate like a body, atrophy like muscle that's not been used or tarnish like the abandoned bike.

Love is a verb.

"Our love must not be a thing of words and fine talk.

It must be a thing of action and sincerity." 1 John 3:18

Faith is work. I'm not talking about the endless faith vs. works argument but what I mean is that we have to work on our faith in order for us to overcome all the elements that might taint it. Maybe that's what it means by "Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead" James 2:17. Faith will eventually die without works.

Let's all continue to pray for strength to persevere to win the race of faith. Let's not stop running.

Deaf and Blind

Today, I knowingly took a wrong train going home just because my feet wanted to get in on that certain car. There was only one seat left and I grabbed it without thinking of other people because I was tired.

Sitting across me was a pair acting like they're couples, I immediately noticed them because the girl is also a filipina. I smiled and closed my eyes; I was planning to take a nap and get off at whatever station. Then I heard the girl said... "I like you very much but I don't want to leave Jeff because he is consistent...I like so many guys, I flirt and show them that I like them but that's just it." They were exchanging ideas about how relationships and love should be. I heard the girl mentioned about financial stability, consistency, flirting, moving on and the like. Her words entered my ears, pierced right through my brain, leaving a sensation in my heart.

I started praying "Lord, her business is not mine. Please allow me to find silence in the middle of their conversation. I don't want to hear them." while I kept my eyes tightly closed.

I was blind and deaf for a few minutes.

I thought:

If I am deaf, I will never have the chance to hear sweet words of affirmations from my loved ones, or compliments about how I look or if I did a good job.

If I am blind, I will never have the chance to see His beautiful creations. I won't be able to see the beauty of a place or a person. I won't be able to see the gestures of love that my family and friends will do for me.

If I am deaf and blind at the same time...(?) I had to snap back because I got scared for a few seconds. Then I reflected about the genuine feeling of love and peace that I felt while two of my senses were paralyzed.

The actual knowing, believing and trusting His love and my family and friends' love for me felt so good. At that very moment, I didn't have any thoughts of doubts and fears. I just felt loved because I know I am loved. I felt loved because I believe that He loves me, my boyfriend loves me, my family and friends love me without any thoughts of what if, why and but.

What we see, what we hear or what we feel (sense of touch) can really change our perception about things and sometimes about our selves. Maybe, if we practice having silence and stillness every time we fear or doubt, the Holy Spirit can tap in into our heart and give us the most honest answer that we should have and, of course, believe.

But it's really hard to let go and let the Holy Spirit control us. Our eyes can tell or trick our brain that a certain road is muddy or rough. Our ears can trick our brain if the water is deep or shallow. You know what I mean? It's really hard. Determination is the key. Persevere! (talking to my self)

About the girl...I will make it a resolution to not make other's business my business...

My special someone said that there are 3 kinds of business...our business, other's business and God's business.. We should only care about our own. We should not tell other people about what they should do. We should not tell God about what He should do...it's something like that..lol

=)

Did you know that I turned a year older last December 29? My love asked me about my reflection for my birthday, asked me why I stopped writing...('_') i don't have any reflection nor do i want to make a fuss that it's my birthday. I also don't know why I stopped writing.

I don't have any plan to post or write but that train ride was really something. I hope you understood my reflection because I know my ideas are here and there. I am tired and sleepy. Good night!

This is us. We celebrated our 2nd year anniversary last 11.11.11.

I don't want to post anything about him in this blog because this blog is for my First Love

but I want to thank God for giving him an amazing amount of wisdom and patience.

=)

Miss Universe 2011

Congratulations to Miss Philippines Shamcey Supsup for winning 3rd runner up in Miss Universe 2011!

Final Q&A for Miss Shamcey

Q.Will you change your religious belief to marry the one you love?

A. "If I'm going to change my religious belief, I will not marry the person that I love because the first person I love is God who created me and I have my faith and principles and this what makes me who I am. And if that person loves me? He should love my God first."

I love Miss Shamcey's answer! I wanted to make a post related to her question but I remember that I already posted my views about marriage earlier, so I guess I should better stop here. To read MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER, click here. =) Thank you.

Congratulations also to Miss Angola (Leila Lopes) for winning Miss Universe 2011, Miss Ukraine (Olesya Stefanko) 1st runner up, Miss Brazil (Priscila Machado) 2nd runner up and Miss China (Luo Zilin) 4th runner up

Marriage Encounter

Last weekend, my parents attended the marriage encounter retreat and I was able to witness some of their activities during the Sunday mass.

It has always been my mom's prayer to have the chance to serve and worship Him together with my dad. We used to be a part of a small charismatic group back home in the Philippines and I remember how my mom dragged everybody to join every prayer meeting. She was able to bring me every time maybe because she started dragging me while I was still 3 years old but somehow she can't do the same with daddy. My dad used to stay in the bedroom whenever the prayer meeting was held in our house.

My dad's a good man, don't get me wrong. I know he prays but only in private. I think he's just not comfortable to be seen praying and singing for Him. His work in the Philippines became a hindrance for us to attend mass every Sunday as a family. Well, it's not just the Sunday mass but it's any activity that requires us all to be in one place with him; he used to have threats, i remember him saying that he can only protect one person if ever he gets ambushed. I know he prays a lot, especially for strength, wisdom and protection while he was still in service but his work hindered us to cultivate our relationship with Him as a family, which I think is also important. I remember a saying from a prayer time program in the philippines--"The family that prays together, stays together."

I believe that it's nice to be a part of a community as a single, but it's better if the whole family is a part of it; that's why I'm thankful that finally my parents were able to have time to join the ME retreat. My mom is also grateful that daddy finally decided to join.

I love watching my parents renew their vows last Sunday. I know how much they love each other; I'm not just their daughter but I am also their number one fan. I know and I witnessed their sacrifices and patience for each other. I am inspired by their love story and love for each other. Now that my dad already opened up and decided to level up the kind of prayer life that he has which is praying with the community, I can now completely say that I want a marriage like them. My dad's love for my mom is amazing; I want to feel blessed with the man that I will soon marry just like my mom. My mom's patience and strength is inspiring. I pray that I could be just like her for my own family someday; her faith is amazing and she never ceases to pray for us.

A Marriage Blessing

We thank you, O God,

for the Love You

have implanted in our hearts.

May it always inspire us to be

kind in our words, considerate

of feelings, and concerned

for each other's needs and wishes.

Help us to be understanding

and forgiving

of human weakness and failings.

Increase our faith and trust

in You and may Your prudence

guide our life and love.

Bless our marriage, o God,

with peace and happiness,

and make our love fruitful for

Your glory and 

our joy both here and in eternity.

Amen.

*The picture is from here.