Today marks the last year of my twenties. And yet, I can't stop playing Taylor Swift's 22 in my head just to cheer my old self up! Haha! Kidding aside, I am more than grateful to the Lord for adding another wonderful year to my life. I may not exactly feel young but I believe the Lord has poured so much love in my heart; the unchanging eternal love of my Savior Jesus Christ, the love of my dear family, closest friends, colleagues and an unexpected love. =) This new chapter may seem terrifying and uncertain but I know that I need to fight the battle within with faith that comes from the author and perfecter of it. When my anxious heart is overwhelmed with doubts and fears, I need to seek the peace of God which passes all understanding and trust the Good Shepherd of my soul. Psalm 23
1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,[a] I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
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Just thought of sharing this modern rendition of an old hymn originally written by Ada R. Habershon. The song is so beautiful, my soul sings along. As the year 2016 is coming to a close, this hymn perfectly sums up another grace-filled journey with the Lord. He has been so merciful and loving and patient with me no matter how my faith has wavered through all the adversities that sifted my heart. The joys and pains of being under His care have taught me more about His never-ending love, goodness and faithfulness. The new year ahead shall unfold another meaningful chapter the Lord has planned for me. Thankfully, as the song goes; "For my Savior loves me so, He will hold me fast". He Will Hold Me Fast When I fear my faith will fail Christ will hold me fast When the tempter would prevail He will hold me fast I could never keep my hold Through life’s fearful path For my love is often cold He must hold me fast Chorus: He will hold me fast He will hold me fast For my Savior loves me so He will hold me fast Those He saves are His delight Christ will hold me fast Precious in His holy sight He will hold me fast He’ll not let my soul be lost His promises shall last Bought by Him at such a cost He will hold me fast CHORUS For my life He bled and died Christ will hold me fast Justice has been satisfied He will hold me fast Raised with Him to endless life He will hold me fast Till our faith is turned to sight When he comes at last You may have come across the word "Tita" in a different light nowadays. I consider myself one not only because I'm a Tita to Caleb and to the kids of my amigas, but mainly because I'm in this stage of life where I have somehow metamorphosed into a woman who'd define chillin' as a peaceful day at home - probably baking and sipping some tea. And going out would mean a trip to the grocery store for some shopping spree.
Time to upload photos on the blog while I'm still hyped up to share about my creative escape over the weekend. Gaaah! I don't even know where to start - guess I'll be on a #CraftCampPH high for a little while longer.
There is no better song that speaks so accurately about what I'm going through these days than "In the Valley" by Sovereign Grace Music. Oh how I love songs that also serve as prayers like this one. So let me learn that the cross precedes the crown To be low is to be high That the valley’s where You make me more like Christ Two weeks from now, I will be turning 28 and I just couldn’t get any more… EMOTIONAL. I’m feeling different sorts of emotions all at the same time. Being in the late 20’s and single is kind of scary for so many reasons. Or I guess the more appropriate word would be alarming. It’s like, hey I’m almost 30! I'm nearing the deadline and I haven't started anything yet! The way I see it, it's like cramming for a project that is just impossible to finish on time. Well most likely, it's because of the notion that one is expected to be successful and happily married by the time you reach that age. Scary, right? Sorry maybe I'm just overthinking but thank goodness I still have one more birthday to go, Lord willing.
For me, birthdays have become the annual time to look back to the all the years that have gone by. New memories and experiences have been made – good ones and not-so-good ones. Relationships have been greatly challenged as some people have walked in and out of my sphere. As I look back to all those years, I couldn’t help but wonder what lies ahead. There are a lot of questions running in my mind like, have I worked hard enough career-wise? Have I been more loving and gracious to the people around me? Have I made the right decisions in terms of ministry? Have I been wasting the short time I have here on earth? Am I really where God wants me to be right now? In these times of wondering, it's easy to quote Proverbs 3:5-6 to comfort my anxious heart. But lately, I've been struggling in facing this season of my life. I’m speaking as one who has the desire to intently understand what it really means to trust the Lord as I take each step by faith. To patiently learn what it takes to wait for whatever is on the horizon. To live each day with unwavering conviction that God works all things for my good. Now, I will end by preaching Psalm 42:5 to my heart; So yes, we're down to the last installment of our SG trip! It's been more than a month already since we came back from this 5-day vacay. Time is really flying fast! My feet are once again itching to get lost in another city/country. But I guess my piggy bank is still not yet ready for that so I'll just daydream for now. Anyway, before this experience becomes a blur in my memory, I'm uploading photos of how the rest of this trip turned out.
If there's one place I wish I could go back to right now, it would definitely be Kampong Glam in Bugis for so many reasons. When I did my research about this beautiful town before our trip to Singapore, I knew I would need to allot a special time to really enjoy what this place has to offer. And good thing we did, though I still wish we've stayed longer. God willing, I'd love to revisit this in the near future. =)
Here is the second installment of our SG trip! Yes, we're now on our Day 3 and I couldn't wait to post all the photos here on the blog. I intentionally made an exclusive entry for this one because I feel that there's so much to tell about the places we've visited on our 3rd day. Plus, the fact that we were able to visit 3 interesting neighborhoods in one day (without completely getting lost) was pure awesomeness!
Nothing could be more fun than two Batanguenas getting lost in a highly urbanized country with only an outdated map in their hands. After months of waiting, finally, my sister Abby and I had an amazing vacay in a big city that is called Singapore! Good thing we found a promo fare last March and we're able to book right away. This is actually our first travel together without a chaperone. I guess we’ve just began to embrace our adulthood and independence at 24 and 27, haha! But we would've not survived without our generous sponsors though, big thanks to our dear family for the moral and financial support. You guys are the best! And of course, praise be to God for His Providence all throughout our journey.
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Nothing really fancy here, the lack of eloquence is very evident. Just sharing my thoughts - straight from the heart. Archives
September 2017
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