Jesus.

Through the many shifts and changes that happened the past year, one thing remained-- JESUS! This New Year, the Christ who died and risen up from the grave is the same Christ who can take your dead hopes and dreams that you've longed forgotten and He can breathe life into them again. The Christ who walked on water is the same Christ who will walk with you through every valley and dessert. The Christ who turned water into wine is the same Christ who can work wonders and miracles into your seemingly impossible situations. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. 
~Praying for a Christ-Centered 2016 to you and your family! 
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Keep the Faith!

Blessed Still.

While I Lay in the comfort of my bed tonight, I think about the community we visited earlier where they had their houses built on water. In a seemingly frustrating situation, I wonder how and where they draw their hope from, what kind of strength they need to face each day and end every night with no assurance that things will get better tomorrow. And I look at my situation and I know that I am blessed still. But that doesn't make them blessed any less because one thing I am sure of, God loves and cares for His children the same and that blessings come in different forms, we just have to look on a different perspective.

A Season to Let Go

It's been almost one year now since I last posted on this blog. I'm not sure if I know how to write pa.haha!

I don't know what to write. Really! But I want to.. just hoping that through this I can ease the pain I feel inside. I don't even know how to construct every words and sentences that would let you and me understand how I feel and why do I feel what I feel.

I'm still in this season of my life where I'm trying to restore the relationship that was lost and broken to the point that I overdid myself by forcing things to happen, (not knowing that NOT everything is under my control), which resulted to even worse situations.

Uncertain on whether the friendship once enjoyed had changed due to the betrayal of a fast-phased time or was it because of certain emotional responses I should not have brought to existence for-- or was I responding over-dramatically because I cannot accept the harsh reality that people do change and need to change to somebody you don't even know anymore.. or was it me that changed?
TOUGH QUESTIONS with vague answers.

All I ever wanted was to be valued by whom I valued. To be invested a time for me.
Is it that hard? or it is! You cannot value someone you do not love. There is no value without love.
So was there love at the first place? I've learned that I cannot make someone love me. All I can do is be someone who can be loved, the rest is up to them. I've learned that no matter how much I care, some people just don't care back.. and i have to learn that it's not the end of the world.

It's painful losing yourself in the process of valuing someone too much and forgetting that you are special too.. that you deserve to be valued and cared too.

God has been telling me to STOP! -- "stop wrestling with me. I want to give new and best things for you but how can I, if you've been holding on to some things that I asked you to let go. I can only fill an empty hand."

I know I'm almost there! I'm almost closing this long and overly extended season of my life and yet frightened to step on to a foreign land.. but I have to! I have to let go of the things that I was used to, to walk away from anything (may it be unnecessary emotions, responses, wrong mindset, wrong people) that no longer serves me, grows me or makes me happy and embrace the new things God has been wanting to give me.

God has been teaching me to WAIT!-- "wait upon me and as you wait.. draw your strength from me. Everything is beautiful in my own right time. Everything will unfold in its perfect timing. Just be patient. Restoration may delay but it will surely come"

Time has its own way of healing if I'd be just more patient. Take Heart! Take Faith! Be assured of the things I hope for and certain of the things I do not see. God makes all things beautiful in His time.

God has been calling me to DELIGHT!-- "Delight yourself in ME, and I'll give you your heart's desire. I can satisfy your hunger and thirst. Find your security in me"


Whether in lack or gain, delight yourself in the Lord. Whether in sunny weathers or stormy nights, delight in the Lord. Only to Him should we build our security. Material possessions fail and people will fail you but God will stand faithful amidst all. When bad things happen and beyond understanding, delight in the Lord.. and when we delight, we worship-- because when we worship the Lord and magnify Him for who He is we realize that our God is bigger than all our troubles combined. 

I thank You GOD for your never-fading faithfulness in my life. Despite the times that I find it hard to worship you because of the hurt and pain, you understand and you bring healing. That whatever season in my life I go through, you see me still with value and the same love from the beginning. You never change.

It has been a tough season and I hope and pray that I will come off tougher.
Let me end with the encouraging faith and devotion of Habakkuk:

Habakkuk 3:17-18

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ Though the fig tree does not bud
    and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
    and the fields produce no food, 
though there are no sheep in the pen
    and no cattle in the stalls, 
¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the Lord, 
    I will be joyful in God my Savior.

HAVE A FRUITFUL SEASON OF YOUR LIFE! GOD BLESS YOU! :)

VICTORY WEEKEND

The cross would always remind me of our freedom through Christ. Two thousand years ago Christ shed His blood and died on the cross to set us free from the bondages of our sins.

And today, through Victory Weekend, it has reminded me of that freedom given to us, to me.. centuries ago. We ought to live that freedom and burn the bridges that connects us to sin and most especially embrace our new being in Christ. Indeed, whoever the son sets free.. will be free indeed (John 8:36). So let's celebrate and live that freedom.

I was like a freshly harvested onion covered with unwanted and useless skins. Every chapter discussed during the Victory weekend was like peeling those unwanted skins after another. And now,I am bare and fully peeled off and ready to be sliced to give that extraordinary aroma to people and willing to be stirred under fire to give taste and make a difference to the world.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
To God be the Glory!
:)

Here's the Link to:
Victory Weekend Recap Video

The Setting of the Sun

Let me share to you some of the sunset photos I took.

Ebenezer's Abigail's Cottage at Dusk

                                                        after a long day's work
                                               

                                                              the magnificent horizon

                                                          a walk under the setting sun

                                                   glory of the dusk

Sunsets remind me that another day had passed.
As I gaze upon its beauty, it assured that there really is a God above.

"Peace... is seeing a sunset, and knowing who to thank." 


"The sunrise is Gods greeting - the sunset, his signature. "

--Unknown 

As I watch it swallowed by the horizon and as it paint the sea orange, it gives me hope for the days to come.

"It is almost impossible to watch a sunset and not dream."

--Bern Williams

TSINELAS.

Life is a long journey. We walk, we run to reach our destination.

We get tired and we rest but we never should quit.

On the middle of our walk comes a bumpy road called obstacles that caused us to be dismayed and lose hope. 

As we still walk further, our mind starts to bug us and question the essence of the journey. We feel unsecured of what the walk may bring us. 

As the day comes and night passes, the road may seemed longer than it should be. Our feet becomes hesitant to move forward and are tempted to step back and return. But you have come so far. 

We get to meet people along the road. We meet friends who would help us, guide us and even walk with us. We meet mockers who would tear us down and would not cease unless they saw us crushed. 

And when our feet paved their way to the finish line, we grow weary.. we may stink and filled with filth but our character is build and become much stronger as we prepare for the next destination. 

Tonight's episode of MMK reminded me these.

Homeless and orphaned, Edgar, 17, and his brother Dagul, 11, decide to go to their relatives in Samar on foot. The brothers have no money, no food, and they must walk more than 500 kilometers. Along the way, they meet people who help them but it's their love for each other that makes them strong and  determined to finish their journey...." 

The episode is a great resemblance of what really is happening in real life. 

My favorite part was when Edgar (AJ) asked his younger brother Dagul (Bugoy) "Pagod ka na ba? Gusto mo buhatin kita?" It reminded me of how God carries us along. As we walk the life, he never leaves us. He comes BEFORE us to guide us and to shield our way. He was our witness when we started to crawl. He was and is always ready to catch us even before we stumble. 

Just like how Edgar's slippers were busted which never became the reason of him stopping on the journey, we have to pursue and continue the walk even when discouragement try to tear us down. And just like how Dagul replaced his brother's slippers with a new one, God renews our hope and strength.

(nasaan ba kasi si Korina Sanchez nung kinailangan ni Edgar ng tsinelas?! :D)

The story also implied that wherever our feet may bring us, it will always lead us back home.

And soon, from the dust we came to dust we shall leave the earth and be back to our true home.. to the place where we truly belong.. HEAVEN :)

So let us not quit the road we travel, let us walk and run with perseverance.. knowing that Jesus is on the lead and a great prize awaits for those who walked, rested, discouraged but never quits.

The Last Curtain Call

"TSINELAS"-- the title of Maalaala Mo Kaya's episode tonight and the last curtain call of the late young actor AJ Perez.

As I watch the drama anthology, I was very impressed with the improvement of the skills in acting of the young actor. I remember him (on his TV shows and film) being not so fluid in speaking in tagalog. He has this kind of accent that makes it awkward to hear when he delivers the line. But tonight, I saw a different and more mature Aj Perez. His lines were delivered flawlessly, he shed tears with honesty and he collaborated with his co-star Bugoy Carino excellently. 

It brought pain in my heart as I watched him do a great job. His portrayal may kindle a lot of opportunities ahead.. bigger chances! He can be the next big thing!

I want to see him do another project with the same admirable or even better skill he showed tonight. But it hurts that this can never happen anymore. 

Whoever chose Aj and Bugoy to do this project, did a very good job!

The cinematography was awesome. The scene where they reached Albay where the Mayon Volcano served as background was breathtaking.

Throughout the show, there were signs that proved to be that this this MMK episode was really meant for AJ.

*The Long Journey: as they walk from Manila to Samar, it implied a long and tiring journey. As the make their way home in Manila.. Aj, after a show in Dagupan, fell asleep in the fatal van he rode in.

*The Road: the main setting of the drama was the road. it was also where the giggerboy spent his last hours on earth.

*The Bus and the Van: Edgar (Aj's character name/ the Homeless and orphaned letter sender) remembers the route to Catbalogan, Samar through the childhood memory he had with his mother who took him back home to samar riding a bus. He also used buses passing as a reference and an idea on where their feet have already taken them. The fatal van AJ was riding was hit by a bus.

and finally after a lot of undertakings along the road..

after being ridiculed by the people around them,  Edgar and Dagul finally reached back home to Catbalogan, Samar.

and after touching people's lives, after being an inspiration to the young people, after a short yet beautiful life.. Antonelloe Joseph Sarte Perez has finally reached HOME.