On January 29, 2012, I wrote about my grandparents who live overseas.
On February 11, 2012, I found out that my grandfather (my Papa's papa) died.
Yesterday - April 11, 2012 - was his 2nd death monthsary.
Because I'm so proud of my grandparents, I'm making this entry public.
I miss you, Kong-Kong. I really do. 

( Read more... )

I can't seem to embed the song here properly. 
But it is worth the listen. So click this. 

Farther along we’ll know all about it 
Farther along we’ll understand why 
Cheer up my brothers, live in the sunshine 
We’ll understand this, all by and by 

Tempted and tried, I wondered why 
The good man died, the bad man thrives 
And Jesus cries because he loves em’ both 
We’re all cast-aways in need of ropes
Hangin’ on by the last threads of our hope
In a house of mirrors full of smoke
Confusing illusions I’ve seen

Where did I go wrong, I sang along
To every chorus of the song
That the devil wrote like a piper at the gates
Leading mice and men down to their fates
But some will courageously escape
The seductive voice with a heart of faith
While walkin’ that line back home

So much more to life than we’ve been told
It’s full of beauty that will unfold
And shine like you struck gold my wayward son
That deadweight burden weighs a ton
Go down into the river and let it run
And wash away all the things you’ve done
Forgiveness alright

Chorus

Still I get hard pressed on every side 
Between the rock and a compromise 
Like the truth and pack of lies fightin’ for my soul 
And I’ve got no place left go 
Cause I got changed by what I’ve been shown 
More glory than the world has known 
Keeps me ramblin’ on

Skipping like a calf loosed from its stall 
I’m free to love once and for all 
And even when I fall I’ll get back up 
For the joy that overflows my cup 
Heaven filled me with more than enough 
Broke down my levee and my bluff
Let the flood wash me

And one day when the sky rolls back on us
Some rejoice and the others fuss
Cause every knee must bow and tongue confess 
That the Son of God is forever blessed 
His is the kingdom, we’re the guests
So put your voice up to the test
Sing Lord, come soon

Chorus creditsfrom Love & War & The Sea In Between, released 15 June 2011
Vocals, Guitar, Organ, Piano, Dobro, Electric Guitar, and Drum Sequencing by Josh Garrels
BGV by Annalisa Nutt
Accordion and Bass by Jay Kirkpatrick
Electric Guitar 2 by Scott Frantz

They played this as the response song of Sunday Youth Worship today.
(Which, I would've missed, had I not been assigned to do something that Sunday.) 

It's been a while since my eyes watered because of a song. 
I rather like hymns, and well, when you mesh the new and the old together, it's so good. =) 

So come on and sing out
Let our anthem grow loud
There is One Great Love
There are so few words that never grow old

Jesus

Cheesy na kung cheesy, but my goodness, You are one great love. =) 

http://www.dayswithmyfather.com

I want to share this all with you. 
So beautiful. 

Love and life. 
Thank you, Lord, for the gift of family. 
(Even when at times we fall prey to seeing our family as a burden, not as a gift.) 

How to Glorify God at Work

Loved reading the link above! All you working (and even non-working, really!) - read up. =) 

I like working.
I'm very grateful (but somehow I feel like it doesn't show very much).

But the main goal is to make Him happy in my every breathing moment, no matter what I do.
Even when I make mistakes? Especially when I make mistakes.
 
"Consider your ways," He tells me. 

And I sober up immediately, and chuckle at my silliness, and sigh in frustration, and surge with motivation to look outside of myself, to love and act again. 

I also saw this entry in one of the blogs I follow, and thought, "Why did I say I waste too much time reading stuff off the internet again?" 
What a gem. 

God asks me to consider my ways, and isn't the least bit afraid to lay down His ways for me to question, to reflect on, and - ultimately - to desire His ways to be my ways, too. 


Photo not mine.

Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

- John 20:24-28

You’re an intellectual person who refuses to believe that Christ rose from the dead unless you have evidence to suggest that He did. It seems to you that it’s too biased and circular to use the Bible as proof that the story of Christ as recorded by the Bible is historically accurate. You’re not expected to believe naively without applying your intelligence to other areas of life, so why should you believe that Jesus is Lord without applying your mind?

Know this: to you, Jesus says: put your finger here, and see my hands; put out your hand, and place it in my side. He invites you to investigate. He’s not angry that you’re hesitant to believe without seeing evidence for yourself. But if there’s a possibility that Christ is Lord, that there is hope, then surely that possibility is worth investigating properly?

You like to draw conclusions for yourself, and you want to explore your own choices. You apply your energy passionately to so many other areas of your life. You are intelligent enough to look at both sides of the debate, and more than capable of researching objectively. You are gifted with the ability to think critically. You don’t write off theories unless you’ve wrestled with their validity first. You say that there is no evidence to suggest that Christ rose from the dead - but if you were to be honest with yourself, when was the last time you looked to see if there was evidence? I shoud say, properly looked, for yourself and not to please someone else?

The Jesus of the Bible, the Jesus I follow, is one who invites you to investigate the evidence of His resurrection for yourself.

The Wait Poem

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate …
And the Master so gently said,”Wait.”

“Wait? You say wait?” my indignant reply.
“Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!”
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I’m claiming your Word.

My future and all to which I relate,
Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to Wait?”
I’m needing a ‘yes,’ a go-ahead sign.
Or even a ‘no,’ to which I’ll resign.

You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
Lord, I’ve been asking, and this is my cry:
I’m weary of asking! I need a reply.

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,
As my Master replied again, “Wait.”
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
And grumbled to God, “So, I’m waiting … for what?”

He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine …
And He tenderly said, “I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.

I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You’d have what you want, but you wouldn’t know Me.
You’d not know the depth of My love for each saint.
You’d not know the power that I give to the faint.

You’d not learn to see through clouds of despair;
You’d not learn to trust just by knowing I’m there.
You’d not know the joy of resting in Me,
When darkness and silence are all you can see.

You’d never experience the fullness of love,
When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,
But you’d not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

The glow of My comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that’s beyond getting just what you ask,
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.

You’d never know should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But oh, the loss if I lost what I’m doing in you.

So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see,
That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.
And though often My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still “WAIT”.

– Russell Kelfer


Just because this reminded me too much of myself about a year back.
Read this poem - the shortened version of it actually - during my cousin's 18th lunch party. 
Because things don't always turn out the way you want to growing up. 

Waiting is the hardest thing for me. Waiting patiently has never been my strong suit.
But praise God, because He gives me the grace (an inexhaustible amount of it) to wait. 
And He follows through, too. It's hard to say "He's got better plans" when the accepted best plan crumbles before your eyes, but trust me - speaking from personal experience - the Big Man knows what He's doing, and He knows you. Trust Him.
 




“The more we let God take us over, the more truly ourselves we become - because He made us. He invented us. He invented all the different people that you and I were intended to be. It is when I turn to Christ, when I give up myself to His personality, that I first begin to have a real personality of my own.”


- C.S. Lewis



Huwag na kasi matigas ang ulo at puso, self.
(Stop being hard headed and hearted.) 

Ingrid Michaelson, you are my girl.
This song speaks to me so much. 

"How do you know?"