Reset

So I was excited to go about my errands yesterday - before the malls
close during the holy week (Thursday and Friday) - when I saw an
ATM with only one person on queue.  Anticipating the long lines that
may come later in the day, I decided to queue up for a transaction I
needed to do within the weekend anyways. When it was my turn, I
thought i’d just go through the motions - insert my card, punch in the
PIN, select transaction and finish. For some reason however, the
screen froze after I entered my PIN - this was the first time such thing
happened to me. I thought: “Did they reconfigure the machine? Do I
have to type ‘Enter’?”, so I pressed “enter”, hoping that would keep
the process going. Nothing happened. “Did I type the wrong PIN?” I
tried pressing the clear button - to no avail; so I just resorted to
pressing “cancel”, hoping the machine would just eject my card so I
can try to create a new transaction. Yet the machine didn’t budge.

Just at that moment, one of the personnel refilling the ATM beside my
bank’s knowingly told me, “just wait for a few minutes, the machine
might still eject your card, unless the card slot lights up again - which
would mean that the machine has already eaten up your card.” I was
so tempted to ask if they can do something about my card - though
I’m pretty sure there’s nothing they could really do since they’re from
another bank.  Just then, another lady queued up behind me - so as
not to waste her time, I explained to her that the machine is currently
not working. She sympathetically looked at me and said “I know it
can be stressful, but just stay calm, relax, and don’t let this ruin your
holy week.” I smiled and said a word of thanks as I dialed on my
bank’s hotline.

After finishing up all the rings and a few more tries, no one picked up
at the other end. So I thought about asking help from my sister.
Seeing that she wasn’t online though, I decided not to bug her at that
moment coz I thought she might be driving. Fortunately, I am friends
with my bank’s manager, so being in a bit of a panic mode, I
messaged her, apologizing that I had to go through her directly (the
hotline seemed unavailable) and explained to her my situation. At
about the same time, I asked my companion to go to the nearest
branch to explain the situation and ask what’s supposed to be done.
Manager friend told me to wait, and as she was trying to contact the
head office, my companion went back, saying that the branch told her
I’d need to go to the bank to sign some papers requesting for a new
card.  After which, the bank would process my request and wait for
my new card - which I will have to pick up most likely at my home
branch. Since I have no word from manager friend yet at that time as
to what’s supposed to be done from her end, I asked my companion
to stay at the ATM (just in case the machine spews out my card
during the time I was gone) as I head to the nearest branch as told.
On my way there however, the manager called me up to tell me that
the head office will reset the machine so it can eject my card and I
can go about my way. I did as I was told by the manager, and in less
than ten minutes after the call, I got my card back. I thanked my
manager friend and once again apologized for approaching her for
this. It really isn’t part of her job to accommodate me, but she helped
me in the best way she can anyways.

Reflecting about what happened, I realized how there could’ve been
different possible outcomes for me. If I listened to the other bank's
personnel and just waited til the machine ejects my card - I'm not
sure how long that would have taken, and if that machine would
actually do such. If I tried and tried hard again and again to contact
the hotline on my own - there is also no guarantee as to whether I
would accomplish anything out of that. Since the first solution that
presented to me with great promise was the process which is
available to a regular client, I might have chosen that so that I could
already do something about the situation immediately - hoping that
my quick action would yield quick results.  Ironically, however, that
course of action might have had resulted to a longer resolution as it
entailed having to apply for a new card right then and there - then
waiting for a new card which most likely would have taken longer,
with the processes being a bit more tiresome with all the (walking
and) paperwork and possibly, following up, and subsequently having
to pick up the card. Since the next two weekdays are holidays, it
would most likely take at least 5-6 days before I could actually have a
usable card - and that meant I won't be able to use it over the
weekend when I needed to. I was blessed to have connections,
someone in a position of power to help me in such situation, thereby
creating solutions that may have been known to me later than the
other one, seemed less concrete to me - as I am not involved in the
process of coordinating with the head office, etc, but is actually more
efficient, required lesser time, and was less tedious to do on my end -
I did not even have to take one step but instead only had to just
patiently wait - as the head office did the resetting right there in front
of me, and just like that, the machine gave me my card back.

For the past few months, my husband and I have been setting goals
for the year - listing the steps that we need to do in order to
accomplish such plans, and carefully scheduling each and every step. 
Yes, we probably prayed about these plans individually during our
quiet times, and occasionally together, but I guess we were
sometimes just too overconfident that everything would just fall into
place. After all, most of the things on earth are governed by math and
science- which I believe we have relatively great knowledge of, so
there’s a high probability that we would succeed.  After all, knowledge,
as they say, is power.

It came to a point, however, when things didn’t go as planned for one
reason or another, and the delays caused great disappointment in me
as they took a toll on my faith.  It was tempting to listen to solutions
offered by other people, or otherwise try to take matters into my
hands, into our hands - trying to do everything in our power to make
sure that our goal would be achieved. We’ve done so much research,
seeking every solution possible - yet all these wealth of different
possible solutions that had variable scenarios and conflicting rates of
success just left us paralyzed. With so many options available, how
do we know which one to choose, which one is best?

Over the past weeks, despite my (/our) grief and discouragement, we
tried to seek God and His will for our lives - this time more earnestly…
and He is faithful.  Through the verses and messages we’ve read and
listened to, we were reminded that God is always good. He is faithful.
He loves us and would never withhold from us whatever is best for us
in His perfect time. He is in control of everything and is sovereign
above all - even over math, and science, and sickness, and
everything else. If it is within His will, and His will is perfect and it
contains whatever is best for us, then nothing can ever stop Him from
giving and letting it unfold right in front of our very eyes.  True, it might
not come right at the time when we are greatly longing for it to, and
yes, it might take quite some time, but with God’s way, the fruition of
the things that we are asking for might occur even sooner than if we
relied solely on our own abilities. We don’t even need to take a single
step. We don’t even need to know or see what’s going on behind the
scenes. We just need to live our lives one day at a time, put our faith
in Him, and wait expectantly for Him to reset things - and give us what
He so wants us to have - an abundant, prosperous life.

I Will Never Pursue You (by Anna Luna)

I WILL NEVER PURSUE YOU

Reblogged from ARABY

Maybe I’m beginning to like you a lot,

but I will never pursue you.

Around me, I’m tempted by all these pawns

calling me to use them,

looking me in the eye, saying

maybe you and I can ”accidentally” bump into each other 

in a coffee shop;

maybe we can schedule “friendly dates” with a bunch of 

conniving friends;

maybe I can start “innocent” topics with you over that 

gleaming chat box,

ask you things that no one would brand as bad,

I can even send you “wrong sends.”

But even this early, I realized

that albeit pawns are the most numerous pieces in a game,

at the end of the day,

they are but

the weakest.

 
























Don’t get me wrong -

I want to be with you.

Just to get to know you more,

I am ready to manipulate

so many things -

things I can hide in my heart’s darkest cellars

things you would never have to know

I did.

And I am so sorry

if so many times

I feel terribly inclined to make things happen

in a forced manner

through the methods I uncannily know;

and always try to get in your way

even if most of the time,

it’s way out of mine.

I would never want to know

how it is to look at you

knowing that only my own human hands

engineered the story

we so thoughtlessly call ours.

I choose not to get my hands dirty.

I will not move my cards -

use things, use people

just to get to you.

I will be secure

even if we do not get to be together

as often as I would want us to.

I will be happy

even if we do not get to know each other

as fast as I want us to.

I will not sulk

if I do not get my way

in trying to make way

for us to finally talk.

I choose to be secure

even if such things are way out of my control.

Perhaps my heart will rest more happily

knowing that I have never orchestrated things

by employing selfish methods;

never cheated you

by whispering my own words through other people’s mouths,

never betrayed you

by telling you at the end of the day

that it is I who made everything possible,

that it is I who worked behind the scenes,

that it is I who controlled and manipulated everything

just like some pathetic cheater

in any easy exam.

If anything, maybe I can write these things about you in 

secret for now

then just tell you everything (laughingly) in the future.

Plenty of time to bide,

to strive,

to try to improve myself,

become a better woman.

But one thing I’ll never do is pursue you.

I’ll never do the pursuing

the making way

the courting

the getting to know

And the trying to be close to you part.

Because it’s not my part.

I’ll stick to the part that I know -

and that is to keep my heart pure.

So pure

That when love finally finds me

I’ll know that what I have is divine.

My part is to trust God,

to fix my eyes on Him,

to acknowledge His sovereignty in all my life’s areas

I don’t want human hands

Not mine.

Not yours.

I want the only Hands that matter –

His.

That as I wait, He’ll be my only delight

my singular motive,

my one true purpose;

for His will and His person

to become my life's utmost concern.

I’ll never pursue you or anyone else.

I’ll pursue the One

who loves me best,

knows me best,

and who’s the only authority to deem it best

if ever you are the one

I should have in my life…

Or not.

Until then, I may find myself liking you too much,

but I will never pursue you.

Weighed... but found wanting 10 lbs. more... =(

When I first read about the suggestion to have a blood donation drive in church, I became somewhat excited (though just the mere thought of it might have sent shivers up my spine a few years back...) I almost became a candidate for blood transfusion myself during my senior year in college, right during our finals week, when I got secretly bitten by an Aedes aegypti specie! (I was blessed because I didn't have written orals at that time so, I just had to reschedule all my oral exams...) I got really scared then of the pain I'd have to endure... But God has been faithful that He prolonged my life, making it better everyday, and so this blood donating thing really got me thrilled, since it is one way through which I would want to thank God for the life He has given me, and even more for the blood my Christ has shed for me, an undeserving yet chosen one...

At first site of the scheduled bloodletting drive, I immediately took a mental note of the date of sched, but it was not until last Friday (2 days before bloodletting) that it hit me... I didn't know if I was eligible for blood donation! I asked friends who already had a previous experience with blood donation, and they said I could participate even if I had dengue in the past (I didn't receive blood transfusion anyway...) however, I forgot to check one of the most important criteria for eligibility... my weight... I was weighed... and found wanting at least 10 lbs more... (*Tekel is taken out of context here :">)

So there... Sad I may be that I wasn't able to give blood, at least I was able to invite a friend who was eligible and was willing to donate another bag-full on my behalf... *lolz* They didn't allow that of course

But well, for now, I'll just have to work on my weight-gaining diet first... and hope I'd be fit enough to donate next time *lolz* And for the benefit of those who don't know yet about the guidelines for blood donation... voici!!!

General and Physical Requirements of a Blood Donor*

1. Age – Persons at least 18 years old can donate blood. Regular donors can give blood until they are 65 years old. Those aged 16-17 may also give blood with the consent of their parents or guardian.
   
2. Sex – both men and women can donate blood.
   
3. Weight – must be at least 50 kilos or 110 lbs.
   
4. Temperature – oral temperature must not exceed 37.5 c.
   
5. Pulse – must be a regular between 48 and 100 per minute
   
6. Blood Pressure – must be between 110 and 200 mm.Hg systolic and less than 110 mm.Hg diastolic.
   
7. Hemoglobin – must not less than 125gm. /100 ml.

Medical requirements

1. Prospective blood donors with following diseases may not give blood:
   
   1. Active pulmonary tuberculosis
      
   2. Diabetes under insulin and oral hypoglycemic drugs
      
   3. Rheumatic fever
      
   4. Asthma within two months of last attacks
      
   5. Chronic eczema, dermatitis, or recurring boils
   6. Cardiovascular diseases
      
   7. Convulsions, epilepsy or other mental diseases
      
   8. Kidney diseases
      
   9. Acute gastric ulcer within the past two years
      
   10. Current allergic reactions
       
   11. Cancer
       
   12. Filariasis
       
   13. Yaws and other long standing skin diseases
       
   14. Hepatitis B, Jaundice (liver disease)
       
   15. Syphilis & other Sexually Transmitted Infections
       
   16. HIV/AIDS
       

2. Malaria – persons who had malaria three years ago but without recurrence can donate blood.
   
3. Pregnancy – women are ineligible as donors during pregnancy and for 12 months following delivery.
   
4. Surgical Operation – Prospective donors should not give blood within six months after operation.
   
5. Recipients of blood or plasma transfusion – prospective donor who have received a blood transfusion with in the past six months cannot give blood.
   
6. Needle pricks – Prospective donor should not give blood within six months after ear-piercing or tattoo.
   
7. Illness within the lass three months – persons who have had serious illness the past three months may not give blood.
   
8. Hazardous occupation – Persons who operate heavy equipment such as power machinery, cranes, buses, trains or engage in similar occupation hazardous to themselves may give blood but should not resume their occupation for at least five hours after donation. Air crew should not resume work until 24 hours after the donation.
   
9. Drug & Alcohol intake – under the discretion of medical in-charge.

Note: The final medical assessment will depend on the physician in charge.

*taken from Philippine National Red Cross Youth Pledge 25: Guidebook on Blood Donor Recruitment and Retention

http://www.davidmetraux.com/redcross/docs/passport_partners/pledge_25_handbook.doc

Interview with Rick Warren

This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren, "Purpose Driven Life" author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California. These are new 'insights' that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and his having "wealth" from the book sales.

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:

People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity.

We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me.

I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal.

God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go in to another one.

The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort.

God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.

We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.

I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.

Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.

And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.

If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, "which is my problem, my issues, my pain."

But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her.

It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15
million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.

It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence.
He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.

Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.

Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.

Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?

Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? ...Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.

Rain of blessings

Went to the Mall of Asia last Sunday to watch Superman at the IMax theater. I've actually wanted to do that but I heard tickets were all sold out already. But the "surprise" came in just last Sunday while I was attending a BSM class... My sister texted me that she had an extra ticket for me. (Yeah, I became my niece's sub coz she came down with a fever T_T) And so I watched with my kulit nephews, my sis and bro-in-law.

The Mall of Asia
3-y/o Franklin: "Look! An earth-like thing!"
This boy is really something =) Did he know how the earth looked like?

MOA was really crowded then. Indeed, it has huge space but with the entire Philippine population present in just one vicinity, there ain't no space wide enough! (bien sûr, i was exaggerating ü) It could really get a bit tiring walking around with 3 kids who want to go here and there and everywhere, plus the crowds... but what I really liked about MOA is its really nice view of Manila Bay... I really am a water-lover... And with the summer-y weather for the past days, it felt as if we were just right in front of the beach. Too bad, I wasn't able to bring mom's new digicam then (hehe, techy na rin si mommy!) but I found some nice shots while surfing a while ago...

Superman in IMax
Too bad, there were only 4 scenes re-rendered in 3D. Was actually expecting Superman to fly around us...=) But the movie was okay. I didn't have the chance to read Superman comics before so I don't have any expectations as to how the story's supposed to go... :"> The effects were so-so (but too loud at times, wished they would provide individual headphones so viewers could control the volume...)

I really didn't find watching it in IMax that fabulous... I guess it really depends on the movie you're watching. The effects of IMax would surely work with horror movies where the monster would look at the audience and make him feel it's out to get him (just like the T-Rex trailer where the t-rex looked as if it's gonna bite my head off). Try Sadako getting out of the movie screen, or something like that =)

But I have to say, I enjoyed the movie, in terms of story... and of course, company =) It's so cute to watch my youngest nephew clap his little hands for Superman... And oh, I've gained some insights from Superman, too.. Just remembered a time when I attended worship service at VCF and the pastor there showed a clip from the old Superman movie... Superman caught Lois and told her "I got you..." I'm just so thankful to know Who's got me... =)

cheesy---> *lolz*

"(I've got joy, down in my heart,) deep deep down in my heaaaaarrrt!!!" -Franklin

After tutor time yesterday, I gave the kids cards from the movie, The Cars =) I'm really glad they liked it... the youngest even started to sing his heart out! Oh and were they all in the mood to give Sa-i the opportunity of having another photo shoot!!!





And alas... the end of another tiring yet fun day =)

On doit être tout souriant! :D

Yes! I am stressed out!

Classes have started again... And that meant waking up 5:30 AM at the latest to bring the kids to school then adjusting my work time to give way to fetching the kids. I guess that's the part that I really don't like much... -waking up early /sob, plus the fact that I won't be able to play badminton regularly on Tuesdays anymore... We finish tutoring 7:30 PM at the earliest (that means it can extend till 9:00 PM because of all the commercials / kwentos that we have... so that's around 14++ required hours of staying up!

Breakdown of time spent per activity during French class days:
40mins preparation (+around 30mins more if we count my "5-min tawads" hehe)
1hr 5mins eating (for 3 meals / checking email)
4hrs 50mins travel (hse -> ICA, XS -> Alliance -> XS -> office -> ICA -> hse)
2hrs 30mins++ tutor (for 3-4 kids)
2hrs class
3hrs 5mins work

yaiks! i just realized i spend so much time traveling! but oh well. I'm just glad that I'm doing this for my sis and the kiddos who give color to my world =) sometimes they really tire me... these kids! I wonder where their energy comes from... Well they wake up earlier than I do, and yet, they still have the energy to kid around with me after tutor time... (which I usually don't say no to, no matter how tired I am already... I am sooo under their power... hehe =)

So there... Now that I've identified my stressors, I'll now find a way of solving my stress problems... haha! Well, i'm not really in the mood to do that now, I've got work to do... =) Anyways I just wanna share how I'm happy right now, despite all the pressure I've been going under... with work, with tutoring the kids, with going to school, with all the thoughts in my head and emotions in my heart, not to mention being physically weak most of the time for the past few days... I'm just thankful that my Dear Lord has been faithful in seeing me through... for giving me friends who've encouraged me throughout... for friends who've shared with me His wonderful love =) and this is why I have all the reason to smile all day... like the pancakes I just had for breakfast... and stay as sweet as the iced chocolate I had from Starbucks! *blush*