"FAMILY"

I just realized today how blessed I am by God for giving me such wonderful people I call my family. :) Even though we argue a lot sometimes, and have so many disagreements on a lot of things, still, I love them very much and am very proud to have them in my life. They have given me LOVE more than I could ever ask for, even when sometimes I think I do not deserve it. They have always shown me kindness and warmth, even though most of the time I fail to give those back to them. They may be small, and of course, imperfect, I love these people very much and they are just one of the BEST things that God has ever given to me.

"O-Hana means 'family'. Family means, ' nobody gets left behind-or forgotten." -Lilo (Lilo and Stitch)

I have always believed in my family that no matter what happens, they will never throw me away or treat me as just another person. Families don't do that to each other, right? haha. Well, I have only proven that statement to myself until the unexpected events that happened today.

2 days ago, I've had a huge fight with my parents and haven't talked to either one of them for the rest of the day. I knew that they are infuriated with me, and so I decided to just remain silent in order to avoid any more mess that I might create that may just aggravate their wrath for me even more. I spent the entire afternoon thinking how upset they are to me, and how disappointed they are to themselves for having such a snobbish, self-centered, disrespectful child like me. (I am sometimes a pessimistic person, so thoughts like that will just pop into my head whenever something worries me.) I thought, they never wanted me in their lives anymore. But, in the end, I was proven wrong. Their great love has always outweighed all the sins I have committed against them. No matter what happens, they will still embrace me with open arms and forgive me for all my mistakes. That's just how loving and compassionate they are.

"Nothing you confess, could make me love you less." ( I'll Stand By You)

It's definitely true that there would be nothing too great to stop a parent from loving his child unconditionally. I do believe that the role of being a parent is just highly exhausting,yet it is also the most rewarding of all. For there is nothing better in this world than to have a family you could call as your own, and would always love you, regardless of who you are, or what you have done wrong.

It is quite disappointing to think how most of us forget the value of having a family. But, I am glad that I am finally able to grasp this simple truth of how blessed I am for walking on this world with these very special people beside me. I guess we all need to contemplate on our minds sometimes and reflect on how we currently view our lives, and see how sometimes the things that matter the most are the things we mostly neglect all the time. Actually, when I realized this fact, I cannot help the tears from falling down my eyes. I was focusing on the love that I have been longing from my friends when I have already been receiving tremendous efforts of love by my family. What I have been looking for has already been in front of my eyes all this time. I was just paying my attention to something else, which is why I don't see it.

Darating ang panahon na maski mga kaibigan mo tatalikuran ka, malilimutan ka, o iiwanan ka. Yung dati nandyan sila palagi para sayo, pero darating din ang oras na bigla na lang sila mawawala. Pero ang PAMILYA, kahit kailan, di ka iiwanan niyan. Sa huli, sila rin ang iyong magiging kanlungan. Sa kanila ka pa rin tatakbo pag pati buong mundo tinalikuran ka na. Kaya, dapat lang na habang nandyan pa sila, pahalagahan mo na. Mahalin mo. Ingatan mo. 


Thank you Lord, kasi minulat mo ang mga mata ko sa katotohanang gaano ako kamahal ng pamilya ko. You really are magnificent. You are more than enough for me. :)

"I Want To Be a Somebody!"

A blessed Lord's Day!

 I just got home from church service this morning, and since the pastor's sermon was very inspiring to me, I decided to share some of it in my blog. Though honestly, there were some moments that I did not pay attention, and my mind was drifting off somewhere ( I truly apologize to God for that -__-") still, the message was a good one and worthy to be remembered and applied.

A Step to Significance. 

Each one of us reaches to a point where we want to be recognized in this world, to be a somebody. We want to be noted for our tremendous efforts, and our names engraved in books and in the minds of people forever. We want to be SIGNIFICANT. But, luckily for us, the children of God, we are already destined on this path to GREATNESS. Every child of God is already meant to succeed and to live excellently for the glory and honor of the Lord. It is His will for us to be amazing. We are destined to rise among others, to be LEADERS of our nation, to be the LIGHT of the world. We are more than CONQUERORS. 

Believe it or not, we are already significant in the eyes of God. But, still, there is nothing wrong with leaving a mark in this world of your existence. As a matter of fact, it would be a life worth living if we do absolutely make it into this world. As long as our success is in accordance to His plan in our lives, then we ALL are worthy to be SOMEBODY in this world. Do I make sense?? :)) I sure hope I do. 

Now, to be a somebody comes with two big questions: “WHY” and “HOW”

Why? Simple. Because our God is an awesome God. He is Lord of all. As His children, we should grow in His likeness. If our God is great, then so should His children be. That is what it takes to be Christ-like.

How? There are three simple principles to become significant.

First of all, we need to have an aim or goal. Think of yourself, and what you want to achieve in this world. How can you be significant if you yourself don’t even know what you want? Search yourself. Find a dream and make it a reality.

Second: Have a servant-minded leadership.

To become the greatest, you must first learn how to become the least. In other words, a true leader, acts like a leader, but has the heart of a servant. You must give your life to serve others as much as others follow your steps. Do not be boastful of your highly attained status or position. Let God be your example. Despite being the Son of the Almighty God, still He is willing to step down and become human to live with His people and serve them the best way possible. Humble yourself first, and the Lord will lift you up.

Third: Be faithful

Faithfulness outweighs skills, talents, or even virtues. People may acknowledge your knowledge, or abilities, but they will respect and value those who remain true to their words and are loyal to his subjects.

Having the mindset of a leader, I was truly blessed from what I heard this morning. Indeed, God’s Word is meant for all of us to read and learn from it. And I surely gained a lot from this wonderful church service this morning.  J

"ENOUGH"

There are times like these when you have just thought in your mind and say that you already have had ENOUGH of everything that you have been through. You say, " I can't do this anymore." You had too much. You are no longer happy with what you are doing.

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH." 

As I have said before, we can NEVER be strong all the time. Sometimes, we just have to say to ourselves that it's time to give it a rest. Let go of the suffering that you have been going through. Learn to say NO and to STOP. 

PAIN is an inevitable part of life that comes to straighten our ways and to make us stronger. When we experience pain, be happy afterwards for you know that you'll come out stronger and wiser the next time you encounter those kinds of problems. Life, as we know it, was never meant to be easy and so we sometimes say to ourselves that it is already enough. 

But God is a loving God. He would never want His children to suffer too much from all the pain that they have been going through. Which is why, in the midst of our restlessness, He is our source of comfort. He will give you rest. He will never leave us nor forsake us. 

And I have learned my lesson. I've had enough of this unbearable pain that I have been going through for such a long time. I guess it is already time for me to MOVE ON with this pain, and live life with a newly renewed self. It's time to surrender this pain to GOD and start to look on the brighter side of life. :)

God bless. Just took the time to write something since it relaxes me. And, also to release this heavy burden inside of me that I have been keeping for quite a while. 

#signing off

"VULNERABILITIES- fears and weaknesses behind that strong armor"

Open, Exposed, Weak, Fragile - VULNERABLE. Such a common word for most people to say who never want to leave their hearts exposed to others. To show FEAR is to show WEAKNESS. To be weak is to embark on a depressing adventure to failure. A state of vulnerability, even for a second, can allow an enemy in battle to plunge in right through your heart and stab it with all his might. Simple as that. Fear is the cause of downfall. Nobody wants to be seen in his weak state. It is a symbol of pain, loss, of defeat. 

You do not get by in this world if you continue to live with your worries and insecurities. You can only live if you learn to overcome them. You cannot face the world if you do not learn to face your fears. Though a little fear is also good. Why? Because although fear may bring lots of horrible things, it also proves in each and every one of us that we are still human. We have imperfections, which is why we have weaknesses. We develop insecurities amongst other people who are better than us. We control our emotions because we hate to be vulnerable. We have problems which is why we fear. 

Nobody wants to show his vulnerabilities because we do not want to seem weak to other people. But fear is not always evil. Having fears will only reveal your weaknesses. In that way, you will soon learn to overcome them and face them someday. There is nothing weak at showing one's true emotions; as a matter of fact, to be able to confess those true feelings is a sign of strength. There is nothing wrong at being honest with yourself about what you feel. It's okay to be vulnerable about yourself sometimes.

 We can never, ever remain strong all the time. At some point, we also have to remove our armor within us and just be free. 

What I'm trying to say is, it's okay to be afraid sometimes. It's okay to have vulnerabilities. The reason why is because they are like blessings in disguise by the Lord. Were it not for these kinds of flaws, we would never depend ourselves on God. We would never learn to be strong. We would never learn our true identities. We would never find ourselves. Recognize your vulnerabilities but do not embrace it. Turn over those weaknesses to God, and they would be God's strength. That is the best way to handle them. :)

 

"A Step Back To the Past"

How would you like to go back a few centuries to the past? Not just a few days, or months, but rather, a glance of hundreds of years back to your own roots? Wouldn't it be a bit interesting to you if you were given like a chance to see your history? :)

I would take that opportunity if that chance WOULD really be possible; and in my case, it really DID. But, how? 

Okay, so I certainly am not talking nonsense here. My mind is not going off to somewhere else, but I am just going to share to you what happened to me last March 27-28, 2013. 

It was the start of Holy Week in my country. It's a very religious custom for roman catholics here in the Philippines,and so it was always declared a holiday by the president. It's usually a 3-day holiday for all citizens, I think. Oh well, we usually go out of town during this short vacation, and this year, our family decided to go into a resort in Bataan. It's called "Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar". Located somewhere in Bagac, it's a 3-hour drive from Lagro, minus the traffic. What made my family choose this resort for our vacation is that this place is quite different from all the resorts that we have been through. It has a touch of Philippine History to it. The rooms were purely antique from the outside, you would feel like you have just travelled back into time. But it's not only that. The sites are the things that would really take you into a historical adventure. If you would just join the guide there dressed like in a native Filipiniana costume, she will tour you to the different structures and houses that go way back into Spanish Era. She'll tell you different stories of some of our heroes, along with the facts that she is going to share. Allow me to share you some of the cool sites that we saw there: 

Historical Houses again

Just some of the rooms- they're called "casas"by the way

Antique Radio 

Old Philippine Cannon (just a small model)

Historical wall bridge

Mga "Iskolar ng Bayan"- The original first seal of University of the Philippines

Houses were still made of wood and stone back then. There were also no appliances before! Haha. There are just a lot to see there, but I don't want to fill my blog with all of those stories. It would just be too long. :P

To complete this historical adventure, we decided to "pretend" to be a part of it- by wearing old native Fiilipino costumes. HAHA! see this:

My costume. (still appears a little too modern, though)

Sepia Type 

My Family

This wonderful journey has been amazing. Spending time with my family and relatives is what made this moment memorable. I am so blessed that I get to experience this with the ones I love, and we all get to share this kind of happiness even for just a short while.  ^____^

First Day of Summer Vacation :)

Whew! It was blazing hot today, despite the fact that I just stayed at home the whole day. Well, I guess INTENSE heat from the sun is a sign that summer here in the Philippines is fast approaching. Ugh. This place will once again turn into a giant oven, trapping all heat inside and just baking us all. HAHA. Kidding. But, more heat just means that we would have the more urge to plunge in deep waters, and going out of town for family bonding time, excursion trips and of course, swimming in beaches and classy resorts. :D

I want to feel and experience SUMMER already! Not just the heat, but I want some adventure. I hate staying at home and just being lazy all the time. I want these months to be fecund and productive. If possible, I really want to find a summer job. But, here in the Philippines, I guess that is a hard thing to find. I am still under aged, and there are a LOT of requirements to fulfill if you want to get accepted. But, in case any of my friends are able to find some, I am planning to join them. I think that would be an amazing experience.

I am also planning to enhance my skills in playing the piano. I only know the basics, and so, I want to improve myself in that particular instrument. I love music. I love creating melodies through the piano. I want to use my talent to give praise and worship God. Which is why, this summer, I am also planning on taking new and advanced lessons so that I could get better at playing my favorite instrument.

As much as I want to have a fun, and exciting vacation, I also want to make use of this time to relax and take a break from all the hustle and bustle that I have been through for the past 10 months. I want-no, I am WILLING to once again get back on a proper relationship with God. I have decided to finally grow and mature fully as a Christian. No more immaturity, no more selfishness. It is time to have a proper fellowship and commitment to my church ministry. At least- before I leave sooner- I am fully ready and armored with God's Word, and standing firm and faithful to His ministry. You have no idea how amazing it is to be a Christian. And, I am blessed that I am one. I just hope that I won't let go of this kind of commitment ever again.

Oh, well. I just noticed that I am getting views on my page which is why I decided to make another entry. HAHA! Even if it is a veeeery small number, I kinda appreciate it. Well, if YOU are viewing this now, THANK YOU! I hope you don't consider my life boring. XD But, I do would appreciate it if someone would leave a comment and let me know what he thinks of my writing. Well, see you soon for another entry! Goodbye and God Bless! :) 

Any plans for Summer vacation? :)

Alright! Classes are officially OVER! and now it's time to enjoy long nights of leisure and fun, doing nothing but staying up late, surfing the INTERNET, and other things not related to school stuff. hahahaha!

Do I have plans for my long vacation?? Well, as of the moment, NONE. But, our family is planning to go to Bataan this wednesday, and will be staying there for the night. Then afterwards, we will head on to Laguna for our church outing which will be in a private pool. :) I guess my first days of summer would not be as boring as I think.

I also have a class outing. It's called a fourth year day. We spend one whole day of our summer somewhere else as a class and just bond with each other. As of now, we are still planning for it since our plans for Rem's resort in Bataan was sadly, CANCELED. *sighs* Well, as long as we are together, any place for me is fine. It does not have to be too expensive, or too grand for me to enjoy the day with my friends. But I hop we can already choose a site until tomorrow since most of us would already be busy after Holy Week and onwards.

okay, it's only 11:52 pm but I am still alive, alert, awake, and enthusiastic. I still have no plans of going to sleep so I might as well do something else. This is my entry for today! Good night! Oyasumi nasai! HAHA!

Seniors' batch 2012-2013 Graduation Day- All for the glory of GOD :) march 22, 2013

8 hours of classes a day...

5 days a week...

10 months...

4 whole years of HIGH SCHOOL...

and now, it is finally over.

To God be the glory! I am proud and happy to say that i have finally GRADUATED from high school and am now off to a brand new chapter in life- COLLEGE.

I truly praise God for His greatness in my life. Were it not for His love and faithfulness to me, I would not be able to reach all of my dreams and ambitions. Even though I fail Him sometimes, I strayed too far from the path that He chose for me, I did not completely submit to His will, still He never gave up on me. He continued to work in my life, and never let me go despite of all that I have done wrong to Him.
There is nothing that I could ask for more in return. He has blessed me beyond what I could hope for. That is why all my achievements are for HIM.

I am very proud to have come from Fairview Baptist Academy. Yes, this school may be unpopular, and not among the elite schools in the country, but it has become more than just an institution to me. As I have said in my speech last night, this school is my second HOME. It has taught me a lot of things in life. And if I would be given a chance to live again, I would still choose this school to nurture me and to teach me once again. I would never forget all of the memories that I have shared with all of the people there.

I am going to miss my batchmates :(. This class has truly become a one, big family. We share a bond with one another. Victory of one is the victory of another. United we stand, divided we fall. In our hearts, we are UNDIVIDED. We may mess up a lot of times, we fight, we share arguments, but I believe that there is NOTHING that can keep us apart, not even trials, problems, distance, or time. We are brothers and sisters in Christ. We may be apart from one another, but our hearts will remain close always.

Graduation Ball was an UNFORGETTABLE night. We had a banquet a Sulo Hotel, where I am going to change my outfit into a prom dress. I am going to change twice by the way. HAHA. So my partner for my cotillion de honor dance is none other than John Mendez. A third year student. Since we only have 6 boys, and there are 14 girls, we have to "import" guys for this important event. We also had an honoring for the parents and teachers that time, and also reading of the class prophecy. The AVP of the class prophecy was actually made by me and Karl. Haha. I had fun doing it, despite the fact that we are already too stressed and cramming at that time.

Awarding Night was totally SURPRISING. I actually hoped that I would win "best dress" but to bad I didn't. Instead, I got "Queen of the Night"! hahahahah! I cannot believe it. And a queen must have a king, right? Well, the King was none other than, Carl Joseph Rafael C. Nacpil. The guy that I like since I was in second year. :""""> yes, I am blushing. I won't deny it. He may not be my first dance, but he became my last. :D I guess I already am satisfied by my award. Though I really am taking hold of my emotions that night to avoid my classmates teasing me again, still I was so glad to have danced with the guy that I like for a long time. It definitely was a night to remember. :)

Oh well, this is the last. I am truly sorry if my writing is a bit too rushed, since I really need to sleep now. I still have church tomorrow. :) Good night!

Countdown to Graduation- 1 more day left! :)

Wooh! Well, I guess it did not take me too long before I will write again another blog entry. 

It's the final countdown! Only 24 hours left before our senior class graduation, and thank God there are no classes. All of us seriously need a very decent rest before the "big" day. However, not all preparations are 100% complete. We still have to prepare and finalize all speeches and AVPs for tomorrow, and we still have to wrap up the gifts we bought for all the teachers in the school. So, I spent half of the day at maynel's house wrapping gifts along with my other classmates, Elmira, Arielle, and Athena. We've had a lot of fun actually, despite of the fact that we are already so busy trying to make our last night as seniors memorable and unforgettable by doing all these preparations. It was very nice to have a chat with these people. All my stress levels are going down because of all the laughter and funny stories that we've shared with one another. haha! ^_______^

Tomorrow may be the last day, but somehow I myself also don't feel like I am already graduating from High School. Maybe it's because of all the stress that has exhausted me for the past few days that I have not realized that fact. This is it. I really am growing up. I am now facing the real world. But, the question is, "Am I ready for it?"

My 4, long years of high school is just a glimpse of life. JUST A GLIMPSE. But, it's not yet reality. If the days that I have spent in high school were already HELL, then most probably in college, I already AM on the HIGHWAY TO HELL. Everything that is on the streets-the danger, the terror, the lies that are lurking about will be waiting for us by the time that we walk out of these doors. Am I scared? Can I survive this turmoil? Well, the answer is YES. Yes, because my God is an Awesome God. He is my light and my salvation. There is nothing else to fear knowing that He is beside me and He will never leave me nor forsake me.

Okay, I guess this is it. I need a beauty rest, wait what? hahaha. just kidding. I just need to sleep early tonight. I can't afford to have droopy eyes or eye bags during my ceremony. I need to look my best, so goobye!

-signing off 

Countdown to Graduation- 2 more days to go

Hello! Hurray, for my very first blog entry online! :) Hahaha. Losing my Starbucks 2013 journal was a total disaster and left me almost 3 whole months not putting all of my thoughts for the day into writing. So, I decided to create my own personal blog to replace my journal. And I am quite happy for this decision that I have made for myself. I am feeling quite excited to start sharing my thoughts again, finally.

Okay, so today is the 20th of March, and only 2 days left until our Senior Graduation. All of us are very busy making last minute preparations for the ceremony and for the banquet. Among those include general practices for the procession, the receiving of awards, diplomas, and certificates, song numbers for graduation, teachers, parents, and of course, the cotillion de honor dance. You could say that it would be like our prom night. Each day of preparation has always left me and all my classmates completely TIRED and EXHAUSTED. But, there is always not enough time for a proper rest since there are still so much to do, in so little time. As vice president, I was also given responsibilities and tasks that I need to accomplish within this week, the AVP for the Class Prophecy. I was assigned to make the powerpoint presentation for that, and, with the help of my classmate Karl, we have done it in a maximum of 3 days. It was not that easy, but glory to God because we have finally finished it. My fingers are crossed for the outcoming of the presentation during the bannquet. I am just HOPING that people would be happy for what we have done.

Writing is my passion, and so I decided to help Maynel, our class president, in her speech for the parents, as well as the song choices for the grad. I already feel that she is now highly stressed due to the many activites and responsibilities given to her, so as her friend, I decided to give her full support and a lot of help to ease her load. Though, she still has a lot of things to do, I know that she can do it. Besides, I am also there for her to help her in any way that I can. Aside from her speech, I also did the AVP message for the parents and also for the teachers. Hooray for another sleepless night! 

Part of the banquet service would be to give our beloved teachers as a token of our appreciation and I am happy to find something already at the mall just this afternoon. But, those are for random names of teachers. As for my high school teachers, i decided to give them pearl necklaces which i hope that they would use it and appreciate it. I think that it is an ideal gift right? haha. 

I also bought gifts for my parents, but only in secret. They must not find out about it, because it is a surprise made just for them. My gifts will soon be known to the world two days from now.

As of now, I have already done all the things that I need to do, and thank God there are no classes tomorrow. But, I have to go to Maynel's house to wrap the gifts for the teachers. We still have a lot to do before our highly-awaited graduation is about to take place. 

Well, I guess that I have written long enough on this blog, or online journal for me. Anyways, despite of all tiring practices, we all had fun with one another and spent the remaining days together.

Looking forward to what I will write to my next entry! :)