Why i sing

There is an endless song
Echoes in my soul
I hear the music ring

And though the storms may come
I am holding on
To the rock I cling

How can I keep from singing Your praise
How can I ever say enough
How amazing is Your love
How can I keep from shouting Your name
I know I am loved by the King
And it makes my heart want to sing!

I will lift my eyes
In the darkest night
For I know my Savior lives

And I will walk with You
Knowing You'll see me through
And sing the songs You give

I can sing in the troubled times
Sing when I win
I can sing when I lose my step
And fall down again
I can sing 'cause You pick me up
Sing 'cause You're there
I can sing 'cause You hear me, Lord
When I call to You in prayer
I can sing with my l  a  s  t     b  r  e  a  t  h
Sing for I know
That I'll sing with the angels
And the saints around the throne!

MED LIFE

Every New Semester:
After First Week:After Second Week:Before the prelimsDuring the prelims:After the prelims:Before the Final Exams:Once you Get to Know the Final Exam Schedule:
7 Days Before the Final Exam:6 Days Before the Final Exam:5 Days Before the Final Exam:4 Days Before the Final Exam:3 Days Before the Final Exam:2 Days Before the Final Exam:1 Day Before the Final Exam:The Night Before the Final Exam:1 Hour Before the Final Exam:During the Final Exam:Once you Walk Out From the Examination Hall:
(Biochem? Physio? ANA?)
(Pharma? Patho? Microbio/Para?)
(Med? Pedia? Neuro? Surg? OB-GYN? Psych? ENT? Ophtha?)
After the Final Exam, During the Holiday:

This is my doing

The disappoinments of life are simply the hidden appoinments of love. C.A. Fox

My child, I have a message for you today. Let me whispher it in your ear so any storm clouds that may arise will shine with glory, and the rough places you may have to walk will be made smooth. It is only four words, but let them sink into your inner being, and use them as a pillow to rest your weary head. This is my doing.

Have you ever realized that whatever concerns you concerns Me too? "For whoever touches you touches the apple of (my) eye" (Zech 2:8). "You are precious and honored in my sight" (Isa. 43:4). Therefore it is my special delight to teach you.

I want you to learn when temptations attack you, and the enemy comes in "like a pent-up flood" (Isa. 59:19), that this is my doing and that your weakness needs my strength, and your safety lies in letting Me fight for you.

Are you in difficult circumstances, surrounded by people who do not understand you, never ask your opinion, and always push you aside? This is my doing. I am the God of circumstances. You did not come to this place by accident--you are exactly where I meant for you to be.

Have you not asked Me to make you humble? Then see that I have placed you in the perfect school where this lesson is taught. Your circumstances and people around you are only being used to accomplish My will.

Are you having problems with money, finding it hard to make ends meet? This is my doing, for I am the One who keeps your finances, and I want you to learn to depend upon Me. My supply is limitless and "I  will meet all your needs" (Phil. 4:19). I want you to prove My promises so no one may say, "You did not trust in the Lord your God" (Deut. 1:32).

Are you experiencing a time of sorrow? This is my doing. I am "a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering" (Isa.53:3). I have allowed your earthly comforters to fail you, so that by turning to Me you may receive "eternal encouragement and good hope" (2 Thess 2:16).

Have you longed to do some great work for Me but instead have been set aside on a bed of sickness and pain? This is my doing. You were so busy I could not get your attention, and I wanted to teach you some of my deepest truths. "They also serve who only stand and wait." In fact, some of my greatest workers are those physically unable to serve, but who have learned to wield the powerful weapon of prayer.

Today, I place a cup of holy oil in your hands. Use it freely, My child. Anoint with it every new circumstance, every word that hurts you, every interruption that makes you impatient, and every weakness you have.

The pain will leave you as you learn to see Me in all things.

Laura A. Barter Snow

all because of You

I want to set the story straight It's time to tell the truth I never could have come so far If it were not for You It's all because of You.... They tell me to abandon You To make my dreams come true So what am i supposed to do If i only dream of You? You covered up my sin You covered up my silence You covered up my shame You made me new again... It's all because of You.... JESUS -- All because of you by Tree63

Liberty in the Ocean

There is liberty in the ocean
In the sea, you find freedom.
Because it is in these waters
That you realize
You are part of something
Much much bigger than your world;
Something unknown.

And it is not knowing,
That you find faith.
And it is in FAITH
That you find FREEDOM.

Ten Little Christians

Ten Little Christians, standing in a line,
One disliked the pastor, then there were nine.

Nine little Christians stayed up very late,
One slept too late on Sunday, then there were eight.

Eight little Christians on their way to Heaven,
One took the low road, then there were seven.

Seven little Christians chirping like some chicks,
One disliked the music, then there were six.

Six little Christians seemed very much alive,
but one lost his interest then there were five.

Five little Christians pulling for heaven's shore,
but one stopped to rest, then there were only four.

Four little Christians, each busy as a bee
One got her feelings hurt, then there were three.

Three little Christians knew not what to do,
One joined the sporting crowd, then there were two.

Two little Christians, our rhyme is nearly done,
differed with each other, then there was one.

One little Christian, can't do much 'tis true;
brought his friend to Bible study-then there were two.

Two earnest Christians, each won one more,
that doubled the number, then there were four.

Four sincere Christians worked early and worked late,
Each won another, then there were eight.

Eight splendid Christians, if they doubled as before,
In just a few short weeks, we'd have 1,024

In this little jingle, there is a lesson true,
You either belong to the Building, Or to the Wrecking Crew.

- Author Unknown

Italy: Day 1

05.05.09, 10:30PM

i'm sooooo tired! and so cold!! hindi ako prepared...

1 day pa lang ako dito feeling ko tumaba na ako...

can i go home now? =)

AM: arrived at Rome 7AM. we just left our stuff at home then went to Palatine hill, where roman civilization started in the 10th century BC by the coming together of several villages. we heard of a very interesting vestal virign of the temple of Vesta. =)

Lunch: pizza! weird pizza.. like ham & cheese sandwich. ate at the sidewalk.

PM: Colloseo. i finally got to go inside! yey! i tried to imagine the place as it was centuries ago... people coming in to see the show. they brought food with them which they could re-heat in an oven, the ladies would bring make-up and combs, and some would sew with a bone needle while watching. the games were hard to imagine... they said that before, the arena had a moat around it to force the fighters and animals back into the center. but people would jump into the moat to save themselves. since nobody was dying, the young men went to Egypt and brought with them crocodiles from the Nile river. very very brutal times...

then it rained and we waited inside... i bought a book. =)

we walked to piazza Venezia and saw the statue which was a tribute to Victor II...

then to Fontana de Trevi which we did not get to enjoy the first time we were there. we had merienda near the fountain, pizza again & gelatto! =) fell in-love with the fountain...

then to the Pantheon... then Piazza Navona where we ate a delicious pizza 10 years ago... then back to piazza Venezia, this time on the other side of it where we saw the municipal hall (which we mistook for the spanish steps).

Dinner: went home to have dinner.. yummy penne pasta, beef steaks with gravy, salad, blue cheese, olives and cheese. =)

*WIPE OUT*
zzz.........

Nang Maligo Ako sa Ulan

“When we were kids, the whole world was a playground. As adults, we forgot that.” -- Yes Man

Malakas na ang buhos ng ulan noong ako’y nagising. Bumangon ako para isara ang pinto pagkatapos makaalis ng aking kapatid. Naramdaman ko ang malalakas na patak ng ulan sa aking mga paa. Maligo kaya ako sa ulan? Matagal ko na rin pinangarap na makaligo sa ulan ulit. Kailan pa ba ang huling beses na ginawa ko ‘to? Hindi ko na maalala. Nagdadalawang isip ako at medyo inaantok pa kaya pumasok nalang ulit ako sa kwarto. At doon nagsimula na ako makipagtalo sa aking sarili.

Inaantok pa ako, sa susunod nalang.

--- Minsan lang ‘to! Ngayon na!

Baka magkasakit ako. Pagod ako kahapon, tapos mamaya madami ding gagawin.

--- Magkasakit?! Diba sabi nga ng mga libro mo mas mahina ang immune system ng mga bata? E nung bata ka nga kapag pinayagan ka tatakbo ka na agad sa labas para salubungin ang ulan! Tapos sasabihin mo ngayon ka pa magkakasakit?

Eh.... Baka humina na rin agad ang ulan, sayang effort.

--- Hindi pa ‘yan hihina. Matagal pa yan.

Hindi naman pwedeng nakapantulog ako diba?

--- Magpalit ka na.

...

--- Now na.

Nagpalit ako ng damit, lumabas ng kwarto at nagtungo sa aming hardin.

Masarap pala talaga maligo sa ulan.

Kakaiba ang pakiramdam ng mga patak ng tubig sa balat. Masaya. Para kang lumangoy pero hindi. Pagkatapos ng ilang sandali may iba akong naramdaman. Giniginaw ako. Bakit dati noong bata ako hindi naman ako giniginaw? Ah, oo nga pala, naglalaro ako noon at tumatakbo. Hindi naman ata ako puwede maglaro ngayon kasi wala naman akong kalaro. Magsasayaw nalang ako. Kaya sa gitna ng ulan, ako ay nagensayo ng “Worthy is the Lamb”.

Masaya maligo sa ulan. Masaya maging bata. Lalo na ‘pag matanda ka na.

Gateway to the Acropolis

6,000 years. that's how long scholars think the Greek civilization has been existing. i stood at the gate of the Acropolis, the Propylaia, and was amazed by the enormity of the structure.

for thousands of years, people have come and gone through this gate with various agendas and thoughts. people of different eras and cultures and backgrounds have stepped on the same piece of marble i stood in. i found it hard to comprehend the number of individuals who have gone before me through this same gate. what they looked like, what they wore, what they ate and what they spoke of, i could only imagine. in a sea of people in my thoughts, i was lost. i felt tiny. insignificant. just another vapor in the wind.

in seeing my meekness, i saw GOD's greatness. imagine: how many babies' cries has he heard? how many faces have smiled when they saw the flowers bloom? how much food has He provided the world? how many storms and earthquakes has he allowed? how many families has He cared for? how many lies has He been told? how many broken promises? how much insult and shame has He received? how many times has He gone after those who were lost? how much scorn, rejection and pain has He felt?

i could only imagine.

they say that people have existed for several thousands of years. but how long is a thousand years? i'd never come to understand that, and perhaps i never will. but i do know this, before those thousands of years came to be, the LORD ALMIGHTY was there. He is the ALPHA, and He is the OMEGA; the FIRST, and the LAST.

GREAT AND MIGHTY IS THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY!
HE IS WORTHY OF OUR PRAISE FOREVER!

Escape

In prison, when you cheat your way out, you escape.
In traffic, when you take the uncongested detours, you escape.
In life, when you want to press pause and take a breather, you have a vacation.

i am going to escape.

yey!

Pregnant.

I had a dream this morning. A nightmare actually.
And i woke up asking....

"buntis ba ako?" (am i pregnant?)

Crazy. I had a dream that i was pregnant! and it felt sooooo REAL. In my dream, for 6 months i didn't know i was pregnant. i didn't cry because i had no tears, i was at a loss and numb. i tried to find the courage to tell my friends that i was pregnant. In my dream, my parents already knew about it. But I thought about my friends at church, my classmates from UERM and high school, my relatives... I thought about my closest friends one by one, and wondered how in the world will i tell them that i am pregnant. I knew that they'd be crushed, and as much as i was hurting, i didn't want to hurt them.

It was... hard. Getting through a day was arduous.

One of my closest friends, ate tina, was so hurt that she didn't say anything. she just cried and walked away. And then i had the guts to tell ate Ana through YM and when i typed in my opening statement... i woke up.

And up to now i thank GOD that it was just a dream. I thank Him that it is not the road i was meant to travel. And i can' t thank Him enough.

But you know what the best part was? In my dream i was praying to God, and i was saying sorry for humiliating Him and for being a terrible witness to His name. And then He said that it's ok. He told me that He'd use this event in my life to refine me, and to bring me closer to Him.

Even in my nightmare, the LORD was my Comforter.
Even in that storm in a dream, HE was my Refuge.

I serve a GREAT GOD.

Praise the LORD, forever!

Date

I have a journal, it's an actual notebook, where i write my heart out. Before i actually write something, i pause and think "where do i start?". With the flurry of emotions and ideas in my head, i don't know where to begin. So i start out by writing down the date. And this helps me a lot. You see, for me it is a declaration, a title in itself. It tells me that i am going to write about TODAY. That is my theme. Today. It narrows everything down to a moment in time. And when i write about that date, i turn those fleeting minutes into lasting memories.

Today is something you will always have; it is something you will always lose.

And when you do lose it, you can never get it back.

That is why i write.

Going back

"Going back to something is harder than you think."
-- Posey Benetto, from For One More Day by Mitch Albom

Stop.
Think about it.
Have you ever tried to go back to something you've left hanging in the past?
Have you tried to again build a bridge you've burned?
Have you stopped and looked back, only to find out that he is nowhere to be found?
And have you turned around, swallowing your pride, and took those painful steps back to the door you slammed shut?
Have you had your muscles tighten and you heart race as you reached to open the door of your fate?
And as the door opened, have you opened your eyes to see the world you rejected and the person you have broken?

What did you see?

Going back to something is harder than you think.

Insanity

Insanity is the inability to communicate your ideas. It's as if you were born in a foreign country, able to see and understand everything that's going on around you but incapable of explaining what you need to know or of being helped, because you don't understand the language they speak there. We've all felt that. And all of us, one way or another, are insane.

- Paulo Coelho (Veronika Decides to Die)

Lago de Oro

April 27, 2009.

We went to Lago de Oro to go wakeboarding yesterday. and now i am in pain.

Yes, my muscles hurt. And yes, if you ask me to go back tomorrow i will go. We had a lot of fun trying to learn wakeboarding.

We planned the trip on a monday to avoid the throngs of people who go there during the weekends. I was a little bit worried about the number of people there since my friend Carlo will be there, as well as Ton's friends. When we got there, it turns out that Carlo's friends and Ton's friends were the same people! Hah! We do live in a small world.

Lago de Oro is a nice place. Quiet and serene, which matches the view it has of the South China Sea. The pond for wakeboarding was big enough. It was oblong in shape so in effect, it had 4 sharp turns (90 degree turns) which just suck the strength out of me. The instructors were kind and i hope i'd never forget the tips Kuya Buloy gave me.

The downside was the water in the pond. It was salty and it hurt my eyes and nose everytime i'd wipe out. Then the water in the shower beside the pond smelled weird. But other than that everything else was good.

The fees were much more expensive if you compare it with the rates in CWC (Camarines Sur). But if you take into consideration the distance of the Lago de Oro and CWC from Manila, then it's a tie.

Bottomline: We'd be going back there... soon.

Welcome!

i don't know if i should welcome you (the reader) or me...
This is my first blogger site and i think i'd be making this a regular thing for me.

So i say CHEERS! and WELCOME to both of us. :)

Enchanted

Everybody loves a fairytale.

No?

Yes they do. You do.

Deep inside the heart of man is a dream. A dream when “once upon a time” the princess was found by her prince; where the child is saved by the hero; & where love prevails over the evil witch.

“This is the real world,” so they say. “Fairytales are for books.”

We must remember though that before Cinderella became princess, she was first a scullery maid; and before Aladdin became prince, he was a thief & a beggar.

Their stories were not made to inspire or to lead people to believe a fool’s dream. The desire for a fairytale-come-true came from our Maker. He didn’t make fancy stories just to give us a glimpse of a better world. He had planned for us to live in one.

Yes you might be swimming in the sea right now when you want to walk on the shore or you might have bitten an apple which caused years of pain.

Yet you must bear in mind that the ending is yet to be written.

All you have to do is trust the Great Author of life and depend on Him alone. Living the dream was His idea. After all, He already said in one of his books“I know the plans that I have for you, plans to prosper you & not to harm you; plans to give you hope & a future.”

He too wants the prince to find his princess; He wants the hero to save the day; and He definitely wants love to triumph.

Won’t you trust Him & live your fairytale?

He’s waiting for you.

In His arms is your “happily ever after”.

Memorable Birthday

thank you again to everyone who greeted me a happy birthday earlier today.. you guys really made me feel extra special!

i realized today that birthdays are there to let people have that special day in a year when they realize how important they are. it's the day when we get to show our concern and love to a person.

i really felt important today, a "princess" (according to some of my friends)... all the nice words weren't just a friendly greeting, it meant a lot to me.

i'm not the type who prepares parties for myself or makes a fuss about what to do on my bday... but even without big plans, GOD made my day memorable and special.

i loved the things that i did today!
1. after lunch with my family, i went with my parents to a medical mission in sitio El Dorado in Antipolo (yey!)

2. i went to church for ACTS practice and then ate ana (she's in singapore now) had a surprise waiting for me! sobrang nagulat ako! she had ate jen buy flowers (a dozen pink roses) and coffee crumble cake (my fave!)..super sweet! ang galing pa ng ACTS & nina erwin na manggulat! hehe.. thank you so much ate b! i love you guys sooo much!!

3. went out to have coffee with ate tina & grace (wala si zar, namamasyal sa bangkok). JAVA CHIP JAVA CHIP JAVA CHIP JAVA CHIP! yey! salamat din mga bru.. i love you!
*andrew dropped by ng sandali :-)



even tho i felt a little down earlier today 'coz i saw a lot of things in my life/my attitude towards things that needed to change.. it still turned out to be a memorable and blessed day for me! 

THANK YOU LORD FOR THE __ YEARS YOU'VE GIVEN ME 

It's Like...

i don't know what it's like. i try to define it but i can't. all i can think about are facts. that what happened happened because it was the will of God. and that God loves me very much. therefore, what happened happened for my good. hah. well, yeah. i can say that it did. 2007 held a whole LOT of blessings for me. GOD was faithful through it all. the year really did just fly past me, throwing flowers and rocks at me all at the same time. 2007 was one wild ride.

2008, as we all have heard from greetings and read from text messages, holds a lot of things in store for us. i expect a lot of HUGE things to happen to me. but may GOD's will still prevail. 

this year would be less wild than 2007 because i want to make it a point that i follow God's instructions for my life to the letter. no more handling of my life on my own. nasisira lang buhay ko sa kamay ko e.. badtrip. this time, i know better.. supposedly.

i wrote down my prayer requests for the year. and one of it was that HE keep away those which should not be near. and He has already answered my prayer! yey! this year would be a time of healing... kailangan mag-rehab. 

this year is 2008. and it won't be a good year for me..  it will be great.

Empty

     This is a funny picture of an experience i recently had. I was faced with my dumb expectations and worthless sighing over something i thought i liked but i never really wanted nor needed in my life. Haha. Good thing GOD opened my eyes to the truth that is silly me. And i am very thankful that HE doesn’t give me my every wish.

Hey, the lights are all pretty.