Sunday, January 30, 2011

Second chance



The rain has been pouring heavily, the clouds are dark.

But in my mind I see the sun shining brightly over a clear, blue sky.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Fireproofing your marriage

Another heart and soul touching movie I discovered lately was Fireproof, made by the same creators of Facing the Giants.

A marriage starts with two people in love. But the question is, how do you keep the flame of love burning without being burned by the fire?


You put God in the center of your married life.


This afternoon, Malvin and I exchanged wedding vows again in a simple ceremony under Roman Catholic rites, as witnessed by our parents. This is a blessing that I never expected would happen but it did, in God's perfect timing. And I feel that this marks a start of an even better married life as this is God's way of making things start falling into place, in accordance to His great plan.


*****
FYI - According to the Parish priest who officiated our marriage here, under the 1983 Canon Law of the Catholic Church, a Roman Catholic can marry a non-Roman Catholic under the Roman Catholic marriage rites as long as the non-Roman Catholic vows that he/she will respect his/her spouse's religion and allow his/her spouse to practice it.
The Parish priest said this law applies to the Philippines too. I was surprised to learn this and I'm sure it will be to most Filipinos too.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

This is the Day of the Start

Hey hey hey! Guess what?
For the first time, somebody successfully took a blood sample from my arm joint! Woohoo! Thank you to the very professional and friendly nurses at KKH. It feels so great to feel so normal! :)

It was a Senior Nurse who was able to find my hidden vein. She said that actually it's not that it can't be done, it just takes time and probably those who took my blood before just didn't want to bother. But the not so good news is that I still can't donate blood because she said for big amounts of blood, they would really need the big, visible vein. Oh well, I guess I'd have to do some more weightlifting and maybe someday that big vein will finally show itself, hehehe.

Today is such a very good day of hope. I feel not only normal, but moreso, special. I've met nice and pleasant people today whom I know, will give joy to our life.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

When faced with your giants


A great movie about facing your biggest challenges in life by surrendering it all to God.

If there is one movie to describe my life right now, it would be this...
I do hope and pray that I'll have the same ending.

"..And if we win, we praise Him. And if we lose, we praise Him." - Grant Taylor


P.S. You don't need to be a football fan to love it. Believe me.



Wednesday, January 12, 2011

A matter of being thanked or hated

As I was walking my way out of the second level of the parking area to go to office, I saw a man seated on the driver's seat, his eyes closed, all the windows of the car closed. I froze on my steps and for a couple of seconds I contemplated on whether to check on him or continue about my way.

The parking area was not totally enclosed, and so there is no risk really that he could get carbon monoxide poisoning so perhaps the man was just taking a nap. So I started to make that first step to walk away, however, a voice inside me told me what if there's something wrong with the guy? He was still wearing his seat belt and he looked stiff.

I walked towards his car, peeked through his window. His radio was on. I looked for a sign that he's breathing...ok his chest is moving, good. What should I do next? Maybe I could go now? Well I need to make sure nothing's wrong with him, shouldn't I?

I knocked on the car window. Knock knock knock.
No response. Yikes!
Again, knock knock knock.
No response still. Oh no!
Knock knock knock.
He moved and opened his eyes.
I made a thumbs up sign to ask if he's ok. He shook his head and hands and looked like he was irritated. I think it meant, he's fine and for me to leave him alone. So I went about my way and I am now at my office desk typing this.

I don't feel bad even if the man might hate me now for disturbing his nap. And yep, I didn't expect he'd thank me for checking on him. But I just feel good that I did what I had to do.

Saturday, January 08, 2011

Have a Little Faith

This is the first book that I have finished reading for the year 2011 and I can't be anymore happy to know that this is the perfect read for me to start this year. This book spoke to me straight to the heart..and soul.


It is amazing how I saw myself in Mitch Albom's thoughts. Like him, I had been skeptical with religion and the "holy" people who run it. The more I saw the world, the more I had learned about different kinds of faith and I made this "being open minded" an excuse to turn cold on my own faith. My intention to become neutral has made me forget about that strong, burning passion of feelings that connect me to God.

Have a Little Faith is not at all about preaching religion, nor does it even impose for you to believe in God. We all have our differences in beliefs. In this book based on his real life experiences, Mitch Albom shows us that faith isn't what separates us, rather, it is actually what brings us back together.




*****

Just a little note:

There are two types of book cover available for this book, the American release and the UK release. Between the two, I would recommend the American release with the brown cover (as the image above). You'll know why when you read the Author's note. I'm not sure why they even released a different cover in the first place.



Friday, January 07, 2011

The Drive of Life

I know it will not always going to be a smooth ride so now I am bracing myself to get ready so that even when the journey gets rocky I will still enjoy the ride.

How can I be sure? Because while I am the holder of the steering wheel, I've got on my passenger seat the best navigator of life, the Almighty Lord, our God.


Monday, January 03, 2011

3 seconds of serenity


It was a heavy downpour and she had no way to cross that 5 meters of gap without getting wet.

So she walked. No she did not run.

And that brief moment of raindrops touching her skin, her hair, her face, her naked shoulders..gave her a soothing memory of a child who grew up dancing in the rain.