Tag: blessing

Imagine 32

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When I was in high school, I used to imagine what my life would be after college. Asking myself, what my life would be when I turn 30? Will I even reach the age of 30? Did you ever have such thoughts when you were younger?

Tomorrow, my sister Amity turns 32. I’m just wondering how Ate would turn out to be. She could be one of the coolest and bubbliest teachers for special children. Or, she could be in a different part of the world living a fulfilling life. Or, she could be married (do you think?) to a Jewish-American, engineer-businessman with a little girl or boy and just be a house wife. 🙂

But one thing is for sure, she is definitely living life to the fullest and with a purpose. My sister never did things for no reason at all. There’s always a goal in mind, not wasting any time for unnecessary things.

And as I think about this, it also makes me wonder what my life would be when I reach that age. As I reach my 30’s soon, it really confirms how swift time has been as my imaginations during high school are still very fresh in my memory. It’s nice to dream about certain things that could motivate us to strive better. But it’s still important to always go back to what’s real and making sure it’s always aligned to God’s plan for our life.

Indeed, we will never know when our last breath would be. But what’s important is that we always leave a good legacy that when people remember us, it will bring them good memories of us. My sister could have left different impressions or marks to different people. But I hope that the important qualities they will never forget about her (well, aside from her very hearty laughter) are her love for God & family, strength, determination, and generosity.

Let each day of our life be always lived as if it is the last.

“Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12

Just some trivia about my sister…  🙂

Do you know what the name Amity means? It means friendly. My parents wanted to give us unique names that my father had to look into the dictionary.

My sister’s nickname was “Onsing”  because she was born on the day that a typhoon hit Cebu having such name. Well, just good that it wasn’t her real name. Hehe…

Happy Birthday Ate! Enjoy the party UP there! 🙂

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Made for Relationships

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When I moved to Manila to work, I didn’t have any immediate family with me nor friends that I can live with. I was basically on my own at the start. It wasn’t an easy move and I can still clearly remember that I wanted to go home to Bacolod during my first week of stay. I got so homesick as it was my first time to really be away from family.

Eventually, I made a lot of friends from my work, from where I used to stay and from church. As months went by, I realized how important to have people who would continue to guide you and even become accountable for you. That’s when I decided to join in a small group. And being part of it really helped me in my continuous stay here in Manila.

The small group became my spiritual family. It is composed of people who show genuine love and concern towards each other. In the group, we share our victories and trials to one another to be able to encourage each other. We pray for each other and help each other in our walk with the Lord. There is nothing so extraordinary in a small group except the common factor why we meet together – Jesus Christ.

I’m glad that I made that decision to be part of a small group. It’s not just about meeting together, talking about our lives, doing fun stuff together, a small group is more than that. It’s a privilege to be a blessing to different people. It’s a privilege of knowing God through other people who share the same passion for the Lord.

Indeed, we are all created for relationships. We are not meant to be alone. If right now, you feel like you don’t have friends, or you’re too far away from your family or you just really feel alone, and you’ve been invited to be part of something like this, give it a chance. It’s more than an invitation, it’s a privilege.

In small groups, we don’t just gain friends, we grow with friends.

“Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” Hebrews 10:24-25

 

These are the different small groups I’ve been with and still with. It’s just amazing growing old with such beautiful women, some have gotten married already, one had kid, some had left the city, some had returned, some still stayed single :), but despite of the changes, the journey of encouraging, praying for each other and lifting up one another never changes.

Truth is, our lives together go beyond the small circle of group. 🙂 🙂 🙂

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28: Perspective

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It’s September again! If you’ve been following my blog, you would remember what I always write at the start of this month. Promotions, ratings & increases.

To help you recall, here are my stories for the past 2 years, September 2010 & September 2011.

What’s my story this time? Well, I didn’t get a promotion and I didn’t get a high rating. In short, I was okay. I wasn’t expecting a promotion and I wasn’t expecting a high rating. If you’ll know how our process works, you’ll understand why I wasn’t expecting at all.

Looking back in 2010, if God didn’t change my heart at that time on how I view promotions, positions and rewards, I would have felt really bad with my rating. I would again start comparing myself to my peers and questioning my supervisor.

Amazingly, by God’s grace, I responded differently. It’s not that I was not doing well that I wasn’t expecting anything. It’s just that it doesn’t matter to me that much anymore as it did to me 2 years ago. I realized that the standard set by men is different from the standard set by God. No matter how much effort you put in your work, the standard of men can only give what it can afford to give. But in God’s standard, your rewards are unimaginable. Because God sees your heart when you do your work.

To everyone who got promoted – Congratulations! Share the blessing! 😀

To those who are a bit down  – just continue looking UP; everything has its own time 😀

I remembered in one of our leadership sessions at work, one of our senior execs told us, “Don’t let your promotion define you, you define it.”

In everything, to God be the glory!

” Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.  Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.” (Ephesians 6:5-8)