I miss you all po, Nanay Lucy, Nanay Delma, Nanay Lumeng, Nanay Minda. I can imagine all of you seated comfortably at the back row in the worship hall, on your designated white monoblock chairs with arm rest and foam. You always seem to have that special glow of contentment in your faces.
Your presence brings delight to the church. You may not know it, but just being there reminds us of… continue reading..
When a person smile at us, we smile back. When we bump our head, we say “Ouch” as we rub it with our fingers. A file of laundry, a crying child, a burnt dish for lunch. These are stimuli. Our responses to all sorts of stimuli that confront us every day, may determine the quality of our lives. Do we complain to see a flooded floor, or do choose to respond calmly, by taking it as a challenge on how to clean it fast and easy.
Stimulus is anything that creates a response. A file of laundry is stimulus, a flooded floor, a burnt dish for lunch, an exciting game show, a screaming child, a frowning face of a neighbor. How we will respond to a particular stimulus will determine the quality of our lives. Do we complain to see a flooded floor or do we to take it as a challenge how to clean it fast and easy.
Making choices may not be a problem, but sometimes it not as easy. A frien invited you to a rare occasion of celebrating her 60th birthday, but hubby also asked you to… continue reading..
From more than 200 Coronavirus types discovered, one strain has triggered the Coronavirus Disease 2019 or COVID-19 pandemic, affecting almost all continents in the world.Until now, authorities and scientists are tracing the primary source of the virus and the type of hosts to which it can be potentially transmitted.
The current situation provides us with a glimpse of what happened when other plagues and pandemics struck the world many years ago: death toll soared; health care… continue reading..
James 1:2 – Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.
According to James, sufferings for Christians are inevitable. It seems ironic that our supposed response to trials is to face it with joy yet the verse is written as an imperative! I agree with John Piper that, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” The glory of God is the joy of true believers. This is Christian joy in a nutshell…. continue reading..
Painters can express their innermost feelings in a canvass. A bowl of fruits can be viewed and painted differently – depending on the painter’s perspective. Painting is a challenging profession or hobby. Not many get into it.
Yet all people can be painters in the Canvass of Life. Every morning when we wake up, we are handed a canvass, an easel, a set of brush and tubes of paints of various colors. We don’t need to know the techniques of painting. We don’t even need a subject. The choice of color is up to us. We can choose happy colors like yellow, pink and green,… continue reading..
It was a peaceful night for us when we celebrated the New Year 2020 outside our home. We kept our gaze up as we waited for some fireworks display at our neighbors’. I remember the vividly colored flames painting the sky as my heart leapt for joy knowing the fact that it is another year – a time for renewed hope in and chances at life.
January seemed to be a new beginning where many tend to have a positive outlook. However, events took a turn when the Taal Volcano, formerly thought of as… continue reading..
Daniel 1:8 “But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or with the wine that he drank. Therefore, he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. And God gave favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs.”
Christians are surrounded by temptations. But just like Daniel, we should resolve not to defile ourselves with sins surround us. Avoidance of sin is a process as we can see from what Daniel did.
We might think that quarantine is a miserable state. Yet many have chosen to make the best out of this confinement by being productive. For instance, instead of indulging in Netflix, these moms in my neighborhood flex their arms and instantly become business persons selling variety of foods online from roasted chicken to vege-balls, from choco chips to doughnuts. Others offer delivery of fruits, vegetables, meat, and poultry. An enterprising guy thought of delivering bread every Wednesday. These people not only make money but also spice-up the redundant menus of people in isolation.
With much time in hand, closets and drawers become organized, and… continue reading..
In this quarantine period, it is easy to lounge around, do nothing but eat, watch Netflix, and eat some more.
Time is time, whether we are in quarantine or not. Time has not lengthened just because we have nothing to do, and time seems long. As Christians, we need to be more on guard of our time. It is still 24 hours, no more, no less.
The key to leading ourselves is self-management, according to John Maxwell in his book, Leadership Gold. Taking some lessons from that book, we can lead ourselves to be productive even in this quarantine… continue reading..
