Everything Happens For A Reason

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God." Ecclesiastes 3:11-13 

Lord, In The Morning...

"Lord, in the morning Thou shalt hear
My voice ascending high;
To Thee will I direct my prayer,
To Thee lift up mine eye. 
Up to the hills, where Christ is gone
To plead for all His saints,
Presenting at His Father's throne,
Our songs and our complaints..."
~Isaac Watts


It's just 4am and I'm already up and can't go back to sleep! This has been the weirdest day, so far, this year! So, instead of tossing and turning on my bed, I decided to do something productive and write an overdue blog post!


A lot has happened since my last blog post and I don't even know where to start, or if I should do a summary of events that lead to now. I should mention, though, that a couple of weeks ago, I got to go home after 2 years! It was only about 2 days, but I am so happy I got to see my family! It was also great to be able to travel again and see the Philippines, see old friends...and shop!!!


It's already the month of May!!! It's crazy!!! I can't believe this school year's almost over! Things are starting to wind down at the school and preparations for the summer and next school year are already taking place. I knew May will be a bittersweet month for me. Bitter because I know I have limited time left with my housemates and sweet because I will be planning my summer vacation (sweeter if I didn't have my quick seminar in the Philippines a couple of weeks ago). The next few weeks will definitely be a rollercoaster ride of emotions, but for now, I'll take it one day at a time.


The song above just popped into my head because the usual reason why I'm up around this time was for morning devotionals and usually singing this song. Maybe I do need some early morning devotional today and the lyrics of the song is a reminder to me that today, and every day, I need to "lift up mine eye" and "direct my prayer" to Him before I start my day and empty out all the burdens of my heart and let Him carry it for me.


"Casting all you cares upon Him, for He careth for you." 1 Peter 5: 7 


"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14:27


"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4: 6,7


Whatever it is that woke me up early this morning, I am glad I got to reflect on those verses. My heart is, indeed, lighter...

My Guardian Angel

I have never been in a serious accident...never broken a bone, never had deep cuts nor serious scrapes.  It has always been minor accidents and "almost accidents", and for some reason, I have always been spared from getting badly injured. I have always felt this strong presence protecting me. I strongly believe I am assigned to one of the best guardian angels because I was sickly as a child and, therefore, will need special attention. I am also accident-prone so, I believe I have one of the busiest guardian angels, as well.

I remember almost falling off a cliff when I was in high school. A group of us were doing church visitation every Sabbath to promote SDA education and on our way to one of the churches up in the mountains, our teacher's truck skidded and ran into a tree alongside a cliff. The tree was the only thing keeping us from falling off the cliff. We were hanging there for quite some time until the rescuers arrived and pulled us out to safety. I also remember driving one night and skidding 180 degrees in an intersection. There was only one car waiting for the green light on the corner to my left and my car stopped right before the lane where the car was! There were several other somewhat scary driving incidents and all of them I got out of miraculously...because of my guardian angel.

This weekend, I felt the strong presence of my guardian angel again and I feel so blessed and grateful. Especially grateful this time because several people dear to me would have been affected by it if it actually got serious and I would have had a hard time getting over it. I am definitely glad His protection never fails!

It is not a matter of luck that I get spared all the time. It is because of God's protection. I firmly believe in that. I have always claimed His promise in Psalm 91:11, "For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." 

Thank God for my guardian angel!

Quotients!

I haven't watched television in a while now which is very unusual for me since I can say I am or was a TV addict. So, when we ate at a Filipino restaurant the other night, I was glad to watch The Filipino Channel (TFC) again on their TV screen. I was soaking every bit of information... from showbiz news to new commercials! Then, I saw this commercial for an infant milk formula that talked about helping improve the baby's IQ, EQ, and.... PQ! PQ?!? I just remembered about it today and decided to do a little research on this new quotient that I have no idea what the acronym stands for. I want to share with you what I found out.

We all know that IQ stands for Intelligence Quotient, which also means mental intelligence. It is manifested in the person's mastery of knowledge, power of observation, memory, thinking ability, imagination, creativity, and problem-solving ability. EQ, on the other hand, stands for Emotional Quotient, which involves self-awareness, personal motivation, self-regulation, empathy and social skills.

PQ, the quotient that sparked my curiosity, has two meanings in two separate sites I found. One stands for Practical Intelligence Quotient and the other stands for Physical Intelligence Quotient. The first one involves intelligence in solving sets graphical puzzles set in a virtual world. The second one involves wise nutrition, consistent balance exercises, proper rest and relaxation, and stress management and prevention. I don't know which one is the correct meaning of the acronym PQ, but they're both pretty interesting.

Here are the list of other quotients I found:

MQ = Moral Intelligence Quotient
DQ = Daring Intelligence Quotient
HQ = Health Intelligence Quotient
AQ = Adversity Intelligence Quotient
FQ = Financial Intelligence Quotient
MQ = Moral Intelligence Quotient
WQ = Will Intelligence Quotient

It's pretty interesting to know that these quotients have multiplied over the years! However, there's one other quotient that got my attention: it was the SQ. SQ stands for Spiritual Intelligence Quotient. It involves a person's integrity (character building), meaning (purpose in life), and voice (self-enlightenment and ability to motivate others). The other site I found defines it as the essence of things, inspiration, insight ability and intuitive thinking. Both sites did not mention anything about the Bible or God. But for me, SQ should stand for spiritual maturity, which should involve personal relationship with God, knowledge of the Bible, sharing of faith, stewardship, and exercise of spiritual gifts, to name a few. If there was a gauge to this, I am not sure where I will be at, but it is something to think about...and maybe even something to work on.

They say that integration of IQ, EQ, PQ and SQ will result to true knowledge or holistic development. Whether you agree with that or not, I hope you will agree with me that the most important quotient to work on is our Spiritual Quotient. God is the source of all true wisdom. Let us never forget that.

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." Prov.  9:10

"If any one of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God." James 1:5

The Warrior Is A Child

It's 1:23am, Monday morning, and I can't sleep so, I decided to make another post! I slept most of my Sunday, plus the constant pounding of the rain on our roof are the reasons why I'm still up right now. Anyways, I am hoping I will not be late for work in the next few hours and that I can have the energy I'll need for my crazy Monday schedule.

I want to share with you a song that has touched my heart especially during one of my lowest points in life. I LOVE the lyrics of this song and it describes exactly how I feel right now.

Warrior Is A Child

Lately I've been winning battles left and right
But even winners can get wounded in the fight
People say that I'm amazing
Strong beyond my years
But they don't see inside of me
I'm hiding all the tears

They don't know that I go running home when I fall down
They don't know who picks me up when no one is around
I drop my sword and cry for just a while
'Cause deep inside this armor
The warrior is a child

Unafraid because His armor is the best
But even soldiers need a quiet place to rest
People say that I'm amazing
Never face retreat
But they don't see the enemies
That lay me at His feet

They don't know that I go running home when I fall down
They don't know who picks me up when no one is around
I drop my sword and and cry for just a while
'Cause deep inside this armor
the warrior is a child

They don't know that I go running home when I fall down
They don't know who picks me up when no one is around
I drop my sword and look up for a smile
'Cause deep inside this armor
Deep inside this armor
Deep inside this armor 

The Warrior is a Child 


Right now, this child is missing two people who have been my pillar of strength...who I always run to whenever I "fall"...

My mother...

It's been almost two years since I last went home for vacation. 

and Yeng...

It's been almost nine years since our last bonding...

When most of the time you are taking care of other people, you also miss the times when you are the one being taken care of. The child in me misses being taken care of by these two people...

In the next couple of hours, I have to put on the armor and be the warrior again. I am glad that during times when I am down, I can always turn to God for strength...and each day, He never fails. I get the courage and strength I need to face my daily life's battles because He knows that this (me) warrior is still a child.

Recovered Memories

Last January 3, someone came to my office and took my purse while we were having devotionals on the second floor of the school. In it were all of my gadgets, my wallet containing all my IDs and some accessories. It was a bad way to start the year, but I decided to keep my positive outlook, get up from that bad experience & move on. I am still in the process of replacing all my IDs. Just last Friday, I got all the gadgets I bought to replace the stolen ones.

I thought I lost all the pictures I had on my camera because I have this bad habit of not saving it to my computer & I don't own an external hard drive. However, for some reason, I was able to save some pictures on my computer! It's not everything in the camera, but I was able to salvage some. So, I want to share some of the pictures I was able to recover (just the ones I wasn't able to upload on Facebook).

There was a particular video I was hoping I was able to save but was, unfortunately, really lost forever. Another frustrating thing is that I won't get to go home and attend my brother's graduation this Spring Break because I still don't have a passport. It takes a while to get the replacement and I won't get it in time for Spring Break. Sad...however, I just have to forgive...the memories from those pictures and videos will still be in my heart and maybe, there's a good reason why I can't travel this March.

Total forgiveness...a lesson I need to learn. Also, now I need to be careful all the time...need to use those door locks. Another thing I learned from this experience: that I can survive without all those gadgets. It's nice to have them, but I can really be fine if I don't have them.

Until next post!

Where to next?

Last night, a group of us gathered for our nightly worship and we all shared how we all came to Saipan. As I was telling my story, it dawned on me how the Lord has always been very clear to me on what's the next thing He wants me to do. It even came to a point where He let me experience my "great disappointment", that probably was my most embarrassing moment...just to be very clear that I was going on a different path and steered me back to the direction He wanted me to go. I was making my own plans, which was different from what He was planning for me.

I have always dreamed of a corporate life. Success to me before was measured by going up the ranks, being a part of a large multi-national corporation and being materially blessed. I had great personal expectations and I felt that I can always achieve my dreams because, in a way, I was blessed with academic achievements under my belt. However, the Lord had better plans for me. First, He gave me a painful reminder that all my previous achievements and everything I know is all because of Him, not because of my own efforts. Then, He made me do exactly what I told myself I would never do -- go back to my hometown and work in the Adventist hospital where I was born. It wasn't because the hospital was bad. I just didn't want to be born there, work there and eventually die there. But, surprisingly, that experience made me realize how different the work environment is in our institutions compared to non-denominational institutions. There, I found my calling. I have developed a desire to serve Him, to the best of my capacity. Now, I can't imagine myself working again for non-denominational companies. In our institutions, you may not be materially blessed, but the spiritual blessings are overflowing.

These past months, I have been struggling on whether to continue to serve here in Saipan or find another place for me to serve. I have been praying for months now but I haven't heard or seen any clear direction from Him. I even gave myself a deadline when I should have a decision by, but I was feeling uneasy already because it's getting really close and I still don't have a clear direction what to do next. All I know is, I still want to serve Him, wherever He wants me to be. Last night was another reminder for me that I have to let go of my personal plans and let Him take full control. He is, and will always be there to guide me, especially in making difficult choices. Right now, He is telling me to wait...in His time, He will reveal His plans for me.

God has indeed great ways to give us answers to our prayers. I might not have a clear direction yet on what to do for next year, but I am now confident that He would reveal His plans very clearly to me again....as He has done in the past. I just have to be patient and let Him take full control.

"I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for." Jeremiah 29:11