What's in a Name?

If names have monetary value, I would have been one of those rich kids these days. I've been called so many names. Most names are related to how I look physically. While some complain about being chubby or fat, I was having that thing called "skinny" problems. People are complicated. When you're fat, you get a name. When you're skinny, you also get a name. And usually, these are not pleasing names. I guess everybody just have to live with it and just move on from it.

The Lord's Bucket List in my Life

Ever since I’ve known God and we’ve established a relationship, naa jud ko’y constant prayer and that is “Lord, help me grow more in You”. I have no idea, no plans on how that would happen but kana lang jud. Pirmi nga pakapin sa akong mga prayers, even until now.

Vietnam Says: 10 Random Thoughts I Had in Vietnam

The Indochina throwback post never ends as I share another 10 random thoughts about my two and a half day trip at Vietnam.

Cambodia Says: 10 Random Thoughts I Had in Cambodia

Like my previous post, this is another delayed post about my Cambodia trip last year. :D I could just forget about posting this here, but well... some experiences are really meant to be shared, or else it would be just forgotten... for good.

When I grow older, I also want to look back and easily remember stuff through blog entries and pictures. I already have an awful memory now. Who knows how bad it will get when I turn 70. :'( 

Anyways, Cambodia was our second destination during our (me and my former officemate) Indochina Trip. I would love to narrate everything, but of course, this post will be just about some random thoughts and realizations I've had during that Cambodia Trip. And definitely, I'm featuring some pictures taken there.

Five Things I Learned in Painting

I've always been in love with colors and the magic they bring when they become one in an artwork. But aside from the visual beauty it brings, painting also taught me some life lessons. This article aims to share five of the lessons that I've learned in my painting journey.

PALAWAN Says: 10 Random Things I Thought of in Palawan

This is a throwback post for the Palawan Trip I had last year with my brother and his family (his wife and their two children, whose names are inspired by Game of Thrones characters but I won't tell their name. Hehe. :D )

So, anyway, here are the 10 Things Palawan Told me during that trip.

Counting Love

Months ago, I had the courage to submit to Boiling Waters one of the random poems I wrote. 

But just to document the piece here in my blog, I decided to also post the poem here. This was inspired by an old Bible, which I bought eleven (11) years ago. It was a Bible I bought using my monthly stipend during college. That was the time that I started reading the Bible and got to know Jesus Christ a bit. Three years later, I was a graduating student and I joined a Catholic Youth community, where my relationship with the Lord grew a bit more. That year, I had this silly idea of counting the word "love" in the Bible. Yeah! If there are 365 "Do not be afraid" in the bible, then maybe, love can be counted as well. When I left my hometown and moved to Cebu, I left the Bible at home and even forgot about the "counting" I did back then.

Fast forward, 7 years later, I went home and found the old Bible. It brought so much memories except for the numbers written on the pages. It actually took me days before I realize that the numbers written are the number of "love" I counted.

So, read on...

GREAT QUALITIES DEMAND GREAT COST

May it be a big and sturdy house of your own
or a nice and high quality pair of shoes,
that's going to cost you big. Not just
financially but, we're talking here about efforts.

What are you going to do to achieve it?

You're going to have to work hard for it.
Now, that's not only applicable in material
things like houses, cars or pair of shoes.

IN THE FACE OF DEATH

I could have died
He could have pulled that trigger and take my life.

I could have dropped dead on that wet ground.

Rain and blood will flow and while unmoving, I'll watch my killers go.

WE ALL HAVE OUR INVISIBLE CLOAKS

Most people would think that Harry Potter was the first one to wear the Invisibility Cloak. The truth is... He's not! It wasn't even his dad, James Potter. And even if J.K. Rowling may have been the first one to give a name for it, she's still not the first to actually experience it's significance and power. That's because...Invisibility Cloaks are real and not just a Hogwarts-thingy-fictional thing. It is written in history. Long before J.K. Rowling was born.

2000 years ago, a faithful apostle was imprisoned for spreading the Good News about Jesus. He was locked in a cell. But even in this time of trial, he remained steadfast in faith. That apostle was Peter. God showed his mercy and power on that very challenging time of his life.

In Acts 12:7-8, an angel of the Lord said to Peter,

"Put on your belt and your sandals. Now put on your cloak and follow me."

This verse reminded me of the armor of God from Ephesians 6. It said;

(1) YOUR BELT - is the truth.

(2) YOUR SANDALS - is the zeal.

There are other things mentioned about the armor. However, in Acts, the angel only told Peter to wear belt and the zeal. No shield, sword or even a helmet (they are of course important). Instead, what the angel required him to put on as well was...

(3) YOUR CLOAK. (literally, it's not included in the armor of God OOTD. Maybe because it's invisible. 😁joke😁 ).

It struck me because, if you are to escape a prison and most probably face enemies along the way, you're going to have to use a weapon (in that time, a sword). But No! He was told to wear a cloak. At present times, common sense would tell people that cloaks won't protect you from prison guards trying to stop an honest man escaping. But if a faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains, what more can a greater faith does? So, Peter obeyed. No complaints. No what ifs. No questions asked. What happened next was one of God's amazing miracles. Peter passed by the first guard, second guard and eventually was led out.

" at daybreak, there was a great commotion among the soldiers over what had become of Peter." -Acts 12:18

No one noticed Peter passing by. No one saw how Peter escaped. And some of the guards were even executed for it. This passage affirmed how faith can really make miracles.

People tend to be imprisoned with the worries of the world. Imprisoned with fear, insecurities, pursuits of approvals and other temporary worldly stuff. Escaping these traps can be very tricky and difficult! We need weapons to fight! Most of the times, the common notion of fighting is being OFFENSIVE and most of the times, we also forget that fighting also means to be DEFENSIVE. Defense is going back to the basics of faith. Knowing and believing the TRUTH, our belt. And along with it is our ZEAL, our sandals which will keep us on the go so that no matter how many battles we have to fight, we have that zeal that keeps us going.

Above all, we rest in the knowledge that God will always protect us, cover us and shelter us. He provides our INVISIBLE CLOAKS. Our protector and deliverer.

We Are All Superman

DC Comics' Batman vs. Superman just started showing last Easter. Me, my brother and my nephew and niece didn't miss it of course. A battle of two heroes who thought wrong of each other. How sad but reality says, all people make mistakes. No matter how super they may be (fiction aside).

Watching this movie didn't just struck me because of the wonderful effects it has. Or how amazing Superman's costume is. It just reminded me of God, the source of our love, our strength, our all.

Credits

STATUS: IN A RELATIONSHIP

While February is just around the corner, SURPRISE!!!! No, it's not an FB change status announcement. I am still single and happy and this post is not about romantic relationships. I just sensed this sudden urged to share this reflection that popped up in my head while re-watching Ironman 3.

Photo from Instagram @ruzvee

VERONICA ZUNDEL’S THE TIME OF OUR LIVES

I just got my salary last week and I bought a copy of The Hired Wife for my sister who was really eager to have a look with story I wrote... The other book I bought was Veronica Zundel’s Journeying with the Bible, “THE TIME OF OUR LIVES”, a bible study guide.

I promised myself that I would buy a new bible with my first salary however my budget couldn’t afford to buy a new one so I bought a study guide instead. Maybe next time, I can finally buy a new bible.  Anyway, I really like how the book was made.  It contains over 200 reflections and right now I’m through 8 articles of reflections of verses and prayers.

The book was divided into 5 chapters namely, THE TIME MACHINE, OLD TIMES, HARD TIMES, SIGNS OF THE TIMES and TIME TO GO, which truly make sense why the book was entitled TIME OF OUR LIVES. It talks a lot about times and amazing stories as well as lessons and truths that we sometimes deny.

The Month of March

It's been a month since the last time I've posted about the Banana song of the Minions and until now, I still can't memorize the song well.

Now, I just want to share the things that happened last month. 

March was a very busy month, I kind of worked out with thesis and other school requirements for graduation. It's funny to think that we defended our thesis a day before the final passing of grades, bought a dress for my graduation ball a day before the Graduation ball and submitted my application for graduation a day before the Pre - Commencement exercise. And one more thing, we sang the institutes' very first graduation song that was composed for the institute. It was entitled "Ready To Go Beyond".

It was kind of a roller coaster rush. Things happened so fast that I even experienced staying awake for 22 hours, go to school from an overnight work(with our thesis) at my classmates' house without taking a bath and not taking any REAL meals. Until now, I couldn't believe I was able to carry on. Thanks to God's grace. Right now, I feel like I was Supergirl that time.

NEVER ASSUME UNLESS STATED

One of best rules in the constitution that can be applied in real life: "never assume unless stated".  

-In life, sometimes we tend to expect and assume too much. Too much things that in the end, we end up being hurt. This is a poem about expectations, assumptions, being fooled and realizing mistakes and lessons we learn. A poem about such stated in a narrative love story type. -

Photo from ISTOCK

He was a junior and I was in my freshmen year

Told me he loved me but I didn't care

I was so young and I had my priorities

That I had no time for anything unless it's for my studies.

Vee Philosophy: The Patience Theory

I'm going to cut my breaktime for now. Instead, I'm posting one of the philosophies I have come up with. The Patience Theory. I just came up with this theory one time when I was thinking about the argument I had with one of my classmate with regards with boys having multiple girlfriends during our literature class. (We were discussing some poem about courtship!!! )

My classmate told me that boys do things like that because of a previous heartbreak. It could be that a guy had a trauma from a previous relationship which is wwhy his one way of trying to heal himself is through collecting numerous girlfriends. Yes, it's unfair but let's face it, with the liberality of today's generation, girls are doing the same as well. 

A REFLECTION ON THE YEAR 2010: A WINNER OR A LOSER?

Photo Link

Last year was a rough year. Several things happen. Some of them happened the way I expected and most of them happened unexpectedly. I became a loser and a fighter. I failed on the decision I first chose. Things did not happen the way I pictured it last 2009. Was it really the reason or it just happen that I was so carried away by the present that I forgot to plan the future rightfully? Yeah, maybe the latter was right. Maybe the picture I created wasn’t that clear enough. And then, I chose to stay and move on from all the failures and chose not to regret anything about the decisions I made in 2010. I don’t feel any regret about the loser acts I did last year. Why? Because last year, there were things that happened and they would’ve never happen if the thing I expected happened. I did things that I never thought I could do. There were things I thought impossible for me to achieve but I did. I had a clearer mind and I’ve created a plan. My father said “no one is rich enough to buy back time” and I didn’t want to spend that year wasting my time on regretting about my first decisions. I chose to accept everything, the failures, everything. I chose to move on and did things I wanted. In the comfort of my home, I met several people that became my friends. I forgot all the negativities.

So what happened last year?

Many. Many things happened last year and I’ve learn something.  Things happen for a reason and most of these things happen the way you never expected and usually, they happen the way you didn’t wanted. Either way, YOU ALWAYS HAVE CHOICES. You have two choices. Either you chose to be weak and get carried away by all the negativities or chose to accept all the failures, move on and take the positive side. Life isn’t always ups, ups and ups. Sometimes winners become losers and pride isn’t the most important thing in life. SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO ADMIT YOU ARE A LOSER TO BECOME A WINNER.

I may not be successful yet but I can say that I’m a winner because I CHOSE TO MOVE ON.

Thanks be to God for the strength He has given me.