the past week flew by but i feel blessed all the same...


monday - i accepted elle's offer to become an asst. brand manager


tuesday - i told ate au (admin officer in Pro-life) about my moving into another company


wednesday - i told sr. pilar and she was really happy for me, today was also the first day of the teen sexuality teaching counseling workshop. ate ester was such a great speaker. she spoke about crisis counseling and gave a lot of insights regarding relationships with people


thursday - it was strike but we had work... one highlight was i fixed claire's blog (yipee!)


friday - last day of TSTC and developed more insights


saturday - went to elle, checked out the office (nice - coporate-ish), went to sm makati to check on the elle products and merchandising, met with sonia and robert and we all went to new world hotel to check out the place. am helping out sonia with her wedding details as a favor. new world's service is so great as always. i really love their service and professionalism. before i went home, i was able to buy 4 tops worth 950 all in all! bargain hunt talaga!


sunday - went to st. peter. i had mixed feelings about being there... i didn't know if people wanted to see me pa rin after i left abruptly... but i had a warm welcome. mark, fr. manny and mae were the first ones to hug me, then uncle max also hugged me. it felt good to know bygones were bygones. after, i met with the choir and ate. erika has changed a lot... to me, that is... after 3 months of not seeing each other, she looked great! tumaba pa daw sya sa lagay na yun. anyway, i gave her clothes and gave her the sample for the dishwashing liquid and the fabric softener i was selling. then we went to quiapo where i bought 8 DVDs and to think jeff was the one who wanted to go there kasi he wanted to get hold of the "house of flying daggers" DVD... after that, we went to manila hotel where we were supposed to have lunch but there were no seats na so my brother edmund, my aunt and 2 cousins left to eat at chef d' angelo... we walked around a bit - me looking for shoes. after eating ice monster, we left and went to mass. i saw iris and edison at mt carmel shrine and it was good to see them. after that, we watched princess diaries 2 (syempre, one of the DVDs i bought) and followed it up with raising helen. both were feel good movies.


monday - no work! ;) holiday kasi... so my sis and i woke up at an indecent hour and after lunch, we watched laws of attractions... feel good movie din but it's really nice... i like pierce brosnan kasi... and i have a thing about irish pa... like the bagpipe, the songs, the culture, the corrs... ;) anyway, after that, iris and edison fetched me and we had dinner at sushiya at galleria. wwe had coffee at gloria jeans after and claire and i bonded when she drove me home na. am so excited na rin sa new work ko kasi i'll get the chance to bond more often with claire... like we used to do sa college.


well, that was really quite a week...

i had confession today. it has been so long since i had confession so today, the sacrament was so refreshing and so deeply wanted because i haven't had communion for months. i felt so far away from God as a result of this staying away.

i remembered bo's lecture on the sacraments and finally, i know how it is to celebrate a sacrament that reminded me of how simple yet how profound.

i am glad that fr boehme was the one who came out and heard my confession. he gave great homilies. there were some touch points: if i am serving with costs burdening my family, then that's the time service becomes not good and when i left my parish... did i hurt people? the first one was an affirmation about my decision to lay low and the second one, i felt yes. fr boehme just told me to explain... maybe people get hurt because of what i did without them knowing it... and lately, jaja and i exchanged emails about me hurting her... so i explained... hopefully, God will work his blessings so that we won't lose the friendship. i also felt how wonderful this confession really was... because i felt forgiven and i felt that now, i was open again to take Him in my journey.

i talked to sr.pilar already about my decision to become a volunteer for Pro-life due to my accepting another job. i love my job right now and i really am afraid of what trials i'll be facing again because of the uncertainties i'll be experiencing again in the corporate world. but when i got home and read my didache... fear not... let Him have all your fears... grabe ka talaga, Lord... and this... all in one day!

..:00:..

i just wanted to share what Fr. said in the homily last sunday: we proclaim the Good News... but are we GOOD NEWS?

..:00:..

i'm attending a seminar called teen sexuality teaching counseling workshop at pro-life and today, the topic was crisis counseling. i really learned a lot from ate ester... and she said something about managing anger... and i realized i haven't been very vocal about it... and i should start soon... but she gave a lot of pointers about it... it's so nice to share... i wonder if people in FC might need it...

..:00:..

today was indeed a blessing. thank u lord!

beng sent me this and i think it said what i feel during the times when i feel low... thanks, beng!

I wanted to find some words on a card.
That would help to get thru' it when life gets so hard.

It seems you can't bear it, perhaps can't go on
When deep in the heart there's no trace of a song.

Some words that would comfort when late in the night
The trials return and you're too tired to fight.

Or the tears flow so often it seems you'll run dry.
And life gets so tough that you just want to die.

Or at least go and hide where you're safe from all pain.
Someplace you can rest 'til you find joy again.

What are the words you so need to hear
That will help and will heal and remove all the fear?

That builds up inside 'til you think you'll explode
What are the words that will lighten the load?

If only I knew the right words to say.
To encourage and bless you or comfort some way.

I know not the words but this I can do.
I shall offer up prayers to the Father for you.

i remember jeff here in this clip. Natawa ako. ;) 

i find this funny. ;) and maybe true! ;) 

yesterday, i went to afp theatre to attend the kerygma feast. for the first time, i came ALONE. i thought it was going to be awkward because in the feast, there was a lot of "say to the person beside you... etc." and if i didn't know anyone, will i still do it? and of course, there was a praise and worship session which will also be awkward if you're alone.

But even with all these thoughts in mind, I still went. why? i was drawn to this idea of uncomfortability... that i am only depending on God for everything.

and he is so good... because He gave me a seatmate who sat beside me... and she came first before her companion did... that was why those awkward moments didn't happen because she first turned to me at the mention of "say to the person beside you..."

as always, bo is such a great speaker. he spoke of the commandments as an oath of love between God and man. with baptism and the eucharist among others, it is our reminder of the covenant. and when we say covenants, it is the giving of one another. as God gives himself to us, we should do the same. and everytime we celebrate the sacraments, we remember the covenants we've entered into.

but most importantly, i felt a communion with God. He and I rekindled our bonding after a very dry season. I can't wait to stand up to my promises... because he has done so much for me and he has been steadfast in his promises to me.

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i watched rahab the harlot at makati cinema square last saturday. it was a play about rahab, in the old testament. rahab was a "high priestess" who worshipped baal (pronounced bay-yel) who was pregnant so she took a leave from her temple duties (in reality, prostitution). hedonism was widely accepted as temple duties in that time. and so, the child in her womb was called "product of conception". rahab wanted to keep her baby... but the temple offers products of conception to be scarificed to please baal. and so she had doubts over a God who seemed only to receive and please, but not a God who cares and seeks for you. When her child was taken away from her, she wept and the millions of babies aborted were remembered. So when she heard about Israel's one God who redeemed them from the red sea on foot and fed them food in the desert which was highly unlikeable, she prayed to this God named Jehovah. and when she asked for a sign, two spies suddenly came into her home. she asked that she be spared when Israel conquered the city of Jericho... because she offered protection for the spies and she really wanted to know more about Jehovah. and so she was spared... and the most important fact of everything is... rahab was in the ancestry of Jesus Christ.

the play's setting was old testament time... but the funny lines was contemporary. they had a strong message to send... but it was delivered really well. i liked how the play combined both wit and seriousness of the message.

i feel blessed that this play reaches to people for free. for the next rahab play, let me know if you're interested so i can get tickets. ;)

Just wanted to share you my daily miracles.

what happened to me these past few days?


some of the highlights i remember:

• i met theyie last saturday at glorietta. it was really fun because i got to see her in person. sayang lang that i was coming down with a cold so i was not at my best that day. despite that, we did have a great time.
  
• i helped iris coordinate her friend, jen's wedding last october 30 at century park and san agustin. helped because i wasn't into events anymore. but iris is a friend of mine and jen was really a super nice person so i agreed to help them. actually, rolex, her husband now, is a batchmate of mine but we weren't really close. but despite that, it turned out to be a great wedding. am really happy because before their wedding, jen was so harassed with the details... and on that day, the sound system was held up at the elevator because they got stuck and the century seafood restaurant service sucked big time... pero all's well in the end. buti na lang! they had a real live band called the real groove and tyrone, the band's manager was really nice. it made the wedding fun, too because after the guests left and a few friends gathered near the stage, it became a jamming session. a lot of friends sang and danced. nakakatuwa. but na lang iris, edison, joe, denver and kim all helped. after it all, i gained a new friend pa in jen.
  
• mika, my cousin's 1-year-old daughter celebrated her christening and birthday last sunday. the theme was pooh. masaya naman though there were only a few kids. next sunday, another cousin's son will be celebrating his birthday... and the next kay Inigo naman! sunod-sunod ang birthday parties!
  
• had a weird dream yesterday. I dreamt Ate Rose was mad at me. Siguro subconscious ko na i still have some guilty feelings of leaving the choir. it's really tough. kasi although i have so many reasons not wanting to go and some reasons why i still want to go on... circumstancially, hindi ko na talaga kaya and i know tapos na ako sa stage na yun. I have different priorities now. but even though i justify it, i really don't know if that was a right thing to do. but i do know that where i am, God is allowing me to step back from it all because maybe I have forgotten why I was in the choir. Kung dahil ba masaya lang kasi ang choir kaya ako andun, or is it because of the friends i had or was it service ba talaga? and if it was service, wer do i get the inspiration na? That's why I like my state of life now... kasi i know that if I do certain things, I know what's it for and I know why I am doing it.
  

i guess that's it so far.


i'm kinda worried over the kerry-bush presidential elections. i know kasi that bush isn't all that great, but he is pro-life. kerry is so anti-life... he supports abortions, stem cell research, etc. etc... and the impact on the philippines once he's in power will be damaging again. because the funds for contraceptives will rise and then, matatalo na naman ang prolife cause nyan because we don't have much and they have so much!


pero God, ikaw na bahala. Am sure whoever you put there in position, there's a reason.


i read in my emails about the youth encounter ng fccy and how successful it was. am happy kasi joan was the one who coordinated everything and she did a job well done. and am glad that there are a lot of people who are rejuvenated with their service. sana tuloy tuloy na sila.


hanggang dito na muna ako...