Labor of Love ♥

"Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father" (1 Thessalonians 1:3)

I refer to this new blog as my "project" for a number of reasons. One is I'm "ningas kugon", a local idiom referring to a person who does the job well at first but does not finish what he/she has started. Knowing that I have this tendency, I am challenged to update this blog as often as I can, every day if possible. This actually requires some a lot of effort, considering the demands of my work. Even as I write now, my back strains so badly from working for more than 12 hours already, shuttling back and forth from Parañaque to meet an "asset", sit down through a lengthy and very "technical" interview on gambling (a topic I do not have the least interest in), and do more paper work/reports right back at the office. The job has started to take its toll on my health: I've been diagnosed with Vertigo which brings me regular bouts of headache and nausea almost every night. I've also been suffering from skin rashes, which always attacks whenever I'm too stressed or lack sleep. 

I don't say this to emphasize how badly I have it, no. I'm thankful for this job, this opportunity to do public service and meet a lot of interesting people in the process. I guess I'm saying this to justify how much dedication I have to put in order to keep this project running, and I will. Like I mentioned in a previous entry, this blog is my "gift" to God. The bible encourages us to love the Lord with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our heart (Matthew 22:37). In fact, Jesus said it to be the "first and greatest commandment (Matthew 22:38). To love God with all that we have requires sacrifice, and to me, it means not going home yet even if I could already to write this blog entry. And I know fully well that this bit of sacrifice does not even come close to Jesus dying on the cross for my sins.

This blog is my labor of love. It is hard work, but one that I don't mind doing. When you receive a wonderful gift from someone, wouldn't you want to give something back to that person as a "thank you"? Perhaps something that is just as wonderful as that one you've been given? I've received the most wonderful gift from the Lord -- and I am reminded of His grace everyday. And in return, I promise to write my praises to Him with every strength and opportunity.

There was a statement by American football player Mark Tebow that very well sums up why I took up this blog challenge, he said:

"If you are married and you really love your wife, is it good enough to only say to your wife 'I love her' the day you get married? Or should you tell her every single day you wake up and every opportunity?

My relationship with Jesus Christ is the most important thing in my life. So everytime I get the opportunity to shout Him out on national TV, I'm gonna take that opportunity. And so I look at it as a relationship that I have with Him that I want to give Him the honor and glory everytime I have the opportunity." 

He reminds me of our very own Manny Pacquiao. ♥

New books!

Books always excite me. 

I've been a reader all my life, but never had I thought that I would be so hooked in reading the Bible -- in fact, I bring mine with me everyday. Devotional, Christian books have also occupied an important space in my shelf, and I'm proud to say that my collection is growing. Squeezing in time to read the bible and devotionals despite my busy schedule offers a respite to my otherwise stress-filled days -- like oasis in a vast desert.

Thanks to OMF Lit's Booksale, I have two new books for my collection:

Original price: PHP 225; bought it for PHP95

Original price: PHP450; bought it for PHP360

Last night, I was just browsing through some blogs for recommended readings and saw review about 'The Upside of Adversity.' I wrote it down on my notebook and decided to look for it when I have the time. When I went to check out the book sale, it was among the discount rack of items for PHP 95 each! I also decided to get myself a copy of 'Captivating' which was on 20 percent off. I've read off a few chapters from this book which a friend lent me. I loved reading it so much that I wanted a copy for myself. ♥ 

I end this post by quoting one of my favorite lines from 'Captivating':

"In the spacious love of God, our souls can lie down and rest. This love for Him is not something we must struggle for, earn, or fear to lose. It is bestowed. He has bestowed it upon us. He has chosen us. And nothing can separate us from His love. Not even we, ourselves. We are made for such a love. Our hearts yearn to be loved intimately, personally, and yes, romantically. We are created to be the object of desire nd affection of one who is totally and completely in love with us."

Rebirth, Reblog

I've been planning to start a blog -- not that I've never kept one. I have been blogging for at least four years now, though it has neither made me rich nor popular like the others. I believe that blogging, more than anything, should be an avenue for self expression, and since then has served as my only motivation in writing.

Currently, I have one other blog active that I no longer update. I stopped blogging in March, about three months ago. I was then still reeling from an awful life episode, and since not everyone was willing to listen to my rants and wails, I returned to blogging after a long hiatus -- only to quit again right after. The last few entries on that blog talked about the bitterness of love lost, desperate calls for reconciliation, anger, resentment and most terrible of all, regret. I realized that, although I have kept true to my ideals that writing should be to express oneself, it wasn't healthy to write excessively about negative experiences, most especially on a platform like the internet where people could easily access my posts.

Revisiting my old blog was a revelation -- a startling one, actually. Re-reading through those articles filled with anger and remorse had only caused old wounds to resurface. It wasn't the kind of message I want to share as the world has enough troubles of its own already. What it doesn't need is one lonely girl wallowing over her broken heart and sharing it on social media for all  some to see. Since I didn't like the direction my other blog was heading, I decided to embark on a new project. Hence, this blog.

What people need is a good story, a beacon of light to shine through our dark times. I want to be the bearer of good news, the living testimony of God's healing and transformative power.

The bible calls us the "light of the world." (Matthew 5:14), no one lights a lamp and puts it under a dome. A light should be exposed for all to see. I want to encourage those who are going through adversities to put their trust in Him like I did and experience immense love and happiness that only our Lord can give.

It has been three months. A lot has happened -- most of them good. After having been in a decade-long relationship, I dreaded singlehood. I was devastated at the demise of our relationship, thinking that nothing good will ever happen to me ever again and I that I am doomed to be alone forever. It took me a while to finally make sense of what happened and appreciate this "season" in my life where I am no longer bound to another person. With this loss, all my other relationships were restored -- I went back home to my family, rekindled my relationship with my siblings, reconnected with friends and made new ones. Most importantly, I have developed a deeper relationship and understanding of God. I embraced the joy of surrendering fully to Him and offering all that I am to His glory. I have learned to forgive the people who wronged me -- including letting go of childhood disappointments, and in turn, learned to forgive myself.

It's like being born again, to be saved and loved by Christ. My old insecurities were gone, too. As I begin to see myself as God sees me -- his princess. No longer do I blame myself for every failure, believing fully that everything happens for a reason... that "all things work together for the good of those who love Him." (Romans 8:28; NIV)

This is the message I want to share: the power of faith and healing. I made this new blog so I could share how wonderfully the Lord has saved me and transformed me into a woman that I am now -- single, happy and in so in love with my savior Jesus Christ. ♥

I am God's well-kept woman