grateful

Just today, I opened my journal and crossed off two of my biggest dreams with the word DONE.

Visit Europe and Earn my Masters.

I am completely, joyfully, and incredibly amazed at how faithful my God is.

"When the Lord blesses you with riches, you have nothing to regret."

{Proverbs 10:22, CEV}

"Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God,the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments;"

{Deuteronomy 7:9, NASB}

4 more days...

{pics: ohyeahpolaroids tumblr}

...and i'll get to take my own pretty pics.

*yay*i'm*done*

just waiting for the email that's supposed to come in 3 weeks.

wootiewooo!

fall

i'm ready for it.

growing

The purpose of prayer is not convince God to change your circumstances but to prepare you to be involved in God's activity.

Rather than focusing on what you would like to see happen, realize that God may be more concerned with what He wants to see happen in you.

just a little off

i'm liking pics of me and the Mr. that are just a little "off."

first, it's reminding me that i really need to invest a tripod.

second, they somewhat reflect our marriage.

it's not perfect, but at least we're enjoying the journey.

my Freedom,

my Reason,

my Savior,

that's what You are to me.

You free me, complete me,

my Savior

that's what You are.

There's no other like You,

there's no one besides You.

You're more than my heart can contain.

And I will love You all my life.

You are my Reason, the One that I live for.

And I will love You all my life

For You are my Reason,

You're the One that I live for.

so long, summer

you're gone to soon

but please grant me just one more dip in the pool...

buying & selling online - the black hole

i did my first online sell this summer. i got an email saying that someone had bought my old canon a540 camera on amazon for $110. i bought it for $50 and decided to sell it a year later. it was a surprise that someone was willing to buy it and i got all happy inside.

well that cash was used to buy my husband a birthday gift, which i also found online.

the thrill of my first online sell soon led to me selling a couple of things i own like bags and textbooks. the terrible thing about that is i keep searching online for things to replace it with like a new camera that i don't need, or a new bag that i don't need (which i got anyway), or new books that i don't need. good golly. it's like a buying and selling black hole.

the point is: it's pointless to put your money is things that rot.

But amass wealth for yourselves in Heaven, where neither the moth nor wear-and-tear destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
{ matt 6:20 }

instead, invest your true riches (time, energy, health, love, hugs, kisses) to things that matter most (family, friends, God, his Word, his Kingdom).

still, i need to give ebay and amazon a shoutout for my new found dollars. now to give it back to them to buy my dad's 50th birthday gift.

it never ends...

study, study, study.

40 days and counting until my comp exam

please pray for me.

skydiving on my 29th

8.4.10

7.29.10

hay, buhay.

sometimes it's better to just let go of the things you have planned for yourself.

when i let it go, then i can really live

(in God's hands and in God's time).

opportunities will arise and it will come my way.

i just need to be patient.

so my summer mantra will be

to live

to blow bubbles

to swim

to nap

to sprint

to memorize

if not, my stubborness will just eat my joy.

"Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions."

- Rainer Maria Rilke

7.28.10

{ pic: art pixie }

7.23.10

29th birthday

You, God, prescribed the right way to live;

now you expect us to live it.

Oh, that my steps might be steady,

keeping to the course you set;

Then I'd never have any regrets

in comparing my life with your counsel.

I thank you for speaking straight from your heart;

I learn the pattern of your righteous ways.

I'm going to do what you tell me to do.

Be generous with me and I'll live a full life;

not for a minute will I take my eyes off your road.

{ Psalm 119 : MSG }

to my mama, the original random flower doodler

my mom liked doodling flowers.

she mostly did it when she was on the phone with someone.

we (sisters) eventually picked up the habit.

i find it kind of therapeutic.

tempted to collect our "flowers" to do this.

{ A Diary of Flowers—Above the Clouds. 1995. Jim Hodges }

grace

"And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." 2 Corinthians 9:8

"…made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved." Ephesians 2:5

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God..." Ephesians 2:7-9

"But where sin increased, grace increased even more." - Romans 5:20

God, I thank you. I know that in all my 28 years, I have not even come to touch the surface of comprehending your grace. I thank you that in a world where sin and death battle with grace, GRACE always wins HANDS DOWN. Help me understand this everyday. I thank you for your law. It shows me how much of a sinner I am. It grips me of my need for you. Save me from legalism. Save me from idols in my life. May YOUR grace wash over me more and more each day. In Jesus name.

giddy gratefulness

i like my hair. i like my haircut. i like my sister. i like my whole house. my whole house is great! i can do anything great! i can do anything good. better than anyone!

it's not the end

with God, things always workout in the end.

if it doesn't work out,

then it's not the end.

daydreaming

no hesitation

If you gain, you gain all. If you lose, you lose nothing. Wager then, without hesitation, that He exists.

{ Blaise Pascal }

add to your faith virtue - 2nd peter 1:5

Add means that we have to do something. We are in danger of forgetting that we cannot do what God does, and that God will not do what we can do.
We cannot save nor sanctify ourselves— God does that.
But God will not give us good habits or character, and He will not force us to walk correctly before Him.
We have to do all that ourselves.
We must “work out” our “own salvation” which God has worked in us ( Philippians 2:12 ). Add means that we must get into the habit of doing things, and in the initial stages that is difficult. To take the initiative is to make a beginning— to instruct yourself in the way you must go.

{ Oswald Chambers: 5.10.10 }

5.6.10

currently praying for the victims of the tennessee flooding...

{ cheekwood botanical gardens: nashville }

happy cinco de mayo

{ olvera street: los angeles }

let's be thankful

Leah Dieterich's mother always told her to write thank you notes. So she does. To everything. thxthxthx is her daily exercise in gratitude.

{ pics from thxthxthx }

e-jeepney

it's too cute not to post.



{ article here }

4.16.2010

Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.

{ Psalm 73:25-26 }

phil getting his fill

i'm going camping in a week.
i can't wait to get out of the city, breathe fresh air, take some photos, start a campfire, and maybe even fish?

{ pic: phil the hummingbird, our regular backyard patio visitor }

4.12.10

I don't express my thoughts very well in print but there are rare moments when a sunday preaching, a conversation, some online text or a tv episode makes me want to blurt things out on this blog.

This weekend my soul has been screaming this:

Life is an adventure

and

Life with God makes it even more exciting.

Each of life's journey is always as grand as the destination

and

the people I'm with make each moment so worthwhile.

Gosh, I'm blessed.

{ pic: Paul Octavious }


{ pic: Anne Verlet }

spiritual feast

The Cross was not something that happened to Jesus— He came to die; the Cross was His purpose in coming.

The agony was the basis for the simplicity of our salvation.

Because of what the Son of Man went through, every human being has been provided with a way of access into the very presence of God.

{ Oswald Chambers, 4/5/10 }

choking heart

i worry when i...

add

more things to an already full schedule.
more pressure into thinking my image & my reputation are involved in this.
other people’s expectations (instead of God’s) to my agenda.

subtract
God’s presence from my crisis.
His jurisdiction over my loved ones.
His timing for my desires.
prayer from my day.
perspective from the moment of difficulty.

then doubt comes like the morning frost and blights my faith

multiply
my problems by inserting my solutions too rapidly (coz they don’t work).
thoughts of the ways out instead of a way through.
my fears with imagination.

divide
life into the secular and sacred
my day into thinking this is the Lord’s part and the rest is my business

Father we know it’s not right for so much of hope, joy, and peace to be stolen from us everyday.
We ask you to help us, guide us to a finer way of living.
Check our impulse to spread ourselves so thin that we are exposed to fear and doubt… which makes our temper wear thin and robs us of peace of mind.
For your mercy and strength, grace and patience, we pray. Meet the deep need of our choking hearts. Take charge. And give us your peace. Amen.

{ Chuck Swindoll, 3.10.10 }

If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could then better judge what to do, and how to do it.

{ abraham lincoln }

'For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
'The flowers have already appeared in the land;
The time has arrived for pruning the vines,
And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land.
'The fig tree has ripened its figs,
And the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along!' "
{ Song 2:11-13 }

wishing rest

In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.
{ isaiah 30:15 }

going without

"I don't need to taste everything that looks yummy or buy everything that looks pretty or watch everything that looks funny. A surefire way to make my heart sick is to indulge its every whim. Going without does my soul good."

such a good post.

read more from emily.

political obesity

saw pres. bill and gov. arnold today.

2.22.10

if God is for you, who can be against you?
{ romans 8:31 }

i'm a sap T.T

i watched the notebook last night (third time now). i tried very hard to change the channel, but a good compelling love story is very hard to turn away. so i cried, and cried, and cried.
and now my eyes are swollen on a monday morning.



must do this.

a road trip is calling...

hectic

its better to be hectic than to not have any work to do. i love you. and remember when its a hectic day it just means that you will have more of God's grace surrounding you.

- rolo

fear of numbers

i do not like math. i did once in elementary and i was pretty darn good with it.
but when numbers started mixing with letters (read: algebra), it just threw me off the deep end.

anyway, i say this because my class in public budgeting and finance is about to end in a week.
i postponed taking this class. the name itself gave me the shivers--a feeling of disgust and fear.

BUT (there's always a but)

i was kind of surprised how much i enjoyed it. once again, my husband is correct. he told me that i will probably end up liking this class because it's out of my comfort zone--and that's a good thing.

so as i finish my final paper on yolo county's health and human services department, i smile knowing that i learned a lot this past 8 weeks.

i can now decipher a public agency budget!

*bow*

procrastinate