Happy 2006!!!

Update On Mom 2

Mom is going home tomorrow. Her BP is still erratic but manageable. Her blood sugar went down a little but still on the high scale. Her creatinine level is still very high. Still doesn't look that good but we are all hopeful. She will have her check up again first week of January.

Thank y'all for your continuous prayer for my mom. I hope and pray that she will recover from this and significant improvement will show on her next check up.

God bless y'all.

Update On Mom

I haven't been able to visit other blogs this past few days which I plan to do as soon as I get some free time. So much has happened since Christmas and I know some of you might have already known about it. I'd like to thank y'all for your prayers.

Here's an email I got from my sis 10 minutes ago about my mom:

"Blood pressure is still up, they have given her series of nicardipine drips to stabilize her BP. Blood sugar fell from 500+ to 88, so you can just imagine the big drop and the effect it has again on her body. Our priority now is to stabilize her BP so her heart won't exert more effort in pumping blood."

I have shared some other problems I have with Corry and KC last Sunday which I decided not to post anymore. All I can say is my shoulders are heavy with all these but I'm keeping my hands free to receive God's help.

Merry Christmas!!!

Praying the incredible gifts only God

can give will be yours in abundance

this Christmas and through out the year.

With Love To You

"May your unfailing love rest upon us.

O Lord, even as we put our hope in you."

(Psalms 33:22)

Rewards & Promises

Thank y'all for your sweet greetings.

To everyone who's away from their loved one, take this encouraging thoughts to heart and may peace reign as we all wait for THE day.

Time ticks away,
Another day passed,
Near comes the day
when you're together at last.

God is providing
At work is His Hand
He is leading and guiding
till together you stand.

Knowing God's Promise
Being steadfast in faith
There is nothing but bliss
Rewarding your wait!

by: Corry Carmichael

Happy 3rd Anniversary!!!

It has been three years since Jec and I recited our vows --- "to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part. "

We have gone through so much already since the day we said, "I do."

And we meant every word we said in church to this day.

Babe, you were and always will be the man I would marry if I have to do it all over again.

You're the man I want to grow old with and spend the rest of my life with.

Thank you for loving me and caring for me. For the joys we've shared and will be sharing in the days ahead.

You're truly God sent.

I love you, Babe and always...

Total Surrender

Yesterday was our Annual Christmas Convergence which was held in one of our concert venues to accommodate our constantly growing attendees. Our ten Victory congregations in Metro Manila met for a time of worship, fellowship and thanksgiving to God. The place was packed! Here you can see people give their all in worship for our living God. Prayers were uttered for thanksgiving and for petition for the different needs of the people. Children from our Kid's Church performed to the delight of everyone present. It was certainly a blissful Sunday afternoon for all of us... especially me!

Before I headed to church, at about lunch time, I called up Corry and KC just to say hi. I was full of emotions that time and she could recognize it from my voice. After our short conversation, a feeling of calmness brushed over my whole being. I felt encouraged.

When we were all praying in the convergence, I totally surrendered all my cares to Him. I give up! I realized that I have been trying to fix my problems on my own, pleading God to help me but I wouldn't let go. I closed my eyes with tears about to fall, raised my arms up high and said, "Father, I surrender! Please help me!" I felt peace right away. When I left the place, I still have the same problems but I'm not burdened anymore. I know God will take care of me. Everything will be all right... because He says so and I trust Him.

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." 1 Peter 5:6-7

The Power In Jesus' Name

I copied this from a list of inspirational stories I was reading this afternoon. Miracles still do happen.

"A friend of mine was driving through an intersection one day and his little four year old son was in the car with him. The car door flew open and the little boy rolled out of the vehicle right in the middle of traffic coming from four ways.

The last thing my friend saw was a set of car wheels just about on top of his son moving at a very fast rate of speed. All he knew to do was cry, "JESUS!"

As soon as he could bring his car to a halt, he jumped out and ran to his son, who was perfectly all right. But the man driving the car that had almost hit the child was absolutely hysterical. My friend went over to him and started trying to comfort him. "Man, don't be upset!" he said. "My son is all right. He's okay. Don't be concerned about it. Just thank God that you were able to stop!" "You don't understand!" the man responded. "I never touched my brakes!"

I've Been Tagged... Again!

MC over at Tags and Other Forms of Mischief has tagged me... again!

Seven things to do before I die:
~ Go to Egypt, Israel and Greece
~ Go see the Oprah show live
~ Learn to knit
~ Share the Word to others
~ Pay all my credit card bills
~ Be a good mother to my future children
~ Bungee jump

Seven things I cannot do:
~ Cook
~ Bake
~ Play the piano
~ Convince myself to have a tatoo or a nose ring
~ Rap
~ To feel relaxed when there's a roach around
~ Drive a motorbike

Seven things that attact me to my husband/wife:
~ He's handsome. Simply irrisistable!
~ His thoughtfulness and selflessness
~ His sense of humor. He makes me laugh.
~ His taste in music
~ His shower-fresh scent!
~ His faith in God
~ His ways of pampering me

Seven things I say most often:
~ "I love you"
~ "I'm tired, I need a massage"
~ "Sheesh"
~ "Oh my goodness!"
~ "God is in control"
~ "God will make a way"
~ "I miss you, babe"

Seven books I love:
~ The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren
~ Wife After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George
~ The Bible
~ 36 Hours With Our Angel by Lindsay Roberts
~ When God Doesn't Make Sense by Dr. James Dobson
~ The Bondage Breaker by Neil T. Anderson
~ Connecting - 52 Guidelines for Making Marriage Work by Harrold J. Sala

Seven movies I would watch over and over again:
~ Notting Hill
~ Father of the Bride 1
~ Father of the Bride 2
~ Dirty Dancing 1
~ Titanic
~ The Sound of Music
~ The Student Prince

A Light At The End Of The Tunnel

I wished... I hoped... But God knows best. His thoughts are higher than ours. He is still in control, no doubt about that. The start of this week wasn't too good but I thank God for my friends' support. Without them, I don't think I'm still here posting. You wonder what happened? To some of you who have patiently tailed my posts, here's an update.

The Christmas tree. My hope. Sadly, I didn't get it. But another door was opened and I have no idea what's on the other side. I can only wish, hope and pray that it's greener when I step out there. When I look at my Christmas tree, tears fall. I expressed my intention of putting it down but DH said that I shouldn't because it's Jesus' birthday and Christmas is all about Him. I wish I could celebrate His birthday with my hubby...

I prayed.

We prayed.

I am so confused and distressing as it is, we're bent to make another major decision that could very well influence both our future. How do we really make sure that we make the right one? PRAY. That's what we're doing. Hoping for the best, the conclusion is yet to unfold.

When I started feeling anxious...

When I started feeling like everything is going out of hand...

When I started trying to fix what seemed to be a loose page in my book of life...

When I started "staring" at my present circumstance instead of His promises...

God reminded me --- "DON'T WORRY. I AM IN CONTROL."

Thank you, my dear friends, for your prayers. And yes, it's hard, but there is light at the end of the tunnel and it is in sight.

The Truth

I have a friend in the office who approached me this morning and asked if I know that God's name is Jehovah. I was a bit surprised but it got me thinking. I know the name Jehovah. I also know the name Yaweh. I know that God is called a lot of different names but I simply refer to Him as God. I was curious. So I also started asking him questions. Oh, by the way, he's a Jehovah's Witness, thus came the question about the name Jehovah.

"I don't seem to know the difference between your beliefs and ours." I said. "Do you believe that Jesus Christ is Lord?"

"Yes."

"Do you believe that God Almighty and Jesus is one?"

"No. We don't believe in the Trinity. We believe in God as the highest supreme being. He is God."

"And Jesus?" I asked.

"He's Lord. Next to God, but they're not one. Nowhere in the Bible can you find the word Trinity. You see, we base everything we believe in the Bible"

Hmm... True, but so is the word Bible. You can't find the word "Bible" in the Bible. Now, I'm beginning to feel that I should have paid more attention to my Bible class. I couldn't even pick the right verses to back up my claim.

"Okay, so what else is the difference?" I asked. "Do you believe in heaven and hell?"

"There's no heaven. We call it paradise. And that is where we are now, on Earth. There's no hell either."

"You mean to say that we're already in paradise? Then where do we go after we die? Those who are not saved, where would they go?"

"Those judged righteous will be given everlasting life on a paradise earth. Those judged unrighteous will not be tormented, but will die and cease to exist."

"Do you believe in the second coming?" I asked.

"The second coming has already happened."

Ok. So now I'm beginning to see the BIG difference here.

I believe that there is one eternal, almighty, and perfect God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I found this article during a research I did and it says:

The Trinity consists of three Persons. In the passages in the Old Testament, a knowledge of Hebrew is helpful. In Genesis 1:1, the plural noun "Elohim" is used. In Genesis 1:26; 3:22; 11:7 and Isaiah 6:8, the plural pronoun for "us" is used. That "Elohim" and "us" refer to more than two is WITHOUT question. In English, you only have two forms, singular and plural. In Hebrew, you have three forms: singular, dual, and plural. Dual is for two ONLY. In Hebrew, the dual form is used for things that come in pairs like eyes, ears, and hands. The word "Elohim" and the pronoun "us" are plural forms - definitely more than two - and must be referring to three or more (Father, Son, Holy Spirit).

I believe in heaven and hell and in the second coming which is still about to happen. No one knows exactly when , not even the angels in heaven, but God. I believe that the Second Coming would be the second literal return of Christ to earth as King in power and glory. In Acts 1:11 it says that "... this same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." 1 Thessalonian 4:16-17 says, "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever."

These things, I believe, are debatable issues. But I know what I believe in. I do experience God in my life. He lets me know and go through the lessons He wants me to learn and He lets me experience His abundant blessings too. I know I will be with Him when I leave this earth and I know my God is real.