If God is for Me...

How time flies. It's the first day of the "ber" months and guess what.  I heard a Christmas song being played a while ago while I was doing some grocery shopping.  The first for this year.  And since Christmas is my favorite season of the year,  I'm excited!

I was talking to one of my closest friends, Sylvia, this morning over FaceTime and we were discussing about how faithful God is.  I told her that there were days when I wake up in the morning feeling very fearful and worried about the future. I was being bombarded with "what-ifs." But when I started praying in tongues, the fear disappears.  Sylvia reminded me how the enemy works and how he will use people to try to sway me off my faith. Sneaky little devil.

“Now then, stand still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes!" 1 Samuel 12:16

When the enemy says something, we have to counter it with God's truth because we know that everything the enemy says is a LIE.

The Lord holds my future on the palm of His hands.  If He is for me, who can be against me (Romans 8:31)?

Anyway, it's my nephew's birthday today.  Happy birthday, Andre!  Here's a photo of my family taken last night at Saisaki (with the singers at the back).

Lupus Struggles

Hi friends.

I guess, my posts will be mostly updates on my health for friends and families overseas.  Forgive me for posting less and less lately.  Honestly, I'd love to post more often, but lately I haven't been feeling too well to do so.  I've been having blood test almost every week to monitor progress or regress/lapses on my current condition.

My doctor was kind enough to get me an eBook about lupus - The Lupus Bible & Norton Protocol.  This will help me understand more on what's happening in my body and how to control flares.

I've been experiencing lupus arthritis every morning for the past three weeks.  It's very painful and would wake me up very early in the morning.  I'm also experiencing muscle stiffness and brain fogs.  I keep forgetting things so I have to list down everything I need to do so I won't miss out on anything as much as possible.  This is very frustrating for somebody like me I tell you.  I also feel very exhausted most of the time to the point of not being able to get up from bed.

Do I like going through all these? NO!

But how would I explain these things to ordinary people who don't even have the slightest idea what lupus is?  I don't look sick, I look like I just gained a lot of weight. Surely, some would think I'm just slacking off, but they don't know the pain I'm going through each day.  How do I explain this to regular people? How will they understand?

Aside from these inconveniences, this illness also gave me lupus nephritis. It affected my kidneys and now I have to constantly watch what I eat and how much I take in.  No fun for somebody who's taking steroids, who's constantly craving for food.

May I ask you to please continue to pray for me.  I really want to get well and yes, I still believe healing is mine.  I'm not doubting that.  I know Jesus will heal me.  When?  Only He knows.

Lord, I humbly submit myself to you.  I know you will give me the grace and the strength to keep going because I know you're not done with me yet.  But should I reach the end of the line, I am most excited to finally meet You.. my Maker, My Lord.

Thankful Thursday - Health Update

I thank the Lord that although my blood test results came out still on the high side, everything went down from the last test I had two weeks ago.  I'm still not sure what my doctors would say tomorrow during my check up, but from the looks of it, it seems that the meds that I've been taking lately are doing their job.

Thank you to all my friends who prayed for me.

Thank you, Lord, for this.  I know I'm still on my way to my healing and recovery. That hasn't changed.  


What are you thankful for this week?

For more Thankful Thursday, visit Laurie over at Women Taking a Stand.

I'm also linking up with Sarah over at Thankful Thursdays @ F4

Thankful Thursday

Welcome to Thankful Thursday!

I have so many things to thank God for this week.

• I thank the Lord for the peace of mind I have even if I got a bad report last Friday regarding my health. I believe this was just a minor set back and I'm still on my way to full recovery and healing by God's grace.


• I'm grateful to have such a supportive family.  My siblings told me to upgrade my health card coverage to the second highest there is for a corporate account.  There's a huge jump in the monthly premium with this upgrade.  They told me to pay as is and my siblings agreed among themselves to pay for the difference. Thank you, Lord!


• I'm grateful for my friends here and abroad including bloggy friends. You're my Prayer Warriors!


• I'm grateful for the Lord's faithfulness.  He never failed to provide for my needs especially when it comes to money. There's a couple who are dear to my heart. who I fondly call Mamu and Papu; they sent me financial assistance.  Thank you!  A dear friend of mine and a colleague also handed me some financial assistance to help me with my meds and supplements. God touched these people's hearts to bless others as God Himself blessed them.  

• I thank the Lord that Sushi doesn't have ear infection anymore. Praise God! I can't help sharing her photos again.  She's just oozing with cuteness.  I also thank God for giving her to me because she's my stress reliever.  Hehe... How could she not be, just look at her.

• Oh, and also I thank the Lord for leading me to Pet-a-Holic's veterinary clinic.  I met the owner, Sandra Santos, and she was very nice to personally see to it that Sushi was well taken care of while being attended to by her staff. I also thank God that Sushi has good doctors.  Dr. Glenn Maguad took care of Sushi's ear infection and administered her second shot.

Lord, thank you for all these blessings.  Thank you that you're looking after me.  Thank you for everything!  Giving you all the glory and praise!

What are you thankful for this week?

For more Thankful Thursday, visit Laurie over at Women Taking a Stand.

2012's Last Hurrah!

My cousins from my mom's side finally had a mini reunion for the first time ever.  We were all soooo happy to see each other again.  I hope next time more can come.

While my family and I were at the pool area of Shangri-la Hotel, I saw Tina from Our Phenomenal Life.  Tina and I were schoolmates back in high school and she is also a fellow blogger.  I'm so happy to see her again. It's been ages since we last saw each other.

Thank you, Lord, for all of these.

Goodbye 2012... Welcome 2013!!! 

Meet the Blogger

I met another blogger last Wednesday!

Patsy from HeARTworks and I finally met in person. I got an email from her a few days before our meeting inquiring about Jule of the Orient. I gladly shared with her my experience and how the product is helping me with my on-going recovery.

I'm so glad to have met her family, too. They're all super nice. I truly admire this family for how they treat each other with much love and respect.

Achie Pats and her family own the famous Papemelroti here in the Philippines. Their products reflect their love for God, family, home, country and the environment. I especially love the story of how Papemelroti started... very inspiring.

With Peggy and Patsy

On a different note, I spent almost the whole day again in the hospital yesterday for more blood tests and a check up. I had thyroid and whole abdomen ultrasound done.  Thank God the results came out all good. I also had blood tests done for CBC, ESR, Lipid Profile, FT3, FT4, TSH, Glucose (fasting) and SGOT.  My ESR, cholesterol and triglyceride were high, but the rest were all good.  I have to cut down on carbs.  See those chubby cheeks? I'm not happy with those.  I hope my doctor would taper my steroids already!  Now, why is my cholesterol high??? I eat mostly fish and veggies.  Could it be because of steroids again? It's so frustrating!

Anyway, I'm glad I've had all those tested; at least now, I know.  I can't help but think about what God's been planning for me.  I know He's preparing me for something really great and, you know, in spite of everything I went through... I'm excited!

Lord, thank you for everything.  Thank you that You are in control.  Thank you that I'm so much at peace knowing that my life is in Your Hands.  

Wonderful News!

I had another set of blood tests done this morning and doctor's appointment in the afternoon.  Got the results the same day after 4 hours, in time for my check up.

Praise the Lord for His goodness!

My rheumatologist said that my blood test results were good.  I'm recovering pretty well. She told me to continue Prednisone 60mg and Plaquenil 400mg a day until my next blood test and check up  on November to see if she can already taper the meds down.

Thank you, friends, for standing with me in prayer for my healing.

I'm so grateful to the Lord for this wonderful news. All glory and praise to Him!

Blessings

Mom is listening to her fave radio station which plays music from her and Dad's time.  I miss Dad.  He had a very peculiar laugh.  I got the chance to record this when we had a family outing at Fontana last 2010.  Mom and I listened to it and although we both miss Dad, we end up laughing at the sound of Dad's laughter. I'm glad Mom's with me because I get to feast on crabs and shrimps.  Haha! 

On a different note, I shared this verse with a friend at church because she's going through some tough times right now.

"Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." Joshua 1:8

This powerful verse ministered to me too.  If we meditate on God's Word and carefully obey then blessings are inevitable.  

I have so many things to thank God for this week.  Too bad I wasn't able to join in the Thankful Thursday meme.  Anyway, just the same, I'm grateful to God for allowing me to pass my licensure exam two weeks ago.  I got the result last Monday.  I thank God for my friends including bloggy friends who prayed for me. Thank you, guys!  I passed!  Woohoo!

Another thing I'm thankful for is my latest DVD of the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn part 1.  My friend gave it to me two days ago.  Thanks, Dee!

I'm so blessed.  Thank you, Lord!

I'll leave you with this video that Mom is listening to on the radio.  Happy weekend!

WARNING!!! PLEASE READ!

***UPDATE*** 

April 3, 2012, 10:23 p.m.

One of the "hackers" using the name PATRICIA JENURIO sent me an email saying...

"Hi, what happened? Why did you file a dispute? We had a great transaction and now you file a claim? Haven't you received the items? I will ask Rommel about this cause he referred you to me."

SERIOUSLY??? THE NERVE!!! LIAR!!!

I decided to check my Paypal account again before going to bed and what a nice surprise!  Paypal reversed everything except for one more pending worth $80.00.  I called Paypal again (for the 4th time) to ask how long it will take for the reversals to appear on my credit card.  The nice lady on the other end said around 30 days.  I'm fine with that.

Thank you, Paypal, for your immediate action.  

Praise God!!!  

*****************************************************************

I got a call on my mobile phone around 8:30 in the morning from somebody who sounded like a foreigner.  She had a heavy accent; I couldn't understand clearly what she was saying.  She said she's from Paypal.  I was very skeptic because I never got a call from Paypal since my account was created five years ago until today.  She asked me if I made a transaction to a certain KATHERINE MANAHAN.  She also asked me when my last transaction was.  Of course I couldn't remember!  Then she asked if I wanted to file a dispute on those transactions.  Now wait a minute! What dispute??? I thought this woman was crazy!  I hang up.

A few seconds later, my home phone rang.  It's her again.  Now, why would she know both my mobile and home number?  She might really be from Paypal.  She was going on and on with this dispute thing so I told her that I will have to go online first. I still wasn't sure if this call was legit or not. She asked me what my email address was. Seriously???  I said, "Why would I give you my email address?  Aren't you suppose to be asking me security questions instead?"   I didn't feel right about this.  I asked her to call me back in just a bit.  (Now, just when I needed internet badly, my stupid connection was acting up again!!!)

When I finally logged on to Paypal, I thought I was going to have a seizure! It was ZERO balance!!! OMG!!!  I reviewed all my transactions and to my horror, I got ripped off a total of $1,115.  My Paypal account was hacked!!! Most of the transactions were transferred from my credit card.  This is a nightmare!

The lady called again.  Now I know she's really from Paypal... Malaysia (That explained the heavy accent).  She was very patient and helped me file a dispute with 13 unauthorized transactions from March 24 to April 2.  I thanked her and apologized for doubting her.  Had she not called, I wouldn't have known of those fraudulent transactions.  Thank God she did!!!

Next, I had to call Citibank and report this too.  I had to go to the nearest Citibank and file a report. Thank God, I have a friend working in that branch.  She helped me with the procedure and she emailed their dispute department to make sure my report reached them ASAP.

I feel so bad because one dear friend was dragged into this mess.  I don't know if I should mention her name, but we all love her dearly.  The hacker made an unauthorized transfer from my credit card to her Paypal account.  I'm really sorry for the inconvenience this might have caused her.

PLEASE CHECK YOUR PAYPAL ACCOUNT TRANSACTIONS AND MAKE SURE TO CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD.  IF YOU HAVE ANY CREDIT CARD OR DEBIT CARD LINKED TO YOUR PAYPAL ACCOUNT, PLEASE BE ADVISED TO TAKE EXTRA PRECAUTION.  I WILL LEAVE THE DECISION TO YOU WHETHER OR NOT TO UNLINK THOSE CARDS FROM YOUR PAYPAL ACCOUNT.

I pray to God that this gets resolved immediately.  I also pray that those crooks get caught.

Meet the Blogger

Last December 2011, I joined MrsMartinez's Holiday Blowout giveaway.  Two weeks ago I received an email from Mich informing me that I won.  Woohoo!  

Mich and I met at Greenhills and had an early lunch at Tender Bob's.  She, unfortunately, witnessed how big my appetite was.  Haha!

Thanks for the goodies, Mich.  See you again soon!

Quick Update

Hi.  Just a quick update.  I'm doing okay. I really miss blogging, but right now there are just so many things that I have to do.  I wanted to make a quick post to let my blogging friends know that I'm doing good.  Thank you for your prayers, your emails, your text messages... thank you for always being there for me.  I truly appreciate it. I love y'all! Know that you are in my prayers.  God bless!

H-E-L-P!!!

Friends, I need your help. Do any of you know anyone from Maryland USA? If you do, could you email me please. I have a huge favor to ask. This is regarding a very dear friend of mine.

Thank you very much! God bless.

Thankful Thrusday

I first met Duncan, who I fondly call D, four years ago. He came here to Manila with his wife and kids for a vacation. They're from Canada. We are blog friends, like most of us here. When he texted me last December that they'll be coming to Manila, I was so excited. Finally, the wait's over. Last Sunday, we all saw each other again.

Here are some photos of us. Hope you like them.

The Galt Family

With Neri and the two angels

With D

With Zoe and Nicole

With Neri

I wish to meet my other blogger friends... someday... soon... Until then, I continue to thank the Lord for blogger friends I've already met and the ones I'm yet to meet in the near future.

What are you thankful for this week?

For more Thankful Thursday, visit Lynn over at Spiritually Unequal Marriage.

Forgiving Me

How do you forgive yourself?

I never would've thought about this until my friend Sylvia brought it up a few minutes ago. I confided in her what was troubling me and how I felt. She knew I was crying my eyeballs out last night because I left her a message on her answering machine. She noticed that I kept on bringing up the past and the person I used to be. She also noticed that although I've already asked God for forgiveness, I still have yet to forgive myself. And you know, she's right!

So how do you really forgive yourself?

Happy Birthday, Sylvia!!!

It's my friend Sylvia's birthday yesterday. Shoot! I greeted her just this afternoon. She used to blog a lot before, that's how we met on blogsville. We kept in touch since. She has been my prayer partner for a long time now.

Sylvia, know that I'm here for you and I love you, girly.

Happy birthday!

God bless you always. I'm standing in the gap and praying in agreement with you.

(((HUGS)))

Singapore - Day 3

I woke up late, around 10 am. My brother came home from work early today. He bought me food for lunch. It was about 1 pm when I decided to go to Sentosa... by myself! You know, I'm pretty proud of myself for being able to do this alone. Never thought I'd be able to. And I had fun! I've met nice people along the way.

Me at Sentosa

It was around 5 pm when I decided to go back home to freshen up because I'd be meeting with a blogger friend for the first time at 7 pm. Her name is Janice. We've been blogger friends for more than a year. And when I got to Singapore, I left her a note on FB. I was so happy when she texted me. We met up together with her husband. They treated me to a nice sumptuous dinner and toured me around the city. Janice and her husband were so hospitable. I'm so glad to have met up with them.

Janice and myself at the Raffles Hotel

For more photos, click HERE.

Singapore - Day 1
Singapore - Day 2
Singapore - Day 4
Singapore - Day 5

Meet the Blogger

It was blazin' hot last Friday. Jec and I got ourselves ready to meet up with Duncan and his wife Nerissa. Finally, they're in Manila. I've developed more meaningful friendships, thanks to blogging. I hope to have the chance to meet each of you too one of these days. Check out the pictures below.

Duncan and Nerissa

D and Nicole (One of D and Neri's three adorable kids)

D, me and Jec (I look tired here but I was happy to have met them =)

Neri, D (Sleepy?), Zoe (Isn't she a cutie?), me and Jec (Surprised?!)

There's Nicole with her mom (far left). Their son's the one taking the picture.