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!!! 

How Has Your Year Been?

In two days 2012 will be gone.  How time flies.  

Today I asked myself this question - How has 2012 been to me?  There are definitely so many challenges that happened this year, but I've also received so many blessings and miracles.  

Dad left this imperfect world to be with Jesus last April... I got sick two months ago, but I'm recovering pretty well. I received miracles after miracles of healing and divine provision... I deleted "friends" from my life who are toxic; turned out to be a blessing in disguise... This is also the year when I became debt free.

I didn't see the beauty in these seemingly tragic events while it was happening, but now I do.  

God is good.  

Although 2012 is marked with tears and sadness, it is also marked with joy and happiness. God sure knows how to balance things. 

So, how has your year been?

Here's looking forward to a year of abounding blessings, grace and favor as we welcome 2013 with great expectancy and hope.  

Merry Christmas!!!

We had our Victory Group's Christmas Party last December 22 at Citrus Restaurant & Deli in Pasig City.

 With Lalah, Geline & Jennie

With my spiritual leaders - Pastor Nuel and his wife Iris

I'm so glad and grateful to God to have been part of this wonderful group. Pastor Nuel and Iris have been very supportive to all of us and especially to me when I got really sick.  My group has been praying and believing with me for my healing. 

In the middle of the program, I received a pleasant surprise when Pastor Nuel and Iris called my name and presented me with this recognition. 

Iris mentioned how I'm battling Lupus and instead of wallowing in self pity and asking God - Why me??? - I chose to believe God's promises of healing. She said I'm more on fire for God now than I was before.  

But you know what?  I know why God surprised me with this recognition.  It was very clear to me why God did this.  I say He did this because I know without a shadow of a doubt that He wanted me to do something that I've been struggling to do for months now.  I have a confession to make... I've
been wanting to take things into my own hands that will cause a huge and major change that will affect my life and my future. But instead He wanted me to be still and wait for Him to move on my behalf.  

You see, God has been sending me messages and even sent people my way to remind me of His faithfulness;  that He will indeed fulfill His promises to me.  But because of my stubbornness, I thought of doing things my way (Yes, I know how stupid that sounds). I've been planning the changes that I wanted to happen for 2013. I got my mind set on MY plans that I was ready to jump into it. I was ready for that major CHANGE.  Well, God had a different plan.  He did things to STOP me from ruining His PERFECT plan.  I still don't know how He's going to knit things together to make His perfect plan look perfect in my eyes because really the picture still looks abstruse to me.  You know what I mean. Sorry if I'm not sharing much details, but I will in due time.

Anyway, here are some more photos taken yesterday when my brother came home for the Christmas holiday.  We also went to visit Dad and checked Mom's new house.

From my family to yours...

May the joy and peace of Christmas be with you all through the year.

Wishing you a season of blessings from heaven above.

Hot Hat Party and the Hobbit

We had our office's Hot Hat Christmas Party last Tuesday, December 11. Fun games, good food, gifts... Happiness!

Red Spruce (Click photo to enlarge)

Red Willow

Then my friends and I watched The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey last Thursday, December 13, at the Mall of Asia. Wasn't really a fan of the movie... never liked The Lord of the Rings to begin with, but I did enjoy the food served before the movie started.  Hmm... no wonder I'm gaining so much weight. Hehe...

With Alma, Zenda and Ino at MOA

I had such a busy week again, but nonetheless, my week spelled F-U-N.

Now, it's back to work for me.  Have to finish my deliveries and errands this week. Oh, and there's another Christmas party this weekend.

It's almost Christmas!  Yey!  My favorite time of the year.  It'll be bittersweet for my family because we'll be celebrating Christmas without Dad for the first time. We miss him so much!

WFW - Matthew 5:16

It's been four years since I started helping out in the Double Happiness' feeding program. It all started with two people who simply wanted to share their blessings with the children and the elders in their own little ways.  They wanted to put a smile on these people's faces. They started asking friends if they wanted to give a few hours of their time for this and the rest is history.

Last Monday, December 10, it was at the San Lorenzo Ruiz Home for the elderly in Pasay City.

The Lolos and Lolas

The volunteers

L-R: Harold, Dina, me & Zenda

Having a quick breakfast before heading to the venue

Hop on to Lori's for more WFW entries. God bless!!!

Thumbs Up

Had another check up yesterday with my holistic doctor. All went well. I'm done with my colon cleansing regimen and now I'm into liver cleansing. She said we'll do it step by step until we're done with the program.  She's quite pleased with how everything turned out for me.  I'm responding pretty well with the supplements she prescribed.  Of course, I'm also happy when my doctors have this smile on their faces which I know literally means "thumbs up."

It was such a busy week for me.  I had so many errands to finish and deadlines to meet. My close friends are telling me to slow down a bit.  I know... They're worried that I might have another flare if I don't take it easy. I will you guys, don't worry. Thanks for the concern.

Now that I'm slowly eliminating food in my already seemingly "healthy diet" which can cause inflammation and flare, I've noticed how pricey this can be. To buy "good" food is expensive.  This can cause a huge dent on my budget. So, in as much as I wanted to get the good ones, sometimes I have to settle with the not-so-good-but-not-so-bad-food-either because of budget constraints.

Yesterday, I bought a bottle of Kefir. I heard how good this is for me, so I bought one to try.  Its nutritional benefits are better than yogurt although I must admit it tastes like rotten milk.  I couldn't care less for as long as I'd be healthier, I'll take it.

Anyway, I've also realized that this is my first post for the month of December and it's almost Christmas.  How time flies... My favorite time of the year!