Thursday, November 24, 2011

What are You thankful for?

So my chicken (yes ooo it's not turkey, but it's still poultry lol) is roasting in the oven as I watch television and prepare to get some more studying done today. Unlike the past couple of years, i'm separated from my dear friends who've come to be family to me in the States... mostly because I forgot to buy a ticket on time :( 
I was going through a mental list of things I'm thankful for this year, and of course, there are too many to count... So i'll list a few that struck me:

- I'm thankful for friends that are like my family.
- I'm thankful for family that are also my friends, although seriously, I have the best family in the world (hands down :p)
- I'm thankful for mistakes that have shown me how strong I am
- I'm thankful for God pushing me through my mistakes and giving me a clean slate despite myself
- I'm thankful for my wonderful cohort in my graduate program, like seriously, I have the best classmates ever :)
- I'm thankful for the solace of solitude and company, two indispensable friends that have taught me that my time is most precious and must be guarded with care
- I'm thankful for food, yes I've said it, food. You may take it for granted, but for me, every morsel counts! (no, i'm not starving, but food just rocks my socks, I seriously need to watch my weight now lol)

So what are You thankful for this year? And how are you spending your turkey day this year?

 P.S. A big thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday from my last post :) My birthday went really well, twas mad fun!

Sunday, November 20, 2011

A Quote from Teddy Roosevelt

 “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

Thursday, November 17, 2011

RE: Acts of Faith: Being Thankful

It's funny - tomorrow is my birthday. I looked through my blogposts and found what I wrote on that day last year... Funny how time flies and how many things change within a short span of time. Looking back, it seems the past year was a full pledged ride high on dopamine and adrenaline leading to a crash so explosive... but, not so explosive His touch couldn't rescue from. Errr correction - there is NOTHING, His touch can't rescue from. So, I'm putting a re-post up of what I wrote last year. As I read through, I thought the context would be changed now, or that I could change who is who in my mind - but you know what? Nah, it's the same, old same with new people added to different categories. Mountain high and valley low and all, I'm still thankful. People in and people out of my life - I'm still thankful. I'm here and I'm whole and I'm blessed and I wouldn't have it any other way, not the past or the present. God has been too good for me to back down and life is too precious and short for me to look down. 


Enjoy! And feel free to join me as I parry on my day :D 
I'll send you virtual cake!


Despite broken promises and hushed good byes and forgotten kisses.
Despite long wanted hugs, and far-away cuddles and swollen pride.
Despite stifled laughter, suppressed smiles and washed away shouts…

I’m still thankful.

There are stronger promises still. Pushed back good byes, and fresh kisses.
There are lingering hugs, present cuddles and blazed humility present.
There is roaring laughter, glowing smiles and echoed shouts…

Here and Now in the present.

I’m thankful.

There is more on the way – greater than I’ve ever fathomed.

[For a split second today, I looked back like Lot’s wife to count my losses and moan about the past].
[I had to slap myself out of it – how dare I ignore the precious gift of the present ?]

And so I’m thankful.
Thankful that she is here.
Thankful that he is here.
Thankful that you are here.
Thankful that they are here.
Thankful at YOU.

And I’m even more thankful that she was here…
That he was here…
That they were here…
That we were there.

I don’t know what you have in store yet – but I know I’m safe because you’ve already crafted my path from my inception to demise.

So thank you.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Turnover Tuesdays V



"I had a dream that I was captain of my soul
I was master of my fate, lost control. and then I sank
So I don't want to take the lead, 'cause I'm prone to make mistakes
All the folks who follow me, going end up in the wrong place" - Lecrae, "Background"

Saturday, October 22, 2011

The Other Day

I saw you again the other day.
After so many years gone by, it seemed comprehensible that I would forget you...
You sat right across me,
on the train that wheezed by untold destinations we would never speak of.
You stared and I stared back.
No recognition.

You had the same contours...
your eyes, old and tired.
You lips, dry and set.
Your hair, dark and gray.
Not a day older than the last time I saw you...
not a day older, in my mind...
and yet, here you are frail and worn.
The years have gone by.

I searched and searched into your face,
taking the painstaking stranger glances,
fearful you would bark me off as a stalker,
and yet, hopeful you would recognize me.

It was too much to hope for.
The years have gone by.

It seemed comprehensible that I would forget you...
You sat right across me,
on the train that wheezed by untold destinations we would never speak of.
You stared and I stared back.
Not an atom of recognition.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Acts of Faith: "you are not whole... you are incomplete"

         I *love* (emphasis on sarcasm) how the society we live in screams what we should and shouldn’t think of ourselves. It’s complex because you spend countless unforgivable times combing through the societal projected images of yourself that by the time you realize that isn’t what you thought of yourself... it’s almost too late? Well, as long as you are still breathing, there is still hope, and it is never too late. Never too late to realize the lies and the gibberish that the world imposes on us.  
Source: Google Image
Ever notice how categories are made based on what we have and don’t have?  We are told that we are incomplete or unwhole until we have this... or that. A graduate doesn’t have a job, and he is told that he is less of a man until he has money. A woman is single and she is told she is incomplete until she marries. A married couple is barren or waiting to have kids and they are told that the joy of children is waiting to make their marriage complete. A young boy is frivolous and strives to save his money for rainy days, and he is told that the only way to live life to the fullest is to spend every penny on stuff he sees in ads. A young woman is navigating and taking her time to figure out her choices and she is told she is incomplete until she blindly takes a path like so and so. Society screams at us: “You are not whole... you are incomplete... until you get this/have that/obtain it”.
Lies!!! All lies.
I laid in bed last week fighting again. Fighting the lying voices... fighting the discouragement... basically fighting myself. Fighting the “glass is half-empty” perspective when the whole while I knew of a fact that my glass is full and overflowing. I need to think keep thinking that way. It’s a different thing saying that I know that I’m blessed and another, thinking like a blessed daughter... Not just portraying it and wearing a happy mask... it’s also living that from within, being glad even in the solace of my mind, when my old self tries to regain control.
I am blessed.
And I am whole. Yes, there are things I would like to change, circumstances that I wish were different. There are things I would like to say, past buried pieces I would like to revisit... but changing them isn’t my job, it isn't possible. Revisiting them isn’t going to make me any better. And nothing, absolutely nothing can be done about it. I can't change the past. What I can do, is change my  present and affect my future. And no reshuffling of the past is going to change where I stand in His sight, or how He views me. Which is what matters. I am whole in Him. No, it’s not the next big thing waiting to happen or the next thing I lust/covet after or the next wish I have that is going to complete me. I am incomplete without Christ... and now, because I have Him, I am complete... I am whole.
And don’t you ever let anyone tell you otherwise. I don’t know what crossroads you are at, I don’t know what path you are stuck on, I don’t know what keeps you up at night. Maybe you are like me, prone to guilt and putting herself down, or maybe you are waiting for the next job, relationship, child, inspiration, ambition, marriage... whatever it is... these are good things, beautifully created by God to complement us and not rule us, not to define us. Our definition is found in our relationship with Him, and not in whatever it is we think will complete us.
So join me in saying: “I am whole, and I am complete. I am blessed”. I know I will be practicing saying this until I wholly believe it in my inner core.
I hope you have been doing great. I’ve been good... I think I’m getting burnt out, so many readings to get through - they can’t possibly want me to know everything lol. Anyhow, I can do all things through Christ regardless of what they want :)
Have a great week ahead of you, and take care!!!

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Contentment


    You know that peach perfect day when you stand on the green grass and feel the air sharp and fresh through your lungs...? When you look up into the clear skies and YOU JUST KNOW YOU ARE CONTENT? The imagery sets the scene. You don’t have to actually be in that scenario... but you know what I mean. And I’m not talking about financial contentment or the material kind or the companion kind... I’m talking about the contentment that shows up in between the crevices of your day. You wake up in the morning, and all is calm... in the sparse moments of the day while you are busy hustling up the pieces of life, you are just pleased even in the hustling... And at the end of the day, there is just that silent mental check you are okay with everything in your life. The current pace you are at, the minute things you do that bring you pleasure... It’s like suddenly the pawns are falling together and even though you still don’t get the strategy of the game at hand, you are okay with the flow - just the way it is.
This is where I am. And honestly, I feel like yelping out loud in joy at this realization. It happened sometime over the past couple of weeks... and in a weird kind of way, I don’t know what to attribute it to. I don’t know if it’s my new phase in life, or me just being pleased with where I am. Whichever it is, one thing I do know is that it’s a threshold of healing from Him, and it just makes me so glad.
So tell me, How are you?
    




Google Image