I CAN DO DIYs!

sooner or later, i'll be married. i will be building my own family. i will be designing my own house. 

and with that, i am excited to adorn my house with DIY stuffs. yipppiii!!!

Here are some of my ideas:

AS LONG AS IT MATTERS_Gin Blossoms

How can I find something
That two can take
Without stumbling as we
Walk into our future's wake
I'm like a broken record
That you can play
Repeating as if it matters
Everything I want to say
I'll be all right
As long as it matters
As long as you're here with me now
Forget that time
It's nothing we touch and see

All this is fine
Even as it crashes down on me
I'm looking around
There's nothing that I could want
More than to tell you
There's no more than we've already got
I'll be all right
As long as it matters
As long as you're here with me now...
Forget that our time is almost up

I'll be all right... 

Gin Blossoms

LOSE SOME TO GAIN SOME

GOOD MORNING!

FINALLY, after how many days of being off from here, i was able to write something.

i just want to share some of the things that kept me busy for the past few days.

Last Monday, i started implementing my DIET PLAN. I started skipping my dinner and started doing exercise. IT'S HARD especially when you're craving for something and then boom, you found out your mom cooked that for you! I was drooling because of them! huh! BUT I THANK GOD FOR THE STRENGTH! 

I remember when i was in high school, I viewed myself as a timber: straight and big, that's why I envied girls who has waist like wasp. I wanted guys to like me. I thought being fat's ugly that's why nobody liked me before. I got lots of crushes back in high school, but no one "crushed" me back. Motivated by my insecurities, i decided to just ate 1 burger a day. That's was freakin' hard. I also started climbing the stairs instead of taking the elevator and i just walked from our house to my school instead of riding a jeep. I successfully lost some pounds after doing those and I began loving myself more.

Unfortunately, my biggest-loser story didn't last long. It's like ON and OFF. I would gain, then lose; then gain again and shed some pounds again and then GAIN EVEN MORE! Inconsistent, right?

So when this year started, i told myself, "oh Cherrie, you're not getting any younger. 25th birthday is coming this year and i think the best gift you can give to yourself is HEALTH." 

Doing all these stuffs is tough. I am currently on my 5th day and I could say I started the phase quite good. This is amazing! I feel lighter and better about myself. Discipline is starting to get rule over me and I love how it dictates to me the things i need to do and the stuffs I need to avoid.

Disciplining oneself is difficult. You have to change the way you view things, you have to change your own mind setting and you have to have a deep and meaningful reason to keep you driven and motivated.

I am excited for the result. I know this is hard,but its gonna be wonderful!

TALKING ABOUT LOVE

and so this rain makes me wanna write more. yesterday, i wrote about love. and now, im gonna write about love... again..

 so LOVE, also known us universal language. what the crap is love, if you may ask? as i ponder on life, i found out that love is a very complicated, yet, special thing in man's life.

 lovers define it as romance. friends define it as a companionship. couples define it as passion. family defines it as acceptance; and many more. actually, if you're gonna type the word LOVE in google, you'll find tons of ideas and definitions of it. those will surely overwhelm you!

 well, i firmly believe that the greatest need of people today is LOVE. i also believe that the biggest problem in the world today is relationship; that's why there are broken families, annulment, divorce, wars, etc etc. think of one problem and trace the root of it, and it'll boil down to relationship and one's need of love.

 it's sad that humans nowadays look at love with a shallow definition. its real meaning has been dimmed by the world's own definition of it: SEX and MONEY. The world thought that sex equates with love; that money can buy love, and that sex and money can make relationship work.

 it may work, yes, for awhile, but not for long term. i've seen people being broken emotionally because of this wrong perception about love. They’ve been hurt, been used, been thrown away and been rejected. how tragic.

 so what do i want to imply then? the only message that i want to send across is this:

 if you're searching for love and you hunger for it, seek the Author of love Himself. you wont be able to find love in a one-night stand; you wont find it in latest fashion trends; you wont find it in gadgets and techs; you wont find it in vices, etc etc. 

 you can only find it in Him, the Inventor of it Himself, the Mastermind of it, the Creator, the Lord.

 now you read the word 'Lord.' you may say 'oh no. not again. dont throw religion to me. i thought we're talking about love here?' oh well, dont worry, like you, im sick of religion too. dont worry, i am not sales-talking religion here. i am not promoting another specie of alive-alive-praise-the-lord religion in here. i want to emphasize something that is greater than those. what im talking about is RELATIONSHIP.  

God is not after our traditional beliefs and rituals, He wants relationship with us. He's not after what you can do for him, instead, he's more concern with who we are. 

ONLY IN HAVING A REAL LOVE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LORD WE CAN UNDERSTAND WHAT THE REAL MEANING OF LOVE IS.

so if you feel like giving up in searching for LOVE, well, maybe, its time for you to admit that you may be looking for it in a wrong place.

why dont you close your eyes, pray from your heart and talk to God about it. im pretty sure that in doing that, real love will be made known to you.

 CONGRATULATIONS!

TONDO--

photographed by me.

HOWEVER FAR AWAY.. I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU.

FINDING HOME.

Object is much easier to redirect when it’s moving.

I saw that twice today. First was from a blog of a missionary in Thailand. Second was from a missionary’s blog as well; uhmm. Guess what? She’s also located in Thailand.

I always believe that there is something in REPETITION. When God wants to say something to us, he would regurgitate it many times until we get His point. Same thing goes with the Bible. When a word or phrase is being repeated many times, it’s safe to assume that that might be the CENTRAL MESSAGE of the whole text.

I love how God is showing His ways to me. I know things are being unfolded little by little and I can’t wait for the time to come when I get to grab my bags and shoes and fly somewhere to do missions. I know it’s easier said than done. Leaving home is not easy. I’ve left my family twice: once was when I decided to attend Missionary Training Institute in APTS, Baguio City and second was when I took my Discipleship Training School in Ywam-Baguio. Leaving left my heart broken. I have to say goodbye to my cozy room, to my ever-supportive church, to my wonderful friends, to my loving boyfriend and to my sweet family—TEMPORARILY.

Those momentary times seemed forever. I counted the days. I counted the hours. I started crossing the dates off my calendar. I was longing for home.

But there was something that inspired me to keep going. New wonderful friends I got for myself? Well. Uhmm. Maybe. Breathtaking places and scenes? Well. Somehow.  But there must be something else. And yeah, there was.

It was the calling inside that pushed me through. You know that feeling of JOY amidst the pain? Or the gladness amidst sorrow? It feels like that. Despite the pain, the sadness, that homesick feeling, the difficulty of washing the clothes and comforter using my bare hands, the language differences, misunderstandings with classmates and others; I STILL FELT INSPIRED.

I FOUND HOME AWAY FROM HOME.

I think that’s gonna be my fate.

Few months from now I am seeing myself being “home” again: reunited with sorrows, with homesick feelings, with sadness and pain. My feet are willing to take that leap of faith for the sake of reaching out to the world that is deeply blinded by the Enemy. With my pen on my hand, camera clinging on my neck, His Words in my heart, Holy Spirit inside me and Jesus beside me; I know I can make a difference in this world.

With eyes blind-folded, I will start walking by now and just let God stir and direct me in the path he wants me to walk on.

I know God, you will make a way.

im starting to count the cost

i think i got one of the confirmations i am seeking.

thanks to this picture.

Photo credit: Honor Heindl

the waiting game

Now I wonder what to do.

I’ve been daydreaming about Thailand and the rest of the world.

My feet are itching to go. Oh please, send me there.

Amidst this excitement, the other half of my soul reminds me of the word: WAIT.

Twas not the first time I bumped into this word. If God has a favorite word to offer me, I think this is what he got. Ever since college, he’s been inculcating this not just in my head, but most especially in my heart. Oh I know HE has an appropriate time for everything.

Knowing and believing that His time is always perfect, I will wait patiently. I don’t know where. I don’t know when. I don’t know how. All I know is that He will direct my path little by little, one step at a time.

worth pondering

i didn’t go to religion to make me happy. i always knew a bottle of port would do that. if you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, i certainly don’t recommend christianity.

-CS LEWIS

DEFINE SUCCESS?

my idea of success is not a comfortable life, one of financial security and a healthy retirement fund. to me success is having the honor to leave this world fighting for those who could not defend for themselves. it is my prayer that i would die on the right battlefield, with the peace that i gave my all. only then will i truly succeed