One of those ways God said "I Love You"

Writing this post was unexpected because I have wanted to write and post in another blog instead.  Until I remembered that today is June 12, it's the 14th anniversary of my conversation with God, the main reason why I created this blog. 

Once again, let this be a reminder of God's love for us, I myself needs to be reminded of that too. God can talk to us anytime, anywhere, regardless of our religions and personalities, but we still forget He did that, sometimes we don't even believe He really conversed with us, and other people won't believe too. The only reason why I believed He had actually conversed with me is because I can write about my experience and share it to people.

Whether you will believe in this story or not, I felt  tasked to share it again.  Please click here  to go to my short original story of my conversation with God and read how God said "I Love You" to mankind in my story. 

God Keeps Saying "I Love You!"

Last weekend, after a week of being too busy watching on the television to listen to Pope Francis’ messages while in our country, we discovered that the banana trees in our backyard have a total of 3 bundles of banana fruits.

The third bundle that we discovered was hidden by the “calamansi” tree's trunk and leaves, and we didn’t notice that the heart of this bundle of bananas dried up but the fruits are now very healthy. Upon discovering that there were three bundles, not just two, the first thing that entered my mind was “maybe God wanted to say “I love you” again". Not just to me, but the whole of mankind, like He said during my conversation with Him on June 12, 2001. The photo at the left shows the three bundles though not so clear because they were hidden by leaves. The first that we saw was the one in line with the window on the photo (lower right), the second almost right above me while taking the photo (top right of photo) and the third slightly covered by the banana leaf at the middle left of the photo.

A few months ago, the calamansi tree nearest to the house bore extra large fruits, around 5 times the normal size. It used to bore several small fruits until it began to bore an extra large one along with the regular ones, then another extra large fruit still with the regular ones (shown in a photo here), until there were no more regular fruits, just 3 extra large fruits. Maybe that was September of last year, 2014, and in my thoughts was “maybe God wanted to say “I love you” again!”. The juice of the giant fruit tasted like a mixed juice, so that there was no need to mix it with sugar and water to make a juice! In the video below, we were giving our special child the juice direct from the fruit (the left and right head movement is a mannerism of this blind child with cerebral palsy and had no meaning).

The photo at the left was the calamansi tree whose last fruits were three extra large ones,  an example of these fruits is shown bigger than the egg and the regular calamansi fruits in the above photos They were taken around September of last year, and during that time the banana trees were still few and low.

Next to the point where I shot this photo of the calamansi tree was the laundering sink where I was cleaning mineral stones while conversing with God in 2001. There were just a few plants on the soil where these trees grew, during that time. When God said in my thoughts on that day that the cure to all diseases are abundant and are just around us, I looked at the exact place where these trees grew and thought that He meant the plants, but also realized later that He could also be referring to the sunlight (at the right times of the day) and the magnetic fields of the earth.

After God said “I love you” when I asked what message He would like to tell mankind through the number of small mineral stones I was cleaning which turned out to be 143 stones in all, so many extraordinary events happened, like the birth of a special child inside our house, whom we later adopted.  I realized that through this child, God proved His love for all of us in the small compound where we live consisting of two households.  I requested for a child during my conversation with Him to help me forget about disappointments, but when I realized that the child could only come from my daughter who was still too young at that time,  I told God “I was just joking”.  But after a year,  on July 24, 2002, a child was born inside our house by our housekeeper. This child was expected to be a special one since she was not even expected to live during birth because of her size which was just one pound!

Years after, circumstances led me to be very much involved in health and wellness and gradually learned how to stimulate the natural healing process of the body. It seemed that I was being prepared to be a therapist of our special child, and also be able to take care of my own health and my husband’s for the child’s welfare. We need to remain strong and healthy to be able to take care of this child whose mission or missions only God knows, all I know is God keeps saying “I love you!” to mankind.

Year Ending 2014

It's now New Year's Day in the Philippines.  I'm glad that my last blog post was about health and wellness in my "Amusing Tips" blog, titled Meridian Therapy.  It was a public service post though it also advertises a particular gadget used for the therapy.

I'm also glad that on New Year's Eve,  my most read blog post was also in the same blog, "Amusing Tips", about a recipe of a fish steak, titled Quick Gindara Steak.  That only shows that fish as part of the menu of "Media Noche" or New Year's Day is a must. I had planned to include it as part of our "Noche Buena" or "Media Noche"  but found the fish too expensive for our present budget.

I hope to be able to post in this blog, which was my first, more posts that will help mankind this 2015. But I'm also hoping that more people will be able to read the post which was the main reason why I created a blog.  It is now in two versions, an updated version titled My Conversation with God on June 12, 2001, and the original version, God's Message. I know that in God's time, these two posts will be read by the right people.

An "Agent of Change"

I wasn’t capable of writing a post last month because my mind was preoccupied with options for changes in my family, triggered by several signs, strengthened later by a letter from the National Visa Center of US.

Most of those changes it turned out, would require other changes affecting some members of my clan and my husband’s clan, so it was indeed hard to think about them, much more to talk about them. But once again, I’m the only person who could open up a topic about changes that directly affect my family, and it was hard because I’m not a sweet talker, I was a Systems Analyst for thirty years writing and giving instructions about specifications, and I had to choose the most specific words in sentences that were direct to the point. I did the best I could, but as usual, some if not most of those affected were not pleased with my “requirements” or requests to go about some changes. That was understandable and the main reason why there is such a short course for change management. Maybe I need to undergo that course first.

Sometimes it is disappointing to consult a life coach or a counselor because you will be told to go back to your past so that with their help you will be able to understand your present difficulties. I tried to do it on my own and it was hard at first because I couldn’t find any connection.  Until I looked at myself at a different perspective, a more positive perspective with the premise that God placed me in this situation because He loves me.  Thank God, I found the answer!

I now understand that I am an “agent of change”.  Understanding that did not happen instantly.  My recent activities like looking for an online job helped me understand that.  There was this job that I liked a lot I felt it was for me until it was awarded to another applicant. I studied this applicant’s credentials and I was amazed because she was a Russian but had masters in English and English Literature and had several job experiences related to writing in English. I just told myself, they chose the right person.

I realize now that I can be an agent of change because of my experiences since I was a child. The earliest I could remember was playing a lot with my brother and cousins in an airstrip of an airport where we had a family restaurant, and for a 4 year-old child like me it was an endless playground. I was surrounded by relatives, there were my cousins, grandma, uncle and aunts.  I could understand only English at that time.

Suddenly, we were in a city, some of the relatives I used to be with were no longer around, my brother and I had many playmates and our playground were the streets.  These playmates said we were rich because we had two buildings though the highest was just a four-story building.  I couldn’t believe that because we were staying at the ground floor of the other building, it really looked like a basement because it had a low ceiling but the floor was always very clean.  There were other people at home whom I felt were our relatives but they said we were not related at all. After a while, I believed we were rich because my grandma was referred to as “Donia” or a rich woman by the lady at the ticket booth of a theater who let me and my brother enter the movie house for free. On Christmas Day, I saw my grandma giving away big paper bags of goods to the street children.  Once in a while, I could see some new dresses and bags in my closet.  Whenever my brother and I got sick, we would be given a new toy to cheer us up.  I could understand a mixture of Tagalog and Ilonggo at that time.

When I was 8, we were in another city.  My playmates were speaking in Cebuano so I learned to speak and understand the language. A year before that, my grandmother passed away.  The next thing I knew was we were already in Manila, reunited with my aunt at her apartment in Caloocan City.  My brother and I were transferred to St. Joseph Academy, a private school there.  My mother and aunt thought of having a beauty parlor and dress shop so they looked for a place to make that possible and they found one in Manila also, somewhere in Sampaloc.  My brother and I were transferred to a public school.  Before we graduated from elementary, we were at another place where my mother revived the restaurant they had in Mindanao. It was near the Manila International and domestic airports.

I can’t remember when was the time we transferred to 20^th Ave. in Cubao, Quezon City because I was already studying in Manila as a first year high school student.  My brother and I had to be transferred to another school in the vicinity, it was called Quirino High School.  As usual, my favorite subject was Math, and my favorite teacher was my Math teacher who told me I was indeed intelligent, Ms. Aurora Venida.  We didn’t learn to know more about each other because I had to stop studying for a while to be able to take care of my youngest brother who was 3 years old. I knew how it was like to be rich, and our situation at that time was quite different. Sometimes there was not enough food to eat. But the apartment we were renting was big so who would say that?

This house where I am now was the longest I have stayed, even as a single woman. It used to be occupied by Ms. Venida, my favorite Math teacher I mentioned earlier but it was not from her where we learned about this house because she migrated to US long before my family transferred here. But even when I was already married to her nephew, the son of our landlord whose house was right beside ours, I preferred to stay in another house, until my in-laws requested us to watch over this house meaning for us to transfer to this house while they were at the US, as immigrants. Our eldest daughter was 10 years old at that time.

There were six companies I worked for, from the time I started working.  Two of those companies were worth staying until retirement, but one closed, while the other one was a private agency under Marcos that was why it had to close after the “People Power”.  To implement changes, companies usually hire consultants who are not familiar with the employees of the company. The recommended changes can be “brutal” to most of the employees  especially when cost cutting is the objective. These companies have no choice but to implement those changes, just like the company I worked for which closed down. We were suddenly called to a general meeting at the canteen where the General Manager, after explaining the status of the company, announced that it was our last day in that company, we could get our separation pay then pack our things. We were all crying, including the General Manager.

As the “House Manager”, I usually implement changes fast. My husband got used to follow those changes that were new learnings to his children, not really changes.  I have no tolerance for dilly-dallying, my husband knew that. I mellowed down when we started to bring our adopted special child to school where we practically became pupils also, supporting our special child.  But also because of this child, I realize there is no time to procrastinate because we her adoptive parents are not getting any younger and are not getting any richer.

We have to grab every opportunity that will help us sustain our health, increase our meager income and our special child’s development so that the people who will take care of her when we are gone will not be burdened too much nor for too long. I have no choice but to ignore the people who would still be skeptical or resistant to the changes we need after allowing some time for awareness. One of the most important among the objectives of these changes is to reverence our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit. This is also the most important legacy of change I would like my children to remember, since our bodies will continuously require changes in food, habits and activities over time.

The photo shown here was my painting based on a photo I’ve shot during my tour at the Underground River of Palawan. The tour guide told us that we might not see the same stones we have seen when we come back especially if it would take long for us to come back. The title of my painting was “The Prayer” because I was praying hard half of the time I was painting it because my son was sick, though it was just a group of stones undergoing changes. This whole picture of changing stones is so beautiful, isn’t it?  It was God’s work!

Thank you God, for all the opportunities, to write this, and to be part of the Dance of Faith art exhibit that started last November 24 at the “Pamanang Bedista” (San Beda Heritage Center) where this painting is on display for one month along with my two other paintings of the Underground River of Palawan and the other Dance of Faith artworks!

God's Birthday Gift to Lyca

 Even before Lyca's 12th birthday last July 24, God's birthday gift for her was already waiting to be picked-up in a warehouse. It was a wheelchair custom made for her special needs.

Lyca's stroller doesn't fit her anymore, a pillow has to be placed on the seat to lessen its "C" curve that caused her scoliosis, and the strap of her bag serves as its head rest.

At last, a new wheelchair though large to be brought inside the car, was custom fit to correct Lyca's scoliosis and the thigh position she got used to which is prone to hip dislocation.

The wheelchair has fixed thin pads under the arms
 to keep her from leaning on one side..

A foot rest based on the length of Lyca's legs 

And a pad at the middle of the seat to
correct the position of Lyca's hips and legs

A head rest measured exactly for Lyca's head...

Dra. Maria Regina Cunanan-Espinosa did all the measuring.

The wheelchair has harness and table top too

How we wish we can bring this wheelchair with Lyca 
wherever she goes !

Thank you Dra. Espinosa and UCP Wheels for Humanity!

Thank you Latter-Day Saint Charities!  Thank you Lord!!

Dance of Faith

Now ongoing until July 13, 2014 at the Health Hub of SM Center Pasig (beside Tiendesitas in Pasig City, Metro Manila, Philippines), "Dance of Faith" is an art exhibit celebrating women, art and spirituality. It is participated by 6 women artists from different age groups, the youngest 9 years old. I was one of the artists and my artworks, which are oil paintings, were inspired by the Underground River of Palawan except the portrait of my special child Lyca who was my inspiration to join the exhibit.  Featured here are my paintings in the exhibit where I "walked my faith", my "dance of faith".

"The Challenge"
Size:  15" x 20"
Medium:  Oil Paint

Instead of heeding to my request to paint this piece from my shots of the Underground River of Palawan, my professional artist brother Gabriego challenged me to do it.  This year, 2014, I accepted the challenge when I had the opportunity because I believed that challenges are what life is all about.  We face some amount of challenges, some big, some small, but all of them to make us grow into better persons each day of our lives.

"The Prayer"
Size:  18" x 12"
Medium:  Oil Paint

The most truthful title for this piece is “The Prayer”.  This was a copy of an artwork of God found at the Underground River of Palawan.  Every attempt to copy a detail of His artwork from a photo I shot was coupled with praises and adoration for His creation. Every attempt to highlight a detail was coupled with a prayer for a miracle.

"Mama's Angel"
Size:  12" x 14"
Medium:  Oil Paint

Who else can dream for this blind and multi-handicapped angel than the person she first called “Mama”? That person is Bel Venida (my artist name),  her adoptive mother. It was this child, Lyca, who brought me back to painting. 

"A New Beginning"
Size:  16" x 20"
Medium:  Oil Paint

The Underground River of Palawan is only one of the evidences of God’s existence,  and a reminder to people that He can make miracles happen any time, they just need to have faith and believe that He exists even in the darkest places, whether in a person’s thoughts or in the darkest spot of a cave. The journey in the dark always ends and leads to a new beginning.

Aside from my special child Lyca, I have never expected that the artworks I found at The Underground River of Palawan will tremendously inspire me to give my best to paint on canvas some of God's artworks on the walls of this river. It was very awesome to realize that they were all done through stone formations, and that God conversed with me and said "I love you" to mankind through small mineral stones on June 12, 2001. 

God's birthday gift

I didn't want to have a party to celebrate a milestone birthday, all I've wished for was to appreciate God's creations and this time I've thought maybe that would be best done in Palawan. Since the start of the year, I've prepared myself to fulfill that birthday wish so I patiently looked and waited for the cheapest promo air fare that I would find.

The first place in Palawan that I've wished to see was of course the Underground River but my special child couldn't possibly go there so I forgot the whole idea and just decided to have a city tour, anyway, there could be rains or typhoon in August, I've thought. Learning about that, my daughter gave me a birthday gift in advance to possibly have a day tour in Dos Palmas and I and my companions were so happy we could at least go there.

A week before the flight to Palawan, I saw my Tiens network marketing upline at the office where we get our family's supplements, and she sat beside me, perhaps because I seldom see her these days. I was looking at the Medical Information Form of PAL for my special child so she learned that we will be going to Palawan the following week. She said her Goddaughter is a manager of Inland Tours in Palawan, called her up and let me talk to her.

After that day, I had several conversations on the phone with Jackie, the manager of Inland Tours who persistently encouraged me to see the Underground River until it was just a few days left before our flight. We discussed possible ways to bring my special child but not inside the cave like me on the first shift and my husband on the next shift inside the cave but I told her the tour to the Underground River would still be impossible since it was just a few days from our flight and I and my two adult companions didn't have permits yet. She said August is not a peak season so we could still get permits.

August 23 was already full, according to Jackie, so the day of our tour to the Underground River fell on my birthday, August 24. The weather was great in Palawan. I've wanted to appreciate nature on this day and God allowed me to see one of His most beautiful creations. It was so clear to me that this was His birthday gift to me. There is a cathedral inside the Underground River, and my wish to at least pass by a cathedral was also fulfilled.



The following day was the Dos Palmas Day Tour. It was a Sunday. I wasn't inside the church but I felt closer to God through the sound of the waves and the wind touching my face. The feeling was so calming and all I could say was "Thank You Lord!".

A Tribute

Today, March 26, is the first death anniversary of my mother-in-law, and if ever there are tributes for her left undone or messages left unsaid, I guess this is the best time. The last time she was still able to see the people around her, she looked at me when I called her to check if she was alright, and that was her last gaze to a person.

As days and months went by, I've been trying to analyze if that last gaze meant something, and unexpectedly, I found a lot of meanings.

"Mamang" was always described as a plain housewife, but as the priest during her eulogy said, being a housewife is a very noble vocation. In Mamang's case, I could describe her as the "President of a Corporation" consisting of her offspring and their offspring. She sees to it that everyone in this "corporation" is doing well, and would announce to the world that they are indeed doing well, a recognition every employee would always wanted to hear from his or her bosses or employers. It is not only that quality that can make her a "best boss", she was also a servant leader, another quality of a good boss, because she always checks what each person "in her corporation" needs, and would offer her services to fulfill that need.

For some, and that included me, the services she would like to offer were most of the time exaggerated because she always thought she could do them all. A special child I adopted brought us closer, but also became a reason for occasional misunderstanding between us. That was because she would always claim she was capable of taking care of such child, while I consistently claimed that a caregiver is indispensable.



To make my story short, I am now taking care of this special child, with my husband's help because this child has grown tall, but no caregiver, and I have no intentions of getting the services of a regular caregiver at least in the next one or two years. Beyond that, I can't tell because my husband and are are no longer young, but I believe this activity of caring for our special child kept us stronger and more conscious and responsible for our health. At the time this special child was born, my bone density was at the boundary of normal and osteopenic, but ten years had passed and it is now high normal.

My mother-in-law's last gaze was meaningful because it made me realize that her statements in the past were not exaggerations because she had experienced them all and she knew she was capable of doing them, moreso because she had performed them out of love. Saying "sorry" without being enlightened doesn't seem right, but now that I've realized a lot and learned from Mamang, I'd like to say I'm sorry for those times I misunderstood her.



Today is also "Holy Tuesday", or the second day of Holy Week. We are reminded how Jesus Christ was misunderstood and persecuted. He died on the cross to save the whole world. It makes me think now that from every death, some people will find enlightenment and salvation. Jesus Christ sacrificed on the cross to start it all, and His death will continue to save mankind.

As The Deer

As the deer panteth for the water so my soul longeth after Thee
You alone are my heart’s desire, and I long to worship Thee

You alone are my Strength and Shield, to You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship thee

You’re my Friend and You are my Brother even though You are a King
I love You more than any other so much more than anything

Oh You alone are my Strength and Shield, to You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship thee

This is one of my favorite psalms and I've always wanted to sing this. Singing the alto part makes my singing even more heartfelt and meaningful.

Year End Inventory of My Missions

My first unforgettable mission happened in 2003 in Davao City, and it was an accomplished mission. At the same time, it gave me the opportunity to celebrate my golden birthday at Pearl Farm Resort. After that, I've considered some common missions part of my own missions too. Here's an inventory of those missions:

1. To spread the message of God to mankind, a message relayed by God through a task I was doing in 2001: This was the main reason why I started blogging, but sad to say, only 76 has read this message from the time I started to blog until yesterday.

2. To disseminate information about health and wellness: I have been accomplishing this as needed during conversations, through this blog, my "Amusing Tips" blog, my Facebook account, and my special child's Facebook account which serves as a journal of her therapies.

3. To be an advocate in bridging the gap between Western Medicine and Alternative Medicine: This seemed impossible at the start but just after a year, this was made possible by a non-stock non-profit organization called Philippine National Association of Acupoint Practitioners or PNAAP, and I believe that the organizers like Dra. Josie Ponciano and Edward Lee will be successful in their missions and visions for the organization. I cannot join them yet at this point in time, but I will be their advocate in any way I can, in continuing this very challenging mission.

4. To encourage people to be always positive and avoid negative thoughts, to start with myself: This is a recent mission that has just started and through Facebook, I have started with myself. It will surely be very hard and challenging to enlighten people who have posted negative comments in Facebook, but maybe through inspiring resources, that can be achieved.

May the year 2013 bring true peace and happiness to everyone!

"God works in mysterious ways"

I've always wondered how can God work on a situation that only He can solve, and how mysterious can be His ways? His message to mankind through the number of stones that I have counted was surely one of His mysterious ways, and just this morning, I had another taste of how mysterious is mysterious.

Our family choir was singing in a Sunday mass this morning and when my son gave the pitch of our second communion song, I felt it was too low and thought it could be for "altos", so I thought I can decipher the soprano counterpart which was my voice. It was a new song, I forgot the song starts in unison, so I was wrong to conclude what I heard was for "altos". My mistake led me to lead the other choir members to the wrong pitch and of course I was sorry. But the incident opened my thoughts to another issue that doesn't concern the choir at all but that I'd been silent about, resulting to my being vocal about the issue for a while after the mass.

The past days, I was asking myself if I should be silent about the issue and said to myself, perhaps if ever I should do something about it, God will do something to make me do that. I didn't expect that could be through a mistake in getting a pitch, a mistake I almost never commit in my lifetime. The "not related issue" I was talking about was opened to the people concerned, but that was not my intention though I was hoping that I can soon talk about it. No need to do that now unless they ask me to. Indeed, God works in mysterious ways, through very simple situations nobody would ever imagine.

Amazing Powers!

The Power of Truth

I am a spiritual being
I am a child of the Eternal Power, God

The Power of Pure Intention

Holding on to my highest intention for myself and hold the same for others, I'll stay in the true nature of my own goodness. We are one family belonging to one God.

The Power of Godly Love

Creating a constant relationship of love with God fills me with all the powers and virtues that I need to fill life with victory. Through meditation, I allow myself to be filled with God's love.

What's next?

After my anniversary post about my conversation with God, what's next? Every time I talk about God's message, it's as if I've done the finale of a story, so I tend to rest. As if there's nothing better to talk about than God's message. His "I loye you" message to mankind was so comforting but I hope it won't make mankind sleep.

That last statement "I hope it won't make mankind sleep", I just realized was so "human", so lacking in trust in God. Perhaps I was speaking for myself because I was sleeping. We may sleep but God is always awake to watch over us. And then He wakes us up even through simple things like a tv show, or a text from a friend. Like what He did to me...

The next thing I know is I'm at Georgie's place and met her sisters Coroy and Pempi there. Pempi has inspired me since I was a teenager through her artworks, and now it's clear it was Coroy's turn to inspire me too. She said I should continuously and intelligently converse with Lyca, my special needs child, because she will understand me. Lyca is blind and because of cerebral palsy cannot utter words that can be understood. But she could verbally respond, most of the time with actions, and I know she's intelligent because she laughs whenever a song familiar to her was sang out of tune, and would clap her hands unceasingly whenever her favorite choir, the Novo Concertante Manila, would sing. Time will come we will completely understand her and send her to school.

I just can thank God for His wake up calls to meet inspiring people. Shame on me to ask "what's next?".

My Conversation with God on June 12, 2001

Exactly 10 years ago, a boring task of cleaning the stones of a mineral water pot led me to reminisce my disappointments in life and at the same time ask God why such should happen. Awesome answers came from my own thoughts which made me suspect that I was already conversing with God. The final outcome of our conversation was the main reason why I created this blog because I felt obliged to share God's message to mankind, but waited for His time to do it, and that was when I learned about blogging in 2008.

Since I had to emphasize the main message of God, I haven't shared the other topics of our conversation and that is what I'd like to share now.

Since there were germanium stones that I was cleaning then, I told God that He is so kind because he created cures for cancer, but what about AIDS? He said He provided everything to mankind including all the cures to illnesses but mankind doesn't want to recognize them. I asked in my thoughts, where are these cures? I was outside at that time so I looked at the ground at a distance. The sun was shining brightly and there were a few plants. I thought perhaps God meant the plants that contain all cures.

I'm glad I didn't tell that part of our conversation the first time I wrote about it because now I think I was partly wrong. Now I realize that God meant practically everything abundant that can cure illnesses like sunlight and the magnetic field of an unpolluted ground. And they are free!

To verify if I was really talking with God, I asked what message He'd like to tell mankind through the total number of stones that I was cleaning. After cleaning, when I counted 143 stones, I immediately knew that His message was "I love you", but I was surprised so I verified by counting again and that was really the total number of the stones.

While thinking about my disappointments, I also told God I wish there was a child who could help me forget about those disappointments like my children did, when they were still babies and toddlers.

God proved His love by giving me what I wished for: a child who was born right inside our house, a year after. She was a very special child because she was born blind and had cerebral palsy. Through this child, God shook off my tendency to expect too much from people. That tendency was the real cause of my disappointments. For almost nine years now, this special child taught me to be happy with the smallest things people would show me.

God's message of love was for the whole of mankind. If He hasn't proven His Love for you yet, don't be impatient because He will prove that to you in His time. While waiting for that time, He promised to shake what can be shaken and removed from you, like impatience or even ungodliness.

"You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised". (Hebrews 10:36)

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails". (Proverbs 19:21)

"love your blog"

Though I also considered it an advertisement, the email below made me happy because of its message, which confirms my objective for this blog to help people from all walks of life.

I'd like to thank Mike Melen for sending me this email with "love your blog" as the subject, because it will serve as an inspiration for me to write more quality posts that can truly help people.

Our website TherapyCounseling.com is a Mental Health Care Database that is used by over 100,000 users monthly to connect to and seek Mental Health Care professionals. We have compiled a list of roughly 1000 professionals for our users to contact and receive the best possible advice. The professionals we have listed on the site are very active in the mental health world and are contacted by our team sporadically to update their information and most recently discuss their practices. We recently ran a poll asking the professionals listed what online informational resources they use to keep up to date or even to simply find great information. It seems many of our users have labeled your blog as an excellent source of information and would like your blog to be a part of our website. I have reviewed your blog and must say, I absolutely love the information you have made available to the public and would love to make your blog a part of our site. I would like to offer you our Featured Blogger badge that can be posted on your site, which recognizes you as a top blogger in the mental health field or simply a text link within your blog roll (Therapist). I would also like to post your blog in our resources page with a FULL banner to make your blog available to my thousands of users. Thanks again for the great information and I look forward to the great responses your blog will receive from my users!


James Whitfield
Sr. Marketing Director
1 International Blvd.
Mahwah, NJ 07430
1(201)252-8260
TherapyCounseling.com

Here is a List of some of our affiliates:
American Telemedicine Association
Prevention First
TeleHealth World
Latin American and Carribean Telemedicine Association
Telemedicine Information Exchange
TeleHealth World
TelePathology
UCSB

As long as you pray

My special child, Lyca, just turned 7 last July 24. I'd like to write a nice post about her birthday but I didn't have the time to compose a usual touching post about her.

Lyca has been helping her Dad and I to pray every night. She might not understand what we're praying about with her, but she pours out her emotions whenever we do, as if she's really asking for mercy.

My current job is not easy since it is something new, so I've been praying with Lyca about my work, not only for me but for the people working with me, especially those handling major projects.

There were many times in the past I was put in a dilemma about making important decisions, and they usually involved people. But I must make a decision anyway, and more often than not, those decisions were reached in the most unlikely manner of making decisions. Prior to that, I had prayed sincerely, and I had always believed they could be good decisions for whatever reasons, because I prayed. Sometimes many months would pass and nobody could tell yet whether it was a good decision or not. I just know in my heart that as long as we pray, God will always guide us to do what is best at the moment, or God Himself will work so that only the best thing should happen.

One difficult season

Why am I not inspired to write about anything these days? Maybe it’s because there are a lot of things or tasks mixed up in my mind. I was supposed to have just one goal, which is to earn money to alleviate the financial distress my family is experiencing now, but the ways and means are just too many, they are all mixed up. I cannot focus on one area yet because I cannot let go of the other opportunities I haven’t tried yet.

I guess what I can do at the moment is to organize and schedule my activities first. As of now there are no conflicts in my schedules, but time will come there will be conflicts so I have to prioritize. Whenever I think of prioritizing, another goal aside from my main goal usually becomes a necessary evil, but that other goal is usually always good because it has a bigger purpose.

For example, one direction I’m taking now to earn is to sell health gadgets. Another is to sell condominium units. I’d like to do both, but at the back of my mind, I’d like to help the sick, so I have to prioritize my selling of health gadgets, though it can be hard as selling condo units.

While I’m not yet organized, I am relieved whenever I suddenly come across inspiring materials like the one below whose author is unknown and which I’ve rearranged a bit:

Don’t let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest
Don’t judge life by one difficult season

If you give up when it’s winter, you will miss the promise of your spring,
The beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall

Persevere through the difficult patches
And better times are sure to come some time.

Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly
Leave the rest to God.

Happiness keep you sweet, trials keep you strong
Sorrows keep you human, failures keep you humble
Success keeps you glowing,
But only God keeps you going.

Aspire to inspire before you expire.

A proof of God's love

It is now July 24 here in the Philippines. Today is the sixth birthday of Lyca, my adopted special needs child. During the last two years, her birthday fell on the dates of her scheduled physical therapy so they were celebrated at the hospital with her therapists, though it was also celebrated at home, and also at my brother-in-law’s home after the mass at Loyola Grand Villas chapel where my family sing as part of the Venida Clan Choir, every second and fourth Sunday of the month. The three celebrations became a tradition so even if her birthday did not fall on her scheduled PT, we will also celebrate it at the hospital this coming Friday.

It is also my sixth year now as Lyca’s mother. At this point in time, I know I can sacrifice anything for her. My two biological children are grown ups now, and I was blessed to have one more child. The fire within me as a mother kept burning for 27 years now. Nothing has changed. It is still that same fire and love that I felt since I gave birth to my eldest child.

A comment in my post on God’s Message from Tomas Karkalas said that I am the luckiest of all man because I was able to talk to God through the stones I was cleaning and God answered. What I can say about that is maybe not. There are so many people as lucky as I am because they also conversed with God and received a response through various ways, but there are also luckier people because they had followed the ways of God even without hearing any response from Him, and are always able to discern what direction God wants them to take. I don’t think I am as lucky as they are. Thinking more deeply about the sequence of events, I remember I was constantly thinking of a child who can help me take away my sorrows, and then His message to mankind through the stones happened, which obviously meant “I love you” (143 stones). After a year, Lyca was born.

The best reason I can think of, why I was “lucky” to receive God’s message is because He wanted to prepare me for this biggest challenge in my life to take care of a child with special needs, even while experiencing financial distress.

What do you think?

Confusion

Is there something you have been praying about for a long time? You know that your request is in keeping with God's will. ....... However, your request seems to go unanswered.

Those lines as well as the title of this post were taken from the June 28 page of "Enter His Gates", a daily devotional book by Charles Stanley. This book used to be on my desk when I was still working at the office so I had the chance to read it daily. I haven't read it since the day I brought home all my personal things from the office. Last month, I finally unpacked it.

Very early this morning, June 28, I felt a need to browse this book to be consoled. I opened the book twice in random pages, hoping I will land in a page that will appease my confused feelings, until I thought of looking at the page intended for this day, and there it is, the very exact words that will console me.

I am hoping I'll pass the job interview yesterday but what if I don't? There were 3 of us who were interviewed and I was the oldest. Late in October last year,there were two companies who contacted me at the same time, one scheduled me for interview while the other one asked me to submit some documents ASAP. I was confused because the two companies have entirely different businesses and job offered, but not one of them is close to sure in hiring me. I prayed for a sign, and after 3 days, one of the two companies called me up to tell me they want me to attend a training in Singapore. It can be the sign I prayed for so I said yes. The training lasted for 3 days only but we were given a homework that we had to submit by end of November. I was able to submit my output and was expecting to be officially hired by January. Unfortunately, last December, the participants in the training , which included me, were notified that implementation of the project was put on hold, as well as the hiring.

People would tell me, "it was the wrong sign!", but I know it is the right sign because I prayed for it, though it can have a different meaning, like maybe I should not pursue the other offer. So I am now waiting, but I wonder how long?

This is what the book says: God may give you a promise and then allow you to go through a time of waiting for Him to bring it to completion. That is when you face the greatest temptation to doubt Him. You wonder what He is doing, and you question His reasoning. Thoughts such as "Has God forgotten His promise?" run through your head as you worry over doing the right thing. Doubt is the breeding ground for confusion and fear.

Faith is the atmosphere in which hope and joy flourish. If God has promised to do a certain thing, it will be done. Never give up; with God all things are possible.

God said I Love You through the stones!

Everyday, I would open my blog and look at the "FEEDJIT Live Traffic Map" at the sidebar, not really to see how many readers have visited my blog but to see how far “God’s Message” in my blog has reached. Though not all of the readers have probably read that post, I assume most of them have read “Blogging” which also has the message.

I was inspired to write this when I saw the countries Russia, China, Bahamas and other countries I’ve seen for the first time in my blog’s map. I’m hoping it will also reach Mexico, Brazil, the northern parts of Canada, northern and central parts of Africa, the Middle East and more.

Until now I can’t believe this will happen, that blogging can be a very comfortable and fastest way to spread God’s message which started from a childish question I’ve asked Him while I was cleaning mineral stones in 2001, and to be answered by God through the number of those stones.

I also can’t believe that my situation since March of this year would happen, that I would be totally jobless and would have time to start blogging. I’m praying hard though that I will finally get a job this time. I firmly believe that this “God’s Message” through the stones has now found its natural course to mankind.

Lastly, I can’t believe I couldn’t think of any post to write this first week of June, until I checked the map again and thought why not share why I’m doing this? Maybe this is what God wants me to do.

Gosh, at this very moment, I was reminded that this coming June 12 will already be the 7th year since God said I love you through the stones!