S.T.O.P

satisfied to look on Him

This week has been a little rough. It wasn't because I was so busy but more like I was often discouraged and frustrated. I wanted to go to Revive tonight (vespers) but I came home late from helping one of the Auntie's at church and it had started already. So instead of rushing everyone out and knowing me it would frustrate me... I opted to just stay home.

I ended up listening to some of my favorite songs online. I came across this song called "Before The Throne of God Above" and oh... the comfort and peace the words gave was exactly what I needed. An awesome reminder of my Savior's mercy and love. My favorite part says... "When Satan tempts me to despair, and tells me of the guilt within, upward I look, and see Him there who made an end of all my sin. Because a sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free; For God, the Just, is satisfied to look on Him and pardon me, to look on Him and pardon me."

Oh what comfort that is!!!

Before the throne of God above

I have a strong, a perfect plea:

A great High Priest, whose name is Love,

Who ever lives and pleads for me.

My name is graven on his hands,

My name is written on his heart;

I know that while in heaven he stands

No tongue can bid me thence depart

No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair,

And tells me of the guilt within,

Upward I look, and see him there

Who made an end of all my sin.

Because a sinless Savior died,

My sinful soul is counted free;

For God, the Just, is satisfied

To look on Him and pardon me

To look on Him and pardon me

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Praise the One,

Risen Son of God!

Behold him there, the risen Lamb

My perfect, spotless righteousness,

The great unchangeable I am,

The King of glory and of grace!

One in himself, I cannot die

My soul is purchased by his blood

My life is hid with Christ on high,

With Christ, my Savior and my God

With Christ, my Savior and my God

I love this song...

My true VALENTINE...

On this Valentine's Day, I'm remembering and celebrating God's love for me. JESUS is and always have been my true Valentine. =)

I cannot help but think of Him on this day of love because HE IS LOVE. He has shown us what TRUE LOVE is. It's not the love the world tells us... it's not the shower of roses and chocolates. It's not sweet words of beauty and dedication. It's the love that is quiet and constant. It's the love that is never broken or taken back. It's the love that is given so freely. It's the love that requires no payment or return. It's the love that remains at the end of the day when our "masks" are taken off. It's the deep love that He gives no matter what your circumstance is... no matter the state of your heart. It's there... HIS LOVE... it's always there!

So today, I will especially thank Him for His love. I will tell Jesus that I LOVE HIM! I will remember how beautiful He is and how He's wooed me for 28 years and 6 months to continue to fall in love with Him. And even after sooooo many years, He still continues to prove to me how great and marvellous His love is for me.

Oh my Jesus, you love me like no other! You bring such joy with your love and make me feel so special. You give me presents every day of my 28 years of life. You listen to me all day, every day without complain or time limit. You still stand beside me even when I refuse to talk to You and hold me with complete forgiveness, compassion and understanding when I run back to You! You help me pick up the broken and ugly pieces of my life, put them together and make it a life long work of Your art!

To my VALENTINE, I love you so much! Your love is addictive and extravagant. Your love sustains me and give me hope and joy. I'm so in love with You. I look forward to spending the rest of my life on earth and in heaven with You! Oh, what a sweet sweet meeting that will be when I see my beautiful Valentine face to face!

"I can only imagine, what it will be like when I walk, by Your side.

I can only imagine, what my eyes will see when your face is before me. I can only imagine.

Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel. Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you be still? Will I stand in your presence or to my knees will I fall? Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all! I can only imagine.

I can only imagine, when that day comes and I find myself standing in the Son.

I can only imagine, when all I will do is forever, forever worship You.

I can only imagine!"

believe

Oh God, you've "brought me this far to leave me"! This song sang by the Revelation Hope Singers at their concert yesterday spoke my heart's song of late. So much hope in this song... no matter what you are going through... just can't give up now, He's not gonna leave you! He's brought you this far to leave you!!! Mountains, hills, valleys, storms... we'll have to walk through them but NEVER ALONE! He will hold and sustain us through all of them.

Oh my Jesus, when I feel that I'm just such a hopeless case... I'll remember how far You've brought me and believe You'll not leave me!

Friend, don't lose hope... HE LOVES YOU! Don't give up for your Saviour, Jesus, never gives up on you! May we sing this song every time discouragement sets in and bring us hope and remember we are not alone!

"Can't Give Up Now"

There will be mountains that I will have to climb

And there will be battles that I will have to fight

But victory or defeat, it's up to me to decide

But how can I expect to win If I never try.

I just can't give up now

I've come too far from where I started from

Nobody told me the road would be easy

and I don't believe he brought me this far to leave me

Never said there wouldn't be trials

Never said I would't fall

Never said that everything would go the way I want it to go

But when my back is against the wall

And i feel all hope is gone,

I'll just lift my head up to the sky

And say help me to be strong

I just can't give up now

I've come too far from where I started from

Nobody told me the road would be easy

and I don't believe he brought me this far to leave me

No you didn't bring me out here to leave me lonely

Even when I can't see clearly

I know that you are with me (so I can't)

I just can't give up now

I've come too far from where I started from

Nobody told me the road would be easy

and I don't believe he brought me this far to leave me

so tired... but blessed!

I'm sooooooo incredibly tired right now and feeling like a zombie coz I'm not quite awake yet.... ummm and kinda don't want to be yet. Slept at 3 this morning... that's VERY late for me. lol. Anyway, I was writing a very important e-mail that took me ummmm... only 11 hrs to write... on and off!!! Yeah, I know! As I've said, it was an extremely important e-mail.

Anyway, I'm so tired this morning that I didn't feel like reading my Bible... being lazy but I really wanted to spend time in God's Word. So I googled "daily audio devotions" and found this website: www.oneyearaudiobible.org. You get to listen to scripture and a bit of commentary online! That was neat. Actually, I do have this Bible but it not my preferred version. I like my King James Bible. Anyway, I was really glad I found it. It's an alternative on days when I just want to listen instead of reading (lazy days) like today! =)

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p.s. I didn't lose this week. =( Ugggghhhh! But I didn't gain so that's good... kinda. Anyway, didn't workout this week so kinda expected the no weight loss part. I was really drained this week, had no energy and by 5 p.m. I was just about to crash. I think was coming down with something. Anyway, been pretty good food wise... need to continue to work on it tho! lol. I'll just keep plugging along then.

my sister

I was missing my sister a lot lately. We've never been too far from each other until now. We were always together during our childhood not always by choice. lol. I must've been a pain but she never let on. lol. Even when she went away for University, I visited often since her school was only an hour or so away. But having moved here to Michigan from Canada, we can't just visit whenever we wanted to since it takes 8 hrs to drive and a whole lot of money for gas!

I've been missing her very much lately. I miss our little dates and realized that we haven't done a lot of those in recent years even before I moved away. I realized we haven't really been spending time and nurturing our relationship. I don't even know if I've been REALLY there for her. In the busyness of juggling a job and my own family, I think I might have failed to take time to be what she's always been all my life, a great listener. And that made me real sad. Now that I don't just have her around the corner, I realize how much I've taken her being there for granted. Like I would have all the time in the world to spend with her.

So I'm going to be more intentional in my phone calls, e-mails and even letters to my dearest sister. To let her know how much she is loved, thought of and appreciated. And we're going start having our sister dates again as soon as I move back. =)

May we always remember to appreciate our loved ones while we still have them around. May we cherish them and take every opportunity to spend time with them out of our busy schedules. May they always feel accepted, loved and supported no matter what they are going through.

I LOVE my sister!

finding treasures

I was surfing this morning on Facebook. lol. Checking out pictures and status updates when I stumbled upon a link that was shared by a great mentor. =) I decided to check it out. The link brought me to a blog for PW (Pastor's Wives) and I thought hmmm... this might be interesting. And it was! I was pleased to find out these women were around my age group and have funny (and not so funny), real and uplifting stories. The blog's title is Clutch... for Clutching to God and all that is good. =) I like that very much. This was my little blessing this morning!

so....

I missed yesterday's workout... which should be my day 1 on Sin6 week #2. boooo me! AND to top that off, I didn't count calories yesterday. I enjoyed my veggie sinigang (Filipino soup dish - my hubby's fav) with 1 cup of rice very much. Funny thing was I still measure my rice! LOL. At least I got that habit down pack! =P

I will not miss my workout to day tho. I WILL log into beachbody.com and press "start now" on the SuperGym! Ummmm... after I have my breakfast and devotional. lol. Also, I'm going back on routine with measuring and counting. I'm looking forward to the day when I get use to all this work just to eat. lol.

Anyway, I didn't weigh myself this week purposely! I'll update my weight chart next week. I know... bad but I just didn't want to know. I stayed POP (perfect on plan) for about 3 1/2 days out of 7. I suppose that's better than nothing AND it's my first week so I just need to keep working at it. Also, I got my total calories for the day mixed up... arrrrgghhh! Turns out I was having too much... so I have fix that this week. =(

Well, my goal this week is to stay POP for the entire week or at least 5 days in a row. =) I WILL keep my calories counted, stay very hydrated ;), workout 6 days (meaning will have to workout after sundown on Sabbath) and cut down my rice from 1 cup to 1/2 cup. The last one makes me real sad but I've done it before and I can do it again! =^

Oh and good news on the workout department. Start It Up is the 1st level workout in the Slim in 6 program. I've done it several times before (during the time when I was pretty active) and it is merciless on my arms and thighs! But since getting sick in November, I haven't really been active. So when I started last Monday, I DIED!!! I could barely keep my arms up the entire video and had to take breaks. But as the week progressed, I felt myself getting stronger and stronger! On Friday, I kept my arms moving and up almost the entire time! =D Woooohooo! The plan is to stay on SIU (Start It Up) for another week then move on to RIU (Rip It Up), which, from what I've heard from my workout buddies, is a KILLER. So, we will see.

Determined to stay POP today!

Why do I worship God?

I worship God because...

-He LOVES me

-He keeps me sane

-He gives me incredible lasting joy

-He give me comfort

-He is good and just

-He is patient and loving

-of how much He loves us

-of how much He continues to reach out to each of us

-He LOVES my son

-He gave me His ideal husband for me

-He kept my husband and I together

-He turned my life around

-He picked up the pieces of my broken life and pieced it all together slowly and carefully

-He made beauty out of my brokenness

-looking to Him is the only thing that keeps me hopeful

-He is what is good in me

-He is my Father who disciplines me with love

-He NEVER leaves me

-He ALWAYS listens

-He ALWAYS has time for me

-He KNOWS me yet He still wants me to be with Him

-He's so extravagant in His love for all of us

-He's knows everything that I need even when I think I know better

-He's saved me from myself

-He's food to my soul

-He sacrificed His son for all of us

-He patiently listens to me when I'm upset, angry, and bitter even if it's towards Him

-He forgives me

-of the way He provides for my family

-of His great faithfulness

-spending time with Him calms my nerves, gives me clear perspective, gives me hope, and gives me a cheerful spirit

-He is the Creator that created me and everything

-He is merciful

-He doesn't demand

-He is my great great love

I was asked why I worshipped God. I came up with several answers and I realized that I could keep going. There are just so much... endless reasons why I worship Him. Why do you worship God?

Answering His call

For the past year or so, my 11-year-old son has been asking a lot of questions about baptism and what it means. He's been thinking about getting baptized for several months now but he's been hesitant because he didn't like that it was so public. He's very scared about being in front of a congregation. So for the past 6 months, he's been conflicted between his desire to fully accept Jesus Christ and be baptized and his fear of being up in front of the entire church. During many altar calls, he would say that he's not ready mainly because he's scared to go to the front. We didn't pressure him and knew this had to be a decision he needed to make on his own.

Well, this past Sabbath, my husband was singing at Pioneer Memorial Church (PMC) which was the University campus church. It's a very large church around 1,000 people every Sabbath. Anyway, so we (my son and I) hopped from our home church to PMC to be with my husband for Divine Worship. The preacher at that particular Sabbath was wrapping up the theme for the Week of Spiritual Emphasis. He spoke about how we needed to be wise about how we spend our time and how we need to spend time with God on a daily basis. Anyway, at the end of his sermon, he made an altar call for anyone who'd like to commit themselves fully to Christ and make that a public commitment through baptism. I noticed my son was paying careful attention to the speaker and, after deliberating for several minutes whether I should say anything, I asked him if he wanted to go and that I would go with him. He said that he wasn't ready but I noticed this wasn't the same "I'm not ready" that he usually says. He seemed to be really conflicted. So I started praying. Praying that the Holy Spirit continue to call to him to set his fears aside and answer the call of Jesus. The Pastor kept speaking... making the appeal then a vocalist in front started singing "Come to Jesus". I would look over to my side in between prayers to sneak a peak at him. I watched my son minute by minute moving ever so slowly... inch by inch toward the aisle. I continued to pray for him and others that Lord is calling to him. Just when the song was about to end, I looked over to my side and saw him gone... he was no longer beside me. I looked up and I saw him standing in the front with his Dad beside him!!! Oh I couldn't hold back my tears of joy!

My husband later told me that he too was praying. He said that he noticed that our son moving closer and closer to the aisle and so he stepped aside to let him through. He was equally surprised when our son took his hand to go with him up in front. =)

I've never been so happy for him. So happy that he experienced following Christ even if he's so scared. It was proof that the Holy Spirit is stronger than any of our great fears. To think this was no small congregation but a huge congregation. The Holy Spirit moved him so strongly that (as our son later explained) he "just had to go up there".

What a blessed Sabbath morning that was! Praise be to God!