Complacency

This is some bits of our pastor's sermon two Sundays ago:

From Alex and Brett Harris’ Do Hard Things, quoting the daily periodical Bits & Pieces:
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Complacency is a blight that saps energy, dulls attitudes, and causes a drain on the brain. The first symptom is satisfaction with things as they are. The second is rejection of things as they might be: “Good enough” becomes today’s watchword and tomorrow’s standard. 

Complacency makes people fear the unknown, mistrust the untried, and abhor the new. Like water, complacent people follow the easiest course — downhill. They draw false strength from looking back.

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Truth is, it was an eye opener for me...

Search Me, Use Me Lord

It's been ages since I posted something about my faith here. It's because I have been in my down times and I have been neglecting what I am supposed to be. It's just recently when I was tasked to facilitate our small group (cell group) in church that I realized I was not being what I have to be as a Christian. I know I have been living a life that is boring and dry. So I started reading my bible and reading books that will encourage me and restore the joy of serving and living for God.

Last Sunday, I was touched by the message of our guest speaker, it's about giving back our lives to God and allowing Him to use us. I had this feeling of guilt that I have not prayed that prayer for so long now. And I've decided, I will not live a life of mediocrity, I will stand and desire to be used by God..to be a salt and a light of the world.

Sonda-me, Usa-me Senhor
(Aline Barros)

Search me, Lord, and know me,
Make my heart to be broken..
Transform me according to your word
And fill me until only You can be found in me
And then... use me, Lord, use me

Like a lighthouse that shines at night
Like a bridge over the waters
Like a shelter in the desert
Like an arrow that hits it's target
I want to be used in any way that pleases you
Any time and in any place, here is my life.
Use me, Oh Lord...

Everything Is Temporary

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Don't Quit

Lessons that that our pastor was discussing for two weeks now is about perseverance. And one of the video clips that he shared was a video of the poem, "Don't Quit". I am very much familiar with this poem because I memorized this as part of my CAT-1 requirement back in high school. back then, it didn't had so much meaning to me but was just one of the many poems we need to memorized to pass the course. But now, it has given me a lot of inspiration. Enjoy watching...

To DO's

Just The Way You Are

I heard this song first on an avp that my college classmate made for a couple. I love the song and I'm so proud of my classmate, he was able to pursue photography and he's making a name in the industry :)


Just The Way You Are lyrics

This Is Home

Lyrics | Switchfoot - This Is Home lyrics

I fell in love with this song the first time I heard it..

This was played during one of our church services. The song was dedicated to the Filipinos around the world who wish to be back home.

I've Learned

I'VE LEARNED...that when you're in love it shows.
I've learned...that just one person saying to me, "You've made my day!" makes my day.
I've learned...that having a child fall asleep in your arms is one of the most peaceful
feelings in the world.
I've learned...that being kind is more important than being right.
I've learned...that you should never say no to a gift from a child.
I've learned...that I can always pray for someone when I don't have the strength to help
him in some other way.
I've learned...that no matter how serious your life requires you to be, everyone needs a
friend to act goofy with.
I've learned...that sometimes all a person needs is a hand to hold and a heart to
understand.
I've learned...that simple walks with my father around the block on summer nights
when I a child did wonders for me as an adult.
I've learned...that life is like a roll of toilet paper. the closer it gets to the end, the faster
it goes.
I've learned...that we should be glad God doesn't give us everything we ask for.
I've learned...that money doesn't buy class.
I've learned...that it's those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular.
I've learned...that under everyone's hard shell is someone who wants to be appreciated
and loved.
I've learned...that the Lord didn't do it all in one day. What makes me think I can?
I've learned...that to ignore the facts does not change the facts.
I've learned...that when you plan to get even with someone, you are only letting that
person continue to hurt you.
I've learned...that love, not time, heals all wounds.
I've learned...that the easiest way for me to grow as a person is to surround myself with
people smarter than I am.
I've learned...that everyone you meet deserves to be greeted with a smile.
I've learned...that there's nothing sweeter than sleeping with your babies and feeling
their breath on your cheeks.
I've learned...that no one is perfect until you fall in love with him.
I've learned...that life is tough, but I am tougher.
I've learned...that opportunities are never lost; someone will take the ones you miss.
I've learned...that when you harbor bitterness, happiness will dock elsewhere.
I've learned...that I wish I could have told my Mom that I love her one more time before she passed
away.
I've learned...that one should keep his words both soft and tender, because tomorrow he
may have to eat them.
I've learned...that a smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.
I've learned...that I can't choose how I feel, but I can choose what I do about it.
I've learned...that when your newly born grandchild holds your little finger in his little
fist, that you're hooked for life.
I've learned...that everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness
and growth occurs while you're climbing it.
I've learned...that it is best to give advice in only two circumstances: when it is
requested and when it is a life-threatening situation.
I've learned...that the less time I have to work with, the more things I get done.

I saw this interesting picture at vi.sualize.us, (a site where you can find lots of great pictures)

I believe at what the pictures says. Well, no one really has the right to judge and be judge. There were just things that's going on around me lately and I am just being sentimental :)

At The Cross

I was about to email my friend to send me a copy of the song we sang last night but when I opened my email, I saw her email containing the attachment. It’s like she has a radar detector sensing what I’m about to ask her, hehe. Anyway, the song was “At The Cross” by Hillsong music. It was a very touching song that talks about God’s sacrifice and how much He loves us even though we fall short and fail big time.

At The Cross
Oh Lord You’ve searched me
You know my way
Even when I fail You
I know You love me

Your holy presence
Surrounding me
In every season
I know You love me
I know You love me

At the cross I bow my knee
Where Your blood was shed for me
There’s no greater love than this
You have overcome the grave
Your glory fills the highest place
What can separate me now

You go before me
You shield my way
Your hand upholds me
I know You love me

You tore the veil
You made a way
When You said that it is done

And when the earth fades
Falls from my eyes
And You stand before me
I know You love me
I know You love me

Be Yourself

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Warren Buffett's son preaches values as wealth

A phrase that was given so much importance by our pastor last night: " teach your children values and do not give them everything they want." I think this should be what parents should do to raise a good next generation...

I found the main article from reuters where the phrase came from:

(Reuters) - The son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett has an old-world spiritual message for today's money-rich parents: teach your children values and do not give them everything they want.

Musician and now author Peter Buffett preaches the message in his new book "Life is What You Make it: Finding Your Own Path to Fulfillment". Recently released in the United States, it describes how he wound up a "normal, happy" person instead of a spoiled child to one of the world's richest people.

Buffett, 52, teaches the rewards of self-respect and pursuing one's own passions and accomplishments rather than buying into society's concepts of material wealth.

"I am my own person and I know what I have accomplished in my life," he said. "This isn't about wealth or fame or money or any of that stuff, it is actually about values and what you enjoy and finding something you love doing."

People who are born with a silver spoon in their mouth can fall victim to what Buffett said his father has called a "silver dagger in your back," which leads to a sense of entitlement and a lack of personal achievement.

"Entitlement is the worst thing ever and I see entitlement coming in many guises," he said. "Anybody who acts like they deserve something 'just because,', is a disaster."

But Buffett wasn't always this wise. His own family gave him $90,000 in stock when he was 19, a small sum from such immense financial wealth. After studying at Stanford University, he moved to San Francisco and lived in a studio apartment with just enough room for his musical instruments.

"I was really searching," he said, adding that he began his musical career by working for free writing music for a local television station.

"I was kind of lost, but trying to find myself. It was definitely this strange period where I didn't really know where I was going," he said.

LOOKING AT THE BIG PICTURE

As well his musical passions, the values taught to him growing up and a sense of a bigger picture in life stayed with him during those trying times, he said.

"I was not only not handed everything as a kid, I was shown that there are lots of other people out there with very different circumstances," he said.

Although many people he encounters assume that his father wanted him to go into finance, he said his father accepted his choice to become a musician beginning with commercials then his own albums and composing for television shows and films.

"It was encouraged for a moment when I was open to the idea," he said about pursuing finance. But he added that as he grew older, it became clear the financial world "was not speaking to my heart."

Along with the book, Buffett has embarked on a "Concert & Conversation" tour in which he plays the piano, talks about his life and warns against consumerist culture and damaging the environment.

He said he eventually inherited more money after his mother died in 2004, but by then he had learned his lessons. Now he works on giving back to the world -- another of his life philosophies -- which includes through working for his father's NoVo charitable foundation.

"Economic prosperity may come and go; that's just how it is," he writes in the book. "But values are the steady currency that earn us the all-important rewards."

(editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

If I Had My Child To Raise Over Again

Our preacher last night during our midweek service talked about raising the next generation. He shared a poem which really caught my attention....

If I Had My Child To Raise Over Again
By Diane Loomans

If I had my child to raise all over again,
I'd build self esteem first, and the house later.
I'd fingerpaint more, and point the finger less.
I would do less correcting and more connecting.
I'd take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.
I would care to know less and know to care more.
I'd take more hikes and fly more kites.
I'd stop playing serious, and seriously play.
I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.
I'd do more hugging and less tugging.
I'd see the oak tree in the acorn more often.
I would be firm less often, and affirm much more.
I'd model less about the love of power,
And more about the power of love.

Children Are Like Kites

Our preacher this morning was a lady pastor and she shared an inspiring message to us. One particular part of her message was a poem by Erma Bombeck...

Children Are Like Kites

You spend years trying to get them off the ground.

You run with them until you are both breathless. They crash ... they hit the roof ... you patch, comfort and assure them that someday they will fly.

Finally, they are airborne.

They need more string, and you keep letting it out.

They tug, and with each twist of the twine, there is sadness that goes with joy.

The kite becomes more distant, and you know it won't be long before that beautiful creature will snap the lifeline that binds you together and will soar as meant to soar ... free and alone.

Only then do you know that you have done your job.

I agree so much with this poem. Parents were given a great responsibility..the lives of our children depends on our hands.

Tumblr

Got this from my brother's tumblr site. I have seen some of his works and I'm surprised to see how creative he's become. Visit his site to see more of this:

Tought For Today

The Powert of Love

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The world is not bad

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Find Beauty in Everything!

Beautiful.

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