Sunday Lessons: God is doing something in our days.

Sec. Mar Roxas has announced yesterday that the Zamboanga crisis is finally over, but the locals don't seem to agree.

It's been three weeks. So many lives, so many properties have been damaged. Houses have been burned. Soldiers and civilians have been killed. Employees can't go to work. Students can't go to school. Food and supplies are running out. Hope is running out.

"The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all that He has made." 

                                                      - Psalm 145:13

God is faithful. I may question so many things, but God's faithfulness is something I am always sure of. Just because we're hurting now doesn't mean that He has turned a deaf ear to our cries.

I believe that there's a greater purpose for all these suffering. I believe that this pain will be useful to us one day. I believe that God doesn't give us a weight heavier than what we are capable of carrying, and if He does, He will carry it for us. He will carry us.

"Dreams will live again

Faith and hope restored

Taste and see that the Lord is good."

                                         - This Is Our Time, Abundant Life Ministries

Felicity

Photo by April Lyn Rone

Sunday Lessons: We need to learn how to wait for God's timing.

"Do not worry about tomorrow. God is already there." 

                             - Anonymous

Lately, I often find myself thinking about the future. I think of next year--where  I would be, what I would do--and all I see is a heavily blurred picture: no focus, no outlines. No certainties.

My contract with the hospital ends by April next year. I can stay, or I can move on. I really haven't decided yet. I don't think I can make that decision right now.

People may say I'm foolish--that I recklessly fly by the seat of my pants, but the truth is I'm waiting for God to show me which path to take. I'm waiting for God to push me in the right direction. 

The world can be a scary place. The world can be deceiving, and it's so easy to fall into its many traps. But  I know God will show me the way.

"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything."

                                - Philippians 4:6

I don't know what will happen a year from now, but I know He has plans for me. I'll wait. I'll wait for Him.

Discover

Photo by: April Lyn Rone

We're not just friends. We're family.

Here we are, making beautiful memories out of fleeting moments. ♥

I don't think there was ever a quiet moment that night. There was just so much to talk about, so much to hear about.

I love how there is never any awkwardness, regardless of how long we go without seeing each other. What we have is beyond friendship. What we have is a timeless, unbreakable bond that makes us one big loud, crazy, happy family.

Sunday Lessons: Who and what you are is perfectly designed by God.

"I am a flower quickly fading

Here today and gone tomorrow

A wave tossed in the ocean

A vapor in the wind

Still you hear me when I'm calling

Lord, you catch me when I'm falling

And you told me who I am

I am Yours."
                      - Who Am I, Casting Crowns

I stopped watching television when I moved for college. I didn't have television in my room, and I found that I was just fine without it. No, overtime, I realized that I was happier without it.

Media is such a powerful tool, and it's extremely alarming that at this day and age, we have allowed the media to to tell us the definition of beauty, of worth. And it's always telling us that we're not tall enough, that we're not thin enough, that our skin is not white enough. That we have to wear skimpy bikinis when we go to the beach. That we have to heavily paint our faces with eyeshadows and eyeliners and red lipstick to be noticed by the world.

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;

but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."

                          - Proverbs 31:30

This clip was shown in church this morning, and it's really heartbreaking and enlightening at the same time. It's heartbreaking to see how we often fall short on our own standards, probably because we base our standards on the standards of the world, and the world can be harsh. The world can be deceiving.

The world tells us we're not good enough, but God tells us we are fearfully and wonderfully made. The Bible tells us in Genesis 1:31: "God saw all that He had made, and it was very good." Who are we to say otherwise?

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful, I know that full well." 

                          - Psalms 139:14

You are beautiful. You are good enough. Never let anyone tell you otherwise.

NO TO WAR

This crisis is really breaking my heart.

Lord, for Your glory, please save Your people.
Hear our cries, O God.

Of forests and mists.

Mt. Babag, Guadalupe, Cebu City.

Sunday Lessons: Let God decide how. Let God decide when.

"There is a God who knows all things."

Last year, a friend and I booked a roundtrip ticket to Davao City. We excitedly listed down the places we would visit, the food we would taste, the landmarks we would see. Everything was set...until a problem with our work schedule arose and to cut the long story short, we had to cancel the trip.

Fast forward to November when a pharmaceutical company was hosting a continuing education program in--guess what--Davao City. Yes, I hoped, but I didn't really expect to be sent there--that would be too good to be true.

Yep, I was sent to Davao for that seminar.

God works like that. When our plans don't coincide with His, He asks us to let Him take over the steering wheel. Yes, it might be frustrating. It might be painful to throw away those perfectly laid-out plans, those carefully-devised dreams. But if we have faith in Him, we are assured that what He has in store for us is so much bigger, so much greater than what we have imagined.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart 

and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways submit to Him,

and He will make your paths straight."

                               - Proverbs 3:5-6

When God intervenes with your plans, let Him. He will always, always give you something better, something greater.

Let go. Let God.

Goodbye, August.

There's so much to say about how amazing August has been this year--so much that if photographs fail to express the awesomeness, words fail even more.