instagram photos for january 2014

sharing these photos of my january. and fyi, january 5 is my birthday. God has been really good. through a lot of issues and struggles He has been faithful. 

january has come and gone and a lot of prayers has been answered. there are still some major ones that are lining up but whatever His answer to those heart-felt requests i know he has his purpose. i have been constantly reminded of this by the person i love that God's ways are not ours and that we just have to trust him.

i do trust him. i am learning to trust more. like the lady in the bible with a sick son that said to Jesus, "i have faith, help me to believe more"!

so here goes some of my january ig (@bossy11) moments. 

1. local salad from bee farm in bohol (i did not eat all of that cause i was thinking that those purple and yellow flower grows in my backyard and for 30 something years i never thought they were edible!) 2. selfie, bro-in-law took me and sister to a wonderful dinner 3. sister  4. alona beach in panglao  

5. some randome fire dancers by the beach one night 6. birthday dinner with two sister and bro-in-law 7. teaching korean guests our native tinikling dance 8. late birthday dinner with my d-group ladies (so blessed to have them in my life!

9. up on a railing in singli mountain resort in cebu 10. selfie, post manny paquaio dinner 11. journaling in bo's coffee, while waiting for my meeting buddies to arrive 12. ate lanie and bachochay

13. margie and i (yin and yang. lol) 14. my lovely cutie pie niece (fruit/watermelon ninja @ 5 mos.) 15. a tbt photo. dinner with two sis where i ordered wayyyyyy much more than i usually have! 16. braided hair by emelyn dearie!

first red lips selfie! haha

another throwback photo. this was during my sister's wedding.

flappy bird, grrrr.

please don't tell me I am not the only one affected by a flappy bird. say, you're with me please.  i wanna know if i am still normal. 

i have installed and uninstalled this app for more than once. 

all i can say is that, if you wanna learn to be patient, this can be your therapy (just beware. bwahaha). if you have anger management issues though, stay away

wanna know my highest score? (i bet you were silently saying, no! lol) well, im telling you anyway, it's 7. believe me you'll have felt a lot of emotion before you get to that score. haha. 

silaob 2014

it is always a challenge to design a program or event that will be celebrated every year. but the youth leaders of mactan cathedral of faith kick started this event called SILAOB. the words means AFLAME. it was and will be a Feast of sorts. the idea was that during the Old Testament times (biblical times) the israelites has always celebrated  important moments by having feast. so they reason, why don't we do that. God is faithful - it is a HUGE reason  for celebration. thus, SILAOB.

it is a celebration of the young people's passion for Jesus Christ! a jubilatio of His goodness and faithfulness! an expression of the mcof youth's desire to reach out and spread His love in all of their community and prayerfully, beyond that. 

here are some photos courtesy of adams pepito

concept by: richard, photo courtesy of dianne

worship time

margie & bachochay. notice the "anapog-filled" background, it will be flattened & paved soon

izhar did what izhar do best: amaze people!

  

cindy's first time to challenge her youth members to not be shy to testify about their faith

future pastor?

braving the crowd. overcoming shyness for the Lord!

waka-waka eh eh? 

:-))))))))

sweet & renee 

reflections

prayers

AJ shares God's Word

Add caption

clean up time!

1 Timothy 4:12

12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.

dinner date with manny pacquio

tonight is a great night. i cannot sleep until i have written something down about what happened.

stairway decorated in preparation for chinese new year!

 this was supposed to be an ordinary night. I got the pork out and readied the corn that i am going to prepare for dinner. i was just waiting for maria and while the pork is thawing on the sink, i turned on you tube to my favorite 30 minute full body work out.

listening to pacquio's testimony

i was not even done with the first leg warm ups when my phone rang and margie was asking telling me to get ready because we are going to have dinner with Manny Pacquio. yeps, THE Manny Pacquio. the one that has won 8 world division championships in boxing. i was at first hesitant because earlier i already said no as my budget wont allow me to have this date with Pacquio. but margie was insistent that we already have a ticket so i dressed hastily (5-6 mins) and then i am off. 

the dinner was held in the beautiful Marco Polo Plaza, Cebu. it was a very nice place. when we got there people were already eating and after saying hi's and hello's to some friends, we proceed to our dinner. 

we had this, "should-we-eat-dinner-first-or-should-we-take-pictures-now?" conversation but in the end our shyness won over and we finished dinner without one snap. it was a delicious one but also the fastest buffet dinner that I've had for a long time. 

please don't worry. i really did eat dinner. this was dessert. and no, i'm not deiting. lol

a confession. i am not really manny pacqiou's fan. every time he has a fight i tend to side with the opponent rationalizing that "poor-opponent-guy-is-gonna-get-knocked-down" real soon anyway. and also i was thinking that there will really come a time that manny would soon lose to someone. i mean he cant be champion forever right?

I was among the many in Christ-believing community, of course, that was very happy that manny has confessed that he has believed in Jesus Christ already and is a born-again christian. 

but i tell you that not until tonight, when i heard him talked about his new found faith (3 years is still new, right?) that i was utterly convinced that he is not just "doing Christianity" as a new hobby. when he talks, it is apparent how much he loves God and is trying to convey to his listeners the same love that he felt for his Saviour. it was really amazing.

he talks about being so hungry for God's word that he wanted to have bible study everyday. he said he comes home from his daily training more excited because he is going to be studying the word of God! he testified about how he nearly lost his wife and ending his life (rhyming there!) because he felt that he has no purpose anymore but that God found him and first talked to him in his dreams. that  dream was the reason he seek pastors/teachers to help him understand the Bible. he then studied the word of God with passion and curiosity and open-mindedness and slowly understood what his real purpose in life is.

finally! a picture with the champ himself! (left-right) I, Jore, Pacman, & Margie

he is a very simple and ordinary looking man. he speaks with such conviction and confessed that the only thing that keeps him going is knowing that God loves him and has died for him.

was dissatisfied with our photo op with pacman, so we have to do this. margie & i.

despite his millions, his houses, his cars, his fame, his authority, his ability to knocked down his opponents in the ring - everything that almost a lot of people wants and longs for - he remained unfulfilled, he was unsatisfied and is overwhelmed with discontentment - until he found everything that he did not know he was looking when he surrendered his life in Jesus Christ!

tonight, i am very blessed. i am encouraged. 

marco polo plaza hotel lobby

and i promise i will cheer for manny pacquio with all my heart in his next fight. 

HAPPY NEW 2014 YEAR!!!

i spent my new year's eve with my sister and bro-in-law and their friends, selchuck and regina in alona northland resort. we had a simple dinner which my bro-in-law prepared sweated over (according to him.lol).

waldorf salad

rib eye steak

almonds for the waldorf

potato salad

the child in some of us

pancakes with ice cream and special sauce that  was surprisingly  fresh and has burst of flavors when it hits your mouth. I admit that this one caught me by surprise. i have prejudices against pancakes. they're only supposed to be for breakfast!

les and regina

from l-r: regina, selchuck, I, les & carsten

some fireworks  watching  on the terrace.

still trying to practice capturing fireworks shot

i am blessed that God has given me the family and friends that i have now - i'm grateful and hopeful today as we turn the page to all the experiences 2014 holds for me. and like most people i want to be excited and prepared for what God has in store for me this year. 

through the changing years and seasons in my life. the ups and downs. the easy and the hard. the expected and the unexpected. in want and in plenty. disappointments and problems... one thing remain constant - God is faithful. he remains the the strength or my heart and my portion forever.

p.s

boss, you help calm my anxiety and tendency to over think everything by reminding me of the simple reality that "He who promised is faithful."

unread books

each little girl has something that she values, something that she treasures and kept to herself. something that she hold close to her chest when she goes to sleep… she puts on her lap when she eats and she carefully tucks or hide away from prying eyes and hands of a sibling when she takes a bath

as I girl the only thing that i kept is not a ragged doll, not a barbie, not even a cute hair tie. i kept tattered copies of hardy boys and nancy drew’s in my chest cabinet, the old looking ones that opens upwards and not side wards.

i remember that i have been sooo hooked with reading before; anything and everything that is written in english. just like what a lot of people say, books and written materials open up a whole new world for me. a world full of possibilities; nice places, smart people, amazing characters and heroes, they made me yearn for more. those made me want for more.

i read and re-read books that were available to me. i even remember scavenging a partly burnt book at the backyard of one of the bigger houses that was a kilometer away from our house. i felt that it was such a great waste seeing piles and piles of charcoal colored things that was once (I imagined) amazing reads.

when i was in college, i did not have enough financial support from my family; so i became a working student and was immediately assigned to cleaning the dining hall. that did not appeal one bit to my sensibilities. So i requested to be transferred to the school library. thankfully, there was an opening and i was absorbed right away. in this place again my love for the written word was given gigantic satisfaction. working students were only allowed to work three hours each day and get paid for P12.00 each hour; this was deducted directly to our tuition. i had work more than my share because i always volunteer to take the place of whoever cannot do their shift. in the end it was the school who owed me money! lol. it was an amazing time.

why, i’d be asked, am i drooling on and on and on about old books?

simply because now i am staring at about fifteen unread books or more on my book shelf and i do not have the slightest idea on how am i going to finish reading all of them! work has taken so much of my time.

okay, fine, internet and cell phone has taken so much of my free time. there’s this temptation called face book, instagram and youtube and surfing through blogs that has me neglecting my favorite hobby and comfort before.

never again….

****  ****  **** 

special shout out to Hazel Claire Navales - happy birthday sweetix!!!

cafe mocha, inferno & spirituality

instagram photo: @bossy11

one afternoon at the foot of a mountain with sister. quiet and very rare times we hang out. while we  were there, there was this really beautiful sunset hiding behind a column of clouds but i had no evidence of it because my phone chose to die on me... still this was nice (even though nice is a shapeless words sometimes. lol)

****  ****  ****

Christian character is shaped less by your big dramatic decisions than by the cumulative impact of thousands of small acts of simple obedience. – Clare De Graaf

Big Problems. Big Answers.

"sometimes  greatest answer to prayer happens when you have no place to go to but God".   carol cymbala

big problems. big answers.

bad reports. dreams crushed. hope lost. the perfect time for God to do his work.

the impossibility of our situation means nothing to God. he delights in bringing answer when all we see are obstacles. he does some of his best work when there is no money, no time, no hope, no way out.

are you at the point of giving  up? have you done everything humanly possible to solve the problem but you feel there is still no answer? its too big for you to fix, too overwhelming to handle, too much to bear.

fall on your knees before God. you have nowhere else to turn. then, that's just the time when God says to you, relax my daughter. It isn't over until i say it's over.

big problems.require big answers. and that's God specialty. 

by: sarah young

****  **** ****

trusting God's greatness and faithfulness is a process that i still need to learn over and over again.

#yolanda ph

in light of what has happened in our country this song has been in my heart, a comfort. a reminder that despite all the horrible things that has happened God is still God.

"God is too wise to be mistaken

God is too good to be unkind

So when you don't understand

When don't see his plan

When you can't trace his hand

Trust His Heart"

i could not even begin to describe the calamity that has struck the country because of typhoon haiyan (locally known as yolanda). there was a talk of storm surge with supposedly waters that would reach up to 6 meters high but according to news reporters that were there the announcements could not even compared what the real storm surge is. abs-cbn news reported that the water from the ocean literally swallowed up most of the city of tacloban, then go back to the sea and back again. tacloban is the only most reported place that was destroyed but in reality leyte and samar has 40 something baranggays in coastal areas. these has not been reported and few have only been visited because the roads are impassable.

one of the island hit by the typhoon, bantayan islan (photo from FB friend)

blah. i could go on and repeat all the stuff that has already been reported and is circling arounf in FB about what is going on now not only in leyte and samar but also in bantayan island and capiz, etc. 

it is heart breaking to watch the news. even opening my FB page is not so pleasant and fun anymore because of all this reports of what is happening in the visayas area. 

this video is from ABS-CBN aftermath assessment of the damage the typhoon made in the city of tacloban

i remember sitting in front of our windows during the time the typhoon's landfall and saying, "well that wasn't so bad after all" because cebu city is "spared". i did not know that major lives has already been taken by that horrific typhoon in other islands.

i saw one post on the internet 2 days before typhoon haiyan/yolanda was to make landfall that said, "what is all the ruckus about, who needs the Philippines anyway'!

US Medical Mission Team arrive in tacloban city! (photo from FB)

my goodness! i could not believe that someone really thinks that way. our country is not just a far away asian country!  it is a country of people. people with souls. families. communities. children. goodness, innocent children!

 i can't go on!

i made such a dramatic comeback in WW. it's been a while since i last posted because i was really busy.

but right now asking for everyone's prayer and help is one of the few things i can do for my beloved people.

on a lighter note: bohol island who has suffered a devastating 7.2 magnitude earthquake is now back on it's feet slowly recovering from the havoc that the quake cause. panglao island survived that calamity unscathed.

here's a few photos:

Alona Northland Resort

Balicasag Island near Panglao (taken by cousin Aqui Reyes)

Sister in Balicasag Island taken by Aqui Reyes

fun in Panglao by Aqui Reyes

Here's how you can help : Post from CNN

the single woman

an excerpt from the book : by Mandy Hale

“The Single Woman:Life, Love and a Dash of Sass”

She is…“The Single Woman”

She might be the bravest woman I know.

She walks the unaccompanied path. She has her own back. She asks for no favors. Not an ounce of independence does she lack.

She has moments where she feels as though no one sees her. She feels them LOOK at her, but do they really SEE her? She gets catcalls when she walks down the street…yet she goes to bed alone.

She’s not afraid to change her mind…but petrified to change a tire. She makes her own decisions…but can’t make toast without burning it. Her idea of a three course meal is a Lean Cuisine. There are shoes in her cupboard where flour and sugar are supposed to be.

She’s sassy and feisty to those she meets…but some nights her tears fall on empty sheets.

She has moments where she KNOWS she’s beautiful…and moments where she doubts everything about herself.

She screws up…a lot. She stumbles and she falls. She gets it wrong as often as she gets it right. But she never gives up the fight.

She has bad hair days. She’ll buy a new dress at Target and pray it passes for something a little fancier. Some months she struggles to make her rent and her car payment in the same month. Because she bought too many shoes? Sometimes. But the only pair of designer shoes she has in her collection are a pair of Christian LaCroix that she got half off at a sidewalk sale.

Sometimes her friends let her down. They don’t always say the right things. And the elusive “One That Got Away”? She has days when still can’t cut the strings.

She has moments of panic where she wonders if her Prince Charming got lost somewhere, or decided to settle instead for another less complicated, less stubborn, less independent princess. Sometimes she doesn’t know where she’s going until she gets there.

She hasn’t got it all figured out…far from it, in fact.

But she loves God and she loves to dance…and she’s her own “Better Half.”

The bravest woman I know?

She is the reason I do what I do.

She is The Single Woman.

She’s me…and she’s you.