Archive for the Category »God moments «

08
Mar
Faithfulness
thammie128

I am reposting this note written by our friend David. I am amazed at this young man’s wisdom–it is well beyond his years and his experience. I am sure a lot of couples have a lot to learn from this single guy (hopefully, single not for long David!).

“Faithfulness is not not-cheating. Not cheating is not cheating. We cannot define a principle by what it is not. Faithfulness is being firm in allegiance. In other words, being faithful is more than not cheating, it means being completely devoted. And unfaithfulness is not just cheating, it is not being completely devoted.

And what is devotion? It is simply the dedication of our lives to a purpose – or to a person.

My prayer is not that I won’t be unfaithful. My prayer is that I will be firm in my devotion.”

This is my prayer, too— to be completely devoted and to be firm in my devotion…first to God, then my husband, and then the rest of my family. This means that my choices should reflect these priorities. This means that the way I choose to handle my time, the way I live each day, the manner in which I serve and relate to my husband, how I conduct myself whether or not I am in front of my kids…even the thoughts that I allow to run through my head, and the emotions I allow myself to feel— all these should be aligned to this devotion that I say I have towards them.

If more husbands and wives understand faithfulness in this light, wow there will surely be less counseling cases, less fights, less talk on divorce…and a lot of better marriages and more kids who are secure in their families.

Lord, help me to be totally devoted to you. May you always be my first love….and let your unconditional love overflow through me, to those around me. As I devote the rest of my life to knowing and experiencing more of you, and as I look to you and fix my eyes on you, may you continually teach me and show me more and more how it is to love and respect my husband, and to train and shepherd my children.

:)

Category: God moments, marriage, parenting  Tags: , , , ,  Leave a Comment
07
Jan
My Morning @ ANC
thammie128

Talk about a way to start a whole new me in a whole new world this whole new year! :)

Yesterday, I appeared on live television for the very first time. LIVE. One-on-one. Impromptu. TV… Everything that would easily give me more than enough reasons to go with my natural inclination to just shrink back and stay in my comfort zone. Everything would be so much easier for me if i just say no, right? But I didn’t shrink back. I did it. Instead of getting undisturbed sleep and waking up relaxed I chose what I consider to be a very tension-filled path. I chose to say yes. Please don’t ask me why because I really do not know. :)

Everything happened so fast, really. I was about to have a lovely dinner date with my husband, when I got a call from Wendie of ANC. I couldn’t really hear her so well. Now, I’m not sure if it was really noisy, or if there was something wrong with my phone, or if it was just my subconscious really not wanting to hear properly. :) Anyway, all I understood was if I was willing to be interviewed on ANC about parenting. At that point I found myself saying yes and asking Wendie if she could text me the details of the show (it really was hard to hear her). Embarrassing as it may be, I really had no clue about the show since we don’t have cable at home. As soon as I put down the phone, I told dennis “Did I just say yes??? Why did I do that???”…but then I thought it couldn’t be that bad, anyway they’d be taping then editing it, and there would probably be someone in the panel who would dominate the conversation and I’d have no chance to speak so I’d be safe, they might even already give me a set of guide questions to prepare me for the interview….and then I received Wendie’s text message. It was to be aired live, there would be no panel…..which meant I would have to speak and I would not be safe after all…and the worst thing, no guide questions!! Why in the world did I say yes??!!?

Still, I knew if I backed out something inside me wouldn’t shut up. There would always be that voice saying “what if??”. I have been asking God to use me in whatever way He wanted, to use even my blogs to somehow help other moms and women. I have told God numerous times to stretch me and increase my level of faith in Him…so it just wouldn’t make much sense for me to not think of this as something that God has orchestrated.

To make the long story short, I stuck by my decision and started my day yesterday with the very unreal scene of an ABS-CBN vehicle parked outside my house to pick me up (given, I got dressed and read my Bible already). On the way to the studio I texted only a handful of people to pray for me, those who I knew would really pray and more importantly, would not have the chance to watch me live. :D

There were three things I was really worried about: One was not being able to articulate myself well, another was not being able to say what I’m supposed to say (what they’d ask me and what God would want me to answer), and third was how I’d look since I’ve been sleeping at 2 or 3 AM for the past month, up until the other night. Ladies, you can very well relate to the third concern right?? pimples! eyebags! Oh my…!!!

When I got there, I went into the make-up room. At this point I was still hoping that they’d prep me about the whole flow of the interview and that I’d get to meet the host, Lexi Schulze before the start of the show. Well, I did get to meet Lexi, but it was right before the interview itself. It was during the break, when I already had to put on my mic and get ready to go on air. Still, the question, Why did you have to say yes??!? was on my mind. I think I even said it out loud at some point.

Oh yes. I almost forgot I said I was going to make the story short. Sorry.

So there, I found myself sitting in front of the camera, in front of Lexi Schulze, answering questions and sharing stories…it was all so vague….and then before I knew it the longest fifteen minutes of my life was over! It was finished and I survived. The interview was over, I was off the air…and I was still alive! :)

Until now, I really do not know why I said yes. And you know what? I think there would be more times when I would have to say yes to something and not understand why. I know there would be more moments when God would have me say yes to something I dread or am fearful of. There would be more instances wherein God would put in situations I am not comfortable with, in places I prefer not to be in, and perhaps even with people I would much rather not be with. But I think it would all be in answer to that prayer I so often utter, “Lord, increase my level of faith in you. Stretch my faith. Deepen my passion for you and your purposes. Mold me and use me however, wherever, whenever you desire. Help me to think about myself less, and live for you more and more.”

I told Dennis this was really not the best time for me to say yes  to God and to step out in faith and say yes to being interviewed. I felt that my mind was not sharp, I felt I looked terrible from all the sleepless nights, I felt exhausted… not at all the best time because I was not at my best self. But then again I realized, this was not about me looking good, this was about me obeying God. And that’s really all there is to it. It is when we stop thinking about how we feel that God uses us beyond our imagination. :)

Allow me to share some words of encouragement I got from the handful who knew:

“Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him,
for he shields him all day long,
and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders.” -Deutoronomy 33:12

“You will keep in perfect peace
all who trust in you,
all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” – Isaiah 26:3

What a way to infuse peace and faith :) thank you so much!

* Thank you to Michelle Orosa, who went to the studio to support me (and take pictures!)…and for the word you texted. I appreciate you.

IMG_0028_13-300x225

** I was supposed to publish this yesterday,but internet was down.

Category: God moments, random  Tags: , , ,  5 Comments
05
Nov
Pins and Needles
thammie128

Over lunch today, I once again had to tell Mika to sit properly. She has this habit of leaning and putting all her weight on one side of her booster seat, which renders her body unstable, causing her legs to also take on an awkward position just to somehow keep her from falling off the seat (in case the seat belt finally gives). She also rarely listens. I have to be the one to move her and show her how to position herself, only to find her shifting her weight again. I usually end up just letting her be, praying that the seat belt doesn’t snap.

Every once in a while, Mika would suddenly cry and complain of having an “owie” on her leg. I would ask her to point to the exact area of her owie, but she would just cry and cry and point to her leg, frustrated and irritated. This has been the case quite a number of times already and so I have figured out that every time this happens, it is a classic case of having pins and needles. :)

Ugh. I hate that– pins and needles. I know how annoying it can be, and I wouldn’t blame her for crying and kicking out of irritation. I can understand that as a toddler, she perceives the sensation as pain and probably doesn’t know how else to explain whatever it is she is feeling on her leg. I also know that there’s not much you can do about those temporarily-impinged nerves, except maybe shaking the affected limb to help hasten the conduction of nerve impulses and help bring them back to their normal state. But then again, even that is still not comfortable since it would actually heighten the sensation momentarily until everything goes back to normal.

So earlier, that’s what I did. While Mika was all “distressed” from the pins and needles and not knowing what it was that she was really feeling on her leg, I remained calm, because I knew what it was and that it was temporary and a normal part of how our bodies work. I gently held her leg but when I tried to shake it while assuring her it would be okay, she cried all the more and hit me, thinking that I was trying to hurt her some more.

And then it hit me– a lot of times we cry and get frustrated because of some discomfort we’re going through in life and we don’t know how else to perceive it but to think of it as being painful and confusing. We cry and we complain and when God– knowing that it is all part of this thing called life, knowing that what we are going through is temporary, and knowing how to hasten the process of “healing”—when God calmly tries to shake whatever it is that is causing the discomfort off, we cry all the more and get annoyed at Him for not helping ease our pain. Sometimes we think He’s not even doing anything about our situation. But in actuality, He just knows better. :)

Category: Feeding Times, God moments  5 Comments
23
Oct
One Empty Cup Please!
thammie128

Lately I have noticed that it’s been very hard to get Mika to drink water. I’m not really a water person either (I’d rather save the space in my stomach so I could eat more :) ), but since I came across some articles on what water really does and what can happen to our bodies when we don’t drink enough of it, I got a little bit alarmed and I am now trying to get into the habit of drinking H2O (after 26 years of existence, it is just now that I realize my science teachers were not exaggerating after all). I even put it as a wall paper on my cell phone as a reminder for me.

My point was, I think my two daughters took on that bad habit. And since I have come to realize the error of my ways, I’ve been trying extra hard to get them to drink water.

So far so good with Alyanna. All I have to do is make it a prerequisite to everything she’d like to do or to have. For example, earlier I was having fresh buko juice over breakfast. Now juice–whether fresh or not, both girls really like. So I was not surprised when both of them started begging me for juice. I gave both of them the condition that I would give them fresh, yummy juice, if they finished their water. I told them that I needed them to empty their cups for me to be able to use the same cups for the juice.

Alyanna immediately took her cup filled with water and gulped down every drop, excited for the juice. Mika, on the other hand, still refused to drink water (even if it was just an ounce or two). Instead, she started whining and kept saying “joo! joo! pu joo!”, gesturing that I pour some juice into her cup. I kept telling her, “Drink your water so I can put juice in your cup.”, but she just didn’t seem to get it. The whining started to turn into a cry of frustration because she was not getting what she wanted. My point was just, “Empty your cup so I could fill it with what you really want.”

As we were going through that whole scene, a thought popped into my head. It was actually a very familiar scene that I was in. I realized that when it comes to our walk with God, many times we start whining and crying out to God, sometimes out of frustration for not getting our desires met. We think “But Lord, I’ve been a good daughter!”, “If you really love me, why couldn’t you just give me this thing that I’ve been asking for?”, “I know that what I’m praying for is according to your will naman, how come I’m still not getting it?”

…and God just looks at us and says, “Because you don’t get it. I just want you to empty your cup. Only then could I fill it with the best thing that would really satisfy you.” :)

glass-of-water

Category: Feeding Times, God moments  Tags: ,  5 Comments
22
Aug
It Never Gets Old
thammie128

We just had our Victory Weekend today. Victory Weekend is a seminar designed to help believers understand the fullness of their freedom in Christ and the benefits of church life.

It’s always powerful seeing men and women whose lives are changed by the truth of the Gospel– We are sinners. We need God. Christ died on the cross to pay for the penalty of our sins and to make available to us that wonderful, eternal relationship with the Lord, our Maker.

I’ve attended Victory Weekend quite a number of times already but for me, it just never gets old. There will always be an “ouch, that’s me” point, or that “ahh…yes” moment. Whenever I have to teach a couple of sessions there will always be that healthy tension and it always feels like the first time. It is also another time for me to once again check my heart and ask “What is the Lord dealing with in my life now?”.

I don’t think there will ever come a time when I could say that I’m “there” already, that I’ve got it figured out. Just when I think that I’m okay in one area of my life, God makes me realize that there’s so much more to improve on, so much more to learn from Him and those around me. :)

Category: God moments  Tags: , , ,  2 Comments
07
Jul
A Dozen Nice Things About Me:
thammie128

I was browsing through some books earlier when I saw this in one of the devotionals: “Write at least a dozen nice things about yourself from your Heavenly Father’s perspective”. I paused and thought about it for a moment as I tried to come up with a list…

…………………The “moment” took longer than I thought…..and the list never came up! I was stuck. I knew I’ve done this before, when I would come up with a “godly” perspective about other people to encourage them and motivate them (and sometimes even so I could better understand them)…but today I was stuck. What was usually an easy thing to do for other people became quite difficult when it came to coming up with a list for myself.

Is this generally the case for most wives and moms (women)? Or is it just me? :)

…..Maybe with all the things I feel I have to think about daily, I just haven’t been able to turn on that part of my brain that was wired to think of these lovely things about myself…or maybe I was just trained this way, to not think of nice qualities about myself for fear that I would become proud. Hmm…. either way, it’s not a good thing. I need to start re-wiring and re-training my brain.

“Finally, brothers [sisters], whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” -Philippians 4:8

I think THAT, combined with THIS:

“…Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”- Romans 12:3

…..it would be just the thing to help me come up with that list, and give thanks to my Father. :)

Category: God moments, random  3 Comments
17
Jun
Am I Standing Still?
thammie128

It was Alyanna’s first day in school today! Again, someone blessed her this year with some sort of a “scholarship” if there is such a thing in preschool! :)

Alyanna has been looking forward to “studying” all summer long. Everyday, she would ask me to “study” with her. Last week it was Dennis who got a lot of her “Let’s study in the second floor” requests (second floor=her playroom). I overheard Dennis telling her in reply, “Alyanna,you’ll be going to school na next week. You can then study ALL you want! So now let’s just rest and play.” (Note: most of the time, Dennis somehow finds a way to incorporate his WWE collection into their play activities–amazing! Maybe instead of Barbie having tea time, it’s Undertaker and Hulk Hogan. hehe…peace love! I appreciate you!)

This morning she woke up at six and was so enthusiastic already even though I told her to go sleep some more since we didn’t have to leave the house until 8:30. She was all dressed up and ready to go by seven!

When we got to the school, there was no parking space available so I told her to go on ahead and I would just go up to be with her as soon as I found a space where I could park . She agreed without making a fuss, knowing I wanted to go with her but just couldn’t park anywhere yet. (ALYANNA: “Okay mom…because you need to find parking space first?”)

After a few more minutes I was finally able to park and so I went to her classroom. Since today was the first day of classes, parents were actually allowed to stay inside the classroom and watch our kids in action. When I got inside, I found Alyanna in the middle of all the classroom (with 16 kids all under 3.5 y/o! plus nannies and parents and some siblings!), standing still and quietly watching all the chaos going on around her. Some were actually bumping into her (kids AND adults) while finding their places, but still, she stood there, silently absorbing everything she could in her new environment. Her teachers were prompting her to move and to sit down, but even when everyone else was sitting down, she stayed in her place, waiting for me to show up. I was hiding because I wanted to watch her and I knew once she saw me she would run to me and possibly not participate in class anymore. She was literally the only one left standing–very still. I wish I could post a video or picture now to show you her “waiting-on-my-mommy-to-rescue-me-from-this-awkward-and-unfamiliar-situation” look, but unfortunately something’s wrong with my page and I couldn’t (not now anyway).

Almost the entire first half of her time in class, Alyanna remained in her stance…until she finally saw me behind this one big daddy. At that moment her stance changed and became upright, and her face lit up as she called out “mommy!” while motioning towards me to hug me.

Psalm 46:10a “Be still and know that I am God…”

Today God showed me a beautiful picture of how it is to be still and wait on God. It’s different if we really KNOW who said those words “be still”. For Alyanna, she knows ME–she knows that to the best of my abilities, I will do what I say I will do for her. This made it easier for her to be still and wait….and trust that I will show up even if it took me longer than expected. And that’s just me–human me, who fails to deliver a lot of times.The beautiful thing about waiting on God is that He IS God. He ALWAYS delivers. :)

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2Peter 3:9

PS: After she saw me, she did run to me, but contrary to what I expected, she became super participative afterwards! :)

Category: God moments  Tags: , , ,  One Comment