The thrills of Balikbayan Box

Opening a "Balik-bayan" box give us all a thrill, especially if it comes from your loved-one, you are expecting something beautiful and wonderful items along with your spirit on a joyful mode and no one can steal that from you... that moment of excitement! I had always been thankful to my Sister Rose's generosity for us in giving gifts and most importantly reviving in us the thrills of opening the Balik-bayan box!

Balik-bayan box has always been apart of our family, a tradition established by my father from Saudi with love, a legacy that my father imprinted in our heart.  I have always been a fan of him not only because he's my father but also without any degree he keeps his family from starving to death, he keeps his hardworking spirit and go to unfamiliar place to work there.  Time and existence is my father's investment to keep going in life there in a hot-weather place in middle east.  But the Lord is so good he bless my father so that my father is also a blessing not only to his immediate family but to other as well, like relatives, neighbors and family friends.  My father is not around anymore yet his spirit live in us.  From my father to my mother in Kuwait, then my three eldest sister's in Japan and now in my own family.

But the thrills of excitement is also the tears of absence obviously because of missing your loved-one. I remember our pastor said that it is the stigma of an Overseas Filipino Worker family the thrills and tears, the two opposite extreme feeling yet embrace by the same virtue.

Kudos to all the OFW and their family! God bless you more than you ever imagine!

Love at first Light

Singapore's National Day Parade Theme Song "Love at first Light"

The very thing I will never forget about Singapore is their love of music.  Singapore & I are really connected in this area, I remember watching their daily TV drama in the afternoon entitled "A Song to Remember", a journey of different folks in a different walk of life that comes together in a temporary hiding place where they share same struggle and victory in life.  

Lyrics of this song

First light, rolls across my peaceful isle. 

Mornings, I wake up refreshed, renewed. 

Ready to meet the bright new day, so much to look forward to..

Daylight, the city has stirred to life. 

Your smiles put a spring in my step. 

There's a feeling that binds us once and all. 

Different stories, shared memories.

CHORUS: 

I know my cities lively ways, warm sunny days. 

Sights and sounds special taste that add up to this place. 

I know my friends my closest ties. 

Now, I finally realized when it feels this right, 

you know that it's Love At First Light.

Night falls, stars twinkling on the bay. 

My dreams can take flight if I dare. 

There's a feeling that binds us once and all. 

We look forward to a brighter day...

(Repeat Chorus)

My Palawan Getaway

In my lonely days of being away from my children, I almost started to have an emotional breakdown. For the very first time of my children's life I was physically detached from them. But I thought God is so good that He help me how to learn to be alone and cope with it. I was too indulge in every details of my children's life and I know that this is the time to not focus on them anymore, I have to freely allowed them to experienced what life has to offer. During those days, God gave me an opportunity to see His wonderful creation, through the company of the Woman of Worth Ministry, this is a group who minister the women in our church, who are not only focus on bible study alone but the total welfare of woman. I love this group, even though we are in different age bracket, each and everyone has it's own story to tell the only common in us is that we love God. In short, I was given the opportunity to travel in Coron, Palawan. This is a very memorable experience of my life since it is packed with so many first things in my life. This is my first time to travel through a passenger ship, my first time to board on what they called RORO, my first time to sleep on board with big waves ahead of our ship. My first time to do an island hoping, so many islands big and small, each has it's own distinct shapes and beauty, makes me see the wonder of God's nature not only in picture but actually experiencing it. My first time to swim in a 15-30 ft. lake, but of course with life jacket. My first time to feel and see corals down-under and see so many fishes I swim with. My first time to see a real white beach and with fantastic clear water. First time I see a hot spring overflowing throughout the sea. The experience is so overwhelming that I can't even describe the feeling. This Island is a manifestation of how God's love the Philippines. I can say that my Coron, Palawan getaway is a superb experience, I will never forget this stunning beauty of nature, a memory worth to keep. My heart now is full of joy!

On Children by Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Audience of ONE

Everybody look for man's applause because it gives them the sense of pride, they try to be rich to gain respect and fame. But these are chasing after the wind according to Solomon a servant of GOD. We can not please everybody, it can only make you sad and weary, because people around us is never ever be satisfied in everything we do because no man can fill that satisfaction only GOD can. Instead of pleasing man, please God, it's a worthy thing to do beside it is our main duty in life, this is the very reason why we live here on Earth.

I would like to share with you a song that says it all...

(Lyrics with video link)

"AUDIENCE OF ONE"

I

It's such a strong temptation
to live for man's applause
But I don't want to buy into the lie
'cause I know that's not a worthy cause

So to keep things in perspective,
I hung a sign up on the wall.
The sign is nothing special,
but it really says it all.


CHORUS

And the sign says
I'll be content to serve an audience of ONE
Only His approval counts
when all is said and done.

And this is my prayer,
when the race is finally run,
I want to hear "Well done"
from the audience of ONE.


II

When the drive for recognition
starts to get the best of me
All I've got to do is look around
at the people serving selflessly.

And they don't serve for glory,
and they're not keeping score
There's a sign that's written on their hearts,
a sign I've seen before.

(Repeat Chorus)

(Bridge)

In the not-too-distant future
when the crowds all fade away
I'll stand alone before my Lord
and this is what I long to say.

I'm overjoyed
to serve an audience of One
It's what I've been created for
ever since day one

And this is my song,
as I bow before Your throne
I love to hear "Well done"
from the audience of One

So this will be my prayer,
'till the race is finally run,
I want to hear "Well done"
I long to hear "Well done",

I want to hear "Well done"
from the audience of One.
Ohhh...

Audience of ONE!

(...then fade...)



--------------------------
Here's the link
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx9gpGlANNQ">


tgbtg

My Spiritual Gifts

In my journey as a Christian I find myself like wandering in the fields because sometimes I can't contain all God's blessing in my life since it is so enormous as it was but I was wrong I just can't, because God is so big that you can't box it that way. That's why even in the bible most of the people involved and prophets of God are still struggling because God is so big yet he is very prominent in details of life. Until God gives me the knowledge that he loves me just as I am, that He works according to my SHAPE in reference to Rick Warren's purpose driven life SHAPE means Spiritual Gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality and Experience in life. Until I came to know my Spiritual Gift and it is so true and showed some evidence in my life.

As I undergone some test to know my spiritual gifts, I was happy that I've finally aware of it and it gives me more drive in my life, a guide wherein I have to put my best in every situations and decisions I make. It's very refreshing to know some facts that I am most valuable at.

My Spiritual Gifts are the following....

(Please print these pages for a permanent record of your analysis.)
Share the Spiritual Gifts Analysis with others:
Spiritual Gifts
Strength
Evangelism 10
Prophecy 7
Teaching 13
Exhortation 14
Pastor/Shepherd 14
Showing Mercy 18
Serving 12
Giving 9
Administration 13
About Your Spiritual Gifts

Spiritual gifts are tools God gives Christians to do the work of the ministry -- to fulfill the Great Commission to reach, baptize, and teach and to minister to one another. Every Christian receives at least one gift at the moment of salvation. Spiritual gifts are not rewards, are not natural talents, are not a place of service, are not an age-group ministry, and are not a specialty ministry. They express themselves through various ministries which, in turn, accomplish a variety of results. A spiritual gift is the primary channel by which the Holy Spirit ministers through the believer. It is a supernatural capacity for service to God -- and He gives you a supernatural desire to perform the duties of that gift. Spiritual gifts are tools for building the church. They are a source of joy in your Christian life and influence your motives. A spiritual gift is a divine calling with a divine responsibility, because what God has gifted you to do, He has called you to do, and what He has called you to do, He has gifted you to do.
Three categories of spiritual gifts exist.

CATEGORY ONE: The Miraculous Gifts, generally known today as Charismatic Gifts (apostles, tongues, interpretation of tongues, healing, and miracles).

CATEGORY TWO: The Enabling Gifts, which all Christians have the ability to develop (faith, discernment, wisdom, and knowledge -- qualities possessed rather than activities performed). Many scholars combine these gifts with others, based on the similarity of these gift characteristics and the synonyms used by Paul to describe them in Scripture. For example, some scholars combine Discernment with Prophecy, Knowledge with Teaching, Wisdom with Exhortation, and Hospitality with Serving.

CATEGORY THREE: the Team Gifts, which are service-, ministry-, task-oriented or are activities performed such as teaching. The Team Gifts are functional and involve speaking or ministering. Chances are, you have several of these gifts that vary in degrees and intensity. In many cases, spiritual gifts may complement your secular employment.
The Spiritual Gifts Analysis you took identified your dominant TEAM GIFTS, which will help find your place on God's team in your church. Prayer and serving God will also help you see where God wants you to serve in ministry in your church and daily life. This profile gives you a simple bar graph showing your strengths (higher scores, longer bars) and weaknesses (lower scores, shorter bars) as related to spiritual gifts, and analyzes in-depth your dominant and secondary team gifts which are the ones that will have greater influence in your life. These are the areas where you are gifted to be most effective and efficient and in which you will find it easiest to excel.

Your dominant gifts are Showing Mercy, Exhortation, Pastor/Shepherd

The results of your Spiritual Gifts Inventory indicate that your number one dominant gift is MERCY SHOWING! The Greek word "ellco" means to feel sympathy with or for others. As a mercy-shower you have the Spirit-given capacity and desire to serve God by identifying with and comforting those who are in distress. You understand and comfort your fellow Christian. You enter into the grief or happiness of others and have the ability to show empathy which is to feel WITH others, not just for others.
As a mercy-shower you are willing to deal with and minister to people who have needs that most people feel very uncomfortable working with. You seem to say the right thing at the right time. Your personality is likely one of soft-spoken love. It hurts you to scold someone; you are very non-condemning. People love you because of all the love you give them. You find it easy to express yourself and are outgoing with a low-key, inoffensive personality. You are easy to talk to, responsive to people, a good listener, peaceable, and agreeable. You tend to make decisions based on feelings more than fact and like to think about things for a while before making a decision.
In your burden to comfort others, your heart goes out to the poor, the aged, the ill, the underprivileged, and so on. You tend to attract people who are hurting or rejoicing because you identify with them. Be careful not to let others use you. Try not to resent others who are not as understanding as you. Refrain from becoming a gossiper when you are around other mercy-showers. Do not let your circumstances control you. Because of your supernatural ability to show mercy, others accuse you of taking up for people, being a softy and a compromiser. They may think you are too emotional.

Mercy-showers make excellent counselors. However, left untrained, you may destroy yourself by your tendency to take people's problems home with you. Your empathy can become detrimental without personal training on how to deal with it.
Beware of Satan's attack on your gift. He can cause pride because of your ability to relate to others. He may influence you to disregard rules and authority. You may experience a lack of discipline because of strong feeling for those who hurt due to disobedience and sin. Don't fall into Satan's trap of complaining and griping.


HOW CAN YOU USE YOUR GIFT?
Your gift is used best in times of sorrow and in times of great joy. It fits well with another gift of service such as deacon, youth worker or hospital visitation. With a counseling course, you could become a good counselor. You may serve as a hospital, nursing home, or shut-in worker; a funeral coordinator and provider of sympathy and support; or a poverty center worker. You would do well as an usher or greeter and welcome center worker or hospitality person. You may want to work in a telephone ministry. You would make people feel welcome on a newcomer visitation team. Other appropriate ministry areas include missions, committee member, furlough assistance, and correspondence helper. You would work well with the elderly and with people who have mental and physical disabilities, in nursing, and with special ministries to migrants, released offenders or abused children and women.

The results of your Spiritual Gifts Inventory indicate that your second dominant gift is EXHORTATION! The Greek word "parakaleo" means to admonish, to encourage, to beseech. You are a "how to" person. You have the Spirit-given capacity and desire to serve God by motivating others to action by urging them to pursue a course of conduct. In a teaching position, you are able to explain how to apply God's Word. Your goal is to present material that enables the Holy Spirit to promote change in the student's life. You reach out and help Christians become more mature.
As an exhorter you are a very practical person, a good counselor, tolerant of others, serious-minded, orderly, and usually impulsive. You are expressive in a group setting; the group listens when you speak. You are comfortable working one-on-one or in groups. You are enthusiastic and talkative and enjoy encouraging others.

You are burdened to show how Scripture relates to conduct and have a desire to unify people by using practical rather than doctrinal issues. You likely place great importance on God's will and believe that His Word has the answer for every problem. You tend to make decisions logically rather than on feelings and are very orderly.
Be careful not to interrupt other people; your enthusiasm sometimes makes you guilty of this. Others may think you don't use enough Scripture in teaching because you tend to use Scripture to support what you are teaching rather than starting with Scripture.

Unlike teachers, you have the willingness to teach the same material again and again, updating and perfecting it as you do. As a counselor you usually have the ability to leave other people's problems "in the office" rather than letting them drag you down.
Beware of Satan's attack on your gift. He may cause pride in your motivational abilities. He may influence you to lose sight of people because of program emphasis. Don't become discouraged when results are not evident. Be careful not to encourage others to do the wrong things through your persuasive abilities.


HOW CAN YOU USE YOUR DOMINANT GIFT?

You may use your special gift in many areas. You may want to be a leadership trainer. You could certainly serve as a counselor in church or in a counseling center. You could teach in church training or seminars or even small groups. You would make a good telephone ministry worker and would be a tremendous volunteer to follow up with new converts. You would work well as an encourager with those who are discouraged and as a counselor in a drug or alcohol program, rescue mission, poverty program, half-way house or runaway ministry or in a shelter for abused women and children. You could also use your gift in organizing or serving in a Men's or Women's Ministry.

The results of your Spiritual Gifts Inventory indicate that your second dominant gift is PASTORING/SHEPHERDING! The Greek word "poimen" means pastor. In Paul's spiritual gifts listing in Ephesians 4:11, this term is translated "pastor." Although the word "poimen" is translated pastor only one time in Scripture it is used sixteen additional times. The remaining sixteen are all translated "shepherd." Therefore, we are actually discussing the GIFT of shepherding, not the POSITION of pastor. Though a good pastor must have the gift of shepherding, everyone who has the gift of shepherding is not called to be pastor. The gift can be used in many positions in a church.

As a gifted shepherd, you have the Spirit-given capacity and desire to serve God by overseeing, training, and caring for the needs of a group of Christians. You are usually very patient, people-centered, and willing to spend time in prayer for others. You tend to be a "Jack of All and Master of ONE," meaning you are usually dominant in one of the speaking gifts (evangelist, prophet, teacher, exhorter) as well. You are often authoritative, more a leader than a follower, and expressive, composed, and sensitive. Your pleasing personality draws people to you.

You have a burden to see others learn and grow and are protective of those under your care. You want to present the whole Word of God and do not like to present the same materials more than once. You are willing to study what is necessary to feed your group and are more relationship oriented than task oriented. You are a peace-maker and diplomat - very tolerant of people's weaknesses. You tend to remember people's names and faces. You are more concerned with doing for others than others doing for you. You are faithful and devoted and may become a workaholic. You can become an all-purpose person in order to meet needs.

People with the gift of shepherding make the best Sunday school teachers and group leaders because their desire is to go beyond just teaching or leading, to shepherd and minister to the daily needs of their students. The position of Sunday school teacher or group leader is an extension of the pastoral ministry in the church. These groups should be shepherded on a small scale the same as the pastor shepherds the whole congregation on a large scale.

Be careful to involve other people; don't try to do it all yourself. Work on making people accountable. Do not be overly protective of your "flock." Because of these potentially weak areas, other people may think it is your job to do all the work; they rely too heavily on you. You may be expected to be available at all times, know all the answers, and be at every function. Learn when to say no.

Beware of Satan's attack on your gift. He will cause discouragement when the load gets heavy, and pride because your "sheep" look up to you. You may develop family problems because of too little time and attention. You may become selfish when "sheep" feed in other pastures.


HOW CAN YOU USE YOUR GIFT?
This gift is a great help in many areas. You may serve as a Sunday school teacher, small group leader, pastor or assistant pastor, bus captain, special ministry leader (such as youth, children, men, etc.), nursery worker or as a half-way house or other type shelter volunteer. You may consider serving as a dormitory leader in a college, orphanage, children's home, etc. Scout troops would appreciate your assistance as a den leader.

Building an effective team in your church depends on putting the right people in the right places. The best way to determine what place each person belongs in is by determine everyone's spiritual gifts. But, just discovering your spiritual gift is not enough.

Here's the real challenge. Many Christians are asking the question, "What is my spiritual gift?" When in reality they need to be asking, "What is a spiritual gift?" They do not understand the relationships of spiritual gifts. That is, they don't understand how a spiritual gift relates to their life, how it relates to the will of God for their life, how it relates to the lives of those around them, how it relates the local church, or how it relates to the body of Christ as a whole. To give John J. Christian an additional name and make him John J. Exhorter Christian is only doing him an injustice. Having a new name or title does not make you a more effective, more fulfilled, or a better Christian, nor does it give you any more understanding of yourself or those around you. Most contemporary material written on spiritual gifts does an adequate job in helping you recognize, discover, and define what your spiritual gifts are. Also, many do a fine job of teaching on the individual parts of the body, but few complete their teaching by assembling the body, thus showing how church members can work as complementing, effective, and efficient team. Thus, teaching a person only what their spiritual gift is without teaching them what a spiritual gift is, is like giving someone a new tool without giving them the operator's manual. They will never understand it fully nor will they be able to use it to its maximum potential. The same is true with your spiritual gifts.

Now that you have taken this inventory and know what your spiritual gifts are, we encourage you to study the principles that revolve around and relate to spiritual gifts. These principles combined with recognizing your gifts have been proven to dramatically change lives AND build churches. We have many resources available to help you better understand your gifts and how they relate to all areas of your life. Plus, we have resources to equip and assist you in teaching spiritual gifts and biblical team building to others.

it all boils down to GOD

All things on earth has an end and it ends with GOD.

According to the bible that life on earth will perish and goes back to God the Father in heaven, the one who created the earth. It is peaceful to think that GOD will soon reclaim it's creation. We don't have to worry if you are a true believer of God because all that we see ends with him.

Thank you LORD for giving us the chance to see your wonderful works!

reviewing my purpose

it was published before in my other blog called my temporary assignment...

four days ago i was in the midst of chaos because my room is under renovation
(thanks for my mother and my ate lota for the support in renovating it.)

its almost 5 years that i haven't look my purpose driven life book to review it because of my life's earthly concerns and everything (like what the famous tv personality bethong and mae usually says)

and its amazing that it gives me anew start, a fresh start, so rejuvenating and worth reading as f like i reading it for the first time...

i am now on my 11th day of reviewing my life's purpose, during my reflection i sometimes cry and there are times i'm happy it's a roller coaster ride but God said "trust on me, i'll take charge or your worries"

and it made me still yet the joy inside is kept on growing and i'm glad i did red and review,

i thank GOD he found me he always looking for me when i'm lost in his light, i know HE loves me much!