What I learned during 1st year high-school

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness...
(2 Timothy 3:16)
The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy; I have come so that you may have life and have it to the full(John 10:10)...And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His Purpose.(Romans 8:28)
A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.(Proverbs 19:11)
Many are the plans in a man's heart; but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.(Proverbs 19:21)

             These are some of the special verses that really became a part of my 2010. Until now I will always remember how 1st year high school is one of the toughest page of my life since only now have I experienced doing so much activities my whole life! It was definitely hard to cope with since I am a very timid, indoor-type of person but so much happened this year that made me feel more confident in myself. If I were to tell you all that I've learned this year, This post couldn't hold it all. I can't believe how time flew so fast and how much I grew in the past year - 2010. It was as if it all happened just yesterday, good thing I wrote the things that happened through out the year in my planner.
            There were a lot of trials and circumstances, friendships built up, and spiritual growth through reading more of God's Word. Through God's Word, I and my whole family have overcome certain unexpected changes in our plans. I am glad that God took care of me, when I was hurting, when I felt lonely, when I needed a shoulder to cry on, when I needed someone to listen to my rants, for someone to celebrate me for my accomplishments and hard work. I'm glad He was there, and showed me His works in my life and helping me get through my first time as a high-school student.
            More and more of His love is shown to me and my WHOLE family (my spiritual and physical and school) and just as the days go by, it gets more hectic, but what small faith we have if we falter easily in times like that! It is just how God works in our life. He gives us responsibilities as such and He wants us to overcome it with Him. Simply, this is just what I can say I learned this year...To be thankful to God for whatever comes in our life. Unwanted or not, it links to His great purpose and His plans are to make us prosper, giving us hope and a bright future as well. One more thing I would like to add is it wasn't ever easy to be Jesus' disciple, but it's that one job I am proud of having, and I want to ask you, what's your status in your relationship with God this year? I hope you too grew as much as I did or even more. Thank you for all that read my ancient posts, I've loved imparting a little bit of what I had and have learned.

Letters to the Bullied

Have you ever been a victim of bullying? Let me tell you that you are not alone, and you are not the only one that has experienced those hardships. It might be physical or emotional bullying, but either way it is still considered bullying because it's dragging someone down. My insights on bullying is it is like a bacteria. The more you give in to it, the more it will eat you. I'm saying that you should fight back and take your so ever sweet revenge on the bully, but in the end -- I am telling you right now for your own good-- you're going to be a bully yourself too. It eventually will eat you up if you give in to the bully and you fight him back. I know in this world, people tend to deal with circumstances like this on their own and of course people always say it's just self-defense (in other life-or-death cases, it's a different story). Personally, I think the BEST person to consult for such things is Jesus himself.
Did you know Jesus was also bullied back then? He was hurt physically. The Roman soldiers whipped with leather lashes like in this video but much worse...

He wasn't only whipped, He was ridiculed. Jesus was spitted on and He had to carry a 100-pound cross until the top of Calvary. With no food and only a few water in His body, it is more likely that He shouldn't have survived, but He did for a special purpose. He was nailed to the cross to save us from our sins. Not only was He hurt physically, but He was also hurt emotionally because most of His best friends and disciples had disowned Him and even one of them betrayed Him -- sold Him out for 30 pieces of silver. It must have hurt as much to know that in the end you're going to have to go through all of this by your own. The worst part is He was Spiritually broken because the Father(God) let Him die and experience all those torture by Himself. 


To think, He didn't talk back to those who abused and bullied Him. Now that takes a lot of courage. Most people, especially the bullies, think that bullying shows and proves that you are strong and courageous. That you are superior but the truth is courage is never about beating someone up and all those muscles/toughness, it's your self-control and how you deal with situations like this with the right decision. That makes a lot of effort to do that. Most importantly is to be able to turn your other 'cheek' to your enemy.


Luke 6:35 
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

Teacher's Day

In every day there is a Father's day, a Mother's day, a Valentine's day, and wait there's something missing....someone told me that every second parent should have its special day - and that is Teacher's day! To all of our teachers, Happy Teacher's Day! We love you all!

We celebrated Teacher's day at the Rock in the Quadrangle. It was Project and Presentation time when they told us that a presentation was being held for the teachers. The host/mcs were Mr. Lorenzo and Ms. Janina of the 5th grade. The other grades had presented performances/numbers for the teachers and chosen students from high school performed. Most of them performed singing numbers. Then there was the video for the teachers. And the teachers were really touched for all the students appreciation to them. I really am thankful for our teachers in school or they not only teach us what we need to know for college and for our jobs but also adding our knowledge about life and about God. I would also like to thank my brother who is also my teacher. He taught me a lot about patience and about gratitude. I'm really happy God gave him to me, to teach me and help shape my character. And of course all of my gratitude I offer to my Professor and Creator, God Almighty. He taught me more than anyone could ever teach me and that is how to love. I'm really happy He taught me what love is and demonstrated it on the Cross.
I love all of the teachers God has placed in my life and I'm really thankful that God has provided so much amazing teachers in my life.

Thank you :-)!!!

Field trip lesson: Waiver!!!

The recent high school's field trip was amazing. We saw and knew about some historical facts from the museums. Actually before learning from all those places, first I learned to be careful/responsible with your belongings. It started because of the Field Trip Waiver. Before the day of our field trip occurred, I was shooting our group's DOC in my classmate Angeli's house. And there I used my green binder and sketchpad as a prop, and suddenly...KABAAM! I forgot it! I was actually not worried much about the sketchpad nor the binder but I was worried about WHAT WAS inside the binder...which was the Field Trip Waiver. I remember they told us in the field trip 'conference' that we can't go to the field trip/the bus if we didn't have the Waiver signed and approved by our parents. I was totally PANICKING!!! I can't believe I'd actually forget something super important!
Since I was a child I've been forgetting stuff like this and my mom would always get angry at me for forgetting such important slips. So there. I texted Angeli to bring my binder tomorrow with the help of my friend Lystra. I was just really so glad that Lystra was online in Facebook. She suggested that I/my mom write a letter to the school concerning the Waiver. I chatted with my other classmates and I agreed that writing a letter was a great idea but I don't think my mom would approve in writing a letter. After my mom cooled down, she suggested that she can go with me to school and sign the Waiver there. I was really happy that I made it in time, even after all that traffic, and I was really happy that Angeli was already there with my binder so I can get the Waiver and let my mom sign it. And that was what happened. My mom signed the Waiver and I was finally at peace/ with no worries.
 The lesson learned was that I should be more responsible and take care of my things especially the valuable ones. I've been learning these lessons a lot of times. It's really easy to say but it's hard to do. But times like these are given to us by God so we can learn from it or to set our minds into thinking that I don't want to be stuck in a situation where I feel so worried and uncomfortable. I pray that I may be even more responsible as I grow up and I really hope that I can make the best out of everything I do, that I may do it with excellence.

Field trip 101: Bamboo Organs

First, I would like to talk about our recent field trip in these certain locations:

• Bamboo Organs in Las Piñas 
• Ibong Adarna play in SM southmall
• Philippine Air force museum

It was an early Friday, I was sitting on the bus that the school rented for the high school student's field trip. I was with my busmate buddy, Deborah Jan, was already excited to eat the Pringles she brought. And as she was eating Pringles, I was writing down the questions from the brochure a teacher handed out in my orange notepad - so I can carry it and be able to write freely about the answers in the brochure. And for about how many minutes or maybe hours, we finally arrived at the first stop: the parish of St. Joseph in Las Piñas. I was really excited to see everything especially when I saw the Antillan house that looked somewhat like an old Spanish house and the parish. The parish looked really old but it was really taken care of. When we went in, we saw that the place was mostly made of cement and there were really kind people that greeted us. So we split up in teams and my assigned buddy was Lystra.
We were walking up the stairs and while we were up there we were asking the questions in the brochure to the tour guide. She told us about the history of the bamboo organ and how it was the only bamboo organ in the whole WORLD. It's truly amazing on how the bamboo organs were constructed and even if they repaired it, it's still 100 percent original. The bamboo organs were constructed by Fr. Diego Cera who was inspired to build the organs because Las Piñas was rich in bamboo at that time. The whole place was actually made by the people that lived in Las Piñas. Then the tour guide went down the stairs that led to the keyboard of the whole bamboo organ. She played the bamboo parts of the organ first.
 As said, the bamboo organs are composed of 1,031 pipes; 902 are made of bamboo and 129 are made of metal. The tour guide played the bamboo part and it was so gentle and it gave a very smooth sound, and on the other hand, the metal parts sounded like trumpets and it had a jazzy ring to it. The pajaritos, which I haven't told you about is a part of the organ that had a bird-like sound. Well, the bamboo organ can make different kinds of sound such as: the bird sound, trumpet, oboe, flautado, and tambor. Their is also the Bamboo Organ festivals, which is held every February. They actually have this festival to spread classical music to the Filipinos. Not to mention the bamboo organ is a National Cultural Treasure. We Filipinos should be proud of the bamboo organs.:-)

Creative Dress-up Week

In school, we had this activity where we had to dress up creatively according to the assigned theme on that day. I was really excited for the activity. The following themes for the whole week would be:
Monday: Hip socks
Tuesday: Athlete's day
Wednesday: What I want to be when I grow up
Thursday: Funky Hairdo day
Friday: Pajama day
It was actually a fun way for expressing creativity, I guess... So far my fave would be Pajama day...Imagine going to school in your pjs, now that's something you don't see everyday. Well, I also had fun in thinking of what I should wear, what would look great/unique among the rest and etc.
 In Day 1, I wore knee high socks, stripes with two colors green and blue. I actually bought that outfit the day before I wore it...
Day 2, pretty much I'm not the type of person that likes sports, so I had to borrow my brother's Jordan jersey which was a little bit small for me and so far I dressed up as a basketball player...well, I do like basketball even if I'm not sporty.
Day 3, Today I decided to go as an Artist/animator. I do want to be a Pixar animator and I also want to be a director someday...I just hope and pray that I'll get to learn more about these stuff.
Day 4, I wore a wig that no one would even know it was a wig without even asking. Well, I actually find wearing wigs normal and comfy. It wasn't as itchy as they say it is. And yeah, they really thought I dyed my hair and had a haircut :-)
Day 5, At last! My favorite day of the whole dress-up week, PAJAMA DAY!!! I only wore simple grey pjs and brought my Mirmo de Pon stuff toy. I was really comfortable and I found the atmosphere really calm and sleepy/gloomy that time but a happy type of gloomy.
So far, I really loved this idea of having to have children dress up and think fashionably and imaginatively. I would just like to leave this quotes:
Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.
Carl Sagan 
Imagination has brought mankind through the dark ages to its present state of civilization. Imagination led Columbus to discover America. Imagination led Franklin to discover electricity.
L. Frank Baum 
All men who have achieved great things have been great dreamers.
Orison Swett Marden 


http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_imagination.html

Dove Quotes

Hey MoMotians!
I would like to leave a message to all of you that I got from a certain brand of chocolate:
Be proud to just run the race, no matter the finish. -Joni of Miami Lakes,FL

Running races...hmmm...I'm not the type of person that likes running physically, not all people like running but this quote is not only talking to the runners in races and all, but talking about our run in the race of our lives.

In running races we have to start slow/jog, am I right? And when the right time comes, you're the only one with the energy to run. Yup, in order to win the race, we have to start slow and when we get used to running, we will be running the fastest and we can win the race.

Our lives are just like a race. You have to run in the line straight and you have to run with discipline and patience. We also need energy as well, both physically and mentally, and never forget emotionally/spiritually. We should always set our minds straight on the goal of this race. But may I ask you...What is the goal you're trying to reach in life?

Charles Spurgeon Search

I've been searching about Mr. Charles Spurgeon and he is such a very great preacher. I also saw Moses' video/speech, and kinda...remembered myself. He wasn't much of a speaker but he was still chosen to lead a lot of Hebrews/people. Before, I thought I was somehow not a good speaker and if you ask some of my classmates, they'll tell you I was the most quiet person there. For some reason, I really never thought of having language a talent of mine....Not Ever. But it turned out I was also different from Moses and Spurgeon. I have a talent to speak, but I haven't experienced the same thing Spurgeon experienced of having a Christian family. I don't know if I'm a person who has the talent to lead a lot of people, but I do want to lead someone/maybe even just one to Christ(but I hope I'll lead a lot like Moses did). I want to be a great leader one day, a great preacher, and I want to be whoever God molds me and wants me to be.

Love by Charles H. Spurgeon

The first thing, then, that our love feeds upon, when it is but an infant, is a sense of favours received. Ask a young Christian why he loves Christ, and he will tell you, I love Christ because he has bought me with his blood! Why do you love God the Father? I love God the Father because he gave his Son for me. And why do you love God the Spirit? I love him because he has renewed my heart. That is to say we love God for what he has given to us. Our first love feeds just on the simple food of a grateful recollection of mercies received. And mark, however much we grow in grace this will always constitute a great part of the food of our love.

But when the Christian grows older and has more grace, he loves Christ for another reason. He loves Christ because he feels Christ deserves to be loved. I trust I can say, I have in my heart now a love to God, These men did not merely love Christ because of what he had done for them; but you will find in their sonnets and in their letters—that their motive of love was, that he had communed with them, he had showed them his hands and his side; they had walked with him in the villages; they had lain with him on the beds of spices; they had entered into the mystic circle of communion; and they felt that they loved Christ, because he was all over glorious, and was so divinely fair, that if all nations could behold him, sure they must be constrained to love him too.

http://www.biblebb.com/files/spurgeon/0229.htm

Here is a song I would like to share from Casting Crowns...

Our deepest fear

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.' We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." (A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles", Harper Collins, 1992. From Chapter 7, Section 3])

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marianne_Williamson


I actually got this from one of my teachers and I really liked the message that is conveyed in it. It is true, we are afraid of our light because we've been living in the dark for so long. Generation to generation, it has always been our mind set and that was the problem. It's nice to know that we are something of worth and that is showed through Jesus Christ. He had made a great change in history and to anyone eventually.
He showed us that we are loved by God himself and we are His children. So if we are His children and we accepted Jesus as our personal Lord and Saviour, then we should know that we have the  power beyond measure and we are the light of the world.

No matter what

This week I experienced having a hectic schedule...I know I haven't written for about a month and I feel sad that I haven't been updating my life but I guess it's part of being busy and drown in what I do. I haven't forgotten though that I should write on my Blog once in a while. I've also been experiencing some shaky events in my life like when my mom went to the ER but she's fine now and how a lot of days have passed by like my birthday, which happened last month August. I've spent my birthday at home with my family. I really feel as if it has been so fast and I have been having problems with myself too. I happen to forget to pray and read my bible like before...:-( but God hasn't forgotten me, that's such good news for me since while I was drifting away He keeps on showing me what I should do and that I should not get drowned with worldly things - that was quite what happened to me for the past few days. I've been relaxing and studying and idling that I didn't put the most important person in my life first. God never said that these things won't happen to a Christian/believer but He did promise that He will always be there caring for you reminding you. After such experience, I think God was just showing me that no one can survive the world without Him - that I need Him no matter what and that I need to share my testimony to people even if no one really wants to know it.

Hard Times with Exams

For these past few days I have been busy with studying for the exams. It was a really tough time since those days I also got sick on one of the days the exams occurred. But i do thank God for every thing He has done in my life and I'm happy He has guided me all the way through the exams.

The Hostage Taking in Quirino Grandstand

A discharged policeman,named Rolando Mendoza, killed seven Chinese people who were just having a tour around Manila.
This happening is very disappointing, not only for the Chinese people but also for the Filipinos.
For one reason, because of this hostage taking, Philippines tourism will go down.
There has been a lot of killing happening here in the Philippines by hostaging. This randomly/ seldomly happens in the Philippines. Especially to tourists.
Though what really disappointed me was the fact that because he wanted to clean his name, he took hostages, and by his selfishness - made Philippines image look terrible.
Now, I don't blame him but just for him to be able to clean his name, the Philippines had to have a bad reputation.
Mendoza acted selfishly haven't he thought of the families of the people in the bus? Haven't he thought about what would happen to the Philippines reputation?
What is happening to the world of today? Is it really natural for people to react like this because of poverty?
You know, for me this hostage news is really a turning point for a Filipino because not only does this hostage-taking show the foreigners that we are selfish/ corrupt people but it also shows that we are not capable of handling crime scenes.
I really feel so sad for what might happen to the Philippines after this. It also shows how evil humans are turning in to.  We have greed, selfishness, and evil in our hearts.Without Jesus Christ, all of us should have been sent to hell for eternity. Because of Jesus, we are forgiven for our sins, if we accept him truly in our hearts. He could change your life right now like what with my life. He transformed my heart and changed my ways. I have been judgmental with Mendoza and I'm sorry. Now, I realize that he is a human greedy and selfish without Jesus in his heart and I feel pity for him because it's as if he spent his whole life on earth not knowing what Jesus has done for him. The feeling of having to be releived from all the pain, suffering...to feel free for the first time. To have experienced a happier life knowing someone loves and cares for you so much that he'd actually give up his life for you.

Top ten things I would want to eat before I die:

Countdown

10.Food from a well-known five star hotel
9.Anything with peanut on it or with it
8.The most delicious hotdog, corndog, hamburger, fries in the WORLD
7.Ramen, takoyaki, and sushi from Japan
6.Buffet of Lindt chocolate(e.g Lindt choco fountain, fall, hot choco, etc.)
5.Exotic Food (e.g frog,scorpion, chili ice cream, etc.)
4.Bobby Flay's restaurant's top 3 food on the menu list
3.Shawarma from Saudi Arabia
2.The tastiest custard,vanilla,choco/mint, LEMON ice cream in the WORLD
1.Eating my favorite Cazoly and my Mom's tuna sandwich with my family and friends

For me, eating food that I like and want to eat means nothing without my loved ones
because it is the moments I have with them that make the food I eat even more tastier.
They make every moment of my life tastier and more delicious than any food in the world.

What's my priority?

PACEs or NASA caravan; Star Movies or HBO;Now or Later; What should I do when I'm stuck in these situations... It would always end up with me picking only one or I'll get all tangled up, but what could I do when it's so hard to pick between two things you like.
 I remember the time I was told that I had to make a choice with how I should set the mood of my speeches. It wasn't hard since the only thing I have to do is weigh it. Then maybe I could do it to the other things I like. Maybe I should know how to weigh them, what's more important and what would benefit me the most.
Your decisions may hurt and you get torn apart but always remember, the choice is yours, whatever you pick defines who or what's more important to you.
 It may be as simple as choosing a course, what brand is better, what should I do first, or what should I wear, ALWAYS...Never forget to pray and ask God first because He is the only one that knows the future, the things better for you to do, and the things better for you to wear. He's the best decision-maker, all-knowing,knows-what's-best, 'weigher' you'll ever meet.

One who cares

For those who are lonely, 
don't worry you're not alone
For those who are hurting,
don't worry someone's caring for you
For those who wish to have strength to talk,
You're not alone in wishing this
For those who think their thoughts aren't cared for,
don't worry they are...

I pray for those people right now that you may realize and know that someone's out there loving you more than any human in this world could ever love you and that is the king who gave up all his riches for filthy rags, a shepherd who would leave his hundred to look for one, a father who would give up his son for sinful men like us. Especially, a hurting Saviour because the one He truly loves and cares for doesn't know He's just there beside them...caring for them, telling them that they are worth more than what they really are.

Time and Purpose

Time is Gold. You cannot take it back once you've used it but there is always a reason why God allowed it to happen. Ninoy Aquino's death is a sad happening in history but it is also the happening that started the EDSA revolution/unity of Filipinos. August 23rd was announced a working holiday and now I really think there is a purpose for this. For me, P. Noy's announcement was a good thing since I really had to catch up with my PACEs. So for anyways I'm happy that he announced it even if it was a little bit disappointing on other's behalf.

August 23- Working Holiday p. 1

Thank you Lord! Thank you also to President Noynoy for letting August 23 be a working holiday.

Simple Joys

Playing, spending time with friends and family...simple things like those takes time and kills time the same way but it is always worth it. It was just about these days that I have learned that laughter is the best medicine. I also learned to get rid of the flu MEDICATION (Rean you know it).
 It was simply fun to play around like a kid again once in a while...I kinda feel I needed it just to remind me that I am still a kid.
 High school life may seem stressing for me because it's my first time but I really feel I'll get used to it and I hope I'll get used to being responsible as well. It's just the start, why give up?

The more, the merrier

When you are moving mountains you can't do it alone. It's always helpful and easier to have a helping hand. 

No matter how easy things are, it's  always better and more fun to do it with others especially our loved ones. Through rough times and good, it's nice to know someone would give time for you, to encourage you and to celebrate every occasion with you. 

I remember when I washed the dishes in church because I was an assigned cleaner. I couldn't have washed ALL of those dishes without the help of my groupmates. It was tiring but it was worth it since you've spent time to know them and served for the church as well.