Weight loss
I went to the doctor today and had a check-up and underwent a series of physical exams and I'm very pleased to see that I actually lost  31 lbs! Now, the weight loss has become something more than just a blur of speculations. Yay!!! I went 2 sizes smaller. I'm down to size 16...watch out 12! I have my eyes on you!


The gift of life
I was waiting for my food and I was sitting alone trying to get lost inside my thoughts. But the place was bursting with people and everybody was busy talking and laughing. But I didn't find the noise intrusive but rather, at that moment, sounded like a mosaic of different voices - a harmony. The music of life.


Blooming flowers
I went out early today to look at the plants and was greeted by three dainty and beautiful white roses. They were so pretty, I just had to take a picture of them. Everyday, God sends us blessings to grace our lives with beauty and we just have to know where to look. Sometimes, we complain even before we open our eyes.

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I have made a decision that I'll be posting 3BTs everyday (if possible). I believe that it'll make me appreciate life more as an undeserved gift from God, helping me cultivate a thankful heart. And should times come where storms blow and try to knock down and trample on my spirit, I'll have a list of daily things to remind me how blessed my life has always been and giving up or losing hope and faith is never an option.

As I grow older and by God's grace, more mature, I come to realize that it is our choices that make or break us. That we carve our own destiny and we man our own ships. And with fervent prayer and faith in God, we can let go and let God.

These are excerpts from Max Lucado's book called Grace for the Moment. I feel truly blessed when I read them and feel inclined so to share them. Enjoy and be blessed!

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It's quiet. It's early. My coffee is hot. The sky is still black. The world is still asleep. The day is coming.

In a few moments, the day will arrive. It will roar down the track with the rising of the sun. The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for the noise of the day. The calm of solitude will be replaced by the pounding of the human race. The refuge of the early morning will be invaded by decisions to be made and deadlines to be met.

For the next twelve hours I will be exposed to the day's demands. It is now I must make a choice. Because of Calvary, I'm free to choose. And so I choose.

I CHOOSE LOVE ...
No action justifies hatred;
no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love.
Today I will love God and what God loves.


I CHOOSE JOY...
I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance.
I will refuse the temptation to be cynical...
the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see
people as anything less than human beings,
created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as
anything less than an opportunity to see God.


I CHOOSE PEACE...    
I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.


I CHOOSE PATIENCE...
I will overlook the inconveniences of the world.
Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I'll
invite him to do so. Rather than complain that the
wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment
to pray.Instead of clinching my fist at new
assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.


I CHOOSE KINDNESS...    
I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone.
Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to
the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.


I CHOOSE GOODNESS...
I will go without a dollar
before I take a dishonest one. I will be overloaded
before I will boast. I will confess before I will
accuse. I choose goodness.


I CHOOSE FAITHFULNESS...
Today I will keep my promises.
My debtors will not regret their trust. My associations
will not question my word. My wife will not
question my love. And my children will never fear
that their father will not come home.


I CHOOSE GENTLENESS...
Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle.
If I raise my voice may it be only in praise.
If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer.
If I make a demand, may it be only of myself.


I CHOOSE SELF-CONTROL...
I am a spiritual being...
After this body is dead, my spirit will soar.
I refuse to let what will not, rule the eternal.
I choose self control. I will be drunk only by joy.
I will be impassioned only by my faith.
I will be influenced only by God.
I will be taught only by Christ.
I choose self-control.


Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
To these I commit my day.
If I succeed, I will give thanks.
If I fail, I will seek His grace.
And then, when this day is done,
I will place my head on my pillow
and rest.


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Grace for the Moment
Max Lucado

In my loneliness and fear,
through every pain every tear
There's a God who's been faithful to me
When my strength was all gone,
when my heart had no song
Still my God has been faithful to me

Every word He promised is true
What I thought was impossible
I've seen my God do

He's been faithful, faithful to me
Just looking back His love and mercy I see
When in my heart I have questioned
And failed to believe
He's been faithful, faithful to me

When my heart looked away,
the many times I could not pray
Even then He's been faithful to me
The days I've spent so selfishly,
reaching out for what pleased me
Still in love He's been faithful to me

And every time I come back to Him
I see Him waiting with His open arms and I know once again

He's been faithful, faithful to me
Just looking back His love and mercy I see
When in my heart I have questioned
And failed to believe
He's been faithful, faithful to me

(Carol Cymbala)

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This is the song we practiced today for the choir to sing for tomorrow's Sunday Service. This song just moves me to tears.

I know I haven't got the faith of a child and that I struggle with my doubts. When things don't to according to my plans, I often times (I am not going to deny that) falter and ask Him why? And there have been times when I already know the answer why but because I am stubborn and I hurt more because I'm proud, I still ask why.

I am in awe of His unfailing grace and mercy. I cannot ever understand how He can love a wreck such as I but I am eternally grateful that He is love and faithful.

To God be the glory and a blessed weekend to you all!

Possibly, the most important right we all are trying to preserve and fight for is the right of choices. Basically, everything comes down to it. We define ourselves by the decisions we choose. Our sense of making choices is like the rudder to our boats. It directly affects our destination and disposition.

We all have somehow, in our own minds labeled ourselves to be this and/or that. We pick out certain characteristics we want to develop into ourselves as a way of getting our own identities and our personalities. We have our desires influencing them and if we're keen, we also develop this safety net where we gauge or check ourselves every now and then. We curb our impulses and we double think decisions we are about to make and we know that often does us the greater good.

Think before you leap. We all know that, right? Well, we all have possibly heard that saying once too many but practicing it is totally another different thing.

Going back to choices, it defines our character and who we are. Perhaps, one of the most trying time in a person's life is to be in between two things most precious to him/her and be made to choose between the both.

I believe that there is enough love for all. I, however, cannot be asked to choose between my love for my GOD and for the person I intend to spend my lifetime with.  I love my God and in a heartbeat, I pick my God over everything and anything.

My God comes first in my life and is the only thing that matters. It would be very wrong if I'd be asked to compare my adoration for my God to my adoration for other things because then, nothing just compares. Before I am a daughter, a sister, a friend and a lover, I am first and foremost a servant of the Master, a redeemed sinner by a graceful Saviour, an adopted child of the Father and an Ambassador for Christ.

I am not saying that I am perfectly all these things. It is only by grace that I can hope and pray to be all these. However, I consciously strive to be more like Christ everyday and reflect the Son.

It's something that he MUST understand in me. I acknowledge that my life's sole purpose is to bring glory to God's name and I couldn't compromise that. That however doesn't mean that I don't love him nor that I don't love him the best way I could.