God and I are close, He tells me things, things that are true and never weird.  Sometimes hard to fathom but He always wants me to understand...not in the way humans go ahead and nod and say "Sure sure I got it" but they don't, He doesn't want that.  We don't want that when we're being listened to...so He makes himself very clear and loves you so that you get Him.

Uni Verse

Your hand brushes my face,

and your arms draw me close.

You trace my name in the sand,

and read it to me.

This is where it stays.

This is where you make your promise.

These are memories yet to be made

Buried deep in a mind

That will one day know yours."

When I wrote Uni Verse I was being sentimental.  I'm emo, yes, friends know, without the bratty side.  Baduy in other words, but always sincere.  I thought about the title very carefully.  I wanted it to mean something.

Simply put, in Uni Verse, almost a year ago, I was writing about something I didn't have, but wanted, it was on the shores of Aliguay Island that the wind somewhat whispered inspiration, when I was writing my name in the sand, I knew someday someone would write it for me, I can take that as literally or metaphorically, only God knows.  The word Uni is taken from the latin which means "one"... and naturally, verse follows.  I wrote one verse about one moment, that has not happened yet.

I split the word Universe but at the same time the meaning of it as a single word still plays its part in the title.  Isn't it true that when one loves (that speaks for all kinds of love) one feels as big as the universe, nothing feels bigger than the moment you remember or realize it.  In one stansa I was talking about the feeling...then in a flash, today, God came to me with its meaning, or the relevance rather of my Uni Verse.

Isn't it true?  All it took was 1 verse... Genesis one : one, 1:1 a Uni Verse, and a universe came to be... so that's the way God would like me to understand the word Universe.

"Child, you write 1 verse for that which has not happened, but you found Me out.  In the beginning I spoke and said 'Let there be light...'  In one verse, My universe was made...so you could be in it.  For now, let Me be the mind that knows yours tenderly...knows your pet peeves, the small things people unknowingly do that hurt you big and hurt Me as well, I also know the things that you still do sometimes that hurt others.  I know your dreams, what makes your heart pound, what overwhelms you, what can bring on your most beautiful smile, and the adventures you secretly plan that you think might be too wonderful or out-of-the-box to carry out.  I know how you want people to believe you when you say I'm real and I love when you tell them that they can express that they are angry at Me, people haven't gotten that for the longest time. I'd rather they be honest with me if they believe it is I Who have let them down.  Even if some find it weird, or are maybe afraid to hope that I'm just here waiting, keep telling them the truth and I'll be with you whenever you do..."

I am not ashamed.  I may be strange, but at least I'm me.  I love You, God.  I know nothing about my future except this, You will be with me in it.  Because of that I am not afraid and hope never runs out...

This is for where I am in my life right now, a familiar song guides me through and reminds me of how good He has been to me recently.  This song was with me at the one of the lowest points in my life a few years ago.  Ever been so low that you just wanted to end it?  I've been there and no one should ever walk that tight rope.  Sadly, some of us have in desperation.  This song has stayed with me ever since.  Better Than I is the song about Joseph, after having been sold by his brothers into slavery and being falsely accused of attempted rape, he finds himself in prison waiting...and praying...

One of my fave not so new songs :) Lots of diff familiar voices towards the end...watch it :) Our current dep head used to work on Hanna Barbera cartoons and it reminded me of him hehe.  They're saved alright! I saved their pics in my laptop hihi.  Indeed what if cartoons got saved...



here's the recorded version with more audible cartoon voices :) I like the recorded version, the video lang of the live was cuter.

Watch us! I love my cousins... from Gab down to the last, I've held them all when they were babies :) pangilinan girlz rock. Sweeten us, Lord, sweeten our spirits :D

Ates and little ates...all together now....5, 6, 7, 8

No one can make himself pure by obeying laws. Jesus Christ does not give us rules and regulations— He gives us His teachings which are truths that can only be interpreted by His nature which He places within us. The great wonder of Jesus Christ’s salvation is that He changes our heredity. He does not change human nature— He changes its source, and thereby its motives as well."

Feel stuck or scared in a sad place somewhere?  This song and what it means should do the trick.  No video to watch, just a photo of the singer with the song.  Storm by Lifehouse.

This is from the site of the man who shared Christ with Tito Jeric and my parents...reverend Dwight Hill,  he was very loving to me when I was young and the content of his devotional site http://www.factsofthematter.org is simple but as sharp as a double edged sword every time...

WHEN GOD SEEMS DISTANT AND DISINTERESTED IN ME

There are those times in our lives when God seems so far away; almost as though He doesn’t care or isn’t listening.  I cry out to Him in the darkness and am greeted with deafening silence.  Coupled with His sense of absence are those periods when  the Scriptures seem so flat, and the Spirit so unavailable. 

Surely you have had those periods in your life, haven’t you?    Or am I alone here? 

Jesus faced a profound sense of God’s abandonment at Calvary when He cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matt. 27:46).  When the Lord Jesus uttered this chilling cry he was quoting from Psalm 22.   Psalm 22:1 adds this to His anguish, “Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?” 

So just what are you to do in those times of spiritual crisis when you feel abandoned by God?  Psalm 22 gives us a number of clues:

·         Choose to praise, honor and revere God:  “You are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel...You who fear the Lord, praise Him...Honor Him…Revere Him…”  (Vss. 3, 23 - Selected)

Perhaps the ultimate test of our walk with God is how we respond to Him when the bottom falls out.  A close friend whose wife has suffered for decades with a painful illness, is now facing the agonizing reality of an adult child with cancer.  There has not been one word of doubt or complaint uttered from their lips.  Rather, these veterans of suffering portray poise, praise, and a deep sense of rest in God.  Clearly, they have learned through the tough school of life to trust and believe in God’s goodness, sovereignty and promises. 

·         Choose not to seek other “gods” as a substitute for what only the living God can provide: “Do not stay so far from me, for trouble is near, and no one else can help me.”  (Vs. 11 - NLT)

In today’s supermarket of ready made solutions, we seem to run first to every thing and every one except God.  There is nothing wrong with seeking out help, but should not our first and natural response be to fall on our face before God?  To hide ourselves away with Him in unrushed times of solitude and prayerful meditation upon His word as we listen for His voice?  Or are we seeking man-made “gods” for the quick and often trite answers to life’s perplexities and pain?  

·         Choose to remain steady in your previous commitment to God:  “Before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.” (Vs. 25b)

In your pilgrimage, doubtless you have made certain commitments to Him.  Remain steady in them.  Learn to wait for God to move. On His timetable.  Don’t jump around,  running helter skelter for easy or quick solutions.  Learn to live life daily.  Even moment  by moment.  Accept the fact that much of life is pretty pedestrian, like taking out the garbage, dealing in a godly manner with the traffic. Disciplining and molding testy kids.  Graciously handling your back pain and difficult relatives.  Godliness is usually tested and developed in the crucible of the little noticed routines of daily life. "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much…When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow.”  (Luke 16:10; Ecc. 5:4)

Choose to believe that God is sovereign and that ultimately His purposes will prevail:  “The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the Lord will praise him--may your hearts live forever! …For dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him-- those who cannot keep themselves alive. Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn--for he has done it.”  (Vss. 26, 28-31)


R. Dwight Hill

I watched this, sent by my best friend alma, at first it looks like a normal Bible dance presentation, at first some might think think yeah yeah, who's the guy in a dress, so what...but towards the end, my heart gave way...and I had to stop my tears because I was at work plus puro guys dito hahaha!  Watch till the end...indeed...there is a battle for each one of us, He loves us that much...He will not stop until we are His, but our hearts  do the deciding, He does not force us. NAPAKATINDI NG ENDING!

There are many well-meaning devotionals and books out there, but there are those sacred few written by men and women of God who write not just to make a point, but to also reassure those reading that they are flawed just like we are.  By the words they write that flow out of God's Spirit we find fragments of them floating still, broken apart in full surrender to God, and we find in the pages of their books that they are as real and earthly as anybody.  One book that currently diverts me from the daily rat race is Vance Havner's simple collection of spiritual reflections, a little book called Peace in the Valley, i think maybe published in the 60s or 70s, an old pocket hardbound :) .  Lately it seems like I've been drawn to the oldies, tozer, lewis, j.b. phillips and now Vance Havner, there are so many more.  Here's a short one from it regarding us worry warts.  It's a word for me.

"31. Crossing the Bridge in Advance

Once again I have taken the old Carolina Special"--(a train I think or bus...)-- "for a fall trip through the mountains.  I should fly, more "progressive" folks think, but I'm not in that big a hurry.  Besides, I would have missed the autumn woods, the trees bowing out in a final burst of glory.  Soon they will be naked and barren but I like the way they end the summer in a blaze of beauty.

We mortals ought to learn how to take the autumn of life.  Because the harvest is past and the summer ended there is no reason why we should turn drab and dull.  Even if winter comes and the snows fall, the next thing on the calendar is spring!  With the Christian, springtime is an everlasting season.  With such a prospect, we have a right to 'bow out' gloriously. 

Some fail to do that because they live in the wrong kind of anticipation.  They are not looking for the resurrection, they are looking for troubles that never happen.  I'd hate to add up all the trains I thought I was going to miss, especially since I can't remember having missed one yet!  I wouldn't like to count all the diseases I have been afraid I had at one time or another.  So far not of them has developed.  I might as well have enjoyed myself all that time.  We are all related in experience to the women who started to our Lord's grave after the resurrection.  They worried about who would roll away the stone from the sepulcher.  They arrived to find that an angel had taken care of that detail.  It is the classic example of crossing the bridge before getting to it. 

John Bunyan (author, Pilgrim's Progress) may have been re-living some of his own experiences when he gave us Mr. Fearing, who was always crossing bridges in advance.  He was worried in particular about his chances of getting to Heaven.  He was afraid he might never reach the city he had come so far to behold.  Now, he should not have made his way through this world in such a state of apprehension.  I am not defending him.  He had put his trust in God and he shouldhave taken God's word for it and gaily made his way clear through to the heavenly portals.  He missed enjoying the scenery along the way by wondering whether he would be accepted at the end of the journey.  But Mr. Fearing had the root of the matter in him and when he reached the river the water was at an all-time low and he crossed over "not much above wet-shod."  This is no encouragement to fear and doubt, but it is a blessed thing that our Father knows our frame and remembers that we are dust.   Some poor souls seem keyed in the minor and will live out their days timid, nervous, and afraid.  It is not right, it grieves the Spirit and it spoils the journey, for we miss so much by sighing when we should be singing. 

The Scriptural injunction is, "Sanctify yourselves against to morrow" (Numbers 11:18).  We are not to fret ourselves about tomorrow.  Let us commit ourselves and our way to God by faith in His Son.  Let us trust also in Him and He will bring it to pass.  No use crossing the river twice; no use mentally moving stones that angels have been appointed to handle.  "He careth for you."  Then let Him do it!"

Amen, man...

'Here are not words of wild invective but blunt rebuke, words to wound but not to destroy, designed as a clarion call for God's people to return to long forsaken positions in order to gain the ground that has been so easily lost.' - Clive Calver foreword in Tozer's Leaning into the Wind  - The Way Ahead for the Church

Leaning Into the Wind.  It's a little book, a meek yellowed paperback of 93 pages in 6 chapters, but its relevance surpasses some giant reads I've picked up.  It stood unnoticed on our bookshelf for a long, long time till yesterday.  I had already read Tozer's Knowledge of the Holy.  At first I realized it was challenging because he hardly ever wrote in simple form, but his prolific insights cut me instantly and I found myself grateful for several much needed wounds from the time I started reading his work.

"Suppose some angelic being who since creation had known the deep, still rapture of dwelling in the divine Presence should appear on earth and live awhile among us Christians? Don't you imagine he might be astonished at what he saw?

He might, for instance,  wonder how we can be contented with our poor, commonplace level of spiritual experience..."

Other Christians might mistake Tozer for a cynic.  I believe he is kind of like a Spiritual journalist who understands events in the Christian realm as they are.  He has a rock hard faith in God tied to the clear knowledge of an impending spiritual onslaught.  He knew that something ought to change for the bad to become good.  He doesn't candy-coat his content but bluntly writes to righteously and violently awaken the human heart, for indeed time is short, and the battle is not just about to start, it has been going on since the beginning of time and to think I stressed over what to wear today. Many of us have not even chosen a weapon to storm the frontlines and set captives free.  We've worried ourselves to the brink of hysteria about not saving enough for that limited edition thing on sale, which party to go to,  the 2 pounds we put on, whose presence to avoid, he/she not texting back, missing that certain TV episode, or staying single till the end of time...yet those who suffer around us continue to do so.  When will we rid ourselves of the shallow pursuits that hold us back?

"The radical element in testimony and life that once made Christians hated by the world  is missing from present-day evangelicalism.  Christians were once revolutionists--moral, not political--but we have lost our revolutionary character.  It is no longer either dangerous or costly to be Christian.  Grace has become not free, but cheap.  We are busy these days proving to the world that they can have all the benefits of the Gospel without any inconvenience to their customary way of life.  It's 'all this and heaven, too'. "

God's plans and purposes for the heart of his church ought to rise above the plans for our own lives, when I say church, it isn't just the organizations of people that gather weekly in buildings, it's His people, believers who need to rise up and the church-to-be are non-believers, adults, teens and children who are so in need of being rescued in love and told what it means to know God personally, that it's cool to know God because He knows everything that's cool about you that you don't.

"It has been the unanimous testimony of the greatest Christian souls that the nearer they drew to God the more acute became their consciousness of sin and their sense of personal unworthiness.  The purest souls never knew how pure they were and the greatests saints never guessed that they were great.  The very thought that they were good or great would have been rejected by them as a temptation of the devil."

"We must return to New Testament Christianity, not in creed only but in complete manner of life as well.  Separation, obedience, humility, simplicity, gravity, self-control, modesty, cross-bearing: These all must again be made a living part  of the total Christian concept and be carried out in everyday conduct.  We must cleanse the temple of the hucksters and the money changers and come fully under the authority of our risen Lord once more.  And this applies to this writer as well as to everyone who names the name of Jesus.  Then we can pray with confidence and expect true revival to follow."

It's funny actually, we used to worry about being fed to lions or being burned at the stake, now we sometimes feel we might kill ourselves if someone caught a glimpse of who we are in Christ, or happened to read our blog about God and smacked that "freak" label right on there.  Courage out of stock? A.W. Tozer attempts to supply us with his words of wisdom :)

A lot of people have wondered why family chose to move so far away from almost anywhere hehehe.  Malayo talaga kami.  Only those who have visited our home leave with the answer.  They come, they soak it in...and most often than not...take forever to leave because they don't want to.  A home that is loved and cared for is home no matter how far, and where we live is breathtaking.  Sure there aren't many neighbors yet, but that is precisely what we are cherishing for the moment, the peace, quiet, and privacy of big open spaces, the sound of only frogs and crickets at night, fresh air...and green fields.  Here's our cat Victor kissing part of our garden.  See, he loves green, too.
Only weeks after his return almost 6 months ago, our long lost driver, Clyde, who I've known since I was 6 (Bruce Wayne had Alfred, I had him), began to plant on the outskirts of our lot. Although our cook Nimfa has always had a green thumb in addition to her culinary expertise, she only had the time to begin a small vegetable garden right behind our kitchen, which at the time was already impressive.  Without Clyde, Nimfa already planted basil, oregano, a papaya tree, some edible weed seedlings I won at a raffle event, tanglad (lemon grass), alugbati, malunggay, little hot chilis, and some other stuff.  So our pastas always have fresh basil.   Mom loves plants, as I do, and on occasion has found the time to search for potted herbs or veggie seedlings at the palengke (yes in slippers and all, for those who can't imagine her going to the wet market hehehe! sometimes with me and my brother). Waking up in Laguna:

























Now that Clyde's work has begun to thrive we have a growing food source surrounding our lot on its excess of a few square meters.  We've got rows of corn stalks, Chinese petchay, wansuy, peanuts, pineapple, strawberries, cherry and big tomatoes, local and imported peppermint, spring onions, edible flowers, edible weeds, big and small peppers, bell peppers in addition to everything that Nimfa planted...in fact I'm missing several things.  Here's Kano, our avid mouse catcher on our slope (orange) and Victor rolling around beside the petchay and below 1 of several strawberry plants.
This vision of plants to feed us began to grow after Mom read the book The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan.  In it, the author describes the challenge humans face today which is the difficulty of validating the source of one's food.  In observing the quality of life of a Christian family with an organic farm, the author is enlightened in many ways and proceeds to outline, alongside his observations on the farm, the ugly truths about certain fast food restaurants and available food outlets such as the local supermarket, the danger of meat that travels thousands of miles and several days before getting to your table, not to mention chicken nuggets, those little yummy breaded things people thought were the healthy choice at the Golden Arches hardly have any real chicken pala.  For a long time I thought, with my hectic job, that I don't have the time to care about where my food comes from as long as I eat.  I began to have a change of heart when unhealthy food slowly took its toll on my dad as well as on me.  We must care more about whether what we eat is slowly making us less healthy or whether it's helping us live a fuller life.  This is an edible blue ternate flower, we put it in salads...it taste like peanuts :) not bitter.


The health benefit of something fresh, whether vegetables or fresh-kill meat, surpasses anything man-made.  My heart yearns for what man lost ages ago, the simple privilege of taking and eating from a garden, without even having to farm it.  A few weeks ago, mom had some native chickens bought from a nearby place and my brother witnessed Clyde kill and prepare them for grilling inasal.  We had that for lunch.  Harvesting from our little patch of Eden at home somehow really makes me feel closer to the Creator, Who after all is the original source of everything we were really meant to have.

On my third day without a single piece of food, my detox apple juice fast draws closer to its end.  With prayer and fasting, God has proven to me that man does not live on bread alone.  The initial reason for my detox fast was, I'll admit,  not for the usual "fasting and prayer" and not to lose weight (one cannot lose a considerable amount of weight in just 3 days) but for a semi-annual cleansing of my physical temple. 

One thing though, I did something extremely stupid this morning.  I got so excited upon finding out the condo bldg I stay in has a pool pala, so this morning, in spite of my ongoing fast, I went for a swim.  After returning to my room before freshening up for work, I thought I was going to throw up or faint.  I got scolded by mom, no exercise while fasting! Hehehe, I just couldn't resist the pool.  Thank God I prayed that I wouldn't collapse, drank more juice and was suddenly ok, and now here I am at work telling the story.

Today, the 3rd day, my body screamed, a bellyache ensued followed by a cold sweat, the hunger was overpowering me, I had to clutch at something.  I drank more juice then I just had to pray.  The pain passed.  Oh.  So this is what fasting and prayer does.  It somewhat strips you of contentment in your belly and clears your head.  Your spirit has to step up and depend on God for strength and talk with Him more intimately for much needed revelation or comfort.   It can also draw out some of the heart issues that you wished would just stay in the drawer.  I was moved to tears during some moments of prayer in the last few days.

A few months ago my mom managed to do it, surviving 3 days with only apple juice inside and prayer.  My plan is right after this is over...my stomach has a chance to change its food preference, once more.  Tomorrow, with a little soup to start I'm on my way to having a much stronger temple to do work for His glory.

By the way I know I owe a picture of my neat room in Laguna, I forgot, another month went by already??? So fast.  Hehe, the rooms still the same.  Picture next week :)

Search and Know - Gary Valenciano

I stop and think for just a while
Wondering if Hed see me
Would He think that Im worthwhile?
Cause now I feel so far away
But I believe, yes I believe

His eyes I know they watch me close
My every move He knows before its even done
And even though I may be wrong
He changes me and cleanses me

Oh God search and know my heart
Longing to be near You, Ive tried but cant get past the start
Oh God wont You show me how?
Lay Your hands upon me and lead me in the Way Everlasting

I know how much Ive hurt You so
By doing things I know would go against Your heart
But now Ive come to see myself
With You in me so patiently

Oh God search and know my heart
Longing to be near You, Ive tried but cant get past the start
Oh God wont You show me how?
Lay Your hands upon me and lead me in the Way Everlasting

I have never left you on your own, My Precious One
Hold on, the time is near Im coming soon
To take You home with Me

Oh God search and know my heart
Longing to be near You, Ive tried but cant get past the start
Oh God wont You show me how?
Lay Your hands upon me and lead me [lead me] oh lead me [lead me] lead me there

[Oh God search and know]

In the movie, Awakenings, Robert De Niro's character, a patient who woke up from a 30 year catatonic state, is in love with the girl played by Penelope Ann Miller, but the impressive effects of medication that seemingly brought the miracle of his awakening start to fade and he slowly becomes a vegetable again but she dances with him for the first and last time before that happens and it takes the abnormal twitching away because he loves her.  If there's any cure for the broken spirit...it's unconditional love.  How do you show love even when the moment is so awkward?  The test of true compassion is what this scene shows.

This ad reminds me that my being a Christian woman doesn't mean I have to pretend everything's ok, and He'll still love me...same message goes out to all little girls.  Beautiful voice too, Layah Jane sings.

From Time Magazine, issue March 17.  Video interview:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1214055407/bclid1342094282/bctid1446813083 

TIME.com - http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1720092,00.html

After vowing to never again write about Lestat, this best seller reveals she has one more vampire novel in her.  Her newest book is Christ the Lord:  The Road to Cana.

Q: Do you ever plan to write additional books for the Vampire Chronicles series?

Anne: "When I published my first book about the Lord, I said I would never write about those characters again.  But I have one more book that I would like to write.  It will concern the vampire Lestat, but it will be written in a redemption framework, where he is wrestling with the existence of God.  I don't see it as a violation of my promise, because I won't be writing about vampires in the old way." 

Q: How did you evolve from writing about vampires to writing about the life of Jesus?

Anne: "It was a personal conversion.  After 38 years of being an atheist, faith came back to me.  I had to stop writing about vampires, because they had been a metaphor for lost souls.  Instead, I made up my mind to concentrate on Jesus Christ."

Q: What caused your conversion back to Christianity? 

Anne: "Americans like to believe we turn to religion because of an accident or the loss of a loved one, but in my case it was simply the culmination of searching.  I wrestled with a lot of theological questions, and then one afternoon, I thought, I love You -- I want to go back to You." 

Q: What's your idea of the afterflife?

Anne: "I don't think we can imagine what it is like to be fully united with God in his kingdom, but we can have great expectation and hope.  I don't think it is a little angel with a harp sitting on a cloud or the barren afterlife we see in so many films.  I think it is a rich and wonderful place." 

Q: Do you believe in vampires? 

Anne: "Not at all.  For me, supernatural characters were a way to talk about life and reality  -- vampires are the perfect metaphor for the lost soul.  I am always surprised when some very young reader writes to me and asks if they are real."

I've written about marriage already, and openly admitted that of course I'd like to get married one day if it's in His plan for me (to those shouting "of course it is!" let us not be all-knowing and presume on what His plan for me is, whatever it is, with marriage or not, if I follow through with God's plan for me I will be at my happiest), but the urgent demand that I had for marriage in my heart as a naive college girl has changed.  It has been molded and refined from a demanding, desperate spirit into hopeful desire for that possibility.  The desperation has dissolved and the fear of being alone has been slowly consumed by God's love.  I am never alone.  I do not feel alone, and one must not marry anyway simply because they do not want to be alone.  I do get lonely still sometimes, but I hold on to the truth, that He is with me always.  I will not make someone my human teddy bear and I will not be one.  Whoever my dearest-to-be is, I want to add to his life. 

The way I see it, there was something I disliked about the term "better half".  There's nothing wrong with it of course and I still sometimes like hearing it between lovers, but God has shared something with me and I believe it is part of the reason why most marriages fail somewhere in the middle.  While it is clear that God unifies husband and wife and makes them one, I don't believe that 2 "half" people should marry.  While shampooing my hair I had an epiphany...then I got bubbles in my eyes hahaha! 

I think that 2 people God puts together, ought to be whole in Christ. 1 and 1, not 1/2 and 1/2.  Whole in Christ means not just of the same "faith", that's not what I mean, though that is God's command, to be equally yoked.  What I mean by whole is...secure in Christ's love, surrendered to Him, if not completely, mostly.  No one is ever 100% surrendered to Him, but there are those who make a decision to surrender daily...and walk the talk.  2 people who are whole can ADD to one another's life and not simply use up each other's strengths to make up for the other's weaknesses.  After decades of that, people give up.  It is God who ought to be the better half of both...so that they can add to one another's lives and not simply break even in marriage.

I read this article and realize it is so true:

http://www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0001661.cfm

Single girls, we needn't pretend we're not thinking about marriage.  Some of the lonelier of us I believe simply spend bittersweet time with a happy couple our age and then shortly after want to run somewhere secret in tears because we covet what they have, but in front of friends we bluntly retort "I'm in no rush..." and begin to candy-coat our status plus recite the disadvantages of married life to make ourselves feel better.  Let's be real, humble, gentle, and trust more that God is able to bring about a great love story if we trust in His plan for us first.  Let us not hesitate to also rejoice with those who have found love to last a lifetime.  Are you reserving tickets for 27 Dresses?  No worries, Hehehehe. 

Billy Graham when asked if he ever thought of divorcing his wife answered "Divorce? Never.  Murder, yes." Hahahahaha!

C.S. Lewis found the love of his life and he knew she was dying from disease, but the way he tenderly outlines what his love for his wife was like in "A Grief Observed" after she died, how she was his best friend, his muse, and his lover only within a short span of 4 years convinced me that I would rather have that kind of real love than one I'd settle for simply because my bio clock is ticking.  The love of Jamie and Landon in the Nicholas Sparks novel, A Walk to Remember, also illustrates that.  Don't get me wrong of course I don't want death paired with my love story, but death is inevitable in any life.  My 2 examples demonstrate real love, that's the only reason why I cite them, not because of the dying part.  This is something Lewis wrote but not from A Grief Observed I think.

C. S. Lewis wrote,

"Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.³

To those whose desires have been manipulated by the Enemy, we could say, "You're fooling about with premarital sex, recreational companions, endless buddies, when what I'm offering you is marriage, the desire of your heart." "Marriage," writes Lewis, "is the proper reward for the real lover, and he is not mercenary for desiring it."⁴

Mary, matagal na akong nagwowork, (nagbibilang) mag lilimang taon na actually.  Kulang ko nalang i work out, yung ano...yung katawan ko...hahahaha! But honestly...I know exactly what she's talking about. God has blessed me so, from hitting rock bottom to rising up again...you just can't stand to see those who can't see beyond what they're going through without telling them this.

Work That - Mary J Blige

Work your thing out
Work your thing out
Work your thing out
Work your thing out

Theres so many-a girls
I hear you been running
From the beautiful queen
That you could be becoming
You can look at my palm
And see the storm coming
Read the book of my life
And see I've overcome it
Just because the length of your hair ain't long
And they often criticize you for your skin tone
Wanna hold your head high
Cause you're a pretty woman
Get your runway stride home
And keep going
Girl live ya life

I just wanna be myself
Don't sweat girl be yourself
Follow me
Follow me
Follow me
Girl be yourself
That's why I be myself
And I'm gonna love it

Let em get mad
They gonna hate anyway
Don't you get that?
Doesn't matter if you're going on with their plan
They'll never be happy
Cause they're not happy with themselves

Na na work what you got
I'm talking bout things that I know
Na na work what you got
It's okay show yourself some love
Na na work what you got
Don't worry bout who's saying what
It's gonna be fine
Work what you got

Feelin great because the light's on me
Celebrating the things that everyone told me
Would never happen but God has put his hands on me
And aint a man alive could ever take it from me
Working with what I got I gotta keep on
Taking care of myself I wanna live long
Aint never ashamed what life did to me
[ Work That lyrics found on http://www.completealbumlyrics.com ]

Wasn't afraid to change cause it was good for me
I wanna...

I just wanna be myself
Don't sweat girl be yourself
Follow me
Follow me
Follow me
Girl be yourself
That's why I be myself
And I'm gonna love it

Let em get mad
They gonna hate anyway
Don't you get that?
Doesn't matter if you're going on with their plan
They'll never be happy
Cause they're not happy with themselves

Na na work what you got
I'm talking bout things that I know
Na na work what you got
It's okay show yourself some love
Na na work what you got
Don't worry bout who's saying what
It's gonna be fine
Work what you got

Work that
Work that
Work that
Girl don't hold back
You just be yourself

Na na work what you got
I'm talking bout things that I know
Na na work what you got
It's okay show yourself some love
Na na work what you got
Don't worry bout who's saying what
It's gonna be fine
Work what you got

Work that
Work that
Work that
Girl don't hold back
You just be yourself

Work that thing out
Work that thing out
Work what you got

If He were in front of me, in a white Tshirt and jeans ^v^ what would I say? I'd probably fall into His arms, shed some tears, and sing, and change Snow Patrol's words a bit...

It is often here in my room, with my dog early in the morning that I hear God singing from His heart to mine.