I witnessed a funny thing last night after church. Well, I’m not sure if  ”funny” would be the appropriate word for it, but any other adjective escapes my into-the-holiday brain right now.

While waiting for Dennis to finish preaching, I decided to go to a bookstore and browse through some books. Just then, this guy holding a palm branch (palaspas) walked in and went straight to the magazine section, grabbed a copy that was of interest to him, and then browsed through it right beside where I was. He was pretty near so I just took a glance at him, at the same time securing my bag (hehe times like these, it’s okay to be praning– in english, slightly paranoid). Unfortunately, as I turned to take a look, I also caught a glance of what kind of magazine he was holding— a very popular “men’s magazine” (I still don’t think they should call it that, though). With one hand he held a palm branch, which supposedly tells of one “welcoming” Christ the Savior, and with the other hand he held something that would tell otherwise.

A few minutes later, his friend walked up to him to tell him they had to leave. When the friend saw what his friend was looking at, he gave some “friendly” advice: “Pare naman! Kakagaling lang natin ng simbahan eh tapos yan na agad babasahin mo?!” (” *insert ‘pare’ counterpart here* We just came from church and then now, that’s what you’re reading?!”)

Wow. At least this friend was in his right mind and was about to correct Mr. Palaspas.

But then, friendly-advice friend gave an even friendlier advice: “Bukas ka na bumili nyan!” (“Buy one tomorrow instead!”)

Toink.

As funny as it sounds, sometimes we do think like Mr. Palaspas and Mr. Friendly Advice.

Just like Mr. Palaspas, it is sometimes so easy for us to go into this holy week thinking it is just a tradition we practice every year. We can go to church, fast from meat, even fill our houses with palm branches…and yet we are unwilling to let go of our old sinful habits. With one hand we say “Welcome Jesus! We celebrate you! Come into my life!“, and yet with the other hand we still do the very things that He tells us to have nothing to do with.

Or we can be like Mr. Friendly Advice, who sees holy week as just that— a week when you  try to act holy. After which, we go back to our “normal” ways…until the next “holy” week.

So what should our mindsets be as we go and celebrate this holy week? Why do we have holy week in the first place?

Well, aside from the joy that we have in being able to take time off from work, Holy Week is really about remembering Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.

Nothing more, nothing less.

(But of course, it’s really fun to take time off from work and be with family and friends, right?? hehe…but that’s not the point so let’s go back to the real reason…)

It is because of Christ’s death on the cross that all our sins have been atoned for. It is because Christ chose to become sin for us that all our guilt have been washed away.

Jesus died and was buried according to scripture.

But it didn’t end there.

Like I said, it is about Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection– nothing more, nothing less.

On the third day, Jesus resurrected and became alive again, also according to scripture. He did not remain dead. The story did not end with Him losing power and being handed over to death. Because He was Jesus who was completely obedient to God the Father and was blameless, death itself could not hold Him down. He overcame the very thing we are all destined for because of our sin. He was victorious over sin and death—and He chose to share His victory with us! Because of His resurrection, we too, are made alive in Him. Because of His resurrection, we who were once dead to our sins are now alive in Christ. Once we were slaves to sin and our sinful nature, causing us to go on in our sinful patterns…but now we have been set free and we are able to say no to sin and therefore it doesn’t have a hold on us!

We can actually say no to sin! (Yaaay!!! )

This means that I don’t have to hold a palm branch or a Bible in one hand and with the other hand keep on sinning or doing my old ways. Jesus has given me the power to say no to that. This means that I could actually welcome Jesus willingly and completely and not let it be just  lip service because I now understand the freedom and the victorious life that He wants me to have. This means that I don’t have to put a timeline to when I can sin and when I cannot sin; I don’t have to try to act holy and on certain times only, because now I know that because of Christ’s death and resurrection I can say no to sin at all times, and I am already made holy.

I am already holy, and none— absolutely NONE of it is of any merit to me. None of my holiness is up to me or up to how I act. My holiness is based solely on what Jesus did for me on the Cross.

I guess this is my overly-zealous way of trying to encourage you, that we don’t have to be either one of them— Mr. Palaspas or Mr. Friendly Advice— anymore. We can, at this time and always, finally leave our old life of sin and completely welcome Christ into our lives. We can enjoy not just this holy week, but we can– from this moment on, live and enjoy holy lives.

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photo: mhygzs.multiply.com

Here’s a list of things that made my day today: (in order of “happening”)

1. Alyanna told me she looked for me the moment she woke up because I’m “special” to her.

2. I was reminded again of how much God loves us and how merciful He is as I read my Bible.

3. Mika kept asking me to hug her.

4. Alyanna asked me to increase our homeschool time. To be more specific, she said, “Mom, how come our study time is so short na here at home? I want you to give me more work to do for school.” (In short, nagpaka-nerd siya! hehehe)

5. Dennis volunteered to do his sermon preparation where I would be staying while waiting for the kids because he didn’t want me to drive in the rain. (This one really got me so kilig earlier! heehee!)

6. I spent the afternoon reading a good book while Dennis was in front of me the whole time finishing all three of his preachings for the week. (In case you didn’t know, my number one love language is time)

7. I had really yummy chocolate-filled coffee buns—two— with good coffee. (I think this made my day until I realized the calorie content, but oh well… )

8. We went on a family date night.

9. I enjoyed a very tasty and nutty  pesto pasta with really soft, buttery, and garlicky bread….oh, with barbecue sauce smothered all over fried chicken.

10. I finally bought something I’ve been praying for, for three years already!

As I finish typing this list, I could actually imagine you yawning and asking, “Is that it?” or “Where’s the ‘happening’ you mentioned earlier??”. It’s okay, I won’t take it against you.

….Come to think of it, today has been one of the “relatively-steady-and-relaxed” days for me. I chose not to think about (or do) any housework or ministry-related duties that had to be done— which I know would never get done anyway.

But you know what? Even if this was any other day that was full of events and work and stuff— I probably would still be listing down the same things here.  :)

Thank you Lord for allowing us to enjoy the wonderful blessing of family. Thank you for the gift of marriage. Thank you for the joy of being with our children. Thank you for allowing us to enjoy ever day with you. Thank you that things don’t have to be grand in order for us to enjoy them. Thank you. Thank you.

What about you?

What made your day today?

Have you expressed your gratitude, yet?

PS: I told you I really didn’t think of anything work-related today….not even anything blog-related (well, except for now)— I didn’t even bother taking any pictures!

Taught in Victory Weekend earlier today. If you have been following my blog for quite some time now, you might have noticed that I get to mention this from time to time. I really wish I could stop talking about it already, but honestly it’s just something that has been so life-changing for me that each time I sit and listen I still learn something new and I still get excited. I am even more ecstatic for the participants!

Latest batch of VW participants

Today was no different. I was once again stirred up in my faith and grateful for who I now am in Christ. I prayed this for myself, and then for the other women, and now for you too– that we will always remember who we are in Christ. We are loved. We are accepted. We are secure. We are significant. We are forgiven. We are redeemed. All that— only in CHRIST.

Oh, how rude of me! If you have no idea what I am talking about, Victory Weekend is just a tool we have in church that helps us deepen our relationship with God. This two-day retreat focuses on establishing strong spiritual foundations that enable us to live a life of freedom and fruitfulness.

I was scrolling through Twitter while we were stuck in traffic last night and I read this: “Famed children’s book co-author Jan Berenstain dies.”  Since my kids and I are fans of The Berenstain Bears, I immediately decided to read up some more about the author/illustrator.

You can read and find more here (CNN), here (Yahoo!), and here (Time)…

….But here are some bits from CNN and Yahoo! News that amazed me:

“Berenstain and her husband, Stan, were already successful cartoonists when they decided to transition to writing children’s books.

According to publisher Harper Collins, “The Big Honey Hunt,” published in 1962, was the first book starring the bear family.

Since that time, more than 330 “Berenstain Bears” books have been published over the past 50 years, the publisher said.

More than 260 million copies have been sold, making it one of the best-selling children’s book series in history, Harper Collins said.”

(from cnn.com)

After Stan passed away in 2005, Jan continued writing new books, often with the help of her son, Mike. The series has grown with the times, covering topics like the dangers of bringing guns to school, online safety, and childhood obesity.

According to Mike, Jan had been working on two more books in her Pennsylvania home at the time of her death. “Every day she was very productive,” he said. “[She] had been doing illustrations until the day before she passed away.” In a 2011 interview, Jan told theAssociated Press, “It’s wonderful to do something you love for so many years. Not everyone has that.”

(from Yahoo! News)

After reading all these links, I have to say that I greatly admire not just her work, but how this Mama Bear lived her life partnering with her husband to do and create something that would outlive both of them, how she successfully passed on her love for writing and illustrating to her son, and how she lived her life to the very end– doing the very thing she was gifted and called to do. The success of all their books is just  a bonus.

This is how I want to live my life– to partner with my husband in doing something that would outlive both of us, to pass on to my children the things that I am passionate about, and to live my life doing what I love and know I am gifted and called to do to the very end. Everything else that would come with this kind of success will all be just a bonus.

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photo credits: http://www.mysanantonio.com

http://www.cbc.ca

http://www.seattlepi.com

For the past month, God has been stretching my faith. He has been placing me in situations that would leave me with no choice but to trust in Him. This past month, He has magnified for me how helpless I am without Him, and at the same time how much I can accomplish through Him and in Him.

Allow me to share something that has encouraged me today. I hope that you and some people you know can get encouraged by this, too!

Oh, let me first give you a brief summary of this whole thing, just to give you a context of what I’m talking about….

The text of this story is found in Matthew 14. This was the time when Jesus already went about preaching and ministering to many people.  In one particular instance after Jesus ministered to the crowds, the disciples were put in a dilemma on what to do with them. It was approaching night time and the crowds (thousands of them!) were getting hungry. Some disciples suggested that they just dismiss them and send all the people home, so they can get food for themselves in the villages. Buying food for all of them was clearly out of the question since that would mean that the disciples will have to shell out so much money. Then…they spotted a boy with five SMALL barley loaves and two SMALL fish. But how can that help them, right? Obviously, the small bread and small fish were just enough to feed the small boy. It didn’t make any sense, but one of them still took the chance. They were in the presence of no less than Jesus, after all.

I’ll just copy-paste the next few verses to let it tell you the rest of the story…

Matthew 14:17-21

 ¹⁷ “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they (the disciples) answered. ¹⁸ “Bring them here to me,” he (Jesus) said. ¹⁹ And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. ²⁰ They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. ²¹ The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.”

To summarize this further:

The boy and the disciples said, “This is all the food we have. We only have this small bread and small fish to offer.”

Jesus took what they had to offer Him anyway.

Jesus blessed the bread and fish and distributed them.

The small bread and small fish multiplied.

Everyone ate and were all fully satisfied.

The disciples had so much left over to pick up after.

The same is true with us.

We say, “This is all that I have. This is the only thing that I know. I only have this small thing to offer you.”

Jesus responds by taking what we offer Him anyway— no matter how small and seemingly insignificant.

Jesus chooses to bless whatever it is we offer Him and uses it to bless others.

Our efforts and gifts multiply.

Everyone gets a taste of our gift, gets blessed, and gets fully satisfied.

We find ourselves having to pick up so much that are left over.

The blessings overflow.

We can keep on giving and giving and blessing and blessing because there is so much that God leaves for us.

Amazing, isn’t it???

You can be a stay-at-home mom like me, or a working mom…you can be a wife, a single woman, or a student. Everyday we are faced with a dilemma on what to do with the people God surrounds us with or the circumstances we find ourselves in. Everyday we have a choice to just step back and relax and let the opportunity to be a blessing pass.

“Just send them home. I have nothing to offer them.”

“It’s too costly to involve myself in this.”

“I only have enough for myself.”

Everyday too, we have a privilege to offer whatever it is that we have in our hands and allow God to multiply it and bless hundreds– or even thousands. What we think is enough only to feed a small boy will in fact be more than enough to feed thousands. It all depends on whose hands it is in.

A rod in my hands might be able to keep stray dogs away. A rod in Moses’ hands parted the mighty sea.

A sling shot in my hands is a kid’s toy. A sling shot in David’s hand became a mighty weapon. 

Two fish and five loaves of bread in my hands are a couple of tuna sandwiches. Two fish and five loaves of bread in God’s hands fed thousands.

Nails in my hands might produce a place on the wall where I can hang my kids’ framed paintings. Nails in Jesus Christ’s hands produced salvation for the entire world.

It all depends on whose hands it is in. 

I choose today— and everyday— to offer whatever small and insignificant thing I have in my hands to God. And every day I shall wait and see how He will bless it and multiply it to bless the lives of thousands. And every day I shall see how much left over I would have to pick up after.

Before I move on with blog life, let me just conclude this series on my thoughts during prayer and fasting with this post (Betcha didn’t know there was a “series” huh?? –I didn’t either! hehe ). A bit late, I know. But I still think I should post it anyway.

There are so many verses on faith and prayer in the Bible. If there’s one theme that stood out for me this week,though, it is that of coming to God like a child. 

What does this look like for us?

To come like a child is to:

1. Come Asking boldly.

If you have kids, you would know exactly what I am talking about when I say that kids have no clue what they are asking for sometimes! For example, they would always tell me, “Let’s go to America tomorrow! I want to see my cousins there!”  as if it were that easy. To them, going to Disneyworld is just like going to the mall. Distance is not an issue. Money is not an issue. Time is not an issue. If they want something, they blurt it out and ask us for it— without hesitation.

I wonder why we don’t do the same, even if it is God himself inviting us to just ask anything in His name??

“Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!” John 14:14

2. Come with an Expectant Heart.

When kids ask you for something and you say yes, to them it is as good as done. They go on with the rest of their day assured and carefree, knowing that their requests will be granted. Even without written contracts, a single “yes” from you is as good as a deal that is signed, sealed, and delivered.

What about us? Do we come to God with the same kind of expectation and peace?

“For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory.” 2 Corinthians 1:20

3. Come and Play.

What is one thing that a child never gets tired of? ….Playing, of course! No matter how late it is, as long as you don’t tell them to stop, they would find it in themselves to muster up enough energy to keep on playing. As long as they are at it,  they don’t get bored, they don’t complain (there are occasional fights, yes…that comes with the territory, but that’s another topic altogether), and they are full of joy. Why? Because they are kids! That’s how God wired them, and as long as they are playing, they are being themselves. They don’t have to tidy themselves up to play. There’s no need to concern themselves with “grown-up” issues. They can let their imaginations run free.

God has wired our spirits to pray. Prayer should not be something that bores us, for it is meant to give us joy and to energize us! When we pray, we too, can and should be ourselves. We don’t have to tidy ourselves up before coming to God. We don’t have to concern ourselves with things too overwhelming for us to understand. We don’t need a certain structure in order to pray. We can come and be ourselves for as long as we want.

Do we enjoy our praying time as much as children enjoy their playing time?

“I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” Mark 10:15