Here is a video my husband Dennis edited. This is our 2nd honeymoon after 6 years of marriage!!!

Wait for Part Two!

My husband Dennis Sy shares his workout regimen. For the first time we are revealing our secrets.

When God said that He was going to open doors for me and give me opportunities to step out of my comfort zone and start stretching my faith this year, boy did He mean it!!

This month has been very exciting, to say the least. Wait, let me correct myself— this month has been very nerve-wracking, to say the very least! For the first time in my life, I’ve had to preach 11 times this month (so far, eight down, three more to go). That’s almost half of this entire month! In addition to that, I just finished taping an episode with financial guru Randell Tiongson for his show, Money Talk, which will air in a Cebu cable channel this year.

Will you please allow me to do this one thing here??

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!???!?!?!??!!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!

There. Release.

Just so all of you know, I am NOT the type who would volunteer to do this kind of thing (speaking and all) on a normal basis. If it were up to me, I would rather just sit back and relax. I would rather let all the other people do the talking and not have to feel any bit of tension down my spine. And since I’m married to a preacher, I would rather let my husband do all the talking, while I just watch and take down notes. He’s far better in doing this thing anyway. Everyone else is far better in doing all the things God’s asking me to do anyway.

Yeah… if it were only up to me, I would really just sit back and be comfortable. *dreamy look*

Tsk.

But of course….I know better. :p

I know that it is not up to me. I know that if I just sat back and kept being comfortable, my heart couldn’t be at rest; my innermost being wouldn’t allow me to relax, anyway.

I’ve always asked God to use me in ways bigger than myself. I’ve always been in faith that God will take me places I couldn’t even begin to imagine. I’ve always known that I wouldn’t be just another face in the crowd, but that God will make my life count for something; that God will use my life to make a dent not just in my generation, but in generations yet to come. I’ve known this all along, but it wasn’t until late last year when I really finally allowed God to push me out of my comfort zone and stretch my character and my faith. Yes, on one hand I’ve been in faith as to how God can use me, but my faith was dead in the sense that I didn’t believe in Him enough to allow Him to actually use me the way He wanted to. There was always that fear that He might make me do something I didn’t like, or that’s not comfortable for me, or maybe even something that I couldn’t do.

And I was right. He does want to make me do something that I don’t like, but that He knows I’d love as I go along (which is what’s happening now). He does want to make me do something that’s way out of what is comfortable for me, and something that I certainly could NOT do on my own. All because He wants to take me to that place where I’d have no reason to trust in myself, but to put my trust solely on Him. He wants to take me to that place where there can be no question that it is God himself moving in and through me. He wants to take me to that place where I can make the most impact and bring Him the highest glory… and it’s in the place where there is no “What about me —? How Can I —-? “ left in Thammie.

So yes, Lord. Bring it on. What a privilege it is to experience you bringing  me to a place where there’s none of me– but all of You, magnified.

In short, kakapalan ko na mukha ko Lord, kasi ikaw naman ang haharap, diba?

My mantra for this season is: JUST SHOW UP.

As in all the heroes in the faith that God used in extraordinary ways, just show up....and believe that God would not just show up and fight for you, but that He has already gone ahead and has already won the battles for you.

Thammie Sy, Reporting for duty!

I guess you can call our lifestyle as nomadic for the past month. Everything has been somewhat unstable for us since the start of the summer. To recap, our helper got pregnant and had to leave, our other helper got sick and eventually also had to leave, we got a temporary labandera (who made it clear early on that she was only going to work for us for a month, which made it difficult for me to trust her), our aircon broke down right when the  heat was at its peak so we all had to squeeze into our kids’ bedroom, I almost got dropped from my class since I was unable to  report (having no one to leave the kids with), our temp finally left, we decided to stay over at my in-laws house for a week so I can attend my classes again (and leave the kids with them), we stayed in two different rooms over  a period of only a couple of days, and now….I’m in Cagayan de Oro! We just flew in today. Whew!

One thing I’m not really all that excited about, is having to cope with change. If it were up to me, I would love for things and routines to stay the same. It usually takes me some time to get settled into a particular routine and get comfortable with new things.

I am  now reminded of the story about Moses and the Israelites, when they exited Egypt. They were given instructions to stay in one place when they saw the pillar of cloud settle, and pack up and leave as soon as the cloud was lifted. How difficult that must have been for the homemakers and mothers at that time! Imagine not knowing how long you had to stay in a certain place, and not being able to psyche yourself up for the the next season of your life. Yikes.

One thing that probably  kept the women sane in spite of all the “instability” at that time, however, one thing that perhaps made it somehow easier to follow God’s instructions, trust His leading and wait on Him for their next move, was the fact that they have seen God’s faithfulness as He led them. They have seen His character and knew that it was best to wait on Him (the times they got into most trouble were the times when they forgot to wait and trust!). They were able to trust God to be God, and so let God be God (except for some times of “rebellion” due to impatience on their part).

I know that the changes that have been going on in our household can be considered petty compared to some of the changes that some of you might be experiencing. While mine is just a matter of having to cope with some form of inconvenience in terms of our living conditions, some of you might be going through major transitions. For the other moms, it might be having to cope with changes in your kids as they enter different stages in their lives. For other wives, it might be changes in their husband’s career, or changes in the dynamics of their relationships. Again to some, it might be having to go through rough adjustments due to some loss in finances, or health, or someone in the family.  Just the same, I think that we can all learn from the women of the Bible. We can all rest in the fact that we have a God who is faithful. We have a God who is in control, who not only takes note of the changes that are going on in our lives, but is actually on top of all things. Most of all, we have a God who loves us and who will never leave us nor forsake us.

On a side note, I was initially concerned with how my kids will cope with all the change. I was expecting them to cry and look for our helpers, to perhaps complain about the instability. That was not the case at all. On the contrary, I don’t think they even considered anything as unstable. In their eyes, we have been on top of things. They are excited with the fact that they have no other “ate” to run to, only mom and dad. And they are okay because they can see and feel that mom and dad’s love for them remains constant. Ooh, how I want to say that “they’re okay because they are blessed with a mom whose character is very steady, who doesn’t snap nor gets stressed”….but God sees and knows EVERYTHING, so I will not go that route. O=)

How we can best cope with change is not all that different from how we can help our children best cope with what they feel is change. Just like us, they need to know that there is someone who is in control of things, someone they can trust, someone who is on their side, and someone who loves them unconditionally. It is good that they know that their mom/dad can be that someone, but it is best if they learn to look to their Heavenly Father,  to be that Someone.