Snippet of a Lil Girl's Journey

This morning I was thinking of a girl, a 16 year old girl.

She was raised in a farm her whole life. She did not mind doing things routinely. 

Home…

Field…

Sheeps…

Home.

The sun always kissed her caramel brown skin for she loved walking without a hat on.

Her hair tangled by the wind and her face always looking up towards the sky.

She grew well in their area where everyone always seemed to be satisfied.

She lived with her parents and the friends she has known are her neighbors, some way older than her.

One morning, her mother who seemed to be a bit worried about her little girl sent her to the field wearing a grass hat. On her way to the field the girl paused.

She looked up the skies, closed her eyes and felt the wind blow as if it was stroking her hair.

The wind blew harder causing her hat to fall off, she chased it. The hat went rolling as she went after it.

It came to a halt as it landed in an old man’s foot.

“Well hello there child” the old man said smiling, he picked up the hat slowly bending his knees to reach it.

“It’s a new day again is it?” he asked.

“Yes it is!” the girl said enthusiastically

The girl reached for her hat as the old man stretched his left arm to give it.

“Thank you sir…”

The old man slightly smiled and asked, “where are you heading?”

“In the field sir” She answered “My sheep are waiting for me”

“Sheep?” the man inquired a little surprisingly.

“Yes sheep! I take care of them. I took care of them my whole life” She answered.

“Is that what you always wanted to do?” He asked

“Weeell…” She paused, her eyes quickly gazed to her right and then she answered

“that’s what I need to do, I need to take care of them until they are ready to be sheared for harvest."

“I asked if that’s what you want to do not what you need to do. Is there one answer for that?”

“If that’s the case how do I know what I want to do?”

“You see…” Said the old man while his right hand pinched his chin.

"There is always a bridge that connects the things that you need to do with the things that you want to do.

A little exploring, tweaking, and adjusting can create a necessary change. Change is inevitable yet it is necessary. The thing is to find it… Find the bridge.”

“Find the bridge?! Hmmm…” She paused. “Would the one beside the field work?”

The old man chuckled, “Well! Maybe it will, maybe it won’t.

Child, I should get going now, you should too.” Said the old man.

“Okay!” Said the little girl. 

-REN @2AM

In Your Silence

While You’re silent

I wait

I wait for Your voice

I wait for Your instruction

I wait for Your ways

I wait

While You’re silent

I became impatient

I strived

I complained

I struggled

I continued to ask

Why

When

How

But In silence, You remained

You loved

You provided

You cared

While I continue

to persevere

to hope

to ask again

How long?

Am I doing this right?

Does this please You?

Are You still there?

And in silence

You calmed

You secured

You brought out the things hidden in the innermost being of my heart

And there, amidst Your silence

I saw Your eyes staring right into me

I am tested

I am renewed

I am secured

I trust

Beyond mere words

Signs

Affirmations

Beyond what I see

Feel

and understand

What is important

Now unraveled

And found

In Your silence

February 25, 2011 - REN 

Sa Tren (In the Train)

Miss na nakaupo sa aking harapan

Di mo na ba maikubli ang iyong nararamdaman?

Patak ng luha mo'y tilay di na mapigilan

Kusa nang dumaloy nang di mo namamalayan

sino ba syang di ka pinahalagahan?

Batang nakaupo sa aking tabi

Di na makalad

At ang diwa'y di mapakali

Masayang nanunuod sa

Binahagi sa kanyang game ng psp

Sa isang saglit nawala ang Kapansanang matagal nang pasan

Dahil may isang nilalang

na dumamay at nagpakita na may pakialam

parisukat na madaming

nakakulong

Salamat sa pagkakataong

Maranasang makita

Ang mga ganitong emosyon

Ngunit Kelangan nang bumaba sa aking estasyon

Nasangga si kuya

at ang psp ay nahulog

October 17, 2010 - REN 

One is Not Enough

I Remember that Night

when I entered a new place in Malate. I was in college then when I found that noisy spot. It was dark yet there were lights hovering in the place, people were jumping and singing, and there was a loud music playing. Out of curiosity, I went in and discovered something new. 

No, its was not a bar...  it was a church, it was Victory. 

I remember Her 

I was standing alone in one corner, hoping that people will  not notice me, but apparently, someone did. That night, I met Ate Ruth also known as honey Ruth by everyone since she calls everyone honey. She looked like she was in her mid 20s, when we met... she had this energy and bubbliness oozing through her. She introduced herself, we exchanged numbers, and she did not leave me that night, I was supposed to go home but she insisted that I stay and eat with her before going home. 

My hand was held by her throughout that night, and oh should she choose to take me to a 5 Star Hotel or a fine dining restaurant, I could have ended up spending and eating there. Thankfully, we ended up eating at Mcdonalds. She offered to treat me and insisted that she pay for me even if its just the first time we met. I stayed for a couple of hours and went home, the church was in  Malate... I go home in Laguna. 

On my way home, I was reflecting on how my night went and how my eyes was opened to another world. I have known God since I was 7 and was raised in a christian family, but she had something that I wanted. I wanted that... A discipled heart and a heart to disciple. 

You see, Ate Ruth is just a simple girl from the province yet she had lots of girls that she discipled and mentored. She did it not by preaching or by being on stage, she did not need that, she did it by sharing her life. 

She treated the other girls she just met. 

She supported my school activities and my campaigns. 

She prayed for me and would call me if needed. 

She gave... she gave her time and her resources as well, it did not matter if it was small or big, she just gave. 

At present, I am now leading my own group (Victory Group: an avenue where we can learn and apply God's Word in our lives). It started with just one girl, we could have been called a Victory Couple but no, she encouraged me that it was a Victory Group and that I should persevere. I remember her words telling me "Ryzl, sooner or later, you will do greater things than what I am doing now". I look at my "victory group" and sighed, "Okay...". But yeah, it took months before our group multiplied, God is faithful! God showed that He can use me. That there is no big or small work in His Kingdom, everything is important, everything matters, my small effort matters. 

God used Ate Ruth to encourage me that I can make disciples, that my life can make a difference in another person's life. It does not need to be a lot, it can be just one. After Ate Ruth, I met a lot of women who influenced different aspects of my life. Indeed, one person who is making a difference is not enough, we need to be the difference in someone else's life too. 

Ate Ruth and the Gals

Me, Leah, and Ate Ruth's classic "Wednesday" smile 

Invites for Rustic Themes

He Takes Time

It has been quite a while since I wrote something that comes from the heart. You let passivity grow on you and the next thing you know, you end up browsing and slacking instead of creating. It's 12:50am and I cannot sleep, I was prompted to blog about this maybe because someone needs to hear it. 

God takes time to work in and through you. 

He is patient to wait and help you until you get it right... 
  until His promise happens... 
    until you become who He created you to be. 

We are living in this generation where 
    
    looking at your watch when you're spending time with a friend    
      is normal (uhuh... impatient?) 
      
    you're eating your main course and your mind is thinking   
      about dessert 
    
    you are celebrating your child's first birthday and you're  
      thinking on how his/her second birthday will look like
      

These and a lot of other "common" what-will-happen-next thinking rob us of our Now moments. God is concerned with your now, yes He is also concerned about your future but He takes time to be with you in your "now". 

The next best thing can be very exciting but let it not rob you from the joy of embracing your happiness... your pain... your sadness... your present moment that may or may not happen again. 

Take a moment and allow your heart to see God in your current situation. In your pain, endure. In your impatience, persevere. In your suffering, hope. Be thankful even in the little. 

Time flies so fast but in order to catch it, you have to be slow.

Seize it. Feel it. 

REN

Stand Out! Be You!

Lovin this classic video from Merry Melodies! Enjoy watching! 

Maybe not the purpose but the essence...

Fire After Winter - A FireCarrier's Moment

Survive the winter, the flood, the rain and everything else that kills fire, that ends a flicker and cools a burn. Congratulations to those who survived, even with fragments and pieces that correspond to life when put together at the joints. You are alive. At least, by the doctor’s assessment, you are still pumping blood and performing the minimum functions required of a human being.

Say “good morning” to the sun. It’s 36 degrees Centigrade and a sweaty oven outdoors. Would you rather burn out in the field or die of gradual suffocation inside a sunless coffin? Options hardly give you an easy way out.

I switched on some video and found a sound that sounded like me before there was snow and rain… before the floods drenched all wood and made it impossible for them to catch fire. He was singing my song, my anthem, my purpose. He is alive. And not by doctor’s standards but by virtue of the purpose for which he breathed and pumped oxygen and blood.

Life can be likened to when your heart pumps a hybrid of fire and plasma. If blood flows through your veins, let it carry fire back into your heart. As hot as the sun’s rays feel against your checks, so is the fire that wants to invade you. When you close your eyes and feel but nothing, remember a song that made you gasp for air, because it reminded you of the fact that you are barely breathing. A mediocre breath on a mediocre day is a mediocre life. Many of us are entangled in these.

I am walking on concrete and playing it safe. I am embracing my pillow as I wave my sword. I am lured by comfort as much as I am excited by war. And so I stay in the middle and hope life sweeps me off my feet. I need you to remind me that I was made to burn and not fade away.

Forget the trophies, the laurels and the luxuries. Forget the scars and endure the healing wounds. Your cause has not forgotten you. It has always remained right there, waiting for you to pick it up. Or so I would remind myself… because I was not made to pump blood. I was created to cary fire in my bones.

Written by Riza Olaguer 

There hath not failed one word of all His good promise

Oh for the faith that does not make haste, but waits patiently for the Lord, waits for the explanation that shall come in the end, at the revelation of Jesus Christ! When did God take anything from a man, without giving him manifold more in return? Suppose that the return had not been made immediately manifest, what then? Is today the limit of God's working time? Has He no provinces beyond this little world? Does the door of the grave open upon nothing but infinite darkness and eternal silence? 

How Do We Respond to Miley Cyrus' VMA Performance?

Here are some of the Christian Bloggers' post on how to respond to Miley Cyrus' VMA Performance.. 

Trevin Wax, in his blog on the Gospel Coalition, said he was initially shocked, then sickened, then saddened by the news report on Miley's performance. "What kind of people are we?" he wrote. "What kind of culture have we created? What do we want our children to be?" Wax said he pondered those questions for the rest of the day. But then, he said, "no more wondering. Tonight, I weep. ... I weep for the lostness of a girl who doesn't see herself stumbling around in the dark. I weep for the news channels that profit from their all-day coverage of a young woman spiraling out of control. ... I weep for an entertainment culture that celebrates the breaking of every social taboo and the casting off of every restraint, only then to turn and mock the stars that follow suit. ... I weep for women enslaved by a false view of sexual liberation. I weep for men (myself included) who have failed to say, 'Enough is enough.' ... I weep for the broken, messed-up world we live in. But then I weep at the power of grace. There's Jesus, lifting the head of a woman of the night and sending her away into the light. There's Jesus in a crowd, healing a woman desperately trying to cover the shame. There's Jesus at the well, transforming a woman tossed aside by multiple men. Weeping is no longer enough. Now, I pray."

Brant Hansen, in his blog on Air1 Radio's website, states: "I'd like to apologize to Miley Cyrus on behalf of all adults." Why? "Adults are supposed to protect young people. Adults are supposed to refuse to treat young people like little gods, put them on pedestals, and parade them on stages. But adults do it, anyway, and our culture is just dumb, and just numb, enough to act like it's perfectly normal. Turns out, as we've always known, celebrity messes with people's heads, particularly the young. ... Kids don't need more kids. They know plenty of them. Kids need adults, actual adults, adults adult enough to reject a culture that is so bored, so dead, that it can only feel alive if given one more jolt, one more shock. And it's hard to shock, anymore, but Miley hit that mark. ... Adults aren't supposed to make kids into celebrities. We're not supposed to let kids just 'follow their dreams' without regard to how foolishly tragic said dreams might be. We're supposed to step in."

"How do we help Miley?" asks author and blogger Annie Downs. "We speak love to her. I know, I know. You're mad that your teen sister or young daughter was exposed to that behavior! and where is culture going? and am I defending her? and aren't I grossed out by what I saw? and isn't she crazy? and why am I not expressing pure outrage because I'm a teen Christian author? I know. But in my heart, I don't feel outrage. I'm very sad for her. ... While today's headlines are tearing her to shreds, we as Christians HAVE to sound different than the world. We HAVE to yell a different chant in her direction about how God made her on purpose and how she is valuable because of WHO she is, not WHAT she does. I'm not saying we ignore the influence she is having, but if we want to help her ... then we have to look at her with eyes of compassion and have our words sound from there." 

Bottomline: Compassion! Repost from Crosswalk 

Be Still thy Soul

Be still, sad soul! lift thou no passionate cry,

But spread the desert of thy being bare

To the full searching of the All-seeing eye;

Wait! and through dark misgiving, black despair,

God will come down in pity, and fill the dry

Dead place with light, and life, and vernal air.

--J. C. Shairp

The man in the corner

Sa isang sulok sya ay mapapansin 
Munting mamang dala ang kanyang awitin 
Mga madla ay madali lamang sya lampasan 
Muntikan ko na ring di mamasdan 
Mga mata na puno ng pagasa 
Habang kinakanta 
"Diyos ay Pagibig" 
Ikaw ba ay naniniwala?

A way to vent out

Tonight I could use an old piano to tell my stories.
If I can play, I'd hit the chords and notes and allow my fingers to express how I really feel.
The black keys will tell of my low moments and the white will tell of the happy ones (at least the happy ones are greater).

Yet here I am, expressing
Typing myself away with a keyboard not the electronic type of Piano but that of an iPad.
This lil frame that I carried with me became my companion and witness.
If it could talk, it will tell you stories of how I wake up,
how I respond
how I rush
how I procrastinate

How I smile
How I look up
How I pray

How I whisper
How I plead
How I exist

If it will
It can

And maybe if I also will
I can

...

Its been a while...

Chatter

I'm in a place which name was derived from a sky element and nature
A place where people eat, drink and chat 
The atmosphere filled with endless noise from the people and the radio 

In front of me is a group of women
celebrating a new addition to their group 
and the week that has passed 

In my left are men 
Their thoughts spoken as if its their sword 
and their words uttered like their sparring with one another 

From another area comes laughter 
Most of them boisterous 
while some are slightly reserved

Lingering
I began to see how these chatter connect, convey and celebrate 
How in one sound they understand each other 
they feel one another  
they make sense 
they alter 

But there's also another noise that I forgot to mention 
the one that came from a lil Acer 
its keyboard clicking 
Clicking and clicking 
someone was trying to connect 
and talk 
not with someone 
but with a place where 
her thoughts are poured 
and shared 
from her mind 
to yours 

REN (08.19.21)

BitterSweet

It’s 1:26 am. For some weird reason, I am always awakened during the 3^rd watch of the night just to be reminded to write this, or at least, type this! *gyah! Finally, on my 3^rd week of ignoring the tug, I am now writing it down. 

I am sure that as you read the title you are hoping that this post will be about chocolates or food, but its not! As a human, I am sure at some point you were able to experience difficult situations and off course difficult people. Dealing with them can sometimes be easy but most of the time it’s hard or should I say, challenging especially when it comes to a point that this people are hurting you already. Well, I may not have all the solutions to all your problems but may I recommend something that helped me cope up with it – Pray to God about them!

Yes! Pray about it! Not pray for it… pray about it! Tell on them to God. Learn to tell God what they’ve done to you, what happened and how pissed you are about it. I’m sure that most of us would rant about it first in Twitter or FB, second to our close friend, and third to our friends. Maybe you’re like “Me? Pray to God about it? Hirap na nga ako magdasal tas irereklamo ko pa kay God!” It may feel awkward at first but hey! HE CARES! Psalm 62:8 encourages us “Trust in Him at all times; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us”. If what we feel at the moment or what we felt was nice and sweet, the Psalmist would not have told us to pour out. There are some things in our heart that we need to let go– hurt, anger, doubt, bitterness, unforgiveness, and confusion. The goal is to pour out (let go) of the bitter waters that may want to linger in our hearts so that the sweet waters of God (i.e. peace, joy, kindness) can go back in and stay.

It may seem weird at first, but I am sure that as you try it and practice it, it will help you step back, process the situation and see if its really worth that wrinkle in your forehead.

An Encouragement for the Weak

The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong
(Ecclesiastes 9:11)

A Daily Declaration for Affirmation and Success

SUCCESS PRESCRIPTION:  RECITE AND APPLY THESE PLEDGES THREE (3) TIMES A DAY for AFFIRMATION & RESTORATION

• PLEDGE #1:  Today I begin a new life by replacing my bad habits with good ones, for I NOW know I can do all things through Jesus Christ who Strengthens me.

• PLEDGE #2:  I have begun my new life by greeting each day with love in my heart because I am NOW transformed by the renewing of my mind.

• PLEDGE #3:  I will persist until I succeed at my new life's growth, for I know that if I ask often enough it will be given to me, if I seek diligently I will find, if I knock with persistence all doors will be opened unto me.

• PLEDGE #4:  I will reach my goals in life because I am God's greatest miracle, and greater is Jesus Christ that is in me than the evil that's in the world.

• PLEDGE #5:  Therefore boldly I will live each day as if it were my last with the confidence that all things will work together for my good because I love God and I an called according to his purpose.

• PLEDGE #6:  I will stay mindful that success requires that I must be a master of my emotions and this will be accomplished through my remembering that I am more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ who loves me.

• PLEDGE #7:  Armed with my new life in Christ, the weapon of love, the force of persistence, the confidence of being God's greatest miracle, the freedom of living each day as if it were my last, and the discipline of being master of my emotions, I will laugh at the world, for I NOW know that if I submit myself unto God, and resist the devil, he will flee from me.

• PLEDGE #8:  No longer will I be a slave to fear, pride, and doubt, but I will multiply my value one hundred fold and be a leader of men.  I will stay mindful to acknowledge God and He will direct path.

• PLEDGE #9:  Acknowledging God puts my faith in to action, and I will act now, for I know that faith without works is dead.

• PLEDGE #10:  To be a true success is a gift from God, therefore, I will remember to seek His guidance, and I will trust in the Lord with all my heart and lean not until my own understanding.

I AM A WINNER!   I AM SUCCEEDING!

A repost from Boss the Movement