ten things that recently made me happy

  fyi: i was tagged to do this march 16th. bwahaha. pambihira.

1. talking to my sister this morning
   
2. spending time with iris, eca, and kitchie last night (choco fudge! )
   
3. being transferred back to the morning shift (hooray!)
   
4. that chocolate incident
   
5. this one thing i really wanted to happen suddenly happening!
   
6. listening to awesome podcasts (ptr steve's comfort or cross, ptr joey's worry and restlessness, ptr paolo's hope, and ptr joe's uncommon God)
   
7. doing things that should have been done a long time ago
   
8. realizing things that should have been realized a long time ago (hey, no regrets here... there's really just a time and place for everything, s'all)
   
9. grocery shopping, cooking, doing laundry, dishwashing. yep, i'm turning domesticated
   
10. being under the learning process!
    

i tag YOU, YOU, and the BOTH of YOU! nyahahahaha

the schedule saga ends here (for now)

funny how i've been posting blog novelettes on my work schedule ("novelette" sounds like omelette na novel).

as i have been emphasizing forever, i am a morning person. funnily and amazingly enough, working in a call center has not made my body clock change one bit--even after almost two years of working here (wow, it's been that long!).

and then i find out last wednesday that sa totoo lang, sa totohanan lang, my work schedule will now be wednesdays to sundays, 5am-1pm. that means i'll be having two full days off for laundry, lambyerna, and lakwatsa! yes, in that order!

...it was the schedule i had been making kulit God for for weeks--months, even.

God is faithful. even in the littlest things. even when we're too consumed in ourselves worrying about the same little things. (and believe me, i sure was! in more ways than one! oh, me of little faith talaga! )

one thing is definitely for sure though: His hand ain't too short and His ears ain't deaf!

boy, time does fly!

i remember writing this two days after i rose my hand during the altar call a little over a year ago. what can i say. funny how things turn out differently a year later. :) and i'm sure, the years after.

 ==

"hard work" // oct 17 2006 10:00 am

admittedly, being a baby Christian is hard work.

Jesus always stressed the importance of loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and loving your neighbor as yourself.

in my case, however... *sigh*.

last sunday the topic was on walking with God, and there were three ways in order for anyone to do this: first was obedience, second was agreement, and third was intimacy. enoch was the benchmark for walking with God. we don't know absolutely anything about him: all we know is that he lived for 365 years and didn't die. God just took him away, because he simply walked with God.

it was also stressed that God wasn't looking for diplomas or vital statistics or whatever--God just wants us to obey, agree, and be intimate with him. THAT simple.

admittedly i have a penchant for complicating things. i think and overthink, analyze and overanalyze. i find it difficult to accept simple truth. i'm not content with just what what is presented to me: it has to be proven down to the very last fiber. that belief is quite contradictory to the Christian faith, because that very word--faith--is the beginning and end of all things.

along with that is my (almost) natural tendency to criticize. my good friend karl characterized me as a nitpicker. admittedly, i do find pleasure in finding fault in things--especially other people. i tend to judge quickly. i mean, i claim to be a Christian yet I have like ten million sins a day. i'm turning into something i don't want to be: a hypocrite. then again that's when the simplicity of wanting to walk with God comes in. Lord, i don't want to be like that anymore. i don't want to judge and okray and just be freaking mean anymore.

kakalurkey!!!!!

...is how i can describe the past few days (in fact, even HOURS!) have been. in a good way, of course. it's amazing how some things just happen when (cliche warning) you least expect them. they go like, kaboom! and whoosh! i'm all onomatopaeic today!

i am looking forward to sitting down and writing a normal blog again.

in the meantime... cheers! *lifts coffee mug*

randomness yet again

1. lately i find myself writing about a myriad of topics. siguro kasi there are a lot more things on my mind, and a lot more things that i enjoy sharing.

2. chores can be fun! i missed yesterday's speed-walk and my sister teena, thankfully, reminded me that it was my turn to, uh, make lampaso. so there. lampaso-ing is a nice substitute for exercise.

3. been thinking about the team reshuffling, a.k.a. all of the agents in our account being re-assigned to different teams. i was majorly "bonding" with my current teammates earlier today. i'm really gonna be missing them like heck.

4. i don't know how to use friendster anymore! for the longest time i was trying to figure out how to upload photos innit! hahaha! i've gotten so much used to multiply na kasi. what fun.

5. the past really can be funny.

me time

monday, tuesday, and wednesday post-shift afternoons i hold real important because it's only then that i have "me time." i usually lose myself in whatever "me time" thing/s i do during those days.

"me time" activities include:

1. losing myself in a bookstore. bawal ang kasama, sorry! reading time is really important for me.
2. watching multiple episodes of whatever my current favorite TV series/movie is (as of this writing, CSI NY!)
3. folding and re-folding laundry--hehe
4. walk-jogging. i have an exercise routine again! yaaaay!
5. writing

we just had a change of schedule (again.. five schedule changes in one year! such is the life of a call center agent), and at first i didn't like the new sched because i THOUGHT i was gonna miss a lot of activities, but hey... i actually am resting better now, not to mention figuring out what makes me tick and stuff. enjoying the company of me.

haaaay... ang saya saya ng buhay talaga! tenkyu Lord!

i miss multiplying

the IT authorities in our office have officially banned multiply from the PC in the pantry, which is why i've been updating and logging in real less. which i think is a good thing; at least i would be less less less tempted to go beyond my break hours surfing away. yay God!

fortunately i have a twitter account, so it's gonna be more updated than my blog here. and it's sooo super fun! click me!

right now i am super into CSI: NY. i've always been a forensics fan since i was in sixth grade. add new york, one of my dream cities to visit, in the equation, and boom!

it just dawned on me too.. i'm a fan of mysteries. i poured myself into nancy drew and bobbsey twins books growing up. and maybe if i was into sherlock holmes i woulda liked him too. i like house MD. one of my favorite movies is the cabinet of dr. caligari. et cetera. i always liked figuring things out. asking the whys and whatnot. i'm just a really curious sort, the one who asks too many questions

it's been a great day, week, month. it's a great life!

quickly only

- the every nation world conference is coming up real soon! like, in THREE DAYS! am i excited? you bet i am!

- i've been feeling out of sorts lately (don't we all fell like this from time to time?) but i feel that God's nudging, nay, pushing me in the right direction, to make the right choices. i feel like a little kid clutching His hand tightly, whimpering "i don't want to stray away, Dad!" and somehow i feel a lot better after doing so.

- i have no words to explain what's happening to me right now, actually... but there is something. like something BIG's gonna happen.

- things i plan to write about once i have the time: 1. the heroes tv series, and 2. a gadget review.

- all for now! God bless you guys!

decision making / young at heart (warning: super long!)

this is sorta hard to explain thru mere words because i need gesticulations. i need eye-widening, head-shaking, and lots of gigil. i need to show you how huge my smile is. i need you to hear how excited i am with EVERYTHING that's happening in my life.

but then i'm not in front of you, so the least that i can say is this:

God's taking charge of everything.

you see, i have a terrible habit called vaccilation. i have difficulty making a decision. i overanalyze. i lose sleep. i go around in circles, literally. in the worst cases of it, i consult other people, and hold on to their words. i even get second, third, and fourth opinions. when these opinions vastly differ, i suffer.

lately i have realized that just letting God decide makes it less complicated. psalm 118 says, "it is better to take refuge in God than to trust in man." suddenly, when i'm not sure about something... i ask God. simple.

a few months ago i joined my small group leader eunice and her friends at our church's singles convergence. i saw a poster of that church's youth service speaker series (it was on sports then, i think), and casually mentioned to her that i used to attend the youth services at our church in ortigas.

eunice's face lit up, as in really lit up. "gusto mo ba sa youth?" she asked.

i shrugged. okay lang, i said. i wasn't exactly youth-aged, but i was young. eunice then told me that she was going to connect me to iris, one of the youth leaders. i prayed about it, though, even if my heart wasn't really into it at the time.

fast-forward to a few weeks later. ate jeje, one of the small group leaders, asked me to accompany her friend's daughter at the saturday youth services. "she's a first-timer, make her feel welcome," ate jeje said.

i sat next to her and asked her the basics: name, school, course. she was from CSB taking up computer applications. after the service we chatted some more, and i found out that she liked the service. she liked the church. she even said that she wanted to be a christian.

i began to share lots of things in the two-minute walk to the donut shop. i wasn't so sure if that was actually a sign (if you could call it that) but... it felt so great talking with her.

the next day (as in THE NEXT DAY!) iris and i "accidentally" bumped into each other at the mall's elevator and exchanged numbers. she was with her older sister, who was a friend of eunice's.

i knew it was SOMETHING from God na. it was GLARING NEON ORANGE! this time i REALLY prayed about it. i said that if God really wanted me to be in with youth, i'd be GO. really GO! after all, He knew better!

by the end of june it was announced that our schedule at work would be changed: i would be working friday nights. conveniently (!!!), iris's small group was 6pm friday, and youth services were an hour later.

it was the shiny red cherry to my black forest cake.

you know how AMAZING all of this was? everything was just thrown in my face without me knowing!!! it felt like GOD PLANNED IT ALL ALONG. i didn't have to vacillate, praningize, or obsess over any detail, because IT WAS LAID OUT FOR ME. there was NO NEED FOR WORRY. after all, He knows the plans has has for us! to prosper us, not to harm us, to give us a HOPE and a FUTURE!!!

isn't just all of this AMAZING!?

i thank God for just ALL of this. He had more power than i of little faith had initially thought. He knew. He JUST KNEW.

PANALO ka Lord. HALLELUIA.

pagbabago

marami man ang pagbabago sa buhay ko, pero alam ko, may Kasama ako sa paglalakad.

"change is good, if you know how to respond to it." nabasa ko yan sa isang blog dito sa multiply. inspiring, sa totoo lang. tama eh. alangan namang magtantrums ako. twenty-two na ako, heller? hindi paurong o paatras ang pagbabago, kundi pataas.

 

excited na ako!

astig talaga, pramis

going through one2one is the best.

ate eunice and i tackled chapter four last monday and i was like, WOAH. like, totally floored! i've realized so many things about forgiveness that i've suddenly found myself so excited to forgive! seriously!  

my brown beanie/scarf's off to my spiritual family, especially to all the pastors and the small group leaders out in the universe! you guys are doing a fantabulous job of giving us "losties" direction, purpose, and truth!

2 Corinthians 9:12-13: This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing them and with everyone else.

i thank God for my spiritual family! you ROCK!!!

giving coffee a break!

hello, my name is karess, and i'm a caffeine addict.

and with that, i've decided to give coffee a break. i've realized that TEA (lipton yellow label) and freshly squeezed lemon juice makes such a wonderful (and healthy) substitute. i allude this to aren, who told me that this concoction works wonders for a sore throat.

besides, i get too hyper, emotional, hyper, sweaty, and just plain HYPER when i'm on the stuff. this happens especially during productions. so there. i've informed a few friends of the "sunday coffee fast," but after realizing how great tea can be, why not give myself a coffee break altogether?

cheers!  (there's an imaginary tea bag there. just squint!)

it always pays to look up

today--tonight--was the first night of work, and i was yet again checking mail, reading multiply updates, and basically killing time before i dial and make singil americans.

in between navigating pages i managed to look out the window.

i never realized how pretty the sky looked from the 28th floor of a building, at 630ish in the evening--with swatches of blue, pink, and gray innit.

i still can't stop staring! it's right in front of me as i type this.

 

ah, the wonders of the universe. thank you God!!!

a quick version of my life so far

random thoughts, in no particular order:

1. growing in the faith is awesome. i've just gotten back to the basics. i've been attending "one to one" discipleship and small group meetings. i've learned so many things already! it feels like growing up all over again. (i wonder how "christian adolescence" would be like? hmmm...) funnily enough, theory suddenly wants to be put into practice!

2. looking forward to more EN07 busy/fun-ness. by God's rockingness we've finished the script!  the work isn't quite over yet, but i'm looking forward to whatever needs to be done. it feels like i'm playing this PC game, and i'm on to level two. that's the best way to describe it i guess.

3. the whole arts thingy really is wired in my system.  i find myself thinking out loud while watching snippets movies on my lunch break. "wow ganda ng shot," sabay mimicking the camera using my hand. and then after lunch i'd talk and talk and talk about how films are at 24 frames a second and such. then i'd go about discussing German Expressionism in the next heartbeat. i loooove being a com arts major!

4. events ministry is the best in the universe! i'm borrowing the thought from this blog. i feel so right at home where i am now. *sniff*

5. i'm EXCITED to finish thesis! enough said.

6. malapit na birthday koooo! haven't realized that it's all of five days left. omaigash! i have so much to say about this, but i have to go; i have one2one eh. byers!

again, i've learned

"surrender" makes you a winner, and does not equate to loser.

 

 

i'm posting way too many one-liners lately. i promise once i have the time and chunk coherence, i will blog "normally."