friend of sinners

ok, where do i begin??? had a busy weekend... for the past couple of days i feel like i worked out for hrs and never stretched - lolz!. my hubby and i just finished cleaning our closets. gosh! we started at 4p till 10:45p - why that long? well, part of that was coz we would make silly jokes, sweet dance and laugh at each other so much that the time really just flew by... oh and of course... we snacked here and there hehehe. nwayz, can't believe how much clothes i have! i disposed tons of them already, but it still seems like i didn't take out anything. my living room is full of boxes labeled for keeps, trash, donate & garage sale. yup! i decided to do garage sale to add the proceeds to project: HOPE - i read that it's one way to raise funds. so hope it'll be a success! i finally counted my shoes (to keep) and i have 42 pairs left. i also counted my bags and i have 42 to keep also (i use them all year round anyway)... i mean not to mention the ones i disposed hehehe - i kinda felt guilty though right after lookin' at my closet and kept thanking God for all this material blessings. i remember when we had our house blessing, our pastor suggested to lay our hands on our closets for God to fill it with His blessings! God is good!

nway, let me back track for a sec here... k, friday night we went to see my niece performed at the ECC singing contest and it was fun! although, the whole production team weren't quite prepared, i loved watching the contestants sing their hearts out. for a moment we felt like we were at the american idol. however, i thought we were gonna be able to vote, but nah! it was strictly the judges only, hmp! nway, my niece, nicole, didn't make it. but i sure am proud of her for being the only one who showed sportsmanship out of all of them. she was happy for the winners, approached them right away and gave each one of them a hug, but the rest, you could tell they wanted to yank the judges out of their seats hehehe - love u nix! you definitely made mama proud once again!

saturday, after bringing c to her skating class, we went grocery shopping for my sis' ingredients to make her famous lumpia (veggie spring roll) - magnific! esp when you dip it with vinegar, garlic and soy sauce... yummmmmy! when we got home, my be and ayre were getting a head start on our spring cleaning weekend. we were able to pull stuff out of every storage we possibly have and just sorted them out. put them in their designated boxes and pretty much just kept the ones we really really use. hey! i can sell the new ones at the garage sale you know. i'd go really cheap to get rid of them fast. c and ayre were assigned to clean their respective rooms, that also involves disposing whatever clothes & toys they can't possibly wear or play with anymore. later that afternoon, be and ayre had to go to our friend's bday party all the way in the south. i couldn't leave our mess so i just had the 2 of them go. besides i work faster when he's not around. only because when he's helping (which i appreciate), he would ask me 10mil times "be, where do i put this?" c & my sis took care of my lil' princess while i was cleaning. ugh! i can't imagine how much laundry we have to do still.

today at church, one of my best friends came with her 3 lil' cherubs. i'm so happy she loved willow! she was amazed with all the resources it has to offer to people from all backgrounds. i gave her a tour by the way. out of all that though, one thing really struck the 2 of us... "the message"... how Jesus loves sinners! for the next 4 weeks we will explore the teaching pastors' favorite play lists and how the messages on each of their favorite songs brings to light the message God wants us to know. today's topic was "How to Save a Life"... sorry, totally forgot the song related to this. i'm so horrible with titles that's why. nway, the highlighted verse is Mark 2:17. the message was so strong that i felt like God was talking to me and girlie. it is true that us sinners need God. and to experience the mercy and grace of God deeply in our hearts, we need to be nudged by God and just surrender our lives to Him. however, to a person like me, who had already accepted Christ Jesus as my Lord and Savior, i too, still need some nudging every now and then. part of being a Christian is being aware of what is pleasing to God and what is not. however, many of us lack to realize that we sometimes isolate ourselves in plain godly manner, which is not bad, however, Jesus teaches us that He did not come for the righteous, but for the sinners... He is a friend of sinners! meaning we Christians need to be available for the ones that are still loss. we can enjoy our families, do our church chores and bury ourselves in reading the word of God, but if we lack to show others God's love (God's way), then how can others know how good of a God we serve? no need to bombard them with our beliefs, but to just make them aware of our presence in spite of our differences. this means that it's ok to be surrounded by unbelievers and be at a place where it seems uncomfortable to us. it is not our place to judge them nor to change them, but it's God's. we always have to wait by the door for people who longs to find the truth... so that we can easily open the truth of God for them and with them. as much as God loves sinners like us, we should also follow His ways by loving the ones who are not in the same beliefs as we are. we cannot keep treating them as if we never made those wrong turns before.

you know, girlie and i were both crying during our closing prayer. i praise the Lord for talking to me once again and for touching girlie's heart that moment... i knew the Holy Spirit was working on her coz when the pastor was praying for the people who have yet to receive Jesus Christ in their lives, girlie gave me a hug and kissed me. that moment i felt God telling me... lovely, just be a friend to her and i'll do the rest. tears were pouring down our faces and believe me... once again, the Lord hit the bulls eye of my life. i thank the Lord for making each of His messages so meaningful and filled with His pure love.

God, you are amazing in every way! and to you my friend, i leave you with this: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)