HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

although everyday should be full of thanksgiving to our dear wonderful God, today is too special... i've incorporated something different (full of great memories) - not just traditional thanksgiving (no filipino food this time), but a day full of gratitude. i've asked each member of our clan to write down 5 things they're thankful for and out of those 5, we will pick one that is most significant to us and tell the story behind it. can't wait for every one's sharing!!!



we'll i'm just doing a quick blog since i have a lot of last min. errands to do. i wanted to share to you one of the most heartfelt experience i had with willow creek (our home church), last sunday. part of the thanksgiving service they included, towards the end of the service, the baptism of people who are ready to take the next level with Jesus Christ. the experience was awesome! so many people who expected to be baptized that day as well as people who just felt the calling to do so that day, most of them were all expensively dressed, some i'm sure with a $$ do, but nevertheless that didn't matter... the Holy Spirit definitely touched the heart of these people and i tell yah, i could not get myself together - i was in awe and tears just kept running down my face. the presence of the Lord was just too strong that day that even if the service was waaaay over, people stayed to witness this phenomenal experience of grace. i'm sure the Lord was absolutely pleased with the whole thing.


well, that's it for now... hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving with your loved ones! may you all be filled with gratefulness to our Almighty God, who has been soooo good to all of us from beginning up to the very end.


all glory to our Savior, Jesus Christ!

i would like to leave you all with a treat from yanna... here's what she does when she's bored:

overwhelmed with support

hello all, just wanted to say a quick thanks for all who responded to yesterday's odb (experiencing the unexpected). i was in awe just seeing how many people are praying for us as well as people who share the same experience as we do.

please kindly pray for my husband's former co-workers as well who were also let go. i'm sure they also have a family to support.

i see the goodness of the Lord in spite of our situation now. the warmth of the prayer gatherings we would do at home - all because we honor a ONE TRUE GOD! i truly believe in the saying: the family that prays together, stays together.

oh! btw, in spite of all this... the Lord blessed our daughter, Camille, as one of the top 10 Honor Roll in her school (out of 1k students - only 10 have made it). noel and i are def one proud parents.

thank you all for your prayers... it's definitely a powerful weapon we continue to hold on to.
all glory to our Heavenly Father!!!

Reflections (In Dedication to Our Dearest Friend, Ella)

Grazela Ventura October 20, 1976 - November 9, 2002

5 years ago we lost one of our best friends, El, to a terrible accident. She was a person who saw good in people even when it was hard to find. One of the ways we see ourselves is in the reflection of our image in other people's eyes. I liked the version of me I saw in her eyes, and I continue to miss it… and of course along with many other things about her. My reflection in her eyes was like a curved mirror in a carnival that shows people as taller and slimmer than they really are. I know I'm not as good a person as El saw me to be, but I think it made me a better person to see the possibility.

I know you have a special memory of our dearest El in your heart. Let it remain an inspiration to you to bring out the best in you and in others. So many things have changed since El died, some good and some are not so good, but because God’s mercy are new every morning we can wake up and see a new beginning and a brand new hope. No one knows us better than God, faults and all. Yet no one better knows our potential either. God sees each of us as capable of more than we can imagine.

We should all learn from El to be careful how we look at other people. If we see only their flaws, that will be their reflection in our eyes and perhaps all they may see in themselves. But if we see other people as God's children, if we see God's image in them, maybe some will see that reflection… God's image shining in us.

We dedicate this day in memory of our dearest El. May you all feel the comfort and unconditional love of Christ as you reflect the wonderful memories she spent with us.

Please join me in prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for being a companion and a friend to all of us. Thank You for sustaining and guiding us by the presence of Your Spirit. Help us to remember that the life we live is a reflection of our gratitude both for life on this earth and life yet to come. Remind us that both of these are underserved gifts from You and that all of this is made possible through the life of Jesus Christ. Thank You Lord for this opportunity that we can come together in unity as we give You thanks for the friendship You have brought upon all of us. Thank You for the time You allowed us to spend with El and for the wonderful memories we all can never forget. The bond we have for each other was made real because of the precious time You have taken to knit us together. We offer this day to You, in Jesus Holy and Mighty name, Amen.

*new creation*

i just have to do a quick blog about this.

a friend of a friend of mine (r u confused yet? hehehe) was introduced to me some years ago. only saw her couple of times if i'm not mistaken, but kept in touch with her via email. anyway, by the grace of God... she emailed me today with a good news that she was baptized on oct 17th and surrendered her life to Jesus Christ. WOOHOO! PRAISE THE LORD! a huge celebration in heaven again f0r another saved soul! i'm so excited for her. to top it off - that's my birthday. hehehe sorry i gotta throw that in. *wink*

nway, watch out for her coz soon she will be joining our blog team!!! congratz again, ley!

on another note, i wanted to share to u what happened to me last night. i dropped off my son to his awana club and usually i would go home while he's there enjoying himself with his new found friends. but the Holy Spirit truly knows what i need at the right time. for the past few weeks now, i've been reading some parenting books to equipped my husband and i on how to raise our kids the godly way. i'm currently reading "don't make me count to three" and the next one in line is "parenting is a heart work". well friends, i decided to stay for the Bible study and lo and behold the series was about "parenting is a heart work"! truly divine!

long story short... i felt so good being there. hearing every one's different stories and sharing different thoughts with new people i never met before. it felt great! i knew that the Lord is watching over me and guiding me as i so desire to obediently follow His provision. i'm so glad i stayed and i look forward to the next session.

ALL GLORY TO OUR HEAVENLY FATHER!!! GOD ROCKZ!

continue to be blessed and be a blessing to others.
-love

weekend update!

woohoo! this weekend... although tiring... i was able to check-off everything in my list of to dos.
will post a before and after pic of my dinning. i'm so happy with the new look. thank you Lord for the strength - i really needed it. for 2 1/2 days i was totally wired to get it all done.

plus... managed to make it to my friend, lina's bday celeb last sat - got there at 10:30p even if i was pretty sore. unfortunately liz and lina were already leaving to go meet some friends at the club... so i just had a very short moment to be with lean. i sure hope she had a great time though. belated happy birth lean!!!

well, i needed the laughs that night - n sure thing i got it! tanx to my girlfriends - always great to be with them. left a 230a, but then again it was dst so... my daughter, c and i got home at 230a (which apparently was 330a).

sunday: instead of going to the adult service... i brought yanna to promise land for 2yr olds. and i must say i made the right choice... she sure loved it! i gotta hand it to willow. they sure know what they're doing. i was the only mom who stayed while other kids were there all by themselves. i've never seen such behaved 2yr olds. God is great! i sure hope yanna gets used to it... i really want her to learn about God at an early age. although she knows how to pray before meal... i still need to work on getting her mind and heart equipped with the word of God. i felt embarrassed when a 2yr old boy came up to me and handed us the kid's Bible and said, "here, read God's book, esp. the part with the donkey and say, AMEN afterwards. my mouth almost dropped i tell yah! i commend the parents of that boy, evan. oh wow! i just realized... his name is evan... and we recently just watched, evan almighty... a must see movie, btw.

i know i missed a great service since my family wouldn't stop making me jels about what they learned and the people who performed the play and the songs that were sang. grrrrr... that's ok, i wouldn't miss yanna's 1st experience with her new sunday school classmates hehehe.

will load some pics tomorrow... i'm too lazy right now, besides i need to do some reading and prepare tomorrow's ODB. (oh! btw, so sorry if i haven't been keeping up with loading the ODB online - will try my best to get ahead.)

keep the smiles and remain optimistic coz GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME!!!

busy weekend ahead

i'm working from home right now. while waiting for my co-worker to email me a report i thought of blogging quickly. here are some of my to do list. although i'm not feeling quite myself today... i really want to try to get everything done in my list. so here goes...

friday:
1) send ODB (a)
2) work
3) go to walgreens & menards/home depot or lowes (whichever one i end up going - works for me!)
4) prep my formal dinning
5) gather tools for scoring the wallpaper
6) strip, strip and strip some more... hey! i'm talking about the wallpaper in my dinning.
7) patch holes (if there's any)

saturday:
1) the best part of wakin' up... FRESH HOT COFFEE!
2) prep my painting tools
3) paint, paint & paint some more!
4) if i'm not too sore and hopefully i'll be done right away... go to e's house to celebrate lina's 30th bday!
5) if it's unfortunate to go.... then i'm left with rest, enjoy my accomplishment or regret it - lolz

sunday:
1) praise & worship our good God!
2) have our weekend luncheon
3) if need be... work on the dinning if i'm not done by sat.
4) enjoy the rest of the night with my fam.

k, gotta get back to work!
continue to be blessed and happy friday!

I'm a newbie to this

Hello all,

Yes, I am new to this whole blogging thing, but I a ready to learn and share. Anyways, I want to start by saying a little about myself...Many of you have probaly met me or have seen me at some family event that was thrown by the Miranda family...Me and Lovely have worked together for over five years. I just want to say that Lovely is such a beautiful person and if she knows it or not, she is an inspiration to me....When I accepted Christ into my life a little over a year ago, she was one of the first people that I called...and I continue to share my experiences with my walk with Christ.

I will just say that the past year has been one of change in my life.....And I know that I am not the same person. On a daily basis, I acknowledge Christ as my savior and I always ask for his help in making decisions and believe me I am a living witness that Prayer changes....

PS: That is my little doggy PUFFY.....He is soo cute, but bad as H*LL....I will keep you all updated on his adventures