*moments w/ family & friends*

so how was everyone's Christmas? always hoping that all was well!

here's mine...
well first, i was happy to see my friends at willow and so grateful to see that the church was packed. willow held 12 services for Christmas and each one of them were packed. about 7400 seats not including the lakeside auditorium where people can watch in the big screen. just amazing! all glory to God!

nway, we hosted for Christmas eve... lots of preparation and shopping, we dropped off 2 loaded vehicles of stuff at goodwill... too bad they don't take baby furniture w/o manuals so I have 1/4 of my garage full of baby furniture to be picked up by NCCS on the 3rd. nway, with all the last min. stuff and driving here and there... thank God! - though tiring - our Christmas eve turned out just the way we had hoped for! plus, OUR BASEMENT IS DONE!!! just love the carpet and theater seatings... thanks to Christmas! i'm sure if we weren't hosting we would've probably waited till next year. i'm so humbled that my fam enjoyed our presentation of food and decorations... thank God for the strength, we couldn't have done this all by ourselves.

Christmas day, we went to my sis' place and spent the night there. my goodness! sooo much food! i feel so bad coz a lot of the food got wasted. so sorry Lord =( as usual we enjoyed every moment together. every laughter, every gifts, every hugz and kisses... plus we have a new member in the family... not mine, but my sis-in-law's new pug... my niece named her, bb (short for betty boop - her fave character).

pictures? was too bc to take pics.... but here's what i got

29th: great! i'm now a mom of a teen! NOOOO! my eldest daughter turned 13th last sat and i tell you... this has been the most stressful and confusing bday party i arranged. she just could not make up her mind. we had to cancel her original plan of having a sleepover. but i just have to have some of her real close friends (4 of them, but 2 only made it) thankfully, 2 of her cousins (almost the same age - last seen when we went to VA last summer) came over and added more color to her bday. thanks to 2 of my girlfriends, they stopped by too to celebrate with us (marge w/ fam & char). our house was once again a full house (when is it never anyway?). thank God for the life He gave my daughter and His amazing plans for what's ahead of her. Lord, may you guide her every step and keep her away from any harm and temptations. Help us raise our kids just the way you want us to. And may they grow to be a good example to their family and friends. Amen!

here's some pics:

so, now it's new year's eve... as a tradition, we go to my sis' place, have a karaoke and movie night... still have to buy some poppers and all that good stuff to welcome 2008 with lots of joy, laughter and love. may you and your loved ones have a blessed 2008 and may the Lord be the center of it all!

thank God for 2007 (may it be tough for you this year or just full of blessings) and let's embrace a new beginning the Lord offers us in 2008! God is good all the time!


continue to be blessed and be a blessing to others! thank you for your dedication, your support and prayers!


HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

just sharin'

it's almost midnight and i thought of blogging before noel and i start cleaning the basement. yep! we're vampires... hehehe really? we have lots to do in our list and we wanted to get things done right away before we end up putting it off again. weird? yep! i know.

quick update about project hope: thanks to our faithful supporters who promised to send in their donation before the end of the year... we've received $600 last week! all glory to God! please continue to pray for our trip this march. with our finances, we need God's help to make our trip happen.

nway, i thought of attaching today's ODB on today's blog since the message brings the true meaning of Christmas... i think it's important for others to read it just in case some do not bother reading the daily devotional section. i encourage you to read on and hope you'll receive a message that will stir your heart.

I sure hope I made it on time for everyone to read today’s ODB. Since for sure some of you, including me, will be on vacation for the rest of the year. So let’s start!

Two weeks ago, I gathered my kids to talk about the Reason for the Season... you know what Christmas is all about! You can just imagine the logical discussion we had... ah! the amazing questions they all had were unbelievable – as an adult, I think I learned more from them than they did with me. Anyway, after many Q&A and the excitement of gifts they look forward to opening on Christmas Eve and day, I asked them a question that brought silence in the room. The question was, “Since Christmas is about Jesus’ holy birth, what gift would you like to give Him for His birthday this year?” Well, after much thinking... we all came up with the idea of adopting orphaned children for Christmas by providing them with their needs through the help of our home church (www.willowcreek.org ) and as an individual to show God’s love to others by offering help (for my kids, it would be at their school) & prayers for people in need of one. For in Isaiah it says, “If you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness.” The Lord wants us to serve others for this delight Him and once we do it others, we have done it to Him.

See, God’s gift of Jesus is most fully realized when we become messengers who feed the hungry, befriend the friendless, or offer hope to the hopeless. We can make sure that the decorations and lights lead us to know Christ’s peace and love and to share it with others.

When Christmas season starts, many of us become preoccupied with decorating & shopping. We invest our energy and money in this yearly ritual. Although, this can all represent our excitement for the season this also has a downfall... we become absorbed in the commercialism of the Christmas season that we place emphasis on material things and putting the gift of God’s message of love and salvation to the bottom of the priority list or sometimes totally disregarding it.

On another note, when we celebrate a child’s birthday, people bring presents for the honoree. Rightly or wrongly, the child expects presents and most guests would not feel right to come to a party without bringing one right? So, why is it that when we celebrate the birthday of Jesus Christ (Christmas Day), we expect presents for ourselves and not for the honoree?

Friends, if you spent time and money getting Christmas presents for your spouses, children, grandparents, friends and co-workers... why wouldn’t you get a present for Jesus? This year, as we decorate for Christmas, buy gifts for our loved ones... let us not forget to decorate our world with the best Christmas gift of all... the love of Jesus Christ. What I suggest for a present will not cost you a dime, but it is a gift that Jesus will truly welcome and love. Okay, here goes.... drum roll... I challenge you to bring a friend, a classmate, co-worker, neighbor or family member to church for the first time as a Christmas present to Jesus, the ONE whose birth we honor. Now, if you’re one who’s been putting off going to church yourself... I encourage you to go and bring yourself instead.

Remember, a heart-work is God's work... not ours and it’s the best Christmas gift ever!

Once again, thanks for your prayers, support and your faithfulness in reading the Daily Bread I would send. May you all have a Merry Christmas and blessed 2008!!!

so out of it!

yep! that's me... i'm so out of it today. i'm working, but i'm not myself. u know the feeling?

so lemme just update you w/ what's been happening in my world...

besides shopping and prepping my home for Jesus' birthday celebration... well....
we just had a blast celebrating our annual frendz' Christmas party (16th yr). kudos to the magsingit fam for offering their new home and for the wonderful Christmas story and crafts to keep the reason for the season alive!

although we were incomplete, we made the most out of it. we had a great time from start to finish. the white elephant game (although the rules were changed - hmp! nevah again - rules are rules and we're stickin' to it next time lolz) and the apples to apples which turned out to be charades (don't ask!) brought too much laughter that by the end of the night my cheeks were hurtin'. thank God for such awesome friends and husbands who are absolutely nutz in the head just like the wifeys!

what surprised me though... by 2am everyone's tired lolz - tsk tsk tsk we can't hang anymore lolz! so does that have anything to do with our age? yikes! goodness! we're still young, but i guess too many kids really takes away your energy.

i'll let the pics speak for itself!

whew! thanks to blogging i'm getting my thoughts together.

i'm so looking forward to this weekend's service at willow and i sure hope my friends will be there to experience it with me and my fam. if you live in illinois... you're invited too!
come check it out www.willowcreek.org

i will definitely blog before Christmas... so blessings to you and bye for now!

stay safe and warm =)

here's a photo of a frozen tree caused by today's ice storm (freezing rain).

if things can wait (no emergency), stay in and keep yourselves warm - well at least to the ones who live here in the midwest. check on your loved ones and elders nearby. let's also pray for those who are suffering without heater, power outage & shelter during this difficult weather. if you have access to lend a hand to someone in need, let's do our best to help.

let's join hands as we lift up these people to the Lord. These people are in deep need of great comfort... may the Lord give us the resources to be His hands and feet to provide for them.

in Christ,

love

blog time - it's been awhile * )

this Christmas season is really keepin' me busy. i've been trying to come up with new things to do this Christmas, not only for my family, but also for my friends' 16th Christmas celebration together.

the reason for the season should be the focus and i'm so grateful that my kids are slowly gettin' it *wink*

last night at awana, i realized one thing... that we truly get Jesus' birthday mixed up with "it's all about gifts and us". so while playing with son yesterday, we talked about what we can give Jesus for His birthday this year... we came up with the idea of serving someone in need. we wrote it on a piece of paper, discussed it with the whole family and wrapped the paper w/ a nice gift wrap and hung it on the Christmas tree for Jesus. we prayed for the Lord to bring us to these people. we've also taken some wish lists from 4 orphaned kids, registered at willow.

we truly believe that when we touch others in the name of Jesus, we can bring hope and comfort. for the Lord said, "whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

as for me and my house we will serve the Lord and His people.


*update (the highlight of this blog)*
i praise the Lord for one of my devoted ODB readers, Gloria Lyon. i never knew this 'till my sister had a chance to talk w/ her. i was informed of her courage and faithfulness in spreading the word of God w/ the help of the ODBs. she has taken the next step God has brought in her heart to proclaiming the good news... ever since she started receiving the ODB, she's been printing many copies of them and have encouraged 5 more people to volunteer with her to minister to the prisoners in the south side of Chicago.

all glory to our heavenly King! the Lord truly uses the smallest things in life to bring His gift of salvation to everyone. and i'm honored to be one of His servants.

and so i encourage you... that every act of your obedience to the Lord can be multiplied by our greatest Savior, Jesus Christ. let's spread the good news to everyone! we have a big job to fulfill with the Lord.

continue to be blessed!
-lovely