journalonthecloud-blog

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"True love has come." THIS.

As a 16 year old girl, i often hear the words “Love is patient” “Love is waiting”. It’s everywhere! billboards, signs, songs and sometimes, in your notebook. And I strongly agree with it. Love is waiting until you’re ready and when he is ready. But there is more than this love.

What’s this “Love”...

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I think the most heartbreaking question a leader will ever receive, "Do you even care?"

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Woah. This!

I’ve been thinking a lot about Esther lately.

I read the book twice this week because I really like the story, the characters, and the entwinement of God into the events even though his name is never mentioned. It’s a story you can’t help liking. It has all of the qualities we want from an...

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ATE Sally!!!!!!!! You're the first person that came to my mind! THANK YOU ATE!!! Azz in! For pushing me, as in pushing hard! for me to begin discipling others.Thank you sa encouragements! Your "sige na, Dara. Kaya mo yan." Thank you for inviting me sa mga leadership chebs kahit na di pa naman talaga ko nagllead. haha! Thank you for praying for me and believing in me kahit ako mismo discouraged na and feeling ko parang di naman talaga ko meant to lead.

Thank you for making the first step to connect with me. I think it was hard for you kasi 'di ikaw ung nag121 sakin so you did not see my discipleship moments, ya know. Pero you still believed na I can start leading! Ung biglaang,"Dara, ikaw na maglead ng lifegroup." Hayz! haha!

Your stares whenever may namimeet akong bagong friend or invite sa services, saying "Oh, ikaw na dyan ah"

Your "Come on's!" everytime you would know na may i-121 na ko or nag-next chapter na.

Your rebukes (?) everytime sasabihin ko na ok na 'to, natatakot ako kasi baka magfail ulit.

Ya know?! haha! Thank you po ate Sally! Azz in! You are a part of how God molded me and changed my perspective when it comes to sharing the gospel and following people up and building relationships. Thank you for working with God. I thank God kasi He brought you as a leader sakin (Kahit na we're from 2 different worlds - galing kang city life at galing naman po akong bundok HAHA!) You gave me an example on how to push others to lead as well! Excited to learn more from you ate Sally!

[journalonthecloud-blog]

When personal convictions are sidestepped

Since it's still vacation and i'm just staying home, it has been my morning routine to bring my sister to the jeepney stop with our motorcycle. Gigisingin niya ko tapos papahatid (tapos tutulog ulit! haha)

A while back, medyo matagal na din, nagdecide ako na everytime na magddrive ako ng motor, hindi ako sisingit sa gilid-gilid. Bukod sa yun yata ung no.1 reason kung bakit naiinis ung ibang car drivers sa motorcycle drivers (nakakainis naman kasi talaga), delikado din at mali, in someway. So naging conviction ko na yun!

But.. last friday. Hayzz.. We were peacefully driving and then nagtraffic. Nagddrive na ko dun sa road na yun since high school pa yata, so I can say na confident nako sa road na yun. I saw ung space sa right side nung car sa unahan ko na medyo malaki pa naman.

"Kasya naman 'tong motor dyan", naisip ko.

At medyo late na rin ung kapatid ko so, dodging that conviction I made, I went on. And BOOM. The next second natumba kami. Buti na lang walang nangyari sa sister ko. But I had injuries and naipit ung paa ko dun sa side na natumbahan (Okay, i'll stop with the details! haha!)

Ung front wheel pala ay nasagi? or nasomething dun somewhere sa hindi na sementado na part (medyo blurry na) so I lost control and wala na kong nagawa. As in biglaan!

And yun, lesson learned. Stick with your convictions! Kasi at the end of the day, it's always for our protection. Kaya nga kailangan it's decided even before it happens eh. It's sad na I had to go through this bad experience muna before I get to realize this, before ma-reinforce ulit sakin 'to. (By the way, this is just my 2nd accident in my almost 8 years of driving). Pero I believe God taught me a really important lesson here. Buti nga driving convictions lang 'to, how about in my own personal choices na, 'di ba? So let's decide now and stick with them!

[journalonthecloud-blog]

My daughter, I have heard your prayers.

One of the speakers from the LIFE Workshop I volunteered in last July 30 showed me a text while we were having dinner. Bigla nya lang binigay sakin ung tab nya tapos sabi nya basahin ko daw. Akala ko para sa lahat ng girls yun. Eh kasi sabi my daughter eh! Kaya akala ko para din sa iba. And then he said,

"Ewan ko kung magsspeak sa kanya pero para sa'yo daw yan eh."

WOW! eh naabot ko na ung tab sa friend ko! muntik ko nang bawiin ung tab!!! HAHA!

Hindi muna nagsink-in sakin nung unang basa ko. So nung nakauwi ako, binasa ko ulit and then I remembered a prayer I prayed dati pa. BOOM.

God has heard my prayers.

July 30. That day, I was celebrating the day I decided to follow Jesus. Spiritual birthday. And it has been 3 years! Since 2011.

At grabe ung gift ni God para sakin! - His assurance of our relationship. I have heard your prayers, my daughter. I heard everything. I have seen everything.

I thank God because this life I now live, I live through Him, by Him, for Him. I thank God for this day 3 years ago. And I thank Him for the days after that. This story, my story is never really about my Christian life. It's about His love that sustained me and pursued me and proved real for me up until today.

The volunteering + the lunch and dinner treat by Kuya Christian and Lifebox staff + the movie treat by Ate Norie + this message by Kuya John = AWESOME birthday!!!!!!!!!

PS. They didn't even know it was my spiritual birthday

PS 2. It was only that day that Kuya John and I met each other. No way he would've known it would speak to me.

[journalonthecloud-blog]

Finished The Vibe series in Sta.Rosa at bilang bakasyon mode pa ang LB pips, we helped sa creative team! 1st time and 1st series magCreatives sa Sta. Rosa! Bongganess!

ADVENTURE!

May pag-sacrifice na naganap, may pag-gawa sa bahay namin na naganap (yes, naging workplace/storage ang bahay namin! haha!), may pagtravel na naganap, may mga pag-brownout sa Monochrome na naganap, may pagreveal sa ministry si God na naganap at marami pang iba ang naganap! haha!

Pero all in all, it was fun! Memorable july series indeed! Behind the scenes man ang trabaho, buti na lang hindi lang sa front scenes nakatingin si God! Colossians 3:23

Hi guys! -- Arianne, Dawn, Joana, Ketchie, Judith, Cath and the Sta.Rosa creative team pips!

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Praise the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.

This last chapter of Psalms describes the WHAT, WHO, WHERE, WHY, HOW of praising the Lord.

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Me: Ma, anong gusto mo ipagpray?

Mama: Bakit, bibigyan mo ko?

Me: Oo, libre naman yun eh.

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True story.

None of them changed Him.

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2 in 1

2 prayer requests answered in 1 week!

Grabe lang! Last sunday, Ate Norie asked me to buy a varsity jacket and a shirt for her in LB since I'll be going there naman. I said Yes. And when she's making abot the pambayad, she said, "Pili ka na din ng iyo."

AY WOW! Speechless lang ako. haha! Tapos nung nandun na ko sa bilihan. Naalala ko, pinagppray ko pala last year na magkaroon ako ng raglan! Linista ko yung mga pinagpray ko nun eh! Tapos ung Raglan na lang ung di pa naccross-out (sayang wala na ung listahan eh) Then eto na! I bought a raglan too! Tatak UP pa! Thank you ate Norie! Azz in!!! May pareho na tayong damit ate haha!

Kasama sa faith goals ko ngayon year na magkaroon ng bagong phone (request din ng mga nagttxt sakin at kailangan ng reply! HAHA)

Tapos nung Monday, dumaan kami ni mama sa SM.. Nasira kasi ung Android phone nya tapos marami nang technician ang nagsabi na di na daw sigurado na maaayos tapos medyo mahal pa. Ayun, kumuha si mama ng bago nyang phone pero nag bakasakali pa rin kami sa isa pang technician pa dun, pinatingin namin ung phone. Tapos ang tagaaaaaaal! Sabi ni mama, "Pag naayos yan sige, sa'yo na yan"

Sa tagal na yun, yun pala ginagawa na ni kuya! Naayos nya! Iba sya! Azz in! Sinabi nya na lang na okay na. YES!!! Matino na 'to! Di na ko LR! wala na ding No space for new msgs na lumalabas! At pwede na din ako makainternet dun! Ay grabe lang! Syempre, lininis ko muna ung phone kaya ngayon, I can officially say na "I have a new phone!"

PS. Tuwang-tuwa na ung mga fans ng cp ko oh! haha! *ehem Alex *ehem Joya *ehem friends and txtmates. Oh may matino na kong phone, loadan nyo na lang ako para makareply ako sa inyo! haha!

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Ang totoo naman talaga nyan, ok lang kung di ko 'to makuha eh. Tuloy pa rin naman ang buhay. Kumpleto pa din naman ako. Natutunan ko din na si Lord di naman tumitingin lang sa physical na blessings. Mas dapat pa nga daw nating isipin ung spiritual aspect ng buhay. Matthew 6:25-34

Pero grabe lang! Gusto talaga ni God magprovide eh! Kahit wants pa. Alam ko natutuwa pa Sya pag nagbibigay sya eh - right time, right prayer, His will. Pray lang! Ipagpray mo lang yan! Nakalimutan ko na nga na pinappray ko yan eh, pero di nakakalimot si God. Sinagot Nya ung prayers ko! May faith goal na ko this year na nagyes si God!

WOW! Mid-year pa lang 'to ah! Increase my faith, Lord!

[journalonthecloud-blog]

From the book Christian Atheist by Craig Groeschel

[journalonthecloud-blog]

June 14, 2014

Grabe, sobrang nakakaamaze kung paano gumalaw si God. And how He speaks personally, as in! Recently kasi, naiisip ko na wala na 'to, puro failures sa leading? Wala na 'tong patutunguhan, ok na ko dito, eh ganito lang talaga eh. Di ko nga macompose ung sarili ko, maglead pa ng iba? Baka di naman talaga ko magagamit ni God dito sa area ng leading, sa iba na lang siguro. Then kanina, ung opportunity na yun! Hala ako -- maglead daw! So I led, yes. I did my part there. Pero grabe! Nagpapasalamat ako sa vgmates ko kanina! Thank you Love, Harriet, Joana kanina! Yung prayers and yung affirmation, ung simpleng 'Thank you' nyo, ung pag-appreciate sa mga pinagsasasabi ko na wala naman akong kinalaman (parang nagtawanan lang naman tayo eh!) kahit puro joketime lang tayo kanina. I appreciate them so much! You don't know how God affirmed ung paglead sakin by your words. Azz in!

Grabe! Di ko naman 1st time magsalita sa small group pero this vg meeting is one of a kind lang for me. By how God used this to deal with my doubt & insecurity. You remember how we talked about God using people? God used this situation, He used you guys to speak to me! And you didn't even know kanina! haha!

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"Jesus did not stop when He was at the Calvary or when He was being beaten fiercely. He stopped when He reached the moment when He can say 'It is finished'"

I've been "oo nga 'no!" since I heard this. Love, motivation, perseverance. Wow. Just wow Jesus!

Thank you for this Ate Norie!

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If I cannot say with full conviction that the only thing I truly want above all else is to know God for who he is, then I seriously need to rethink my priorities.

Thought about wants and needs. (via churchjanitor)

1 Corinthians 2:2

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If I'd sing

If I'd sing of how much I love you Jesus, surely, sometime in the future, in one way or another - I would find myself silent. I will stop. Not out of intention, maybe. I would just stop singing. Maybe because I would find life out of tune or I would find myself out of words to sing or out of the rhythm to sing along.

But if I'd sing of how much You have loved and continuously love me, even if I run out of tune, words, or rhythm - even if I run out of voice! I would sing and sing and sing until music itself gets tired of me. Because you Lord, are a loving God, who loves with an everlasting love - unfailing, unchanging, unconditional.

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I think this is the most insightful chapter I've read in the Bible!

until I've read the succeeding chapters of John and his other letters! Luke may be my favorite gospel writer because he included parables and stories that aren't found in the other gospel books. (and I like stories because it sticks more than twitter-like statements) But John's writings has been the most insightful, because of Jesus' statements and how he recorded the events.

I've heard preachers say that John may be the most "emo" of the disciples. haha! And he is one of Jesus' closests, so no wonder he wrote Jesus' ministry and their church-establishing season like it is personal to him and why it connects to his readers, well to me, at least. I'm hoping to you too! I highly recommend John's letters!