Tag Archives: In His Steps

Booked

Sushi for One? (Camy Tang)

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Rating: [rate 5.0]

Sushi for One? By Camy Tang

Lex Sakai’s family is big, nosy and marriage-minded. When her cousin Mariko gets married, Lex will become the oldest single female cousin in the clan.

Lex has used her Bible study class on Ephesians to compile a list of traits for the perfect man. but the one man she keeps running into doesn’t seem to have a single quality on her list. It’s only when the always-in-control Lex starts to let God take over that all the pieces of this hilarious romance finally fall into place.

After being a visitor and reader of Camy’s blog since last year, I finally got a copy of her first book. I stumbled into Camy’s blog while searching for books to buy from Amazon from my dad, and I’ve been following her blog ever since. I waited for her book to come out here but it seems like it hasn’t yet (so sad), but I’m glad I finally got a copy of this now. :D

I read in one of the reviews from Amazon that the blurb at the back of the book (written above) does not do the book justice…and she’s right: it totally did not. There was so much happening in the story that I felt like I was watching a TV series. I couldn’t let the book go because of all the enjoyable characters and scenes — Lex’s very annoying grandmother, her silly brother who keeps on setting her up with every guy he meets, Aiden, the silent observer and her physical therapist, Mimi, the flirtier cousin and her three closest cousins and friends, Trish, Venus and Jenn. Even if there was a lot happening, everything went well together and was somehow significant as the story goes on.

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In His Steps

My Lenten Sacrifice

Since we’re on the topic of Lent, and Ash Wednesday just passed, I found this piece I wrote last year for Jun, for his email distribution list. I find it funny how the thing I wrote really happened, and how many emails and text messages I received that day because of this thing. True, love life is a big thing for everyone, even if a lot of people deny it. :P

Anyway, this was posted on Godchicks, but since the site is kind of hibernating right now, I’m reposting it here for everyone’s…I don’t know, enjoyment? Haha. I hope you guys will be blessed with this one as I was blessed writing and reading it. :)

My Lenten Sacrifice
(March 9, 2007)

Two years ago, I gave up boys for Lent.

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In His Steps

Ash Wednesday

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Today is the start of the Lenten season, and I think that this is the earliest Ash Wednesday I can remember. This year holds the earliest Holy Week too — with Holy Monday falling on my birthday. I have mixed thoughts on that, but let me get back at that later. :)

Earlier today I heard mass with some officemates and I was amazed at how many people heard mass today — the usually not-so-full chapel overflowed outside, all the way to the street. I remember my dad and I joking about how the church is filled to overflowing during Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve mass, and suddenly we realize how many people really live in the village. Only in the Philippines. ;) But it’s nice to see the chapel overflowing with people; it gives me hope that people still care.

I was listening to Lifeteen‘s Lent Overview podcast earlier and Mark Hart mentioned how he used to not like Lent as much as he liked Advent when he was a kid, because Lent means sacrificing a lot of things, and it always happens to be Friday whenever he wanted to eat the most meat. I have to admit that I used to think the same thing. I hated how during Holy Week, there’s nothing to watch on TV. I hated how we all have to be inside and stay inside and be forced to attend masses, go through the entire Bisita Iglesia in the heat of summer. I was happy when Easter rolls by because that means I can finally eat normally, and there’s no somber mood around the place.

It was only recently that I started to appreciate the entire season, and that’s what I plan to impart to you for the next few weeks until we reach the “climax”. I think this is really something we should take time to reflect on. :) You don’t have to be a real estate agent or a priest or a really “holy” person to appreciate this season.

In the meantime, here’s the podcast I mentioned earlier for your listening pleasure. :)

[audio:lent-overview.mp3]

If you haven’t heard mass yet, there’s still time! I’m sure there’s another one (or two) masses before this day ends. And I’m also inviting you to join the 40 days of prayer and fasting led by Bo Sanchez. Click on the link for more details. :)

Dear Diary, In His Steps

Refresher: It's Not About Me

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So my past week has been…crazy. I had at least one meeting every single night. I’m the head of a project team for our account for this quarter (which feels really heavy even if it’s really not since it’s mostly checking and whatnot…but I feel like I should be the one setting the standard for the entire year because I’m the first leader on rotation), became an officer for IBS Club for the entire year…and both of that is on top of my work. Then there’s actual work, which is not that demanding but obviously eats a lot of time and is my number one priority when it comes to the office.

No, I’m not complaining. I actually like this, the feeling of being busy and all. It can get me a bit bewildered at times because I feel like I’m so inept, and that I couldn’t possibly talk to the people who I will be involved with because I lack authority and I hardly know them. But overall…I think I can do it. I know I can. And besides, I did say I’d do something new this year, and this is definitely something.

Then I learned last Friday what my performance rating is for 2007, and I’m not really allowed to say what it is…but it’s definitely good. :) The results of that would definitely help me in whatever I want to accomplish later this year. I’m pretty sure I still can’t afford to have happy hours in San Diego, but it will definitely help me with my Aslan bills and probably Mission: Sydney. And I’m really, really grateful about it. As much as I don’t really like being on spotlight, it sure feels nice to be recognized.

BUT.

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Entertaining Angels, In His Steps

X-Men Animated Series: Nightcrawler

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The day before 2007 ended, right after the mass, I was sitting in front of the TV chowing down spaghetti and cake (haha what a media noche) watching the X-Men trilogy over at Star Movies. Two days later, I’m at work, and since it’s a light day and there’s nothing to do I’m too lazy to start my freelance writing thing yet, I decided to go and read some X-Men stuff. After going through various Wikipedia articles, I landed on the original X-Men animated series article, which led me to this episode. Minutes later, I was watching it on YouTube, and I think it’s too good not to share. :)

I’ve always loved Nightcrawler ever since the second movie, but this video made me love him even more. :) Videos after the cut.

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In His Steps

A Christmas Tale

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A year ago, my friend Chris sent me a Christmas email with a challenge, and we had a pretty interesting conversation about it. Then I told him I’d blog about it that year, but I never did, so here’s the one year overdue entry about what we talked about.

Interestingly, when we talk about the Christmas story, it usually ends with Jesus lying down on the manger, with the shepherds visiting him and then followed by the three wise men. After that, the Christmas story is “finished”, and we hardly even talk about why He came. What’s the real reason why He was born that night, to those parents, on that place? Why the angels sang and why the shepherds came and why the three wise men came to visit and bring him gifts. Yes, sure, they did all that because Jesus is God’s son, but again, why did Jesus come down here in the first place?

The answers to those questions do not really come until the Lenten season, where the real reason of God becoming man becomes clear (supposedly). It’s nice to remember those things during Easter, yes, and I remember saying that Easter is where the juicier story really is. Because that’s where the entire salvation history is shown, where God’s forgiveness can be really seen, and His power is demonstrated in its fullness.

Then I remember my usual greeting every Christmas: may we always remember the reason for the season. Yes, Jesus is the reason for the season, but why? What is so special about it, besides Him being the son of God? What is the real reason, anyway?

Chris’ email challenged me to remember that the story of Christmas does not end where we always end the story during Christmas. In fact, the Christmas story is just the start. Christmas is where God’s sacrifice started, by His sending His only son to a world laden with sin, to save the people who barely acknowledge Him. Unlike other people who are born to this earth to live, Jesus was born to die. For you. For me. For us.

Christmas is the start of His journey to save us, Jesus’ journey to the Cross. This where God gave us a concrete and human sign of His love. That is where the Christmas season gets its beauty, its magic.

This Christmas, let us remember and keep in our hearts the REAL reason for the season. :)

I leave you with a song that I finally made sense of during the email exchange with my friend. :) Enjoy and have a blessed Christmas Eve. :)

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In His Steps

Taking Responsibility

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“That’s what the right person does. But they don’t create it. Only the Creator can create…You’ve got to deal with your heart. Because until you can be trusted with your own heart, you can’t be trusted with someone else’s.”
– Savannah Philips, to her best friend Paige Long, Savannah by the Sea, p.300

The past couple of days, a friend and I have been talking about something we have stopped talking about for a while now: our love lives. Or lack thereof. :P Note that we stopped talking about it. Sure, we teased each other about it, but it has been a long time since we talked about it in a serious sense.

Let me give you a background of our little group. Out of the four of us, only one of us is currently in a relationship. One is still not allowed to have a relationship, while two of us are already “legal” but alas, we’re still NBSB (No Boyfriend Since Birth). And there’s still no one in sight who will take that status away.

I’m not complaining about that, really. Ever since I graduated, I more or less decided that I’m not ready for any relationship yet. I feel and know that I still have a lot of growing up to do before I can get into one. Of course, I want whoever that is to be the one I’m going to end up with forever, right? So I know I gotta be prepared for this, mehn. Like know how to cook a complete meal, clean the house from top to bottom, travel, travel, travel and all that.

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Dear Diary, Entertaining Angels, Updates

A Moment I Was Made to Sing

It’s the first official Friday at my new work, since I didn’t spend my last one at work because of the break our boss gave us to fix our requirements. Can I just say? I love that we are allowed to wear jeans on Fridays. Wohoo. I missed being able to do that! Now it’s an excuse to get myself a new pair of jeans and wear my sneaks again! Wohoo!

So I haven’t been blogging as much because I wanted to blog again with a new layout (which is what you are seeing right now). So here. Oh, and I also love it that I can do some designing on the side at work especially when there are no pending work requests. I am now a web content developer by profession, but I still do designing on the side since we don’t get to design as much right now. And I love it that I have enough time to tap into this hobby because we only work for 8 hours. Yes, it’s only my second week, but I really love it there already. Thank You Lord.

Tonight was supposed to be a night of gimmicks, with Mito’s birthday party and the impromptu bonding session of our team together with our trainor, but I obviously have to miss both because my brother felt feverish this morning (which made him miss work), so I have to be around in case he needs help. Plus I need to do some grocery shopping since we’re running out of food. I feel kind of bad missing out on these parties, especially the one with my new teammates, but then again I am also broke since we won’t get paid until the 24th, so once we get paid, that’s when our team would have a “celebration.” Yes, I’ll be there, promise!

And speaking of more adventures in work…I suddenly found myself joining the bowling team of our account for the upcoming sportsfest. To those who know me in real life, I’m not the sporty type. Yeah, I could play decent table tennis, do some ice skating and probably run good enough for track and swim some laps but I’m not really the sports playing type. Like what our team leader said when he first asked us if we could play, I’d rather write about it than actually play. :P But for some weird reason, I got sucked into being a part of the bowling team. I know how to do the basic moves in bowling I think, much thanks to the one time I played with my YFC upper household…but play it competitively? No way.

So what made me sign up? Besides the lack of people around, and the persuasiveness of the girl who was asking us to sign up and I guess there’s this interest of doing something new. Maybe it’s also because I have more time on my hands, and I don’t mind making fun of myself as long as I meet new people and enjoy, too? Haha, I don’t know. But I’m pretty excited, and I hope I won’t get hit by laziness and want to back out. It’s just for fun, and it wouldn’t hurt to try something new. :)

Ah, I’ve never been so contented for the past year! I am truly, truly happy for this new job, and I could not thank Him enough for giving this to me after making me wait. :) The wait just made things sweeter, in my opinion.

Which brings us to this layout. One morning before my final interview at my current employer, I was at Starbucks, drinking (an expensive) morning coffee while praying. I had Triskal on shuffle with my prayer time playlist, and then this song played. I’ve had that song on my player since March 2006, so it’s not new to me but at that moment, the song spoke volumes into my heart, and I knew then that God was with me inside that coffee shop. And I knew, no matter how unsure I was of everything, that God has it in His hands and everything will be okay. :)

Thus the new layout, because every moment that I live and breathe is truly a moment made for worshipping. :) (Lyrics and streaming audio after the cut!)

So I present to you Refine Me’s 16th version, based on Steven Curtis Chapman‘s Moment Made for Worshipping from the All About Love album. :) I’m sure there are bugs (especially in IE), so if you see them, please do tell me about it by posting a comment to this entry or by emailing me so I can fix it ASAP. Pages are yet to be updated, so some of them are definitely old. :P

Off I go! Here is the song I based the layout on and the lyrics for your listening pleasure (streaming only, not for download!). Happy weekend everyone. :)

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In His Steps

Who Am I to Complain?

[From Bo Sanchez‘s Blog]

“At The Exact Time I Was Complaining, God Was At Work…”

Let me tell you a fascinating story.

Lizette shared this beautiful story to me this morning and I just knew in my heart that I had to share it to you.

Nick and Lizette are my great friends. Lizette is helping me in Catholic Filipino Academy, where we help parents teach their kids at home. (In case you’re interested in our work, visit http://www.catholicfilipinoacademy.com/) Her husband Nick got a job offer in Canada and has applied for a work permit. (Yes, in a few months, I’ll be losing Lizette from my team as she’ll be joining her husband in Toronto.)

This is what happened. Nick went through the required medical exams for his work permit. After a few days, the doctor called up to tell him that he discovered a mass in Nick’s x-rays. Very much alarmed, he asked Nick to go through a CT scan. “It could be a possible aortic aneurysm which would require immediate surgery,” the doctor told him.

Nick however wasn’t disturbed. “Doc, that mass that you saw may just be my 3rd  kidney.” It was a harmless condition his doctor in Manila discovered many years ago. He learned that it occurs to one in two million people.

Still, the doctor asked him to go through a CT scan.

But here was Nick’s problem: The CT scan costs $1,100. Being in Canada without a work permit yet, he was basically broke.

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Dear Diary, In His Steps

Faith Like That

I’ve been so post happy last week, with PayPerPost and BlogToProfit demanding me to blog (okay, PPP didn’t demand me to blog, but I chose to blog because I wanted to get the big paying ones) more than one entry everyday. To be honest, I feel quite guilty filling this blog with ad posts; it’s like I’m violating some code that I don’t know.  Even if I do choose which ads to blog about, sometimes I decide to take up something that I don’t really know (like hair replacement, for example) just because of their price. Then again, at least I get some writing exercise — the more ads I post, the more creative I try to be. No wonder I feel kind of drained from blogging.

But I’m still blogging. Obviously the drained part doesn’t faze me.

To be completely honest, the reason I’m blogging right now is because I feel unsettled. I just received some news through email (on an autoreply email, of all things) that got me feeling kind of worried and wondering if I did the right thing at the right time. I seemed like the right thing yesterday, but after reading that email, I was like, should I have waited? However, if I waited, then the opportunity willt pass me up, and I might forever regret that I didn’t take it. ((This is supposed to be for another entry)) But from the email, the technicalities seem to be against me. I find myself saying, “Well, that’s less than ideal.” Ala HRG/Noah Bennett on Heroes.

Less than ideal for me, that is.

So what do I do now?

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