Thankful and Hopeful

Today, during our year-end service at the church, I shared my testimony as follows:

I am grateful to our great and loving God for adding another year to my life and our marriage.  Bobby and I  have been together for 35 years and although the past year was full of trials and challenges in our faith, we overcame them because of the Lord's grace and mercy.

I'm 59 years old and I have a special part of me that is only 30 years old. I still see myself as a work in progress. The Potter is molding me into the person He wants me to be. 

As we approach the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, I hope Don Moen's song "Be Glorified" becomes a reality in my life.

"With every beat of my heart

Every song that I sing

Every prayer that I pray

Every offering I bring

In every thought that I have

Every word that I say

Oh, be glorified."

God is good and faithful at all times. May His name be glorified in all I think, say, and do. 🙏

Our 2-in-1 Happy Day

This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it! Yes, today is special as we are celebrating two important milestones. 

First, today is my 59th birthday. I'm deeply grateful to God for having reached this age. When asked how old I am, I don't hesitate to say my real age. It's a blessing to undergo aging because many have been denied it. And I always say that I'm a better version due to the lessons learned from the trials and various experiences I have been through.

Today is different from the past when we celebrated by the beach. Being by the sea never fails to relieve me from the day-to-day pressures of life as a working mom. Today, we are just home because the weather will not allow us to enjoy any beach in the province and nearby areas in the region.

Second, today is our 35th wedding anniversary. Wow, 35 years of God's faithfulness to Bobby and me despite our weaknesses through the trials, obstacles, conflicts, differences, and many other challenges that came our way. On our wedding invitation 35 years ago it was written, "You are not exactly what I prayed for. Apparently, you are the answer." I can now proudly say that he is the answer! 

So for the 2-in-1 celebration today, we just went to a flower farm in our town, had a quick tour of the greenhouses full of various colors of chrysanthemums and the open field with sunflowers, and savored the simple binalot meals of popular local dishes. Simple celebration yet cherished with loved ones. Thank you, Lord!

Six Months Post-KT

All my life You have been faithful. All my life You have been so good.

It has been six months since Cyd's nephrectomy and my transplant. Time seemed to fly so fast and I believe we've come this far by God's grace.

My nephrologist told me that the first six months after transplant is the critical period. It is at this time that common signs of rejection are manifested. Hence, medicines such as antiviral, antibacterial, and prophylaxis are orally taken by the recipient for the first six months to ensure that any infection will not occur within the period. Stopping my prophylactic meds means I have to be more careful because antirejection meds that are also immunosuppressants will be taken for a lifetime.

My nephrologist is confident that our case will succeed because the donor is my son. Though doubts and worries fill my thoughts sometimes, I'm often reminded of God's promises and how He has been faithful and good to me all my life.

Dear family, relatives, brethren, and friends, thank you so much for your prayers. May our Great Healer continue to keep us in the palm of His hands.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Fear Not

My morning devotion today is about courage or conquering fear.  It says "fear not" was mentioned 365 times in the Bible. Why so many? Because we tend to be afraid, discouraged, and worried about many things.

What's up in my fear list? First, I have an acrophobia or fear of heights. My knees tremble and I always get chills when I'm in a situation involving heights. I went up to the observatory of the Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center in New York City, rode cable cars and Ferris wheels, and tried zipline rides but the fear remained though not as intense as before.

During a snorkeling escapade in Pangasinan where giant clams were cultured, I realized that I also fear depth. This was proven when we swam in the Enchanted River in Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur. The river is so deep and has a cave at the bottom. Since the water was clear, I felt drawn to the funnel-shaped entry to the cave as I swam.

I also fear snakes, confined spaces, and more, but these things top my fear list.

Fear says, "What if". What if I fall, what if I drown, what if I collapse, what if I get bitten, what if... Faith says, "Even if". Even if I get dizzy, even if I can't breathe, even if I get poisoned, even if I panic...

Indeed fear can paralyze us but God reminds us of His promises to fear not. I  claimed Psalm 23:4 when I was waiting for my kidney transplant. Isaiah 41:10, Joshua 1:9, John 14:27, Psalm 46:1-3, and many more.

"I will never leave you nor forsake you."

Project 82

As stated in My Mother's Daughter, I got my love for traveling from my mother.  I was in grade school when I started to have school break vacations outside the province. That vacation meant staying in my maternal grandmother's house in Las Piñas or my relatives' places in Batangas. I also joined a regional Girl Scout encampment in Mt. Makiling, Los Baños, Laguna.

I have just created a new photo album on my social media account entitled "Project 82".  As you may know, there are now 82 provinces in the country and I would like to share one photo that represents my visit to a province.  Unfortunately, I had no pictures to share about my travels from the 70's to the 80's.

I have now visited 61 provinces and wish to visit more when I am physically fit to travel again, Lord willing. 🙏

Errata: I checked Google Maps and found that we did not pass Kalinga and passed almost near the boundary of Apayao.