Victory Weekend

I attended the Victory Weekend at Victory Makati office and AIM’s comference room last saturday and yesterday.  It was such an experience.  Packed with powerful church leaders teaching us and praying for us, I am blessed to have the courage to attend an event like this.  God is present and I’m lucky to have witnessed how the Holy Spirit has given others the ability to speak in tongues, I want that, too.  But I also want the gift of prophesy because that would be cool, too. 🙂

Salvation.  It comes from Jesus.  I have known this a long time ago.  Ever since I was out of college.  Last Saturday, I was struggling with something that I could not just let go.  Though I know that I have to let it go.  I feel like God would not accept me.  Then came the concept of salvation.  And it is too good to be true.  But it’s true.

Victory Weekend is the jumpstart to a transformed life.  We may have struggles now that through the Holy Spirit, will be made known to us.  There are struggles that are hard to overcome but through the faith of Jesus that He will transform us, we will be victorious.  I just pray that I will have the courage and strength to obey His command.  Because I want Him more than anyone.  But right now my identity in God is a little jammed in my head.  I have to relearn again.

I thought coming to Victory Weekend that i should be clean to face God but it’s the other way around.  We come to Victory Weekend with all our sins and throw it at the cross so that it will all be forgiven.  Acknowledging that we are sinners and repenting for being one–that’s a start.  And I am assured that God will continue the good works He started in my life and He will complete it.  He will transform me and guard my heart in the process.

The excitement came back during the water baptism.  It’s just a symbol/act of surrender to God but I know that I have made my choice.  I am choosing Jesus.

This is the start. 🙂

Bracelets and BOV

My glasses are lying comfortably on the cabinet inside my Mom’s room right now.  I forgot to bring it with me.  Now I have to either go order a new one or just choose not to wear eyeglasses anymore.  But then, knowing the odds, I just have to consult with the ophthalmologist first.  I hope my eyes are okay now so I won’t have to wear glasses anymore. 🙂

VW is this weekend! 🙂  I still have a lot to read and my discipler was telling me to fast 3 days before. What?!  🙂

It’s been Day 8 of being motivated and I am happy.  So far so good.

Let me share with you this photo:

This bracelet is made up of chains.  But the jeweler, as skillful as he is, is able to create this fine bracelet.

From chain to jewelry.

I realized that in life, like a bracelet, chains can hinder us.  These chains can either be trials, sins, dreams, and fears.  They say that Jesus breaks the chain and set us free.  He not only breaks these chains but he also fixes whatever is left our lives.  He is the jeweler, who can make something of value out of something remnant.  He will use our experiences to create in us the character that we are supposed to be.  If we allow Him to mold us, to shape us, we can be as beautiful as He would want it to be.  We may think that it’s already hopeless.  Are you in doubt of His skills?  Are you looking for proof?  Look at the mountains, seas, trees, and everything on this earth and on the sky above, He created those for us.  He created these because He loves us.

Some people think that because of their past, they can never be used by God.  But God can turn the trials in our lives to be proof of His glory.  He can turn any situation to serve His purpose.  He, the most skilled of all, can make a worthless soul to be of greatest value.  He even died and conquered death so we can be saved, remember?  We just got to have faith.  We just have to allow Him to work in our lives.  To not doubt what He can do.  To be thankful for what He has done.  And as always, to follow Him.

God loves us so much. 🙂

Chicken

According to my Mom, all I need to mix to marinate chicken are:

• salt
• ground black pepper
• fish paste
• calamansi

Then it is good to fry.  Oh, no…the word fry.  It’s prohibited to some people.  but not yet for me.  I am taking baby steps here.

My breakfast was heavy.  Rice, fried chicken, and eggplant omelette.   Notice the veggie. 🙂  I’m not sure if I can keep this up.  I’m just happy I did eat that today. 🙂

I would like to share this pic of the gift A gave us from Chicago, Illinois.  I love this chocolate.  He’s pretty proud of this chocolate.  He’s really to be proud of this. 🙂

Week 1

Several days after gaining back my motivation, it’s time for weight in…I lost 2 lbs!  🙂  Progress! 🙂

It’s always nice to have an ice cold tea 🙂  Get a pitcher of water, 5 kilos of ice tubes, 1 liter Nestea sachet, and drink to your heart’s content 🙂

It looks satisfying, right? 🙂

I went to the supermarket and for some reason, it makes me at peace.  I could imagine movie shot there like the ones I often see in movies.  I enjoyed looking at the vegetables, healthy rice, and meat.  I have a feeling that I’d be able to appreciate veggies more now.  I bought eggplant, carrots, brocolli, baguio beans, and tomatoes. 🙂  The question is, what should I do with them? 🙂

It’s KBS time.  I’m watching My Fair Lady.  Have a nice saturday!!! 🙂

Be your own cheerleader

Sponsored lunch today.  The urge to just indulge was not there.  I was able to control myself–control the portion of my food.

Today, I also talked with my roommate about calories.  Good thing she’s a nutritionist. 🙂  I’m glad to know that 3 pandesal is just around 100 Calories, the 5 cm x 5 cm size.  So nice!  I don’t know how long I would be craving for pandesal every morning but that is okay.  I will just allow myself until it subsides.

When I want something, when the desire is there, I can be persistent.  I would really look for ways to achieve whatever I desire given the resources that I have.  That is also true whenever I want to eat something.  I could travel to far away places just to have my food.  But then again, my definition of far away places are Manila to Mandaluyong/Makati/Pasay and back.  But then my food desires/cravings always subside.

I hope it’s also true to whatever unhealthy feelings that I feel.  May I always transform it into something useful.

I appreciate good/healthy food nowadays.  It’s like every food that I take counts that will add up to my nutrients.  Therefore, I feel bad if I had to choose junk foods over fruits or other healthy stuff.

I am also learning how to control my urges to eat whenever I’m frustrated or stressed.  I have observed that I would find the urge to eat whenever I feel something strong that I feel like I need to eat to be in control, or to be happy and so I stuffed myself with food but I did not really enjoy it fully because I feel like I’m violating my health.  One time, I was subjected to stress that I wanted to run and just eat.  I stopped and asked myself:  Am I really hungry?  Or am I just stressed?  When I asked myself those, the urge to give up on my control went away.

I have realized after almost one year of trying to find my motivation that we, ourselves, are our own cheerleader.  That it should be enough for us to love ourselves and take care of our bodies.  Although God won’t reject you just because of your weight, but by faith.  Just like Christians, whenever we feel discouraged and we have no friends around that we can turn to, it is beneficial to cheer ourselves up to be happy and joyful. We should also learn how to be an encouragement to others in whatever it is that we are dealing with.

Another accomplishment today is that I haven’t had a sip of sodas.  It’s been 3 days of no soda and 5 days of my weight loss journey.

HLS is happening right now in US.  I wish that I could be a part of this summit if not today, then next year. 🙂

Sweet

The corn that is, that I ate this lunch.  I was surprised to find out that it is just 77 calories per ear–the medium size.

What I craved for today is the spaghetti of Jollibee.  I ate there as fast as I can before attending my small group.  I have to be fed to concentrate. 🙂  The strong salty, sweet, somewhat spicy flavor of the sauce combined with french fries dipped in the sauce made this meal awesome.  Finished the meal with very cold tea and I was satisfied.

I had banana cue again this afternoon.  I love banana.  But according to google, saba is a banana known as  “cardaba”.  I love the big, thick, chewy kind with only a little sugar.

Day 4 of getting my motivation back.  This takes a while but I am sure that I will get there. 🙂

Finding my way back to me

I’m talking about finding my motivation to get a hold of my health.  I am successful today, I should say, because I ate according to my set goal.  I did not overeat.

Breakfast is composed of crackers and iced tea.

Lunch is roasted chicken, corn and carrots, banana cue, and iced tea.

Dinner is two pan de sal and iced tea.

Iced tea again.  I know it’s not that healthy but it’s like coffee to me.  If people love coffee so much, my “coffee” is an iced almost tasteless Nestea. 🙂

Yesterday, I have observed that come afternoon, I was hungry again and I had to eat.  With hunger, I was almost enticed to give up.  It caused me to eat unhealthy food.  And so today, to avoid that, I had an afternoon snack (which became an early dinner)  just so I won’t crave for all kinds of food I could think of.  And it worked.  Come dinner, I was still satisfied.  I didn’t eat dinner because of that.

Some people I know skip meals.  One lady skips breakfast, and another one skips lunch.  It works.  They look slimmer after months of efforts.  But I really think and believe that we should not skip meals.  One of the rules for a diabetic patient is not to skip meals.  I think that healthy people like us, should follow this, too.  Not because of the risk of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar level), but because we should not subject our bodies to bad stress.

Bad stress for me are things we do or take that make our body be unhealthy.

Good stress, for me, are things like proper exercise, diet, and well-being, well-hydrated, right amount of sleep.

I am glad, my motivation is back.  This time, I will hold on to it. 🙂

Act on it

The muscles around my stomach ached from a little customized sit-ups that I did this morning.  A pat on the back for me. 🙂  As for the food portion, I went beyond but not enough to gain weight.  No loss and no gain.  It’s good enough for me.  I think it’s just okay for me to go a little beyond because I was really hungry this evening that 2 pan de sal could not suffice.

I attended tonight’s service with J.  Pastor Julius Fabregas was the guest preacher 🙂  I realized tonight that if I want God’s blessings to manifest in my life, I have to ACT ON IT. 🙂

I was also moved by Sir PS when he shared what happened to the stock market and how good that God is in his life.  I pray that he will be strong and be joyful with God.

Hopeful

I’m taking that step again towards wellness.  I have found my motivation again.  It’s not the sameas before.  I’m taking it slowly but I’m gonna make sure that this time, I’m gonna be able to maintain it when I attain it. 🙂

Exodus

Last Friday, we had a bible study and the key verse is Matthew 7:7.  There is a difference between ask, seek, and knock.  Something major is happening in my life right now.  And I am seeking His will for me.  It’s through reading His Word that we could know His will for us or in the form of other things.  And today, I’m taking His answer through a pastor in church channel about Exodus.

¹² And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”

God is great. 🙂

When life happens to you, what are you gonna do.  Sometimes, it makes me want to just be a spectator, an audience to a korean series.  Or something like that.  Being the lead actor can be hard.  Life happening is hard.  Because you have to move.  Action is required.  It may leave you disappointed, hurt, but it can leave you happy, and satisfied.

God knows us.  We may not understand most of the time, but seeking and finding His face amidst the chaos is the most comforting.

All in.  I have to give it all in for God.