Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts

Friday, September 14, 2012

10 Things I am Most Thankful Right Now

Last week, in my effort to seek divine help on the personal struggle that I was dealing, I learned that being more thankful on every blessing and good thing is one effective way to live happy.

Last week´s sabbath lesson challenged me to write the top ten things I am most thankful right now, to take a moment to thank God in prayer, and then observe the difference on my perspective afterwards. I did. I kept my note because I thought I would love to share it with you. So here are the things I´m very grateful.

1. A happy marriage - I´m a little less than two years married to my husband and for the entire time, I´m happy with him. He´s very loving, caring, thoughtful, fun and responsible. Although some personal differences at times come between us, we find ways to iron them. He loves me so much and that makes me love him even more.

2. Good health that I, my husband, my family and my friends have - good health is something I never miss thanking God whenever I speak to Him in prayer. Without it, one can never fully enjoy life. I´m always thankful to God that He keeps me, my husband, my mom and my dad, my siblings, my loved ones, my in-laws, and my friends healthy and safe.

3. A job I love -  after years of praying for a job that would truly make me happy, God granted it. I can´t be happier.

4. My happy parents - my parents raised six kids on their own and even if they were heavily burdened with all the education bills, they hanged on. Now four of us are already professionals and the younger two who are still in the university are doing well. My parents are very happy and their happiness influence us.

5. My successful siblings - being an eldest of six, I took the responsibility towards my siblings seriously. I studied hard and finished my degree early with the help of a scholarship. I went abroad at an early age, strived to earn big and helped my parents finance my siblings´ undergraduate education. In return, my siblings worked hard, looked up to me and carved their own success.

As of now, my sister after me is a successful business woman. A brother graduated from nursing last year, immediately earned his license, got a good job and now prepares/trains for his plan to go abroad. Another brother is a teacher who enjoys working in the Philippines and whom, despite my persuasions, says he´s happy working for his country although he too considers trying his luck abroad.

The fifth sibling and the youngest of three brothers is currently in his third year taking mechanical engineering. He also earned certificates for his electrical trainings. Simultaneous to his studies in mechanical, he does apprenticeship in electrical field. My youngest sister on the other hand, the youngest of the six, is a freshman in computer engineering. I´m very happy and proud of them.

6. A visit to Paris - it was a long-time dream of mine to visit Paris. Last month, with God´s grace and with the help of my husband, we spent our summer vacation in Paris. God is so good.

7. My husband´s great job - I´m always thankful to God for giving my husband a job that he loves and that´s stable. He´s the main breadwinner and what I do is simply to support his income. Because he´s happy at work, his happiness also radiates when he´s at home.

8. A growing closet - because I´m a big fan of fashion, I thank God for giving me a big closet which continually grows.

9. Trustworthy friends - it´s not always that you find special and trustworthy friends. I found them and I´m very thankful for it. They´re scattered across the globe but we still keep in touch.

10. A great laptop and a fast internet connection - because what I do involves the internet, I´m thankful for the gift of a good laptop and internet connection. Through them, I am able to connect with the world and keep in touch with families and friends. They keep me from being lonely here in Europe.

So those are my top ten gifts, what about you? What are you most thankful of right now? Do this activity, write down on a piece of paper the ten things you´re thankful right now, then silently thank God through meditation. Have a great day!

photo credit: wehearit.com

Friday, October 23, 2009

Prayer stopped the bank robber: How powerful is prayer?

Just exactly how powerful is prayer? Do you think a prayer with faith can actually move mountains? If you search the net, I am certain that you will find many accounts on how people found prayer powerful. There are even plenty of unpublished testimonies out there that prove that God indeed listens to prayer.

While writing this post I was reminded of some funny but dangerous experiences that I had in the past where prayer saved me. For example, on one Christmas vacation our family and friends had a retreat in a secluded island in our province. The island was beautiful and untouched. There was a big wooden house beside the beach and a huge meeting hall in the middle of the island which I never saw how it looked in the inside, it was always locked. Unfortunately, all the toilets were located beside the meeting hall. So one morning after breakfast, I was walking towards the toilet not minding the environment; my mind was flying [as it always does], when suddenly I heard barks of an angry female dog. When I focused to see where it was coming from, I was frozen to see the beast, big and scary, approaching me in a leaping manner eager to devour me. Not a panicky person, I took off my sandals and threw them to her to no avail. There wasn’t any stone or anything that I could grab. The last resort was to run. I ran screaming “Papa, papa!” but everyone in the house was too far to help. My mind was thinking about how many injections I would get. However, what frightened me more was the thought of ruining my legs, my biggest assets. While running I was looking back and saw that every time the beast was about to bite a leg, each leg just move to run. I then remembered to pray. So while my mouth was screaming my mind was praying, “Jesus, help me.” Just then I bumped into a huge tree, and then fell. I waited for the pain, but there was none. I raised my head to look at her; I was met by two lamb eyes. And then she moved away. I gathered myself up with bleeding knees, but it was far better than getting non-bleeding bites.

These scenarios I mentioned above happened ten years back, were refreshed to me today after I saw a yahoo video featuring the woman, who, through prayer, was able to unarm her robber. I wanted to download that video of her interview because she left such good message towards the people who have nobody that are becoming hopeless. She said that things can’t be so bad to just throw away your life in prison or in death. There are people who care. There is God who cares. She also addressed company owners saying that they should also give chance to people who are desperate to get a job to survive. Sometimes, some people are just forced to do crime.