Jul

31

Top Priority

Filed Under Faith & Values | Comments Off

I’ve been having a hard time focusing on the right things of late. Sometimes, I feel like I’m running around like a headless chicken, going through the motions at a frenetic pace. It seems I’ve lost the right balance. This is not good. I need to be still and wait on the Lord. To hear His still, small voice amid the internal and external semi-chaos.

This well-known Bible passage brings me back to what’s truly important in the life of a Christian:

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow or reap away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?Any why do you worry about clothes? See the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or “What shall we drink?’ or “What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do no worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:25-34/NIV)

Jul

28

Tired ‘Tindera’

Filed Under Business & Finance, Consumer Concerns, General, Health | Comments Off

Okay, that’s it. Enough selling stuff at the local flea market. Three times is enough. More than that would be purely masochistic (well, I can still do it in the near future if I want both my lungs to collapse). While we had fun doing it, the whole experience was utterly draining.

We can do more with our time and energy than pack things up, load, unload, pack things up, load, and unload — you know, the usual routine of a typical tindera sa bangketa. It’s one thing to be a buyer at the flea market, it’s another to be a seller.

It’s time to concentrate on more important things like my writing and photography work. And now that we’re discussing “more important things,” our retired German-speaking neighbor asked me yesterday why I had stopped playing the piano altogether.

Suddenly, it hit me: I’ve declared an indefinite hiatus on many worthwhile activities these past few months without even knowing it.

Jul

23

37th Birthday

Filed Under Consumer Concerns, Family & Friends, Photography, Travel/People & Places | Comments Off

I turned 37 last July 16. (Suddenly, I feel old. Three more years and I’ll be 40! If I’m still alive by then, that is. Only God knows what the future brings.)

Not-so-young feelings notwithstanding, I had a great birthday celebration. My husband took a day off from work and drove me to my favorite place in Switzerland — Interlaken! We had lunch at Coop restaurant (not posh, but it was not bad), we visited the souvenir shops, and then we watched a movie (can’t believe I suggested we go watch a no-brainer film like Die Hard 4).

My most favorite part was when my husband finally bought me a birthday gift: a Polaroid camera. Yes, you read it right. In this age of 10-pixel DSLR cameras which come in different forms and sizes, I requested he buy me a classic, easy-to-use Polaroid.

I just love the idea of taking instant photos. Only a Polaroid can do that.

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