DAY 5: Inspiration.

*accidentally deleted Day 4: Senseless Blah. Hay. 

I thought of writing an article for today’s activity when the sun was at its highest peak today, amidst the cheerful chatters of the sporty-clad SIGAs behind me, and the excitement around me brought about by the partial announcement of winners, but decided against it. Too early. And I was on the bleachers of other side of the main stage area, assigned for re-announcing the sectors that’ll be playing a certain sport. So there I was, left to watch all that is happening around me, happy, filled with enthusiasm, and who would’ve have thought that these youth come from less fortunate families than I am. Honestly, they look more “sosyal” than I am. Seriously. Their smiles and laughters, contagious. Their stories, extraordinary and inspiring. I even thought I was in a YFC-ILC Conference and I would have to remind myself that it was a SIGA Olympics. You wouldn’t know the difference, physically, emotionally and spiritually. We started the event with an opening worship and they do praise like there’s no tomorrow. And they would best know how to be grateful since some of these youth really did experience the hardest of times. On the streets, out of school, drugs, vices, you name it, they’ve had it. And because GK has started and never stopped dreaming for the poor, these youth will have a brighter future and we will get to see a better Philippines. I even met a new friend, Nancy from GK Arkong Bato. She’ll be an incoming freshman at De La Salle University and will be taking up Early Childhood Education. Kudos to La Salle for giving a great privilege such as this. Nancy is one of the less than a hundred SIGA scholars that are studying in La Salle. Indeed, the best for the least. And she shares, that one day, she wants to give back and work fulltime for GK too. When God’s hand is at work, anything and everything is possible. A dose of inspiration here, a little of imagination there and loads of faith, hope and love, life-changing circumstances does occur. Marikina Sports Complex showcased a glimpse of heaven that day, filled with games, sports events, fun, faith, freedom, friendship, and of course free food for us service teams. As much as I want to be God’s messenger of love and inspiration that day, I was the one moved, inspired, and blessed. An affirmation that indeed GK is God’s work and I wouldn’t mind dedicating every second of my life, shedding a tear or two, offering every drop of my blood (yes, GK is padugo), and wasting my life in living the GK way. Cause with heartaches and heartbreaks comes God’s great promise of eternity and a better tomorrow for these youth and more youth and their families that GK will continue to nurture and love. And I know it will be so much worth the fight til the end. So much worth it.

DAY 3: Abundance.

This day turned out to be abundant with great food and great friends. And this day is just like any other day in my existence. And I thought this experience of taking the risk of living away from my family and going beyond my comfort zone right after college will be a time of scarcity. Especially with the food part. But God's timing is always right. Never fails. He sends the right people to make my stay here easier than what I've imagined it to be. Yes, I do have that weird gift of predicting the future based on my own perception of what the bad days ahead would be. I'm sometimes trying to scare myself no matter how God tries to make His presence and providence be very visible. I sometimes wonder why are we like that? We try to make someone prove their worth and what's sad is even if they already did everything they could, we chose to turns our backs and not accept their worth. But good thing God doesn't give up on us no matter how stubborn and brats we are. And He never will. So let's learn to open ourselves to the avalanche of blessings around us. Thank the people who've been God's instrument of providence and love. 

Got to go, I've got a FREE dinner to catch with great friends. what can i say, God's spoiling me that much.  

DAY 2: God Whispers.

A whisper is something uttered softly. To keep something private and to keep that someone close. A sharing of secrets, imparting words of comfort and even of love. And wouldn't you be enthused when you get to share hushed and intimate messages of love with the greatest Lover of all time.

God Whispers. This is sent to you via email when you subscribe to GodWhispers Club. You get to receive God’s personal and intimate message for you at least twice a week. It will sure to inspire and make your day. Below is my first ever God whispers:

Dear Maymay,

If only you see what I see in you.  Then you'll realize how great I am—and how great you are.

Your Infinite Source of Blessings,
God

P.S. I'll give you a hint.  Maymay, you're more magnificent than quadrillion suns put together.  (And I know suns.  I made every single one of them.)

Who wouldn’t be inspired and brought into tears when you get to read this? I always look forward to the arrival of this motivating love letters from my Maker. My outlook for the rest of the day stays positive and loving. Reminds me to grow and stay grounded in God’s love and faithfulness. Especially when my day turns out not so right, reading these messages never fail to bring me back on my feet again. And I admit, it really is addicting.

My recent God Whispers:

Dear Maymay,

This is your mission.  To become what you were born to be.  You were born to bless and heal and love in a very specific, fantastic way.  I don't know about you, but it's really incredibly exciting just making it all come to pass.

Live with passion,
God

P.S. Your destiny is waiting for you, Maymay.  You'll love it.

This had me all goosebump-y. An affirmation of the work that I believe I am called to do. Another everyday glimpse of God's immeasurable wisdom and extravagant love for us. Sometimes, we just need to shut down the clatter and the rowdy stuffs of our everyday so we’ll get to listen to our heart speak. God’s plans for us are rooted in the deepest desires of our heart. And  I do believe that when you finally discover the purpose of your existence, you'll be happy, excited, passionate and be able to conquer every fear and every obstacle that comes your way.

This idea of Bo Sanchez of God Whispers is just superb!

DAY 1: Written.

day 1. whopee! i am having a hard time of thinking of something to start off this write- up. so here it goes...

I remember a few years back, I kept a diary, hidden under my unruly stash of clothes, where I write all my thoughts and activities for the day. Elementary and early high school days. Sometimes, I go into details especially when the day turns well or extremely disappointing and bad. At other times, I write in full or sometimes only half of the page. But the thing there is, I actually get to write almost everyday. I love to write letters and have loads of them from friends. Good thing my best friends love to give and write long letters too. That means an addition to my stack. A manually written letter means a gift of time and effort and that equates to love. At present, as much as i want to put aside my inspirations to write cause I get too lazy or too preoccupied to do some other more important things, it will always come back haunting me. I often find myself having conversations within my mind. Talking to oneself is common and may still be weird in public but having a battle of conversation going through one's head is not an everyday scenario (i'm really weird...haha). I find it ironic that when you start to think what you're going to write, you'll have a hard time processing what you want to write but when you allow yourself to follow the rhythm and write whatever comes to your mind, you actually get to write more sense-ful stuffs. The best thing is that you'll get to astonish and surprise yourself of how good that write-up turned out to be. And I actually love to read blogs and write-ups. So I find myself comparing to other writers and bloggers, which makes me not see myself as a "real" writer. Too much analyzation is going on when I start comparing thus I end up not writing at all. But I'll put an end to that. From now on, i'll stop comparing and start writing. well, that's what the next 30 days will be about. finding and rediscovering the passion within. and if this is where God is planting me, I know this is where He wants me to grow.  If it's His will, then let it be. after all, it will always be about Him and no one else.

Thoughts of a Nation- Builder

Thoughts of a nation-builder. I was thinking of creating a new blog site for my thoughts as I continue my journey as a nation-builder and a full-time missionary. Got all inspired and excited to write when Kuya Kirby shared his stories about blogging and after reading through his song compositions and write-ups. I was thinking of that before whenever I see myself working fulltime for GK. That every life- changing and heart melting story of every volunteer, kapitbahayan and partner ought to be shared and passed on. Just realized now that because I ultimately want to share, as much as possible, every inspiring GK story to everyone i meet and come across, I am where I am now, the marketing team of GK. God's amazing coincidences. And though I am an office girl, (which I don't really see myself be, because I was envisioning myself before to be travelling a lot and doing the work on the grounds. but it's okay, i'm still loving it anyways since i know in one way or another, I am contributing to GK's vision of a slum-free Philippines :) I know I'll still find a lot of inspiring stories to share since I'll have my weekends, hopefully, to be involved in GK activities on the ground. I'll give myself 30 days to write daily of anything and everything under the sun, and if i get through the 30 days , i'll think about creating a new one. I need to have the discipline to write and not just to write whenever I am inspired or feel like doing it and ignite my passion to write and tell stories through writing (since i'm not really good at expressing myself verbally). I recently read a book which i forgot what the title was, that you need not write when inspired, first you can write with your mind, the heart sure will follow.

so hopefully i'll get through the 30 days. *fingers crossed*