"The Sweet Victory In Writing for 31 Days..."

My commitment to writing for 31 days is finally over today. This is my final post for this challenge.
I am relieved that it is over. On the other hand, there's a sense of victory for not giving up. There were a few times when I was dozing off while typing on my keyboard and just skip writing for a day or two. Thank God, I persevered. I wanted to finish this race that felt like a marathon. Joyfully, I crossed the finished line.
Thanks to Jeff Goins who have been my writing coach and mentor for years now. I've read all his bestselling books in their entirety. He initiated this writing challenge to all who consider and call themselves a writer. It works. I have been participating in this challenge for three years in a row now. However, this year, I'm feeling more optimistic. My goal now is to write one or two posts a week.
Thank you guys for reading all my posts. My heart leaps with joy to see that my posts are well received across the board, internationally especially the nation of Israel. I hope and pray that I did you justice by relating to you my innermost personal views on matters that are important to me.
If I had impacted even one soul out of thousands of readers, that one person is enough reason for me to keep writing.
Writing is a breath of fresh air to me... Falling in love with words is undeniable. It's words that complete
my desires when no one is there to hear me say them. Words compensate my longing when oftentimes misunderstood and abandoned. It's words that I sing in a song when you're not there.
Words, when expressed in a written form so exclusively and passionately, reminds me that
I can never love anybody so intently without writing them to you...

"Write About Innocence..."

"But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 19:14 (NKJV)

The quality of innocence (not ignorance) in young children is one that you and I could still remember, how it felt to be playful, open and how that humor us now...
When you're a child, you believed in almost everything your parents, older siblings, and elders had told you. Believing in Santa Claus, Tooth Fairy, Cinderella, and other action figure characters like Superman & Incredible Hulk might have been delightfully appealing growing up. What they constituted in your young mind is that they draw infinite power and goodness which we all wish we had. However, as little children, we were so much happier, content and void of complications even when we just had enough food to eat, and a roof over our heads; no extras, no appetizers--just straight main course. But we were happy inside and out! We were always hanging out together as a family doing household chores, homework, playing outside and fun learning that we get from each other. I know that we didn't have more than enough for extras but that didn't give us the license to 
be depressed but instead ambitious and responsible young adults. I don't know, my generation was just so different and yet I would never trade in today's microwave generation where patience is not
a virtue.
I remember when I was in the third grade, my favorite time of day is sunset and especially at night watching the stars as if they were just above me and within my grasp. Oh my God, they were so crystal bright, so incandescent and enigmatic. That is truer to me now than when I was barely nine years old. And then I heard about this falling or shooting star that when you see it gradually falling, you start making a wish that will eventually come true. Not sure how many times I had beguiled being a spectator of a shooting star. I  just know that as a child of this universe, I was mesmerized by it. Couldn't remember what my wishes then but I'm sure most of them were granted.
In my early writings, I had established that my childhood was a gift to my adulthood 
and motherhood. That was a time of honest existence, innocent experiences that you will never inhabit again. But they're in your portals, in your heart.

"What I Know For Sure..."

What I intend to share and teach based on my personal experiences before becoming a Christian is irrelevant. What I know for sure is the truth of the matter when I started walking my faith in
 God. I know that the Sovereign God that is revealed to me from Genesis to Revelation is the same
God that died for you and me at Calvary Cross so we may have eternal life with Him. I really wish that people get it that no matter how grievous their sins are that God forgets and erases that completely. The only thing you have to do is make Him your personal Saviour and Lord of your life.
That means, that you need to surrender all to Him and He will straighten your path.

I think that a lot of people want to be a Christian but not walk their faith. They want to give in to their flesh and at the same time, they want the grace of God to forgive them every time they
commit sin. God's grace is enough but not the way we want to interpret His grace to our advantage.
God's grace more abounds when He makes your enemies scattered and gives you grace not to go back to your wicked ways. It doesn't mean that because He already paid for all of our sins in full that with that assurance, we abuse the benefits of His Grace. Who are you fooling? God knows it all! God knows our hearts. When we go astray and squander everything that He gave us, He still wants us. I'm sure we're all familiar with the parable of the prodigal son. God rejoices every child of His that comes
home with a repentant heart.
Today may be your day to experience His love everlasting. This is the only assurance I know that never changes: God loves us so much that He gave His only begotten son to be the sacrificial lamb 
to pay for all of our sins and His precious Blood that was shed at CalvaryCross heals all of our wounds physically and spiritually. 
Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Give Your Own Eulogy..."

What a topic to write about! 
I was taken aback a little bit. It's true that I'm not scared to die for I know that heaven's door awaits for me and all therein...However, I would be curious what would be said about how I lived my life here on earth, what would be left unsaid and who would deliver my eulogy. What would my two sons say what's the most important life lessons they learned from me? If I die before my mom, what would she mostly miss of me? What about my siblings, friends, neighbors, and co-workers? 
But honestly speaking, after death, you won't have any knowledge of anything happening here on earth when you're gone to be with the Lord. Your quest, zest, your journey through life ceased.
With that said, what will be cherished and missed to mention in my eulogy is not important. I won't be able to hear it. But God does.
But I'll say this without regret and apology; God has given me self-will to choose what road or path to take. There are the well-traveled road and the least traveled narrow road. For the most part of my life, I found myself choosing the latter which means I didn't follow what the majority of people were doing. I felt the solitude of that decision but at the very core of my life, I knew I was doing the right things. When I got divorced, I single-handedly took good care of my 2 boys the best I can. I solemnly promised myself that I would dedicate my life raising them and even there was a possibility of a marriage proposal, I aborted any idea of getting married again. I remained virtuous and chaste for more than 18 years now. I'm proud of that about myself and I have the spirit of the Lord sustaining me to be one. Had I missed out? No, not when you have a strong relationship with the Lord. 
I had bold dreams, high hopes, and lofty aspirations. Some of them I've chased with a vengeance; some of them I approached with timidity, less burning fire in my heart, and some of them were never realized, yet. Maybe because I wasn't pursuing God's will for my life and my divine purpose... That I wasn't living a life of blazing urgency. But here I am in my golden years, still inspired seizing the adventure God intends for me to live. I feel great things are up on the horizon...

In my epitaph, I would like it to read: offered herself as a vessel for God's purpose and helped others come to know Him, a good mother, loved her family and friends and a dream chaser!

"Write About Work..."

Work equates to earning a living to support yourself and your family as a whole. But what's the deeper meaning of work in our lives? I read somewhere and from a long time ago that work is" a vocation, a calling to bring forth our gifts in the context of the community in which we work and serve and it awakens and enlivens us on a daily basis..." 
And I approve this definition of work.
I'm an educator in a public elementary school serving special needs children in a military installation unit.
I see their parent/s dropping them off in their uniform and sometimes these children are still having difficulty adjusting to following rules and procedures at all times. What they want is to play all the time. What you incorporate to make your teaching meaningful is learning how to reference their interests in all activities even during outside recess. It could be so frustrating when you don't get their individual goals to a maximum level of expectancy. Sometimes, I have to pick my battles which would one I give adherence to or what is the priority; getting the curriculum done or getting them ready by equipping them with self-sufficient, practical ways to survive to adulthood?. Whenever they throw 'their fits/antrums, and it's often very destructive I have to immediately shift my thinking that these are truly special needs children and all they want is that sense of belonging and understanding their own world. I get it but somehow the challenge is greater than your passion and it surely is true work for me.
If I have to venture or choose another line of work, it would be writing. I don't even enforce to get paid for it. I want to write non-fiction stories, personal articles highlighting my mantras; putting lyrics to make a beautiful melody of a song, a poem or even writing encapsulating words to convey love in a Hallmark card. Writing anything that moves me to write...with resilience and spontaneity!
However, in my vein still runs the fervor of teaching elementary grade students especially in a Sunday School setting. I was amazed by how golden opportunities can be when you're teaching the Word of God to the little children. Their innocent faces, their hearts strung, attuned to what I'm saying is the sacred dimension of true work and service. There was no spirit of reluctance among them; only wanting to learn more about Jesus.
That was my gift as an eyewitness to a group of children where God's visions on their life are unveiling, unfolding...to serve the Lord.

Day 26: " Write About Disappointment..."

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Beautiful weather produces a bounty of joy and thanksgiving just about now. From where I'm typing, I feel the rays of the sun seeping so bright giving me glimpses of what is to come--blessings of good, moving words to evoke my sentiments...I say that because we've been having what many call bipolar weather here in Central Texas. So, whenever we have a very indulging just right weather, I'm engulfed in its pleasure. So I started writing my 500-Word challenge before sunset. 

Writing about disappointment at this very hour will not help me get into that dismal mood of redirecting my remembrance to disappointments which are too many to think about. Truly, my biggest hurdle of disappointment is my delayed or long-overdue reaction to situations that needed resolutions right away. When you do that, you waste time, your energy and compromises the blessings and fruits of good decision-making leverage especially in the grueling experience of
"ending, halting the toxic relationship in my life. There came many times of hesitation, sadness, and regret that I couldn't resolve moving forward by forgetting what's been behind me all these years. I believed it was all the wrong myths and notions of love that squandered my adult life spanning to three decades. Pitiful, crazy and rubbish on my part but then again I came away with living now vivaciously and most of all loving and respecting myself according to what God says about me...But for all its worth, I'm thankful they happened for they made me so much stronger!


 "Knowing when and how to let go when something, or someone, isn't working--a personal 
relationship, a job, or a business venture--is essential for happiness and success because the
good cannot begin until the bad ends..."
And I quote, "There are relationships that should go away, practices and phases that must be relinquished, and life stages that should come to an end to open up space for the next one." by Dr. Henry Cloud

"I wish they weren't, but they are."

"Write About Travel..."

Speaking of travel in its physical sense, mine is very few not to mention that my travels were never leisure or pleasure like a sabbatical. I always traveled with my immediate family visiting other family relatives or with a group of women going to a church retreat. My kind of travel is yet to happen in Jerusalem, or in Greece for a writing retreat and back to the
The Philippines for a high school reunion.

Well, when I and my husband and our 2 small children at the time were traveling from San Jose, California to New Jersey, with all of our household goods in a huge U-haul truck, that was the last travel we would do as a family. It was a trip mixed with melancholy because my parents and two siblings were still living in San Jose, California and on the other spectrum of life was great anticipation to live close
to my husband's family on the east coast. On our first day of travel, my husband drove for 14 hours. We stayed on a hotel the first night and the kids were very excited that we got to do this as a family.
One thing about traveling with your husband and children is that there's is an unexplainable sheer of joy in making a new journey with the whole family unit. That we are complete and that was it. There was a sense of unbreakable bond even for those moments only God knows how long it will last.
We were happy especially my husband wanting to be living near his mom again. On our second day of the trip, my husband just decided to make a stop to Chicago where his Aunt lives. I was okay with that. The kids too, maybe because of my husband's aunt that had a store where food and candies are of good supply and other stuff that we might need for the trip. We ended up staying for 2 nights.
One of the relatives had a birthday party. Our children had enjoyed Puerto Rican foods and played games with the other children there. I felt happy seeing families got together and unafraid to show how they missed each other all these years. On our last day of travel, my husband was driving
endlessly for an hour and there was this crossroad that we were about to take but he didn't know which way to take. The map he was looking at didn't help. So I just told him to take the other way. My gut feeling was telling me the right road to take and it so happened to be the right one. My husband was thanking me after that quick decision I made.

What I come away with that trip is that for everything, there is a season, beautiful in its time and God has set eternity in our hearts and would walk with us in season and out ...even when those seasons of life meant to be temporary but as you look back for a brief moment, those moments were shared without a few regrets...