"Apart from the cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven."

As many of you may or may not know, one of my many fav scripture verses comes from 2 cor 12:8-10, "Three times i begged Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, 'my grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.' I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, i am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints for the sake of CHrist, for when i am weak, then i am strong."

Well this verse goes especially out to a good friend of mine, who sometimes feels as if no one can relate to what they're going through. OR how this person sometimes feels as if he's walking that journey alone in the faith. Yeah im sure we all know how that can go. I especially have gone through that saga in my own personal journey. Hence, exile...which last fri marked the 1 yurr anniversary whurr i was out of 'exile.' Hopefully if i remember ill get into that later.

Point im trying to make we have those up and down days. Some days can be a lot more difficult than others. Yet as a christian, life is no exception, the days become even more difficult. As much as we may hate to realize it, many people have put us 'christians' on pedestals. Expecting that we have to excercise the fruits of the holy spirit 24/7. Im sure weve all experinced this some point in our lives, people 'judging' our walks or who we 'are.' And that itself can be a real challenge.

THough i must say i had read an email juss recently and it said, "One of the greatest gifts we receive when we read the Bible, beyond the grace you get for reading and praying the Word of God, is a more intimate understanding and appreciation for Jesus’ humanity."

Thus making it easier often times for us to embrace Jesus' divinity more than His humanity. For me personally, thurr are many times whurr i forget about Jesus being human as well as divine. THough when i end up forgetting this purt of Jesus being human, i grow angry cuz my life may not going the way 'I' want it to. Wha i fail to realize though is that thurr isnt a feeling I can experience that Jesus cant relate to or understand.

Check it, if you go through the bible thurr are tons of experiences Jesus had gone through in His life that we go through often times today.I mean if you ask Him if he's gone through all this He'll say 'Yes i know what it is like.'

Leave home and live on your own? Mt 4:13
Have one of your best friends die? Jn 11:32-33
To be homeless? Mt 8:20
To be hungry? Mt 4:2
Be despised in your own hometown? Lk 4:29
To go without sleep? Mk 4:39, Mk 14:41
To be tempted? Mk 1:13
Be betrayed by one of your closest friends? Lk 22:48
To weep bitterly? Jn 11:35
Have people who don’t know you want you dead? Jn 8:59
To be tortured? Jn 19:1
Have your best friend abandon you and even deny knowing you? Mt 26:72
Take the blame for something you didn’t do? Mk 14:61

The point is, thurr isnt anything we havent gone through that Jesus hasnt gone through himself. THEREFORE, we can trust that He knows our pains and struggles and know what we exactly need in life. Jesus experienced and took part in it all-sufferings, joys, trials, messes, happiness etc.

If you re-read this verse St. Paul is so hopeful(keyword HOPE)cuz he put his trust in the Lord understanding that Jesus knew wha errthang St. Paul was going through was all bout. Paul took great comfort in the fact that everything he was going through, as difficult as it was, glorified God and that the weaker and humbler he was, the stronger God would be in Him. Same exact this goes for ourselves too. Especially to you my friend(the one who this portion of the blog is dedicated to.)

We shouldnt tell the Lord that He doesn't know wha were going through cuz He went through it already. The thing we should be doing is opening ourselves and be able to shurr all these feelings and emotions to the Lord in prayer. If the Lord was thurr for Paul, He will be thurr for you also, just trust in Him.

Exactly, what im learning slowly in regards to the spirit games set back...i know God will show us why this is all happening. Praise God.

Funny story i heard at work today. My coworker was telling me that one of the seniors who came in for lunch today shurred her weekend. So the senior went to take a train ride, well thurr was something wrong w/the train so that had a stop over delay some place. Well at the stop over she saw these young girls drinking somethign that looked 'refreshing' to the senior. SO the lady walks up and asks the girls wha they were drinking. The girls kinda looked at hte lady strangely and said, 'umm i dont think you wanna know.' BUt the senior was really curious cuz it looked good.

Well they told it was a long island ice tea. Ha the senior i think not knowing exactly wha an Long Island Ice tea was, went up to the bar and asked for one. Haha In fact in the end she ended up downing 2 glasses of Long Island Ice Tea! So my coworker asked her, 'well didnt you feel sick or anything afterwards.' The lady told her she didnt feel too well and ended up falling asleep on the train all the way to her stop. Haha i thought that was funny.

I met Jesus today in my confirmation class. I had taken them up to prayer meeting. This was the first time this yurr theyve been up thurr. Ever since ive had my kids, ive been slowly trying to intro. to the charasmatic movt. Each yurr its like a tradition we go upsturrs to prayer meeting. The kids love it too cuz they'll end up asking if we can go back. In fact the very first yurr i had my class, i brought up to prayer meeting and thas how i was able ot get to know the community.

So i think this time it was more impactful for them after going through youf alpha and some of them coming to youf rally. For some of the class it was their first time up thurr. Praise God cuz they said it was beautiful. In fact one girl said she liked it better than youf alpha cuz errone was participating and errthang. She said it was deeper than youf alpha. Praise God that a conviction was sent into thurr hearts. Im praying that they'll return on their own after SRE is over.

Next week is our end of yurr purrty too. Its tradition that one of my kids brings lumpia. So i passed around a sign up sheet to sign up for either main dish, dessert, drinks, or utensils. Well majority of the kids signed up for the easy stuff like chips, cookies, drinks etc. Hardly anyone signed up to bring the main dish. Although one of my kids is supposedly gonna bring 'lechon.' Yes, im talking bout the whole pig. All i gotta do is bring the fruit. Yess! I cant wait, ha hopefully he comes through w/it. I think ill remind him before class next tues.

AS we end this skool yurr im always sad cuz i dont get to really see the kids in the summer. THough hopefully this yurr itll be different. I pray that they'll come to LSS, experience the holy spirit and want ot get involved w/SH. Im really excited for next yurr though as we prepare together as a class for their confirmation. Gosh, for some of the kids it'll be thurr 4th yurr with me. Praise God for their committment and their parents to guide them as they prepare for the sacrament.

We were watching this really funny show @ aela's called 'u da man.' It was on TFC and its like an american idol, except these are all young filipino guys. It was pretty funny, even though i didnt understand wha they were saying half the time. Okay, this entry is long enough. Don't forget to play blog trivia and please continue to pray for me. Im really praying for a smooth week, even though im working all week long.


Lord let us empty ourselves, so that we may be filled with You.

"Your grace is sufficient for me, eternally yours..."im done, im out God bless!