Summer Get Away With Friends

My friends and I planned a 2 day summer vacation to Iba, Zambales. We left around 9:30 from work and we reached the place at past 12 or 1pm. We rent a 1 room that cost 2000 pesos. We are 7 persons and the room has 1 big bed a 1 small bed so the care taker agreed to give us a free exta bedding. We are supposed to be 9 but Sak and Bolster was not able to make it because Sak's mom was sick and she have to watch over her while Bolster's wife was about to give birth so her wife didn't give her permission to come with us. The room is great and really cool not to mention the clean comfort room. They don't have tv on each room but it's ok the room is good. When we arrived, we fixed our things then Laine, Bryan, and JR go to market to buy the things we lack. While they are buyiing things, Donna and I slept in the room. We are called "Tulog Queen/Sleeping Queen" because we always sleep. They woke us up when they arrived so we prepared our stuff for us to eat. We ate Chicken Asado for lunch and it was really good. It was cooked by Donna's mom. After eating, JR and I went to the resort's lobby to watch Glass Shoes. We're fanatics of that Korean series so we don't wanna miss it as well as One Piece. Jay arrived and watch with us when One Piece started and I was left alone watching during Full House time. I was able to watch Full House before and I also have my CD for it but I still love watching it. The series makes me laugh really hard, giggle, cry, and of course makes me fall in love but the bad thing is, the series makes me miss my old time friend Jhay that I haven't talk to for a long time. But that is ok not that bad, I laugh more often though. While I am watching TV Bryan and Tito Ceasar (our driver who owns the van) are having gin session, Donna, Laine, JR, Jay, and Mirriam are at the beach swimming and I joined them after watching Full House.

The beach was so amazing. It was not that deep so you can swim and float as much as you want to not worrying you might be in the deeper part of the sea. We really had a great time swimming and floating. We had a game which is floating and whoever floats the longer is the winner. While floating, as I see the dark sky because that was late 7pm I am talking to God in my mind and telling him that if I could only see Him in person that time, I will hug Him and thank Him for what He had done in my life. My life really changed in a way that I can't imagine and I am grateful for His love. I also told Christ the same, and thanked Him for saving me, for letting me be freed. You can see a really amazing view to the sky while you are floating in the sea. Thank God for the wonders He had done. Donna, Laine, and I were tripping and we keep on laughing because we are playing JR around. We asked him to float because he is new on it, he can't float more than 5 seconds before so we trained him but we are playing around hehe..While he is floating, we are walking away from him and hide. He keeps on looking for us the moment he rises and he is wonderiing why he reached that far and we are laughing so hard. We did that 4 times not being caught by him. He does not even have a hint or any idea what we are really doing all the while he thought he reached that far. We had so much fun playing. And we go back our room after an hour. Then we ate our dinner. Our dinner was grilled pork that Laine and I bought and Tito Ceasar grilled it for us. We are eating while Bryan and Tito Ceasar are still drinking. We are chatting while eating and Bryan keeps on talking about me and he is telling Tito Caesar how I fight for and protect my friends. He is saying that my friends are so fortunate for having me and I was so flattered because not all people know and appreciate that. Then Jay answered "that's why I love being with her". Then Tito asked me if I have a boyfriend I said none and Bryan said that I am really pretty but I don't have a boyfriend. Then Tito asked me why, I answered "because I haven't found the right one and it was not yet my time". Then they asked what I am looking for, I answered "a Pastor or a real Christian guy". Mirriam said that I can try their Pastor, I just smiled. Tito aske me what kind of Pastor then I said a Pastor for Born Again Christian. I am not just looking for a Pastor but as well as a great Christian as long as he is a real Christian. Then we started talking about my religion and our beliefs and what is my conviction for love and I explained them the difference between a Christian guy to an ordinary guy. Tito even asked me why I don't go for non-Christian guys and I answered "because Satan and Christ cannot be in-laws". I gave my life calendar to God so He will bne the one who will chose the right one for me. He asked a lot and then we talk about jokes and I gained a lot from him about jokes. We had so much fun chatting and telling jokes. Then I told them that I will just fix myself and we can sing on the videoke.

We sung a lot of songs with other group and it was really fun. JR was really funny when he sang "Bukas Na Lang Kita Mamahalin" a Tagalog song. His voice was like coming from grave though it was that good. They are sleeping and going away one by one till only Tito Ceasar and I were left. We sang till 1am then we part our ways because he will sleep at his van. Videoke time was wonderful though I don't have a good singing voice. Most of the songs that I sang were with high-pitch and I have this courage to sing them. I just have the courage but not the guts. My voice was not that bad though =) and I had a great time singing. I slept at 1am and we woke up at 6:45am and Donna invites us to go snorkeling. We paid 300 for an hour for that. So we wear our swim wear again and we went snorkeling. Riding the boat was so boaring and I felt really sleepy that time. Then we reached our destination and we go down from the boat and swim and snorkeled. The corals was wonderful and you will be hallowed seeing them with these tiny fishes swimming. I thanked God for this wonderful creation. It was so over-whelming seeing things under the sea and I was able to appreciate how great He is, how big is our God, how powerful He is. Oh my goodness, I really can't imagine how He did that. What I have seen was just a tiny part of the sea, what more if I was able to see the real under-water creatures? God is really powerful and my mind can't reach how wonderful He is. Then we had picture taking and then go back to our cottage.

It's breakfast time, we prepared for our food. We requested the care taker to cook the hotdogs for us as well as the dilis and the extra chicken and pork left over last night. They were really kind to us though we are paying for the service but we are served really nice. I cut the tomatoes and salted eggs. Donna is preparing the pineapple while I am making sandwhich dressing. Dilis was not cooked yet so we ate hotdogs and sandwhiches first as well as the pineapple. I was so happy because I am able to eat pineapple in bagoong. Eating pineapple with bagoong is one of the happiest moments of my life. I am extra ordinary becuase, I was the only one they have seen doing that and I asked JR to try it and he enjoyed it too. It was one of the best food I enjoyed eating. It was just like eating french fries while diping it on sundae. Which is also my favorite food. Oh I love eating though it makes me fat. There goes the dilis so we started eating rice. We all enjoyed eating the breakfast with matching tomatoes and bagoong. After eating, oh my goodness I felt really sleepy so I left and told them that I 'll sleep, I was not able to help them clean the mess because I was really sleepy. When I enter our room to sleep Donna was there sleeping . As usual, we are the Tulog Queen, so we slept again until it's my turn for taking a bath before we go home.

After taking a bath, we are all ready to go home and that was 12 noon. We met Laine's mom at St. Anne's school and invites us for lunch and it was her treat. We went to By The Sea for our lunch and again we had our picture taken before we ate. After an hour, we decided to go home but Bryan and Laine were left. And again, Donna and I slept while traveling home. We just woke up when we reached Porac. Tito Caesar dropped us on Magalang Terminal and Donna and I went home safely. That outing was really fun and we all had a great time. After all the stresses and pressures we had from work, we all deserve a break. Thank God for the beautiful time He gave us.


Here are some of our pictures. Click the pictures to view them larger.

















































To view the slide show click here.

Successful Youth Congress

Jesus Our Victory held a Youth Congress on May 17-18, 2005. We invited delegates from Samar, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Manila, and Pampanga. We are the hosts of the said conference. Tuesday will be preaching and praise and worship. We invited Pastor Jay Amina from Hawaii as our speaker together with his family who also preached on the event. On Wednesday morning was another message from Pastor Jay Amina and his wife and a testimony from his daughter. Wednesday afternoon speaker was Pastor Eric Manabat, then it will be a crusade on Wednesday night.

As the host of the conference, young people were assisgned to registration and ushers. I am one of the ushers. We were instructed to shake hands delegates and greet them with a happy big smile. I have met a lot young people and I was so happy and really blessed because the place was jam-packed. I even saw one of my co-employee Dupax and I was really so happy to see him there. I didn't know that he is Christian too and I am hallowed the moment I saw him. During praise and worship, we are singing together with our band and JOV youth are infront leading the praise and worship. My heart was uplifted because of 800 plus young people praising and worshipping Jesus. We are all dancing, singing, jumping, shouting as we praised Christ. I've never been that really happy in my whole life. Though I was thinking and hoping to see my friend Jhay to be there but unfortunately his team was unable to make it because of some reasons. I was a bit upset but I was relieved because one of the delegate was his friend and she told me what happened why they was not able to make it to the congress and she shown me his message saying regards to me. I didn't text him because we don't communicate anymore for some valid personal reasons but I was really praying for him everyday. I actually prayed for him when Pastor Amina asked the leaders to go infront and prayed for them. I am also praying for him that time. I asked God to keep him strong and may he continue leading young people towards Christ. I prayed that for him to keep his faith and continue serving Christ till his last breath. And I prayed for him to find his partner, the perfect girl who will be his partner on serving God. The girl who will hold his hand, remind him, and keep him warm if ever he will experience coldness or giving up on serving our dear Lord. Though we don't communicate, I never stop praying for Jhay because he is one of my influences for what I am today. He helped me change and have my right direction. I am very much thankful to this guy. I dreamt of having him as my partner in life and my partner on serving God because of his golden and pure heart. But what is important to me right now is knowing that he is happy and doing fine. Even if God will not permit us to meet as long as I know he is serving God well, I will be happier. Thanks to Cheryl for letting me know about the information. I will keep on praying for him.


I was also really happy when I heard this young kids calling me Ate Aby each time I pass by. I do approach them, shaked their hands, hugged them and asked them if they were blessed. Checked if they have eaten their lunch. This young kids moved me. I met Kyle from Jesus Water of Life church Balibago. Their Pastor is my sister's friend. I used to be with him on fellowships in Manila when I was 8. He is their Senior Pastor and the church was named Jesus Water of Life because Pastor Roel accepted Christ and started serving Him when he was working in Manila Water Sewerage System. I also met Jarem from CEMI Dolores, a really cute guy just like Kyle. He actually invited us to watch Gospel Revolution on May 28. That is a battle of the bands among Christians. He also told me that he liked our church. I agree with him because the first time I attended service on JOV, I was amazed with it. Here are the names I remembered from the people I met on the conference. Joy, Rain from Sindalan church, Jonathan, Josh from Jesus Water of Life, Pastor Luis a young pastor together with his delegates from Dagupan, Grace and Cheryl from Tarlac, young girls from Manibaog, and of course Jerson from Caloocan City. I was really uplifted with this guy. I remember seeing this guy passing by and I was thinking that he might be Jhay because he is so tall and really good-looking. At first I thought he was Jhay but then it was a mistake because I saw his tagname and written as Jerson. On Tuesday evening, I passed by the hallway, I heard someone called me Ate Aby and I saw him, then I said hi but deep inside me I was laughing because he is so tall and he is calling me Ate though I know he is younger but never expected him as younger as 17. I was really blessed with him because I can't imagine a good-looking guy, really cute, tall and thin guy singing, dancing, jumping, on praising Christ. That is rare that is why I am so happy to see him on our praise and worship. I was attracted to him because of his attitude when you look at him at first he was so silent but I can see a wonderful aura and I admired him most when I saw him dancing on praise and worship. One moment last Wednesday, we end up laughing because I saw him looking back and then our eyes met while he is yawning, covering his mouth with a hand fan. He is quite far from me actually, he laughed maybe he is ashame because I caught him hehe..I really never thought that he is only 17 because he is super tall but really admirable not just because he is good-looking but as a Christian. The fact that he came with his colleagues to the conference coming from Manila was really surprising. I know that I will not meet this young guy again but I am praying for him and other delegates to continue serving God and be on the right track towards Christ.


The congress was really wonderful. It was my first time and I was full of joy though we are really tired preparing and entertaining delegates. Meeting other young people who serve God was over-whelming. God is really grate. Before the concert started while we are preparing the stage on Astro Park an open-field, it was raining then we prayed asked God to redirect the rain to other places our prayers was granted after a few minutes, the weather became really fine and so we started the concert. Other delegates from other places are praying too. I saw this one group who even kneeled down and rest their heads on the ground while praying. I was so touched seeing this group though I never had a chance to meet and thank them. I was really thankful to them though. My heart was filled with happiness as I saw young people support us, pray with us, and praise Christ with us.


JOV youth were asked to dance for the concert. We practiced for almost 3 weeks. We have sacrifices a lot of time and energy for the sucsess of this conference but it was all worth it. We danced 3 times, first we danced Your Love Is Beautiful, then Romans, for the praise and worship and all the audience are singing with us, jumping while we dance in front. The crowd was really cool and really loud. I was like a real concert. Then we dance Sayaweh as an intermission number. The concert was great because you will be blessed and realized how happy and fun on serving God. I will never forget that 2 days event. My feet ached after every conference and the concert because I jumped a lot but I was really bursting with joy. It was actually my dad's birthday on May 18 and they are celebrating at home and I missed visiting my dad's grave. I know my father will understand me for what I did was worth it. And this is what he wants for me to serve God as he did when he was alive. I will visit him this week by the way.


I was a bit upset because my friends that I invited did not come. But it's ok, I will never give up inviting them and draw them near to God. I will keep on praying for them because I want them to be saved too and help me save other souls. I am hoping that one of this days, I have them with me praising Christ. I want them to experience Christ in their personal life as I did. You won't experience Him personally by simply going to church and praying. Unless you will have an intimate relationship with Him, you won't realize how amazing and how big God is and how grate Christ is, how powerful, how wonderful His love is. I keep on asking God that one day, I will serve him with my family and friends. There is no problem with my family because we are all Christians expect my younger sister because she is Iglesia for her husband was but I know someday she will be a great Christian too for deep in her heart, she would love to be Christian but she respect her husband that is why she is attending Iglesia. Anywayz, religion will not save you for as long as you accept Christ as your personal savior and have an intimate relationship with him then you will be saved.


Thoughts To Ponder:

"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. " John 3:3

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. " John 3:16

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." John 14:6

Songs That I Would Love To Share:

One Way

I lay my life down at your feet
You're the only one I need
I turn to you and you are always there
In troubled times its you I seek
I put you first thats all I need
I humble all I am, All to you

One way Jesus
You're the only one that I could live for
One Way Jesus
You're the only one that I could live for

You are always, always there
Every how and everywhere
Your grace abounds so deeply within me
You wil never ever change
Yesterday today the same
Forever till forever meets no end

One way Jesus
You're the only one that I could live for
One Way Jesus
You're the only one that I could live for

You are the way the truth and the life
We live by faith and not by sight ... for you
We're living all for you

Trading My Sorrows

I'm trading my sorrow
I'm trading my shame
I'm laying them down for the joy of the Lord

I'm trading my sickness
I'm trading my pain
I'm laying them down for the joy of the Lord

And we say yes Lord, yes Lord, yes, yes, Lord
Yes Lord, yes Lord, yes, yes, Lord
Yes Lord, yes Lord, yes, yes, Lord. Amen

I'm pressed but not crushed
Persecuted not abandoned
Struck down but not destroyed
I'm blessed beyond the curse

For His promise will endure
And His joy's gonna be my strength
Though the sorrow may last for the night
His joy comes with the morning...