'Tis the season

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday.

Once the first day of December hits the calendars, an unexplainable sense of euphoria and greatness seems to envelope everything. The mere idea of wrapped presents, Christmas stockings, rich chocolates, blinking lights, holiday decorations and work breaks (formerly school breaks) is enough to send me flying to the moon. Moreover, Christmas songs fill homes and streets with the much needed atmosphere of love and good tidings.

This year, however, I welcomed Christmas quite differently. A good kind of different.

Since April 2009, God - the awesome provider - has blessed me with work that has consistently been an opportunity for me to grow in all aspects of my life, especially in financial matters. So for the first time in twenty two years, I was able to buy gifts this Christmas for people I care for using money I earned. I am also very glad that I am continuously able to support my sponsored child since I started working this year (despite the aftermath of calamities and shadows of recession). What a blessing it is to be a blessing to others in this regard!

I may not have a huge bulging sack of presents being pulled by flying reindeer or a factory of toys run by elves over at the North Pole but I believe there's a little bit of Santa in each of us. Even though I've outgrown Santa Claus per se, I'm still a big fan of the big, jolly guy in red. For me, he is more real as Saint Nicholas: a man with an extraordinarily generous heart who lived centuries ago whose story has been an inspiration for both young and old until now. His charitable act is not tough to follow; we all have something to share: time, talent, or treasure. Most importantly, we have the love of Jesus Christ to give to everybody...

Christmas will always be my favorite holiday.

I realize I am no longer a little girl at 22 years old but I am eternally thankful in the truth that I will always be a child of God.

As the holiday season reaches its highlight, I am filled with joy in embracing more closely the belief that 'it is in giving that we receive' (mentioned by St. Francis of Assisi in his prayer). Truly, 'tis the season to be bathed in gratitude for the birth of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. On Christmas day, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us - to envelope us in the eternal love of God.

In giving our lives to God, we receive God Himself into our new lives. God be with us.

12 B.C.

It 's that time of the year again!

DECEMBER - the month that brings life into a good kind of busy state and a good kind of crazy state.

What do you think prevented me from blogging in a while?

Obviously, the Christmas bug has bitten me very, very hard.

P.S. It's only 12 days Before Christmas!

Find Me

Today closes a full circle of a year that has passed since I came back from a half a year stay with my relatives in the United States. What a year it has been.

Before I left the country in June 2008, I told myself and certain close friends that the trip is going to be the opportunity for 'soul searching' I've always wanted to have. Since the path after college overwhelmingly branched out to so many different directions, I promised myself that I'd take a back road for a while and figure out where I'm headed for in life. I suddenly realized a few days post-graduation that twenty long years didn't seem that long after all. In fact, it passed by a little too quickly than I thought it would.

Six months in a looking glass away from home also flew by much like a breeze passing through a field. I knew I came back the same person but with broader perspectives, stronger convictions, better values, and deeper faith in God. However, the questions I have when I left still remained unanswered even after arriving back in the Philippines. My period of 'soul searching' was finished but I still haven't found what I've been looking for. At the time, I possibly felt more at a loss than ever.

As I began to re-adjust to life at home, I slowly found my place under the sun without being aware of it. It was like being given a second chance in life - a clean slate to start all over again. Now I've come to understand that 'soul searching' doesn't mean you have to isolate yourself to a far away place in order to have an epiphany. It means looking within... for wherever you go, there YOU are. You are the one thing you cannot escape from.

I have come to the conclusion that, indeed, "Home is where the heart is".

I couldn't be more thankful to God for giving me the opportunity to rediscover who I am and who I can be. Life is truly about the journey - going through every experience we face each day with much gusto. The destination is a bonus, an affirmation of what it took the sojourner to get there.

For almost eight months now, I am blessed every single day to be working with kids with special needs at a therapy center in the metropolis [after a whirlwind of serious decision-making]. I am wonderfully blessed to be living my dream of being a catalyst for good change and a positive influence in society. Moreover, I couldn't have asked for a more supportive family and circle of friends.

I am eternally thankful because when God found me, He not only helped me find Him - He also helped me find me.

Bookworm

My to-read list is growing long... a little too long, in fact, that it's really taking me some time to finish what's "On My Desk" before moving on to the next one. My shelves are also getting filled with reading material faster than you can say, "Book bargain". That's because I buy books faster than I can read them especially if they are on sale. :P

Then I realize this: I can only read so much.

But still... books are my best friends. :)

Race and Shine!

This morning, I ran my first ever five kilometer (5K) race at The Fort, Global City: Race and Shine!

I went with co-teachers from ACC and had a very good time although the race briefing and gunstarts for each running distance (15K, 10K, and 5K) were almost an hour late. The breakfast served after the race was simple but delicious. :)

My unofficial time for the race was 43 minutes and 14 seconds! :) I am extremely HAPPY with the results! I thought I would finish the whole run in about an hour more or less as the week wore on until race day but, lo and behold, I finished in less than three quarters of an hour. Alright! I was also able to meet my goal of not stopping for a walk break or water break during the entire five kilometer distance. I was steadily running (or jogging) the whole time. Going to aerokickboxing and dance class really helped with the cardio and breathing. :)

Tweety de Leon-Gonzales and other public figures were present to grace the event as well. It is heartwarming to know that they support the cause behind run.

Here's a little background of Race and Shine!:

Help Others Help Themselves

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." - Chinese Proverb

Most meaningful provisions for individuals with autism end upon leaving school. The challenge continues as our children with autism become adults. Although the Magna Carta defines their right for employment, the reality we face is in the fact that individuals with autism need more equal opportunities to work.

More research is needed to gather information on all possible suitable jobs for persons with autism. The responsibility does not end at providing vocational training, but also in seeking placement for them by providing work opportunities and creating programs for small and medium-sized companies to employ individuals with autism. The research becomes a basis not only to create skills training programs for adults with autism, but also be used as basis for training and assistance to business owners who want to determine how they can create these work opportunities.

There are several schools that have sheltered workshops that provide vocational programs to prepare them for future employment. The information to be gathered in a research will be shared to all schools and centers that offer vocational training so that they can design curricula that will equip adults with autism with the essential skills necessary to qualify for employment. The potential employers will also have access to research data on the skills and potentials adults with autism have and thus, be guided by information which will facilitate placement into their companies.

The funds raised from RACE & SHINE will go to the ongoing research by the Let It Shine Foundation. The key information being sought out for specifically will identify what job descriptions, employee roles and responsibilities and performance levels are to be expected of them. Your participation will definitely help in making individuals with Autism Shine! Contact the foundation for more information: shine.foundation@gmail.com or 218-2362.

Source: Race and Shine flyer included in the race kit.

I am definitely looking forward to running my next race.

Shine on!

On this special day

Dearests of my heart,

I am deeply thankful to the Lord above for the wonders of love, joy, and peace that you bring to my life. All of you are and will always be a very important part of me.

The journey I went through to get to where I am and to become who I am now was full of U-turns, crossroads, dead ends, and back roads but you have been there every step of the way. I could never have made it through without you. A glance at the past 21 years brings many good memories and, yes, bad memories as well but never regret.

To be twenty two years old is a marvelous gift. Praise God that I live one more year to experience all that He has made! The road ahead may look dreary at times but I am confident that the Lord will always be there for me, for you, for us.

For having accepted who I am and who I am not, thank you. Words are not enough to express how much I appreciate each and every one of you. You will always be in my heart...

MEmorABLE

I have been an avid collector of memorabilia since I was a little kid.

The photo above shows but a small fraction of the things I've collected over the years: from books to candy wrappers, from airplane tickets to photographs, from candles to wedding garters, from corsages to ribbons, from cards to sashes, from receipts to stickers, from dried leaves to letters... and the list goes on.

I find a sense of joy (that I can't quite put into words) in collecting little somethings that remind me of people, places and events. Even after many years, they somehow bring me back to that specific moment - that strand of time and space in the tapestry of the world - that enriches the experience even more.

"A pleasure is only full grown when it is remembered. You are speaking, Hmān, as if the pleasure were one thing and the memory another. It is all one thing. The séroni could say it better than I say it now. Not better than I could say it in a poem. What you call remembering is the last part of the pleasure, as the crah is the last part of a poem. When you and I met, the meeting was over very shortly, it was nothing. Now it is growing something as we remember it. But we still know very little about it. What it will be when I remember it as I lie down to die, what it makes in me all my days till then--that is the real meeting. The other is only the beginning of it. You say you have poets in your world. Do they not teach you this?"

- Hyoi, a creature of the planet Malacandra speaking to Ramsom, the human protagonist. From "Out of the Silent Planet" by C.S. Lewis

As I grow older, though, I realize that I can't hang on to every single thing that tugs my heart otherwise even a museum wouldn't be big enough to house all things that I put sentimental value into.

I have come to think of the act of saving meaningful things as sort of a self-preservation. Although it sounds like a good pursuit, I believe otherwise. I am not here to preserve myself. My stay here in this world is a mere passing by, a sojourn. Thus, as a voyager I wish to travel lightly. I soon became content with the fact the mind finds ways to remember.

The only memorabilia that I continue to hold on steadfastly now are the handwritten letters (which I fondly call 'snail mail') that I receive.

For me, an object only has meaning to the person/s who puts sentimental value to it but to the outsider, could mean nothing - it may even be seen as rubbish. A letter, on the other hand, tells everyone who reads it a story. An object could spark a deep curiosity that may never be answered, while the letter gives answers that may lead to further inquiry.

To sum it up, what I believe about memories is that they should make me more able: able to grow, able to appreciate, able to love, and able to help others become more of what they are meant for and to be.