Soooo thankful for the thoughtfulness and generosity of people around me! This paper bag came from one of our bosses Ms.Meh who just gave birth to a baby boy! Some unused items for me and baby Marcelo!!:) #blessed

My family loves to invent/use funny words/names.

Case-in-point, I was called mikaging-ging when I was a little girl, pronounced as mi-ka-ging-ging because I was tabachingching (or, chubby). Haha. And we call our dog Kobe pachuychuy or pochoy when we’re making lambing.

Hence, the title of this another shallow entry. Bubong is from the word, pasalubong or a present coming from a trip somewhere.

I specifically requested for a nice, durable bag to replace my old bag which is attracting dust particles and foreign color making it a far cry from its original form. A replacement is indeed a need.

Mama recently texted about getting me a piece from Furla’s latest summer/spring 2013 collection so surprise surprise na lang sa product type but she reveals its color as aqua w/calf leather. Let’s see if she has great taste! *fingers crossed*

I’m guessing it’s that aqua one with the python print! Hope it really is because I’ll be the happiest momma-to-be!

Aside from the bag, I requested some good ol’ macaroons from Pierre Herme. Hope she’s able to get them since their last stop is Paris!!! 

Okay… Medyo naglalaway na ako. HEHEHEHE. I think I’ll be happier getting a munch on these goodies!!!

Wish you were here but happy mother’s day mama!!!! Let’s celebrate when you’re back!:) #bravestwomaniknow #blessed

Early mother’s day treats and surprises from Cyma, @kara_mendoza and @sabjose !!❤ Thank you for remembering and making me and baby Marcelo happy today 😘 Love you both!! #blessed #motherhood #masexcitedsila

My day started out fine, actually. I woke up early with a sweet kiss from my husband, prepared healthy breakfast, showered, drove to work and came on time.

Hours later, I received a random call from Saz who delivered some bad news. Inevitable as I thought, anxiety rushed all over me and I just couldn’t make him feel better so I calmed myself down and told myself not to dwell on it and decided to put down the phone for things to simmer down a little. (Besides, its bad for the baby!) 

I felt tears welling up and no minute later, they started to fall. I felt worried and plain heavy, my heart was pounding twice as fast and nothing else could make me feel better until I led myself to a short prayer.

One factual thing? God listens. God knows what you need even before you ask and the rest of the hours have been a solid proof of that without a doubt. And the best thing? God answers- through words, through loved ones, through random people.

I saw a notification from ‘Message from God’ and clicked the button to see what God’s words were for me for the day and it read:

“…you have to face your problems however difficult they are”.His words obviously hit me and I was sort of re-energized and thought that He’s just there to carry me through- I just have to face the day with complete surrender and trust and courage. I thanked God after reading that.

After lunch, an office staff came to our area with a baby boy in tow. An adorable, sociable baby boy who lifted my spirit. And I thanked God for that.

Shortly after, I got a random call from sir Isaac, one of our sales directors in the office who happens to be the “grandfather” of everyone in the office. He rang me to ask what flavor of ice cream I wanted in Dairy Queen.

What a blessing, indeed. Small gestures pull my heartstrings. And I thanked God once again.

But God indeed is the best giver even to the undeserving- my best friend Sab sent me words of encouragement, a prayer that lifted me up and a reversal of attitude took place. Best of all, I realized I am not alone in carrying my crosses.

Often times, we fail to look beyond all sorts of problems and challenges. But our Lord has His ways of touching us and leading us back to Him no matter what.

Through random calls, exchange of messages between you and a good friend, words of encouragement, a cup of ice cream, a sweet smile of a little baby- all instrumental to His unconditional love and overflowing grace.

And at the end of it all, we give nothing but thanks to the Mighty One.

What am I doing with my life? What career do I really want to pursue? Am I in the right company? What’s my vocation? What’s my calling?

If you have at least one of the questions above lingering in your head for a while now, then don’t you worry, you’re not alone.

I am just like you.

In fact, I’ve got all of the above circling in my head like a bothersome headache, which no type of paracetamol can cure.

Today, I read an article from RELEVANT- an online magazine on faith, culture and intentional living. Title is “What’s God’s Will For Me?” and it’s basically tackling one’s so-called ‘struggle’ to find God’s calling. While I find this quite an easy feat for people who are burning with fervor in their chosen fields, I think there are some lads and lasses like me, who are equally passionate people, yet generally unsure of their decisions or simply downright insecure and cowardly to make the next big one.

And for all of us, we consider this whole experience nothing else but a long, dark tunnel we’re too afraid to cross.

But at one point in our lives, this unbeaten path becomes unbearable NOT to cross. We find ourselves on the crossroads of our lives and the pain of not taking action just slowly kills our freewill. And I don’t wanna fall into the pit of passiveness.

Just when I’m ready to pack my bags for a life trek, today, I find myself realigning my expectations. Today I realized that maybe, just maybe.. the answer is nowhere tangible- that we may never be able to figure it out in our lifetime. What if we’ll never get the answer we’re looking for? What if our calling was never meant to be unearthed to us in exact, measurable ways?

It could be a huge slap on the face, I know. Could God trick us this way? Are we merely puppets who are unable to make life decisions for a directed, well-planned and envisioned future?

I believe not. I believe that we’re entirely in control by and with faith. And perhaps, at least for me, the answer is the struggle itself- the everyday decisions, the small feats and failures, the amalgam of yes and no’s, right and wrong and the grey area. Everything. Everything accounts for God’s plan. Everything in our lives yesterday, tomorrow or even today, is part of God’s well-orchestrated plan for all of us. The day-to-day struggle is our very own beautiful walk in and with Christ.

And you know what’s beautiful about this struggle? The answer is entirely on our hands. We only have to trust God with our lives, every single day with every decision we make- big or small, right or wrong.

With this, I want to end with a short prayer:

Lord, let my will align with Yours. Time to wear some spiritual Nikes on.

Everything happens in God’s time.

For whatever reason it happened that day, right before my birthday, I am extremely thankful. Finally, my efforts went somewhere. Finally. I guess more than the excitement about this most awaited promotion, I am feeling the pressure to deliver better and champion this pioneer task given (or rather, passed on) to me. When my boss was telling me the good news, all I could hear was her expectations. Challenged, yeah. Pressured, yeah. Scared to death, yeah.

But there’s nothing great in this world that comes easy. So this must all be worth it.

And like what my dad said in one of our conversations- Everyone feels the pressure- from the ground up- but not everyone gets promoted. So embrace it.

And I will. I am.

Awesome awesome 2013!

Pop, you are one of my inspirations.

Thank you for all the love, the generosity, the hard work, even the spanking and the pain- from all those, I am stronger. For all the times you’ve hugged me and wiped my tears, those times you’ve rescued me, for all those little memories of you and me- i will always be your girl. I will always be your little girl who sipped beer with you and hated it. Haha, kidding aside, I am proud to be your daughter.

You inspire me to be the best i can be. I love you.

In less than a month, we’re turning two.

Time flies fast, fellas.

It’s been one heck of a rollercoaster ride, quite honestly. It’s been fun, exciting, joyful, blessed, sad, and frustrating all at teh same time. Wait wai wait, “teh”??? Sorry I always get a typo error for the word the. Hihi, anyway going back.. I think that’s the whole beauty of it. And that’s the point of love- to be able to share everything and anything together without holding each other back from becoming the best that they can be and from living out destined paths. 

Looking back, I wouldn’t change the decision and commitment I had made almost 2 years ago; and if asked, I would do the exact same for the next years to come.