Being Thankful for Small Things

I’d like to share this article of mine posted in Coffee Bean’s Brew Your Best Year website.

Earlier this year, a lot of my friends joined the #100happydays craze. Those who signed up to join the game are required to submit a picture of anything that makes them happy during the day and do it for 100days. Although I like the idea, I decided not to join because I know for a fact that not everyday will be a good day and there will always be bad a day. I also know that happiness is fleeting and identifying the things that make you happy even if you’re not is like denying the reality, so I wasn’t really sold to the idea.

It was only during the second half of the year, when life, in general, had become very difficult for me, when I realized the benefit of doing the 100 happy days challenge. The point of the game is not to encourage people to ignore their feelings but to help them develop a heart of gratitude. Identifying things that make you happy everyday is an exercise that can help a person appreciate the mundane things that we often neglect during ordinary or great days, the things that help us get through bad days. And when we learn to appreciate more of the simple things that make us happy, we begin to feel grateful of the blessings that come from small things.

Though I still did not end up joining the #100happydays challenge, I decided to make counting the small blessings as an exercise and as an added feature to my daily devotional time with God.

I printed the sticker I found online that says ’10 Things I’m Thankful For’ and posted it in my devotional journal to compel me to think of the things that made me happy from the previous day. After almost a week of doing the exercise, I realized that it was really a good way to keep your spirit up throughout each day. I also realized that the things I included in my list are made up of the simple things such as having lunch with my officemates, the random music on my playlist that makes me happy, and glitch-free MRT rides, among others.

Why do we really need to be thankful for the small things? First, because it is God’s will for us to be thankful. He even said in the Bible to ‘give thanks in all circumstances’, and all circumstances include small things that we often fail to notice. Like what our Pastor said during our church’s Thanksgiving Day celebration, God wants us to be thankful not because He needs us to be but because He knows that it is for our own benefit when we learn to be grateful of the things we already have. God knows that the moment we fail to appreciate the things we have and focus our eyes on the things we don’t have, we will begin to complain and grumble, and may eventually cause us to lose sight of His goodness. And when we lose sight of His goodness, we lose hope to continue and live our life to the fullest.

Second, we need to be thankful for the small things because it opens up opportunities for more blessings from above. One of the biblical principles that I’m learning to apply in my life is about becoming faithful to the small things. I’ve realized that God is so wise that He will not give us anything beyond what we can handle. If we can’t handle the small things now, how can we say that we can handle the greater things that He will give us in the future? We need to start being faithful to the smalls things now because God sees it. And part of being faithful to the small things is being thankful for what we have.

Lastly, we need to be thankful of the small things because they are the fuel that drives us to move on with life. When life gets tough, we realize that the small things such as small talks with friends, the sunshine on the window or even the smile of a stranger are the things that help us get by through a rough day.

So, let’s be thankful for the small things and start counting our blessings. As what my favorite line from the song “Count Your Blessings” says:

Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Struggles

Sometimes…

It’s easier to just sit back and relax
And stay in my room the whole day, doing nothing
Instead of doing my laundry or cleaning my room…

Sometimes…
It’s easier to just stay at home, read a good book
and let myself get absorbed by the story,
Or watch a feel-good movie over the weekend
Instead of spending time with the people I love…

Or sometimes…
It’s easier to go shopping after a stressful day at work,
Instead of going out to my mission field and actively look for people to whom I can share the good news…

Sometimes…
It’s easier to stay indifferent to the people I don’t easily get along with
Than to exert extra effort to get to know them more and listen to their story,
Or to be judgmental instead of trying to be more understanding…

And sometimes…
It’s easier to just stop caring or turn a blind eye to those who are hurting,
Instead of showing them love,
The way like Jesus did
Or to stay in my comfort zone
Than to go out and reach out to people…

But I am made and called to love and share my life with others,
To serve God and serve His people,
To step out of my comfort zone,
To reach out and let myself get vulnerable
To show grace, mercy and love…

Because to love is to be vulnerable
To lay down my life for the King for a greater purpose.
To love means, to obey His commandment
To trust in His Word even if it’s uncomfortable
Even if it doesn’t make sense.

*I can’t believe I was able to write this poem on my way to office today! Thank You, Lord for the gift of words.

Ask Me Anything

Because I can’t think of anything to write right now, I’m giving you, my dear reader/follower (if any, haha!) to ask me anything you want to ask me. It can be a personal question, maybe a topic or belief that you want me to elaborate or you can just simply throw any troll question, and I will try to answer it with all honesty.

So if you’re game for it, you may throw your questions here or email me at carygineisaac@gmail.com. So…go, ask!

Musing Monday: 2014 Reading Goal Completed!

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading

Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…
•Describe one of your reading habits.
* Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it!
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

So today I’ve completed my reading goal for 2014. Actually, my original target was to read at least 50 books this year. But because I was having difficulty in catching up with my challenge, I lowered my target to 40. Now that my interest for reading is back, I was able to complete my target way ahead of schedule. I would still read more books this year though.

So there, it’s another reason to celebrate!

Book Review: Unlimiting God: Increasing Your Capacity to Experience the Divine (Richard Blackaby)

Title: Unlimiting God: Increasing Your Capacity to Experience the Divine
Author: Richard Blackaby
Date of Publication: January 2008
My Rating: ★★★★★

Summary:

People have their limits. Some choose to ignore them.
God’s power and love have no limits. So why do Christians put limits on their relationship with Him? We could be pursuing greater knowledge, experiencing deeper intimacy, and abiding in freer joy… and yet we routinely settle for mediocrity in our spiritual lives.

But if you are ready to explode your self-imposed limits, Dr. Richard Blackaby can guide you through powerful and passionate insights revealed in this new book.

By contrasting mediocrity with the spirituality of the great “heroes of the faith,” Dr. Blackaby shows you that you need not settle for less than God intends for you. God can do extraordinary things through ordinary people like you…but only when you allow Him to enlarge your spiritual capacity and overcome your self-imposed limits.

“I hope this book inspires you to aim for a new level of walking with God. I want you to reach heights in your spiritual life that you never dreamed were possible, to experience God working through your life in a powerful new dimension, to hear words from God that will dramatically change your life and your world. I want to help you blow past any limitations you have set for yourself in your Christian life.” —Dr. Richard Blackaby

My thoughts:

Another timely and relevant book to my life. An inspiration to really increase my faith and stretch myself beyond my limits. It also provides practical tips on how to apply in my life the lesson that God is currently working on my life.

One of the lessons that I believe God is teaching me (and perhaps challenging me) lately is to apply in my life the truth and principles of the parable of the new wine  and new wineskins (Matt 9:17; Mark 2:22; Luke 5:37-39). The parable says ‘no one pours an old wine into new wineskins,  otherwise the wineskins will burst and be ruined’.

This book has basically articulated the meaning of these passages to my life.

Five (5) Random Facts About Me

So last night, I made the decision to make a creativity journal and take the 30-day writing challenge. The first topic of the challenge is to write something about me. Because I’m a list person, I wrote the 5 Random Facts About Me List.

1. I’m a bookworm.Yes, I read a lot and if you have read my introduction page, you already know that I even have a book blog where I record my thoughts and feelings of the books I’ve read. I’m so fond of reading that I think I can stay at home for a month or two without going somewhere else as long as there’s plenty of food, water and books with me inside the house. I don’t know how and when I’ve discovered my love for reading but I can remember that my mom knows that I love reading since I started school. She used to describe me to our relatives and neighbors that I love reading anything, that I will even read that piece of old newspaper used for packing smoked fish (tinapa). Since we can’t afford to buy a lot of books to meet my need for reading back then, I have to settle at reading the stack of newspaper at home or simply reading my text books. But now that I can afford to buy books for myself, I often end up splurging more on books than clothes, and I’m fine with it. 😀

2. I hate dogs and crossing the streets.  These are actually my biggest fears.  I was bitten by a dog once so I won’t forget the feeling of the fear of dying because of rabies. During that time, people dying because of rabies infection was so common, so I was afraid it will also happen to me. Thank God that the dog was not infected with rabies so I’m still here, alive and kicking. So that experience has made me scared of the mere sight of a dog, especially the stray ones. On my fear of crossing the streets, I’m actually scared of being hit by a car so I’d rather walk a thousand miles just to find a footbridge so that I would be able to cross the street than risking my life with crossing in a highway. 

3. I have a huge celebrity crush on LOGAN LERMAN! Yes, I’m crushing on him big time that I even named my Kindle after him. It started when I first saw his movie Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. Then I learned that we have the same birthday so I thought that we are really soul mates, haha! 

     Isn’t he lovely?!

4. I once dreamed of becoming a teacher, then a chemist. Back in elementary days, I used to answer that never-ending question of “what do you want to be when you grow up?” with a teacher. Honestly, I wanted to become a teacher because I thought that I will surely receive a lot of gifts from my students whenever there’s a special occasion like my birthday, Christmas or teacher’s day celebration. (I know right. That’s the lamest reason for aspiring to become a teacher, haha!)

Then came high school, my dream changed to becoming a chemist because I learned to appreciate my chemistry class. I also thought working in a laboratory, mixing chemicals would be fun. However, things didn’t go as planned but I’m still happy about it so that leads me the fifth random fact about me…

5. I became a Forester by chance. Seriously, I didn’t even know that this kind of profession do exist. I never heard about until I got hold of the UPCAT application form. But when my godmother told me to consider taking up BS Forestry for college, I thought that I can go to different places because of that work. So  when I learned that I passed the UPCAT with Forestry as my degree, I felt disappointed at first. But because I really wanted to go to UP and my scholarship also allowed me to take up that course, I have no choice but to pursue it. I didn’t regret taking up that degree though because Forestry was really an enjoyable course. I enjoyed studying the names of the different kinds trees in the forest and memorizing their scientific name. And because I’m geeky and all that, I really enjoy answering my friends whenever they ask what kind of tree is this or that, whenever we see one. 😀

So there, until the next random facts post. 🙂

Unlimiting God: Increasing Your Capacity to Experience the Divine by Richard Blackaby

Title: Unlimiting God: Increasing Your Capacity to Experience the Divine
Author: Richard Blackaby
Date of Publication: January 2008
My Rating: ★★★★★

Summary:

People have their limits. Some choose to ignore them.
God’s power and love have no limits. So why do Christians put limits on their relationship with Him? We could be pursuing greater knowledge, experiencing deeper intimacy, and abiding in freer joy… and yet we routinely settle for mediocrity in our spiritual lives.

But if you are ready to explode your self-imposed limits, Dr. Richard Blackaby can guide you through powerful and passionate insights revealed in this new book.

By contrasting mediocrity with the spirituality of the great “heroes of the faith,” Dr. Blackaby shows you that you need not settle for less than God intends for you. God can do extraordinary things through ordinary people like you…but only when you allow Him to enlarge your spiritual capacity and overcome your self-imposed limits.

“I hope this book inspires you to aim for a new level of walking with God. I want you to reach heights in your spiritual life that you never dreamed were possible, to experience God working through your life in a powerful new dimension, to hear words from God that will dramatically change your life and your world. I want to help you blow past any limitations you have set for yourself in your Christian life.” —Dr. Richard Blackaby

My thoughts:

Another timely and relevant book to my life. An inspiration to really increase my faith and stretch myself beyond my limits. It also provides practical tips on how to apply in my life the lesson that God is currently working on my life.

One of the lessons that I believe God is teaching me (and perhaps challenging me) lately is to apply in my life the truth and principles of the parable of the new wine  and new wineskins (Matt 9:17; Mark 2:22; Luke 5:37-39). The parable says ‘no one pours an old wine into new wineskins,  otherwise the wineskins will burst and be ruined’.

This book has basically articulated the meaning of these passages to my life.

Musing Monday: My Reading Habit

Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week… • Describe one of your reading habits. • Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s). • What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it! • Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it. • Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us! • Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

It’s been a while since I made a Musing Monday post so I’ll do it today, for a change. Because I can’t think of anything to post, I’ll just share to you my reading habits (or the lack thereof). As someone who was blessed with an adventurous spirit, I can say that I don’t have any unique or consistent reading habit. I do make reading lists from time to time to motivate myself to read more but most of the time, I don’t stick to it because my reading preference changes from time to time, depending on my mood. But maybe, to give you a little background of what kind of reader I am based on this infographic. I took some serious evaluation of my reading practices and this is the result: So based from this photo, I have identified myself as a cross-bred reader mutt which means:

• I’m a grown-up who loves to read children’s book
• I love using my highlighter or post-its when reading
• I jump from one book to another when reading 🙂

So there. How about you? What are your reading habits? Have a fun week ahead!

Filipino Friday (4): Let’s Talk About Diverse Books

Do you think we have enough diversity in the books that we read? Are our choices enough to satisfy our different tastes? Are our writers able to present the variety of people, culture, lifestyle, interests and so on? How diverse are your reading interests, and are you able to find enough books to satisfy your reading needs? Do you think we need more diverse books?

Before I answer this question, allow me to shoutout, friends!!
I can’t believe I was finally able to reach this far in this weekly meme! So, yay! #achievementUnlocked!

*Okay, let me now answer the question/s.*

Do you think we have enough diversity in the books that we read?
Diversity? In terms of reader’s access to a number of selections of books here in our country, I believe yes. This is very evident in the growing number of bookstores here in our country. However, most of these selections are foreign books so in terms of diversity in the local scene, I don’t think that we have enough selections to satisfy all the Filipino reader’s taste. Or maybe, if there’s enough, it’s not widely promoted.

As to my reading preference, I have a very diverse taste when it comes to my reading preference and I’m glad that our local bookstores are still able to meet my reading needs. 😀

Blog Tour: Fall Like Rain by Ana Tejano (Review + Giveaway)

Hello everyone! I’m Cary and welcome to my stop in the Book Tour of Fall Like Rain by Ana Tejano. 

Book Information:

Title: Fall Like Rain
Author: Ana Tejano
Date of Publication: September 29, 2014
Book Links:
Goodreads
Smashwords
Amazon
Paperback order form

Summary:

Rain De Castro has been in love with her best friend, Mark Velasco, for almost the entire time she has known him, but she’s clearly in the friend zone because he’s happily in a relationship. Or so she thought, until the news of his break-up reaches her. Now that Mark’s single again, she decides that it’s time to get out of the zone. But when her cousin Lissa comes into the picture and sets her eyes on Mark, Rain feels troubled when he gets a little too friendly with her. Rain is determined to fight for what she feels this time, but is it worth the effort if it’s a losing battle from the start? Will she back off to give way for her best friend’s happiness, even if it means losing him to someone else again?

My Review:

As one of the privileged people who got to read this book in its unedited glory last year, I’m really, really happy that this final version has improved a lot and turned out to be a fantastic read for me.

The story of Rain and Mark is the kind of love story that I’ve always been dreaming. I believe that  great love stories  always starts with great friendship as the foundation. So falling in love with your guy best friend, like in the case of Rain, is not anymore surprising. I love this book because this is the kind of love story I and maybe most girls, can easily relate to . The struggle of Rain is real, especially for the conservative type who still believe that guys should always do the first move. I’m also a sucker for nice and decent guys so Mark’s character suits me (plus, I like his name, hihi! :D). But just what the author pointed out in the story, “the problem with nice and friendly guys is that it’s hard to tell if they liked you or not without their saying it outright”. So I understand Rain’s dilemma but I like how the author ended the story.

I think I have to stop here because I know I can’t rave about this book without giving too much spoilers. If you want some refreshing story of friendship and love, I believe this book is for you. 😀

P.S. Because I can’t get over with the book, I made my own playlist. It’s more of a friendzone playlist, actually. You may want to listen to them while reading to give you more *feels*, haha!

Here it is:

• Friend of Mine by Odette Quesada
• You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift
• Migraine by Moonstar 88
• Why Can’t It Be by Nina
• Friendster by Moonstar 88
• The Art of Letting Go by Mikaila

My Rating: ★★★★

Author Bio:

Ana Tejano has been in love with words and writing ever since she met Elizabeth Wakefield when she was in Grade 3. She has contributed several non-fiction pieces in print and online publications, and has been blogging for years. When she’s not writing, she works as a marketing lead for a multinational company by day, manages a book club, and serves in her church community in every other time that she doesn’t spend reading or sleeping. She lives in Metro Manila and is also known by another name in her other circles (but it’s not a secret identity, really).

Follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Wattpad

Want a copy of her book? Click the link below to get a chance to win a copy!!!

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