Category: Lessons Learned

Posted in Lessons Learned

Love Right

Posted on by Rachel

Last night I was reading a heart-warming novel entitled, “Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen”, and this passage stuck with me.

The protagonist’s best friend, Lolly, has struggled with emotional abuse from her mother, Mrs. Dempsey but for her eighteenth birthday, she was given a beautiful vase from her mother. The protagonist reflects upon this.

Turns out, Mrs. Dempsey does love Lolly. I mean, she sure doesn’t love her right, but in some small or strange way, that woman sitting on that faded old sofa loves her daughter enough to save what little money she has to buy
her something as beautiful as that crystal vase.


Daddy said you can see the devil in people’s eyes, but maybe the devil is nothing more than the sadness they carry around inside of them, bottled up so tight that it comes out as pure ugliness, like it does with Mrs. Dempsey. And maybe my own mama was too filled with sadness to love Martha Ann and me right. Maybe she wanted to be up on some stage so badly that she couldn’t figure out a way to make herself happy without it. And maybe that’s the way it is sometimes, that there are some mamas so filled with sorrow that it’s better that they leave the mothering to somebody else. I needed to see my mama’s eyes.

That helped me to offer sympathy to those people close to my heart that I wish could love me right.

I realized that just because they don’t love like I do, doesn’t mean they don’t have an ounce of love for me.

Maybe they have too much sorrow in their hearts, and so they don’t know how to love right.

But I’ll take whatever crumbs of love I receive, knowing it’s given with sincerity and a broken heart.

Posted in Lessons Learned, Personal Stories

A Shaky Voice and a Brave Heart

Posted on by Rachel

Recently, I was chosen to be the speaker for our Sabbath school segment. The opportunity excited me because I had a lot to share!

I decided to create an outline for my talk instead of writing everything down. I practiced, and practiced until I had confidence to enter the church on Saturday.

I wasn’t afraid.

However, when it was my turn. My hands turned cold and my voice began to quiver.

I delivered my speech with…. a shaky voice. Definitely not what I was expecting. While I was up there, the temptation to cut everything short and just sit down, was strong.

But with God’s grace, I managed to persevere and finish it completely.

A shaky voice and a brave heart.

One might say they don’t match. They can’t.

I am hesitant to call myself brave as I don’t think I fit the criteria.

But God is my courage.

He is the brave one and He lives inside of my heart.

My flesh is weak but my spirit is willing.

The flashbacks of the moment makes me cringe yet I feel fulfilled for pushing through even if I was afraid.

One brave step at a time can go a long way.

Will you choose to be brave today even if your voice quivers?

Posted in Lessons Learned, Personal Stories

How do you ruin a good day?

Posted on by Rachel

Tell someone about it.

Or I guess I should say, tell the wrong person about it.

When we experience the overflow of blessings and good things in our lives, we feel giddy with joy and excitement! We can’t help but tell someone about it, because the happiness might just burst if kept inside of our hearts.

However, what happens when the good news comes out of our mouths?

Oftentimes we are met with hidden jealousy, disbelief, or smacked by comments of displeasure, criticism, sarcasm, the list goes on…

The clouds come rushing over covering the sunshine.

Self-doubt comes like a downpour of rain, til we are soaked in despair.

I wish I didn’t tell anyone.

I’ve always resonated with this quote:

Travel and tell no one, live a true lovestory and tell no one, live happily and tell no one, people ruin beautiful things.

Kahlil Gibran

As I’m growing older, I’m living out its meaning.

Moments are made more precious when we keep it between us and God.

People ruin beautiful things.

But they don’t mean to.

A Biblical example that comes to mind is Judas the Iscariot during the time when Mary poured out her offering upon Jesus’ feet.

It was a precious moment for Mary and Jesus but Judas almost ruined it. Thanks to our Savior’s loving remarks, the scenario was emphasized as Mary doing the right thing and it became one of the most popular stories in the world.

I like keeping a prayer journal because it’s where most of my good memories are stored. Some memories only Jesus and I know.

Today, I told someone very important to me about my day and how happy I was, yet I was met with a sarcastic and mean comment.

The clouds are starting to form and cover the sunshine of my day. Self-doubts are all over my mind. Right now, I am waiting for my Savior to save the day.

I forgot to keep things to myself and now I’m in pain. And so I repeat these wise words to myself:

“… live happily and tell no one, people ruin beautiful things”

Posted in Lessons Learned

Lessons from Grandpas

Posted on by Rachel

I never met my grandfather. He died when my dad was only 7 years old. I also did not have much of an interaction with my Lolo because I was too young to care during that time. Sadly, he passed away when I was only 4 years old.

Sadness encircles me whenever I remember that I did not have the chance to know them personally. However, I have hope safely tucked in my heart that we will meet in Heaven someday.

Lessons Learned

Their character, quirks and habits have been passed down in an enchanting way.

I learned to eat vanilla ice cream with corn flakes and chocolate syrup, from my Grandpa. (It was his favorite.) He was also an accountant and worked as a hospital administrator. Currently, I am working at an accounting office of a hospital. I’d like to think there is some connection in that.

I don’t know much about him and I only have one distinct picture of my Grandpa imprinted on my mind. I can imagine that he was a hardworking and kind man.

I learned the importance of reading my Bible from my Lolo. Mama would sometimes recall his words of wisdom and share them to me. A hand-me-down lesson from Lolo to Mama to me is: “If you don’t know what a word means, don’t ask other people. Consult your dictionary.”

I still have the books my Lolo Manuel used to read. While I was reading the books, I noticed that he had a habit of putting check marks on top of the pages he had already finished reading.

My love for reading and books definitely came from him. (Aside from my Dad)

My Lolo worked hard to provide for his family. He gave his children a good life despite the hardships. And tried his best to provide the same for his grandchildren.

He did not have enough money to give as an inheritance to his family, but I hope he knew that his diligence, love, patience, and kindness were more than enough to be considered precious gems that his family inherited.

I’d like to end this post with a verse from Exodus 20:5-6:

You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Who you are today; your faith, your character, your habits, your decisions, etc. will be passed down to the thousands of generations of your family whether you like it or not. That’s something to think about. 😉

Notes:

Grandpa – Dad’s side

Lolo – Mom’s side (Filipino word for grandpa)

Posted in Lessons Learned

06/24

Posted on by Rachel

Lessons Learned this week:

1. You can never not have an influence on someone.

2. Before you say yes to someone’s unfair demands, ask them the reason why.

3. Live in the moment. Pay attention, especially to nature.

4. Hospitality and entertaining are two different concepts.

5. Friends may come and go, but Jesus will always stay.

Posted in Lessons Learned, Personal Stories

Highschool:we meet again.

Posted on by Rachel

There’s a part of me that wants to prove I’m not the same girl years ago.

I want to show them:

I’m confident now. I’m strong. I’m fun to be with.

But the more I try, the more my insecurity shows. The more it all seems fake.

Inside the car with my old friends, I close my eyes and let go…

I don’t have to be.

I don’t have to pretend.

We were all young once. Stupid and unsure of ourselves. We all made mistakes.

It’s strange to find grace and happiness from people who I once feared because of my “inadequacy”.

Grace.

Acceptance.

Unexpected gestures that I will forever be grateful for.

Deep down, I don’t have to prove it.

I am not the same girl 7 years ago.

We are not the same person years ago.

We’ve grown. Changed. Matured even.

There’s no need to prove it because it’s obvious.

One thing remains though: the friendship.

A friendship so deep you didn’t even realize it was there.

But it is.

Rooted in our hearts.

Watered by time.

And even in the tide of events, it will always stay.

We’ll always find our way to each other.

Full of grace.

Full of joy.

Surely, we are wiser than yesterday.

Posted in Lessons Learned

Grateful for insults

Posted on by Rachel

Today, someone pointed out my pimples one by one and laughed in disgust.

I always wonder about people like this.

Are they incredibly honest?

Or incredibly insensitive?

Maybe incredibly stupid-for thinking I don’t have a mirror at home.

Now I’m stuck staring at my reflection wondering if I can still be an acceptable part of society since zits are so insulting to their perfection.

I look up to the moon and see the beauty of God.

And that’s all I need to remind me to cling to Him.

I whisper a prayer.

Lord, let Your Word be greater than what people say to me.

I am grateful for the comment though. I got to reasses my lifestyle, I’ve been eating too much sweets and staying up late at night.

I mean I noticed this a few days ago but hearing someone make fun of me served as a wake up call to take action in order to improve myself and be healthy.

So to the person who insulted me today, I thank you.

Posted in Lessons Learned

Always learning…

Posted on by Rachel

Yesterday I read this verse:

“always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.”

2 Timothy 3:7

I felt that.

I have always loved to learn.

I want knowledge. I crave wisdom.

But this verse made me stop on my tracks.

Why am I learning?

Is it for selfish reasons?

Is it because I want to prove to others that I can be smart?

I don’t want to be ever learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.

What is truth?

Your Word is truth.

Jesus is the way, the TRUTH, and the life.

I don’t want to miss out on Him because of my ignorance, pride and selfish reasons.

Lord, you chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; You chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

When I’m learning, I have to seek Him first above all.

This can also serve as a reminder for us when we devour countless textbooks at school yet can’t spend 5 minutes in His word.

What does this say about us?

…always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the TRUTH…

Posted in Lessons Learned

When angry, zip your mouth.

Posted on by Rachel

This is a simple lesson I learned today.

In the middle of the day, I felt extreme pain on my abdomen. While experiencing discomfort, someone did something that provoked me.I felt extra sensitive because of the pain I was already in.

Instead of letting myself go crazy in frustration, I chose to be quiet and pray instead. I prayed for a hundredfold patience.

After some time, I got to cool off. I was relieved that I learned to shut my mouth in the midst of annoyance to avoid further conflict.

It’s not always easy, but with determination, it can be done.