I was born abroad but I consider Iloilo to be my beloved hometown since I basically grew up here.
Our family moved several times when I was really young but most of my earliest memories were developed in a little town called Villa. At the age of 10, we settled in another area in the province of Iloilo.
That’s one of the best things here in Iloilo; the friendly atmosphere and the people’s willingness to help.
Iloilo is definitely far from perfect but I love it with all my heart. Sometimes while roaming around town, I can’t help but whisper, “Lord, I am grateful that I live here.”
As I’ve mentioned, I spent most of my childhood years in Villa. Our house was located in what I’d like to call a “secret place” because of the narrow path you had to pass through to get to our neighborhood.
It was a very simple house made of wood and hardiflex, surrounded by a garden that wasn’t even ours. As I am writing, it is raining outside. That reminds me of how cozy and happy I felt inside that house whenever it rained. It would get dark and cold outside, while my heart would light up and warm itself.
Here’s a photo of me at our old house, showing off my new pillow. I never even liked Tweety Bird but I was just so happy to have a big, fluffy pillow.
I live far away from that town now, but I am so grateful for the memories I made there.
The neighborhood where we transferred is also a lovely one. The people here are so nice that sometimes in my daily walk, I would get free rides from tricycle drivers or a handful of fruits from a kind old man.
Iloilo is not perfectly safe as no place is but I do feel safe here (for most of the time), the streets are clean, and the people are the sweetest. There’s more to Iloilo than meets the eye. With all my heart I am proud to say: I love Iloilo, my home.
Today’s challenge is to host a guest post. I don’t know a lot of fellow bloggers yet that would be willing to do a post in a blog with few followers. So our guest post for today is from my Faith-based blog; Hearts Not Troubled.
“Why are you not joining us anymore?” I received this message today from our Youth leader, and I didn’t know how to respond.
For months since the quarantine began, our Youth Ministries have catered an Online Bible Study via Zoom. We gather together from different parts of our town to read the Bible and answer questions that can inspire us to dig deeper. I really commend the efforts they are doing to help us strengthen our faith in these challenging times.
I was excited to join at first and learned a lot from listening to others share their thoughts, testimonies and ideas. The problem began when it was my turn to speak up. For days, I would fight the fear and just talked even if my words rambled and I couldn’t verbalize my thoughts.
The reason for my nervousness is not that I got nothing to share, because I have things that the Lord has been teaching me too.
But it’s hard when your breath gets caught in your throat, your stomach squeezes, your hands get cold and you just sit there with a clenched jaw praying to God that you won’t get called to answer. And as you listen, you realize how other people can answer so easily while you have to fight to open your mouth.
I tried my best. I joined even though fear and shame were wrapping its ugly arms around me throughout the whole process. I would pray before joining, and also pray after for God’s grace to help me shake off the shame I feel whenever I recall what I’ve said.
Before you tell me all the verses about God telling us not to fear, believe me I know. I’ve got it all memorized.
I am embarrassed to tell you that the last time I joined, I also escaped. I could feel my lungs losing air and my brain going foggy, that I just turned off my WiFi and hid behind my covers. The guilt knocked in my heart and I was just in a turmoil mess.
There must be something wrong with me. How can I serve God when I can’t even last in a simple Online Bible Study?
On my knees, I asked for forgiveness and compensated for my lack of courage. I called up a friend and did a one-on-one Bible reading every night instead. I thrive on small groups. I have been diagnosed with anxiety before. I may or may not have social anxiety now. There’s no way for me to know at this moment since we’re in quarantine. I can’t visit the doctor or a therapist, so the best that I could do is to avoid the triggers.
Maybe this is just a struggle with pride and insecurity, but I am working on it.
I went on isolation for days and finally reached out and talked to friends. They told me about their struggles, and I prayed for them. Mornings were lovely and I had peaceful afternoons with the Lord. I could sleep well and the physical effects of anxiety disappeared until this morning when I received a message that asked about my absence.
If I tell you, would you understand? If I opened up with the reason why, how would you respond? Will you shame me for coming up with an “excuse”? Or lecture me to have more faith? Would you offer grace and sympathy? Or would you just shrug it off and tell me to get over it? I am struggling but I can’t tell you the truth because if I do, you may not understand. And that scares me too.
I hope we, as a church, can offer more grace and compassion for those who may be battling with anxiety. Right now, we feel like our safe space has been compromised by Zoom just because we feel obligated and can’t escape it. There are different ways to reach out to someone today. We need to be patient with one another, especially in these trying times. Have you used the online app Zoom and what are your thoughts about it?
Here’s some of the photos and videos I took this month! 💛🌻🌿🌄
The month of April was all about DISCIPLINE for me. I pushed myself to really stick to my commitments. I may have failed in a few but I also succeeded in some. Progress is progress no matter how small. 🤸♀️
I’m looking forward to what God brings in the next month. Hopefully, an end to this virus. Stay at home & keep safe! Here’s to more memories. 🥂
After almost a week of staying at home, I went out to buy fruits and vegetables today.
It’s the only time I could dress up, so I carefully picked a pink t-shirt and comfy jeans. I wanted to put on makeup just because I miss it but I changed my mind since I will be wearing a mask anyway.
The outfit for today.
On the way home, a familiar face told me, “Wow you gained A LOT of weight!” To which I replied with a nervous laughter.
Discomfort lodged between my mind and I came home looking for validation from my boyfriend.
As I entered the bathroom to clean myself up, I remembered how 2 years ago when I lost 10 kg, people kept commenting I lost A LOT of weight. They didn’t like when I lost weight, and they don’t like it when I gain weight too.
The truth as I have realized, is if we keep depending our worth or how good we look on other people’s opinions we will be swayed…like a wave, blown and tossed by the wind. (I borrowed some words from the book of James haha) Point is you need to learn to be secure in who you are. Our weights will continue to fluctuate overtime. Will our happiness and self-contentment do the same?
Right now, I don’t feel healthy since I’ve been consuming junk food & sweets and sleeping late as well. So this may serve as a wake up call to eat healthy and be consistent with exercise.
There will always be insensitive people who make rude comments about weight. We can’t escape them. But now that we are in quarantine, we have some time to avoid them for awhile.
Therefore let us build up our self-image by accepting our flawed bodies, by taking care of it and by being secure in ourselves that no matter what other people may say about our weight, we can happily respond with a genuine smile & two words: so what?
Maybe all it takes is five minutes of my time so sit down and write.
I’ve been running away again. Avoiding.
Writing has always brought me comfort, joy and peace but it also seems to push me away.
Yet here I am facing it head on.
In this blog, I keep apologizing for disappearing. One moment, I have lots of plans and enthusiasm, then on a whim I vanish like thin air along with my hopes and dreams.
Whenever my thoughts pull me to my laptop to write, I just stare at the screen. But not for now, even for just a minute I am going to write. Til all the discomfort washes away and writing becomes once again my solace.
If you have time, I suggest listening to the Podcast here before reading this podcast note.
The podcast was adapted from the book, Secrets of Mental Supremacy by W. R. C. Latson.
The value of any person to themselves and to the world at large, depends in great degree upon their memory — upon your ability to recall and to use at any desired moment the recollection of what you have seen, heard, experienced, or thought. Memory is really the stock in trade of our mental life. Our perceptions bring to us a vast mass of experiences — things that we have seen, heard, touched, tasted, and smelled — our thoughts and experiences. But these things are valuable only when they are held in the memory. For, unless they are remembered they cannot be used.
Inspirational Living Podcast Excerpt
The mind is like potter’s clay, it is easily molded. 2-3 months will often be sufficient to transform a weak memory into a powerful one.
We remember the things that interest us the most.
A rule to develop a powerful memory:
Study the object you wish to remember in all its aspects: phases, peculiarities, relations, etc . Keep other thoughts out of your mind. Make the object* a part of yourself, and you will never forget it.
*anything: fact, figure, idea, principle, or plan, etc.
Tips on how we can apply this:
When walking down the street with window shops, don’t stop to look closely. Take one glance at it and pass on. Then ask yourself what you saw in the window. If practical, have a pad and pencil then write down each article as you remember it. -Invented by magician Robert Houdin.
Every night, make it a rule to review in detail the events of the day. – Invented by Edward Thurlow (Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain)
Take some interesting book such as a historical work or some attractive novel. Read a paragraph to yourself slowly and carefully. Then close the book and repeat out loud the substance of the section of what you have just read. Don’t attempt to repeat it word for word. Simply give the sense as you remember. After your first attempt, read the paragraph again and make a second effort to recall and express its general meaning. When you have learned the paragraph fairly well, move on to the next. – Invented by Statesman Henry Clay
A variation is to write out the recollection of the paragraph, page, chapter.
This all seems hard work but it will grow to be interesting and your memory will improve.
Reflection
I tried these tips a couple of weeks ago and it sure was difficult especially about recalling the events of the day. But I guess if something is worth it, hard work must be the main ingredient. I feel inspired once again. I want to have good memory and be a good steward of this brain that God has so graciously given us. I hope I encouraged you to do the same!
Share your thoughts in the comments below and see you next Thursday for Podcast notes!
*** Podcast notes is a section in my blog wherein I record my personal notes with the sole purpose of sharing the lessons I’ve learned and with the hope to encourage readers to listen to the said podcast mentioned above. I do not take authority for the information provided in the article unless otherwise stated.
If you like learning, then I have a hunch that you will also love podcasts! Or maybe you already do.
What is a podcast? According to Wikipedia, “A podcast is an episodic series of digital audio files that a user can download in order to listen. “
Sometimes a subscription to a LOT of podcasts can seem overwhelming.
For today’s post, I would like to help you manage your podcasts.
I wanted to give each of the podcasts I follow the right amount of attention, so to make things easy, I created a schedule. You can check it out to gain an idea on how you can sort your podcasts too. I made a daily schedule for mine but if you don’t have a lot of time, you can create a weekly schedule instead. I had fun creating mine, I wish the same for you!
When is the best time to listen to podcasts?
Don’t think you have to be in a quiet room in order to listen to your podcasts. Here is a list of moments when you can listen.
On your commute.
While exercising.
While doing laundry.
While changing clothes.
When folding clean clothes.
While cleaning.
On your lunch break from work or school.
Before going to bed.
These are some examples that come to mind. Feel free to share your ideas!
I often fall sleep when I’m listening on my bed. So I make it a point to listen to them while I’m doing something else.
If however you prefer to listen intently, you can plan a certain time or a day in which you can sit down with your journal (for taking notes) and be immersed in the podcast.
Go on and be creative with your podcasts!
Just a friendly reminder to all of us,
“In your thirst for knowledge, be sure not to drown in all the information.”
Anthony J. D’Angelo
Introducing, “Podcast Notes”a new section in the blog is coming every Thursday! Watch out for it next week!
For me this usually means a long list of plans and goals til I get exhausted just by thinking of them.
There’s a lot that I want to do and sometimes I get overwhelmed with the fact that I may not be able to accomplish all the things I have been dreaming about.
Lately, God has been speaking this into my heart
Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.
Proverbs 19:21
If I don’t have faith and take it one step at a time, I am going to drown.
Today, I am making a choice to sit back and relax, to do the best I can with what I have.
Life With Rachel 