..happy heart

A lot of times, I thought of writing a blog but wasn’t sure on how and where to start.. I wasn’t really into writing..but I felt the need to give it a try and speak about life, friendships, of God‘s goodness, faithfulness, love, promises..His very nature…by opening up what’s in my heart..

And what a good way to start is… simply talk about how God moves in my life. Even on the simplest things.. there is an overflow of thanksgiving before the Lord.

Being thankful in times of trials..

When my daughter Nicole got sick last September 2010 and was hospitalized.. she was critical due to a rare strain of dengue (dengue hemorrhagic fever stage3).. her platelet count went down to 15cc and she was in need of donors for 3 blood transfusions and we had a hard time looking for possible ones because of her rare blood type too. I was already panicking and I must admit..my faith was really put to test.. Things around us seemed so perfect.. things we’re all nice and we’re happy then suddenly I was in that position.. somehow I was caught off-guard. But then I was reminded, why waiver in faith?.. why doubt?.. I know my God.. and I just have to trust Him no matter what. A couple of times I prayed for sick people, laid my hands on them, asked for God’s healing.. for God’s favor… and now, it’s my daughter who needs her healing. He gave Nicole as a gift to us and I know that God has something good for her.. (Jeremiah 29:11) There we’re moments that I struggled.. especially when I get emotional.. but I know my God and I chose to be thankful amidst our situation. A couple of times my tears would just fall down and I need to cry in secret as Nicole asks me “is everything alright?” I know I need to be strong for her and make her feel secure.. that everything will turn out well.. that she’ll be okay and we’ll all go home.. because I know my God!

I’m in faith.. though at times I’m shaken.. I decided to pray and worship the Lord all the more… we pray as a family..and INDEED THERE WAS A MIRACLE..we saw His hands moved..as provisions come, prayers, friends, family, blood donors came (even from people we hardly knew)…

I know God is in control.

On her 3rd day when Nicole can finally sit down and move around her bed.. she asked me to lift the curtain and open the window. She was so excited to finally get up and go home.. and she stared at the sky.. she started to describe how beautiful it is.. so brilliant and blue… the clouds were so white and so fluffy… simple things…

Funny it may seem but often times when were so caught up with a lot of things.. our busy schedule… our so perfect world… and any other things.. we didn’t even bother to appreciate simple things… For Nicole, it’s not just a beautiful sky… because as a rainbow appeared.. I know it stirs up hope in her heart… the desire to get well and see more of God’s creation… to us it may be just a sky.. but it’s something that we have to be thankful for. At that very moment I was reminded by what Paul wrote on Ephesians 5:20.. (Give thanks for everything..)

… everything means..for every little thing.. even when things doesn’t seem to be in our right perspective.. give thanks... we need to be thankful even though circumstances seems hard for us… give thanks.

We need to be thankful for everything… even when Nicole got sick.. I claimed and thanked God for  healing.. I chose to thank God for our time together, me having the opportunity to serve her, take good care of her, watch her sleep, help her get up, uplift her, love her and for every little thing that we can share even at that hard time of our life. I thanked God from the comfortable bed as I watch her regain her strength, for the airconditioned room… for the doctors and nurses, for the patient that she shares her room with, for an opportunity to bless others even through simple ways… for our pastors and church members who stood with us in prayer..for vgroup leaders, for family and friends who spends time to visit her, pray for her.. for blood donors whom we don’t even know about.. for every little thing that came our way during those times. We can never thank you all enough..

We thank God for those reasons..for every little thing that He showed Himself real to us and to our family… Hard time it may seem but I  still chose to give thanks because I know He will never  let us down.. He will not let us go through all of  it alone.. He’s with us every step of the way..we praise the Lord.. for everything praise Him.

I saw a project thankful in the net today (marta.writes.com) and I know this is also an opportunity for us to say “THANK YOU” to God.. for each new day that lies ahead of us… or even for a stormy day that we just went through… for every little thing that God is doing to you.. Give thanks…

Here’s a list of some things that I thank God for…

~I thank God for every morning, and even for a good night sleep, for every lovely kiss whenever Henry leaves for work and whenever he arrives home.. for my loving and beautiful Nicole..for a supportive Mom and siblings, for cute and adorable nieces, for wonderful friends who makes me feel loved all the time,  food on the table, snack time, FB time, movie time.. for payday and clients.. for opportunity to pray for others, serve in the ministry… for vgroups..even for simple taxi time…and so much more.. There will always be reasons for us to be thankful for…for everything…

now what’s on your list?