Things I've Learned

1. The lord sees our potential in such a different way than we do. But when both (His and ours) perceptions align and become our reality, we accomplish what he intends and we are satisfied.

2. We are never too strong. We always need to keep ourselves in check.

3. I can be my best critic and the best preacher. I know my weaknesses and I just have to speak truth to them like no one else would.

4. Sometimes doors open and they see right, but they are not. Always be open to seek God’s perfect will in every situation. (“A man makes his path, but in the end it leads to death” Prov.)

5. If you become so involved with God and his love for you, his great mercy, his power in you, ridiculousness is minimized in your life.

6. While God is doing amazing things with you, you are still imperfect but it’s no reason to feel a rush of guilt. Live out Jesus and don’t let the mundane things get in the way.

7. Being an open book doesn’t mean you share every detail with people, but you can start by answering honestly when they ask you how you are doing, instead of the automatic “I’m fine.” They’ll appreciate it.

8. Really allow your spiritual leader or pastor to help you lead your life. They usually have another perspective on things and want your best.

9. Learn from people who have been there. They really have the best insight.

10. Love yourself. Set the bar high for your value and worth. Don’t exaggerate it, but just walk around like the daughter of Christ you are, he doesn’t refer to us as royalty for nothing! 

things i learned in 2011

the past year is gone, but the lessons i learned still linger. i want to highlight a few of them here.

1. when one door closes another opens.

2. sometimes two doors open and you need lots of guidance to make the best choice.

3. when you work hard doing something you love,  2 hours of sleep feel like 8.

4. there are still generous people in the world (the kind the gift you tons of money just because they are nice and believe in your dream! -- not kidding!).

5. friendships will go through major trials, but if they are united by real love, they will remain and be stronger.

6. the art of making coffee allows for great friendships to be made.

7. it's ok to keep personal matters to yourself, but it's not good to be so closed that you explode. sharing struggles helps. find a good person to do that with.

8. the older i get, the younger and prettier i feel. good counter attack to aging.

9. heart break, pain, trials all come with a purpose. to make us stronger. better. beautiful inside & out.

10. when you accomplish great success through hard work, family that rejected you, come back and realize how amazing you've turned out. it's a great feeling.

11. letting go is the hardest thing in the world, but it's also the best thing in the world. sorry can't explain it. it is what it is.

my new friend the bicycle

i

i kinda want this bike

yesterday afternoon i learned to ride a bike, for the first time. it only took me 27 years, and although i should perhaps feel lame, i feel cooler than a 5-year-old. i dont know what was more exciting, that all my friends were staring at me after they forced me to get on the bike and learn, or the fact that i was comfortable enough to take the risk and do something that i feared. this was something that i connected to a childhood that deprived me of many things and somehow i chose never to go back there. but i did. i faced it like a brave girl and i feel relieved.


i no longer have to hide behind that silly thing. i no longer need to look back with complaints. i am free of that blame game. it's funny that a bike could do that to me. but im relieved, because victory came in the form of a small, perhaps silly, accomplishment, but at the same time, it has come to prove that a big battle has been won. i really have started on a path to becoming a new me. one with less fears, one less afraid to face them, a girl on the lighter side of things. one willing to kick insecurities in the butt and enjoy everyday life.


who's with me? [practically screaming here]


i know im not alone in overcoming fears and learning later that they were tied to so many other things. but to win, i learned, it just takes that step of faith and that desire to break away from it.


what kind of fears have you overcome?

making it count

i love to do what I do. and every time a little girl like her comes to greet me after a worship service, i know that this is something so worthwhile and something i wouldn't mind doing forever. sometimes it's difficult getting up early and getting ready and rehearsing songs for hours, and sitting in the back of the church with a nice poster of jp and i. but when someone's life is touched, when someone feels changed by something God used in our music or worship or words, it makes it all worth it. knowing that we are doing just what the lord wanted us to be doing makes it all worth it. really.

are you where you need to be in your life? are you in the center of what you have been called to do?

as the year comes to a close some people start pondering on what their past year and inevitably some feel as their days have gone to waste. maybe things didnt work out as planned. maybe tragedies and storms or trials didnt help you reach your highest potential. all these things could have happened, but you know, we have a choice how we see today.

my year has not been all pretty roses. it's been a challenging year as well as one of wonderful opportunities. many things went well and others, failed. but i've chosen to enjoy all of it. to see it all as my ticket to growth and a new level of joy in the Lord. i am practicing lately that i have the choice of how i feel and how i react to my life now and even the life that has passed. you too have a choice on how you enjoy the rest of this year. and we have a choice of making it count.

my pastor says, it's not so much about how you started, but how you finish.

keep running, and finish well.

"the crown of creation"

i read that when god created women, we are like the crown of creation and that we are wondefully gifted creatures. there's so much we can do... we are beautiful, multi-taskers, and a man needs us. woman means great help (as i recall), we are their perfect help. and that was so encouraging to me to learn that potential and how it became distorted after the fall. women became instead of the help for the man, demanding, controlling, naggers... and some even losing their femininity. and because of the fall women also lost their worth or the understanding of their worth,

and that need for affirmation was made in their hearts.

as women it is natural of us to desired to be loved, but only the lord god can bring that affirmation and so women, we get lost if we didnt receive that care and affirmation in our childhood/adolescent years, 

and later are desperately seeking that in men or other things.

and i also learned that jesus longs to fill that void,

that he is desperate to be that lover for us.

the bible speaks of our relationship with jesus in different levels of relationship.

like father to child, like master to servant, like groom and wife.

and the latter is the best and most intimate,

that he loves us in that level and wants to spend time with us as husband to a wife knocks me off my feet. he cares enough for us to want to meet even those longings in our heart. that realization reached deep for me, to know that his love goes so deep that he can really meet every necessity in our hearts, it blows me away.

and not only that, but that fact that

he wants to romance us like a man romances a woman, he is passionate for us,

he is in a desperate pursuit for our attention...

and when we come to fall in love with him, fall for him as our husband, something awakens in us,

 that dependence on him, that love, that beauty, that joy...

because when we let him love on us like that, our true beauty and feminity awakens.

there's no better feeling than being romanced by the lover of my soul, jesus.

where are you in this stage? have you been able to let jesus love you like no other can?

sometimes, this may transcribe as only single women need to have this total dependence on jesus,

but from what im learning, a woman will not be able to be successful in her marriage if she doesnt find her fulfillment and identity in christ first.

and only he can affirm us, make us feel loved, beautiful, worth it

in a way that would change us forever...

this something i am living and learning and putting to practice...

i would love to hear how others have come to full acceptance of themselves in christ.

ps: two things to check out that have helped me in this process:

1. this book. -- most of my thoughts here, come from here. this book has helped change me.

2. this blog. -- read the whole thing, start from day one, seriously, you'll see why i couldnt stop reading it.

hot chocolate night

tonight has been just beautiful.

after a long.busy.tedious day at work, i took a nice walk with my aunt who always provides for great conversations. there's nothing better than history. history evolves, history returns. it's so refreshing to hear from the people of old, the ones who paved the way for us. and it pays off that while i workout my body her words give my mind a challenge of sorts. her kind words, her faith, her simple outlook at life, how she laughs and the way she enjoyed her youth. when i look at her now, i could not see that social girl in her. she had a wild side as a young woman growing up in new york. She danced, she led a hispanic club in her college, she dressed fashionably, she made great bonds and took care of family and married late for the time, but she doesnt regret it a bit because as she said she lived her seasons well.

she lived her seasons well. beautifully put.

she married at 27. today im her age and have no such plans as of yet. and hearing her words i feel good about it. at 27 she enjoyed her seasons well. she had so much more life in her years at that time than i could account for in my 27. and well i guess it makes sense when Abe Lincoln says "that is not the years in your life that count, but the life in your years." and as she did, i want to reach my next season of life ready and well lived. god uses every season in our lives for a purpose. even if that purpose is just growth to enable us to fit the mold of the next one. and in every season we should enjoy the moment. the good and the bad. the lovely and the ugly.

my season at 27 is one of progressive growth. surrender. accomplishing self-control. beautification. acceptance. and embracing real love.

not the easiest mountain to climb. but at the end of the road it will be worth the journey.

it's also a time of taking new steps. embracing new challenges. flirting with happiness. laughing hysterically. fighting the woes. singing in the rain and sipping hot chocolate on lazy evenings, leisurely.

such is life. 

things i've learned = travel edition

ive missed you all, really.

ive been here and there and everywhere. 

but i think im staying put for awhile and im looking forward to it.

while going from one plane to another

i've learned that:

there's nothing more exciting than...

visiting new places.

being home after visiting new places.

making new friends.

sharing about god with those new friends.

encouraging friends.

drinking my home made coffee.

a home cook meal.

sleeping in my own bed.

shopping while traveling.

eating at local eateries in new places.

taking pictures of everything. with a new camera.

in flight entertainment.

taking pictures of all the meals i ate while traveling.

eating way too much.

room service.

there's nothing fun about...

packing.

unpacking.

doing piles of laundry.

folding piles of laundry.

dealing with undone tasks waiting at your desk.

travel delays.

baggage fees.

high altitude sickness.

hurricanes catching up with your travel plans.

forgotten items.

running out of toothpaste.

going back to work after too much fun.

realizations of what comes with blowing out the candles

this weekend i had an opportunity to hang out with

the cutest little children and their amazing moms.

i'm sitting there, young woman, single, no kids. the cream of the crop, eehh.

we sip on some coffee. as the children are running around like headless chickens.

i really don't know how i managed to tune them out for so long.

there was cake everywhere.

balloons popping.

screams.

and disney channel as the soundtrack to the mayhem.

we ignored it all, started conversations.

about hair color. about the kids. allergies. food.

health issues.

and then it hit me.

i'm growing up.

i'm 10 days away from my birthday.

and im actually nervous, excited about it.

especially after my discussions with these moms and learning that well my body is changing

and that maybe my allergies and food issues in the past months 

are related to my changing body. 

they all went through it.

they understand what i've gone through.

it's awful to have a stuffy head, migraines, dry coughs, and massive congestion

{the type that i cant even cry cause then i get so stuffed i cant even breathe}

and mind you, i am a singer.

so talking to these women, i learned so much.

it's like learning to care for my body all over again.

in the teen years, our bodies are so nice and flexible.

then, they start to get more sensitive.

and well, you can't get away with so much junk food and no sleep.

it's responsibility in a new level.

not like getting a degree, buying a car, getting a real job.

no this is like life or death. do or die. responsibility.

yikes.

{why is this all news to me?}

im getting older, in just 10 days people

and it's a beautiful thing,

{right?!?!}

and it also means

i need to take better care of my aging self 

{sigh}

alright, im excited.

and i think ready.

I mean i did go to the supermarket right after our conversations

and went all green (veggies, wheat, the whole ordeal)

so that means...

i've welcomed the new knowledge.

even after agreeing to stop having hot chocolate milk before bed

yes, i agreed.

these are the new challenges of being a young woman,

 and with all that

i'm excited to say: welcome home 27

things i've learned = weekend edition

this weekend has been fun.

and it has allowed me to experience and learn different things.
so i decided to make this fun list again. so here we go.

this weekend i learned that:

1. being in a cruise for the first time, is not so bad. especially if it's not moving.

2. just because a meal is referred to as gourmet, it does not mean it's good.

3. i really love the kids in the youth group i lead. even if they drive me crazy.

4. changing things up in a routine, actually yields good results. it worked with my youth group on friday, although they did raise some complaints. 

5. shopping for jeans is very hard, especially if the store tricks you by shrinking the jeans and making them a double digit size. hmm

6. a bridal shower is best enjoyed with a great group of friends and delicious cupcakes. seriously. i can take them on every saturday.

7. worshiping the Lord with other youth in your city, even if they go to other local churches, is beautiful, powerful and brings unity in the body of Christ.

8. i really love hot dogs. and i can eat more than one in one sitting. yikes. maybe that explains #5.

9. unless you use a filter in coffee maker, it will not produce good coffee. trust me. you'll feel cheated when only half the amount of water you put in can actually get through. phew. that wont happen again.

10. guava cheesecake actually exists. and it's good. and costco sells it. go. you must try it.

ps: read pt 1 and 2

things I've learned

It's only being four months into 2011 and I've already learned soo much. Here's a second  take on this fun list. hope you like it. (see first)

I've learned that...

1. We live in a war zone against ourselves.

2. The more I know God the more I love him. It's something I cannot control.

3. Time waits for no one.

4. Hitting the snooze button several times each morning will not get me to work on time.

5. No matter how hard I try, there are some things I cannot change.

6. Compassion is a great gift to have and share with others.

7. People are desperate to be loved. In a real, Godly way.

8. Saying too much always (ok almost always) gets you in trouble.

9. Blogging is fun, but, if not handled with care, it can consume you. In a bad way.

10. English is great, but some languages just have such passion in their words, like Portueguese.  I love the way it sounds, especially to music.

{since I love videos, here's one song i love}

                   

...what have you learned?
...anyone want to teach me Portuguese?