Things That I Am Grateful For

Last Sunday, the homily of our Parish priest really touched me. He said something that really made me reflect and ponder about my life. He told us to take a few minutes to examine ourselves and count our blessings, I've heard this many times, but I was surprised that it means a lot more to me now than ever before. We left the church after Mass, but I had this intense feeling inside of me that I need to share.

In what I considered the most empowering feelings, this morning during my reflection, I journeyed back down memory to the time of my childhood. In that image a wonderfully exuberant, radiant, joyous little creature leaped and bounded through great fields and forests of green, growing things. She danced through skies, clouds, oceans and through fields of pure energy. My heart was filled to bursting with love and connection to this erupting, joyful creature...I was just so inspired I don't know where to start to count my blessings and thank God for all this life has given me. I realized that I have so many more blessings this year alone that I really have to thank God for. Usually we thank Him for all the good things that happened in our life. We don't count trials, frustrations and failures as something to thank for.
Here, I count my blessings:

I thank God for a Happy childhood
I thank God for my parents, grandparents and the life and love they gave me & the nurturing and guidance all these years.
I thank God for my brother and sisters, they are my source of support
I thank God for my Friends (they are so many)
I thank God for my teachers and professors for my education
I thank God for the not-so-good people, they inspired me not to be like them
I thank God for the good people I met, they inspired me to do good
I thank God for the friendship of Fr. Nonito, he reinforced my feeling that I am very special in the eyes of God, and that He wants me to be happy
I thank God for the friendship of Fr. Louie, he made me acknowledged my needs as a human being, and that as human I am sinful but is not a hindrance to my relationship with God
I thank God for Fr. James, he showed me the world where I learned to count even my smallest blessings
I thank God for the experiences, trials and failures, they guided me to the way I live my life now
I thank God for finally coming here to the States, now I have the best of both worlds
I thank God for Rey, for the love we shared, the life we had and all the lessons learned
I thank God for John, I've discovered how strong and firm I become
I thank God for the criticisms, they keep me grounded and aware that I am not perfect and I never will be.
I thank God for every morning, I have the chance to be a better person than I was yesterday
I thank God for those who gave me the privilege to help them, they gave me chance to do my responsibilities
I thank God for all those who helped me, they constantly remind me of my needs for others
I thank God for all the places I've been to, they showed me what a wonderful world we live in.
I thank God for Michelle and Rhea, for their love and devotion and for always being my best friends.
And most of all, I thank God, for His constant love and protection I always depend on, for keeping my faith inspite of some questions in my heart. I know there are more things I need to thank Him for and I thank Him for all of those...

And I thank you for sharing to you my blessings by reading this blog. Share your blessings too, you don't know whose heart you will inspire today!



Recados, Gifs e Imagens no Glimboo.com

Bariles In Atlantic City

I am usually not a very sentimental person, I am more of a romantic than a sentimentalist...With letters, cards and souveneirs, I restrict myself to a memory box which is the size of a big shoebox and when it gets too full, I make myself go through it and throw things out that are no longer as important to me. It is amazing how something that you absolutely had to keep at a time can lost its sentimental value after a few years, after you moved on with your life. But if humans were entirely without sentimentality, we'd be like Finnish architecture- sensible, yet dull as tapioca.

Having said that, I don't think I will ever be less sentimental person when it comes to my home, family and friends, things that matter most to me. Last Sunday after attending 9:00am Mass at St. Teresa of Avila, at the spur of the moment, my friend & I decided to take a drive down to Atlantic City, New Jersey. It was one of those very rare, perfect, deliciously warm Sunday afternoon in winter. The city was not crowded, which didn't surprise us because of the economic crunch that's hurting not only Americans but everybody all over the world. We park at Caesar's Palace Parking and walk though the casinos, down the the restaurants on the beachfront side of the building. We knew where we were going. My friend was taking me to Japanese sushi bar because I was craving for sushi. I came from the Tuna capital city of the Philippines. In General Santos City sashimi and sushi comes in abundance and the cheapest in the world. WE ordered Magu sushi, $8 for a 2-piece serving! While picking sushi with chopsticks, i was teary eyed not because I put too much wasabi sauce but because I was strucked by a weird nostalgic chord in me. The sight of sushi and the sensational taste of wasabi that seemed to clear my sinuses, flashed floods of memories and with it so many vivid imagery of my times in GenSan Fishport and my Fishing Boat that catches this Tuna that I was eating on the other side of the world. I remembered Dodong my operator and our fishing crews who weather the storms and raging waves of the ocean and separation from their families for 21 to 28 days a month catching tuna. It occured to me that they didn't even realized, that maybe, just maybe I was eating what could have been one of their catch, at 100 times the price we get back home. An alpha grade tuna cost $7-8/kilo in GenSan. A tear ran slowly down my cheek as I started eating . The wind was whistling through the glass building...I was looking straight ahead, seeing nothing but the shimmering reflection of the winter sun on the Atlantic Ocean, like white sparkling marble. So mesmerizing, tranquil, deep, warm...I feel a little closer home, my eyes brimmed with tears.

My friend seemed amused...