Celebrate joy!

Ask Filipinos 5 years ago whether they celebrate Thanksgiving, and you would probably have gotten a shrug... Fast forward to 2014, and you soon find yourself looking at photos of relatives and friends celebrating this festivity in social media. And what's not to love about this season? It's all about looking back and being thankful for things big and small. It's a quick shout out to the world saying, " It's not so bad after all - the good things always outweigh the bad in the end! :)

Hello! :) I returned from a two-day retreat with Stillwaters last weekend and I thank God for the opportunity to be a part of it -- so many questions, practices, and sharing happened that here I am, assessing where I am and where God wants me to be. I am amazed on how simple the retreat was, yet on how big of an impact it made on me. When someone asked what I appreciate most about Stillwaters, I answered that it is with Stillwaters that I realized how church can be simple... to which he responded with, "You know, Stillwaters is so simple, all we have is Jesus." And I couldn't have said it any better --- that response alone deserves a slow clap, don't you think? :)

"You know I believe friendship is God’s greatest evidence of himself here on earth.  You know I believe everyone needs a home team: a go-to, show-up, middle of the night, come-in-without-knocking tribe that gets us through when things fall apart. You know I believe in circling the wagons—gathering your people around you to tell you the truth when all the voices out there are shouting bad news. And you know, of course, that I believe all this love and truth-telling and prayer and laughter happens best around the table." - Shauna Niequist, Why I love Thursday Nights Upon reading those words, I just wanted to quickly  cross post it on FB to holler to my Thursday group as if to say "thank you guys, this is exactly how I feel about Thursdays!" :)

Last Thursday morning, Ate Flo texted me to invite me to the Passion Manila concert that night. I have heard about it before but in the last two times that the group visited the Philippines, I wasn't able to go, and being the kaladkarin girl that I am, I immediately sent "gaaaaame!" :) It was such a great thing to have--what for me--is the best seat in the house! We got Patron seats and I can really see the faces of David Crowder, Kristian Stanfill and Louie Giglio, and it's an amazing sight to behold.