Pamparo in Toronto

I’ve been very busy lately with different things and have not been paying attention to the thing that is of utmost importance. That is my personal relationship with God. But today, while in transit coming from work, I was reminded by a song that I’ve not heard for a very long time: “Unashamed Love” by Ten Shekel Shirt.

You’re calling me to lay aside the worries of my day
To quiet down my busy mind and find a hiding place

I could not help myself but pause as the tears start to build up in my eyes. I didn’t know how to react until it hit me. Even if I have neglected God, He did not forget about me. And through this song, He spoke to me and quite down my spirit.

How about you? Have you been busy lately, too?

Why not go to a hiding place and commune with our ever-loving God …

Today would have been his 53rd birthday. But alas, there is no one on the other line when I tried to call him. And this will be the case every year for the rest of my days. But this is in no way a hindrance for me and everyone who loves him to celebrate his birthday, his life & his legacy.

Happy Birthday Tatay!

I am sure that most of us have seen the animated movie from Pixar, Cars. There is this little-known character that I have come to love. He’s name is Fred. Fred is the rusty-old truck that keeps dropping his bumper whenever he gets so excited. But what really gets me is what he is excited about. He was so excited when Lightning McQueen called his name without realizing that it was actually written right on his plate. He goes into hysteria while shouting, “He knows my name! Lightning McQueen knows my name”! Then the bumber falls. Then there was another incident when Mario Andretti said hello to him and he went hysterical again yelling, “He knows my name, Mario Andretti knows my name”! The bumber falls again. This is very very hilarious stuff but it also makes me wonder …

I wonder what would Fred do if I was there to tell him, “Fred, God knows your name”! Oh man, I can just see him falling apart with excitement! How about you, I wonder how excited will you be if tell you, “God knows your name”! Will you be as excited and hysterical as our rusty-old friend Fred?

Well, there’s only one way to find out. Here we go …

God knows your name!

After 5 yrs of dating rhoy and almost 4 years of being married with him, i would have never imagined myself being on a date with someone else. I always see myself doing things and having fun with him, go out on a dinner, watch a movie, or just plain breeze walking. However, things changed, after 2 years six months and 16 days i never expected to be on a date with a younger male. Last night April 16, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. I found myself in a movie house sitting beside with a different person, i was not unfaithful to my dearest husband but things changed. There i realize i no longer commit to one person but to two. However, the level of love are both strong and yet different. As i carefully reached the popcorn close to him a blaze of joy came to me and amazed on how i could fall in-love and enjoy the moment with a whole different person aside from my husband. As the “Coke” commercial in the movie house started, the person beside me loudly spoke and said “Daddy’s juice!” then i came to my senses that the person i carried in my womb for nine whole months is now sitting beside me in a movie house. Tears of joy dropped to my eyes as i watch him innocently indulged with his Popcorn, fries and juice and said “tehn you Mamie!” :)! and that other person is our son, Gabby! “I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant’s faithful, 100-percent!” “After all… a person is a person no matter how small they are” famous line from Dr. Seuss “Horton’s hears Who” , Gabby’s first Movie House trip! Treasure every minute of your time with your child! It’s worth it! Blessings to all!

It’s amazing how God uses the small things to remind us of His love. Whenever I feel burdened with the constant pressure of coping up with life, he leads me to a place that I would never expect: to the pantry. God reminds me how blessed I am that I have something in my pantry to last a whole week, maybe more, while others have nothing to eat. He reminds me that a lot of people do not have financial support of any kind. Some are infirmed physically and emotionally. But not me, my pantry is full. And I should be thankful for that. God reminds me of this particular verse:

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

He knows my needs even before I ask! And He knows your needs, too! If you are feeling down and out, don’t worry. God works in mysterious ways, His ways and not ours. Count your blessings, name them one by one!

Praise the Lord, Amen!

Just recently, my life took a full turn and all of a sudden I am facing a cross-road in which I have to choose the way I should go. It was one of the hardest decisions I had to make but a choice have to be made. So I chose to go left thinking that it is easier than the right. I started to become a little lost and somewhat disoriented having to walk the road that seems so strange to me. But I stood firm and put my faith in God the Father. He has promised to prosper me and not to harm me. The road is still strange and the terrain a little harder to walk but I know that Jesus is walking side by side with me. It soothes me to know that He will be there to pick me up if I ever fall and will carry me if I can’t walk anymore. With these circumstances, I have been reminded of one very important lesson. No matter what happen, God will be true to His promise and Jesus will always be there. He is here for me and He can also be with you! If you are facing trials and hardship, turn to Jesus. He will be there! That’s a guarantee!

As the saying goes, “An apple a day, keeps the doctor away”, so does my daily need to use my Windows-based home PC. After passing the point-of-no-return yesterday, I am now an official iMac user! The power of UNIX with the ease of Windows all in my hands. What else can I ask for! Well, a lot actually. I must admit that at first, I was missing the things that I used to do on Windows. But as days progressed, I found that I can still do the things that I love and more. I’ve seen and used many Operating System over the years and I can atest that MacOSx can compete up there with some Linux flavors maybe even some real-Unix flavors especially BSD-based UNIX. Anyhow, I ay not be making sense to a lot of people. But one thing I know, I won’t be seeing Dr. Watson as often as I used to … Happy computing everyone!

that things are now different for me. One might ask, “What do you mean?”. Well, when I start singing:

Bob the Builder, Can he build it?
Bob the Builder, Yes he can!

or every once in a while, I go and yell, “Mighty Machines!”, I know something is changed.
It was inevitable. It is not a bad thing, just different. As a matter of fact, I even enjoy it sometimes. Singing a song to my son, in the tune of “Miffi”:

Gabby, makulit na baby
Gabby, mana sa mommy
Mana din kay daddy
Ang baby Gabby

It always makes me laugh. Oh well, I guess that’s the way it is going to be. As the saying goes, “If you can’t beat them, join them”!

I deleted my “precious collection of illegal mp3s” that I have collected over the year! While I was doing it, my mind suddenly flew into the beginning of mp3 files swapping which some of you might not even know existed long-before the emergence of Napster & Kazaa.

First, there was the newsgroup, that was fun. Then the ever-reliable scour.net that takes approx a day to download a 5mb file, not to mention days to search the song only to find that the seeder suddenly removes the share. But that was fine, because the thrill is to find a song that not a lot of people have. Then came Napster, but that was canned. Then Kazaa, Limewire , BitTorrents, (put your illegal download site here) …

But I know it has to be done. I have put it off far too long … so there it is. The most fun thing is, I didn’t regret doing it!

At least I feel good!

I recently custom-fitted my Les Paul with new hat-topped speed-knobs & new grover 3+3 tuning machines. Though, it doesn’t add anything to the sound technically, it does add a little bit more passion in my playing. So I guess that’s a good thing for me.

Recently, I’ve been encouraged to practice more and more. The thing that might surpise you is that my wife is the one pushing me to do so. Was I surprised? Not really. You see, she’s being a wife to me. I remember in our wedding vows, we said that we will do all we can to encourage one another and help each other develop what God has given to us. I thank her for that.

I love you, my dear! And I feel so much better saying that …