Easter 2012

I got up the earliest I can and

quickly put my hair up

with a do I've never tried before.

Then pulled in those fab purples

to complete my outfit.

It's the time of the year again!

When everybody at church gets excited 

to wake up earlier than usual on Sunday mornings...

Our Easter Service, otherwise known

as the "Sunrise Service" started at 8AM. 

Besides the most awaited br-unch,

I was very blessed with the fellowship,

and the message preached.

But most of all,

we celebrate Easter 

to remember

the significance of the Cross and 

the triumph of the Resurrection. :)

OUT and about..

This blog was poorly abandoned due to the 

following consecutive fun-filled-out-of-our-small-town trips. 

So here it goes…

One. EMPACT at Des Moines

We are so blessed to be given the chance to attend this 2-day lecture on different topics. My favorite of all was “Straight Talk to Women:  Fireplaces and Cheating on Your Husband” by Sister Nancy Bolinger. You can read her notes here.

That aside, I also documented some neat 10-minute hairdo how-to’s 

demonstrated by some lovely saints in between lectures.

 The videos was then compiled into a DVD by the amazing hubby 

and copies were sold at the Ladies Conference 

as a fundraiser for Mother's Memorial.

Of course, the Fuenteses did not let loose of the chance 

to take a picture of Iowa’s state capitol
and its golden dome as the background.

Two. CHICAGO, take 2!

Revisiting the windy city was equally amusing 

but not as tiring as the previous.

Reunited with JP

PLUS

Meeting new good friends

EQUALS

fun. Fun. FUN!

'Til we meet again, guys. :)

Three. Ladies Conference

Like last year, this means a day of shopping and food. 

Sadly, I don’t have pictures of such because 

my camera weighs as much as I do so I pretty much left it in the car.

Anyways, the conference went wonderfully 

with such a witty speaker, Sister Cindy Miller.  

The message that hit me was to “let God be God.” 

I do not always understand certain occurrences in my life, 

rest assured, His ways are always higher than mine.

Then.. as one of the official photographers,
 I was deprived from being in the pictures except this one.

Lastly, I received this delightful message

from Sister George, IA Ladies' President.

Truly blessed to be able to help.

Okay now...

I need to dust off cobwebs from everywhere here… You see my previous post has been sitting in my drafts folder for a week now and SO I realized I needed to post it before it decomposes to something forgotten.

Soo, it’s Tuesday! I had the next longest weekend to our July 4^th one. No, we have not gone on a trip out of Lexington. It started on Thursday, not because it was a holiday but simply because revival service at GFAC started that night. We were blessed to have visiting Evangelist Norman Brian preach on our Thursday, Friday and Sunday night services.

Evangelist Brian Norman

Thursdays is our midweek service. Service last Thursday ran longer than usual. The Evangelist had so many things to teach about that the church can forget about the time and just enjoy his teaching. We had section E youth rally held on Friday night. The church was crammed full with beautiful people of God from different towns in Kentucky.

Saturday was an outreach day which was joined forces together by 54 people. One group went out to visit the backsliders; another group went out to Sunday school children’s parents and another handed out flyers and music CDs to some neighborhood. I wanted to go see the Sunday school children’s parents but hubby was burdened to visit a friend and his family who have backslid in countless ways. We were given three cards, each with the backslider’s name and address. Two of them have no definite address so we finished up visiting only our friend. I got several flyers so we handed them out and inserted some on car wipers in the same neighborhood. Although others showed respect, some of the peoples’ responses were sarcastic. Even our own friend declined our invitation to Sunday service. It is sad but as the Evangelist puts it, it is between them and God. I believe it doesn’t end there. More than the flyers, it needs prayer, fasting and dedication to win a soul.

I regret missing the Saturday evening’s seminar held by the Evangelist on how to pray for someone during altar call. We simply ran out of time shopping and window shopping until the time have come for us to go home, eat lunch then meet Morgan before the circus. We met with other church folks at Rupp Arena and enjoyed the show together. Nobody was too old for the circus show as we laughed, sang and fooled around with Tom the clown.

We went to church early on Sunday, actually way too early than usual. We knew there will be many visitors due to outreach the previous day. Lo and behold, we were not mistaken. Most seats were already taken but we managed to find a spot for ourselves. The church was once again crowded. Visitors came as well as the backsliders.

I cannot put into words how awesome the outpouring of the Holy Ghost was. Like the prodigal son, many responded to the preacher’s call for repentance and sought for the face of the Lord during altar call. It’s amazing how the Father can simply wrap His arms around this son who have failed Him numerous times. He knows the depths of our hearts and yet, loves us the same.

Happy father's day!

I called papang this morning to greet him that. I've always looked up to my father despite our chaotic past. He may not be the perfect dad but I am always thankful to the Lord for him and more thankful of what he has become when he completely submitted his life to the Lord.

In this afternoon's church service, I uttered the same words as soon as I bended my knees during the altar call. I greeted the greatest Father of all and began weeping as I pondered on everything He's done for me.

When God ran

How beautiful!
No matter how prodigal we can become, we know He loves us just the same...

Anyway....Happy father's day to all fathers and fathers-to-be out there!

Free food = block party

As previously stated, details will follow soon. So here it goes…

It was a beautiful Saturday morning. We drove off to church to help prepare for the block party at Kirklevington park scheduled at 12 noon. There was a total of about 10 different vehicles- cars, vans, trucks and the church bus, all filled with our needs for the rest of the day- hotdogs and buns, sodas, mineral water, prizes, grills, people and the baptistry.

As we got there, preparations and arrangements were made quick since many church members showed up to help and support the cause of the party. Flyers were distributed a couple weeks earlier but some members continued to knock doors within the park vicinity to invite more people to join us.

Scoober, our dog mascot
also patiently stood by the side road
waving his free food sign to attract people to come to the party.

click to enlarge
Music was rendered by different people and groups all day to entertain people. A total of 190 registered guests partook of the provision prepared by the church. Some had quick introduction about our church, our faith and our doctrine. Kids were all around playing by the playground, goofing around with Scoober, surrounding Ballooney for their flower, animal and hat balloons, eagerly waiting in queue to have their faces painted by Melissa, some blowing bubbles while others grabbing balloons only to let them fly away. Kids rush to Brother Chris every time registration tickets are drawn for different prizes. While guardians patiently baby sit the kids, they were also compensated with prizes, of course, other than toys.

We were all excited to see God move and were very happy to see people enjoy an Apostolic atmosphere throughout the day. Brother Antwain preached for about 15minutes. Many stayed to listen. Some repented of their sins. A few others wanted bible studies. The good report concludes with 9 being baptized in Jesus’ name and 1 receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. A total of 9 people from our valued party guests were on Sunday school yesterday. Follow up such as phone calls, visitations and bible studies will be organized.

I say amen to what was said in the pulpit yesterday- “I want to go to heaven. I want my spouse to be in heaven with me. I want to bring our children there too. Sure, I want my family, friends and all my loved ones in heaven. And if I can, I also want to bring those I don’t know to heaven.”

The Circle

At Kings Island

I faced my fear…

But I have not conquered it completely.

Fear of heights remained evident in my system.

When I was a little girl, I would love to visit my Aunt Delia. She is the youngest (and I’d say, the prettiest) among my mom’s half-siblings. She lives in my grandma’s old Spanish-style two-story house with a patio over-looking the entire neighborhood. However, having to climb the long wooden stairs always held me back from seeing her as often as I’d like to and although fresh air is inviting I would seldom go or stay on the patio. My knees would just terribly shake when I look down. I always feared I’d fall from the patio or even from the stairs.

I am embarrassed to admit it- my knees still shake whenever I look down from high places up to now. Nevertheless, I am willing to muster enough courage to overcome this trepidation as much as I can.

Both excited and curious, I agreed with hubby to go with some young people from church to Kings Island. I heard stories of thrill and terror on different ride experiences, but butterflies exist nowhere in my stomach on our way to Cincinnati, which is about 2 hours away from Lexington. I just wanted to get there and try as many rides as I can so I can blog as much as I can about it.

Hubby, I, Chelsea, Morgan, Rachel, Brittney, Keith & Melissa

As a head start for a very hot long day, we rode Adventure Express, a runaway train coaster. We got into tunnels with monster-like sounds but nothing scary. It ran at 35mph for approximately 2minutes. It wasn’t bad at all for a first timer like me. “Is that it?” I silently mumbled to myself at the end, expecting a rather intense ride than that.

We headed to The Racer, a wooden twin-tracked coaster. Its speed was 55mph, apparently faster than the previous with a few up and down twirls. I remember fearfully gripping hubby’s arm, praying so hard for Jesus to keep us safe. Hubby said I was all red after the ride while Keith noticed me become pale after a while. I was fine but that got me literally scared to death!

Melissa said she was closing her eyes the whole time when we rode The Racer and she will not be riding the Vortex, which is next on the our list. It runs faster than The Racer and runs on a smooth steel track. Aside from up and down twirls, it has a vertical loop. We waited for about 40minutes in line and hearing the screams of people riding it made me doubt for a moment to stay with Melissa or give it a try. I gave it a try and it scared me less- not sure if it’s because I closed my eyes the whole time or because it was not that bumpy as the wooden coasters.

Next is my favorite- the White Water Canyon. I got over with my trauma of the previous rides as we jumped into white water rafting. I found it really awesome and relaxing. It cooled my nerves and helped me regain my sanity which I thought I lost somewhere during our previous coaster rides. We got wet bumping through the rugged river but I just love it! I’d be happy to do that for the rest of the day.

We also tried The Wild Thornberrys™ River Adventure in we which we simply steered our boats and navigate through the splash filled journey. We got wet for the second time as a spraying elephant met us as at the end of the journey.

The Beast is the world’s oldest roller coaster. It lasted for 5minutes at 70mph. I had my eyes close-open alternatley for most part and still prayed fervently. As a souvenir for our first time in Kings Island, hubby bought a picture of us- my eyes closed while hubby was anxiously smiling.

More extreme rides were waiting for us after lunch break.

We hopped into Invertigo, a face to face inverted roller. I was facing Chelsea while hubby was facing Morgan. It ran at 55mph. I still closed my eyes at some point but not as much as I did before. Chelsea was a brave girl. I couldn’t tell how she felt all the while but she had her eyes opened the whole time and never screamed. Morgan had her eyes closed most of the time. I bet she was scared as I was. I never thought I’d try this one. I heard screams as we approached it and seeing how riders were brought to the top then released then inverted at some point made me feel like backing out.

I swear I felt okay after that. I chewed a Starburst while on our way to Flight deck. I started feeling uncomfortable before our turn but rode it anyway. We flew on tree tops which was supposedly fun but all I remember was feeling dizzy after that and wanting to throw up. They all agreed to ride it one more time since we don’t have to wait in line. I finally said no and decided to stay with Melissa.

We waited for them and they decided to try Son of Beast- the tallest, fastest wooden coaster at 78pmh. Just looking at it makes me dizzier so I refused again. I stayed with Melissa and Brittney hoping to relax a little. After sitting a few minutes under the heat of the sun, we decided to look for a shade.

We passed by several areas with good shades but they kept walking. Wondering what they’re up to but too tired to bring it up, I just followed them. To my surprise, we reached the Viking Fury, a swinging pirate ship. Oh no! I haven’t recovered from dizziness and here we are. I was too shy to let them know so we waited in line. I am fine with the ship going up but my knees shook so bad when it went down. I can’t tell you how happy I was when it’s finally over!

The three of us met with those that rode Son of Beast at Delirium entrance. They were ready for it, which looks to me like being rotated in a tornado. There’s no way I am trying it! I want to conserve my energy for our last ride so I just took pictures of them, who valiantly rode it.

Drop Tower

Standing at 315 feet is the Drop Tower, the world’s tallest Gyro Drop. Riders will be transported to the top of the tower then dropped at 61 mph. This is what I’ve been looking forward to since we came in the morning. I wanted to know how it feels being at the top or how badly my knees will shake. At first, I kept looking down to see how far we are, but the farther we got, my knees started shaking- bad to worst. I looked straight while hubby looked up to see if we reached the top of the tower already. Realizing that we were already dropped, the lady sitting next to me kept mumbling “I won’t look down, I won’t look down” so I did the same thing. It happened really fast. The next thing I knew is we’re already down.

Keith decided that we go home but Rachel wanted us to try Firehawk by which riders lie down and fly at 51mph. I really felt like I was flying like Superman does and it felt so good. Hubby and Keith raised their hand while I and Chelsea held on to our seats. We were all glad we tried it. It was my favorite of all the coasters we’ve tried.

During the last two rides above, part of me was able to finally let go although part of me still held on to fear. I was still scared and worried that something might go wrong somewhere, somehow along the ride. My experience with Kings Island tells me a lot about myself- someone who worries too much who oftentimes miss the fun. But I am just proud of myself to have at least tried the different roller coasters.

Morgan, Rachel, Melissa, Keith & I

At some point during that day, I told hubby that I will never do it again but after having enjoyed the last two rides for a bit, I made up my mind. I’m going back to Kings Island and am riding the roller coasters again!

How can I hold my peace?

When He's done so much for me?!

In my desperate desire of inserting a picture of the McGruders here, I obviously stole the video above from Youtube…

This maybe too late for a weekend post but I still would like to let you all know how blessed I feel to have them in our service last Sunday. They are such an awesome couple that is truly anointed to carry out the Lord’s mighty works and touch each and every one of us, that enthusiastically listened to Sister Priscilla’s testimony and Brother Caroll’s song and preaching. As some may know, Sister Priscilla is battling with cancer but you can never tell when you see her. Her aura is full of life, hope and faith in the Lord’s healing and promises. Brother Caroll is a great preacher with a great sense of humor that you can hardly pay attention to anything else… I honestly regret not being able to attend the Ladies Conference where this distinguished couple spoke. There’s always a next time and I look forward to their next visit here.

Happy Birthday Nay!

She’s not my maternal mom and her name is not “Nay.”

Nanay is how some or most if not all Filipinos call their mom. I first met her in October 2007 when she, being the closest to the university, was requested by Pastor Jay to pick me up for church one Sunday. I found it awkward to call her by name since we usually address some name that depicts respect to our elders back in the Philippines. So upon driving me home that day, I asked if I could call her “Nay” and she sweetly consented.

Nanay Linda and Bitsy, the spoiled brat

I call her Nay from thereon and she, not only became a good friend, but acted as my adopted mom too. I lived with her after my 6-month on-campus course and I enjoyed every bit of each moment we spent together. She taught me a lot of things about America and I am grateful for everything that she’s been and is to me.

Happy birthday Nay! I pray that the Lord will bless you more and more and will keep you warm in His loving arms. I love you and thanks for everything…

Taco Salad

Is what I had last night and is still what I am craving for since this morning. Not because I did not have enough of it last night., in fact, I had more than enough. The ingredients provided were just perfect for my taste buds...

Keith & Melissa invited us over to their place for dinner after church last night. We had taco salad, brownies and ice cream. We forgot about the rice and we just had a great time with them and their little one, Olivia. She's such a darling! Stacy and Steve, also from church, were there too. We had fun just hanging around, eating and talking about anything and everything. We look forward to spend more and more time with you guys!

I felt partly guilty though that we were not able to accept Sister Rene's invitation for dinner last night too. She's been inviting us over to their place but our schedules never meet. Hopefully, we'll make it sometime soon.

I feel so blessed and so thankful that we have our church family to satiate the longing we feel for our families and friends back home.

Angelic Easter Faces

I want to share these lovelyangelic faces on Easter Sunday.

Twins: Amelia and Jacob

Eliza

Jayven

Deydey

Caleb and big brother

The church was jam-packed yesterday. Most people grab this opportunity to invite loved ones to church for this once a year celebration. I hope and pray that this will not be the first and last time for these visitors to come to our church but may their hearts be touched that they would love to come again and worship with us.

The choir did another awesome performance that most of the visitors stood up and joined the praise and worship. There was also a beautiful interpretative presentation by the young people. Unfortunately, the camera’s battery went dead even before the service began so no shots were taken for these.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

Caving Experience

My first was at Carter Caves Resort Park last Saturday.

We did our last minute shopping and preparation on that same morning.
Meeting place was at Dick’s Sporting Goods in Hamburg at 10AM
and we were there just in time.

I was a bit unsure of whether to go or not but I’m glad
my introvert self was outdone with excitement...

and hubby’s outgoing nature.

We came across some caves that we just turned our backs on

for some reason I can’t remember.

We climbed up the mountains searching

for more of them that we can get into and explore.

We crawled through the muddy and narrow apertures of the caves.

We came across spiders and bats.

We plunged through the cold waters running though them.

We ended up victorious after
our quick trek from one side of the cave to the other.

We’ve had so much fun with the young people from church.

I still feel weak as I have not regained all my energy yet
but it was one of a kind experience that I would love to do again.
It was just fun, fun, fun!

Sunday Blessings

I wake up on Sunday mornings looking forward to chat with my family back home. It gives me peace and joy to know that they are well with the Lord's providence, protection and guidance. I usually wake up late than our normal appointed time to chat but not yesterday. I got up earlier than usual despite the previous day's tiring relaxation. It worried me that they never came online even after half an hour already. I resorted to buying a phonecard to contact them and see what's happening. Hearing my not-so-little sister's voice relieved me from my paranoia. It was just the usual network problem they were having with their internet at home. I talked to my mother and learned that her foot was hurting since Thursday and was asked to refrain from walking as much as possible. I need not know the reason nor care whether it was due to carelessness or not. What I cared for is her need to recuperate from it. It is always hard to console a feeling of concern+worry to a loved one who is hurting, especially that you are separated miles and miles away from them and you really can't see the actual situation. You know they usually keep the whole truth from you to loosen you up from negative emotions.My father made it up to me with the news he's brought with him. His retirement has moved one step up in the process. The course of a military's (or any government employee's) retirement application usually takes forever in the Philippines. I always tell him to pray about it and let the Lord take care of it. And he always agrees and reminds me that the Lord will always be with us.For this, I was blessed to realize that I have put my God aside and was taken over by my worries again. I praised and thanked the Lord after our conversation was cut off.

I did hubby's haircut for fun while cooking rice, sinigang and pancit guisado for our lunch and dinner. At church, Sunday school was finished early so I asked hubby if it would be okay with him that we go to one of the shopping places we went to the previous day. Hubby never says no to wifey so off we went. I agreed to make an express shopping and I did it in approximately 30 minutes for all three shops.

A pink dry highlighter, another pantyhose and a lovely pair of sandals

We were back to church just a minute before the awesome Spirit-filled service. Thank You Jesus!

Unseen Purpose

Hubby and myself were invited to someone's ministry from church to feed the homeless yesterday. When we were given directions on how to get there, part of me got scared of the place. I have been fetched and brought back to my apartment by the the church van for 3 months. And I remember exactly, one of our stop overs was that very same place. I saw how our van driver would invite people there and be laughed at, ignored and sometimes even threatened. There was once when a drunkard insisted that he wanted to go to church with us but the driver very kindly explained that we don't bring intoxicated people to church. Myself, being new to this foreign country, was literally coping with my breath due to nervousness. I was so scared they'd all come to the van and get us all to trouble. Yeah, sounds exaggerated I know.. Maybe it's just this worrywart in me again.

Anyway, when we got there, hubby was anxious where to park or is it even safe to park there. We called a brother from church and he met us outside of the building. As we entered the building, I couldn't and would not dare to look at any of them. A guy or two approached hubby asking for coins but I didn't look at them either. At the kitchen were people from church preparing the food and I finally relaxed myself. We prayed and the head of this ministry told us that whenever he's doing this, he would always think that he's doing it for his very own brother.

The word was preached with the same message as my title. The young preacher got emotional as he emphasized over and over about each one's unseen purpose. It doesn't matter what each one's past was or what his life is all about today. What's the most important is to realize that each one still has a purpose- a relationship with Jesus. I knew not all of them were touched by the message, maybe not even after the preacher burst into uncontrollable tears during the message. I admire this young man's concern for the homeless people in that building. I admire the group's commitment to this ministry and I'm glad to be part of it yesterday.

I went out of the building relieved from the kind of fear that I always have to deal with whenever I hear anything about the place, get near to it and especially when I'm inside that building. These people's physical appearance may be really scary for me but I know Jesus loves them just the same.