i think this deserves some recognition...

ang pamilya ko!


the kids i chill with.
lolo arvin, jay james, and mac.
is it sad that i love them??


my handsome younger bro, jay. and beautiful sister grizel.
jay is an amazing drummer. and grizel rocks at keyboards.
my family is so talenteddd!


pelikoy! or abel jr. he's my baby brother. our bunso!
the cutessst boy i ever did meet.
and he worships like an angel!


silly kids. pelikoy, lolo, and mac. some of my favorites..
if i had any. sometimes i think everyones my favorite because i have so many!


daryll, grizel, jay, lolo arvin.
i loveeeee this picture of them!
because it describes them SOOOO well.
this is them at their best!
going home on a pedicab... away from meeeee. wahh! ):


this lovely lady to my left is momma gomez.
it's official. i am a gomez. i look strange, but maganda ang nanay ko!
and the cuties to my right are my dfic sisters. tooooo cute for words!

ze youth. you can see jay with his killer smile. what cuties! (:
i love them ALLLLLL!

tapos na?

i know that God answers prayers.
He's answered every single one of mine.

this trip,

i've SEEN things i hadn't seen before.
that were there all along
that i had been too distracted to see before.
the work that God is doing in all parts of the world.
that my sisters and brothers in the philippines
are my family.
not just acquaintances
or people i will see just once or twice.

i've LEARNED to love,
to accept,
to be hospitable, compassionate, patient...
what it looks like to love and serve
as Jesus did.

i've BEEN BROKEN.
and sick. and afflicted.
and also restored. healed.
cleansed. purified.

i've DEPENDED on Jesus.
clung to him like none other.
praying through anything that comes my way...

i've LOVED first.
and foremost.
and deeeeeeeeeeply.
and not only did i love.
but i am still loving.

i've DECIDED
that it can't end here.
i don't want this to be a post-mission high.
but a life change.
it's not enough to feel these things.
and realize and learn.
but its important what i DO
with what i learn and feel and realize...

Jesus.
please answer this prayer.
that i will walk with you daily.
and live by faith, hope, and LOVE.
and all these things i've felt and learned
will be as real to me every day from here on out
as they are to me today.

so i lift my eyes to you, Lord.
in your strength will i break through, Lord.
touch me now.
let your love fall down on me.
i know your love dispells all my fears.
through the storm i will hold on, Lord.
and by faith i will walk on, Lord.
then i'll see beyond my calvary one day.
and i will be complete in you.

Jesus, please complete me.
continue the work you've begun in me.
and see me through it alll.
continue to renew my mind,
inside and out, every day.
may i always and forever desire you as my everything.
and may i never forget the gifts you've given me
may i never take anything you give me for granted.
may i always remember.
and though this year's trip to the philippines is over.
may this only be the beginning.

tapos na? hindi.

maraming salamat po!

here are a few requests of prayer
for my philippines trip, which i will be gone to
july 1-11...

-UNITY of our team in LOVE
the kind that covers over a multitude of sins
(1 Peter 4:8)
and that we may be patient with everyone,
especially one another
(1 Thessalonians 5:14)

-STRENGTH found in God alone
the kind that renews us
and lets us soar on wings like eagles
and run and not grow weary
and walk and not be faint
(Isaiah 40: 29-31)

-PROTECTION from satan
heavenly authority given us
to trample on snakes and scorpions
and to overcome all the power of the enemy,
letting nothing harm us
(Luke 10:19)

-God's GLORY to be shown through us
that we may shine before men
and they will see our good deeds
and praise our Father in heaven
(Matthew 5:16)

-that we would only and ALWAYS
rely on God alone as our source.
(Psalm 73:26)
that we would be faithful to what God's called us to
but also at the same time know that it is God doing the work,
not us. (Psalm 46:10, Philippians 1:6)

pagpalain kayo ng Diyos!
maraming salamat po. ♥

praying for my philippines trip.

and maybe the rest of my life.

heal my heart and make it clean
open up my eyes to the things unseen
show me how to love like you have loved me
break my heart for what breaks yours
everything i am for your kingdom's cause...

Jesus.
Help me to HEAR You
& then to be strong
confident
bold
enough to obey.
Be in me the wisdom to discern
and the strength
to move on if You say so,
to hang on if You say so,
to let go if You say so,
and even to sit still and wait
if that is what You ask of me.

Jesus.
Will You make me simple-minded?
so that i may not discriminate
or see the divisions and barriers
that keep me from loving certain people
or certain groups of people?
Will You make my mind single-mindedly,
WHOLLY, totally, and completely
for You?
Please give me an undivided ♥ for You.
And also my sight?
May i not see judgments
but merely Your beloved, beautiful people
who You LOVE with all Your heart
and will always love
regardless of what they say or do.
May i not see myself
but simply a channel of Your LOVE
who is to pour out into others,
Regardless of the consequences.

Above all, help me to love deeply
with the kind of love
that covers over a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8).
with Your kind of love that never fails (1 Corinthians 13)
and not to us, but to your name be the glory (Psalm 115:1)
forever and ever and ever.

in the beautiful, lovely lovely name of Jesus,
Amen.

head knowledge to heart knowledge

so many times, i have so many theories.
but i refuse to believe them enough
to make them relevant in my life.

but thank GOD!
that he knows.
and he breaks through
every time
with a divine intervention
that makes my knowledge flee
from my head to my heart.

one GREAT lesson of today:
tis certainly true...
because we can't accept ourselves
exactly as we are.
and we want to be like the other person,
out of brokenness of self,
we end up hurting each other.
and cause the breaking down of another.
over and over again.
by refusing to accept the other person the way she is.

i've realized this for a while in my head.
but i know it in my heart, today.

probably the greatest cure is LOVE.
the kind of love that has no bounds
and is overflowingly eternally from our lover Jesus.
the kind of love that covers over all sin.

but why is it so hard for me to humble myself.
and accept this LOVE
and share this LOVE
by accepting my sister the way she is?
and accepting that i will never be like her.
but that is completely Okay.
because we are who God's made us to be.
each different people.
with different skills, talents, passions.
different habits, different priorities.
and why can't we just let our differences go.
and just LOVE each other. freely.
in the freedom that only Jesus love can bring?
no more criticism, envy, jealousy, discord...
no more fights, tears, and harsh words
about not being like the other...
i can do this with everyone
EXCEPT the person i've grown up with for almost 20 years.
the person i am supposed to love MORE
than my other friends.
the person who shares the most genes with me.
the person who supposedly knows me best.
and whom i know the best...

i pray for a miracle to come true this night.

you make all things new

this PROMISE is embedded into every morning.
this is my why morning time is my favorite. ♥

--my response to psalm 37
and seeing the gorgeeeous
partly cloudy daegu sunrise
at 6:30 in the morn.

so high school.

as i prepare to face
possibly the hardest day of my summer,
tomorrow...
i can't help but feel.
so.
nervous.

okay, so maybe i am being a drama queen--
no surprise there.
but seriously.
i just don't understand why..
people at my high school
make me feel so
insignificant
NOT worthwhile
uncool
little.
simply because i don't live the same kind of
lifestyle that they do...
or value the same things they do...
and though i claim i don't care what they think.
it does affect me a lot.
i shrink in their presence.
i'm ashamed.
i change the way i talk to accommodate them.
and hide who i truly am,
showing only what i think is acceptable in their eyes.
but why must i do this?
why can't i just be myself
and be proud of who God's made me to be.
bold and confident
and strong
in knowing that having God's acceptance
is SO much more than enough.
even if i don't have theirs.

if i want make a radical difference in this world
won't there be many people who are always against me?
won't i sometimes be required to stand "alone"?
why is it so hard for me
to LOVE God and fear Him
more than the opinions of this world?