Elvie's Birthday Party... Plus

Two Saturdays ago, I met Elvie at Baby Tom's birthday party. She was one of the two new Filipina I just met on that day. We had so much fun that Elvie decided to do it again. Few days after that was her birthday, but decided to celebrate it on Saturday, and thank goodness that I worked morning and was free whole afternoon henceforth, and was able to join this wonderful get-together.
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I was glad that this time, my husband was with me. I was so surprised when we get to Elvie's house and saw a whole bunch of Filipinas that I haven't met before. After introducing ourselves to each others, there was connection right away, especially because all of them, except for one, were of the same dialect which was the "Bisaya". We fondly call ourselves "mga bisdak".
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The food was great and the hospitality of the household was amazing. Elvie was the one preparing all the foods, and of course, they were Filipino foods. We were just very comfortable laughing, talking out loud, endless eating... and again... the best part of every Filipina gathering, the picture taking. All of our husbands was having fun taking pictures of us, and we almost feel like we were celebrities with all those endless and blinding camera flash. We were even confused where to look with all those cameras aiming on us.
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Too bad, the party had to end. It always does. The amazing part of this gathering was that half of the visitors were from a distant cities such as Orlando, Jacksonville, and even Washington. They just came to Merritt Island to celebrate Elvie's first birthday party here in USA. But before we parted, guess what? Everybody have to give their Facebook account/name to everybody. After all, this is where they first met and became friends... and so are we.

Thankful Thursday - His Amazing Grace

It has been quite a while since the last time I posted my "Thankful Thursday" entry. There has been so many things happened in this past few months that until now, I am still struggling to get back to where I was. But believe me, I am trying... really trying hard. One of them is my ministry, which is living to tell God's Amazing Grace. I will never leave this... as long as this is free... I will always be coming back here.
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All through these days, I never cease to acknowledge that God bless me richly in every aspects of my life. His amazing grace is so sweet. Although there are some things that are not how I wanted it, but in God's point of view, it is what we need to become what God wanted me to be. Abundance, obstacles, pain and happiness are all part of the tasks that we have to overcome day by day.
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I am just so grateful to God that He enable me to do this again. This is my life, telling everybody about how good God is, and before I go on, I would like to highlight this verse for you:
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"All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God." 2 Corinthians 4:15 NIV
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...*In behalf of my husband, we are so thankful to God for the successful surgery he had last June 13th for his lower back. Everything went very well and the recovery was really fast. We are so thankful, too, to all that utter words of prayer for my husband. We appreciate it very much and we believe that your reward is sure to come in Jesus' name.
...*I thank God for the job He gave me. (It is the same old job that I have for 8 months now) I really love my job and I believe that I grow in some aspects of my life because of this job that God put me in. I did not brag about this because I know that this can be taken away from me anytime, but on each and every day that I work, I gave my best, and even extended it more than what my employer expected me to do. In this way, I will not feel guilty of not doing my best whenever they will take away my job from me. After all, having a job is an assignment of stewardship in God's point of view. The way we handle our job can bring glory to His name.
...*I thank God for the blessings, provision, divine health, loving-kindness, safety and grace He showered on us day by day.
...*I thank God that I still have my blog. It has PR4 for a while, but I lost 1 just a month ago. Obviously, it is from neglecting this for a while. But at least, I still have PR3 right now. Along with it, I thank God for all my readers, visitors, EC droppers and special mention to all my sponsors.
...*I thank God that per to what my mother said in her letter, she is doing fine. That is very important to me.
...*I thank God that our store is still running, although sometimes it was very slow and sometimes it was busy, but we believe that God got it under His control. He has been showering blessing on our store in His own ways... and it is always good.
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I can go on and on, and still the list will not run out. Giving thanks to God is more than just words; it is also in action and in thoughts. Every single things around us and in us are chances to give thanks to God. Let us give God the glory. Our life is filled with His amazing grace

Meeting New Filipina Friends @ Baby Tom's Birthday Party

I have been extremely busy lately between so many things that going out with my friends became close to impossible lately. My friend, Jeanny, invited me over to her son's 2nd birthday two weeks ago, and she asked me if I could help her prepare a "bam-i". It is a Filipino food that is suppose to be present on every Filipino birthday party. Well, I told myself; "I need a break". This could be a perfect break for me, catching out with my friends and at the same time, eating our own Filipino foods that we miss so much. So, I requested a day off from work for the particular day... and everything happened as planned, only for one thing though, my husband was not feeling good, and was not able to join us.

I had the chance to meet two wonderful new Filipina, and became friends right away with them. I met Jelly and her family who drove all the way from Palm Beach. I also met Elvie and her family, who, to my surprised, just live to the area where we live; and who also, prepared all the foods including desserts (except of bam-i and cake). She is a superb cook. We all indulged ourselves with the Filipino foods. We shared our funny experiences as wives and mothers. And of course, any gathering can't be complete without the excitement of picture taking here and there... again and again... We had such a blast.

On next Saturday, Elvie will be hosting another party. It will be her birthday party. We are looking forward that more will show up on that day. It will be another day of fun. It will be another "stress-reliever", fun-filled and tummy stuffing day. I just hope and pray that my husband will be feeling well on that day and so that he can be with me on enjoying this moment.

Get Connected In Times Of Calamity

I just read my friend's blog a while ago. She and her family are one of the survivors during the Japan earthquake last 3-11. She had described to us how terrified they were the day after that very strong earthquake. Transportation were cut off. Grocery store were emptied out by the people who were panic buying. No water supply. And above all, there were no means of communication; no internet... no cellphone signal.
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Communication is very essential during calamities to render information about our whereabouts and status. We are so thankful for the technology that brought cellphones to almost everybody nowadays. But sad to say, that just when we needed it the most, that is the first thing to fail in times of calamity such as earthquake, storms and such. It is really frustrating that our phone service can't carry us through in times of needs.
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Well, that was before the tsunami hit Thailand back in 2010. Once again, a genius come up with this great strategy where we can still get connected in times of calamity. Femtocells is a supporting satellite that provide emergency communication. This helps increase your mobile signal if it is weak in the area that you are in. Now, this is "not just" a great relief, but this is also a "life saver". If the victim can still get connected online, he/she can help the rescuer locate him/her. Once again, thanks to the technology. Femtocells are manufactured by Alcatel Lucent and sold all over the world.