The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

A Lesson from the Wild

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." - Galatians 6:9

Crocodiles don't attack until members of a herd of Wildebeest show the slightest sign of weakness and weariness. So, let us never get tired of doing good... never get tired of serving our King. For just as the Wildebeests can successfully cross a river infested with crocodiles, we as God's servants will succeed in giving back to God what He deserves and that is twice as much as what He gave us. If only we never get tired.

Hey, do you remember what Manny the Mammoth said about herds in the movie Ice Age? 

Diego: Why did you do that? You could've died trying to save me.
Manny: That's what you do in a herd: you look out for each other.
Diego: Well... thanks.

Christmas Gifts

When my sister, who is in Grade 6, got home from their class’ Christmas party this afternoon, she carried a huge paper bag which contained the gifts she received. Of course, I was amazed at the size of the bag.

So, I checked out the stuff she received. There was a cell phone case, a pencil case, a pair of hair clips, a stuffed toy, one bottle of lotion and one bottle of shampoo (which she found as the most satisfying gift she received) and a basket figurine (which she has no idea what to do with). She didn’t seem so happy with the presents so I consoled her by telling her that she has to be happy about it because it is a reminder that some friends remembered to give her something for Christmas. Also, I told her gift-giving doesn’t happen very often in college anymore except for the Manito/Manita (Secret Santa) thing. It’s true, you know. Well, at least for me, it is.

I have several theories for this.

1. It has gotten harder to look for gifts worth giving (unless we can be so low and just give away a meaningless figurine just like my sister’s friend but it’s totally understandable since the one giving it is only a kid).

2. People are getting more critical in choosing friends worth giving gifts to. (This is a sad theory, really.)

 3. People have become so practical that we find it expensive and unnecessary to be giving away gifts. (People might actually be saving for something else.)

4. People simply don’t have the money. (Now, this... is SAD.)

Ironically, even when I receive lesser material things now that I’m in college, I seem to have so much more to be thankful about. Right now, I am very thankful for another year of friendship with GPP, with YFCs, with old friends I don’t get to see so often anymore and yet still are my friends.

I am thankful for every day God gave me as an opportunity to always be better than yesterday. I am also thankful for the challenges He gave me which made me see things more clearly through a different set of lens. I am thankful that despite everything, I’m still okay and I’ve never been too far away from the right track. This post is going to be too long if I list down the things I’m thankful for, so, I leave that between me and Daddy God.

By the way, did you know that even when it’s not Christmas season, God is very generous with gifts which we find ordinary but are actually really special? According to the movie The Ultimate Gift, here are some things we should be thankful for:

The gift of work.

The gift of money.

The gift of friends.

The gift of learning.

The gift of problem.

The gift of family.

The gift of laughter.

The gift of dreams.

The gift of giving.

The gift of gratitude.

The gift of a day.

The gift of love.

It’s a great movie. You should watch it. Perhaps, you should watch it this Christmas with your family and friends.

Oh, are you not curious about what was in my sister’s huge paper bag? A photo frame with a picture of a bouquet of flowers.

Haha, this I find so funny because her Manito (a Secret Santa who is a boy) probably did not know what to give her. He just had to give her something because he was her Manito. Nice packaging, pal. My only point here is that let’s avoid giving gifts just to create a huge impression (in this case, expectation…LOL) on the part of the receiver. The gifts we give don’t have to be huge (ROFL XD) or expensive. Otherwise, we’ll be like this little Manito who only felt obliged to give something. It is never about the price of the gift, either.  Whether it is huge or small, wrapped with fancy Christmas decorations or not, expensive or cheap, it doesn’t matter. It is the sincerity and the meaning of giving gifts that really matters.

I guess now that it's the season of giving, we should ask ourselves, what have we given to the people we value?

Happy gift-giving, friends. 

An Accountant's Heart

Our professor once said that there is no room nor time for despair in Accounting. I wondered if he's telling us to have a callous heart. I thought about it further and I realized Accounting does not call for a callous heart but a strong one. 

One that can accept mistakes and have the courage to correct them.

One that can rise up from previous failures and strive to do better the next time.

One that can stand up for what it believes is right despite the many temptations posed by the nature of the profession.

I'm not sure how I should respond to being regarded as an idealist but I do know that i want to change the reality of being an Accountant.

"Uphold ethics in the pursuit of excellence" 

-Atty. Eranio L. Punzalan, CPA

(The first time I met Fr. Manny, he asked me what my motto was when he learned that I was an Accounting student. But he seemed to be joking when he asked so I just smiled. I could have readily given him an answer and that is the statement of Atty. Punzalan above which I heard him say when I attended a symposium on Ethics.)

Pinoy music and money matters

I can’t believe that there are actually people who don’t know who Noel Cabangon is. Like ermahgerd. After hearing him perform live during the launching concert of the Diamond Jubilee of the Archdiocese of Palo, I started doubting whether I really am a fan of Jason Mraz or Simple Plan or whatever (there’s no point comparing them). This man… He’s just epic. Like totally awesome.

When he sings, it’s like one can feel the original emotion when he wrote the song. I’m not the type of girl who ordinarily thinks of what her wedding should be like but earlier tonight, I have just decided that when I get married, I want some Noel Cabangon songs to be played during the wedding ceremony. Sure, it’s going to be different when somebody else sings it but it’s a Noel Cabangon composition still and it would still be lovely.

His songs simply captivate me. It captures the way I like love and life to be. His songs talk about inequality in social status, about changing for the better, about real and everlasting love, about how time passes, about how life has to go on and many more. You should really listen to his songs although it's a different experience to hear him perform live.  He ended the concert with this song which talks about being a good Filipino citizen and he made the audience sing along “’pagkat ako’y isang mabuting Pilipino”.

A friend of mine, who is a K-pop fan, once found out and laughed at the fact that I had Kanlungan and Kahit Maputi na ang Buhok ko on my playlist. Tonight, I was reminded why I had such songs on my playlist and I continue to love listening to these songs. There is no reason for it to be funny at all that old songs are in a young person’s playlist.

Of course, my brothers and sisters in YFC, Mani and I were seated in the front row. You can only imagine how much we could feel the song and the cold dry ice (is that what you call it?). We sang along, we danced and waved our hands up high. Zeus even came up on stage when Jackie Oda (not sure of the spelling of her name) asked him to. People started to leave and yet we were still there enjoying every song. I bet Noel Cabangon didn’t expect to see young people hype up the crowd and dance to his music. It’s the age of rock music and, yet, we were there singing along with him. I really had a blast. 

***

Now, we move on to another segment of the Launching Concert. Bro. Michael Lobrin spoke about being blessed with money. He said money isn’t bad at all. It’s not even true that money is the root of all evil. Jokingly, he said the lack of money is the root of all evil. He made a good point right there. Come to think of it: broken friendships because of unpaid debts, people stealing, etc. Other times, it is not the lack of money at all but being greedy for more which leads to corruption.

Bro. Michael emphasized that when we are blessed by the Lord in material wealth, it is our responsibility to bless others as well (financially or not). And if we don’t think we are, there has to be a reason behind it. Accordingly, God might feel like we can easily forget Him when we have enough money to live with, how much easier would it be when we have more than enough? That’s why, we should be thankful for the times when we run out of cash because we are reminded to call upon our ever-present financer who can give us more than just money but also real joy of being able to know Him. When we live with Him, there ought to be no evil whether or not we are blessed with material wealth.

Shoes

We've heard it said "good shoes take you to good places" but Number Four (John Smith) says a place is only as good as the people in it. So wherever you are, make sure you've got great people surrounding you. I have come to love Tacloban City not because I got here with my shoes (which aren't so great, by the way, and I would really love to have a new pair for Christmas) but because I met some really good friends. 

Thanks for the friendship!

No more dramas

The beauty of being able to read your previous posts is that you’ll know when you lose track and realize that you’re using the wrong lenses in looking at things. Forgive me for my dramas. From now on, I wish to let only positivity radiate from this blog. But I’m not going to delete my dramatic posts because, once upon a time, they were true. M.E., if I may, I would like to adapt your Rule of Positivity. :-)