Wednesday, February 29, 2012

One Leap At A Time.

When I turned 29, I honestly welcomed it with arms wide open; forgetting that people are about to throw at me that big 'ol snide "Malapit ka nang mawala sa kalendaryo", which never fails to rain on a young woman's parade.  And so, my initial reaction at the thought of being confronted with this very famous line was to rush to the 2012 calendar and hope against hope that it would be a leap year.  And yes, God's favor was on my side, so to speak, February has 29 days and that age old comment is not YET  applicable to me.  Needless to say, I was a bit daunted by that inevitable fact.

And just like what any writer would do, what cannot be expressed with spoken words can always be communicated in the written form; thus, I decided to make a blog post out of it.  My initial thinking was what is the leap year all about?  Why, every four years, February suddenly gets an extra day.  Apparently, a leap year is actually a "corrective measure" to make sure that the calendar year is synchronized with the seasonal year; for whatever that means, I honestly do not want to know.  But yeah, it happens in order to correct what seems to be out of sync.  

Which leads me into thinking, I am going to be 29 once in my life and maybe, just maybe, this would be a good time to do some corrective measures too, don't you think?  Well, nobody has to wait until they're 29 to correct whatever seems to be messed up; but hey, since we are on that subject, maybe, I would actually call my 29th year, MY LEAP YEAR, my year to correct whatever needs to be corrected.  Does that make sense?

To be perfectly honest, for the past several years (those who know what I went through a couple of years back would actually get to piece this puzzle), I have been saying to myself and to the people I am constantly with that I am in my redemption years.  Yes, there were years that I am certainly not very proud of, but those same years were, ironically, instrumental to get me to where I am now.  I call it redemption years primarily because I would love to make up for "lost" time; first and foremost, all the lost time which I should have invested in growing my relationship with the LORD.  The past couple of years, I would have to say, by God's grace, have been very fruitful and I am praying to GOD that it would get better everyday.  I keep encouraging "kids" who are relatively younger than I am to start investing their time nurturing a really deep and intimate relationship with the LORD.  If I would have it my way, I would have loved to experience the nearness of the LORD at a much younger age, maybe in my early twenties?  But then, those are years gone by for me now, and what I have is the last year of my 20s.  Am I supposed to wallow on the fact that I lost so much time?  I think not. 


This is my time, my time is now.  And oh, how I am constantly amazed at how GOD is moving in my life.  There are days when I seriously don't get it; but then, there are days that everything just makes perfect sense!  And believe me, those "perfect days", not to mention beautiful days, are way more than the other! This is, indeed, MY LEAP YEAR, and I am owning it!


And then, there's that other kind of leap that I think about from time to time.  These past few days, I have been noticing myself getting sudden surges of excitement and "kilig" for whatever reason I still have not identified.  I kid you not, but I really get that very nice elated feeling that I would always hope would stay.  But then again, they are just sudden surges, so they wear off after some time.  

And then I think to myself, the past few years found me really guarded.  Guarded in a good way, though. I think that I have finally learned to get a hold of myself and find control over my mind, my emotions, my words, and my actions.   And past experiences, to be honest, have gotten the best of me that I am quite hesitant to "test the waters".  Which water I am talking about, I still do not have an idea.  But yeah, with how things turned out before, I am finding myself more and more careful at the risk of purposefully restraining myself sometimes to let loose and enjoy whatever that sudden surge of excitement and "kilig" is all about.  Sadly, I have lost touch of how it is to just enjoy and bask in my emotions, however great they are.  I am now finding myself, seriously, stopping myself to get all consumed by my feelings and emotions, no matter how harmless they can be.  I guess that is my attempt to protect and preserve myself from getting "burned" (I know, kind of a harsh description).  

And so, with my last hurrah of my twenties underway and this being MY LEAP YEAR, remember today because today, I am embarking on a pursuit to make the most of my year.  I am going to make the most out of this year because I know that the future is mine for the taking.  GOD'S thumbprints are all over it and all HE asks is for me to lift up both hands and say, "YES, LORD. I'LL TAKE IT!". 


This year, I am going take a two-pronged kind of LEAP!  A LEAP to correct and sync myself with everything else happening in my life; and another LEAP to who knows what! Whatever that is that requires me to take that LEAP, I am ready for it, I am going to take it! 


And already, I am claiming beautiful days ahead! 

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

A Very MaLIGAYAng Bati, LIGAYA!


As I have always said everytime I share this photo, either on Facebook (if it's active) or Twitter (@CzarinaKristine), this was probably the last photo of us with Ligaya as a single lady.  Taken after the Christmas At Home cantata, I remember her pulling me to the stage so we can take this picture.  

And today marks her 31st birthday.  I have no idea if she is dreading these two numbers but what I do know is that she is celebrating this with a hyphen on her surname, Baradi-Rulloda.  Yes, that single lady on the left when the photo was taken is now a MARRIED woman! 

From the perspective of her single lady friend, I have to be honest that I felt mixed emotions when she broke the news that she has begun planning her wedding.  My initial thought was, "Lord, pag kinasal na si Ligaya, anu nang pag-uusapan namin? E syempre, puro marital kwentos na maririnig ko sa kanya.  Di na ako makaka-relate." Yes, may slight selfishness involved.

But the Lord, He is really full of surprises for me this year.  What I thought would create a distance between Ligaya and Kristine (as she calls me), even became an even stronger "glue" to bind us as friends. 

True, we are at different seasons in our lives.  I think we are at Season M; Ligaya treading the waters of being a MARRIED woman, while Kristine still trying to reconcile the idea that she is called a MISSIONARY in the ministry God gave her now.  And this season really brought us closer, at a higher and deeper level of our friendship.  There are more instances now that we are able to talk about more serious matters.  Recently, we have been talking about life changes - my decision to invest a bulk of my time in the ministry and her contemplations on leaving her corporate job to pursue an involvement in a Christian organization.  


By God's grace, we have really come a long way; Ligaya has come a long way and I would like to believe, just as any friend would, that she is passing the Lord's "tests" with flying colors.  Yes, ako ang president ng fans club ni Ligaya, whether sa kanyang singing career or whatever, I will always be her cheerleader, because I know that she will also be mine.  


And so, this is a friend dedicating an entire blog entry to one of God's brilliant gifts to me.  I will be forever and always grateful to the LORD Who brought us together.  Like what I always say...

Si Ligaya ang kulot sa unat kong buhok, 
Si Ligaya ang stricto sa kunsintidor tendencies ko,
Si Ligaya ang iyakin sa tapang-tapangan mood ko.

...and the list goes on.   These statements might seem as if I am "glorifying" a friend, but really, this is about the mystery (and humor) of God's mighty hand working in the lives of two of His daughters.  We may be two quite different individuals but somehow, the Lord found beauty in our differences by bringing us together; and for that, I believe neither of two of us would question the wisdom of God there.


I would not know if Ligaya would get to read what I have written, but let this be my expression of thanks to the Lord for bringing this blessing in my life.  Our "WHY LIKE THAT?" episodes are silenced by God's promise of "THIS TOO SHALL PASS".  Two lines that you might probably hear us say a million times over; and there's probably no way that anyone would get the actual context of this super inside joke. But these are exactly the very things that make this gift of friendship a real blessing.  


For Ligaya, on your 31st year, I am grateful to the Lord for you.  For being the shock absorber of my seemingly endless crying moments, the boarding house I can always got to whenever I feel like not coming home, and for being the Accountant/Auditor of the different aspects of my life (translation: tagasaway).


I look forward to more years of enjoying the gift of friendship our Father has bestowed upon us.  Thank God that He is not finished with us yet and our best days are still to come.  May you come into a full circle as you fulfill His calling as a wife, giving glory to our Father alone.  May He find us faithful as friends, as sisters in Christ, as He transforms us each day from grace to grace to GRACE.






Eternally HIS,

Czaringring

Sneak peak...

http://www.black-gifts.com/product/home-decor/mugs/

Until I Get My Pinterest Account...

...let me share with you my thoughts on maintaining this blog.

Since I would like to develop a new way of expressing myself, I decided to at least try to write, if not a devotional, at least a blog just to let some of the people dear to me have an idea of my thoughts, which, in the past several months or even years, I have kept to myself.  While my initial intention was to really practice myself writing devotionals, having gone through Bible Interpretation and Teaching classes, I thought to myself that maybe, I can possibly write devotionals.  Just like my favorite author and speaker, Elisabeth Elliot.  But then, I took a step back and thought, "Maybe a devotional is a little too high of a goal at this point. I should probably start elsewhere." Thus, blog entries are coming your way in the next months, as long as my schedule permits me. I hope it does.

So, from this day forward, expect several of my random thoughts translated into words, photos, and countless musings.  Make way for this new kind of girl...

           photo credits: http://www.itgawker.com/2011/12/31/a-new-era-for-social-interest-sites-twitter-tumblr-and-pinterest-go-big-in-2011/