Friday, August 26, 2011

Beautiful Hand Bells


I'm doing hand bells this year for my music class choice!
It is so fun! But, some songs like Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho are still hard for me.
I can't wait 'till we play the whole song perfectly in our concert.
Other than just learning how to play hand bells and reading and counting notes, I learned another thing from this class too.

We, humans, actually have a similarity with hand bells. We can either let God, who can read notes, play us into a beautiful song. Or, we can become Satan's instruments and be played roughly into an ear-piercing sound. If we let Satan play and use us, his dirty hands full of sin can leave some more sin (dirt & oil) in our lives and affect how we harmonize with God. Like hand bells that need to be cleaned from dust, we need to be cleaned from sin. God is the only one with towels that can cleanse us. We need to be polished and used by Him and not by Satan.

Use us, Oh Lord, to bring glory and honor to Your name.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Back to School

Matthew 5:16
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
That is my school's theme verse this year. We should be a shining light of hope to everyone in the world that they may see our joy and the Salvation, God has provided!

I was kind of nervous the first day of school (August 15th) but now that a week has gone by, I can see that my first week was great! God has given me a nice homeroom teacher and homeroom friends. And I'm actually in Handbells this year and it is so fun! It's nerve-wracking when I'm just standing there with the music and bell but once we start playing something I get so into it, the time flies by. I just want to ask you to pray for me this school year that I will set a good example and to do great in all my subjects. Also, pray for all the teachers and workers at school as they prepare lessons and adjust to the new Academy system. Thank you.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Summer Blessings


Everyday I receive wonderful blessings from God but here are some of the blessings I got this summer.
I was able to do my devotions almost everyday this summer and got to share them with my friends.
My family and I were able to visit my Dad's aunt in Florida and I got to go to Texas for the very first time. And in Texas I got to see some beautiful dolphins and I got to go to a boardwalk.
This one is really big! I got to give out about 20 tracts this summer! That's 15+ more than my original goal which was 5.
I had the privilege to do offertories and specials at church.
I started helping around the home more(okay, maybe this is more of a blessing to my parents. just kidding!) by learning how to make rice and brew up some coffee, washing the dishes, and cleaning. (I still need to learn how to do laundry and cook though.)
With my dad, I got to go to the nursing home on Saturdays to talk to the people there.
My family submitted applications to be American Citizens and we're praying that they will accept them.
My family got to see my dad's brother, Tito Ramil (tito means uncle in Tagalog), who is a sea man and lives in the Philippines. We haven't seen him for years so it was a blessing.
Also, my church offered on the property next door to be able to expand and the owner turned down our offer at first. But, through lots of prayers God touched the owner's heart and let us have the property for a little higher offer. Please pray that God will give us wisdom on what to do next and that He will provide all our needs.
The latest blessing I have is that my calendar drawing contest entry for my mom's hospital this summer won and my drawing is part of the 2011-2012 calendar! (Aug. 26)
That's all I can think of now, but I'm sure I will receive more later=)

Monday, August 08, 2011

Anything Can Happen in One Second


What could happen in one second?
A meteor could come crashing down right this instant.
Maybe a dormant volcano in Hawaiicould erupt right now.
Or even your uncle from Europe can call you and give you a new car.
Anything can happen with God's power.
But what if that one second event is bad?
What would your reaction be?
Would you start getting mad?
What if you knew that you were going to be in a car crash today and there's no way to stop it?
Would you be ready with Salvation?
The only way to be ready and safe and secure is by trusting the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior.


Be a Lighthouse


2 Corinthians 6:11-18 talks about separating ourselves from unbelievers. Separating ourselves from the unrighteous simply means that we shouldn't be hanging out with them because they will drag us down into sin. But that doesn't mean we can't witness to them. In fact, we need to try our best to shine our light. We (Christians) are the lighthouse in a dark and stormy sea full of lost people (Unbelievers).

Tuesday, August 02, 2011

We Should Follow

We should follow Christ all the time. Even through storms or valleys, we need to remain loyal. This may sound difficult, but we also need to follow Him through great trials or none.
We can find rest in Jesus. We should trust Him and place our lives in His hands.
We should live for Jesus, even through war and strife.
We are weak but He is mighty.
We should surrender all for Christ.
Give everything we have in Jesus' care and to serve Him.
The apostles followed Christ's example and preached His word and got persecuted for it.
We should imitate what they did even if it costs us our lives and our social reputations.
"I will follow Thee, my Savior; Lead on, my Shepherd, lead on,"
-notes from the Wilds Music and Proteens Top Priority Manna Daily Devotional

Don't Worry



Matthew 6:25-34
God takes care of the birds (v. 26), plants (v.28, 30), and everything else He created so we should just put all our trust in Him everyday.
v. 27 "Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?"
If we want some breakfast, we can't just keep laying in bed and think about the delicious waffles we have in the kitchen.
It's the same with worrying. We can't just worry all the time thinking that it'll solve the problem.
Worrying doesn't do anything but stress us out. God is the only one who can solve all our problems and give us all our needs.
v. 32 "(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things."
When we first seek the kingdom of God and are wanting to glorify Him, we will be blessed! (v.33)
Don't worry about the future because everything is in God's hands.