Life

by

A good life…

Another year,  a new decade that’s how I celebrated my birthday this year.  The candle is added on the birthday cake but I don’t feel any difference from last year.  I guess  numbers don’t count, but how you feel and what you have done with those years that matter most.  I had a great time celebrating my birthday with my family in the backyard.  When I look at my children, my heart just filled with joy to see them growing up and becoming who they are and most of all they are good looking kids 🙂  I am so blessed to have them in my life and I thank God for choosing me to be their mother.

As I ponder about my birthday, how nice it was to celebrate with family and all the well wishes for my birthday, I realized I also entered a new decade in my life.   A decade is 10 years and a lot of things happened in our lives whether it’s good, bad, sad, and joyful.  The cycle of life continues whether we like it or not and we can’t go against nature.

How do I describe my last decade? It was a decade that I wished was a nightmare.  I wished I could wake up from the nightmare and everything was okay.  But, it didn’t happen that way.  I had to go through a lot of changes in my life from heartaches, sorrows, joy,  to see my children graduating from high school and going to college, finding myself again, losing my beloved pets.  Still… here am I!! standing and breathing, counting my blessings and so happy that God is on my side.  He has been there with me all the way.

A good life doesn’t mean it’s always smooth.  I have had my share of twists and turns, valleys and mountains, high and lows.  Still I look back.. I can smile, have tears in my eyes and say “Thank You God” for a good life 🙂  I am excited for what lies ahead of me and what He has in mind for me.. I just let him lead and stay on the path J

by

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

It has been a while since I write for the blog.  Life has been busy.  I thought when the chidren are grown up, life will slow down… I guess not.  Time also has flown faster than I thought. Before we know it, we will welcome 2017 in 6 weeks.

On this day as we celebrate Thanksgiving, while waiting for the turkey to cook to perfection in the oven 🙂   I have time to think about what I am thankful for this year.  Life has its ups and downs, twist and turn, and all the struggles.  But, when I look back to the beginning of the year,  I cannot help but smile and thank God for all His blessings, His presence in our lives, and not to forget the miracles He has given our family.

One of the miracles is my son coming home and living with us for a while. He graduated from college and got a good job.  He asked if he could live in our home for a while.  He said he is homesick as he has been away for college and not eating good.  In other words, he misses home and mama’s cooking 🙂

I remember talking to one of my best friends, about my children wanting to be with their friends more than families.  She said to me not to worry as they will come back.  Well… I guess she is right! One of my son is moving back home.  And the other ones will come home anytime they can.  It makes me happy that my kids want to come home 🙂  I have made a home for them 🙂

As I get older, my priorities change and look at life differently 🙂 I always believe children are blessings from God and they are our inheritance as the Bible says.  We don’t bring our material things that we accumulate to heaven but we will bring our children to heaven with us and yes they will multiply and we are rich 🙂

Not only that my son is home, he also adopted a cat.  Yes, a black cat with yellow eyes 🙂  As a parent, I told him that pet is a commitment and he can’t just dish her out later when he changes his mind.  He said he is aware of the commitment.  He wanted to adopt a black cat because they are the first to be put down as not many people want to adopt black cats.

Well…. Bellatrix (formerly Samara), a domestic short haired cat came to our home last night 🙂 Bella was a pregnant stray cat when she came to the shelter.  She had five kittens and all were adopted except for her.  My son had a choice either Bella or a 4 month old black kitten that five people wanted to adopt.  He chose Bella and I think he made a good choice.  Bella is sweet,  affectionate, and likes to cuddle.  She is not shy and her presence will be known 🙂 She has “I am nice and sweet but don’t mess with me” kinda attitude 🙂  And guess what? I will babysit her until my son comes home from other state.  He basically adopted the cat before moving back home 🙂

As I watch my children interact with Bella.  I can’t stop smiling 🙂 I guess I have done a good job as a mother teaching my children to love and have compassion.  Most of all, we learn that love doesn’t care about being rich or poor.  Look at Bella, she doesn’t care if we are rich or poor.  The most important thing for her is that she finally has a place called home and a family who will love her.  In return, she will pour her love unconditionally to us.  That’s exactly what God does with us.  He pours His unconditional love to us so we can have a place called home with him in heaven and experience His love while we are on earth.  And all He wants from us is a relationship and love like Bella does to our family 🙂

I pray as you read the story, you also will look back to the beginning of the year and feel the same way I feel about Thanksgiving.  We have plenty to be thankful whether it’s big or small, happy or sad, joy or tears.. the most important thing is that… we made it through and for that alone, we should be thankful 🙂  HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

 

 

by

Good Morning America!

Good Morning America!

Happy Monday 🙂

A new day, a new week with its promises and yes, it’s cloudy today in America.  I feel the cloud is nature’s way of saying that America is also mourning with Paris over the loss of lives.  I pray for peace  and comfort for the families that lost their loved ones.  I pray God’s grace will cover them and give them strength to go through each hour and day as they grieve.  God, I pray that you will protect America and our allies.  I pray you send your angels to be around our borders and every evil plot and deed will be exposed to the light and be thwarted  and no weapons against America shall prosper in Jesus mighty name, amen.

May it be that we do not forget our blessings each day and say “I love you” to the loved ones as you never know when it will be the last time.  Go and enjoy life, savor the coffee, smell the roses, or just take a deep breath to rest, take note about your surroundings.  Life is good and precious.. It’s God’s gift to you 🙂

As The Lord commanded, I bless Israel and pray for peace in Jerusalem, Middle East and Paris.

Have a blessed day 🙂

by

Tribute To A Loving Friend

TRIBUTE TO A LOVING BEST FRIEND

Saturday, November 7th, 2015 was another sad day in my life as I had to put my baby to sleep.  He was a Shar-pei and his name was George Winston.  He lived a good life for almost 13 years (2 months short).  He was born on January 1, 2003 and was adopted to our family on Valentine’s Day 2003.  We had many nicknames for him : big bear, pooh bear, Winnie the pooh, bapa, and poohey.  He was a handsome big boy with a gentle heart, full of love for his family.

He gave our family so much joy and love and filled the void of missing Chester.  He was the combination of my first and second Shar-pei. He was gentle yet fierceful.  He seemed to know when to go to bed.  When the clock rang at 9:00 pm, he would go upstairs to my bedroom and sleep on his bed or I would find him taking over half of my bed.  He would not move.

He was loving, loyal and protective of his family.  He watched over us with all his heart.  He intimidated every person who came to our home, no matter how many times they have been in our home.  He would bark and the sound of his bark would have made you run for a cover.  He would encircle and check you out and make sure you were good, just like a bodyguard would do until I told him it was okay.  He was not bothered with little things happening in the home but watch out if you were on my property.  He would not hesitate to run after anything that would endanger his family.

He loved to lay in the sun and enjoy the afternoon rays in the porch.  He taught the little ones who the boss in the house.  He would let them play and put them in their place when they were out of line.  He would look at me with his puppy eyes and tell me that he got me covered.

I know I will cry for many days ahead and will miss him dearly.  My heart hurts so much of losing him very quick without warning, but on the other hand, I am glad he did not suffer.  It was unexpected..  He didn’t go alone.  I was there with my daughter, my very best friend, my niece and her family came to say good bye to him.  All my children had their time with him and said good bye via facetime.  Thank God for technology 🙂 We love our Winston.

Dogs are faithful, loyal, loving and willing to lay down their lives for their loved ones. Dog is the only animal when you spell it backward, spells GOD.  Some people said there is a rainbow bridge where our loved pets will be waiting for us.  Some people say animals don’t have spirit and when they pass, they are gone forever.  But I believe our love is their ticket to heaven.  I believe God gives special privilege for our pets to be in heaven with us.  God loves His creation.  The Bible said when a sparrow falls, God knows.  He knows and loves Winston as much as I do.  I know I will see him again in heaven 🙂

by

Laughter Brings Joy To Life

My son decided he wanted to clean the decks yesterday so we turned on the outside water faucet. This is around 10:30 in the morning. He skipped a couple classes at school to help me clean.  Nice boy I have 🙂  Little that I knew, the water spigot on the side of home was opened full blast. My sister told me that the kitchen was losing water pressure and that my other son has been in the bathroom for a long time. I checked and told her that he has been out of the bathroom for a while and the noise is just the water running outside… boy, was I right.. the water was running LOL for about 2.5 hours full blast.

I sat down watching TV in my living room and I heard this noise like running water.. suddenly, I remembered and thought “oh no”.. ran outside and yep.. the water was running full force and looked at the window well.. there was a pool LOL I ran back inside the house, grab a pail and dog leash and yelled at my sister to go down and check the bedroom. Taking out water with pail and dog leash brought back memories how we drew water from the well back home… I started to laugh and thought it was funny LOL I took about 10 gallons of water from the window well. A thought came to my mind whether I should jump into the well so I could get the water faster but I would be stuck if no one could hear me LOL. We used 12 towels plus my small wet and dry vacuum to dry the carpet. I decided to call my friend who is a carpet cleaning guy, Bruno (by the way he does a wonderful job and I can refer you if you need help with carpet cleaning) to help me and bless his heart, he came 30 minutes later. He looked at the carpet and he said it wasn’t that bad and asked if I had a fan to dry the carpet and I told him I do and showed him my desk fan.. he laughed and told me I needed a commercial fan.. he said he would go home and come back with the big fan LOL Now the carpet is pulled back and drying. I have to call a carpet installer to change the pad and put the carpet back. The day that I said I am done with cleaning the basement.. now this happened LOL

Later that day, I was making hamburgers for prayer meeting and my family. I tried to lit the grill and it wouldn’t lit.. my son tried to help me for 10 minutes and we tried every knob LOL and it wouldn’t lit. Then we realized the propane was gone LOL thank God I have two more tanks in the garage so whoala.. we had a nice dinner for prayer meeting. Most of all, we all got hit with the joy and laughed at the things that happened. There is no need to get mad or swear as it will not change anything…. I guess I learn to just flow with life and not sweat the small things that can be fixed and in everything joy is the strength 🙂 and when we can laugh at any situation, somehow it doesn’t seem to dread or weigh us down.. so laugh until your sides hurt with the story because it’s exactly what God wants you to do 🙂 May the joy of the Lord be your strength and you can laugh at your fear and it will not have any hold on you anymore 🙂 God bless you

by

Life is Vibrant :)

Life is full of colors 🙂 – Susy Pujiro

I was running into the grocery store to pick up a pie for a church picnic on Sunday.  As I was rushing through the aisles to go to the bakery section, I had to pass the flower shop in the store.  Suddenly my eyes caught this woman who was picking flower bouquet.  I thought what a spunky woman with an orange/gold high heels, colorful legging and a black top, short black hair.. I thought “wow, she got style”.  She looked vibrant.  As I passed her, I complimented on how good she looked.

I picked up the pie.  As I was walking towards the cashier, I saw her still there at the flower shop picking some flowers.  So, I approached her and said “life is worth living, isn’t it?  She broke into laugh and said to me “you are right, I just turned 65 and you make my day”.  I had a good look at her.  Her face was glowing and her eyes were vibrant and full of life, and yes.. I noticed she sprayed her bangs some green color 🙂 so we talked for a few minutes and we both laughed.

On the way to my car, I could not stop thinking of her being so vibrant and full of life and dare to wear some colors to show her personality.  I thought to myself, that should be the life we live, dare to be different and won’t let age hold us back.  She truly got style 🙂

by

TRUST….

Trust is fragile thing, easy to break, easy to lose, and one of the hardest thing to ever get back – Anonymous.

Yes… trust is something that we take lightly but yet something that carries so much weight in life, whether it’s in business, relationship, friendship, or even in our daily life. We trust the cook when we go to restaurants that our food is good. We trust auto mechanics to fix our car, and make sure our car is safe to drive. We trust the banks where we deposit our money, that our money will be in our accounts. We trust our loved ones that they will love us forever. Everything we do daily is based on trust whether we realize it or not.

Trust in relationship and friendship, are the hardest to gain back once it’s broken. Because broken trust, creates doubt in the heart and mind of the persons being cheated or taken advantage of. Once trust is broken, you are always on guard, looking for any clues if you are ever going to be cheated again. Broken trust can make one’s mind going crazy and will eat you alive in doubt and fear.

when trust is broken, a person has to work very hard to prove that he/she is trustworthy again. This process can take a long time, or will never be achieved. I learn trust is also about one’s integrity 🙂

So, whenever someone trusts you with their valuable asset, make sure you guard it with your integrity and life because that person trusts you wholeheartedly. Whenever someone gives you their heart and loves you, you are blessed and trusted with the most valuable possession on the earth. So, please treat their heart as it’s your only possession on earth.  Hold the heart in your hands gently and treat it with tender loving care.  If you break the heart, you break the trust 🙂

by

Love or Lust

There is a fine line between love and lust – Susy Pujiro

I was talking to a friend yesterday about love and relationship and the subject became more interesting when lust came to the mixture of the conversation.  After we were done talking, I could not help myself but thinking about our conversation.

When I think of love, I think of a man who is in love with a woman whose love is deeper than skin deep and physical attraction.  This love is a heart to heart connection between two souls, they see each other through the eye of their heart because they love the person for who he/she is in the inside.  They will fall in love with the heart of the person first, and then they will look at each other through eye of love and see the outer beauty of the other person.  That is love that will stand the storms of life and will endure.. it’s true love.

Whereas lust is the opposite of love but feels like love because you are so infatuated with the physical appearance of the other person that you think you are in love. But lust will fade away because there is no true connection between two persons besides physical attraction.  It will be short lived because you are building your relationship on sand.  When the storms of life comes, that relationship will come to ruins.

There is a fine line between love and lust because they both first look alike, feels right.  They both give you the high of feeling on top of the world, but one is real and the other is not.  Be careful what you choose 🙂

by

Coincidence or…????

“An hour with one friend is worth more than ten with strangers” – Fortune Cookie

I went out to lunch with a dear friend today and there were only two of us but the waitress gave us 3 fortune cookies.  I opened one before we left the restaurant and I read it to her, she laughed and said it fits you.  I put the extra fortune cookie in my purse.

On the way home, I got a message from Andrew to check my email as he sent me documents to read.  As soon as I got home, I turned on my computer to read the documents.    While I was reading the documents, a dear friend came on skype so we talked for an hour to catch up about lives.  I have wondered how he is doing as I haven’t talked to him for a while.  I learned that his father passed away three weeks before Christmas.  We had a good conversation.

Half hour after the conversation, I remembered my extra fortune cookie in my purse.  I opened it and it said “An hour with one friend is worth more than ten with strangers”.  I laughed as I thought “Wow..God!! I took the picture of the fortune cookie and sent it to him, I told him that we are destined to be friends 🙂

My eyes are quite open now to the miracles happen daily, whether it’s in the form of a message from fortune cookies, a line I hear from watching TV, the billboard in the freeway, the radio or whatever comes that takes my notice.  I remember the big miracles happened in my life but I have come to realize miracle happens everyday and it’s God’s way of communicating with us and letting us know that He loves us, He hears us and He is watching over us.  It’s my own ignorance and busyness that make me unaware of Him.

Our life alone is a miracle 🙂  so, open your eyes to the miracles happening in your daily life and take a note of it, write it down.  When you look back, you will smile and you will see every miracle that happen to you.  God bless you and love you 🙂

by

Tis The Season…

Christmas is the beautiful time of the season full of joy, lights, decorations, baking and presents but also can be the hardest time of the year to celebrate because of the broken relationship, death, broken promises and missing someone you love.

I am experiencing it right now and I don’t feel like putting up the Christmas tree and decorate my house like I used to.  As my children get older and they are spreading their wings, being with their friends are more fun than being with family. I got the taste of what my life will be once my children are out of the nest and live their own lives. 

There is a reason for a season and that is the same with every event in our lives.  There is a reason why we are still here.  There is a reason for the broken relationship and broken promises. Sometimes, we can’t see what lies ahead of us because we only can see the hurt at the moment.   Holiday season just makes it harder to go through the day. 

I realize I have a choice to make because time keeps moving forward and I can’t be stuck in the time zone of the past, or waiting for the broken promise or mourning of the deaths and broken relationship. Because life doesn’t wait for me.  I either move on with the time and get on with my life or I will be left out and let life goes by me.

So, I decided today that I won’t let any circumstances in my life to hold me back to enjoy my life.  So, I took out my Christmas tree and I put it up and I will decorate my house as the day goes til Christmas. I also going to bake some cookies and enjoy the hustle and bustle of the holidays.  After all, life is worth living and there is a brighter future ahead of us 🙂

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 🙂