Farm Life

Last Sunday my family and I went to our grandparents' for a visit and to celebrate Easter with them. I'll be posting photos of my grandparents later, first I want to show you what I saw on the farm. I live in a city and these got me all excited. :)

I missed this calf. He's only a couple of months old. Last time I saw him he was half his size. He's really friendly and playful, and loves to eat vegetables so they have to keep him away from the vegetable garden. Haha!

Here's a hen with her chicks. She laid and hatched her eggs in the neighbor's property. They locked her up and claimed her as her own. My grandmother fought for her and eventually got her back. My abuela is one tough cookie. :)

A crown fit for a queen.

/

Can you now guess what this is?

A baby pineapple. :)

Whom Do You Seek?

Text: John 20:11-18, Jeremiah 29:13

Mary.

She looked for Jesus even after she saw that the tomb was empty. I could only imagine what she felt at the time. Maybe she was afraid that her Teacher's body was stolen. I could imagine that she was confused. I could imagine that she had little understanding of what was happening. Peter and John reached and inspected the empty tomb, they believed and went back home. Mary Magdalene stayed and looked for Jesus. She did not know what was happening at the time, she did not know that the Son of Man must die but will rise again on the third day after his death. She looked for Him and found Him.

God does not hide from us. If we seek Him we shall find Him.

I love the prophet Jeremiah's letter to the captives in Babylon. Hebrews that were taken from their homes, their families, their country. They might have felt terribly alone, fearful, and sorrowful. But here is what the Lord told them through Jeremiah:

I say this because I know the plans that I have for you.” This message is from the Lord. “I have good plans for you. I don’t plan to hurt you. I plan to give you hope and a good future. Then you will call my name. You will come to me and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will search for me, and when you search for me with all your heart, you will find me. I will let you find me.” This message is from the Lord. “And I will bring you back from your captivity. I forced you to leave this place. But I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have sent you,” says the Lord, “and I will bring you back to this place.” (Jeremiah 29:11-14 ERV)

  Not everything or everyone we seek will give us hope. He is our hope. We can trust Him for He has plans for us, plans that will prosper us and not hurt us. When we don't understand let us seek our Lord with all our hearts, and we shall find Him.

Day 8: Alive!

Text: Luke 24:1-12; 1 Corinthians 15; Isaiah 25:6-9; Matthew 28

I am so excited that I do not know exactly where to start. Participating in this Holy Week plan for the lenten season by She Reads Truth has been very meaningful to me. The texts from the Bible in this plan are not new to me and yet, in some amazing and awesome way, they are. I just feel that the Holy Spirit is with me in this, teaching me new things, bringing to light truths that I have taken for granted. I have been guilty of not finishing plans, but I am so happy that I stuck with this. And it isn't really something so hard to do. I feel the love that the SRT community has. I feel welcome, even though I don't comment often. And I learned a lot. Thank you, sisters.

I have been waiting for Easter to come! The devotionals each day for this week has been leading to today - the climax! He is risen! He is alive! My heart is overwhelmed with so much joy that we are a witness of this event, this truth. The gospel is true!

We need not be afraid of death anymore. Our faith has meaning because He lives! 

But let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I’ll probably never fully understand. We’re not all going to die— but we are all going to be changed. You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes—it’s over. On signal from that trumpet from heaven, the dead will be up and out of their graves, beyond the reach of death, never to die again. At the same moment and in the same way, we’ll all be changed. In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal.

 Then the saying will come true: Death swallowed by triumphant Life! Who got the last word, oh, Death? Oh, Death, who’s afraid of you now?

 It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God! (1 Corinthians 15:51-57 MSG)

 You can stop searching the graveyard for the hope, the love, the life you long for. HE IS ALIVE.

Resurrection Sunday is more than the miracle of a man coming back to life.
It is the fulfillment of a promise.
It is the irremovable seal on God’s vow of love to His children.
It is the resurrection of hope.
It is the definitive declaration that the Love we long for is not dead. ~ She Reads Truth

Spring Has Sprung

No, we do not have spring.

No, we do not have cherry blossoms.

But we do have bougainvillea! 🌸💕🌸💕🌸💕

Who's The Boss?

Meet the catfather. Or is it the fatfather? 😜

Thoughtfulness Makes Me Happy

I was pulling another all-nighter last night, slaving away doing what I should have done last year - completing the requirements for my board certification exams - when the boyfriend offered to give me a break.

He took me to The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf which was only about 10 minutes away from where I'm staying. I got to stretch my legs and relax for a little while.

I just love the unexpected respite.

I love you! :)

Can You Be Happy For 100 Straight Days?

Jesus told this simple story, but they had no idea what he was talking about. So he tried again. “I’ll be explicit, then. I am the Gate for the sheep. All those others are up to no good—sheep stealers, every one of them. But the sheep didn’t listen to them. I am the Gate. Anyone who goes through me will be cared for—will freely go in and out, and find pasture. A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of. (John 10:6-10 MSG)

Yesterday I joined the #100HappyDays challenge. It's been going on for a while now, and I'm joining the band wagon. Yippee! I think it's a great idea. We have so much to be #grateful for and #happy about. Let's start counting our #blessings.  You can visit 100happydays.com for more details. 

These two fellas here are Sherlock (the Basset Hound) and Bingo (the Aspin, as in Asong Pinoy!) aren't they adorable?