All About Eve

I'm generally not sort of a fanatical person, except of course about God and the Bible. I can freely say that I don't have a burning desire to watch any shows on TV. I watch it only for the news and a very few Christian shows. I try not to be hooked to that idiot box. In fact, when our Samsung plasma television blew up, I wasn't really affected except for the fact that it was expensive when we bought it almost 2 years ago. And I enjoy home without a television more. I do watch a little TV with my little girl in our basement for her Veggie Tales movies from time to time. Anyway, it's just that, one day, it dawned on me that I was beginning to be so disgusted with how corrupt most TV shows have become. The Filipino channels have not been really careful as to what they show to very young audiences. I found it especially appalling that afternoon variety shows are showing dancers dressed in a very skimpy attires and rendering sensual dances. It's icky to me! I asked my husband to stop our subscription to TFC for that reason.

Ooops... I wasn't really planning to write about TV shows... anyway...

These past few months, I have discovered that I could actually watch some Filipino shows in the internet and choose the shows that I only want to see. I got curious and checked it out. I found this soap called All About Eve. I got interested because Sunshine Dizon and Iza Calzado are the main actors. I just think both of them have an excellent acting prowess. Three weeks ago, I started watching the said soap to find out how the two actors do. However, I eventually got drawn to its story... especially that this time I am working on my Bible study on Managing our Moods by the Women of Faith. The said soap is showing a lot of the drama revolving the moods and desires of women. Last week, we studied on jealousy, and that particular subject is surrounding the story of the soap I've been watching.

All About Eve shows how jealousy can be the starting point of all evil thoughts and deeds that corrupt an envious woman. Jealousy destroys! It wrecks relationships and other people... and it wrecks it's own slave! The jealous young woman character in the soap, Erica, played by Sunshine Dizon is supposedly a combo of beauty and brains but her jealous heart reconstructed her into a very ugly person. It says a lot about how a shimmering supple skin, nice expensive make up, perfect body figure and sharp brain do not have the power to cover the ugliness of the heart.

Thanking God for his power to live a life on the winning side of the battle against the green-eyed monster!!! Praising HIM!!!

My Fight against the Green-eyed Monster

At our ladies Bible study at church yesterday, we studied about what the Bible says on the issue of jealousy. I love this particular study because all women (I dare to say, all...) battle with this thing at some point in our lives. Some women may still be on the losing side of this particular struggle, but some women are already on the winning side.

All my life, I have warred against the green-eyed monster. Growing up, having the cutest, bubbliest and happiest baby sister on earth left me filled with envy in the corner. It felt like whatever I did won't measure up to what my little sister could do, as far as pleasing people was concern. I felt like nobody liked me. That wasn't the truth, of course. But that was what I exactly felt. I was jealous of her type A personality.

When I entered high school, I was 12 years old, I started getting jealous of my classmates and friends. Eventually, I had learned to lie. I became one big fat liar! It was my way of covering my struggle against jealousy. However, the more I lied the more miserable I became. I have always believed that I made God unhappy with my life every time I lie and that He would punish me. And I have always known that liars do not have a place in heaven. That truth made me feel so restless. I wanted to get out from my lying prison. I prayed many prayers with tears asking God for deliverance. I started hating it when I lied... I started to hate being jealous of others.

Something important happened when I was a junior. Our literature teacher had us memorize and recite "Desiderata" in front of our class. I worked hard on memorizing it... and I took it to heart. One of the paragraphs in the said poem goes...

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

I found myself quoting that particular paragraph over and over again when I'm alone. I still do now! That paragraph helped me got on my footings with strength to defeat my enemy- the green-eyed monster. However, the fight didn't end. It continued until I entered college. There were times when I lost, and times when I won the battle.

A youth pastor was sent by the Lord to mentor me spiritually when I was a freshman in college. His main job in my life was to show me and make me understand that I was wonderfully and fearfully created by God... that I am unique, special and different from others! That I was uniquely equipped with skills and talents to fulfill a special purpose in life. Most importantly, he showed me that my identity is found in nowhere but in who I am before my Creator, Savior and Lord! I loved being mentored by that pastor! He ushered me to the only Truth that completely delivered me from jealousy- the Word of God. I especially loved my study with him on the spiritual gifts where I discover not only "who I was" but also "who I was not."

Did my battle against the green-eyed monster end there? No. I am still battling against it? Yes. But, to God be all the glory, I am on the winning side! How? Every time Miss Envy comes to attack me, I remind her that she is powerless over me for the blood of the Lamb delivered me from all unrighteousness and has given me the power to live my life for Him- including recognizing and being thankful of my own blessings and... entering into the successes and blessings of others!

Yummy Sunday

Rainbow cake for my hubby's birthday! I thought I would bake a very colorful cake for him being that he loves colors. I wasn't very satisfied with how my cake turned out but it's fun because he thought it was fantastic. For more yummilicious food, check this out...

Very Special Friend

Tiyeen (the nickname I gave her) was my best and close friend for several years. Although, she called me her mother of faith, I never felt like our relationship was that of a mentor-mentee. Realistically, the feeling was that of best-friends. We parted ways when she graduated from college and left our city for a job in Manila. But even when we were far from each other, we were still the best of friends. We communicated regularly and visited each other often.

She was one of the most helpful persons I've ever known. She had the ability to free herself from her obligations at work to help people in need. I cannot imagine how much she helped me every time I prepared for a trip overseas once I became a career missionary. She was there every time I called her for help. The same amount of support she gave to my little sister and friends. She became the person to call in times of need.

I loved and still love her a lot like I have loved my own sister. She has such a fun personality. We just clicked together... we laugh at the same kind of joke. We both love to sing and dance... and we know what each of us is good at. We even decided that she was a singing dancer and I was the dancing singer. If you know who is good at what! We both enjoyed verbalizing our day-dreams. We talked about our dreams for the future. And guess what? Our dreams came true.

Seven years ago, our friendship started to drift away. Some little misunderstandings and lack of regular communication parted us farther as the years went by. Each of our lives was tested heavily. We both faced big hurdles in life. Separately, we dealt with our challenges by God's help. We both longed for each other's friendship support but we were not there. We prayed for each other, that's for sure. And we thought of each other always when we heard the word "best-friends".

Seven years had passed and I felt that it was time to look for her. When we visited the Philippines recently, I asked our friends about her. One of them gave me her contact info but I unfortunately misplaced the card that had her info... Oh, such a bummer! Arriving home, I googled her name and confirmed that she's in the Middle East. I searched for her in Facebook... lo and behold, she is there!!! I sent her a message straight away. The next day, she replied with all of her contact info. I then gave her a call and we had the first talk on the phone after many years. She told me that she had also been longing to communicate with me for a couple years but couldn't find my contact info. Oh, it was a happy day!

Now, we are the best of friends again! I can't wait for her to visit me and my family here in Minnesota. I just can't wait. We will for sure have all-night chitchats and a combo of laughter and crying. Oh and yes, she is a laughing cry-er and I am a crying laugh-er! LOL!

God is a God is of healing and restoration. He healed and restored our friendship. I can't thank God enough for this blessing!