sweet pleasures of the day

Started the day quite bored. I know I needed to prepare for my classes on Monday but I wasn't really in the mood for it. Waited until noon and decided, after lots of thinking, to go to my favorite coffee shop - Modern Memory. I brought lots of books with me plus pens and notebooks. I know it's going to be a reading adventure.

And it really was. The mellow music playing in the coffee shop, plus the classic ambience of old furnitures and antique collections, charmed me as I flipped page after page of the books I brought. What have you, I even finished reading one book - Open Your Heart with Writing by Neil Rosen - when I have had a hard time finishing reading the book for months for lack of time to read.

Aside from reading, I also did preparations for the Bible study tomorrow. Our topic would be about Jesus and how He, the Son of God, needed friends to support Him at His time of sorrow when He was here on earth. Just a question, Jesus asked Peter, James and John to stay awake with Him at His greatest sorrow (the agony in the garden, Read Matthew 26) and they kept falling asleep. Do you think it would have been different if there was a woman with them? Or if Jesus brought women with Him instead of the three? I guess it would be a completely different story, as I know for sure that people would speculate so much as to why Jesus would bring women with Him. But really, I was wondering about that, about the difference if it were women.

Anyway, after the coffee shop, I went to my favorite scented candle store and whoopsie! the vendor gave me an extra candle holder and scented candle that goes with the two I'm buying. I asked her if she sells candle holder only and she said no, I have to buy the candle and it's holder. I was disappointed but she was so kind to give it to me instead. What a blessing!

After the shop, decided to walk to the bus stop and noticed the clear blue skies and the sunny day that goes with it. I noticed how the air seemed different this time as Autumn's around, no more harshness from the sun and there is coolness in the air that makes one desire to walk and stroll and enjoy the lovely day.

In my apartment and another whoopsie! Jim, a colleague from Canada, traveled to Macau and he went back with the yummiest pie in the whole wide world - the portuguese egg tarts! =) Thank you, burp, burp, burp. =)

At the end of the day, after the scrumptuous dumplings at dinner, after the visit to my favorite fruits shop, after lighting scented candles in my room and delighting at their aroma...I'm tapping at these keyboard trying to just say how amazing it is for God to spill pleasures in a dreary day. The walk under the sunshine, the janitor cleaning the streets, the kids playing on street corners, or even at the inquisitive taxi driver...all are pleasures within the day that I experienced as I opened my eyes to the magic of the moment, no matter how ordinary it may seem for other people. They are life's sweet pleasures - God given - spontaneous and sporadic and they carry special messages of love and care for each one of us. However, it requires the eyes to see, and the mind to know that they are messages from God made especially for you.

If you don't notice them - the laughter of the children, the scent of the candles, the smile of the sun, the taste of egg tarts - they then slip away and you would not receive the message of love and wisdom those moments hold.

And today, I got His messages. I should look up and say my thanks now. =)

x

Cathy

a teenager's basketball (love) story

Aug. 6-16 is the FIBA (Federation Internationale Basketball Associacion) Asian Championship here in Tianjin, China. The Philippine Team lead by Coach Yeng Guaio is, at this time, doing pretty well with 3 wins and 1 loss. Hope things will continue to stay positive.

I watched the Philippine team battle it out against Japan last Friday. They won, thank God. Me and my friend, Irene, had so much of shrieks and shills I actually felt my throat getting scratchy after the game. I remember how I used to be so gaga over PBA when I was in high school.

All the while while I was hollering my support to the Philippine Team, I remember that nerdy high schooler whose only vise outside her studies was that she feel in love with a gentleman named Vergel Meneses. But their love cannot be because he already loved someone else, and besides, it was only a one-sided love affair. He didn't even know she existed. Their, er, her love started when she saw him slug a move in the basketball court that seemed like he was suspended mid-air and the ball he has on his had landed on the ring with suave, she gasped and the sparks flew from around her, her eyes light up red lights that formed two hearts. Then a melody filled the air, and there was no turning back, her heart is attached.

Well, that was a long time ago. Vegel Meneses retired from playing basketball years after that while she, the loveburst teenager, graduated from HS, then college, found a job in a newspaper company, then resigned and landed a job in Tianjin, China. She's now enjoying her single life with a bit of craziness, or rather lots of it...then sometimes, just sometimes, she looks back at the past and laughs at how silly she was. Of how her being a fan goes beyond watching the game, or of how easy it is for someone so young to like someone and call it "love," without any hesitation.

But then again, she learned from it...or else I'd have nothing else to write in this entry.

Did I mention that the Philippine team won that night against Japan? Sorry, reminiscing got the better of me.

Jiayou, Philippine team! Go! Go! Go, noypis!

(Note: pics above were taken at the game Phil. vs. Japan, Aug. 7, 2009 at the Tianjin Olympic Stadium. Third pic was with my friend Irene together with the assistant coaches and staff of the team, and the last was with the impressive player of the night - Asi Taulava).

x

Cathy

verses

"My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the King, my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer." Psalm 45:1

Verses

I want to write
About your love
Of how you see me
At my worst and best

I want to write
About the flowers you sent
Or how the rainbow looks different
When you’re in my mind

I want to write
About the rain, or the sunny day
And how it’s both meaningful
Because of you

I want to write
About the silence of your love
Or the loudness of it
Or its constancy and strength

I want to write
About your life in me,
Or mine in you,
Our boundless tale of love

I want to write
Then recite it to you
See a smile passing your lips
Or your eyes reflecting your heart

I want to write
Verses of you and me
Then sing to the rhythm of its words
And dance under the stars and moon

acperez aug 2, 2009

x

Cathy