This video was shown yesterday at church (click through to the link, because embedding is disabled). It moved me so much that I wanted to share.
The pastor's message today was about getting rid of those worldly things which give us a temporary feeling of happiness and instead focusing on the greatness of God. This has been an area of weakness for me lately. I've been letting things get in the way of my relationship with Him, and, I have to admit, I've caught myself relying on worldly things rather than on Christ to make me happy.
The video made me realize how perspective can change everything. I mean, here I am, healthy and happy as a clam, and I take God's goodness for granted so often. But for this man, who is facing the reality of death, all he wants to do is praise God. Amazing.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Merry Christmas!!
Merry Christmas everyone!
I hope your holiday was full of fun, food and family! We really had a great time today (and yesterday as well). Yesterday was, of course, Noche Buena, which is really a Hispanic's pre-Christmas celebration spectacular. We had the family over for dinner and I was in charge of decorating the table! I totally ran with it, and I just love how everything turned out. I had to give myself a pat on the back. ;)
It was great to have all of my mom's side of the family together for Noche Buena. Gabby's family stopped by as well for some yummy dessert! After dinner, I went with my love to his church's Midnight Mass. Beautiful service, and most importantly, a beautiful message of Love! Overall- great night. Noche Buena indeed.
After an extra long night(by the time mass finished and I got home and finished cleaning up, it was 3 a.m!), I woke up bright and early at 8 a.m. to head on over to Gabby's for the opening of the presents. His sister wakes up at 6 a.m. every Christmas morning (mind you, she's 20) and I usually go over and bring gifts and open their gifts with them there. I was pleasantly surprised! Gabby bought me a beautiful Coach wallet that I'd been eyeing for some time! I totally wasn't expecting it, but then again, he wasn't expecting getting an awesome GPS system, yet he did! Santa was kind this year. ;)
After opening presents at the Medinas', I headed on home to wake up my mom and brother for our own Christmas morning! I was, again, pleasantly surprised! Mom got me an awesome camera, which I was in dire need of. I will definitely be wearing it down! ;) Also, my brother got me seasons 1 and 2 of the greatest show ever, which totally made my morning.
After gift time, we went to my cousin's house in Pinecrest for our traditional family brunch. Each year we have Pan con Lechon, yummy cinnamon rolls from Knaus Berry Farm, and my grandmother's traditional manzanitas. All that food, plus a huge family and a ton of kids, makes for a great day!
I was reminded today just how blessed I am. I can truly say that, even if I didn't recieve one thing that I wanted, I would still be so grateful for just having everything that I already own. I have a great family, a wonderful boyfriend, health, food, shelter, and a means of transportation! Seriously, what more can someone ask for this Christmas?
I hope your holiday was full of fun, food and family! We really had a great time today (and yesterday as well). Yesterday was, of course, Noche Buena, which is really a Hispanic's pre-Christmas celebration spectacular. We had the family over for dinner and I was in charge of decorating the table! I totally ran with it, and I just love how everything turned out. I had to give myself a pat on the back. ;)
It was great to have all of my mom's side of the family together for Noche Buena. Gabby's family stopped by as well for some yummy dessert! After dinner, I went with my love to his church's Midnight Mass. Beautiful service, and most importantly, a beautiful message of Love! Overall- great night. Noche Buena indeed.
After an extra long night(by the time mass finished and I got home and finished cleaning up, it was 3 a.m!), I woke up bright and early at 8 a.m. to head on over to Gabby's for the opening of the presents. His sister wakes up at 6 a.m. every Christmas morning (mind you, she's 20) and I usually go over and bring gifts and open their gifts with them there. I was pleasantly surprised! Gabby bought me a beautiful Coach wallet that I'd been eyeing for some time! I totally wasn't expecting it, but then again, he wasn't expecting getting an awesome GPS system, yet he did! Santa was kind this year. ;)
After opening presents at the Medinas', I headed on home to wake up my mom and brother for our own Christmas morning! I was, again, pleasantly surprised! Mom got me an awesome camera, which I was in dire need of. I will definitely be wearing it down! ;) Also, my brother got me seasons 1 and 2 of the greatest show ever, which totally made my morning.
After gift time, we went to my cousin's house in Pinecrest for our traditional family brunch. Each year we have Pan con Lechon, yummy cinnamon rolls from Knaus Berry Farm, and my grandmother's traditional manzanitas. All that food, plus a huge family and a ton of kids, makes for a great day!
I was reminded today just how blessed I am. I can truly say that, even if I didn't recieve one thing that I wanted, I would still be so grateful for just having everything that I already own. I have a great family, a wonderful boyfriend, health, food, shelter, and a means of transportation! Seriously, what more can someone ask for this Christmas?
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Im Ba-aaack!
It's been way too long since I've updated this thing... my sincerest apologies to anyone who still has interest in this little blog! The semester got pretty crazy, and with all my deadlines and assignments, plus my crazy work & school schedule, I barely had time to do anything at all.
Big News to announce!!! My awesome, amazing boyfriend Gabby graduated from FIU this week!!!
I was so proud to see him walk across the stage. He has worked SO hard the past three and a half years, and I'm so happy that all his hard work has paid off. Now, off to grad school! We're still praying on that one, keep Gabby in your prayers as he makes this big decision!
Last night I hosted a surprise get-together for him to celebrate with his friends. We all had a great time, and his surprised face was priceless! ;)
I also did extremely well this semester and I must say I have to give myself a pat on the back! I had this Spanish professor from hell who would assign a truckload of work from one day to the next. It was terrible!! I honestly thought I would fail that class, but luckily, I ended up with a "C". I've never been so happy to achieve mediocrity!! Hah. I'm just really happy it's over with.
Anyway, I've been meaning to revamp this blog for quite some time. Hopefully I can maintain it for a while! I've been getting a lot of inspiration from a bunch of different little blogs lately, so now that I have some time on my hands I will try my best to blog more.
Big News to announce!!! My awesome, amazing boyfriend Gabby graduated from FIU this week!!!
I was so proud to see him walk across the stage. He has worked SO hard the past three and a half years, and I'm so happy that all his hard work has paid off. Now, off to grad school! We're still praying on that one, keep Gabby in your prayers as he makes this big decision!
Last night I hosted a surprise get-together for him to celebrate with his friends. We all had a great time, and his surprised face was priceless! ;)
I also did extremely well this semester and I must say I have to give myself a pat on the back! I had this Spanish professor from hell who would assign a truckload of work from one day to the next. It was terrible!! I honestly thought I would fail that class, but luckily, I ended up with a "C". I've never been so happy to achieve mediocrity!! Hah. I'm just really happy it's over with.
Anyway, I've been meaning to revamp this blog for quite some time. Hopefully I can maintain it for a while! I've been getting a lot of inspiration from a bunch of different little blogs lately, so now that I have some time on my hands I will try my best to blog more.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Support Systems
It's been a rough couple of days.
My dad had a seemingly routine surgery last week to repair a herniated muscle in his stomach. On Wednesday he was re-admitted to the hospital because apparently something went wrong with the original surgery and he wasn't able to use the bathroom. He underwent a second surgery on Thursday, and is currently recovering. But my dad's an old man (no really, he's 73). Having two surgeries in one week in the exact same place is not a walk in the park, and I would imagine the older you are, the harder it is to deal with these complications.
Yesterday my dad was transferred to the ICU for shortness of breath. Since he's not able to use the bathroom, all the gasses in his stomach were pushing up and against his lungs, causing him to have trouble breathing. I was scared. I was scared this whole week. But God has a way of showing us that He's always there, and He always provides.
I don't talk much about my half-brother, but the truth is he's almost a carbon copy of my dad, which is probably why we get along so well. At the beginning of the week it was just me and my dad; now it's me, my dad, my half-brother, and my brother, which lifts such a huge weight off my shoulders. I know I don't have to go it alone, and I can ask and consult my half-brother (since he's much older and has more life experience) on what to do or how to best handle a situation. We can go months without speaking, but talking to him is so easy, when we reconnect it's as if we never stopped. We can openly discuss differences we experienced growing up with our dad as, well, our dad (he is my dad's second child from his first marriage, while I'm the second child of his last marriage), and we understand and truly know our father as the person he is, not as the mean old guy who wouldn't let me out past 10 p.m. on weeknights.
Then there's my small group. God has truly blessed me with these people! It's so refreshing to be able to connect with people who have an active passion and love for God and to be able to talk about everyday issues from a Christian perspective and even discuss questions that we may have about these issues. They are an excellent support group, simply because it's so laid back and unpretentious; I never feel ashamed or embarrassed to say something, even if it's something mean (because we are all haters, haha). ;) To have people who pray for you, even when it's about everyday needs, it's powerful. To be able to give and take Godly advice is powerful. My small group is exactly what I needed after this week.
Throughout this whole ordeal, God has never been far from me. While I waited by myself in the waiting room during my dad's second surgery, I knew I wasn't really alone. I prayed and read psalms and lifted my dad's life up to God, and I didn't feel scared. I was liberated. All my worry was cast upon Him, and it was exactly what everyone talks about at church all the time. I felt a wave of comfort over me, and I gave glory to God as I sat next to my father when he came out of surgery. I just watched him sleep, and thought, Thank you, God, for this man's life. Thank you for choosing him to be my father.
It's not over yet, but I'm praying for God to guide me and my brother and my dad through the next phase, which is his recovery. Please pray as well.
It's so humbling to see God in action.
I lift up my eyes to the hills-
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
--Psalm 121:1-2
My dad had a seemingly routine surgery last week to repair a herniated muscle in his stomach. On Wednesday he was re-admitted to the hospital because apparently something went wrong with the original surgery and he wasn't able to use the bathroom. He underwent a second surgery on Thursday, and is currently recovering. But my dad's an old man (no really, he's 73). Having two surgeries in one week in the exact same place is not a walk in the park, and I would imagine the older you are, the harder it is to deal with these complications.
Yesterday my dad was transferred to the ICU for shortness of breath. Since he's not able to use the bathroom, all the gasses in his stomach were pushing up and against his lungs, causing him to have trouble breathing. I was scared. I was scared this whole week. But God has a way of showing us that He's always there, and He always provides.
I don't talk much about my half-brother, but the truth is he's almost a carbon copy of my dad, which is probably why we get along so well. At the beginning of the week it was just me and my dad; now it's me, my dad, my half-brother, and my brother, which lifts such a huge weight off my shoulders. I know I don't have to go it alone, and I can ask and consult my half-brother (since he's much older and has more life experience) on what to do or how to best handle a situation. We can go months without speaking, but talking to him is so easy, when we reconnect it's as if we never stopped. We can openly discuss differences we experienced growing up with our dad as, well, our dad (he is my dad's second child from his first marriage, while I'm the second child of his last marriage), and we understand and truly know our father as the person he is, not as the mean old guy who wouldn't let me out past 10 p.m. on weeknights.
Then there's my small group. God has truly blessed me with these people! It's so refreshing to be able to connect with people who have an active passion and love for God and to be able to talk about everyday issues from a Christian perspective and even discuss questions that we may have about these issues. They are an excellent support group, simply because it's so laid back and unpretentious; I never feel ashamed or embarrassed to say something, even if it's something mean (because we are all haters, haha). ;) To have people who pray for you, even when it's about everyday needs, it's powerful. To be able to give and take Godly advice is powerful. My small group is exactly what I needed after this week.
Throughout this whole ordeal, God has never been far from me. While I waited by myself in the waiting room during my dad's second surgery, I knew I wasn't really alone. I prayed and read psalms and lifted my dad's life up to God, and I didn't feel scared. I was liberated. All my worry was cast upon Him, and it was exactly what everyone talks about at church all the time. I felt a wave of comfort over me, and I gave glory to God as I sat next to my father when he came out of surgery. I just watched him sleep, and thought, Thank you, God, for this man's life. Thank you for choosing him to be my father.
It's not over yet, but I'm praying for God to guide me and my brother and my dad through the next phase, which is his recovery. Please pray as well.
It's so humbling to see God in action.
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
--Psalm 121:1-2
Sunday, August 2, 2009
The Home Stretch
So this is my last two weeks as an intern at CBS4. Time seems to have gone by way too quickly, but I wanted to give whoever reads this an update as to what's been going on lately.
Next week (Saturday, to be exact) is our Intern Newscast. Basically this is a full thirty-minute newscast produced and performed completely by the interns at WFOR. Obviously, this includes anchors and weather/sports talent. The interns who wanted to be anchors had to submit an audition tape to the intern supervisor, Stephanie. The day I taped my audition, I woke up late, was stuck in traffic and was having an overall bad morning. I wanted to blow dry my hair the night before, but I simply didn't have the time, since I didn't get home from the station the night before until midnight. So that morning I blowdried just the front of my hair (hey, it's all you folks see anyway!) and went over the script about a million times before going in to tape it (we were only allowed to tape it once).
I was "OK" with the outcome. I tried incorporating all the things that Stephanie told me to work on. Let me tell you, anchoring is really not all that simple. You have to constantly be aware of what you're saying, how you're saying it, how your face looks, how your inflection is, and how you're interacting with the viewer. It's exhausting trying to remember all of it! Anyway, I was looking over my tape and I was able to catch one of the photographers, who has been so helpful to me over the course of this internship. He's no-nonsense, in-your face, tell-it-like-it is. I love him. Anyway, I knew he would tell me if something wasn't right..... well, he loved it! I took his word for it, left it up to God and pushed my tape into Stephanie's mailbox.
The following Friday, Stephanie commented on how much she loved my tape. She said she was so impressed with my audition and she thought I did a good job. I'm actually very quiet around the newsroom, so I think this made her even more surprised. The next day I got an e-mail... I made anchor! :)
I was so excited. My hard work had finally paid off! The newscast is on Saturday, and to be honest, I'm a little eager to get it out of the way. I'm pressured to do a good job, because a couple of days after the newscast, there's a watch party which everyone in the newsroom is invited to (this includes, reporters, anchors, and managament...eek!). They'll be able to critique our work and give us pointers on what to improve on. It's so exciting! I still have a lot of work to do on my resume tape, and I'm polishing my resume so that I can give it to the Executive Producer tomorrow. I'm nervous. I really, really need this job. Please continue to pray for me to finish strong and be able to show everyone what I'm capable of. Most of all, pray for this job opportunity. I can't tell you how awesome it would be.
Next week (Saturday, to be exact) is our Intern Newscast. Basically this is a full thirty-minute newscast produced and performed completely by the interns at WFOR. Obviously, this includes anchors and weather/sports talent. The interns who wanted to be anchors had to submit an audition tape to the intern supervisor, Stephanie. The day I taped my audition, I woke up late, was stuck in traffic and was having an overall bad morning. I wanted to blow dry my hair the night before, but I simply didn't have the time, since I didn't get home from the station the night before until midnight. So that morning I blowdried just the front of my hair (hey, it's all you folks see anyway!) and went over the script about a million times before going in to tape it (we were only allowed to tape it once).
I was "OK" with the outcome. I tried incorporating all the things that Stephanie told me to work on. Let me tell you, anchoring is really not all that simple. You have to constantly be aware of what you're saying, how you're saying it, how your face looks, how your inflection is, and how you're interacting with the viewer. It's exhausting trying to remember all of it! Anyway, I was looking over my tape and I was able to catch one of the photographers, who has been so helpful to me over the course of this internship. He's no-nonsense, in-your face, tell-it-like-it is. I love him. Anyway, I knew he would tell me if something wasn't right..... well, he loved it! I took his word for it, left it up to God and pushed my tape into Stephanie's mailbox.
The following Friday, Stephanie commented on how much she loved my tape. She said she was so impressed with my audition and she thought I did a good job. I'm actually very quiet around the newsroom, so I think this made her even more surprised. The next day I got an e-mail... I made anchor! :)
I was so excited. My hard work had finally paid off! The newscast is on Saturday, and to be honest, I'm a little eager to get it out of the way. I'm pressured to do a good job, because a couple of days after the newscast, there's a watch party which everyone in the newsroom is invited to (this includes, reporters, anchors, and managament...eek!). They'll be able to critique our work and give us pointers on what to improve on. It's so exciting! I still have a lot of work to do on my resume tape, and I'm polishing my resume so that I can give it to the Executive Producer tomorrow. I'm nervous. I really, really need this job. Please continue to pray for me to finish strong and be able to show everyone what I'm capable of. Most of all, pray for this job opportunity. I can't tell you how awesome it would be.
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