Miah Learns to Write

I just finished reading a love story today. It reminded me what my English literature professor told us about stories. She said that there has only ever been two subjects that stories talk about: love and loss. Of course, that's probably an oversimplification but then after careful consideration, I do think that behind the story of the thing we call "life" from which almost every other story is set upon, that adage contains truth in it. There are a few questions that I would like to address, more to myself than anyone, as a form of catharsis I guess. The first question is: Will you bear to risk loving someone even though you know for a fact that you will get hurt, you will feel broken, and you will be reminded of those moments when you felt so alive because you were with that person, all the while knowing that you will never be able to hold that person again? Are you willing to love someone even though it will probably cause the most intense pain you would ever feel...

Merry Christmas! It is the morning after Christmas here in our part of the world but I believe many are still celebrating the merry day. Christmas is obviously a joyous occasion and it is the time of rejoicing and sharing hope and love with people. But I also do not take away the fact that this is not the case for many parts of the world right now especially in war torn areas where fear and dread are palpable and death is imminent. For those brothers and sisters out there, it is probably not a merry Christmas and my heart goes out to them. Despite this sad truth, however, I believe that the very concept behind this occasion is the hope that they need and quite frankly, everyone else does too. I guess everybody knows the story of where this all began. It is a story of hope, joy, and love. But on the flip side, it is also a very painful story and I know many people can relate. Think about it, the God of the universe came into his own and he had nowhere to sleep in, he was basically...

Many times I would have to mentally scold myself when I don't do things perfectly and sulk about it. In many instances as well, I would have to stop comparing myself to others. This is one of the struggles I go through every day and I recognize that this is not something new for me. When I was younger, I got irritated when outcomes weren't up to par with my expectations, when they weren't perfect the way that I saw how it should go. I usually set the bar high for myself, but not only that, I also extended this expectation of such standard toward others. When I let people down, I sulked in self-pity and sometimes I still do which I constantly have to submit to God because it is detrimental to me and to others as well. I admit that I'm not perfect, nobody is but when we compare ourselves with others or when we become so obsessed with having everything to go our way, the way which we think is the best, then we will be going on a downward spiral of condemnation, reg...

I bet you've had days when nothing good seems to happen to you or maybe one bad thing someone said or did to you ruined your whole day. Maybe you got caught in traffic which caused you to be late for work and your boss or your professor was also having a bad day so he vented all his stress and frustrations on you. You even woke up early and dressed to impress. Then, nobody in school takes notice and you hear people gossiping about you in the office or in your org. When you get home, aside from the tons of homework or work you have to finish, you also have to do chores around the house so your mom yells at you for being so lazy and inconsiderate. On top of that, you find out your girlfriend/boyfriend is cheating on you. What a tough day! All you want to do at the end of it all is to take a break or just escape from the mess you entered. The first thing I want to tell you is I understand what you are going or have gone through. You just want to burst out on a rampage to reliev...

" But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.  Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. "  2 Corinthians 12:9 When Paul addressed the internal struggles and problems that the Corinthians were experiencing particularly the emergence of the "super-apostles" proclaiming a different gospel, he gave many accounts of his and the other apostles' struggles with persecution, imprisonment, and threats on their lives all for the sake of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, doing the work of the Lord, obeying the will of God by the leading of the Holy Spirit, and strengthening the different churches that they have established. Paul also indicated that despite all these problems and difficulties they encountered, it was God who sustained them and delivered them from their troubles. God enabled them to speak boldly and enter foreign lands to preach ...

" Seek first to understand, then to be understood. " Sean Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens Empathy. This is the word used to describe the idiom "putting yourself in another person's shoes." Many people today have slumped into depression. Many are lonely, discouraged, grumpy, and frustrated because they feel misunderstood by the rest of the world. Teenagers would probably have the feeling that no one understands them or cares for them. I have also found myself in this situation before and I think that is because we lack empathy, not for ourselves but for others. Instead of understanding other people first, we tend to look at our own condition and wallow in self-pity. I believe Sean Covey was correct when he said that we must first seek to understand and then to be understood. Instead of focusing on our own problems, I think it is better to help shift our attention away from ourselves and try to help others with their problems. Galatians 6:2  t...

" But we have this treasure in jars of clay  to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." 2 Corinthians 4:7 We are just simple people, ordinary men and women, who surrender our lives to an extraordinary God. Apart from God, we can do nothing. If we look at Jesus' disciples and do a background check on their status, credentials, identity, and place in society, we have to say that they do not amount to anything. Many of them were fishermen, Levi was a tax collector, and Judas Iscariot was the only one among the first twelve disciples of Jesus who had any connection with prominent people. These men had nothing special about them. When Jesus was handed over to Pilate and crucified on the cross, these men, who had been with Him for three years and saw the miracles that He performed and heard the truth that He preached, ran for the hills and hid. John 20:19  mentions that " when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of...

During the adolescent stage of a person's life especially when puberty kicks in full blast, certain changes occur not only in the physical body of a teenager but the mind and heart also develops. We become more aware about the capacities of our body and we become curious about the opposite sex so we start to explore about them. There is nothing wrong with learning about yourself, your body, and about others but we have to be careful. It would be best that we learn about these things from our parents first or at least talk about these things with them so that we would know what is right and what is wrong. Hearing their advice or guidance could greatly help us to walk in the right direction. Now the problem these days is that teenagers are becoming so alienated from their parents. Culture and mainstream media has severely affected the mindset of the youth so much that we try to cut ourselves off from our parents as much as we can. Instead, we are allured toward the company ...

Lately, I have been thinking about the reason why certain people who were once Christians before suddenly fall out from their faith and stop believing. I have also noticed that there are those who did not believe before but because God opened their minds to the truth and revealed Himself to them, they started believing. They were able to understand more about God and how real He is and how much He deeply loves and cares about us. I think this is quite a concern for many Christians nowadays. Perhaps, the reason why certain people turn their backs away from their faith may be in part because of us, the community of believers and in part because of what people expect from being a Christian or living for Jesus. I believe that faith is simply the act of letting go of our worries and fears due to uncertainty, placing our trust and submitting to the will and plan of God for our lives, and obeying God's commands through the leading of the Holy Spirit or as He reveals it through...

For sixteen years, I had always thought that I was a Christian because my parents told me that I was a Christian and we wrote a couple of times on paper, so I began to believe that I was truly a Christian. I went to church with my parents every Sunday and I attended Sunday school in the early years. I had prayed each night before I slept and each morning when I woke up. I gave thanks to God before eating. I did all this for sixteen years and found out that the name I wore was, well, merely that - a name. I never really lived and experienced how it was to be a Christian. I never experienced the joy and excitement in serving the Lord. Most of the time, I was hesitant to raise my hands in worship to God because I was afraid of what other people might think of me. I was more interested in defending my faith rather than sharing the gospel. Jesus was with me but He was not dwelling in me. Until God finally opened my eyes to the truth, and I realized that being Christian was not any...