Metamorphosis

Hosea 2

¹⁴ “But then I will win her back once again.
    I will lead her into the desert
    and speak tenderly to her there.
¹⁵ I will return her vineyards to her
    and transform the Valley of Trouble^[b] into a gateway of hope.

Let us have a retrospect of the past year.

How many times have you failed God?

How many times have you felt too defeated to move on?

The first part of the year has been a tough one for me.

I have lost a loved one.

I have lost a direction.

I even lost my reason to live at some point.

But despite the fact I fell down and got beaten up, God picked me up and redeemed me. Despite the fact I have been unfaithful to His will, he pursued me and won me back. He prospered me by transforming the ugliest season of my life into something beautiful. Life is still not perfect. I still face hardships. I still stumble and fall once in a while. The good thing is he paves the way for me to start over each time.

I believe hardships are important for us to grow and prepare us for greater things. Just like a butterfly, we need to undergo metamorphosis so we can soar high and fly.

No matter how tough this year was, know this, God will make our 2013 awesome!

Addictions

Wine has robbed my people of their understanding.

Hosea 4:11

The holiday season calls for celebrations left and right. A lot of get together with friends over a bottle of wine occur. Although this is the season of merriment, please do not forget the responsibility that comes with each glass you drink. Each glass you raise decreases your sense of reason.

Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial.

Everything is permissible but not everything is constructive

1 Corinthians 10:23

But this passage in Hosea does not pertain to wine or drinking alone.

Is there something or someone in your life right now that is taking over you?

Is God still your priority?

Has this something or someone taken your sense of reason away from you?

Whatever it is we are devoted right now other than God, we must always be on guard.

The modern day WINE in the passage is ADDICTION.

"ADDICTION has robbed my people their understanding."

Is there anything in your life that is causing chaos or unbalance?

Has your career or business removed your sens of time with your loved ones?

Has your relationship with someone removed your sense of purity and morality?

Above all things, we must be devoted to God first. Everything else should be just secondary.

Reviving Chuck

7 years ago, I bought my first pair of Chuck Taylor Hi Cut Sneakers.

To this day, it still fits me but I don't get to wear it anymore because of the stains. I got a white one and now, it is nowhere near white.

So I promise myself that this coming 2013 and I spend some time reviving my chucks. Anyway, heels are thing of the past to mee now due to my business and an addition to my collection of comfy shoes is very much needed.

Here are some of my inspirations.

I will look for some more.

Will keep you posted.

Litmus Test

Has the Lord redeemed you?

Then speak out!

Psalm 107:2

They say that the tongue is the most uncontrollable part of our body. The Bible also mentioned how it can greatly influence our lives. 

Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.

James 3:2

If the eyes are the window to our soul, our mouth shows the state of our heart and soul. 

A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.

Luke 6:45

If someone would measure your kindness through the words that come out of your mouth, what do you think would be the result?

Unfortunately, most of us would probably fail this litmus test.

Now the challenge that Psalms 107:2 imposes is not just to control our tongue but make a habit out of praising and proclaiming God's glory in your life.

This challenge actually helps as cure our mouth that spits out acidic, painful and unkind words.

If we make it a habit to say good things about God and how he redeemed and change us, this would decrease your opportunity to say bad words.

This would also give us a yearning to get to know God more. We cannot give empty praises and statements about God.

Let us challenge ourselves everyday to speak out about God's redeeming power in our life. :)

CONTROLLING THE TONGUE

Main Verse: James 3:1-17

v.2 For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.

Our tongue is really powerful. With words that come from it, we can wound or hurt, and uplift or encourage.

v.3 We can make a large horse go wherever we want.

Our tongue influences our life and other people’s lives.

v. 10 Blessing and cursing come pouring out the same tongue.

You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. James 1: 19

Being Christians, we must be very careful with what we say. What comes out of our mouth is our testimony.  Whether it is good or bad, it will reflect the Christ in our life.

If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue you are only fooling yourself. James 1:26

Inspire: Challenge Accepted!

Faith and Endurance

Main Verse:

James 1

v.2 When trouble comes your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy

v.3 When your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow

God never sends us challenges that we can’t over come through Him. It is also a chance for God to show His glory in your life. It is your chance to become a living testimony, the best way to glorify God in your life.

v. 5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God.

He gives us necessary tools like His word and prayer. That is why it is important to arm yourself with God’s word at all times. If you don’t know His word, you won’t know His promises.

v. 6 But when you ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone.

Faith in God is necessary to overcome anything. If you don’t believe your God is bigger than your problem, then it will overcome you instead.

Do not have faith in fait but have faith in God alone.

v. 12 God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation.

God has better things in store for you. Those challenges allow you to grow so that you will be ready to handle blessings that come with bigger responsibilities.

Inspire: God-given Dream

When you partake in your God-given dream, life becomes more fulfilling and your destiny begins to unfold. Believe that as you do your part God is working behind the scenes on your behalf. He will line you up with the right people, resources, and opportunities at each intersection of your journey.

If your God-given dream begins to look like a nightmare, do not abort the vision. Realize the enemy is against you. Opposition rises because you are getting closer to birthing what God desires to release through you. Take courage and keep pressing onwards as you rely on God each step of the way. 

Dare to become more than just a daydreamer! Step out in faith and give birth to the God-given dream within you.

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 50:20)

I had my devotion today about Joseph's dream. The text above is from the devotional I read and it moved me a lot.

Have you ever experienced having that dream so intense, so vivid, so pursuant of you? I am not talking about a dream from your sleep, but more of a goal, a desire that God has put in your heart.

I have experienced that I am now starting to live that dream.

I came from a family of coffee drinkers. My dad was born and raised in Batangas and has been introduced the lifestyle of drinking coffee at an early age. Coffee is a common passion we have.

Back in college, I have dreamed of having my own coffee shop. Fresh from college and into the work force, that dream still didn't die. I even attended a coffee workshop with my dad that same year. It was pushed into the side lines though, but that dream was still hidden deep in our hearts. Come the present time, 2012. My dad retired from his work and I quit my from my job, a job I had since I graduated from college. We needed to find a business where we can get our family income. We considered many things, even franchising a convenience store. But God lead us back to the coffee business.

Now, we have our own coffee shop, a dream come true for us.

It doesn't end there though. We are still experiencing many birth pains though. But when you are passionate about what you do and you have great faith in God, no matter what trials you face, you will get through it.

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 50:20)

What dream have you neglected in a long time? Pray about it. Perhaps its about time to live that dream.

What Inspires you?

When I first started this blog, I considered this as my arts and craft blog. Its still is actually. On that note though, I stereotyped what inspired me. It should be something visually-stimulating. Like a photo of a beautifully styled wedding, the artsy interior of a crafts room, or beautiful prints of fabric.

But it shouldn't be boxed into one category. Those are not the only things that inspire me. Books, people and thoughts inspire me as well.

So starting today, I will putting them in as well. It will be a bit more text heavy compared to my other posts, but its still part of my creative process so I have to include it.

I will try my best not to bore you to death. :)

Give me some more!

If you are into camping, one popular treat usually enjoyed during bon fires are S'mores.

For the purpose of discussion let me discuss to you what a S'more is.

It is the combination of melted marshmallows and chocolate sandwiched between two graham crackers.

It was called S'more because the idea is the treat will mak you say "some more."

We've been selling this particular treat at our coffee shop. My friend is doing it for me. But since she's a bit busy these days, I'll be making my own version using white chocolate and chocolate graham crackers.

For those of you who want to do it at home this post from Oh Happy Day might be useful :)

Baking Project: DIY Pinata Cookies

This will be my next baking project.

Daily Brew

This is the reason I've been busy the past month :)

We just opened our first branch last June 9 at Super8 Grocery along Shaw Blvd.

 We look forward to opening more branches this year.

Crafternoon: Old to Gold Eco Craft Workshop

Our first batch of Eco Craft Workshop was a success!

Thank you to everyone who joined.

I hope you all had a blast.

To those who missed it, we will have another round next month.

Be sure you won't miss it this time.

It feels so good to do something one is passionate about!

Personalized Craft Kit! 

Pinwheel items up for grabs :)

Finished work of art by our participant, Rose :)