Sharing my faith and my life one day at a time.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Your Time On Earth is Limited

No matter how much this idea makes you squirm, it’s a fact. No matter who you are, how young or old, what measure of success you’ve attained, or where you live, mortality remains the great equalizer. With each tick of the clock, a moment of your life is behind you. Even as you read this paragraph, seconds passed that you can never regain. Your days are numbered and each one that passes is gone forever.

If you’re like me, you may be tempted to view this reality as harsh and unwelcome, to let it overwhelm and even paralyze you. But that’s not our purpose in writing this study series – just the opposite. Rather than inhibiting us to play it safe, I’m convinced that embracing our time on earth as a limited resource has incredible power to liberate us. For most of us, if we knew we only had one month to live, we would live our lives differently. We would be more authentic about who we are and more deliberate about how we spend the time we have. But such a contrast begs the question: What keeps us from living this way now? I invite you to take the One Month to Live Challenge!

Kerry Shook
One Month to Live

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

One Month to Live Challenge

Robert and I attended a Sunday service of Southpoint Community Church in Jacksonville, Florida. Southpoint is part of the Every Nation worldwide family of churches we belong to.



During the Sunday message, Pastor Russ Austin challenged everyone to think about getting the book "One Month to Live" by Kerry and Chris Shook.



The book poses the question to the reader: How would I live if I only had 30 days left on earth? Pastor Russ gave a bigger, more challenging question: How would I live if I knew I was meeting Jesus in thirty days?


Rob and I were inspired by this question and decided to get the book. We agreed to start the One Month to Live challenge on August 1st.

I will blog on this challenge daily and see if I would do things any differently. This involves not only the spiritual area of my life, but also how I would take care of my body, how I would react to certain situations, people I have to see, and maybe a couple of things from my bucket list.

Same posts will also be seen in our Carried to Completion blog. I encourage you to do the same and exchange questions, thoughts and insights along the way.

May you be blessed today!

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Georgia On My Mind

When I was in my grade school age, my fondest memories were playing and spending time with my cousins Nick, Cathy, Dino and Chris (children of my mom's younger brother).

The last time I saw them was back in 1999 in Decatur, Georgia and I have fond memories of that summer.

Now, in July 2008, I had the pleasure of going through Snellville, GA (near Atlanta) and spend some good quality time with them, along with my Abuelita (grandmother) and Tito Ramon and Tita Lorna.

I was blessed to witness another round of incredible hospitality. Tita Lorna cooked ALL THE TIME to make sure our tummies were full.

And then Tito Ramon and Tita Lorna INSISTED that we sleep in the master's bedroom and they slept in the couches in the living room.

I am sure Pinoys will agree with me that there is nothing like Filipino hospitality! I am grateful to God for showing me excellent examples of hospitality.

I have always told Robert that one my of my biggest dreams is to own a large brick house colonial-style house that has lots of bedrooms so I can open my doors to family and friends who need "getaway time."

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Jacksonville Public Library

Heard about how public libraries are in the United States a long time ago but when I stepped into one this morning, I was still in awe.

I am in Jacksonville, FL right now -- arrived last night. We are here visiting Robert's sister and her family.

Anyway, I am how here at the Jacksonville Public Library -- Pablo Creek Regional Branch. There is free wi-fi here where I can do my work in peace.

This is probably not a big deal to most people but I am just so happy being surrounded with so many resources that can be borrowed in a typical US public library. Normal, printed books of all categories, downloadable media (e-books, digital audio and video), magazines, DVDs of movies and TV shows and CDs.

I don't think I will ever want to spend on media that I can borrow.

Monday, July 7, 2008

St. Louis Loves 'Em Filipinos

Our 4th of July weekend is a kick-off to a busy schedule for the next couple of weeks. From Bellevue, Nebraska, we drove to St. Louis, Missouri to visit Robert’s good friend Adnan Sabic. It was a six-hour drive.
Robert and Adnan became close when they were both students in Bellevue University. Adnan and his family are from Bosnia who moved to the United States.
We visited Adnan and his wife Adisa in St. Louis. Adnan and Adisa are a gorgeous couple – both beautiful inside and out.

We stayed in their very, very stylish home. Loved the way they put everything together. Adnan has always been a very talented artist so the way they did interiors was no surprise.


This is one of Rob’s favorite works by Adnan. A pair of Chuck Taylors put together to resemble a head of a bull.

We spent time with Adnan’s family. They are so warm and hospitable!

Then we went downtown St. Louis so I can see the world-famous arch. Adnan’s office was right in the heart of downtown so we went on the top floor of his office building and took photos of the beautiful view.


We visited the St. Louis zoo. The fact that it has free admission and running well is a pleasant cultural surprise for me. I cannot even remember the last time I visited Manila zoo but I heard it desperately needs help and funding.

Rob had to have Ted Drewes ice cream. Because I never had it before, I had to have it in my favorite flavor – chocolate chip cookie dough. Rob had cherry. It was delicious! I skipped dinner because of it.


We ended our day hanging out at Café Milano. I liked that place because it was a coffee shop with a bar/lounge feel. What an interesting concept. A place like this will be nice to have in Manila especially for non-drinkers like myself.

When Rob and I purchase our first home, I want to be as hospitable as the Sabics!

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Love's Baby Soft

I was the happiest girl ever when I saw Love's Baby Soft in Target last week. My mo used to spray this scent on me and my sister when we were young girls.

I got a bottle right away and it made happy all day! Can't wait to bring home some for my sister.

Omaha Summer Arts Festival

This past weekend was the Omaha Summer Arts Festival in Farnham Street in Downtown. Saw a lot of interesting pieces and several stood out as really, really impressive.

The only sad thing was a tornado struck the booths Friday evening with no warning. It did not give any of the artists enough time to pack up, clear their booths and protect their pieces.

It was bright and sunny the next day and we were able to admire several pieces.

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