Purple Butterfly

heart

Thursday, July 28, 2005

heart,
originally uploaded by beautiful purple butterfly.

SINGLE PERSON'S PRAYER
(Author Unknown)

"Lord, help me as a single adult.
Help me to acknowledge Your presence in my times of loneliness.
Help me to understand the difference between being alone and being lonely.
Help me to claim Your promise to be closer than a brother.

Help me to be positive in my present circumstances.
Help me to not to allow past hurts to affect my present attitudes
Help me to experience contentment even as I acknowledge my need for companionship

Help me to find security not in my possessions or in relationships but in You
Help me not to be threatened by possible failure of relationships of others
Help me never to be so self-sufficient that I have no need for others.
Help me to subject myself to the counsel of others

Help me to share my burdens and hurts with others.
Help me always to hear the counsel of others in the light of Your Word.
Help me to cultivate friendships for the sake of others as well as myself.
Help me not to withdraw from those who are of different status.

Help me to be supportive of the family unit as You ordained it.
Help me in my freedom to be a channel of Your love to others.
Help me to control my natural desires.

Help me to never become careless about my personal appearance.
Help me to use my time wisely.
Help me never to allow others to take Your place in my life.
Help me to be honest about my desires for the future.
Help me to seek Your guidance and direction in my life.

Lord I ask these in Your Holy name. Amen."

Butterfly Tales
10:23 PM

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Path o fMystery

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

PathofMystery
Originally uploaded by beautiful purple butterfly.

Life is certainly full of mysteries. We take one step at a time. Not everything is revealed to us all at once. We come across certain choices that determine our future. Those choices that we made or we make are more often than not dictated by our emotions. In the end we say to ourselves that we don't want to regret any decision we have made or regret anything we did in the past. Everyday I see many people's heart get broken, be it for another person, a thing or a cherished possesion. Our hearts are tender and tend to break each time. I listened to my friend relate a story to me. I wanted so much in my heart to comfort this friend but at that moment, I was in a shock that my only response was smile and try to make the conversation as light as possible. Now, I wish I could have given more attention and could have stayed with her and prayed for her. I know it's breaking her heart but I admire her courage in facing it. The best I can do for now is to bring the matter into prayers and in high hopes that everything will just fall into place.

As Christians, we should never let an opportunity pass to show how much Christ loves the world. How much He cares that though we may not understand the things that are going around us, He is still in control. We only need to look at nature around us, how the sun is positioned in such a way that heat is not too strong or too weak that we cannot survive.

My friend,

Whatever you are going through right now, God knows it and He knows every tear that drops. Be at peace that He is close to the brokenheart and that we only have to call Him and He will be there for you, guiding you every step of the way. People around you may seem uncaring and may seem not to understand, but believe in your heart that HE sees, HE feels and HE loves you unconditionally. I will be praying for you.

Butterfly Tales
5:00 AM

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freedom from bondage

cutbtrfly
Originally uploaded by beautiful purple butterfly.

We go through so many difficulties everyday. As long as we are here on earth living and breathing on this planet, whether we are Christians or not, rich or poor, young or old we all experience pain in one form or another. The one thing that separates Christians from all the others is that peace and hope that someday we will be reunited to our loving Creator and that life is not just a matter of "what we eat or drink." There is so much that we have to look forward to and not only in this life, but in the life ahead.

No matter how difficult the circumstances may be, a Christian is confident in the knowledge that our God will never leave us nor forsake us. Easier said than done right? Have we heard ourselves repeating the same verse over and over again? But my question is, have we lived that kind of faith? Have we lived a faith that we come to a full surrender and just allow God to work in our lives? I can think by now that many of us would nod in despair that though we are aware that God is in control, oftentimes or many times, we want to be in control. We seem to want to direct our own lives, we seem to want to know everything. I am guilty of that, many times, I seek God for answers, not realizing that more than anything, He just wants me trust Him. Believing that He has His best interest for me.

It's so easy for me to get caught up in the everyday struggle that I neglect to recognize that God has given me the power to overcome. The power that rests in me is the same power that resurrected Jesus from the cross. Now, isn't that amazing?

As a resolution, whenever I am tempted to look at my own weaknesses and succumb to the temptation to worry, I only have to look up where I can find my inspiration and where my strength comes from.

-To God be the glory forever...-

Butterfly Tales
4:35 AM

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nadina and me

Monday, July 25, 2005

nadina and me,
originally uploaded by nikkiqs.

check out the chicks!

Butterfly Tales
3:27 AM

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the-warmth-of-friendship-

Sunday, July 24, 2005

the-warmth-of-friendship-,
originally uploaded by beautiful purple butterfly.

I feel much better now. These are the moments that I feel lonely and blue. I went to the mall today after church to have lunch and even after a very powerful message, the "humanness" in me, with all its frailties, shortcomings and failures is tempted to feel miserable. I was walking around to kill time and even while my mind was occupied by the faces and things around me I felt a pang of loneliness in my heart. I wanted someone to hold me, to listen to me, to ask how my week was and to talk without the fear of being judged. I know my friends and my bestfriend would be there to listen or at least pretend to listen but I know that they are preoccupied with problems of their own and they can only do so much for me, their lives need some repairing that adding my burden to them is enough. They are wonderful friends who have helped me in ways they may not be aware of. So, I decided to just be alone and enjoy the time for myself. I bumped into an officemate who was on his way to check in at Marriot hotel to spend time with his wife. This officemate of mine married at a very young age by the way. Envy started to creep inside my heart. I wanted to spend time alone with someone, in a warm embrace and in a cozy atmosphere. I shrugged the feeling off. It would be of no use to envy at this point cause in the first place, I don't have anyone close enough to spend intimate moments with. I was reminded the other day that I have every reason to be happy and content with the current state that I am in. Being single means I can afford to go wherever I may please and best of all being single means that I am also available for whatever plans God has in store for me. If it His plan for me to be with somebody today then I have no doubt I will be spending time with that person. But for now, I continue to remind myself that I am to enjoy my time being single. This may only be a temporary state. Who knows, the very person that I desire to be with is being transformed into the person that will cherish me. Day after day is a lesson for me as well. That instead of allowing that pang of loneliness to have a grip over me, I decided to run to God and open the Bible and there I discovered wonderful truths about Him and His plan for my life. Why did God gave His word in the first place? Cause we are very limited, we have nothing to boast of, not even our riches, our achievements or our status in the society. We need His word to guide us, to nurture us, to rebuke us and to save us from unnecessary pains. Without God, we are nothing and our lives will have no meaning and purpose no matter what we try to achieve and it will only be like a cycle that never ends. True enough, I am not living a perfect life, I fail many times but I can trust a perfect God who will never leave me and whose grace and mercy is sufficient for me everyday.

Butterfly Tales
1:42 PM

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feeling lost

lost-sm, originally uploaded by beautiful purple butterfly.

Have you ever found yourself lost? Wandering aimlessly not knowing where to go and who to turn to? Have you found yourself in a crossroad where you don't know which direction to go? I feel terribly lost. I don't seem to know my way. Maybe I don't need to know my way. Let me tell you a story..

Not long ago, I painted a picture of my future. This was before I graduated highscool and that was a good 6 years ago. Back then, my life was in synch. I was living the life I wanted to live, I considered myself lucky or what we Christians would term as blessed. I considered myself a good girl. I was an obedient daughter, an honor student and I had a bish (that was a term for me and my bf). With those in my life, I started to paint, first, I wanted to graduate with honors, finish a pre med course still with honors, finish a degree in medicine, and hopefully marry my bish have 2 kids, eldest would be a boy and followed by a girl and live a happy meaningful life on earth. It wasn't long then when all of a sudden, the future that I was trying to paint was slowly disappearing and before I knew it, my painting became blank. Suddenly I felt God's presence in my heart, impressing in me that I am not in control of my life. There are situations that no matter how I try to fix, plan or will, it is beyond me. None of my plans came to pass. Sure enough I graduated pre med, did not finish a degree in medicine and my bish and I parted ways. here I am, after six years I tried to paint that picture, got a job in customer support and have been living an independent life for almost 9 months now still single and available. Like a little child with curioustity, I started to ask God why none of my plans came to pass. To me, it was a good plan, it was a perfect plan. He brought me to His words in the Bible.

-Isaiah 55:9 - For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.-

- Proverbs 14:12 - There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

God sees the bigger picture of my life. God created me

- Psalm 139:14 - I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. -

and He knows every fiber of my being. In Matthew 10:30 explains that "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered."

and His words are more clear in

- Job 14:5 - Man's days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed. -

In short, I am not the real painter. The painter of my life is the very Creator Himself who did not withold His only son so I may be reunited with Him in heaven someday.

Yes, I feel lost, down and brokenhearted at times but I will continue to praise God for His goodness for He is perfect.

- Deuteronomy 32:4 - He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He. -

He is with me when I am down, when I feel oppressed and when I feel that no one seems to care.

- Psalm 147:3 - He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds. -

In one way or another, people around us will fail us cause they are limited in their own ability. We cannot control the circumstances around us, we cannot control people's thoughts or reactions. We have no control over everything else around us but we do have one thing we have control of and that is our emotions. We can control how we think or act over a certain situation and our reaction towards a certain situation is determined on how strong and how founded we are to the truth which is the Word of God. That instead of looking around for answers, we are to look not to ourselves cause even our very selves can deceive us but to look on to God and His promises in His word.

- Philippians 4:8 - Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things. -

Butterfly Tales
1:05 PM

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our hearts

Monday, July 18, 2005

heart%20broken, originally uploaded by beautiful purple butterfly.

weeks have passed since I blogged. Our company has blocked such. We are no longer allowed to blog but in a way, they have every right to do so. We are getting paid to work and not to blog. Anything pertaining to personal matters should be done outside the workplace. Not only have they blocked blogging but even checking of personal emails. There are only 2 computers in the whole company that allows employees to check their personal mails. What's even good about it is that it allows us to chat through MSN msngr.. what's my point of all this? I guess my long absence may lead to questions. Aside from the fact that it's quite hectic at work, there have been certain restrictions..

but my point is not to complain about those restrictions. I have embraced it and have accepted that fact.

I wanted to talk about the heart, not the human heart but that term we call where our emotions are set. And the strongest of all emotions is that we call love...

Love enables.. I can talk so much about what love is but we all have experienced it in one way or another. There is no definite description of love except that of our views and how we have experienced love. what prompted me to talk about such a topic? To be honest, my heart. As the Bible would describe it in Jeremiah 17:9 - The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Have you ever heard of an advice that says, "follow your heart...?" does the heart really know the answers or must we even follow it? My answer to that is a clear NO. Our heart as I have described earlier is a seat of our emotions. Our emotions are never reliable, they fluctuate, they change. One can be angry this moment and any minute it can change. Our emotions are affected by our outside circumstances. Even the love we have for one person.

Bottom line is, I know I can never find a love as real and as powerful as God's love for me is. Everyday, my heart gets broken and it breaks even more by just one person I may have placed on a pedestal. I say ENOUGH. ENOUGH for now. Like what he said. "Only time can heal" but what I love is what the Bible says about God's timetable...

Ecclesiastes 3:11 - He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

I know I did the right thing and that is what is more important, doing the right thing. I will wait upon the LORD and rest on His promises for me even when I do not see the way...

Butterfly Tales
6:37 AM

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