How To Improve One's Life Journey?

           Our life is considered as a journey. And no matter how easy or difficult the way is yet we need to improve in trekking this life journey. Remember always that when we realise that we are not alone on this journey, it is then that this becomes a meaningful and memorable to us. 

          At first we all know that this journey is a multifaceted one thus it involves different aspects of personal development, growth and fulfillment. To help us grow in this journey let us take a look on these steps so that we will attain a positive growth on this. First it is good for us to have establish certain goals in areas of life such as career, health, personal development and relationships.

Image by Public Co from Pixabay

           Let us also try to acquire more learning through the different opportunities given to us every single day. Possible ways to enhance this would be to engage in continuous reading, pursuing further education, taking courses and even attending workjshops. 
Self reflection also is another way to develop ourselevs in this journey. By doing so, we will widen our self knowledge and better equip ourselves with both positive and negative qualities that we have.

           And by maintaining healthy habits, this will result to a positive physical and mental well being and this can be done by engaging in activities such as regular exercise, balanced nutrition, sufficient sleep, stress management techniques like meditation or mindfullness.
Finally, to grow in this life journey, we need to practice effective time management and this can be done by learning to prioritise our tasks, knowing our boundaries, learning how to delegate things, and most especially by avoiding procrastination. 
 

          Thus with these few steps, I am positive that we can then be very alive and inspired to continue our journey day by day. 

Getting Strength from Each Other

          Belonging to a community is a treasured gift for me. It is but awesome to think that our community is made up of people coming from different backgrounds. No one among us choose this community ( as far as I know) yet every get together that we have is considered a special event.

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          Personally, the times that we come together allows me to gather more strength on myself and grow also through the experiences and struggles of others.

         We know we have priorities in our life and I constantly appreciate the effort of each family to spend time to join the gathering. And the sharing of prayers like petitions and thanksgiving makes us feel to be one. Each family has its own needs like schedules, activities and others and still we are able to share our time for the community.

          With this experience, the journey called life becomes easier and interesting. Life is  ought to be shared with others. It is a precious gift and we should be generous in sharing this with others. 

Quality Time.....Quality Life

          No matter how abundant we are in life but if we are not happy and contented with our primary relationships, then everything goes to nothing. Though we may differ in terms of our understanding of quality life yet for many, it is the amount of time that we spend together with our loved ones like family, relatives, friends and others. 

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          Life is marked by the kinds of priorities that we assigned to it. And from one person to the other, this varies according to our standards, ideals  and behaviour. This will take form in a matter of a pyramid and at times, this will become the inverted pyramid for others. Priorities such as money, health, travels, religion, food, security, and many others almost become as our main reasons why we need to get up every single day. 

          Yet at the end of the day, many among us are convinced that spending quality time with our families and others is the best positive way so that we can attain the so-called quality life. Amidst the challenge brought about by today's all advancements such as technologies and others, there lies the very basic way of promoting quality life----to spend quality time that is defined by the amount of love, affection as well as kindness that we share with those special people in our life. 

The Need To Belong

          One of man's primary needs is the need to belong to a certain group. It goes with his desire to be accepted as a person. However just like any process of communication, it is always a two-way process meaning he needs to be accepted by the other members of that group and at the same time, he needs to accept the whole package of that group so as to be considered as in the group. 

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          Different stages are involved in this process of integrating oneself into the group. At a certain stage, personal values need to be aligned with that of the group. Maybe there could be instances that he needs to sacrifice for the sake of the group. Citing a concrete example of this, if the group is actively participating and responding to the social needs of the times like poverty, social discrimination, racial issues, etc. then he has to convince himself that he values these issues personally so that he can extend a genuine participation to the cause of the group.

            Oneself vs. themselves......man vs. community....him vs. them....sometimes a conflict between any of these groups but somehow, the tides can be turned against a conflicting situation and finally emerging as victorious at the end. Hence the best way to belong to a particular group is by initially checking what are the values this group has and compare them with one's own values. 

A Borrowed Quote

image: http://www.brainyquote.com/photos/r/ralphmarston132966.jpg

 

What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.

Ralph Marston

I personally shared this borrowed quote from Ralph Marston for I strongly believe on what he shared here that whatever we do in the present moment of time will greatly affect our "tomorrows". 

Henceforth, it is but essential for us to be always  mindful of all the ways that we communicate with others for there might be unfavourable consequences on our actions that may, sooner or later, affect us negatively. 

However, being aware of our everyday dynamics, it is but an everyday challenge for us to constantly monitor and be consistent on our life values for whether we like it or not, there would always be instances wherein these values will be tested and challenged. 

Yet at the end of the day, we will always go back to the basic premise and question ourselves, " What have we done today that improve our life being?", " Have we contributed positively or the contrary to our world today?", Did we become agents of change for others today?"....so on and so forth. 

Again, as Ralph said, let us utilise positively our "todays" to experience a better "tomorrows".....not just for our sake but that of our neighbours regardless of any status, situation, colour etc. in life. 

CFC Celebrates 24th Year Anniversary

          August 15, 2014, Saturday will mark the 24th anniversary of CFC (Couples for Christ) in Melbourne, Australia. Many grateful hearts are ready to share their gifts tomorrow during the celebration. The venue for this momentous event will be St. Brigid's Church and Parish Hall.

          To make this event a very meaningful one, the following activities are being prepared for everyone to share. The celebration of the Holy Eucharist will commence the festivities then this will be followed with the following events:

- praise and worship

- group photo

- dinner

- inspirational talk from Bro. Ed Canilao 

- unit presentations 1, 2 and 3

-  unit and family ministry presentations

          Everyone is so thankful to God for everything that has transpired all those 24 years that CFC existed here in Melbourne, Australia. It has passed through so many stages including the moment of purification most notably when it passed the division phase. Yet after all those trying moments, CFC continues to grow and move forward by the grace of God and by the abled leadership of people like Bros. Bong, Romy, Ed and others. Happy 24th anniversary dear fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. 

Treasure Every Moment with Loved Ones

           One of the treasured moments in our community is the opportunity to be with loved ones. And as a matter of fact, this is one thing that is oftentimes encouraged to each of the members of the community- to be able to devote time especially to one's family and to gather together in prayer and in other communal activities.

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          Personally, I see it as a very pertinent part of our daily life especially that now I have a family to prioritise. Other things such as schedules, activities with friends, personal itineraries, and other extra curricular activities outside of the family circle are but merely secondary things.

          I know that we all have our set of priorities everyday and they vary from one person to the other. However, there is no other most urgent and important need than that of the family. As members of such group, we, especially the parents, are asked to devote much attention and care to those persons entrusted to our care most notably our children.

          Thus, as the days go by, we need to, from time to time, evaluate what then is our everyday priority. And be happy if they are geared towards the joy and fulfilment of the desires of each member and make a turnaround if it the other way around. 

Coming Together For Mutual Support

          We just came back from our gathering today in our CFC Northside household sharing. And we are thankful to our hosts- bro Alex and sis Precious for accommodating us in their home. What made this gathering a more memorable one was the event of welcoming the latest addition to our household- bro Jose and sis Daisy Aguinaldo. 

image: http://www.brainyquote.com/photos/w/williamjames108497.jpg

 

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.

William James

          As shown in our borrowed image beforehand, our life is a continuing flow of events intertwined with each other's daily events and whether we like it or not, we come across the lives of other people whom we directly or indirectly interact with. Thus, in our gathering today, we all felt lucky and blessed to have heard the various stories we brought and carried in our lives. 

          We all said our prayers of gratitude to God for the past blessings both recent and past. Amidst the seemed complexity of life, we were still so grateful to God for His overflowing goodness and love to each one of us. What was common in our experiences was the presence of both good and bad events yet we were grateful for those happy moments and at the same time, blessed for those trial moments since they allowed us to be more steadfast in our faith.

          We ended our fellowship by wishing each one the best for the coming new week and days. Indeed gatherings like we had this day become a source of strength and motivation for us. And it allowed us to be more appreciative to the presence and support of each member of our community.  

Moments To Cherish

          Moments of togetherness are precious times to build up relationships among brothers and sisters. Through thick and thin, it is by the support that we share and receive in our community that enable us to go through all those events. Indeed, life is so wonderful that it is ought to be shared with others especially to people so dear to our hearts.

          That's exactly what we esteemed much in our group, the CFC NorthEast Household when we joined together to share the joy of Bro. Rodel and Sis Danah on their newly purchased home in Mernda, a northeast suburban community of Melbourne. All the members of our household were present except for Bro. Alvin and Sis Denden who were busy taking care of something very important. 

      Anyway, we all treasured the food, the ambience of the fresh place and the impressiveness of the environment as the new owners were so proud in sharing with us those recently welcomed blessings in their life. We are all thankful to God for showering us such opportunity to gather together in His name as we also welcomed in our household the new couple member, Bro. Jose and Sis Daisy. 

"Not what we have, but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance"

Times of Desolation and Consolation: What Are You Made Of?

          As we celebrate the season of Lent, we are reminded to go back to the various chapters of our life and examine if where are we exactly in our relationship with God as manifested also in our relationships with others like our neighbours, brothers and sisters in Christ, families and most notably our primordial relationship with Him Above. 

          If we recall back the days spent by Jesus before He died on the cross, we can exactly recall how he suffered at the garden of Gethsemane. He was, at that stage, feeling so depressed and down however some of those significant persons surrounding Him especially Peter, Paul and John fell asleep while accompanying Him.

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          If we look it on a human way, it could have been so painful and frustrating on the part of Jesus seeing and realising that those people close to Him left Him at that very trying moments. In our reflection, can we identify certain resemblance that those three disciples have in our own life? At this time, can we afford to lay down our life and sacrifice our time for the sake of others like our families, friends, and others? 

           Constancy in our faith requires from us a genuine desire to dedicate our life for Him Above. And I believe that there goes a deeper meaning in life- when we are able and willing to offer everything for the greater glory of God. This road, if chosen, is not a smooth one and just like the painful journey of Jesus before His death on the cross, we are also given trials and sacrifices that oftentimes test our inner faith and love of God. 

The Meaning of LIFE

          How do you put meaning to your life? What is it then that makes LIFE so interesting and excited to you? What have been your ups and downs in life? These are but some of the common questions that will come up to our minds when we come to think of our own LIFE. 

          But as we experience day by day, we come to know that every bit of each experience tells us how complicated life could be at times. How fortunate then those who are living each day surrounded with friends and loved ones for they could concretely be faced with joyous interactions with them. 

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          Thus may we always treasure all our friendships with others and let us allow each moment to be an instrument for us to nurture and strengthen the bond of relationship that we have established with those persons in our life. Let us constantly remember that LIFE is a gift that ought to be shared with others. 

The Joy of Coming Together as One Family

          Every opportunity for us to gather together in our CFC (Couples For Christ) Household is always seen as an opportunity of bonding together and sharing our giftedness as persons created in the image and likeness of our Divine Creator. 

          In every gathering that we cherish, we readily exchange pleasantries, prayers, and share our food as our means of strengthening our bond of brotherhood and sisterhood. We based our relationship on our being members of a community which is centered on our faith in God. On every gathering that we have, our initial activity is constantly to offer our prayers both as our means of expressing our gratitude to God and to relay to Him our petitions as well as the petitions of others who recommended themselves to our prayers.

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           Likewise, hymns of praises to our Most Loving Father are cheerfully sung to share our positive sentiments of the moment. Bonded by this common belief, we feel strengthened by this unity. Thus, it is always the prayer of each one that our group may continue to journey in the midst of life's complexities and challenges. And at the end, we believe that in all our gatherings and activities, God is always the focus of everything. 

Precious Moments.....Memories to Cherish

          When people gather together as brothers and sisters in Christ, it is there in that gathering that one can feel and radiate the same positive vibes to others. Life is so wonderful that one could not miss to enjoy every bit of it. Regardless of the busy schedules that we have everyday, it is still a part of our life to exchange our life story with others.

          That's exactly what we cherish last November 09, 2014, Sunday when we held our household gathering  at the residence of our household leader, Bro. Rodel and his loving wife, Sis Danna. What made the gathering more meaningful was the presence of our charismatic unit head, Bro. Ed and his loving wife, Sis Pinky. Amidst the chit- chat we made before we formally started our sharing, the full of spirit children were also busy with their games and antics most common to their ages. 

photo credit: Denis Collette...!!! via photopin cc

          We had our singing practice right before we took off our celebration. What struck me among the three songs that Bro. Rodel had prepared for the celebration was that they all tell and remind us of the overflowing love GOD has for all His people including us gathered at that very moment.

          Finally, we started our celebration of faith and life and as each one shared his thanksgiving prayer for all the recent blessings that were received from God, I said to myself that God indeed is such a generous God. He never fails in sending His goodness to all of us in so many ways. Throughout all the chapters of life specifically for us who were bonded together at that very moment, we personally and concretely feel God's amazing kindness by the multitude of gifts that He has showered on us. 

          Thus, we all felt the strength of our being together and as we all went back to each of our families, we carried with us the new found flame of life and the bond of fraternal love that we shared with each other. After all, those precious moments that we shared indeed become memories to cherish.  

Submit Everything To Him Above

          Opportunities to gather together as one household is always a renowned moment for it brings people more closer to one another. When we had our household gathering last month, there was excitement in the air as we gathered collectively as one family- people bounded together in one common faith in the Lord. 

          And when we started the gathering by offering songs of praise, we lifted up our hearts and faith to God for we all believed that He is the sole purpose of everything. Being the owner of our life, He is the main reason why we always have positive things in life. He showered immense blessings to us most notably through the gifts of our family, our loved ones, our life, our talents etc. . 

imagecredit: Jozh Tuballa, Australia

          So going back to our gathering, we also lifted to Him our personal intentions and even those intentions of other people unknown to us. We prayed in a special way for those who are presently sick and unloved, for those people who have no one to pray for them. Afterwards, we had our sharing on the given readings. Particularly, we shared our struggles and those positive energies that allowed us to move on from them.  

          To end, I am always looking forward to every opportunity that allows me to interact and share life with other people. There are fresh and new discoveries that I could find in myself as I will exchange moments together with others.  

Sharing of Faith

          Last May 4, 2014, Sunday, I had the privilege to journey with some participants of Christian Life Program of the South East Melbourne Unit headed by Bro. Neil and Sis. Arlene. Before the start of my sharing, I had the opportunity to chat with some staff members and I appreciated very much the overwhelming support that they have extended to their CLP program. They even brought along the other members of their families like their children. Consequently, they had so much fun while playing with one another.

          As I went through with my sharing with them, I was giving in put on the greatness of God's love for mankind- that He even sacrificed His own Son to save the latter from total damnation due to sin. Furthermore, this great act by our Heavenly Father solicits from mankind an inner and genuine response to make his own contribution to achieve a world full of peace and harmony. 

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          Moreover, along our sharing I also mentioned to them the significance of the parable of the prodigal son. That it sits alongside with the focus of our sharing which is God's love. I identified with them the similarity of the father in that parable to God Himself who somehow would always believe in mankind in spite of all his limitations and shortcomings. 

          We ended up our sharing by affirming each one's greatness in the eyes of God and by telling each one how he/she has to make true to all his/her commitments to God. Indeed, it was such an honour to journey with those members of South East Unit. May they continue to grow in number. 

Journeying Together in Faith

          Since we started to join the Couples for Christ, I, personally, have treasured much the times that me and my wife had shared with the other members of CFC Australia. Recalling back those personal encounters with the other members of this community, I just keep on wondering how precious it is to share oneself with others. In life, there are many rights ways and wrong turns yet by the presence and support of those people who journey with us, the heavy load then becomes so light.

          As shared by our leader, Ronnie Ordonez, on his communication for the First Fruit Offering celebration: 

 "As the Lord bestowed on all of us, our families and our community of His ever abiding presence through all the difficulties and trials we have undergone last 2013 we welcomed 2-14 filled with gratitude.

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          We will have our traditional First Fruit Offering, a fitting gift to the Lord for His abundant gifts and provisionss, good health, answered prayers, spiritual gifts, miracles big and small, the peace, harmony and protection He has showered on our families." 

          I totaly agree with Bro. Ronnie on what he mentioned that we indeed have so many reasons to be grateful to the Lord. In the midst of our life's busyness, we should constantly be mindful  to God's unending kindness and love for each one of us. He never fails to shower and share with us His goodness.

     With this realization, we should also be brave enough to take up our challenge to be His evangelizers- to bring Christ to others especially to those who have gone astray and are lost.