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. 

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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. 

Seek and You Shall Be Find

Jeremiah 29:13:  Thank You God, that you are there for us, We hear your words: " You will seek me and find me, when you search me with all your HEART"

          In life, there are certain moments that we get lost in our search for His kingdom. Our inadequacies and limitations caught us along the way thus resulting us to be misguided and misdirected. Yet at the end of the day, God's assurance of His eternal love continue to give us hope and light to go on and move ahead. After all, He is our reason why we strive daily to be good followers of Him.

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          No matter what will happen along the way, just like in the words of Jeremiah, God will always find us and welcome us to His warm embrace. During this season of hope as we joined others in celebrating the birthday of our Lord Jesus Christ, may we always find refuge in God's unending love for us all. 

          Whatever hardships and crosses we will find on this world. these will become light with His assistance. Live life to its fullest and love God with all your heart.