Ten Things I Am Thankful for:

Happy Thanksgiving

1)  God’s mercy for another day of life.

2)  For all the bad things that didn’t happen and for all the bad things that did happen.

3)  For all the great things that have happened and all the greater things yet to come.

4)  For all the love, peace, madness, craziness, laughter, tears, depressions, hate, fights, kisses, hugs, disappointments, embarrassments…etc: it means that I’m still alive!

5) For all my family, friends, acquaintances I have shared all of my life and for those that I will still meet on the following years.

6) For the talents I have been given and the opportunity of sharing them with others.

7) For my health, for what I have, for what I have lost and for all I will gain.

8) For the knowledge and wisdom that I have gained and for the knowledge and wisdom that I still lack.

9) For sacrifices….the most powerful demonstration of love.

10) For the chance of saying: Thank you God!

Just sharing a very small list of all the things that I am thankful for today.   What are you thankful for?

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

Happy Birthday To Us!

HNI_0089

Birthday weekend has arrived!  November 22 – Day of the Musician and also the day I commemorate the anniversary of my arrival on this planet.  The year was 1967 and the Vietnam War was still going on.  I even have a photo that was taken that day from an old encyclopedia commemorating that year.

Looking back at past birthdays; the most recent ones have come and gone without any significant fuzz.  I guess I’m already sinking in that I’m in my late 40’s; even though I still think I’m in my 30’s.  Time has gone too fast.  I don’t think I’m ready to get old yet; but my body begs to differ.

I have to take care of my diet or I’ll regret it later when my clothes won’t fit anymore or my health gets worse.  What really annoys me is how bad my vision has deteriorated.  It could be catastrophic for an avid reader like me.  But I’m managing at accepting that aging is a part of life.

Each one of us has to go through this journey called “life”.  Jesus taught us that there are only two paths in life.  He said:

Enter through the narrow gate.  For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”  Matthew 7:14

 We decide which path we will take.  A long time ago, I chose the narrow gate.  Unfortunately, I did stray in these 47 years; but like the prodigal son (or daughter in my case) I came back.  The Lord received me with open arms and I’ve never looked back ever since.  It’s not easy being a Christian specially in these times when there is so much persecution.  But it’s worth it.  Each day is a new discovery and there’s a new hope.

I have recalled the past many times; but I choose to live in the present.  It doesn’t mean that I don’t think about the future.  I do wonder what death will be like but I’m not afraid of it.  No Christian should be scared of death.

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.”  Psalm 116:15

That is one of the differences between us and the rest of the world.  People choose not to think about death because they are scared; but we accept and embrace eternity.  We know WHO awaits us at the end of our narrow road and it’s a wonderful thought.

Nevertheless, I don’t wanna make this a sad post just a reflective one, hey, I will only be 47 once in my life, you know.  After that, number will increase more and more.  Hopefully I will spend the rest of my days surrounded by the ones that I love; at least, that’s my prayer.

On this next Sunday, the celebration continues because it’s my daughter’s turn; she will turn 12 years old.  Yeah, I spent my 35th birthday with labor pains.  But since that birthday in 2002; every following November 22 & 23’s turn out to be the longest birthday celebration ever.  This year will be no exception; and the best part is…that it’s on a weekend!

In conclusion, enjoy life….choose wisely…..love….embrace eternity.  And have a great weekend!

(The drawing for today’s post was an early birthday gift from my daughter Anna)  She knows that I have two favorite anime’s:  “Go Lion” & “Thundercats”.  Aren’t these drawings amazing??!!  I’m so proud of my talented little girl!  Happy Birthday Anna!  Momma loves you!

Studying

Too much reading

I haven’t been able to update this blog because I’ve been studying and working online.  You see, I am taking a course so I can move from Puerto Rico to Texas.  It’s not an easy move, it took me a while to take this decision.  I’ve been living in Puerto Rico for more than 40 years but the time has come to do something drastic and adventurous.   I’ve been praying and it hasn’t been easy; but the door has opened and I just went for it.  I had an orientation with Region 4 (this is a company that visits Puerto Rico like 2 times a year to recruit bilingual teachers).  I liked what they offered and I took my chances.  I started their course on October 11.  It has been good, but I’ve been reading like crazy.

You might think that that is not much to do, but the studying thing is taking a lot of my time right now.  Like in this week alone, I have to read 7 chapters of 2 different books, watch presentations of each chapter, make graphic organizers, do assignments plus complete an assessment of each class. As you can imagine, I still haven’t finished the reading part, some of the assignments plus the assessments.  Yeah, still lot to do….

I’m doing this to get prepared for the TeXes tests that I will take in the following months so that I can be a certified bilingual teacher in the Houston area.  What I’m still wondering is….(and I know that I’m not the only one), if I pass these courses but don’t pass the TeXes, what then???

I know I still have to pay the course, but at least they should use these grades to add some points to those TeXes scores.  These courses are really exhausting.  I constantly read about other candidates taking this course, who work and study in other colleges, they whine about how much work they have and how difficult it has been for them to do this.

I wonder how much we have to keep sacrificing from our lives just to achieve a better live for ourselves and our loved ones.  I know I’m not the only one and many more will follow after me.  I just pray that everything will be all worth it.