How to Order Your Priorities

Once we invited Bill Walton, co-founder of Holiday Inns who experienced a late-in-life conversion, to speak at an outreach dinner. As it happened, our Bible study was meeting the next morning so I invited Mr. Walton.

The next morning after our Bible Study, a group of about eight men, ages thirty to forty-five, each spent two or three minutes describing where they were on their spiritual pilgrimages.

As each successive man shared, I noticed Mr. Walton, a father of four, becoming more and more fidgety. Finally, it was his turn to speak. He said, "It is true that I helped build a great corporation. But to do so I arrived at the office every morning by seven and rarely got home before ten o'clock at night." His brow furrowed, his shoulders drooped, and his lip quivered as he added, "I never saw a single little league baseball game."

He paused and stared sadly into our faces as though he could see the future. He took a deep breath to gather himself. Then, with trembling fists and booming voice, the room rattled as he roared, "I exhort you young men. Learn to live by biblical priorities!"

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I

Life is too short

We live for seventy years or so
(with luck we might make it to eighty),
And what do we have to show for it? Trouble.
Toil and trouble and a marker in the graveyard.
...
Oh! Teach us to live well!
Teach us to live wisely and well!
...
And let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us,
confirming the work that we do.
Oh, yes. Affirm the work that we do!

Psalm 90:10, 12, 17

Things Im doing while waiting for Portupgrade and Cvsup to finish...

20 minutes before midnight,
I am still running portupgrade on a remote database server,
sitting on FreeBSD 6.1. In parallel with this is cvsup-ping a server dedicated for custom made applications, also on FreeBSD 6.1.

I have no choice but to use ports on these BSD servers. I would like to use pkg_add all throughout the installation process however the tbz of PHP5 (www.php.net) and phpMyAdmin (www.phpmyadmin.org) is calling Apache 1.3 (www.apache.org) and not the version 2.2.

Anyway, as I am waiting, monitoring, watching the upgrade on one Konsole(konsole.kde.org), and cvsup on another Tab of Konsole on my IBM Thinkpad r40e (www.ibm.com) powered by PCBSD v1.2 (www.pcbsd.org), I am also monitoring the traffic on our firewall based on OpenBSD (www.openbsd.org). I am seeing real live traffic coming in and coming out the firewall via pftop (www.eee.metu.edu.tr/~canacar/pftop) command. Just to not bore me with waiting, I opened another tab (besides my 16 current open tabs) of my Opera 9(www.opera.com) to write this blog. My other standby programs are the Kopete(kopete.kde.org), Kmail(kmail.kde.org) and Openoffice v 2 (www.openoffice.org).

At last, the "portupgrade -aRr" has finished! Yahoo! (Can I say Google! instead? heheh!). I will install PHP5 now using ports installation but I will check first the Makefile to make sure Apache 2.2 is going to be used before proceeding to the "make install clean" command. After reading some articles and reading the Makefile, I should "make config" and choose the Apache on the list given. There it goes I have PHP5 with MYSQL 5.0 (www.mysql.com) on FreeBSD 6.1. I wonder if this setup is just the same with phpMyAdmin. Hmmm.... Anyway, before install it, I'll install first the php5-extensions.

After all the above Im thinking if Im going to Jail MySQL(Chroot) and make the data directory from /var/db/mysql to a another directory on a bigger slice of the RAID 5 SCSI disks. Will let you know later on.

Conquer

I just recently had our DirectWithHotels Ltd. company outing at Caylabne Bay resort(www.caylabne.com.ph). I have to say I had fun! I had to run on tires for the relay, play treasure hunt.

The most interesting part of the games is I have to be a candidate for the Ms. DirectWithHotels Ltd. 2006. I had some tips from my girl officemates how to be a beauty contestant. Chin up, shoulder back, tummy-in (man, this is the hardest part.. hehehe), sway my hips and walk in straight line. My face was colored with make up and dress up like a girl(of course). Well, I sang! Unfortunately, my boss, my team leader (also a candidate) won. I am no match with his(her hehehe) talent. He(she) played a classic with a guitar. Also, his(her) gown was very well done.
Anyway, one thing I conquered here is the fear of people make fun of me. I conquered fear and I enjoyed it!

The next day, I went on swimming with my office mates, one portion there is eight feet deep. For you to know, I am no expert in swimming. So, I stay hanging on the sides of the pool. But then, I tried and did swim across the pool on the portion where its eight feet deep! Wow! I did it! I suddenly realized, it only takes courage, belief in self to conquer!

Purpose

According to dictionary.com, Purpose is the reason for which something exists or is done, made, used, etc.

Recently I bought a book from PowerBooks, entitled "Man in the Mirror" by Pat Morley. After reading the few chapters, the book made me realize to step a few step backwards and analyze the big picture of life. Its true, most of the people today dont get it. Most are chasing the wind without knowing it. What is the point of living? What is the reason for my existence? One should really consider giving himself sometime to meditate his purpose.

Purpose is also referred in the movie series Italic The Matrix text in which Mr. Smith describes purpose as the sole reason anything exists.

"Agent Smith: I killed you, Mr. Anderson. I watched you die.... with some satisfaction, I might add. Then something happened- something I thought would be impossible, but it happened anyway. You destroyed me, Mr. Anderson. Afterwards, I was aware of the rules. I knew what I was supposed to do, but I didn't. I was compelled to stay- compelled to disobey. And right now, here I stand because of you, Mr. Anderson. Because of you, I'm no longer an Agent of this system. Because of you, I'm unplugged. A new man, sort of speak- like you. Apparently free.

Neo: Congratulations.

Agent Smith: Thank you. But, as you well know appearances can be deceiving which brings me back to the reason why we're here. We're not here because we're free, we're here because we're not free. There's no escaping reason, no denying purpose because as we both know, without purpose we would not exist.

Smith 1: It is purpose that created us. Smith 2: Purpose that connects us. Smith 3: Purpose that pulls us. Smith 4: That guides us. Smith 5: That drives us. Smith 6: It is purpose that defines. Smith 7: Purpose that binds us. Smith 1: We are here because of you, Mr. Anderson. We're here to take from you what you tried to take from us, purpose.

From "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purpose"

I believe that my greatest purpose is to be in tuned with My Creator. I am created for His delight, to glorify Him, to exalt Him, to make Him smile. Imagine Him smiling? Isnt it good to please Him? Moreover, we have a Personal Life Purpose to know. According to Pat, "there is a sense in which each of us is unique, and God gives each of us a specific call on our lives. In other words, God has a personal, unique, and specific purpose for your life waiting to be discovered."

Ill quote these famous people on Purpose:

"I have one life and one chance to make it count for something . . . I'm free to choose what that something is, and the something I've chosen is my faith. Now, my faith goes beyond theology and religion and requires considerable work and effort. My faith demands -- this is not optional -- my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can with whatever I have to try to make a difference." - Jimmy Carter

"Whatever is at the center of our life will be the source of our security, guidance, wisdom, and power." - Stephen Covey

Me? My faith is in Him who is immutable, all-knowing and all-powerful. My center of my life is Him and this enables me to do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can with whatever I have to try to be the person God wants me to be.

Change

Im back again after a very disastrous week. :)
Just to those who arent aware, last Thursday, September 29, 2006, a typhoon called
"Milenyo" gave Luzon a wake up call.
Most of the power in Luzon were out.
I have seen and experienced the power of the winds in Makati. Just imagine how powerful God is if "Milenyo" is just a subtle blow from God.

Anyway, for the past few days, God has been somewhat telling me to work with Him in His plan.
I believe He wont give me this trials if He is not going to sustain me and give me our needs.
Now that I am in tuned with Him, He would like me to be aggressive over my situation.
So, He would like me to achieve small things on a given period, say, 3 months. Of course, there would be a checkup weekly to see if I am going in the right track.

The book of Romans is telling me "If God is with me, who can be against me?" and another one in Philippians where "..He will supply all my needs according to His riches and glory".
So there, I know He doesnt plan for me to stay low, He wanted me to move and go to another level.
Ill do some brainstorming this week and would go prioritized and do some action items. It feels good to move, plan, work with the one who is the author and finisher of my faith.

There will be change! I believe there will be change! I know it with my whole heart! There will be a weekly update for you to know. May God be praised and glorified in my Life!

Faith

To start my blog for the day,
I will start by explaining my situation at the
time of this writing.

I have a mom, who suffered from a stroke just last November.
I have a father, who is under a legal fight.
I have a brother(eldest among us three boys) who have an
End stage renal disease(ESRD) for two years now.
My sister-in-law is diagnosed with Type II Diabetes.
They have 4 kids, 3 in elementary, 1 not yet studying, to support.

Honestly, if I am going to think about it, I cant carry all
the burden on my own. Tell me where will you get 24k per month for
my brother's hemodialysis.

I know, I know.. it is very hard to live given the situation.
But I am not exaggerating. This is true. I am serious.

Let us skip the my drama and let me tell you how am I taking these.

Given the pressure, burden. God wants me to be still.
He wants me to know how big He is and that He is under control.
In my own strength, I cant really help anything big for them.
Thus I give all these troubles to the one who can BIG time! I got this definition
of faith in Hebrews that faith is "being sure we will get what we hope for. It is being sure of what we cannot see." Hebrews 11:1

I believe He is the Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals.
I believe He is the Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides.
I know God is now moving to take me out from the pool of suffering and
will lift me up together with my family.

I believe we will see His power, His wonder that he will bring to my
family. This is for His glory!

The Beginning of Something

Everything begins at one point.
I believe everything has a cause.
Dictionary.com says

be‧gin‧ning [bi-gin-ing] –noun
1. an act or circumstance of entering upon an action or state: the beginning of hostilities.
2. the point of time or space at which anything begins: the beginning of the Christian era; the beginning of the route.
3. the first part: the beginning of the book; the beginning of the month.
4. Often, beginnings. the initial stage or part of anything: the beginnings of science.
5. origin; source; first cause: A misunderstanding about the rent was the beginning of their quarrel.

Im thinking how do I start blogging? Do I have to follow some outlines?
Or just me writing whatever pops up in my mind?

If that's the case, there are lots!
But let me just write.. express.. share.. encourage.. enlighten
Put a smile in one's face..
Think..
Praise...
I hope this[blogging] a be an attempt to achieve something.. to improve..
to excel.. to write the best of what I could think of.. to glorify!

May this be a never ending composition of my song. A Life song to Him!

Read the Bible!

The Bible

The greatest book I have ever read and will continue to read! I have to say its a historical book that tells us who we are, why are we here, and where are we headed. Part of it are war stories, some stories of the rise and fall of a nation, other parts are nuggets of wisdom, some are well-crafted poetry, some are a story of a man who died and rose again, some are the disciples who devoted their lives according to God's commission... and the list goes on.

I encourage you to read it. Get a version where you're comfortable with. Then look for a Bible reading plan, follow it. Set a time or a date for it. Pray before reading, ask for guidance.

Right now, I use a chronological plan well fashioned by cover2cover visit this site http://www.cover2cover.org. If you cant grab one, I suggest you go for the Daily Bread, then search the internet with other bible reading plan.

I forgot to tell you, above all that I like in reading the Bible, the words of God are alive and powerful!