RiverPilgrim

Undivided Heart

2009-01-29T07:37:00.000+00:00

Lord, You know my heart, hear its deepest prayer today... Undivided Heartby Twila Paris, Cry for the Desert There have been days when I would die for YouAnd days when I would not die to meThere have been nights when I would cry with YouFor the sins of the world and the pain in the cityBut some nights I cried only tears of self-pityI need a love that will always endureGive me a love that is simple

Missed Christmas Greetings

2008-12-29T20:32:00.000+00:00

I used to have a system that worked. Towards the end of the year, I would sit down and write our Christmas letter, lay out photos to sum up the year's highlights, scan our signatures, paste it onto the letter, print it, fold it to fit into Christmas cards and send it to loved ones all over the world by Royal Mail's last Christmas posting date. For the three consecutive Christmases we have spent

How You Live (by Point of Grace)

2008-11-26T04:21:00.000+00:00

One of my favourite Christian contemporary artists, Point of Grace, has released their 1st studio album in a long while. I heard this track and just had to share it with everyone here. I need to be reminded that it's not what I do or who I know, but how I live my life that matters. Deep stuff to inspire us all. The song is very moving and poignant, for me at least. Listen to the music on YouTube

Help and pray, please! Her 3-year-old nephew was abducted

2008-07-23T08:22:00.000+01:00

Friends, please forward this to anyone in media who can help. Or to anyone who may have information on the little boy's whereabouts or condition. http://melquita.multiply.com/photos/album/348/HELP_My_Nephew_Was_Abducted?&album=348&view:replies=threaded&page_start=200 My heart is breaking for this boy's family. Let's all pray for his safe return. Forward and re-post in your blogs, if you have time

'Capture carbon to avert catastrophic climate change, say world's scientists'

2008-06-10T14:12:00.000+01:00

I came across an urgent appeal from scientists for the powers-that-be to adopt CCS technology. Read the Times Online article by clicking here. Each day, I grow more excited about being capable (someday soon, fingers and toes crossed!) of contributing to new knowledge about this climate change mitigation method. There is a growing feeling of anticipation deep inside me when I think about soon

Admission Confirmed!

2008-05-21T14:00:00.000+01:00

God has blessed me tremendously again today! Medyo maghanda na kayo ng mimiryendahin at iinumin while you read this sharing, hehe, kasi medyo mahaba na naman ito. First of all, I got a response to my email to our parish priest saying that we might be leaving the parish this summer, and requesting for references for the boys as they apply for a Catholic school in Cambridge. Importante ang

Casting my Cares on the Lord

2008-05-20T05:50:00.000+01:00

Uh-oh. I've run into a glitch in my Cambridge application, and yesterday I was emailing the BGS and my department and my PhD supervisor all the way till the end of office hours trying to iron it out. It seems that even just for my "CPGS only" course (a 1-year stint which serves as a pre-PhD or 1st year PhD), I am expected to give evidence of three years' funding. The way I understood it, since I

My Cambridge IELTS results

2008-05-17T15:19:00.000+01:00

Happy news! Last May 3rd, I took my first IELTS test in Cambridge to fulfill the English language requirement of my PhD admission offer. Well, I got my IELTS test results just this morning: my Overall Band Score is 9.0! IELTS test scores range from 0 to 9, and looking at the recent stats, I think almost no one gets such high scores, so I'm really, really lucky. I got 9.0 in Listening, 9.0

Wider and Wider...

2008-04-03T22:51:00.000+01:00

On 1st April, last Tuesday, a day after my Schlumberger PhD fellowship was announced, I was utterly gobsmacked to receive a conditional offer from my chosen university--- which I can now reveal to be the University of Cambridge! YAY!!!!!!!!! All I need to do now is pass an English language test, send them my original documents, show them proof of my Schlumberger Foundation grant and be offered

The Door Begins To Open...

2008-03-31T03:59:00.000+01:00

Praise God! I got the PhD fellowship from Schlumberger Foundation's Faculty for the Future program! You can see the results online by clicking here. Please join me in thanking God for His mercy, generosity and faithfulness, and please keep praying that I will get admitted into my chosen University as a result of my securing funding. Thanks so much for all your prayers! I know that this is God's

The 14th of March

2008-03-16T07:03:00.000+00:00

Several exciting developments happened this week about my PhD plans. Let me post about it while they are still fresh on my mind. (As an aside, please pray for my health, as I have been having some discomfort lately... thanks. I have a huge headache as I write this, but I can't pass up this chance to glorify the Lord.) Last Tuesday, after coming home from an enjoyable afternoon with a new friend

My song for today--- and everyday

2008-02-06T08:47:00.000+00:00

If I ever have enough breath to sing one and only ONE song in my life, this would be it:Shepherd Of My HeartPerformed by: Sandi PattiComposed by: Mark Baldwin and Dick TunneyMaker of this heart of mineYou know me very wellYou understand my deepest partMore than I know myselfSo when I face the darknessWhen I need to find

On the Author, the Narrator, the Solar System and the Year Ahead

2007-12-31T09:05:00.000+00:00

"You know, Nanay," said B to me knowingly over dinner last night, ending with a dramatic flourish, "tomorrow is the last day of 2007!""Uh-huh," I smiled through my mouthful of left-over Christmas pasta, "and then, what's the day after that?""The first day of 2008!!!!" he exclaimed triumphantly.After a brief, scholarly, somewhat one-sided discussion (mostly with B on the talking end) on what a

The Most Wonderfully Difficult Time of the Year

2007-12-20T10:42:00.000+00:00

Christmas is almost upon us, the most wonderfully difficult time of the year for many migrant families. Especially those who, like us, have not been home yet since we left, for various reasons.Now, this post won't be an intellectually probing social commentary on migration, the emotional consequences or whatever it is that social academics write about. Nothing deep or clever in this blog entry.

Our Deepest Fear

2007-12-12T11:09:00.000+00:00

As my short course for SET women returners comes to an end, I'd like to share with you a powerful poem which was part of last week's course materials. It's authored and published by Marianne Williamson:"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.We ask ourselves, who am I to be

Last posting date to the Philippines today...

2007-12-07T10:34:00.000+00:00

... and I'm happy to say I beat the deadline! Yay!!!!Burned the candle at both ends last night just to finish sorting, labeling, writing and licking the Christmas post, just to be able to send the cards off today and know that they might (or should, anyway!) reach the 47 receivers on or before Christmas. 47! Whew! And that's just for Asia and Oceania.And then there's the annual family newsletter

Embracing Obscurity

2007-12-04T05:00:00.000+00:00

Here's a thought-provoking passage from Sacred Space this week:"In his classic The Imitation of Christ, Thomas à Kempis urges the reader to ‘enjoy being unknown and regarded as nothing.’ What he means is the ability to persist through tedium, to survive without the oxygen of recognition, praise and stroking, to do some good things every day which are seen only by God. Most of us start life as the

The River Flows

2007-11-30T12:43:00.000+00:00

Can't believe I finally did it: Yesterday, I submitted my online application for graduate studies at one of the top universities in the world. Will be posting my supporting documents tomorrow.What am I thinking? Me? There? Absototally mental.But still, I did it. Yes, I did.Am praying for the best possible results, and expecting the happiest outcome with total, irrational, illogical, childlike

First Frost

2007-11-15T16:25:00.000+00:00

We woke up this morning to see the first frost of the season covering the grass and the leaves in our garden. It reminded me of a short reflection I wrote for Antioch last spring, based on Heb 10: 19-23: "Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh),

Back to school... sort of

2007-10-01T10:15:00.000+01:00

Drove myself to Cambridge last Saturday, with my three ultra-supportive Andres men in tow. I attended our first group tutorial session for my T160 course on the Open University, which I've previously mentioned in an earlier post.I didn't realise how nervous I was about going back to "school" again, whether online or not, until I stepped into the shower, mentally rehearsing in a quiet state of

NanayNette on Shelfari

2007-09-27T12:41:00.000+01:00

By the way, people, have you checked out Shelfari yet? It's quite cool, sort of like Facebook or MySpace but for bookworms. If you've got time and broadband, I do suggest you take a look round, see who else you know is a Shelfarian and perhaps even build your own bookshelf. If you're one of the ten people on this planet who reads my blogs, you might also be interested in looking at the books I've

Autumn Rocks

2007-09-18T09:38:00.000+01:00

Fall's coming, I can feel it.I always know when Autumn is around the corner when the wind starts to nip my fingers and ears, and this morning, bright and early, it nipped. Autumn is coming, with Winter soon on its heels, and when it comes it will never be, to my mind, too late. I guess I never want Summer to end. Who does, right?But having my birthday right bang in the middle of the Autumn

Trusting and Asking

2007-07-29T12:36:00.000+01:00

If you want to make God laugh, said Fr. Chris at Mass this morning, tell Him your plans.I had to smile at the thought. It's true, though. All our best-laid plans, our hopes and dreams, our short-term and long-term goals, all are nothing but crude, unsystematic impulses of thought and emotion when compared to God's elegant, infinite, all-encompassing tapestry of blessing and fulfillment, His

Looking At The Stars

2007-07-12T08:49:00.000+01:00

Ever since I can remember, I have been fascinated by the wonders of space. Call me a geek, but it's true. I had always wanted to study astronomy (astrophysics, in particular) in university, but never got to, living in a developing country with a curriculum more geared towards business and the "practical" sciences. At the time, studying astronomy abroad just for the sake of it seemed a

My Second Spring

2007-04-27T13:12:00.000+01:00

I took this photo on a recent day out in the lovely English countryside. The four of us had just taken a ride on a real steam engine in Leighton Buzzard Railway, and as it was a sunny spring afternoon, the warmest day of the year thus far in Britain, we decided to treat ourselves to some ice cream.So out came the picnic mat (which is always, ALWAYS stored in the boot, just in case) and we all