Book 1 of 30 : Esther by Charles Swindoll

If you happen to read my entry about one of my projects before I finally hit the BIG 3-0 mark, hehehe, you will understand why I am writing an entry about this book (or entries about books in the near future) :) If you haven't, the "project" is basically about reading my list of 30 books before I hit 30 :) The process of picking THE 30 books was actually time-consuming (for my friends,hehe) BUT really touching and fun :) You may read the whole entry here.

My first book is entitled "Esther: A Woman of Strength and Dignity" written by Charles R. Swindoll. In my opinion, this is a book that EVERY WOMAN should read.

front cover

The book is (obviously) about Esther, hehe :) The Book of Esther is one of the only two books in the Bible that did not mention God. However, God's presence was felt the ENTIRE time even in those seemingly dark times (Jews faced an attempted genocide!). This is one book that I see myself reading over and over again until I'm gray and old for it is a good reminder of God's providence.

I was attempting to write a review of the book but changed my mind at the last minute for the fear of writing something that might be misinterpreted. Besides, we might have different takes on the things discussed in the book. So, instead of writing a "review" (not that I am a legit "reviewer", hehehe), let me share some of the things that I learned and hope to follow from the book:

1) God ALWAYS has a plan for us. 

Esther is an orphan who was raised by her uncle, Mordecai. Who would have thought that a simple woman (as in fetch-a-pail-of-water simple) will become the Queen of Persia?! Not only that, Esther was THE Queen. She did things that completely turned the lives of all Jews in their kingdom. Only a courageous, smart and God-reared woman can do these things.Amazing!!!

Now, let us look at the not-so-good other side of the story that goes by the name of Haman. He is the right hand/advisor of King Xerxes who is ambitious and full of pride. By the way, this same man was hanged at the gallows that he himself created for Mordecai! Talk about karma is a b*tch! (Oopsie!) :D

So see? God knows what he is doing :) I am reassured that even if I don't fully understand what is happening in my life right now, God's hand is at work so I should relax and keep the faith :) I don't want to be accused of being a spoiler (plus the fact that I may not give justice to the wonderful story) so please read the book to know how the story started and ended. The plot of the story is really twisted that it will honestly give soap operas (TV series) a run for their money! :) 

2) Be quiet, be convinced. 

It felt like someone smacked me hard in my face when I read this phrase! For a self-confessed whiner like me, this woke me up from my deep slumber. I felt guilty for being so whiny and for complaining a lot when all I have to do is be quiet (INTERNALIZE, REFLECT AND PRAY) and be convinced (that God is at work). If you've been visiting my blog long enough you will know that I am overly talkative! So naturally, when I have problems (no matter how small they are) I always make it a point to "share" it to someone. This is one area of my life that I am still struggling on. The good thing is I am a work in progress, everyone is a work in progress :)

Exhibit A: I got the book last year but only finished reading a couple of months ago! Exhibit B: yes, I write on / highlight my books :) 

3) Strive to be a woman of grace, strength and dignity. 

Haaaay! That's all I can say while reading the book and witnessing Esther's grace, strength and dignity. It made me so proud of her for she might not have the physical strength that a man has BUT she made a BIG difference!

For me to still be standing to face the world after so many challenges and hardships, I would like to believe that I am a strong woman (Naks! woman na talaga ako!). However, I've discovered the real meaning of STRENGTH thru Esther. She is grace, strength and dignity personified! Ika nga e, she doesn't sweat the small stuff. If you read the Book of Esther, you will notice that she was not mentioned in all chapters of the book BUT she came out in the most appropriate times! Tatahi-tahimik pero kapag kailangan e susulpot! Wow lang talaga! :) I, on the other hand, use my mouth faster than I use my brain and/or heart. So sad to admit but I know I've hurt a lot of people because of my sharp tongue (aka matalas na dila! hahaha!) :(

The good news is God is a forgiving God. Thus, we can always change and strive to be a better person :) Life is promising!!! :)

To all the women out there, GET A COPY OF THIS BOOK! You will surely see your worth as a woman and feel powerful and proud that you are a woman! :)

PS:

1) Charles Swindoll has a lot of books/profiles in character series that are worth reading! Not just for women but for men alike :)

2) Special thanks to Cess for the collages! :) It's nice to have friends who support your kalokohan aka blogging :D Mwah!

Cardigan, my hero for today :)

I had a series of wardrobe malfunction today (Naks! Tunog artista lang!) :)


First stop, my overly worn out-nagrereklamo-nang-palitan-sya belt gave up on me this morning :( I think this is one of my most worn out belt (out of the 4-5 pieces that I have. I know! Such a pity for a 20 something-almost 30 woman like me to not have as much belt as I'm supposed to have). I suddenly felt bad for this belt because if only "he" could complain, he would have protested on the streets a long time ago! I love its thickness, color and "astig" appeal (astig is such a relative word, haha) that's why I always use it :) Well, RIP my "astig" belt. I will miss you! :( 

bought this in Bangkok some time in Dec 2011

A few minutes after I've discovered that my most prized belt finally gave up on me, I discovered that my blouse was half open! Que horror! This blouse is one of my favorites since it is black (which makes me look thinner) and gives my body a little shape plus the V-neck creates an illusion that I have longer neck. I bought this in one of the factory outlets in Jakarta. This is how it looks like:

 And this is what happened:

this happened while i was wearing it! Imagine all the skin exposed! Nyeee!

 Buti na lang e to the rescue ang aking cardigan! Thank you! :)

I will definitely start hunting for a sturdy (and budget friendly) belt :)

I MUST love Running

And I am back (after a long hiatus)! :D

I've been thinking of a good (comeback) entry, haha :)

But finally I've decided to write something about RUNNING. Yes, I am no expert in this division (fitness in general actually) but I would like to say that I am developing a love but more of - hate relationship with it the past few weeks.

Running has never been in the list of my most favorite things to do. Even when I was younger I would always choose biking over running any time of the day. I don't know but there is something about biking that I really love. It makes me feel so connected to nature and I love the fact that I am in total control (BIG PLUS is that it is less tiring than running) :) :)

However, since I always use the mantra "don't say no unless you've tried it", I am giving running a chance to redeem itself. To start the I-am-giving-running-a-chance, I've been waking up REALLY early to make it to the gym @6am (wake up, wash my face and brush my teeth, change into gym clothes then head to the gym WITHOUT taking a bath! so sorry na lang sila if maamoy nila ako! haha!) and make sure that I am done @7am (running, machines and taking a shower. So yes, i do take a bath after! :D ) so I will be in school before 730am. BUT I don't do it everyday ha, at the most is 3x a week :) And so far, my personal record is 15min-nonstop running @8kph :)

Just a little backstory on how I started "working out'" ( I still cringe everytime I use this term, hehe) during mornings: When I enrolled in Fitness First 3 months ago, one of the perks is to be able to refund half of what I paid for the starter kit (3 sessions with a trainer) IF I go to the gym at least 8x/month for 3 consecutive months (Feb-Apr). As expected, I barely hit the target and would cram during the last week of each month just to beat the target! And I am happy to say that my attendance shows that I attended 10x in Feb and 8x in March. BUT April proved to be a busy month for me (excuses,excuses!). The first 2 weeks of April were spent with all the preparation (which took up most of my non-teaching periods being a self-confessed OC!) for our kids' 5-day Bali trip which happened last April 15-19. Needless to say, during the first 3 weeks of April I've been been to the gym for 3 TIMES only! So I had to think quick and make sure that I hit the target with barely 10 days left! (Aba e sayang noh! 2 months na akong nagtyaga at nagcram! :D ) Since I was so desperate to refund my money (yes!!! I am becoming a wise spender now!) and this will be a personal failure if I don't make it, I resulted to hitting the gym in the morning before I go to work. And voila, I ended up liking it! :)

photo taken from the web

As expected (being the reflective person that I am! haha!), I had quite a lot of realizations in this whole kailangan-ko-marefund-ang-binayad-ko-kahit-na-mahirapan-ako thingymajingy :)

1) I made the right decision when I moved to Fitness First. Sa wakas!!! Sa dami kong maling desisyon sa buhay e may tumama din! Drama lang! Hahaha! :) Seriously though, I really appreciate that Fitness First is just a 10-15 minute walk away from home. I had a long entry about this here.

2) I have to start sleeping early. Since I have to be awake by (latest)530 in the morning to make sure that I will be at the gym by 6am, I also had to make sure that I have enough rest and sleep the night before. I restrained myself from staying up late (which is most due to dvd marathon of Bones or TVD) and exerted extra effort to have a new bedtime, that is, 10pm. Lola lang ang peg! :D

3) Nothing comes easy. Like what I said, I don't feel any love towards running. Hate is actually more like it. But I also recognize all the benefits that I can get from running so I owe it to myself to give it a try. Just the mere thought of running on a treadmill makes me cringe in a NEGATIVE way. Running is just so tiring for me! However, after the morning runs that I had (hehe, 2 pa lang naman!), I am starting to enjoy it a bit. I am hoping that I will learn to love it soon.

4) It feels good to wake up early. Wow! The wonders of waking up early! The first week was really exhausting. I had to take naps in between my classes to make up for the exhausting feeling. However, as I continued this week (which is my 2nd week), I feel more light now. Well, not light as in lost weight light but in general I do feel light! (I don't know how to put it in words.) Waking up early to hit the gym also gave me time to think things over, reflect-reflect ang drama ko (the gym is more conducive for these things since there's relatively fewer people). It's actually more of alternate of psyching myself (go Len! or naka 10 minutes ka na! or Look oh! 1 km na natatakbo mo ng straight! and so on) and reflecting (what should I do? What am I doing with my life? etc,etc :D)

5) I have the power over myself. I can actually will myself to do something! The other (lazy) part of me will always try to find its way but it actually depends on how badly I want something. If  I want it so bad then I can will myself to do everything in my power to have it. This does not only goes to going to the gym early but it is actually all-encompassing. This basically sums up what I want to do with my life.

Oh di ba! Running lang ito pero ang dami kong nasabi! :D

I hope to be able to post a photo of the slimmer me! Naks! :)