With All My Heart

Up to this day, I still have the first trimester sickness --- oftentimes, I feel nauseous and most of the food I eat taste bitter. I also crave for native Filipino delicacies like bibingka, suman, champorado, banana-que etc. (I'm planning to make bibingka, puto and camote-que one of these days.). I found sweet potatoes and avocados appealing to my picky tastebuds.

Anyway, Tyler and I went to see my OB-GYN on June 16 for my second check-up. I am in my 12 weeks at that time. My doctor asked me if I’ve observed my belly starting to grow. I told him --- “yes, but I am not sure if it’s the baby or just the food that I’m eating”…I saw my doctor’s wide smile and he said ---“no, it’s the baby!”. He then gave me instructions up to what point to pull my pants down, so that he could use his instrument to find our baby’s heartbeat. After several attempts, he finally found the heartbeat --- Tyler and I both heard it --- it beats so fast!

It is wonderful to know that the heart shows the “first sign of life” inside my womb. I remember, on my first check-up we saw the baby’s functioning heart through the flickering light in the sonogram.

I can’t help but think about the passages in the bible that talks about the heart. I’ve read that the word heart/hearts was mentioned about 930 times in the bible. Below are some of those verses:

Jeremiah 17:9 - “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

Proverbs 4:23 – “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”

Psalm 19:8 – “The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart…”

Ecclesiastes 3:11- “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men...”

Luke 10:27 – “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind… ”

Dream vacations 2008

Hello, just want to share the videos of my dream vacations for 2008. You might be interested to join these tours:

http://www.intouch.org/site/c.dhKHIXPKIuE/b.4130799/k.ABC6/Alaska_Cruise_2008.htm

http://www.walkintheword.com/IsraelTrip/default.aspx

Mission trip

Tyler is in the Philippines since May 27. He joined a short mission trip in the southern part of Mindanao (Sultan Kudarat and South Cotabato provinces), with our other nine church mates. This is his second time to join the mission trip in Mindanao; the first one was in May of 2006. Below is the link to the blog of Luke Schooler about their trip.

http://philippinetrip2.blogspot.com/

Hungry all the time

Looking inside the fridge...thinking...what should I eat this time? It's hard to decide what to eat, especially that I'm so picky these days. Just few minutes after I ate, I feel hungry again. Hmmm --- it's amazing how my body is working hard to supply the needed nutrients of my growing baby :-)

While experiencing this "hungry-all-the-time" condition, I thought about my prayer life. I am "hungry" to pray, too, though not all the time --- maybe, most of the time. I started to have this strongest desire to pray when I became a believer of Jesus Christ. But oftentimes, due to lots of distractions, I wasn't able to feed this hunger. In Thessalonians 5:17-18, we are commanded to "PRAY WITHOUT CEASING".

I'm reading/studying a book on "Six Secrets to a Powerful Quiet Time" by Catherine Martin. I have this goal to be faithful in prayer. Tyler and I wanted to become good examples to our child/children. I don't remember where I heard this phase --- "teach your child how to pray as soon as she/he learned to speak".

Recently, I've read this article about practical tips to unceasing prayer from "Focus on the Family" magazine (May 2008 issue). I wanted to share 4 out of the 10 practical tips given:

# 1. "Post-it prayers". Write prayer requests on post-it and stick it to different areas in your house like on your mirror, fridge, computer etc.

# 2. "Get it on file". Purchase an accordion-style cardholder. Write the prayer request and appropriate Scripture on a blank card and insert it into your holder. If you are in a waiting room or airport, open your file and talk to God.

# 3. "Sort laundry". As you fold clothes, thank God for each family member, sharing what you appreciate about each one.

# 4. "Wait three rings". Let the ringing phone be your prayer signal. Before answering ask God to guide your thoughts and glorify His name through you. You can do the same when opening your e-mails.

He Knows...

On May 16, 2008 I officially got my Ph.D. in Biological and Agricultural Engineering at Kansas State University. I just wonder --- what would be the career path of our child like? Would he/she be interested in taking Ph.D.? Or maybe in a different path...

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future".

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Hello! We want to share the first sonogram of our baby that was taken on May 19, 2008 (8 weeks and 1 day old). We saw the baby's heart flickering!

Psalm 139:13-17 (NIV)
13 For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be. 17 How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!