The Atheist

Photo Credit: www.amzazon.com

Excerpted from "Amazing Grace For The Catholic Heart"

An atheist was walking through the woods, admiring all the “accidents” that evolution

had created. “What majestic trees! What powerful rivers! What beautiful animals!” he

said to himself. As he was walking alongside the river, he heard a rustling in the bushes

behind him.

Turning to look, he saw a seven-foot grizzly bear charge towards him. He ran as fast as

he could up the path. He looked over his shoulder and saw the grizzly closing in.

Somehow he ran even faster, so scared that tears came to his eyes. He looked again and

the bear was even closer. His heart was pounding faster and he tried to run even faster

still. He tripped and fell to the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up, but the bear was

right beside him, reaching for him with its left paw and raising its right paw to strike him.

At that instant the atheist cried out, “Oh, my God!”

Immediately, time stopped … the bear froze … the forest was silent … even the river
stopped flowing.
As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came from out of the sky. “You have denied
My existence all these years, but do you now believe in Me?”
“No, I don’t,” replied the man, “but perhaps you could make the bear a believer?”
“Very well” said the voice.
The light went out … the river ran again … the sounds of the forest resumed … and the
bear dropped his right paw, brought both paws together, bowed his head and spoke …
“Lord, bless this food which I am about to receive.”

God's Eye View (How the Lord Answers Prayers)

Photo Credit: thecryingwoman.com

I've been blessed for the past four years of attending the Kerygma Conference (an annual inspirational event led by Bro. Bo Sanchez). One of my favorite talks this year was from Fr. Bob McConaghy for the Prayer and Worship class. He talked about how the Lord answers prayers.


Let me share with you some of my notes from Fr. Bob's talk.

-Prayer is intimacy. (Into Me See)
-God can change His mind. He is like a good parent who talks to His child.
-Choose God. Because in Him, you are known and loved.
-When we pray, God is asking, "Are you ready to listen to Me?"

1. When your prayer is not right, God says, "NO"
-When He says No, it's because He loves you. And if you really love someone,
will you put him/her at risk?
-Greatest miracle: Jesus conquering death.
-In painful moments, God is with you.

2. When you're not right, God says, "GROW"
- It's painful to grow.
-We need to allow maturity & growth in our life.
-Don't blame Him if He doesn't answer you right away.
-Be careful for asking signs. It might be something you set for yourself.

3. When the timing of your prayer is not right, God says, "SLOW"
-We often asked, Why?
-When you're down to nothing, God is up to something.
-When you pray, ask Him to surprise you.
-He has something better for you.

4. When everything is right, God says, "GO"
-He will answer just the way you want it and need it.


As I reflected, I realized that God has answered my prayers. I left the room carrying the lessons I've learned.

God indeed does answer every prayer.


P.S. I only sat in on this class. Thank You Lord for the divine appointment.  =)

The Definition of Success

Photo Credit: aspenfamilyleadershiprevolution.blogspot.com

Excerpted from Born To Win by Zig Ziglar

Here's a short list of the characteristics of what the author believes success isn't and what success is: 

What Success Is:

1. Success is knowing that you did a great job when you close the door to your office at the end of each workday and head for home.

2. Success is having a home and people to love who love you in return.

3. Success is having the financial security to meet your obligations each month and the knowledge that you have provided that security for your family in the event of your demise.

4. Success is having the kind of faith that lets you know where to turn when there seems to be no place to turn.

5. Success is having an interest or hobby that gives you joy and peace.

6. Success is knowing who you are, and Whose you are.

7. Success is taking good care of you and waking up healthy each day.

8. Success is slipping under the covers at the end of the day and realizing with gratitude that, “It just doesn’t get much better than this!”

You see from this list that success is defined by more than one sentence. Success involves the whole person, and if you skimp on one area, you will limit your success. Now, let’s take a look at what success isn’t:

What Success Isn’t:

1. Success isn’t missing dinner with the family several times a week because of working excessively.

2. Success isn’t rushing home from work and hiding out with the TV thinking, “After the day I’ve had, I need my space!”

3. Success isn’t about how to make more money when you already have more money than you can spend.

4. Success isn’t about going to church and ignoring everything you hear.

5. Success isn’t all work and no play.

6. Success isn’t about being so busy that you live on unhealthy fast food, served to you through little windows.

7. Success isn’t spending mental energy worrying about late projects, being home on time, your health, missing your child’s school play, being able to pay your bills, or finding joy in your life.

8. Success isn’t texting while you drive to catch up on your overloaded schedule.  

staying connected..

Photo Credit: thehandwritten.com

I was trying to restore an ebook I just bought in Amazon. I checked the Cloud Drive (storage application where deleted items can be retrieved) but still couldn't find the file. So I tried the online chat customer service for help.  After providing the information, these words caught my attention. 

Salome: I've restored and re-sent the ebook that you've purchased.
Are you connected to your wifi? 

I was then reminded by one of His Promises from 1 Peter 5:10, "And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast."

God restores and strengthens. He sent Jesus to us. But the question is, are we connected with Him?

The Value of Failing

Excerpt from Better Than Good by Zig Ziglar

Failure is one of life’s greatest teachers as long as we are not crushed by it—as long as we learn from it. I like to divide the world into two camps: learners and nonlearners. When the learners do something that is not wise, and failure is the result, they don’t do it again. They learn the lesson. And when they do something that works, they take note and try to repeat it. In other word, they don’t treat life like a tunnel—a tube that never gets narrower. They treat life like they’re heading into a funnel. As they exclude choices and actions that don’t work, they are continually narrowing the range of options: they’re throwing out the stupid and keeping the stupendous. Eventually they hit their stride as peak performers because they don’t do stuff that doesn’t work.

            The real question in life is not whether you are a success of a failure but whether you are a learner or a nonlearner.

            Here are some of the best lessons to learn from failure:

• Failure teaches us to depend on God.
• Failure teaches us humility.
• Failure teaches us that we can’t always get what we want.
• Failure teaches us to make a correction in our course of action.
• Failure teaches us character.
• Failure teaches us perseverance.
• Failure teaches us that we can survive.

            Failure is a willing teacher; as master tutor. Anyone willing to sit at the feet of failure and soak up everything there is to learn will graduate quickly to the school of peak performance.

Eric Hoffer; who wrote widely on the subject of self-esteem, said, “In times of change the learners inherit the earth while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.” And speaker Steve Brown has said that anything worth doing is worth doing poorly—until you can learn to do it well.