I went jogging tonight at the QC Circle. I hesitated at first because I was already exhausted but I’m not sure if I can/will wake up early tomorrow so I gave it a go. I didn’t exercise for a while because I wanted to make sure that I’m not pregnant before I do strenuous activities again.
I took Pepper to the vet for deworming and nail cutting only but she ended up getting ear treatments as well. The vet checked her ears and to my surprise, her ears are too dirty!!! I was shocked because I clean her ears almost every day but since she has folded ears, it’s hard to see the inner part of her ears.
The vet took some samples and put them under a microscope, and voila!! Ear mites!! Yikes!!! They cleaned her ears and gave her medicine. The vet also prescribed ear wash and Otiderm for her ears. I need to clean her ears every day before I give the ear drops.
I also need to take her back to the vet for her second deworming and for her ears to be checked. I need to take her there every two weeks until she doesn’t have worms anymore. Then she can take the 4-in-1 vaccine. Then she has to be dewormed every 6 months after. She also has to take the 4-in-1 vax three times (every 3 weeks), then just once a year after. In her first year, she has to take the anti-rabies vax, then once every year after that. Oh, she also has to take the BioCan M twice every three weeks, then once a year.
Whew!! I didn’t know that having a cat is costly. I don’t even spend much on myself. Hahaha! I should have refused when lola Lolit gave her to me. LOL. Kidding aside, I’ve already grown to love Pepper. She is very sweet and she gives me joy. I need a side hustle! 😂😂😂
Zephaniah 2
Chapter 2 verses 1 to 3 focus on God’s call of repentance to the people of Judah and Jerusalem. It says that people should repent before it’s too late. God loves us so much that He even gives us a warning through His prophets so we won’t perish.
“How easy it is to let the days pass like chaff, and never get right with God! Often the devil’s most powerful lie isn’t that there is no God, or no Bible, or no truth – often his most powerful lie is that there is no hurry. Nevertheless, today is the day of salvation.” enduringword.com
Life is short. It is true that Satan deceives us by thinking that we have more time but tomorrow is not guaranteed. Later is not even guaranteed. We have to get right with God NOW, not later, not tomorrow.
Eternity starts here on earth while we are still alive. How we live our life here on earth determines where we will spend our eternity. Will we spend our forever in heaven or in hell?
Many people say they will get right with God when they have tried everything on earth because “YOLO”. Some say they will get right with God when they’re already old. They’re too cool to follow Jesus now or ever. It’s sad that evil is regarded as cool and good as uncool. Following Jesus is actually cool! I don’t feel pressured to fit in. I am free from people’s judgments because I know that God’s opinion of me matters more than anyone. I don’t need to fit in and it feels so freeing.
Knowing that there is a God in heaven who considers me as His child and loves me and knows my true value is so freeing. I don’t have to impress people who don’t even like me. But then again, we don’t know how long we have left on earth to live.
“Seek the LORD, all you meek of the earth…” v. 3
This is a call to everyone–righteous and unrighteous. We may be believers of Jesus but have gone cold in our relationship with Him. This stood out to me because us believers have the tendency to lax because we know that we are already saved.
It says in the Bible that we should work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). That he who endures till the end shall be saved (Matthew 24:13).
Believers have to endure till the end. There are a lot of temptations and trials around us and we have to endure. We all have to seek the Lord. We have to seek the LORD everyday.
“It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the LORD’s anger.” v. 3
“In more than one place, God promises to hide His righteous in the day of great judgment. This is especially relevant to the time of the Great Tribulation, when Jesus warned us to Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. (Luke 21:36)” enduringword.com
Wow. The LORD will hide the righteous in the Great Tribulation.
One of our pastors in church said that if we are going to do bad things, we should do it to the full so we won’t have regrets. If we are going to follow God, we should follow Him fully.
It’s funny but it makes sense because God doesn’t want lukewarm believers. He said in His Word that He will spit out of His mouth those that are lukewarm. That is a scary thought!
Delayed obedience is disobedience. When God says repent, He is not suggesting that we should. He is commanding us to repent.
I have a new pet! I am not really a cat person. Not that I hate cats. I just prefer dogs more. However, when mama and I visited a grandma today, she gave me a kitten and…I couldn’t say no. 😅 Well, I verbalized my hesitation because I have never really had a pet that is solely mine. We always have a family pet but it’s different when it’s just mine. I told her I’m not sure if I’m ready for this kind of responsibility, but she was very persistent. So here she is… And I named her Pepper (white pepper). 😄 Why, you ask? Well, just because it sounds cute for a cat.
Have you ever wondered why God pardons our iniquities despite their utmost gravity when we repent from them? I have. I couldn’t get my finite mind to understand God’s infinite well of mercy. However, it says in Micah 7:18 that the LORD delights in mercy.
“Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?
He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy.
He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast our sins into the depths of the sea.” Micah 7:18-19
God actually delights in mercy. Wow. We can never say God is merciless. If people do not experience His mercy and forgiveness, it’s because they reject it. God is merciful but we should never forget that God is also just. There’s no sense in giving us the law (God’s law) if there is no consequence when we violate it. Those who refuse God’s mercy will see His justice.
What Charles Spurgeon said about us not feeling/experiencing God’s mercy is beautiful:
“Whatever despair may whisper or doubt may suggest, one text of Scripture is worth fifty fears and doubts, or fifty thousand either.… All objections to the delight of God in mercy are but illusions of your brain, or delusions of your heart.”
The enemy likes to plant seeds of doubt in our mind and heart. However, I am reminded to doubt my doubts. I am reminded to trust God and not my feelings. The enemy’s purpose is to destroy us so we won’t have victory in Christ.
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” John 10:10
God promises us the opposite:
“I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:10
“You will cast our sins into the depths of the sea.” v. 19
Wow. He will not only forgive us but He will also forget our sins. Casting our sins into the depths of the sea means throwing our sins into the deepest part of the sea where it cannot be retrieved.
“God will not hold on to our sin but forgive us instead. This means there is no probation with God’s forgiveness. He doesn’t forgive our sins just to hold onto them and hang them over our heads. In His compassion, He does away with our sins, casting them into the depths of the sea – and then He puts a ‘No Fishing’ sign there!” enduringword.com
This reminds me of this verse, too:
Philippians 3:13-14
“Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.
I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
When we repent from our sins and receive God’s forgiveness, we must get up and keep walking towards our heavenly goal. We must press on and focus our eyes on Jesus Christ who will lead and guide us.
Father God, help us to believe that we are completely forgiven and that we can move forward with You. Thank You for the assurance of Your mercy and forgiveness.
Since I arrived late here in Taiwan, I slept at around 4 a.m. and woke up around 10 a.m. Lelan picked me up at the airport. Our hotel is about 40 minutes away. Out of the blue, I told our taxi driver last night that I used to watch Meteor Garden when I was in college and he laughed. He said it’s an old TV show. Haha! At least I made him laugh! 😁 Anyway, I really enjoyed watching Meteor Garden before. I just suddenly remembered it when we were on our way to the hotel. The driver recommended a popular Japanese restaurant next to our hotel. He even got out of the car to show us the location of the restaurant. He used Google Translate to tell us. 😁
We took a shower then headed out after resting. We joined a long line of people to buy donuts at a donut shop just outside our hotel. I thought the donuts they were selling must be really good because people were lining up for it. Some were even taking pictures. When we got our donuts, we were not disappointed. It was warm and milky and not too sweet. Just around the corner, we saw a stall that sells empanada-like food. I don’t know what it’s called. It was good, too. Just a little oily. I like that there’s egg inside.❤️
Then we started to walk to the train station to go to Taipei 101. Our hotel was near Taipei Main Station. We got a little lost but Lelan had a map so that helped. Lelan said that with the limited time we had, we would only be able to visit one tourist site (Taipei 101) and that was okay. I wasn’t actually thinking of doing any activities because we didn’t have enough time and we will go back here in May. Last year, I purchased discounted plane tickets to Taiwan for May as a gift for him. I didn’t know that he wanted me to go to Taiwan this time because he was only here for a short period. But he wanted us to spend more time together before he flew back to the U.S. (He’s on his way home now…🥺😢)
I wasn’t overly enthusiastic to go to Taipei 101 because we had done a similar activity in Malaysia recently. I am grateful for the experience, of course, but I just prefer enjoying the city from the ground. Does that make sense? 😅 Anyway, again, I am grateful that God allowed us to see that. I learned something new from our visit in Taipei 101: the damper. I didn’t know that dampers help in the stability of a building. I had never seen one before. It’s amazing!
Then Lelan got some mugs and chocolates from the souvenir store on the 98th floor then we went back to the hotel to pack up. We went straight to the airport after. I set up my computer to teach at the food hall. What I like about the airport in Taiwan is their free, unlimited, and fast internet connection. I was able to work while waiting for our flight. It wasn’t the best setup but I survived. I didn’t know that Lelan had a plan to take me to Taiwan so I wasn’t able to inform our company beforehand.
It’s cool here. Well, for me at least. I enjoyed the short time my husband and I spent here together. I am grateful that we are able to visit. I already miss my husband.
It’s my first time to fly alone. Lelan wants me to stay in Taiwan while he’s there because of his long layover there. My flight was delayed. We were supposed to leave at 10:40 p.m. but it was announced that we would leave at 12 m.n. Earlier tonight, I heard people complaining and I thought to myself, I wouldn’t complain. I told myself that I just want to be grateful. I will complain if I really have to but as much as possible, I won’t sweat the small stuff.
I’m glad that God gave this opportunity for me to spend more time with my husband and to see another country. It’s okay even if the flight is delayed as long as we are safe. Instead of being pissed, I decided to sing worship songs. I want to pray and worship God more. Our senior pastor in church said yesterday during the service that we should not be satisfied with our prayer life now and that we should go deeper. I want that. I want greater intimacy with God. It’s the first day of our corporate prayer and fasting in church so I didn’t have dinner. I replaced my meal time with prayer.
I arrived in Taiwan at 2:05 a.m. I am grateful for the pilots, Capt. Cruz & Valencia, for the smooth take off and landing.
Panginoon, kahit anong ningning ng mundong ito, sa Iyo ako.
Kahit anong ganda ng mga tanawin, alam ko ang katapusan nito.
Hindi ako mahuhumaling sa anuman dito sa mundo.
Namamangha ako sa gawa ng kamay Mo,
Pero handa akong lisanin ito para sa Iyo.
Ang naghihintay sa akin sa langit sa piling Mo,
Ay kapayapaan na perpekto.
Wala nang luha, sakit, o pasakit rito.