The Rebelution Tour Video

The Rose Years: Being a Lady-in-Training

What is a Lady-in-Training?
I had a "jolt" last Tuesday when the computer teacher suddenly asked me that question. Everything Christin and I had discussed for our blog suddenly took flight and disappeared over the Great Beor Mountains (please don't ask me what book that is from, I don't remember :P).
In the short span of time that I had to answer that question, I found myself wondering What is a Lady-in-Training? When does one start (and stop) being one? Or is it something that goes on?

A Tiny Bud
For those of you who have already read Beautiful Girlhood, you know that a young lady can be compared to a rose whose petals have not yet fully blossomed.
A rose does not grow overnight. It doesn't suddenly blossom into a beautiful pink or red or white rose at the blink of an eye. It takes time. From the moment that it is planted, up to the days when it unfolds its petals bit by bit, until it finally grows into a lovely flower, it takes time. Day after day, it slowly stretches its stem, its petals, and its leaves until one day, you find it, blossomed and beautiful.
A young lady is like that. She does not grow overnight, she does not blossom immediately into a woman upon reaching her teenage years. Like the rose, it takes time. Time for her to grow, time for her to mature into the woman God wants her to become.

The Brink of Childhood and Womanhood
In our teenage years and well into the early twenties, we are not yet fully-grown women, and no longer are we children. We stand somewhere in-between, somewhere in the middle. This is where we are "watered" and "sunned." This is called our "in-training" years. It is during this time that our training to be women after God's heart takes place. We learn what it means to truly serve the Lord in everything. It is during this time that we learn to develop the gifts that God has given us. It is also during this time that we experience sorrow and God's comfort and love. We learn to be sensitive to His leading, we learn to become more mature emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.
Slowly, we are beginning to spread out our petals.

A Rose in Full Bloom
A rose does not stay a bud forever. Somewhere along the way, when you least expect it, the rose suddenly blossoms into something breathtakingly beautiful.
A girl does not stay a child forever, either. One day, she will be come a blossomed woman. She will stretch her petals until she blooms into a full rose.
We still have a lot of years before us. Many years of training, many years of learning and growing. It won't always be easy, but it will be worth it on the days we spread out our petals to their fullest.
That is my prayer that, one day, all of us will become fully-blossomed roses, created and wonderfully fashioned by the Great Designer. And it is my prayer that we will continue to grow as we go through our years, that we will continue to blossom and bloom, and that our "in-training" years will be so deeply instilled in our lives that, in spite of everything, we will continue to be the roses God made us to be

"But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ..."
~ 2 Peter 3:18

Brief Update

Hi everyone!

It's good to be back here! I know it's been some time since I last stopped by here to post - my schedule's just so hectic...but since we're in our sem break now, I can sit down and write away.

I thank God for the numerous blessings He has bestowed upon me and my family, and the sunshine, as well as the stormy clouds that help us grow more in the Lord.
I also thank Him for the many opportunities that He has placed before me. Some of them have opened my eyes and created within me a desire to do something more. We had the chance to visit homeless children (and adults) in a local temporary shelter. We were able to meet up with different mission organizations, and through them, we learned more about their work in the mission field.

Next week presents another great opportunity.
Every year, at the start of the second semester, Messiah schedules ministry trips for all the students, the faculty, and the staff. Our team will be going to Laguna and we'll be helping a church and its outreach ministry for 5 days.
Please pray for us. There is so much to be done but so little time to do it. We don't have all the resources we need, so we're trusting in God to provide the rest. For some of us, this is a whole new adventure...but we are very excited for what God will do when we are there.

Thank you and God bless you always!

Singing,
Alyssa

Messiah College Promotional Video

Check this out, guys! It's the promotional video of Messiah College (where I study)!

Life as a Member of The Shepherd's Ensemble

Choirs are not choirs unless they make mistakes while singing in places packed with hundreds of people. Choirs are not choirs if the members don't get hoarse sometimes. And choirs are not choirs if they don't learn their mistakes and look for a way to overcome the obstacles lying in the paths.

The Shepherd's Ensemble is the choir of Grace Fundamental Baptist Church. It has a good number of sopranos (with small voices), a few altos (with big, strong voices), a small number of tenors (with powerful voices), and also a small number of basses (with strong-enough voices).
This choir was formed in the same year when the GFBC Choir disbanded...which was *pauses and thinks* sometime in the Year 2004, if I am not mistaken. During that year, the new GFBC Choir, known as The Shepherd's Ensemble, performed in a thanksgiving concert since it was the church's 30th Anniversary. Since then, TSE has been exploring new and different areas of music, especially a cappella songs.

But life as a TSE choir member isn't always sunshine and laughter. There are moments of wrong notes, wrong sharps and flats, wrong timing. There are times when the lyrics are forgotten, the notes cannot be reached, the voices become too soft or too loud.

As a TSE member, as one of the Sopranos, I've experienced TSE's ups and downs.

There are times when we can't seem to get the song, now matter how hard we've tried. There are times when we're already up on stage, and then we all come down with stage fright and forget the lyrics, forget the timing, forget that the conductor is there to help us.

Despite all those little holes we fall into, there are green valleys and green pastures. There are times when we sing and we sing just like we've practiced. And if we pay extra attention and not get swayed by what is around us, we sing even better.

Two of the "Finest Moments in The Shepherd's Ensemble History" occurred yesterday and today.
TSE's choir conductor, Tito Pyo, treated out the members - and the honorary members (consisting of the children and siblings of some other members) - for a dinner at Chowking. Out of the blue, one of the tenors (not the original soloist) sang the beginning of "O Sifuni Mungu," a Swahili African song that TSE rendered last month during the anniversary. (For those who don't know yet, it was a disaster, a disgrace, thus resulting in the somewhat-official name "DIS-Grace Fundamental Baptist Church.")
But yesterday, after that delicious supper, Tito Pyo gave the pitch to the original singer, Pastor Rogel. Why not try it out to see if we still remember? "Vium be vyote vya Mungu wetu..." Pastor Rogel sang out, to the surprise of the Chowking staff and the other customers. "Na mefal me wetu," we responded, with matching animal sounds. And gradually, we "broke" into song. It was perfect. Slower than the original timing, but perfect enough. No undesirable, unnecessary sharps. We started the tune, and we stuck to it. That's why it was one of TSE's finest moments in history.
The other was today, while we sang "Seekers of Your Heart." Such a beautiful song, reflecting on the love and sacrifice of God! We sang it with all warmth...all feeling. And we enjoyed it. We enjoyed singing the song, just as we did when we sang "O Sifuni Mungu" yesterday.

But why could we sing "O Sifuni Mungu" and "Seekers of Your Heart" without difficulty? Particularly "O Sifuni Mungu." Why didn't we sing it during the anniversary with as much pleasure and passion?
I think...when we saw the crowd, it was like Peter looking at the waves. I think we were all afraid (especially since it was a new kind of song, and we didn't know what the reaction of the audience would be). We were looking at the crowd, we were so caught up by our unvoiced fears that we forgot to look at the conductor. We forgot what we had learned; we forgot what we had practiced. Just like Peter. He was looking at the waves, billowing and crashing all around him...that he forgot to look at Jesus...he forgot that Jesus told him to TRUST.

That's life as a TSE member. One moment, you're singing with all you've got. The next moment, you see the people and forget all you've learned.
Another thing that God has taught me in this area of my life is that He gave me a voice to use. I don't always use it (or at least, use ALL of it). As a TSE member, as a Music Minister, I should...because it's what God gave me. Gifts are meant to be used. Not stored away and hidden.

The Shepherd's Ensemble has stacks of new songs coming up. They're not just mere songs...but challenging pieces. May God remind us to look to Him (and to our choir conductor) while we're singing, and most of all, when we perform. It's not for the people, but for the Lord.

A Song: Seekers of Your Heart

There's a beautiful song that we'll be singing in choir this Sunday. I thought of posting it here because the lyrics really touched my heart...and I thought that somehow, God might use it to touch your heart too. :)
God bless!

Until we give You first place,
Until we let You begin
To fill us with Your Spirit,
Renew us from within.

Nothing matters,
Nothing's gained.
Without Your holy presence
Our lives are lived in vain.

Lord, we want to know You,
Live our lives to show You
All the love we owe You,
We're seekers of Your heart.

Because Your heart was broken
Because You saw the need
Because You gave so freely,
Because of Calvary

We can now be
Called Your own
Completed creations
Filled with You alone.

Lord, we want to know You,
Live our lives to show You
All the love we owe You,
We're seekers of Your heart.

Words and Music By
Dick and Melodie Tunnley and Beverly Darrall

A Matter of the Heart

“But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not at his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” ~ 1 Samuel 16:7

Most of the times, we look at the “outside” of a person. We see the person’s physical appearance, his capabilities, his talents, his strengths, his weakness, his failures. We judge people before we really know them, and sometimes even before we meet them. Most of the time, we are so wrapped up by the image we see in others that we forget to see them for who and what they really are.

On the other hand, it’s not just other people’s “outsides” that we look at. We, ourselves, tend to focus more on what other people see outside us than what they see inside us. We create in us someone who really isn't us so people can accept us, but in doing so, deceive ourselves more than we deceive the people we know. We are so intent on becoming someone, on gaining an identity - we dress in the most fashionable clothes, we spend so much time and money on unnecessary things, we become so absorbed in trying to be perfect…that we forget that it’s the heart that matters most. We forget that God does not look at our fancy clothes, God does not look out our talents, our abilities. We forget that God looks at our hearts.

It’s hard to be your true self, especially since our culture says that it’s okay to be someone you’re not. People always put on this mask that hides everything they really are. When you ride a bus, when you walk through the malls, you see people everywhere and all of them are desperately trying to be who they’re not, and trying to hide who they really are. That’s why so many teenagers do weird things to there bodies. To get attention. To become known. To create an identity for themselves. But deep down inside, they’re crying for help. They want to be who they really are, they’re tired of whom they’ve become, but they don’t know how to get out of it.

As Christians, it is important that we be who God made us to be. And it is important that we help other people realize who God made them to be. It is important that we focus on developing a heart for the Lord. As God’s children we should focus on filling our hearts with love rather than filling our minds with worldliness. As ambassadors for Christ, we should focus on being more like Him than anyone else in the world.
We should fill our hearts and our lives with the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23, 25). We should work on demonstrating love, kindness, patience, self-control, and all those other characteristics in our lives.
We should see other people the way God sees them - with love.

When you see someone, do you try to see his heart or do you tend to look at what you can just see on the surface? Do you end up judging a person just by what you see?
Do you spend your time worrying about how people see you? Do you work on how you look just to impress others? Or do you focus on shaping your heart after God’s own?

In this present world, it is usual to judge people by their appearances. It is usual to criticize them by what we see on the outside. In our generation, it usual to want to become somebody. But as God’s children, we must remember it's the heart we should work on, and it's the heart we should try to see.

"Man sees the outside, but God sees the heart."

The Rebelution Tour Video

College - A New Journey

They say that "every journey begins with a single step."
I took my first step last June, when college started. For me, having been homeschooled all my life, it was a very big step. A step of faith into the new world, a step into a "place" where I had never gone before.

The first few weeks were a challenge. I wasn't used to traveling, I wasn't used to doing school and then having homework (the "foreign language" to homeschoolers!). There were times when I felt like giving up, times when I felt like I just couldn't take it anymore. I would go home, frustrated by the many things I had to do yet not know where to start.

Aside from that, I had no time to sleep, no time to play with my brothers and sisters, no time to do my chores (which made me feel so guilty).

Nevertheless, I remembered Philippians 4:13. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." I've quoted that verse a million times, said it over and over again, and I believe it.

I learned so many things during the first few weeks of school. God taught me to enjoy every moment in life, including the long bus rides and the big puddles after the rain. I also learned to find my strength in Him.

My long journey has just begun...but I'm looking forward to learning more things every step of the way. I know that God placed me here for a purpose, and I know that He will be with me all the way.

Soaring,
Alyssa C.

Praise Report

God is good.
I am so blessed, so amazed by what He has been doing in my life. In spite of some stormy seas, God has been my rock of refuge.

Last week, my grandfather passed away. It was a tragic moment for all of us...since it was so sudden, so unexepcted. One thing that made it harder is that we don't know where he is now. It was a "test of faith" for our family, and by God's grace we were able to find the peace and the strength to move on.
It was a painful moment, but a blessing in a way, especially since Dad's sisters were able to come from other countries (all execpt one), so it was a big reunion after 18 long years.

Another thing I would like to praise God for is the guitar lessons that made my summer one of the best ever. In a previous post, I wrote about how difficult guitar was for me, and how enjoyable. Well, the lessons have come to an end. We had our recital last May 27 - Guitarahan Para Sa Panginoon (Guitars for the Lord). Of course, nothing is perfect, but we enjoyed playing for God and using our talents for His glory.

Next month, I will be entering a whole new world. Next month, college begins for me. I'm excited, I'm nervous, I'm not sure what to expect, but I know God will be with me every step of the way.

Thank you for all your prayers, your love and support.

Soaring on eagles' wings,
Alyssa C.