Things That Cause Strife

It's June 1st.

In two days, my mother and my siblings will be arriving to the Philippines. In a few weeks, my sophomore year of college will have started. That means that I'll get to meet new freshmen, new professors and be challenged by new subjects. 
    Every time a new month starts, I feel like it's my chance to start anew. This month, one of my 'personality' goals is to be less irritated by little things. 

Here is a list of ten things that cause me strife. 


          Things That Cause Strife

1. Flaky Internet connection.
2. The other queue moving faster.
3. Forgetting to put the lid on cookie jars and finding ants inside.
4. People who don't drain the water from inside the soap dish. 
5. Losing important papers that I placed between pages of books.
6. Things forgotten on "to do" list.
7. Spending a lot of money for a drink that wasn't even good. 
8. People who can't act and don't really seem to have any talent are getting famous on TV because of their looks. 
9. Food I ordered taking too long. 
10. No toilet paper in the bathroom.


Now, who wouldn't be frustrated by these things, yeah? It's so easy to yell out in anger and just let my mouth say whatever that it wants to say. It doesn't matter whether I'd be blaming people, asking them, "Did someone play bongos on your head when you were a baby, or are you just really dumb?" Or start kicking things and pushing people aggressively, I just need to let off my steam. 
However, according to the Bible, on Proverbs 17:14, to be precise, it says, 

The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out.

So there you have it. I need to quit. A quarrel is like a built up pressure inside a dam, yeah? And if I start to react, it's like a leak in the dam. If I don't want all that water to eventually burst, I need to keep my mouth shut and not get affected. 

Now for some extra news. 

I'm going to start to read 1 book from the BBC Big Read list and 1 Christian book per month and write a blog about them. For June, the books that I have chosen are Crazy Love by Francis Chan and Emma by Jane Austen. Let's see how this goes. I love Francis Chan, and I dislike most of Jane Austen's work. But I will be updating the blog when I finish these books, if not earlier. I will be sharing my favorite thing about it, or what I enjoyed, liked or disliked and my favorite quotes from the books. Hopefully, I will be consistent in blogging now! 

Until next time. Peace and love 

xx,

A 

Needing a HARD PUSH

           Last week, I saw a film called 'Miracle.' It was shown in one of our leadership classes. For those who haven't seen the movie, it's about the 1980 U.S. men's ice hockey team led by an overbearing coach who eventually led them to an Olympic gold medal. A question was asked by our professor about whether we would like to work under someone like Coach Brooks. After giving it a lot of thought, this is my answer.

            For me, I would love to work with someone like Coach Herb Brooks. In my opinion, he had the perfect ability to push people to their limits and make them work the hardest they've ever done. There is a book I read called ‘Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother’ and it talks about the extreme parenting of a Chinese woman. She pushed her daughters to study extremely hard, and it got to the point where her daughters would be screaming ‘I hate you!’ at her. However, their hard work paid off since both her daughters became accomplished musicians and ended up going to prestigious schools. I saw a bit of tiger parenting in Coach Brooks. Now, some people might think that his coaching method was too extreme, but I beg to disagree. His coaching method was exactly right. We all know that his primary temperament is a doer, and in the end, his goals were what drove him to be quite harsh. He was driven to win, to beat the Russians and to be the best. He merely strived to invoke all of that to the guys in his team.

            Coach Brooks was a great coach. As a leader, he probably wasn’t the best; he was too insensitive, too harsh, too demanding, etc. but sports is different. Nobody goes to participate in the Olympics just for fun or for experience. No, if they were to compete, it was because they wanted to win. They wanted to stand on a podium in front of thousands of people wearing a gold medal around their necks. If you had that dream, or simply any dream that you are simply just dying to achieve, Coach Brooks was the right coach. I have a dream for myself. I want to accomplish something, but I admit that at times I am too laissez-faire. I know I can do something, so I don’t work hard for it. In the end, my accomplished work is not of a good quality, I’m being surpassed by others who have simply worked harder. I want to push myself, so I would want to work under Coach Brooks. I know for a fact that if he was coaching me, I would be successful. At times, I may hate him, but in the end, he will get me to a place where I had only dreamed of going. He had his severe methods that pressed his players to be the best they can be. He had wise lessons to teach them, and he was persistent in making them accomplish the goals that they may not know that want to achieve yet. Coach Brooks had passion, strength and courage to undertake the difficult and triumph in it. In my opinion, he is the epitome of a truly great coach, which is why I would love to work under somebody like him. 

Ramblings

So the other night I was listening to a song by James Vincent McMorrow called Higher Love. It's such a beautiful song with really good lyrics and I was inspired to write about how I was feeling at the time. Then I found some other ramblings I typed on my phone about a month or so ago and I joined them together. So here you go.

Ramblings of an insomniac

Sometimes I don't know what to do. God, let me feel Your love. I just need everything to be real. What will it take for me to stop being so inconsistent?If I think about it, I get sad. Everything I'm going through, everything that's in my mind seems so jumbled up. Right now I don't even know if I'm making much sense, but I'm just confused. Deep down, I know what I want and all I want is more of You. I just desperately need You, but my mind and my heart is so messy that I keep forgetting what I'm supposed to want, what I need.Bring me to higher love. Higher love for You.Let me feel this overpowering love that You have for me. I want to drown. Let me drown in Your love. To be empty yet to feel so full. You're all I want to need. You're all I want to see.But I'm not like this. Hold me down, don't let me go. I'm tired of freedom that kept me in chains. I'm running to leave it behind. I want to leave it all behind.You carry the flame. I'll follow You, follow Your light. I want to do it now.I want to do that right now. 

Words.

Isn’t it weird that sometimes the people you love the most are the ones who give you the least bit of encouragement? It’s a bit off, wouldn’t you say?

The Bible has so many passages that talks about how we ought to encourage one another, lift each other up. But I wonder sometimes, how come at times it’s my closest Christian friends who insult me worse than my non-believer friends? In Ephesians 4:29, the Bible says “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

Our words should be gracious. Fresh and offering help to others grow as Christians. I roll my eyes at the quote 'words can never hurt me.' I beg to differ. True, words aren’t knives; they can’t hurt you, literally. They do hurt, though. Sometimes insults are like little pokes, you can shrug them off. But when the pokes keep coming, sooner or later you’ll end up with a bruise until it takes only a tiny poke for you to react violently. So friends, watch your talk! Let your good words communicate grace to those who hear them. Let’s build each other up.

I haven’t updated in a while, but now that it’s summer break in the Philippines, I have more free time. School is out, finals week is over, I can now put my feet up and work on getting rid of these dark circles under my eyes. Whew! However, not every day is all fun and games. Lately I’ve been volunteering with a bunch of friends to an area here in Quezon City called Bayoran. We’ve been working with some youth and kids who lost their houses in a fire. The place is an urban poor community and we call the whole thing ‘Friday Knights Exchange.’ The whole thing is just us sharing God’s love to people who normally wouldn’t have access to it. I’ve been put in charge of the children’s activities. I haven’t been able to take my camera to get photos yet, but I will soon. All the children are adorable.

Well, this is quite short. Hopefully I’ll be able to update better now that I’m less busy with things. Thanks for all your prayers and support.

Much love,

Andrea

1 Year Anniversary

   Last year, I arrived in the Philippines ready to begin a new adventure. Independent life, college, new-ish country, unfamiliar-ish people. It's exactly one year later, and I feel like the kid who survived her first time in a roller coaster ride she was terrified of! It's a good feeling, by the way.

   2012 brought me a whole lot of challenges. God also brought me the strength that I needed to overcome them. He gave me amazing people to support me, back me up in prayers and in whatever else that I needed. 2012 has indeed been a year of fruitfulness and blessing. 

   So much has happened to me in my one year stay in the Philippines. In the beginning, I was terrified of leaving my family, my comfortable life, and my familiar home. Leaving was incredibly painful, especially since I had just started making really good friends in the church. It was incredibly hard to smile inside everyday, for I felt that I was alone. You know what I'm talking about. New country, new people. Having to start over and get people to understand you and all your onion layers. But I realized, my whole life has been a journey of moving. I was born to be a nomad. 

(Just a random quote inserted here.) 

   Anyways, this blog, apparently, is my first for this year. This year is going to bring me so much more, I just know it. I attended this camp last December, and one speaker kept saying, "2013 is your dream waiting to happen." 

   Well, what is my dream waiting to happen? I guess I have to search my heart to find out. 

   

Works Well

Hi. I wave at him.
He waves back.
I scoot over. What's your name?
The boy does not reply.
I shout in his ear.
He just smiles.
He makes actions with his hands.
I watch,
Mesmerized.
He points at his ear.
And he shakes his head.
I think he says that his ears don't work well.
That's okay.
A big boy comes.
He laughs and says mean things.
My new friend just smiles.
He points at his ear.
And he shakes his head.
The big boy keeps laughing.
He keeps calling my friend mean words.
His ears don't work well, I say.
The boy pushes my friend.
He falls on the ground.
His knee has blood in it.
I watch,
Mesmerized.
I help him up.
I turn to my friend.
And I point to the bully.
I point at my head.
And I shake my head.
The big boy's head don't work well.
That's what I mean.
My friend smiles.
He points at my chest.
Then he nods his head.
I think he says my heart works well.

A Poem

SOUNDS OF TERROR 

The sound of their voices, loud and clear

Dear God, I pray, as I cringe in fear,

Some days they hurt me, some days they just sneer

Some days they push me and call me queer.

The sound of their footsteps, oh so close,

Of terror I don’t need another dose.

I can hear them walking, and when they broke my nose,

Just to silence their footsteps I wanna break their toes.

The sound of their laughter makes me want to die

No other sound on earth can make me cry.

They chuckle and snigger and shove me that’s why

I jumped off the building and bid them goodbye.

The sound of their shock came in different ways

There was screaming and swearing and other dismays

But worse were the sobs and wails cause by the face

That will haunt them all of their days.

What do I stand for?

OKAY


A four letter word. Usually a reply to a question. How are you? Do you want some more? Do you need me to come over? How are your grades?
I am an indecisive person. I'm also quite complacent which makes me answer "okay" a lot.
"Andrea, do you want some more rice?"
"Okay."
I know it infuriates quite a number of people. "Do you want it or not?" they'll say. Then, I'll go, "Sure."

I think I have to stop being complacent. In the song "Some Nights" by Fun., there's this line that goes, "What do I stand for?" Then I wonder. What do I stand for? Justice. Truth. Liberty? I'm no Superman.
I'm gonna start thinking about what I really stand for. This year is almost coming to an end and I want to actually be making a change in my life. Change for the better that is. After all, one of my favorite quotes go, "Things are changing and we are changing with them." But I wonder, am I really changing? Or am I merely going with the flow, and not actually taking a stand?
I used to stand for feminism. I wanted women to stand up for themselves, to be strong and independent, to not be weaklings and push-overs. I wanted women to be confident. However, I sometimes wonder if that's really what I want to stand for. The Bible tells women to submit to their husbands. Women weren't created to be leaders of the family. So I might have to rethink everything again.
Like I've said before, I'm in that period of my life where what I do determines who I become in the future. So I really do have to start figuring my crap out.

Lessons

“You know how people say when you die God will say, ‘Well done my good and faithful servant?’ What if He doesn’t? You’ll never get another shot at that. This is the one life we have to live. And it’s fun to make all the mistakes… but it will suck worse if you get to heaven and God just lets you in without saying anything.” –Matt Del Rosario, by the wisdom God has given to him.

     Right now, having just turned 18, I'm in that point in my life where what I do now determines who I become in the future. And I don't want to stay behind with the rest of the people who think of 'free' things. I want to surrender all. Live my life in a way that would make me stand out, not because I want the attention, but because I want people to go like, "Wow. God DOES do amazing work.”

     On Friday, I went to the 2012 Saved Festival where I heard The Katinas, Desperation Band, Abandon and more. Before that, I had my Day with the Lord. It was a wonderful feeling, just tuning everything out and focusing on God and His Word. My devotion that day was becoming like Christ. And two days later, it still rings in my ears. Am I becoming like Christ? I’m supposed to get there, but I wonder. Am I moving forward?

     I’ve mentioned several times in this blog that I’m alone. My family is in another country and I’m here by myself. However, it just struck me. God is not teaching me to be independent this time. I’ve been there, done that. We know how well I handle being left alone. No. God is teaching me to be dependent. He wants me. He wants all of me. However, he can’t use me right now, not while I’m being all strong and independent. Not when I’m boldly sharing about my possessiveness and pride issues. Not when I’m happy staying where I am. Safe and anchored, not moving at all.

So yesterday, I broke down. I cried, I wept, I had tears in my eyes. I sobbed, I bawled my eyes out, think of all the other ways to rephrase this, but the truth is, I went weak. I realized, as I stood above an incredibly tall building, how little I am. I’m nothing but a speck in this world. Yet God, in His overwhelming love for me, gave His Son and everything He had, just so I can have a shot at having a relationship with Him. How could I not let go of whatever useless thing I’ve been holding on to, for the One who loved me so?

     The first semester of my freshman year is over. The second will begin. I fervently hope that when I enter Messiah College on my second semester, people will see a change. The old has gone.

     Andrea has let go. Now God can use her.

Below are lyrics to a song I heard on Friday at the Saved Festival. The lyrics spoke to me, and I pray that somehow, they’ll speak to you too.

Or you could let go of all these things you hold
You could let go and watch your life unfold
You're part of a grand design
Bigger than what you had in mind
But you'll never know, you'll never know
Until you let it go –Abandon ‘Let Go’ 

A Tip on Blessing Others

          Coexisting and Love

     Since I was young, I’ve always imagined the world as a simple place. For me, it was composed of normal people and simple rules. Learn to coexist.

     No. Life is about more than just coexisting.

    What is the greatest commandment? Love the Lord God with all your life, all your soul and all your strength. The second is this. Love your neighbor as yourself. Where in that line would you find God telling you to simply coexist?

     Why am I talking about this right now? Recently, I observed my surroundings. My college, my church, even my house, I studied the people carefully. Are we living with love for others or are we merely coexisting? We acknowledge that they’re there, but we don’t take the time to appreciate them. We see them, but we don’t really see them.

     Take my college for example. It’s small, less than a hundred students. We are close, the college has a very ‘family-like’ setting. But yet, there are still a lot of us who have never had a conversation with the other students from different batches. We know about each other, but we don’t know each other. Distinction. Same goes for the church. Our church is not even a mega-church, yet on Sundays, I realized that I don’t even talk to the other members, especially the new ones. And it’s worse than my experience in school, I don’t even know some people exist!

     It’s just starting to get to me that we are all in God’s family. My churchmates, schoolmates and batchmates, we are all supposed to be one. How can a body function when there is no communication?

      This week, I strive to change. I will appreciate others, and not just in my mind either. I will take the time to get to know them, have a conversation, and find a way to bless them.  

A simple essay

 Messiah College

                                                               Midterm Exam

Andrea Natividad                                                                                            September 11, 2012

                          Women who get pregnant out of wedlock should not necessarily marry

I believe that it was L.M. Montgomery who once said, “We should regret our mistakes and learn from them, but never carry them forward into the future with us.”

I agree with this statement. One mistake should not define your future. If a woman who committed pre-marital sex with a man whom she was not planning to marry gets pregnant, realizes her mistake and gets married to her ‘baby daddy’ because they believe that this will make them right in God’s eyes, they are wrong. God’s will for marriage is not based on having a baby. Marriage is a sacred gift of God to humankind. How could something be given when you take it without it being offered to you? That is not receiving, that is considered stealing.

“I’m pregnant.” Those two words can flip your world upside down. For a young woman, unmarried and with no committed partner, this news is bad. The news is even worse when this young woman happens to be a Christian who made a mistake one night. She knows that what she did was wrong, and she wants to make things right. So she wants to get married, because it is God’s desire for every child to have a father. This young woman may not be in love with this man, and he is certainly not a guy she would ever marry if she wasn’t pregnant, but this would make things right, right? NO! Two wrongs don’t make a right. She may be making an even bigger mistake and may even be completely removing herself from God’s will if she follows through with this decision. She could be sacrificing whatever God’s best plan for her is in exchange of something that she and the man may think is right. This woman, by wanting to do what is right, may just be jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire.

By getting married, two people commit to a lifelong covenant. The words ‘til death do us apart’ should ring in your ears. Having a baby is no reason to get married. What if the child gets in an accident and tragically passes away? The couple now has no reason to stay married. Thus they divorce. Statistics prove that couples who get married because a baby is on the way have a higher chance of failure than those marriages based on real love, patience and trust.

Of course there are certain cases when it is the best for the expecting couple to get married. For instance, if they were already planning to get married, it would absolutely be the wisest choice to just get married sooner. Having both a mother and a father present before the child is born is the most ideal situation. The couple, who had a good solid foundation for their relationship, will most likely work out with no problems. They were already on the way to marriage; the baby may just be a speed lane. However, if you’re talking about a different couple, marriage is most definitely not the path they should take. This couple might just be marrying for the sake of saving themselves from embarrassment of their sin. It takes a lot of maturity to raise a child. However, by being rash in their decision to get married, the couple is showing immaturity. They are just going to prolong the wait until their marriage, which was not built on a solid foundation, eventually collapses. If you want a marriage to properly work, God should be at the center, not a pregnancy.

References:

http://www.professorshouse.com/Relationships/Dating/Articles/I-am-Pregnant-Should-We-Get-Married/

http://www.divorcehope.com/pregnantchildoutofwedlock.htm

http://www.gotquestions.org/pregnant-married.html 

http://www.christianforums.com/t7520510/   

Becoming the Better Person

A lot of us have experienced being hurt, being picked on and being wronged. One of the easiest things to do is to lash out in anger and cry. It's a bit harder to brush it off, to ignore the bullies and to pretend nothing happened. What is hard is to turn the other cheek and to treat them with love.

This past few days, I have experienced this nagging depression, sadness, loneliness, homesickness, betrayal, hurts, pain and etc. It hurts when you hear bad news. It hurts when the people you thought you could trust talk about you behind your back. Numerous people have experienced this. You're so blessed if you got away without having to go through this. Just two days ago, I opened my Bible desperately. I felt called to read something and for some reason Psalms 31 jumped in my mind. Now, I've never read this passage before. I'm not too big on Psalms, I have to admit. I've always been an Ecclesiastes girl. However, after reading this particular Psalm, I suddenly... understood everything.



God needed to get my attention. He wanted me on my knees. He wanted me to turn to Him; He longed to have that level of closeness that we shared in the beginning of the year. Everything I've been hearing lately is a clear arrow to: TALK WITH GOD!!!!

And I did.

And everything is now right.

Well, not everything. In my heart I have peace. But quoting Charles Stanley, "When God speaks, He usually calls for an act of courage in our part."
My act of courage was to be the better person. To turn my cheek, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing, and to love them with the love of God. Now that was hard. But for some reason, after asking for help, it became easy.
I'm not bragging. All of a sudden, I felt this overwhelming love for these people. I wanted to do everything I could for them. And knowing how a few days ago, if I saw these guys, I would confront them or worse, cry. Now, I just want to smile at them and talk and hug them and just be the weird one.

If you're dealing with something like this, I know that it's hard. But you don't have to go through it alone. Read Psalm 31. It is a wonderful, uplifting psalm. I just want to encourage you, be there for you the way some people were there for me.

I'm doing well now. Blessed be the Lord.



Peace and love.
Andrea
xxo

Day #3 Random Challenge

Day #3 Challenge


6 Things I see in my room.


Fairly easy since I live in something like a studio type apartment. Sorry this'll be short.

1. Laptop

2. Books.

3. Contact lens case

4. Family pictures

5. My Kindle Touch

6. Diary


-andrea
xxx

Day #2 Random Challenge

Well I should have written this yesterday. 


7 Things I like




1. When I have a good photo. 
It's not that I'm vain or anything it's just it's nice when you see a good picture of yourself. Especially a self portrait. Haha. 


2. When I see people who really care for each other. 
It doesn't matter whether it's real, on TV or on movies, but when you really see love and people cherishing each other, I feel like crying because it's a beautiful picture. Love is good. 


3. Good hair. 
Who doesn't appreciate great hair? Especially on guys? And by good I don't mean random weird. I mean a great style. Talk about the quiff. Best hair on guys ever. Well, some guys. 


4. Great conversations. 
When you're chilling with your friends on the bed having a great conversation that is half funny and joking while you're talking about some serious stuff. Then occasional throw of a pillow at your friend's face. 


5. Food
I love food. I don't cook, but I do love to eat. And judge what is good and what is not. I would love to be a food critic. I like ice cream and frozen yogurt. And cake, lots and lots of cake. Omelettes are amazing too and so are pizzas and vegetable salads. Taco Bell is my favorite place to eat lunch, they serve really yummy food. :-) 


6. The Perfect Song
It's amazing when a great song comes on right at the perfect time. The show Chuck has a lot of these moments. The show Veronica Mars does too. Sometimes I get this feeling that I need to start playing some music out loud just to suit the mood, but that'd be really weird in real life. 


7. Covers on YouTube
I like to discover neat unsigned artists who have great potential. Sometimes they sing really good songs but lately a lot of the YouTube people have started singing a lot of mainstream songs. Still good, but my type to listen to are indie, folk and alternative. Anyways, it's still great to watch covers on YouTube and any other videos. 




7 Things I dislike




1. Selfish brats.
They're selfish. Brats are spoiled. They're opposite of what I like. What else can I say? 


2. Really bad acting. 
This is mostly seen on soap operas who hire good looking people with no experience. Sure they look good on TV, but these people still make us barf. 


3. Famous people who are famous for no reason. 
No talent, but they do have an important last name, important connections and good looks. Here in the Philippines, you add foreign blood and that's the making of a superstar. Great job. What happened to old fashioned working hard for something and being good at it and being rejected until you get your big break? Most big breaks shouldn't happen because you were at a mall and someone asked you if you had foreign blood. 


4. Ignorance. 
Sometimes ignorance is bliss, but othertimes it makes you look stupid and like a selfish brat, which is one of the things I dislike. When people are ignorant, they have to decide on two things. Do they want to expand their knowledge or stay like that? And if they pick the latter, well, I have nothing really nice to say so I''ll move on. 


5. Cockroaches. 
Ew. Ew. Ew. 


6. When something is wasted. 
Especially food. Food not used or finished should be given to people, or dogs. They shouldn't be thrown away if they could still be eaten. That's just sad. I hate wasting anything. 


7. When someone is mad and doesn't say why. 
They should just be honest. Direct confrontation is better than someone living in agony for days without knowing what she/he did wrong. 






Sorry this was short. Oh well. I'll post again for Day 3. 

8 Day Challenge - Day #1

So since I’m still not consistent in blogging, I’m going to start training myself by accepting some random blog challenges.

Now this one is called the 8 Day Random Challenge. Today is Day One.

1.       Post 8 facts about yourself.

Wow ok so that’s kind of hard. I’m just joshing; okay here are some important/random facts about myself that I’ll share with you.

#1
I am a third culture kid.

What does that mean? According to the book Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds, a TCK is a person who has spent a significant amount of his or her developmental years outside his/her parent’s culture. I spent half of my life in China. When I was there, I was raised surrounded by American kids. I always had trouble feeling like I actually belonged somewhere even though I was able to adapt anywhere. The only time I ever felt like I fit in was when I was with other TCKs.

#2
I am a bookworm.

A lot of my new friends don’t know this about me. However, a lot of my friends in China know me as the bookworm. I used to wear glasses and I was the kid who carried books around all the time.  I didn’t like playing outside and when I was outside, I’d be reading. Now, I got a Kindle Touch and contacts and I became way more sociable. I also stopped reading in public and talked to people instead. However, I am still a geek inside and though I haven’t been reading much this year, I still keep a list of books that I read. For the past few years I’ve gone to averagely 130 books every year. However this year, I just passed 30 something. And as of this moment, I have no idea where my notebook with my list is. :-/

#3
My guilty pleasure is watching reality television.

I know, I know, I know that it sucks and it’s not really ‘real’ since a lot of it is scripted. But it’s like, it’s there and you can’t look away. More confessions, I voted twice in Pinoy Big Brother Unlimited, the season earlier this year. I’ve never voted before, and I probably won’t again since the people I voted for didn’t even place in the top four. And I am not just a watcher, when the people from Pinoy Big Brother had a mall show in Trinoma, I dragged my cousins to accompany me while I screamed and clapped. I didn’t hold any banners though. Haha.

#4
Even though I am mostly an indie/alternative/folk music type of girl, I do listen to boy bands and Justin Bieber.

Yes, I am a Belieber. I am also a Directioner. I am not a die-hard fan though, I haven’t been to any of the Beebs’ concerts. Same goes for 1D. But their music is catchy and Justin and Zayn and Harry are such cuties. I have a thing for boys who are talented, with a few tattoos and have really good hair.

#5
I prefer hymns to worship songs from bands and stuff.

I do, I really do love hymns. Growing up in China, we went to house churches with Americans and we sang hymns. Usually acapella. So listening to “Be thou my vision” and “Come Thou Fount” puts my mind and my heart in a worship mode immediately. It’s a bit funny coming back to the Philippines and seeing how my church here which is mostly composed of youth singing songs from Jesus Culture, Hillsong United and Planetshakers. Songs I haven’t heard before, apart from some famous Hillsong ones. Then its also surprising to me that they’ve never heard of the songs I know!

#6
I write poetry.

And no, it’s not mostly emo poetry. I write a lot of children’s poetry too. They’re about random things like bikes and funny things. But yes, I do write sad poetry sometimes. I might post some on here, but I don’t know. I’m very protective of my poems though. When writing blogs, and short stories or little novellas that I never finish, I am a different kind of writer. When I write poems, I feel raw. Words in poems are different and poets are different from other writers. When we write poetry, we are drifting dreamers, taken out of this world and so attuned to our hearts. At least that’s how I feel when I’m writing poems.

#7
My name was supposed to be Samantha. If I was a boy, I would have been named Aidan.

AW Tozer is my dad’s favorite writer. So my dad wanted to name me Aidan, but I turned out to be a girl. Still, they went with an A name. After that the rest of my siblings followed the alphabet. But my dad never got his son Aidan. He got a writer daughter though. Still it would have been nice to be named Samantha. I would have called myself Sami.

#8
I like to try to relate to a character in every TV show I’ve seen.

So in 90210 I used to be Annie all the way, now I’m a mix of Annie and Silver. In Smallville, I’m Chloe and Lois. In Pretty Little Liars, I’m Aria. In The Vampire Diaries I’m Elena and Caroline. I’m a mix of the good girl and the outgoing, crazy, wild girl. In How I Met Your Mother, I’m Robin. In Full House (old one) I’m totally DJ even though I wish I was as awesome as Stephanie. (Another fact, I watch a lot of TV)

Ok so this sums up the first day of the blog challenge. Stay tuned for more random writings.

XXO
-A