Overwhelmed

Source: https://www.cntraveller.in/story/mental-health-covid-anxiety-stress-feeling-overwhelmed/

Do you have a lot of struggles and keep them to yourself? Did you feel alone in battling all of the challenges in life? We are humans, we will get tired and grow weary in all the circumstances we have. But one thing is sure, God is our source of strength in times when we lose our strength and become vulnerable because of our weakness. 

Many times I felt alone in battling administrative work and concerns in the college when I was the officer-in-charge.  I felt that I am the only one who cares much about our targets. It seems like I am the only one who has the energy and desire for success. My other colleagues were not that proactive and initiated things. I was always left to decide for the whole department. 

Currently, I am studying here in Korea. I am away from my family. I struggle alone and I only have myself here to decide and to worry. Despite these struggles, I put my trust and confidence in the Lord. Every day I pray for guidance in everything that I do here.  God is my source of strength and my confidence in everything that I do.  

As scripture says in Isaiah 40:31: "They will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." God is the source of strength to build faith, trust, and confidence in everything that we do. Glorify and Honor Him all the days of our life.

Faithful, Hopeful

Source: https://www.thegoodbook.com/blog/ministry-blogs/2021/03/09/how-do-you-define-faith/

 Did you wait?

Clicked the bait?

I had patience

Minded my conscience 

Waited for an answer

That would prosper

I was faithful

I was hopeful

Despite rejections

Got pure intentions

Waited patiently

Listened intently

I was faithful

I was hopeful

Didn't give up

Time was up

I was faithful

I was hopeful

Granted on time

Surely it was mine

I was faithful

I was hopeful

I'm in my prime

In God's perfect time

Be Faithful!

Be Hopeful!

Toastmasters Speech Contest

 

Generosity

Source: https://vision2.com/vision2-is-inspired-by-love-and-generosity/

Its better to give than to receive. How much can we give for those in need? Can you make someone happy today by making that person happy? Simple things can turn sadness to happiness. A lot of people have struggles and priorities and they are deprive to buy something for themselves for they need to provide to others. Today, I am struggling financially here in South Korea. I have an allowance but most of them are sent back home because there are a lot of bills to pay and my salary is not enough. But despite all of that, God still provided whenever I needed to even before I asked. God is generous. But I am not able to give my tithes and offerings faithfully for I am bombarded but expenses. If God is generous to is for all blessings that He has given, it is also our mission to become cheerful givers in his kingdom to glorify Him and support the church ministry. Today, despite the lack, my mission to give should not be a burden but an expression of love to God and our brothers and sisters in Christ. We need to help each other and expand God's church through our generosity.

Forgiveness

Source: https://theapopkavoice.com/stories/forgiveness-is-a-pure-gift-from-god,7069

"Jen Bugo ka!" That was the first time someone told me I am not good enough and I am dumb. Even my parents did not utter such words to me, they love me and appreciate everything that I do. These hurtful words were spoken by my former boss. She gets angry quickly and shouts at us and curses us and says words that will hurt us. 

Those days in my life were the saddest and unpredictable one. I keep on avoiding to be scolded and do the best that I can to do what she wanted and to please her in every step of the way. But still no matter what I do to make her feel good, she will still get angry to me if she feels like it and not in the mood. Despite all the hurtful memories I have of my former boss, I still treasure some good memories with her. There are times that she was in a good mood, that she is also generous and give us gifts. That she also defend us and fight for us if she needed to. 

Those feelings of hurt are replaced with forgiveness and understanding and empathy. I realize that she has a moody personality and very sensitive because she also has personal struggles at home. She is separated from his husband and she is alone in her house. She has a lot of frustrations in life and sad childhood experiences that made her release her anger to us. Her unpredictable mood everyday in the office is because of her stresses at home and we are the only ones that she can release her anger. Because of this, I truly understand why she is like that to us.

Even though I was hurt that much and made me cry, I forgive her and I pray that she will find peace and solemnity in her life. We may have different struggles in life but I am still grateful that I have a complete and happy family. Forgiveness and moving forward for the better is the greatest joy in life. Forgive and forget for time heals and let God heal our emotional wounds.

Creating special memories with my family

Erazo - Hinlo Family Picture
From left standing: Alfred Hinlo (Husband), Jennifer Hinlo (Me), Fraulein Hinlo (2nd Daughter)
From left to right sitting: Abiel Hinlo (3rd Daughter), Bellaflor Erazo (Mom), Rustico Erazo (Dad), Megan Hinlo (1st Daughter)
From Right Standing: Jon Jellow Erazo (Brother)

Behind the scenes at Cesar's Photography last December 27, 2022, in Davao City, Philippines

A short vacation by spending my Christmas Day
in Davao City last December 25, 2022

 

Be Light, Bring Light!

In a world full of negativities, it's really a challenge for us Christians to be a source of hope to people who needs light in their dark life.  Are you willing to step out of your comfort zone and equip yourself to BE THE LIGHT and BRING LIGHT to the world!

Source: https://journeyonline.com.au/features/jesus-light-of-the-world/

The first verse and final verses of the Bible have a consistent message about how God is the light. 

In Genesis 1:3 (ESV): "And God said, let there be light and there was light." 

While Revelations 22:5 (ESV) says: "And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever."  

There are other significant verses in the Bible that reveals how the Lord our God is our Light in the darkness.

"For it is you who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness." - Psalm 18:28 (ESV)

"For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light." - Psalm 36:9 (ESV)

"Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me, let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling." - Psalm 43:3 (ESV)

"Again Jesus spoke to them saying. I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." - John 8:12 (ESV)

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden."- Matthew 5:14 (ESV)

"..for at one time, you were darkness, but now you're light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. -Ephesians 5: 8 (ESV)

"Because if you confess with your mouth that JESUS IS LORD and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." - Romans 10:9 (ESV)

It is clear that God comes to dispel darkness and lead us to the light, to be that light and bring that light to shine in our dark paths in the world. Right now, there are a lot of problems in the world: war, famine, Christian prosecution (online and offline), online hate, deterioration of morality, social media addiction, drugs, pandemic, climate change, natural calamities, bankruptcy, corruption, political turmoil, terrorism, criminality,  and the list goes on and on. Every day we hear bad news and the media is producing content that promotes sinful acts that encourage our young people to do violent things, commit suicide, and kill other people. We live in the world today with no moral values anymore and no fear of God. 

How can we be that light, to dispel this darkness in the world?

We can do our part, as Christians, accept that JESUS IS LORD, our savior, repent and follow Him. Read the bible, understand the teachings of God, reflect on your past experiences, interpret them,  analyze, find valuable lessons and apply them in your daily life.  Share the gospel with your family, colleagues, and community. If every one of us will work together, we can help dispel the darkness in our nation and the world, one person saved at a time. 

Nothing is impossible! Be faithful! Be fruitful and multiply! 

BE LIGHT, BRING LIGHT!

Miracles

A new year and a new hope for miracles this year 2023. Before we move forward for this new year, we need to reflect on how 2022 was a blessing to us. I have a lot of things to be thankful for last year. I got a scholarship abroad (South Korea). My children went to private school. Our college was the best-performing unit. I was promoted from Assistant Professor III to Associate Professor II (rank improvement but praying for a real salary increase this year with differential). I traveled to South Korea safely and even had a tour of famous tourist spots like Nami Island and Lake Euiam. I have experienced the best education from Korean professors at my university (Kangwon National University). I have gained a lot of new friends from different parts of the world. Learn some Korean Language (hopefully, I will improve).  In conclusion, 2022 was a blast, I had a lot of milestones last year that is now engraved in my core memory. However, despite these gains, there are also cons because I am away from my family and I cannot be there for them every day. But I am still thankful that we can still communicate every day (thanks to technology!) and they are in good health. 

These successes in 2022 were pure hard work, luck may be a small part, but I did make a lot of effort to pursue my goals. I have failed many times, but I recovered from every failure, and that's the main lesson I have had for the past years. There were a lot of ups and downs in my life, but I persevered and was consistent every day that I need to work hard and act on my dreams and it did! Miracles do happen if you lift up to God all your worries and cares and all your plans shall be established (Proverbs 16:3). 

Source: https://agfaithchapel.org/bible-verses-list/proverbs-16-3

As I start this year, I am praying to God for miracles in my life, my family, my colleagues, my institution, my ministry, my church, my community, and my nation. I am praying for good health,  financial provision, and emotional/mental/spiritual/psychological/physical/social stability. I am praying for my family's health, education, and safety every day. I am praying for career advancement, a prayer for guidance, direction, and wisdom in my studies and in doing research works this year. I am praying for the ministry and the church's mission to honor God and make disciples, may we be fruitful in spreading the gospel in every nation. For my community and nation, to achieve success economically and maintain peace and order. I lift up to God all my prayers and I have faith and trust that all of these things will be granted in His perfect time. Amen!

Don't Give up!

“Don’t give up on us baby.. Don’t make the wrong seem right.. The future isn’t just one night.”

Source: https://thestrive.co/motivational-quotes-about-not-giving-up

Do you give up on your dreams, easily? Well, success is not done overnight, right?

One of my dreams, when I was a kid, is to study abroad. This goal was further intensified, when I worked in an NGO in 2007, when I saw my colleagues had an opportunity to study in Australia. I was inspired and thought to myself maybe one day I will also go abroad and study. However, a lot of things happened in my life, I got married and had kids and I just parked the idea of pursuing my dream of having an international degree, since there was no opportunity to do so and I have more important priorities in taking good care of my family. But even in this situation, I did not give up on my dream.

In 2012, I was hired as an instructor at a State University. Now, my goal of going abroad was rekindled again since the faculty development program is a priority in my institution and I will have an opportunity to pursue my Ph.D. internationally. But I cannot do that easily, I need to be tenured first for two years and waited for my turn, since there are three (3) faculty seniors ahead of me and they are slated to study first before me because we cannot study at the same time. So, I will just wait for my turn, when each one of them already graduated and will report on duty. Since they were on study leave, I was given administrative responsibilities in the college to take on the leadership roles they left. I worked hard on their behalf, from 2017 to 2019, and those were the stressful moments of my career since I was overwhelmed by all the tasks given to me in their absence.  I was exhausted but even if will take me 10 years to wait for them to finish their degrees, I still did not give up on my dream. 

In 2019, one of my colleagues already returned to school and I decided to start my applications. At last, it’s my turn to pursue my doctorate degree! However, it was not easy to apply for an international scholarship. My first goal is to apply in Australia, but instead of a Ph.D. degree, I applied for a master’s degree. I was not considered, and they asked me why I did not apply for Ph.D. since I was qualified. I did not give up yet, after one year, I applied again in 2020. There was a delay in the selection of scholarships because of the pandemic. In January 2021, I received the sad news that the 2021 intake was postponed, and they will divert their funds for masters scholarship only in 2022. I was frustrated because I only applied in one scholarship. But I did not lose hope, I still pursued the application and I decided that I will never stop the application until I will have a successful scholarship application abroad.

In 2021, I tried other scholarship opportunities. I applied in France and Netherlands, but I failed. I applied for US scholarships 3 times, but I also failed. I did not announce to my colleagues that my real target is to pursue Ph.D. abroad. Our HR manager and my dean were asking me about the status of my scholarship application because I need to pursue my Ph.D. right away since the university needs to reach its target for state university leveling, academic accreditation, and CHED program compliance. A lot of faculty from other colleges are gossiping about me.. “Why is she delaying her Ph.D. study leave, she should study right away!" Why are they even talking about me?… I just ignored those negative comments from them. I don’t have any excuses anymore because my colleagues already returned from their study leave. With that, I already tried to apply to Philippine universities in 2022 to comply with that mandate from management. But in my heart, I did not give up and still hoping for a chance to apply for an international scholarship even if it will delay my Ph.D. study. 

But on February 1 of 2022, there was an opportunity to apply for the Higher Education for ASEAN Talent (HEAT) Program of the Korean government. This scholarship is intended for faculty members of universities in the ASEAN region to pursue their Ph.D. degrees. I was excited and astonished and surprised about why I did not know about this scholarship before. This has been running since 2020. With this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I decided to give my 100% in this application, I need to go beyond the minimum requirements given. I was so focused on my application, and I thought this is it this is a chance, I will not waste this moment. On April 29, 2022, I received a notice that I was shortlisted and was just waiting until July for the final announcement. 

After 3 months, On July 17, 2022, I received the good news that I got the scholarship, I jumped for joy and I cried, I thank God for answering my prayers. This is my prayer request every year since 2017 and God never failed to amaze me with His blessings, his answer was just at the right time at the right moment when the world is slowly recovering from the pandemic and travel restrictions were eased. I just realized that I was destined to study in 2022, and my 10 years in service in USeP, my colleagues were back. I did not rush things. 

In my journey, toward getting a degree abroad. I have learned a lot of lessons. When you have a dream, just focus on it and don’t be distracted by people who discouraged you to continue pursuing your goal. The road is not easy, and failure is part of that journey. The most important thing is the recovery from every failure, from every rejection, and from all people who say no to you. I have made a total of 8 scholarship applications and had one successful response. If I gave up and did not continue pursuing my dream, will I be able to travel and study here in Korea?

Kangwon National University Square, Chuncheon City,
Gangwon Province, South Korea

My first day of class, September 1, 2022.

To my brethren, even if the chances are small, just keep on trying, and DON’T GIVE UP!

Conqueror

 

Source: http://breadoflifevoice.com

Have you lost a lot of games in life? Even if you lose, did you feel like you are still a winner?

Failure is part of our lives and this experience will help us to learn valuable lessons in life. What matters most in every failure is the recovery, how we rise up after every fall. I have faced a lot of challenges and struggles in life. There was a point when I am about to give up, but I can't I was the breadwinner and I am the source of strength in my family, If I give up It will affect their well-being. So, I should be the beacon of hope in my family.

On December 9, 2011, our house caught on fire, and we lost everything. We don't have a lot of money to start over again. But there was hope, a lot of my colleagues and friends helped me to withstand this ordeal with my family. They helped me in any way possible in m material and financial aspects. We conquered that lowest point of our lives, we survived and we moved forward. We were faithful that God will provide and we entrusted our fears and worries to Him. Indeed, God answered our prayers. We were able to renovate my parent's house and we were able to transfer to our new home with my own family. 

In Romans 8:37, it is said that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. The struggles in life are part of our journey to reach our dream destination. The path is not smooth, it may be crooked but God always sends us a compass in order for us to navigate the roads, bridges, rivers, streams, and oceans of life. We may be at a loss at a moment, but soon we can discover in our own the right direction that God prepared us to have us. We just need to be patient and trust Him always in everything that we do. 

I may have lost a lot of battles, but I am still a winner because I conquered all obstacles in life for God is my ultimate strength on the battlefield. I am a CONQUEROR!

Ready for Adventure

The year 2022 was full of surprises and I was able to achieve my long-term goals and also short-ones. But one thing I learned last year is that everything is possible if you are focused and you worked hard for it. I worked very hard and faced a lot of rejections when I started my journey toward my dream of studying abroad and having my Ph.D. from 2017 to 2022. Finally, after three years God answered my prayers and I was able to achieve my long-term goal of studying abroad, and surprisingly it's in South Korea (which is a dream destination of every K-drama, Kpop fan and K-Culture like me).  Achieving that was not easy and it's just pure luck because I gave my all during the application and it bear fruit. 

During my first semester here at Kangwon National University (KNU), I do not what to expect from my courses, teacher, and my classmates. But the only thing that's on my mind is to focus on every subject and to give my best. Fortunately, I got straight A+ in all my subjects this semester. I was not expecting it but I realized that everything I do in life is an adventure. You will never know how hard or easy it is and there is an equal chance of failure and success you should be ready and accept the outcome. The outcome is just the result of your actions.

For this new year ahead for 2023, I will be consistent and achieve my goals and act on them. My biggest frustration for the past years is that I was not able to publish any research articles. This year I want to achieve that goal and be able to comply with my Ph.D. requirement, as well as, our target in college and promotion. It's a long way to go and a new adventure awaits. We are made for adventure for we are created in the image of God. 

A New Vision

 

This new year is all about beginnings. Starting over again and evaluating the past year's lessons that you need to improve on and lessen mistakes made in the past.  I just arrived in Korea from a short vacation in the Philippines and brought some of my books here. Although I read these books 2 to 3 years ago, I just want to reread them and feed my mind with great ideas and wisdom from the authors. This will somehow feed my mind with a new perspective and will help me change my mindset and will eventually influence how I do things this year. It will help me create a vision for myself, my family, and to other people in my circle. In the bible, we learned that we should not dwell in the past and for me, those lessons we have experienced should be an inspiration to move forward and accomplish our goals this year. Feed the mind to change your mindset and will create A NEW VISION.

Lowest Point

There are a lot of moments where I was weighed down due to a lot of circumstances in my life. I got pregnant and got married at an early age. Our house was caught on fire. During those times, I struggled financially and I felt that I dont have anyone. But I was fortunate because I have friends who are with me, who comforted me, who spent their time with me and visited me and shared what they have to me. In the lowest points in my life, I realize that I kept a handful of treasures, FAMILY and FRIENDS, they are my rock and my fortress during the lowest point of my life. I would be forever grateful for their kindness and love to me for they me strenght and motivation to move forward and continue my life. The scripture today reminded me that whatever challenges we faced, lets call upon the name of the Lord.  Today, my life is not perfect and I still experience struggles financially bit even though its hard, God always provide before I even ask.  Everytime I have problems and in my lowest point, I will pray and ask God to relieve my stress and focus on finding solutions that calls for my action.