50 Days of Amazing Grace is an annual series {of short, to-the-point posts} that aims to inspire and empower you to live as an ‘Easter person,’ i.e. one who is joyful and ‘sent forth’ to proclaim the wonder of Jesus’ Resurrection. It is inspired by the Easter Season, which, for us Catholics, lasts for 50 days. (You can find the first and second series of posts here and here respectively. For this year’s series of posts, click here.)
Let me start this post by apologizing for not being around these past 2 weeks. I can’t believe how quickly time has flown since my last post.
At the same time, allow me to say ‘thank you’ to you for sticking around. It’s been an amazing, tiring, frustration-filled, inspiring, refreshing 2 weeks for me (and my family) and while I haven’t been ‘busy’ here on the blog, I have been busy elsewhere. I think I’ve unintentionally come to adapt the ‘slow blogging’ concept that my friend and fellow blissmaker Martine wrote about recently.
Screen shot from Make It Blissful
Let me quote from Martine’s post so you’ll know what slow blogging means to her — and to me:
Blogging about living less hurried lives;
… about what I’m really loving at the moment (I don’t mean product reviews);
… about time-outs and out-of-town escapes with my family;
… about the art of meaningful blogging, writing;
… about taking my imperfect life and reflecting on what is still joyful and happy about it.
And this, my dear friends, is what I’ve been doing the past 2 weeks. (Or at least trying to.)
Making memories with my family.
We were invited to stay at Pico Sands Hotel last week — such a wonderful blessing from the Lord! 🙂 I’ll be writing about our trip on Philstar.com soon, so do watch out for my post!
Choosing what truly matters to me. And what matters most now, during this particular ‘season of life’ that I’m in.
Soaking in God’s goodness by basking in His gift of nature… again, with my family, the people who are most important to me.
The view from our room at Taal Vista Hotel, where we stayed last week during our epic ‘family field trip,’ which began with our stay in Pico de Loro. 🙂 Will write about it soon! *fingers crossed*
I wrote about this before — about “being” vs blogging. About being more intentional with the (limited) time that I have.
I believe that God’s amazing grace abounds more when we choose to live with intention. When we parent with purpose. When we do what is meaningful.
It’s not about ‘doing it all’ — like I said in my World Moms Blog post last month:
…we may want to do it all but most of the time we don’t have to. Sometimes, all we have to do is just be. Just be a wife. Just be a mom. Just be yourself. Just be.
When we focus more on just ‘being,’ we’ll usually realize that God is totally enough — solo Dios basta — and He’ll take care of all the ‘doing’ that we need to do.
So go ahead, dear friends. Just be. Make memories. Choose what TRULY matters most.
Reflection: Whenever you feel tired or overwhelmed (like I have been lately, hehe), remind yourself, “Solo Dios Basta — God Alone Is Enough.” He will give you the strength you need!
Prayer: Dear Jesus, may I learn to let go of all my frustrations and fears. May I learn to just ‘be’ and choose what truly matters most in life. Amen.
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P.S. Like I said, I’ve been busy elsewhere so if you feel like reading more of my writing around the web, please feel free to click on the links below. Happy reading! 🙂
On World Moms Blog: An Open Letter to the Mom Who Wants to Do It All (I think I need to read this again today!)
On CatholicMom.com: How to Sanctify the Mundane Tasks of Motherhood (I need to read this again too!) and World View Wednesdays: Bring Back Our Girls — Pray and Act for Nigeria (And the World) (My heart was breaking while I was writing this! 🙁 )
On Smart Parenting: My reviews of Indigo Baby’s Jar of Love and , plus an article on 7 Mom-recommended Baby Carriers
On Philstar.com: The GK International Farm Village Kids’ Camp
Amen. Sometimes we just need to step back from blogging or whatever it may be so we can give our family our undivided attention. I once took 10 month hiatus from blogging so my hisband and I can work on our marriage. Best decision ever
Hi Jhanis! 🙂 Thanks for dropping by. I’ve found it liberating actually — that I can step back from blogging without feeling pressured to write anything for anyone. 🙂 I’m glad you feel the same way. God bless you and your family — and I pray that you and your husband have the strongest marriage ever now, thanks to your decision! 🙂
Your post is so timely, the very first one I read for today. 🙂 I actually woke up crying because of a bad dream. I felt that I am so pressured with time – with everything. This is a reminder to liberate myself from all the pressure, my frustrations and fears. God alone is enough 😀 Thank you, Tina for being an instrument of God. Now, I can smile back at the world. Bring it on! 😀
Hi Kat! 🙂 Praise God for using my post to touch at least one person — including you! Like you, I feel pressured with time too — it’s like there aren’t enough hours in a day, no? So I guess I wrote my post more for myself too. 🙂 We ALL need to remember that God alone is enough. 🙂 To Him be all the glory, now and forever! I’m smiling back at the world with ya, sistah! Virtual hugs to you! God bless you and your family!
God bless you and your family, too, Tina! 😀
thank you mommy Tina for this post. Lately I’ve been worried about everything including my work, my dream of being a WAHM, financial matters and others. Indeed, God alone is enough, I’m sure He will give me enough strength and more patience in waiting for His perfect time. Advance happy mother’s day to you Mommy Tina. ♥♥♥
Hi Lally! 🙂 Don’t thank me — thank God! I actually didn’t want to write any post muna, but I felt this ‘nudge’ to do so, despite the many deadlines I had for today! Yes, SOLO DIOS BASTA! 🙂 You are in my prayers! Advanced Happy Mother’s Day to you too! God bless always!
I love this classmate ! ! !
‘I believe that God’s amazing grace abounds more when we choose to live with intention. When we parent with purpose. When we do what is meaningful.’
Praise God, classmate! 🙂 I need to remember that every day actually! Haha! Hugs!