Loose change for greater purpose

I remember writing a post on my other blog about saving our loose change last year, it was supposed to be for Rudolf's gig bag, how he wanted one for his and Andrew's guitar but God want it for a more greater purpose pala. When typhoon Haiyan hit Leyte and Samar late this year, we both agreed to donate the money in those cans.

This year, we are starting anew and I added a new can :) One can for each coin (no military coin of course) and I still don't know where we will use it, no specific yet. I do want to save it for my second hand keyboard but maybe it can be for another great purpose again di ba?

I am actually encouraging our youth to do that also, save their coins and also my nieces and nephews.

Aside from that, I hope I can save up more also for our dream house :)

Model house/White bathroom

Yesterday, we went to visit the village that sells lot only in Cavite. I started praying for this since I first saw it last year but I was hesitant to acquire one especially in Cavite but I finally gave in and said that yes, this is it!

Our eyes feasted on the beautiful model houses we checked. Even the bare unit is so nice, with built in cabinets, granite top and pretty floor tiles.

kitchen

bedroom

I love this dress up unit with three bathrooms and sad that we can’t afford this.

Here’s the master’s bedroom and the bath in elegant white! I asked the husband to take pictures because it can be our bathroom inspiration someday when it is our time to build our house. I so love white bathroom vanity because it looks so clean.

master's bedroom

and the all white bathroom!

Praying for our future house

Like many other couples out there, we also dream of having our own house someday. Even if we are living a missionary's life and that someday we will be away on mission trips it is still best for us to have our own home here in the Philippines. We've been praying and my husband and I both knew what we wanted for our house. We don't dream of a huge house, a 2 bedroom will do, with our own backyard and front lawn (we both love to have a small garden and lots of green plants around the house. So yes, we both knew we want a house not in the city but somewhere in the province.

But of course it all depends upon the Lord.

 I saw this site (pre-selling townhouse type somewhere in the province of Bulacan) two hours away from the Metro. It is appealing because it's near my sister's place. I was just hesitant because it is a townhouse. If we go for this, it means we bid goodbye to our front and backyard and small garden dreams :(

I don't know. We are still praying and we are hoping God will give what is best for us and not what we deem is right for us.

I hope you include us and our future house in your prayers.

Realizations. Decision

I married a servant of God, that I knew very well since day 1 of our marriage or even long before the wedding date itself.

So when he decided to work on a secular job on a full time basis I had mixed feelings. I know he wanted to provide for me so he felt the needed to work with a steady income and for that reason alone I was happy, but knowing he'll just work for the ministry part time made my heart bleeds also because I know from the very start that he has a calling.

Romans 8 :28 said.."All things work together for good to them who love God"... and I believe everything happens for a reason. God allowed my husband to work on the same company where I work and it's been four months. He had many realizations in that span of time and yesterday he made the decision of which I am truly happy. He decided to leave the job and get back on track with God's calling.

For sure, the salary he receives on a regular basis is a big help but that isn't the most important thing in our lives. We are servants and we will serve with or without monetary compensations because we know in our hearts that our labor in the Lord is not in vain.

I am grateful he was able to experience a job outside from what he's used to. And he said he's thankful for the experience also although I know what he got was a tough and rough job compared to regular office work or some Concierge Jobs but nonetheless we are both thankful for the learnings and experience.

I know this is God's will..why? because I have this unexplainable peace in my heart. I am happy and my only prayer is that He will be more closer..we will be more closer to God than ever before.

God is our provider, our refuge and I know HE will not forsake us, there will be tough times (specially in our finances) but God will always be in control and I know there is no reason for me to worry.

Home

Sometimes I long to be home.

Not that I do not have a home here but when you feel sad and gloomy, when you need rest, when you need a mother’s embrace and assurance that you are loved, when you need a certain security from everything that’s bothering you, you long to be “home”.

It doesn’t even matter if it is a small house, a tiny space in the side of the street, a shanty, a mansion or a manufactured home, I know we all have in our heart what we called “home” and it varies on how you define home in your heart.

Past happenings in our family made me long for home…. in the warmth and comfort of my mother’s love.

God of surprises

The God we serve is not just a faithful God, He is also a God full of surprises :)
I know I've also mentioned here that we are moving and the last decision we had was to stay at my sister's place in Bulacan which is quite far (not quite actually) and I was ready to make that long trip to
the office everyday..that's approximately 2 hours to 2 and a half travel time.

But as I have said a while ago, our God wants to surprise us sometime.

My boss whom I didn't inform that we are moving offered a place for us to stay for FREE.

And I am grateful to our Lord who never fails, He is FAITHFUL even if we are not most of the time.

To him be all the glory!

I hope to be back to regular blogging when we're settled for the mean time I have to check this dvi to hdmi cables for my husband.

God is good all the time!

Leaving

We're counting our last days here in our rented apartment and it gives me two contrasting feelings, sad that we're moving again and separating from dear friends that has been our housemate for 17 months, happy that finally for the first time after being married for nearly five years, my husband and I will be on our own. Just the two of us and I can't wait. Though packing and unpacking things is not a happy sight, still am looking forward to it.

Moving means expenses since we have to buy a lot of stuff, new door locks (only if I can afford a nice lock from schlage hardware, I find their door knobs and passage levers so nice)new house stuff since we don't own everything we have here which means we really have to buy for ourselves.

But GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME. He promised to see us in our coming and leaving so I am sure He will be with us. Even with our search for our new home.

Using Home Depot Coupon Codes

The do-it-yourself market is booming as more people want to make changes or updates to their homes without paying the expensive labor fees and high markup costs that come with hiring other people or contractors to make home improvements. Whether you want to paint your home, build a deck, install new lighting fixtures, or anything in between, tutorials and books have made it easier to do it yourself, saving you the stress of spending an arm and a leg.

 Home Depot is a popular store for professionals as well as homeowners who need supplies for their home or work projects. While buying the materials and doing the work yourself is definitely cheaper, there are ways that you can save even more money on your purchases from this store. You can use Home Depot coupon codes when shopping online to help you save money that you wouldn't otherwise be able to save in stores. They are also great for people who don't have a Home Depot in their area but still want to make purchases there.

 Using this type of code is easy--you just have to know where to find them and how to apply them to your purchases. Often, the store's site itself will have offer codes that you can enter into a specified field as you check out. Or, there are websites that list coupon codes from a variety of online retailers for you to use. These codes are typically a combination of words and numbers, like "25OFF." Once entered, the savings are automatically applied to your cart. Once you find a coupon code that you want to use, just copy and paste it into the field as you check out. It's important to make sure that you read the limitations, as there are often exclusions, and make sure to use the code by the expiration date.

Heat and Finances

How’s your Sunday everyone? Mine was not good, I woke up with a terrible headache this morning probably due to heat and to lack of sleep for the past week. I was not able to attend church which makes it all the more worst. As they say, “seven days without church makes one weak”.

Anyways, it is still intolerably hot in my part of the globe. And a lot are getting sick. In this times that I really really wish we had an air conditioner but these are also financially tough time plus another addition to our already high electricity bill will also be awfully sad. That is why I have to work doubly hard, online and offline. It is even harder when you have no savings at all, it’s like you seems lost when you found your self suddenly in need of fast cash and you have no where to go to. Good thing to those employers are understanding and can afford Payday Loans but what about those who can’t? Like in our company, I don’t think they do offer that. My co-employees resort to loaning from personal friends rather than in the company which is better because friends do understand.

And because I am still in this humid, hot, warm country, let me share with you some tips how to cool your self if you don’t have an air conditioned room.

1. Drink lots of water (cold water if possible) –I’ve probably been consuming more than 8 glasses a day.

2. Ice is my best friend today – I got some cube ice, put in o towel, then place it to my face and neck from time to time. It helps big time.

3. Open all your windows and let some fresh air (if there is) come inside the room. Open all the curtains-I also opened our door.

4. Wear sleeveless, spaghetti strap, sandos or any clothes that are comfortable and cool enough for you.

Aquarium Fish I like

Me and my husband are considering getting ourselves an aquarium fish/es since we can not have dogs or any pets in the house we are renting we thought fish/es would do good. A friend actually encouraged us to have one. He said aquarium fish is not hard to maintain, there are variety of fish that are not expensive and fish food I think is not that costly too.

But what made me thought about it seriously is the benefits you can get for having such. Like the following:

1. It is a good therapy
2. Studies say that gazing at it reduces stress (i need that)
3. It lowers blood pressure

and a lot more. But for the "reduce stress" benefit, I think I'm gonna go for it.

Do you have an aquarium fish? How do you take care of it? Is it expensive? How many times do you clean it?

Our TV at home

I know I seldom post about our home here so I wonder if I ever mentioned that we do not have cable subscription and that we own a second hand TV bought at the pier and that we only get three major channels? And to add to that- when you open our tele you might want to blink your eyes hundred times trying to see the images clear but please don't exert effort anymore because yes it is blurry.

I don't mind though because I only watch the evening news, although most of the time all I do was listen to the reporter's voice. I don't want to strain my eyes as it was already tired from the office during the whole day.

So anyways, we are now considering subscribing to a cable company so we can get more channels and clearer views. I do not know if we have Time Warner Digital Cable here but I am hoping we will be able to find the cheapest one.

I have to ask also our phone provider if they can give us cable with the same subscription, you know it would be cheaper right? like the Time Warner Digital that is connected with the Time Warner Digital Phone. Internet, cable and phone at the same time. Hmnn..that sounds good.

We have phone line and internet already so all I have to do is inquire if they can provide cable so I can say goodbye to that three blurry channels soon.

Mobile homes

I didn't know they were also called static caravans and that mobile homes were derived from trailer houses. Probably it's like the wagons of the old times, where you carry all your stuff and you can just park anywhere if you get tired. Saw that form the movie "Loves comes softly".

In modern times though, it could be the road truck, you know those big cars being used by celebrities. You can actually live in it.

But of course these homes are real homes in the US. I supposed they should be mobile but I read that these types of homes are not being sold for it's mobility but because it is cheaper than the traditional homes.

Would you consider buying one if ever?

Haven't seen anything like that here in our country. Filipinos..what are your thoughts about this?