Comfort In His Faithfulness

Comfort In His Faithfulness

I can't believe it's already July. I simply can't.

My seeming disbelief with this time is borne out of nothing else but joy and relief. It is because last year, on the exact same date, I felt so much despair and my little own world was thrown into upheaval by such a significant change that it simply jarred me unlike anything that I have ever experienced. Call it surreal or something that came out of a Neil Gaiman graphic novel but I really felt that I was in a constant state of despair. It really is not something for the fragile mind. I am astounded because a year has already passed since that season; a year since my life's coldest and loneliest moment. Here were my thoughts back then.

"Everybody else in this world goes through what I am going through right now--their own personal storms. I would like to know that the fight is finished; that the calm afterwards is nearing. But like any seasoned sea-farer, I know how deep these waters underneath me go and how dark the skies above me can become. But if you're struggling to keep your vessel afloat in a sea of entropy , and you manage to somehow catch even a single ray of sunshine, I think that will be enough to keep you sailing onwards.

I am fortunate enough to know people who are strong enough to help me keep my ship afloat. To those people--and you know who you are--I am forever grateful."

Even though my tone was a leaning towards more on the positive side, I could still remember the palpable feeling of being stranded. The reason why I bring this up because now I am content beyond imagination. And when I look to my past experiences, it simply is as amusing as much as it was unique. I am somehow back where I started because I have yet to find a job or go to our group's next basketball game (which I absolutely miss) because of my ankle injury but this time it is different.

This time, I have peace. Believe it or not, I do.

And the only thing that has changed between today and last year is one thing--- Isaiah 46:3-4

There is such a thing as Hope; He goes by many names but now I am as peaceful as I can be. In this superficial and fallen world where war is an everyday sight to the people of the Middle East and corruption and deceit is already the status quo in our country, it helps to know that God is always in control. It helps to know that our fate is in someone who knows what He is doing. We may not like how God handles things for our country because we may not understand the message He's trying to send but then again, what child ever understood the concern of his parents when his freedom was curtailed? I believe that if we need to learn a lesson 99 times just to finally have it ingrained in our minds, then we will no doubt go through all of those circumstances 99 times.

Sometimes, things happen when we least expect them to. Whatever is in store for our lives is something that the future holds. We all just need to do our part in seeking the good for ourselves; we all just need to do our own little part in doing what is right to alleviate whatever pain we are currently enduring.

Jeremiah 29:11-14

Seek, and you shall find what you are looking for.

Still Learning The Ropes

Still Learning The Ropes

I just decided to play with Photoshop 7.0 for a while. Sorry, I still don't have CS yet. L-) And I came up with this:



Before



After

I know it doesn't look much but for the Photoshop users out there, I was wondering if you could provide some insights and opinions on how you would go about making the original picture a little better. I'd really appreciate any advice on how I could make it more seamless or realistic. I didn't apply any filters here (except for the despeckle filter) but I did change the image's saturation and other stuff. If you can give me an idea how you'd edit the image you can download it by clicking here. You will be directed to a Megaupload.com hyperlink (don't worry, it's harmless and I promise there'll be no pop-ups or what-not) You'll have to wait for a certain number of seconds before the "click here to download" text appears at the upper right screen though.

To those who can help, please do. But if you just want to comment, it's still alright.