A Short Update About My Morning Routine, Family, & Blogging

I started sharing personal updates since March and I’m considering making this regular by posting bi-weekly. What do you think?:) 

Like anyone else, I too could keep my personal experiences and troubles to myself.

In fact, it’s rather convenient to present only the good, the strong and the rosy aspects of one’s life as is common on the social media networks.

But I thought, maybe I could share something that will register my life as it is in reality.

I wanted to vent out my emotions through my blog, but at the same time, I wish to come back to these records from time to time to gauge my progress.

I wish to assess where am I heading to in my life, to smile at my changed self and to feel proud to have swum through the rough waters.

And maybe, showing my true self might open up a door for the people to walk in, feel a connect and say,

You know what? Me too. I too have been there, felt that.

If you’d like to read my previous updates, click the link below:

• April 29, 2020 – Family Updates After 2 Months in Lockdown 
• April 14, 2020 – What I Have Been Up To During The Lockdown
• March 23, 2020 – How We Are Coping With Covid-19 Challenges
• March 2, 2020 – My First Personal Update Post after my 2-year hiatus

Anyway, here’s the latest from me during the past two weeks.

Morning Routine and Words of Hope

This morning was a little different from the usual because of the gloomy weather. But it did not stop me from doing my morning routine.

I woke up at 5 AM, went upstairs to my “quiet place”, and spent a few hours reading the bible and devo, writing in my journal, exercising, reviewing my goals and reading a book.

I don’t intend to be too spiritual in my blog, but today, I felt God spoke to me and told me to share His words of hope.

Actually, I started reading the book of Isaiah in the bible late last month and as I was reading Chapter 40, I found these verses encouraging…

Comfort my people, says our God. Encourage them!

Tell them they have suffered long enough and their sins are now forgiven. I have punished them in full for all their sins.

With all that’s happening to us today including the growing number of Coronovirus cases around the world, businesses closing down and workers losing jobs due to the lockdown, we couldn’t help but think that maybe (just maybe) this is how we are being punished for all our wrongdoings.

And while my beloved province, Samar, was not heavily ravaged by Covid-19, a typhoon packing winds of nearly 100 miles per hour made landfall in my hometown yesterday causing destruction and adding to the emergency situation of our country.

It seems like our situation is getting worse.

But God is telling us that there is hope… that He is coming to rescue us and help us.

The Sovereign Lord is coming to rule with power, bring with him the people he has rescued. He will take care of his flock like a shepherd; and he will gather the lambs together and carry them in his arms.

We don’t know what’s going to happen, but we can put our faith in God as we wait for Him to tell us that we have suffered long enough and we have been forgiven.

Changes in my Workout Schedule

I’ve been consistent in working out since I started on April 10, but I have made a few changes in my workout schedule during the past two weeks.

Instead of doing it in the morning, I did it mostly in the afternoon or at night because of the summer heat.

Have you noticed how hot it’s getting recently? Grabeng init, diba? Especially last week, the weather was terribly hot.

There were days that I didn’t want to exercise because it’s too hot, but I’m glad I managed to still do it. (Thanks to what I’m currently reading, Think and Grow Rich, for teaching me to be persistent.)

While I didn’t miss a day without exercising, I noticed that I wasn’t as productive at work as when I do my workout in the morning. I felt like I was dragging myself to exercise and to achieve my daily goal of 7,000 steps on my Mi Fit band.

So this week, I switched back to exercising in the morning and I’m starting to feel better and motivated again.

Papa in Samar

Praise God Papa is safe and our house is still intact after Typhoon Ambo hit our province yesterday. There’s power outage and it’s still raining there but it’s not as bad as yesterday.

Today, May 15, is our Barangay Fiesta in Samar. And since fiesta celebrations and gatherings are prohibited because of the lockdown, our kababaryos celebrated the fiesta with their own families at home.

It’s totally different from what we have been used to where there is a big celebration and visitors from different places come to celebrate with us.

I called Papa today and he said only five people were allowed to go inside the church. And since he’s alone at home, he just went to his sister’s house to celebrate the fiesta with them. They had nilagang kalabaw for lunch.

He also said that the Hermana Mayor or the principal sponsors of this year’s fiesta celebration gave each household food packs including 3 kilos of rice, 1 kilo of fish, and 1 whole chicken. God bless their generous hearts.

This week, Papa also received relief goods from the local government. He got a sack of rice and one tray of eggs. He didn’t qualify for the cash aid because my brother is an OFW and he’s supported by his children.

Papa also had plenty of harvest from his garden. Thank you Lord for your provision.

31-day Blogging Challenge

Waah, I’m a few days behind my 31-day blogging challenge, but I’ll do my best to complete this challenge by the end of May.

Ajah! I can do this. 🙂

Macey Reads

One of the reasons I couldn’t keep up with my blogging challenge is because of Macey’s new project which added to my daily to-do list.

Macey loves reading books. Early this week, out of the blue, she told me she got an idea.

And her idea was to have a YouTube Channel and a Blog where she can share videos of herself reading her favorite books.

I told her it’s not easy to maintain a blog and a channel, but she insisted.

I was surprised when she said God taught her how to read so that she can teach other kids to read too. At home, she teaches my mother-in-law’s kasambahay’s teenage son who can barely read.

After thinking and praying about it, I gave in to her idea and we launched her new blog and YouTube Channel, Macey Reads.

And yes, she chose that domain name. Even before we filmed her videos, she would always say, visit my channel, maceyreads.com. 🙂

And now, we’re trying to be consistent in filming her videos and uploading at least one video per day to her new YT Channel.

We’ll see how far we can go with this new project.

Final Thoughts

As I’m wrapping up this blog post, I can hear the wind starting to blow heavily from my window. I need to go upstairs to check my plants and move them to a safer place.

Let’s all stay warm, dry, and safe. Let’s continue to pray to God for our safety and protection.