korean skater, one of the best bets for 2010 ladies' figure skating

Admit it. This category has always been dominated by the US, Russia, China, and Japan. With the first two always being the most consistent in remaining competitive since decades back.

But this year, we hear of Korean Kim Yu Na as many's best bet. She has set records both in Korea and in international womens' figure skating. Kim is the first South Korean figure skater who medaled and won at a ISU Junior Grand Prix and at the Junior Grand Prix Final, at a ISU Grands Prix and at the Grand Prix Final, and at the World Championships. Kim is the record holder for ladies in the short program, [2] the free skating[3] and the combined total under the ISU Judging System. Kim is the first female skater to pass the 200-point mark and also the first female skater who received +2.00 grade of execution[4] for jumps under the ISU Judging System." (Wikipedia)

"Kim Yu-Na is the 2009 World Figure Skating Champion and the 2009 Four Continents champion. She may be the favorite. Others to watch include 2006 Olympic Silver Medalist, Sasha Cohen, (who has returned to competitive skating after a three year absence), 2008 World Figure Skating Champion Mao Asada, 2007 World Figure Skating Champion Miki Ando, and 2009 World Silver Medalist Joannie Rochette." (About.com)

IMAGINATION vs INSPIRATION

"The simplicity that is in Christ." 2 Corinthians 11:3

Simplicity is the secret of seeing things clearly. A saint does not think clearly for a long while, but a saint ought to see clearly without any difficulty. You cannot think a spiritual muddle clear, you have to obey it clear. In intellectual matters you can think things out, but in spiritual matters you will think yourself into cotton wool. If there is something upon which God has put His pressure, obey in that matter, bring your imagination into captivity to the obedience of Christ with regard to it and everything will become as clear as daylight. The reasoning capacity comes afterwards, but we never see along that line, we see like children; when we try to be wise we see nothing (Matthew 11:25).

The tiniest thing we allow in our lives that is not under the control of the Holy Spirit is quite sufficient to account for spiritual muddle, and all the thinking we like to spend on it will never make it clear. Spiritual muddle is only made plain by obedience. Immediately we obey, we discern. This is humiliating, because when we are muddled we know the reason is in the temper of our mind. When the natural power of vision is devoted to the Holy Spirit, it becomes the power of perceiving God's will and the whole life is kept in simplicity.

Oswald Chambers

Jabi

some 20+ years ago, while i was still a toddler, i attended a birthday party where Jollibee was a special guest. i didn't know yet then that he was famous so my parents and sister had to force me to have my picture taken with the huge orange bee carrying me.

no way. who is that chubby bee anyway? stranger...

the memory is still quite crisp and clear. my sister (who was 2 years older than i) just had to find a way to convince me. "Jollibee can fly sister... He'll take you high up in the sky...Don't you want that? High high up!" These words freaked me out. Is that safe? I'm not sure about flying... and falling? Errr, how can we make sure my lungs and little frame are equipped for the stratosphere? No no no.

Thinking that they've convinced me, they handed me over to Jollibee. I burst into tears.

Traumatic eh? Precisely why I could still remember it till now. I was around 3 years old then.

But yesterday I saw HIM again! Mr. Jabi! Boy I was no longer scared. And just to prove that I've grown already into a young lady who recognizes that Jabi can't carry her into the stratosphere, I had this photo taken. Evidence that the old is gone and the new has come. ;)

roller coaster day

i accidentally "advance-purchased" the wrong tickets - 8 of them - to a UAAP basketball game. i had to pay for them even though i couldn't use them... i've texted all the friends i could think of but... well... they don't want to buy the tickets. i've asked God to help out. but have not really listened well to what his suggestion is... so i did. haha. why didn't i think of that God?! so i posted an ad on our ateneo email group. hours later, people started to reply. weee!

well, let's just say i got a bit confused as to who to prioritize, the one who's buying more tickets or the one who first emailed. asking for God's wisdom and guidaaaance, yebah.. i finally ended up selling it to the most gracious bidder - the one who was quick to reply to my messages and at the same time was willing to get all the remaining tickets. she's heaven-sent.

so there i was grateful and so happy 'cause God made "pakitang gilas" to me again. how well he accomplishes our requests... when suddenly i end up stuck in marikina waiting for my parents to finish their errand. sigh.

see, i chose not to watch the game in araneta for 2 reasons: 1) financial - wanted to avoid expenses and since i intend to watch the cheering competition, i opted not to watch the game... 2) pressure from work - i have lots of deliverables pending and i'm so pressured to get them done so i'd rather work than watch basketball.

but there i was, waiting on the wind... sigh... yes God, i'm pissed, hurt, and irritated. what do i do?

see, God allowed it. he allowed me to get stuck there to ruin my plans and learn to do things his way. "Riza, what do you do if things don't turn out the way you want them to? Do you rebel or do you look for the silver lining on the otherwise gloomy dark clouds? Who will you choose to listen to, the voice of disappointment or the voice of wisdom?"

you see i was so pissed to the point that i didn't want to read my bible while waiting. but i didn't want to waste my time either, so i asked for the grace to do what's right. soon i was reading the bible, then praying.

and of course there were more delays because we had to pass by the grocery. when i got back home, i went back to my research thingie. i still could not finish it. somehow, i couldn't find the missing piece.

perhaps additional 3 or 4 hrs would have helped. but perhaps it wouldn't make any difference. but asking God does. so that's what i'm doing now. asking God how to finish this task.

i still don't know the answer.

and, i think, before it gets crazier, i'd rather sleep.

LOVE = DISCIPLINE

i realize more each day how much of a brat i am. (nobody react please. i know my family has been praying for me to come to this realization for a long time now.) my morning conversation with God was just, uhm, i don't know how to call it... if you were watching a movie, and my thoughts were being played using a voice over, you'd probably react this way: BRAAAAT!

well, what can i say? God, in his immenseness and immensity and immense capacity to love, does love a brat like me. but not without a patient and tough heart that is ready to raise the rod of disciple whenever the 'circumstance' calls him to do so.

so there i was about to be frantically disappointed again at the thought of having another one of my requests denied. but God, in his grandness and lovable-Daddyness gently but firmly rebuked me saying, "No, you cannot have what you want. Not now, not the way you want it! And not because I don't love you. In fact, the reason is because I LOVE you. And this IS love Riza. My love for you right now means discipline. I see character coming out. I am bringing it out. Now learn. Be strong and learn that this is me loving you. I am not far."

I have strayed quite nonchalantly. And yes i tried denying my part in getting myself into a mess that could have been avoided had i clung to God, remained in him. And funny how i accuse him of leaving me when it was i who left him. Funny how i resist his embrace when it was i who wronged him in the first place.

But what can i say? here i am, not getting what i deserve. as always...

where can i run from your love?

retardation

Holy Spirit, thank you for my computer chair. It feels good against my back.
Delayed thanks for the table and printer... this instant work corner i now have here at home.
Had it not been for the Holy Spirit's patience with me, these blinders would have not fallen off my eyes.
I know, i know, what does a computer chair have to do with blinders...

Well, weeks ago, i requested that our printer be transferred from my sister's house to my house. She does not really need it much because she already has a printer in her office. When the printer got here, my dad instantly fixed a corner in our house for me (without me asking), putting a computer table, setting up the printer, and at my request, my mom added a computer chair, something that we have lots of here at home. (They came from the office that we closed years back.)

Then tell you what... I realized how retarded i was. i have been complaining about backaches due to the absence of a desk and a chair. And my friend shina has been repeatedly telling me to get a chair. (Yup, i work either on the floor or on the sofa.) But i never really did something about it. i just assumed that there's not enough space in our small home. i used to look around and give up right after seeing that there's no available table and chair. apparently, there were, i just didn't notice or just did not look hard enough. and i realized that we could push for some space if we just chose to be intentional.

Then see the Holy Spirit made me realize how retarded i was. Something as simple as this, i could not do for myself. i had been asking God to help me but i never tried beyond just "looking around."

But yes yes, God should have spanked me but instead He made a way for me. I'm sorry God for being too slow and acting helpless when i should be exercising my faculties. a bit more patience... gentle rebukes... pls don't judge me guys for this. let's just learn. promise i'm trying to change.

night-time

i wonder about what Rizal was thinking during the last days of his life. he already knew that his execution awaits only a couple more days. There was of course the sadness that came from leaving behind the people he loved, especially his wife. He must have wished he had children, then again, who will take care of them without him...? But despite the 'end' that awaits him, he must have, he must be... still thinking of our 'fatherland' and its fair hope that he knew lies in our youth. "fair hope of our fatherland," words of Rizal that we have so repetitiously used until it finally lost its meaning. Words that we have reduced to a slogan or fancy quotable quote.

i wonder about Rizal's faith in his countrymen. Did he approach his death with a firm hope that if not in the next decade, it was sure that men's eyes will one day be opened to the true worthiness and cost of attaining freedom? Did he fear that this unblinding of our eyes might take longer that it should? That many a generation will choose the status quo over the best of what life has to give, that many a generation will choose to look after only their own interest rather that their fatherland and countrymen's? What if the vicious cycle remains to be such and the nation never finds its way out of it? What if many a good men hesitate to pay the price that he chose to pay and thus fail to fulfill his part in waking up a generation of slumberers... sweetly cradled in a lullaby of deception?

We are all pointing towards where Rizal had run towards throughout the course of his life. We have flipped through pages and pages of his propaganda and heart-sown pieces. We understand and see but are we STEPPING into the destiny that all heroes have literally fought for unto death?

I am uneasy. I am anxious. I am angry. I am restless. I am burning inside as i ponder about how we have reduced Rizal's writings into historical pieces that tell us about a past so relevant yet not relevant enough to influence our present actions. we have repeatedly and conveniently left the lessons inside our classrooms and discussion rooms. we say we understand Rizal. but our understanding never jumps from the realms of lip service into a realm that actually cuts through the very flesh and bones that we feed with pizza, chicken, burger and fries.

who are you Filipino? have you discovered yourself in studying your past? have you repented for your failures and blindness and are you walking now against the grain? it is not enough to walk peacefully just because the weather around you is calm. blindness is a tricky thing. and freedom is not something you gain by how loud you shout, how long you stay on the streets, or how much risk you take in defying rules and regulations.

freedom is that moment when you cease thinking about yourself and how right you are. it is that moment when the things that we consider right and just finally cuts through our apathy and comfort, then reforms us. the offspring of change can only be birthed by change. it is humble hunger for righteousness that changes complainers into doers. only when we ourselves bear the cost of self reformation, only then can we change a nation.

"I do not write for this generation. I am writing for other ages. If this could read me, they would burn my books, the work of my whole life. On the other hand, the generation which interprets these writings will be an educated generation; they will understand me and say: 'Not all were asleep in the night-time of our grandparents'."
---The Philosopher 'Tasio, in Noli Me Tangere

Are our eyes really open? If yes, then why is it that we still hear many crying out for freedom?