Design and Writings by Riz
Bluedfiles Version 17
� April 2005

In my life, Lord, be glorified, be glorified.. In my life, Lord, be glorified.. be glorified, today. -- Kid’s Praise

Remembering Psalty.
Yesterday, when I was walking along the tree-lined avenues of our campus (hay, back to school!), I was reminded of this Kid’s Praise we always sang in Sunday Schools when we were kids. I loved this song. Back then, we sang this over and over, replacing the word “life” with words like, “home,” “church”, “school”. (In my home, Lord, be glorified.. and so on.)

I smiled. Feeling like a kid again, I amused myself by singing it in that manner. Later on, what I found really nice about it is that, you can replace the word “life” with anything you can think of. So I did.

In my thesis, Lord, be glorified..
In my friendships, Lord, be glorified..
In my gimiks, Lord, be glorified..
In my lovelife, Lord, be glorified..

Soon, I started replacing the whole phrase na, even though the words just don’t fit in the rhythm of the song anymore, hehe.

In my brothers’ lives, Lord, be glorified..
In cleaning my room, Lord, be glorified..
In dealing with annoying professors, Lord, be glorified..
Through boring classes, Lord, be glorified..

And well, you can just imagine the things, stupid ones included, I thought of. It was a good therapy, you should try that too. I was having one of those light moments with God, but at the same time, I knew that those simple childlike prayers were heard. Sarap ng feeling. :)

Second Sem Starts.
The start of the semester has always been one of my favorite times of the year. It’s like, everything goes back to zero, and we, students, are given another chance at aiming not to screw up the whole semester ahead.

This semester is my last (hopefully), and well, come to think of it, I have no choice but to do good this time, and do the things I failed to do in the past. Try not to cram. Attend all my classes. Take all the readings, quizzes, exams and requirements seriously. Listen to the lectures, take down notes. In short, be a good and responsible student, for a change (hehe). After all, I’ll be doing these for just five more months (again, hopefully).

I was reading my journal the other day, and was reminded how traumatic last year was for me. It was during these times (last week of October to the first few weeks of November) when I was struggling over taking a Leave Of Absence and all that stuff. I even said goodbye to this site (if you guys can remember) only to republish it again, hihi.

Last year, I posted this on my tabulas account (just an excerpt):

I had hoped I’d graduate soon. I had a great deal of plans for myself but right in the midst of it, God delayed my hopes and directed me here, now. I was easily depressed the past week, to tell the truth, expecting that I’d be able to finish school right on time. But little by little, God removed my depression and filled my thoughts with excitement for better opportunities to come. So here I am, looking forward to the next six months. And somehow, thanking God that it turned out this way.

Why yes, I need a break after all. Ha!

So there. My more than two weeks of roller coaster ride -- of drama, confusion, questions, tears, sleepless nights -- typed out in three paragraphs. But no one, not even myself, could ever express how it actually feels when you’re right there, standing before an intersection, choosing which way to go, eyes blurred with tears and all. While God, in His wisdom and mercy, sends out all the signboards and arrows He could give to lead us to the way we should go. Life-changing experience? Oh yes, definitely.

I’d be leaving the “student” status for a while and be a professional bum. But when I get back next semester, I’ll make it a point that I'll be someone they’ll be proud of.

Well, what can I say, God is completing something He has started in me. I’m honestly getting excited.

In my school, Lord, be glorified.. :)

Live the Life Magazine.
It’s real. It wasn’t a joke. I’m going to be featured with two other Christian bloggers in the first second issue (to be released on Feb 2005) of the soon-to-be launched Live The Life Magazine (read more about it here). Mikks, who recommended my site to Ganns (the owner of the mag), is the other guy to be featured (Thaaannkkksss Mikks!!). Can you feel me smiling now? :)

Ganns texted already. We’re having the photo shoot this coming Saturday. Mikks told me that Kat is going to be the other girl to be featured with us. Shucks, totoo talaga! Wow.

And then again, after all the excitement, I start to think, is my blogsite really worthy? Am I really worthy? There are tons of great Christian blogsites out there – writing, design and all. Yet, God gave me this opportunity. I guess I still find it unbelievable til now.

Sometimes, when I read the blogs I made in the past, I am surprised and amazed that I really did write them. Alam nyo yun? More often than not, my innermost thoughts are reflected in my blogs. Reading through them reminds me of how it felt the time I blogged it, and I’m sure you, bloggers, will all agree that the nostalgia that goes with it just feels good.

Three years into this blogworld, I know God has made my writings evolved big time. When I first started, my blogsite was in every way, a rambling machine haven. I ranted gibberish to a non-existent audience for my own release and pleasure. (Er, ok fine, it still is like this til now, most of the time. Haha.) Envious of other people’s designs, I learned HTML little by little, and made my own amateurish and crappy layouts. I created a world apart from my real life, hiding behind the “bluedfiles” façade. A lot has changed since then (Ehem, marami talagang nagbago.. simula nang nalaman ni Ate Jam ang blogsite ko. Hehe. Apir ate!), and I’m sure there’s still more room for improvement.

More importantly, there came a time when I refused to write about God. I feared persecution. Writing about Him is uncool, I’d think. It’s like, ano ba, sa totoong buhay, Christian-Christian na ko eh. Pdeng ibang identity naman sa blogsite? Hehe. Something like that.

But now, I just can’t help it. I have to write about Him. It is true, that when your heart is overwhelmed with such joy, you just won’t keep it to yourself. In one way or another, you’ll just burst out. God has that effect, don’t you think? :) And yes, Ate Jam is right, maybe, through our blogsites, we can really minister to others too.

I’ve been blogging a lot more in my tabula now than here. Hehe. Sorry. La lang. I’m taking Ate Normi’s advice na. I’ll try to update this more often. Let this be the start. :)

In my blog, Lord, be glorified.. ;)

Lastly, allow me to plug. Watch out for the first issue of Live the Life Magazine. Let’s support Ganns in this ministry. For His glory. :)

Riz Blabbered @ 5:05:00 PM.

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