How will I know when I’ve met the person I should marry?

“How will I know when I’ve met the person I should marry?”

The choice of a marriage partner should not be based on “I get a warm,
wonderful feeling whenever we’re tighter, and I want to have that warm,
wonderful feeling forever, so let’s get married.” Feelings, as we have discussed,
have no logic of their own. They need to be acknowledged, of course, but they
need considerable assistance from your brain.

Marriage means choosing the person you will spend the rest of your life
with. This, as you may have guessed, is a very long time to spend with one
person. This person will live with you, eat meals with you, sleep with you, and
go on vacation with you. More important yet, this person will share your
children. You need to choose wisely. The decision should not be made based on
feelings alone. You need to ask yourself some tough questions. The decision
has to be based on solid considerations.

Will this person be a good partner? Is she mature enough to put her own
selfish desires aside to look our for what is best for the family? Is he prepared
to be a good provider? What is his track record? Is he responsible enough to
get a good job and keep it?

Will this person be a good parent? Can you stand the thought of your
children turning out exactly like this person? They will, you know. Children
spend a lot of time with their parents and consequently pick up many of most
of their parents’ character traits. You had better like your spouse’s traits a lot,
because you will be seeing them again in your children.

If something were to happen to you, would you completely trust this
person, alone, with the task of raising and forming your children? This is not a
pleasant thought, but it is an important consideration. Not everyone dies at a
ripe old age with great-grandchildren gathered around the bed. Sometimes a
parent dies and leaves young children in the care of the other parent. If you
feel that you would need to be around to correct or lessen this person’s
influence on your children, you are considering the wrong person.

Does this person share your faith in God? God does not give us children
so that we can mold them into the coolest, most popular people in school. Our
job is to get them to heaven. To do that, we need to raise them believing in
God and in His Church. It’s tough to do that when only one parent believes.
Saying “This is right and this is wrong, and I want you to ignore Mommy until
you are thirty-five” does not work. Small children ask about eighty skillion
questions in a single day. The answers to those questions go a long way toward
forming the kind of adults they will become. Who will be answering those
questions for your children?

Does this person you are marrying have sexual self-control? Single people
sometimes have this idea that marriage is just some kind of lifelong sex festival
and that as long as they have each other, they will never be tempted by other
people. Wrong. There are times in every marriage when one partner or the
other is sexually unavailable—illness, the last months of pregnancy, travel.

There are also times when spouses just get on each others’ nerves. At times
like this, other people can seem very appealing. That can be dangerous,
because there are plenty of very attractive people out there who are willing to
make themselves available to married men and women. Do you want to marry
someone who has never said “no” to sex? If he is not good at saying “no” at
eighteen, it won’t be any different at forty. DO you want to worry about
whether or not your spouse is being faithful? What kind of marriage can you
have with someone you couldn’t trust on a business trip?

These are very important questions, and if you are not comfortable with
all of the answers, you should definitely not marry this person.
None of this is to say that feelings play no role at all in a marriage
decision. You don’t have to say, “Well, I suppose you would make a good
spouse and parent, so even though I don’t particularly like you I guess I’ll marry
you.” You need to be happy and excited about the prospect of spending your
life with someone. Your brain, however, must also acknowledge this person as
a good catch.

Don’t listen to your heart alone or your head alone. Wait until your heart
and your head agree.

Are You an Asset or a Liability?

There are a lot of people who thinks this way, I am not doing any criminal activity as well as I am not doing anything good for others, so I am doing well. They live a life absorbed in their own world. They are the center of their own universe.

I have been reading some books on investments lately, one thing I learned was an asset that is not generating income is a liability. A store that is not selling well becomes a liability because rent, electricity and salary has to be paid, if the expenses is greater than the income then the store becomes a liability since it drains money away from its owner. A lazy son becomes a liability to the family since he is not contributing to help the family in their needs. He takes up food and space without paying for them. God has given us this LIFE. Our “life” is God’s investment. God was very specific with his investment. Jesus told the parable of the talents. Two servants were able to increase their talents twofold. The lazy servant who got the beating buried his talent to the ground. If we are not doing anything to make this world a better place, we are a liability to this world. We are taking space and resources and not giving anything back. If we have a “consume-er” mentality, the world will eventually be exhausted. If we fail to do some “good”, then there is a depreciating of good. If the good acts are lost, then the balance of good an evil is lost. Not doing anything is NOT GOOD. If a person with cancer just cannot “NOT DO ANYTHING” or else his cancer will eat him till he is dead. Do we wonder why the world is so dark? Because we fail to do the good we should have done. We are not Assets, but liabilities. What do you call an asset that is not producing anything good? Its called “useless!”

Blog by Daxx Bondoc
(www.inspirationalblogs.com)

*If you want to repost this blog please include “ From Inspirationalblogs.com “ and the end.

Are You an Asset or a Liability?

There are a lot of people who thinks this way, I am not doing any criminal activity as well as I am not doing anything good for others, so I am doing well. They live a life absorbed in their own world. They are the center of their own universe.

I have been reading some books on investments lately, one thing I learned was an asset that is not generating income is a liability. A store that is not selling well becomes a liability because rent, electricity and salary has to be paid, if the expenses is greater than the income then the store becomes a liability since it drains money away from its owner. A lazy son becomes a liability to the family since he is not contributing to help the family in their needs. He takes up food and space without paying for them. God has given us this LIFE. Our “life” is God’s investment. God was very specific with his investment. Jesus told the parable of the talents. Two servants were able to increase their talents twofold. The lazy servant who got the beating buried his talent to the ground. If we are not doing anything to make this world a better place, we are a liability to this world. We are taking space and resources and not giving anything back. If we have a “consume-er” mentality, the world will eventually be exhausted. If we fail to do some “good”, then there is a depreciating of good. If the good acts are lost, then the balance of good an evil is lost. Not doing anything is NOT GOOD. If a person with cancer just cannot “NOT DO ANYTHING” or else his cancer will eat him till he is dead. Do we wonder why the world is so dark? Because we fail to do the good we should have done. We are not Assets, but liabilities. What do you call an asset that is not producing anything good? Its called “useless!”

Blog by Daxx Bondoc
(www.inspirationalblogs.com)

*If you want to repost this blog please include “ From Inspirationalblogs.com “ and the end.

Fear or No Fear?

Last Wednesday I went with the sister to give medicine to the poor people in the mountains. We go to that area once a month. We always pass this hanging bridge hanging between the shallow river. The bridge was not in good condition. Many of the wooded steps are missing. There is a part there maybe 6 feet that has no wooden steps. We came down to do some picture taking near the bridge. One of us decided to walk through the bridge. So I too decided to cross the bridge. It was a little scary in at the beginning, but as I move forward I was enjoying the thrill of it. We made it at the other side. Thinking back, I can relate that bridge to my life. The other side of the bridge lies my aspirations in life. But getting there takes risk. It is not an easy path ahead, it is filled with obstacles and challenges. There are times I feel like that getting to the other side is not worth the risk. The fear of failure always whispers in my head. But looking at the bridge experience, the first step is always the hardest, but once you’re moving forward, it becomes harder yet also more thrilling. I believe there will come to a point that even life is full of obstacles, it can still be fun, knowing that your getting closer to our goals in life. You might say you are enjoying the wild ride, like the rollercoaster, halfway through it you are shouting your lungs out in enjoyment. After I reached the end of the other side of the bridge, there was a sense of fulfillment. I overcame my fear and the obstacle of the missing wooden steps. Success is sweeter because it was not easy. Life is like that bridge I think. It is not perfect. Life is filled with missing steps, but still we must find way across it. We will never have the perfect scenario or road towards our dreams, but it is still attainable. One of my favorite saying of Mother Angelica is, “Do not let the perfect ruin the good.” If I have waited for the bridge to be in a perfect condition before I crossed it, I might not have crossed it at all. And even it I crossed it in a perfect condition, it would not be as fulfilling as crossing it damaged.

Blog by Daxx Bondoc
(www.inspirationalblogs.com)

*If you want to repost this blog please include “ From Inspirationalblogs.com “ and the end.

Why you little….!

Last Sunday I was hanging out in one of my favorite place, the orphanage near by. The orphanage is run by religious sisters. I love when I arrive there and here the kids there shouting “kuya Daxx”. For a single person, this kind of affection helps a lot. I always feel welcomed there by the kids as they jump on me. I specially love the little ones, the one to 3 years old kids. They are so adorable.

Jesus said, “Unless you become like Children you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven”. Looking and observing the kids, one thing is most prevalent among them, and that is JOY. When I arrived there, it was like there was a riot! Every one was in motion, some where chasing each other, running, shouting, sliding, swinging, singing and most of all smiling and laughing. I think part of what Jesus said about being like children is having their JOY, for heaven is a place of eternal joy! There are no grumpy people in heaven! If you want to go to heaven then we need to live a joyful life. Just remember the time when you were really feeling grumpy, then someone who was overly joyful came to you. What was your reaction? My reaction would be one of repulsion. The joy of that person becomes an annoyance to me. Now just imaging all your life you have been a grump! You died and entered heaven. Still grumpy, you see all of the people and angels there singing in Joy! Every one is so friendly and laughing their hearts out. If your like Scrooge your going to run to the nearest exit! Well I don’t want to tell you where the EXIT goes! Joy is a part of our Christian life! We adults must then again learn JOY form the children.

Why are You Sheepish?

Sunday, April 13, 2008 ( from WAU.org)

Meditation
John 10:1-10

The sheep in Jesus’ parable recognize and run to the shepherd’s voice because they know without a doubt that they are safe with him. They know that no harm will come as long as the shepherd is with them. While the hired hand is only doing a job and so is not committed to the sheep, the shepherd has invested his whole life in his flock. He simply cannot abandon them because he loves them too much.

Clearly, Jesus was not discussing sheep just because they are gentle, pleasant animals! He used their innocent, trusting nature to demonstrate the qualities that will enable us to know him more. The sheep will follow only the shepherd’s voice because they know that he has their concerns at the forefront of his heart.

We live in a time when many voices call out to us in the course of a day. Work beckons us, as do our responsibilities at home, the desire for wealth, the temptation to power, and the supposed need for greater and greater security. While some of these voices are good and others not so good, any one of them can quickly gain the upper hand and distract us from the one Voice we should never ignore: the voice of Jesus.

When we give the other voices top priority, we end up distant from the Lord—and that can lead us to feeling distracted, tired, and unproductive. By contrast, when we are listening to Jesus, his words comfort us and give us peace. He helps us with our responsibilities to work and family, and he helps to quiet the voices of fear, anxiety, or resentment. Granted, all of our questions and concerns won’t disappear overnight. Some may never go away. But Jesus promises that like the good shepherd, he will never abandon us. He will walk with us and guide us with his wisdom.

“Jesus, I surrender my heart to you. You know everything I need. Help me to hear your voice above all the others. I want to cling to you alone, my Good Shepherd.”

Acts 2:14,36-41; Psalm 23:1-6; 1 Peter 2:20-25

What is your worthy cause?

Last night I was watching American Idol gives back. I was caught touched by the segments about the foundations they are going to give the money. One video segment there was about helping those who have Aids in Africa. There is a mother there who goes around making sure the children infected with HIV take their medicine daily. What a conviction and selflessness the mother had. She was asked why she does it. She said that she lost three of her children to Aids. I was moved deeply by her testimony that I felt ashamed about myself. I looked back for the past three months that I lived my life selfishly. I only focused fulfilling my personal needs and wants. As I continued to watch the video segments of the foundations, God somehow used those to remind me what my life was all about. He reminded me what is important in this life. Life is about the love of God and neighbor. Life is not about selfishness but selflessness. It is better to give than to receive. God does have a sense of humor. The last thing I ever expected was to be converted by American Idol. That only shows God can use anything to make us a better person. So now I am asking myself, “What is my worthy cause?”

God an overbearing, intolerant authority figure?

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Meditation
John 6:35-40

What kept so many people who saw Jesus from believing in him? Was it their limited expectations about who he was and what he could do? They seemed ready enough to accept that he could multiply bread. But could he really give anyone who believed in him “eternal life” and “raise him on the last day” (6:40)? Maybe that was too much. Maybe their idea of Jesus—and of God—was too small to allow for anything so mind-boggling.

How easy it can be to box God into some narrow category that limits or distorts him! Some of us see him as the Great Schoolteacher, always examining our performance for flaws and grading it severely. Some of us, thinking back to childhood warnings that “God sees everything,” imagine a big, cold, unblinking, unmerciful Eye in the Sky. For others, calling God “Father” evokes the image of an overbearing, intolerant authority figure.

How much bigger and better than our deficient thoughts God really is! He is a Father of endless mercy who not only intends but desires to welcome as many sons and daughters as possible to his banquet. Far from wanting to condemn you, he wants to make you like him and bring you to live with him forever. If the vastness of this plan makes you want to retreat into “safe” little ideas you can handle, don’t give in! Don’t settle for anything less than partaking of God’s divine nature. Sure, it’s more than you or anyone else can comprehend, but this really is the awesome destiny God desires for you.

Keep this in mind today, and see the difference it makes. God loves you so much that he offers you a share in the very mind and heart of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You are called to be a coheir with Christ, a sharer in God’s glory. With the Holy Spirit in you, your prayers can change the world—securing blessings for leaders, disrupting evil plots, reducing suffering, bringing healing. If you believe in Christ, why ever walk with your head hanging down? Just set aside every “small” idea, and move ahead with confidence in God and his loving, glorious plan.

“Father, thank you for calling me to be with you for eternity and to know you even now! Increase my confidence in you, and help me to see you as you really are.”

Acts 8:1-8; Psalm 66:1-7

From WAU.org

Are You a Chiken?

I love reading writings, thoughts and lives of the saints, holy and successful people. One thing I found in all of them was the ability to take risk! I have been reading lately about “how to be rich” books. What fascinated me was they are using the same principles of risk as the saints did. This successful people did not act like the ordinary person who is afraid of failure. To them, failure is the road to success. Bo Sanchez wrote “Fail your way to success”. It is the same thing I can see in the lives of the holy people I admire. My favorite is Mother Angelica, a Franciscan cloistered nun who built the biggest religious multi-media empire in the face of the earth, EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network). She started the network with only $200. She risked it all, and trusted Providence. One of my favorite stories about her when she ordered a printing machine, a man asked her, “Mother what if you won’t be able to pay this machine?” She answered, “Well I have published a thousand booklets before they take it!” I love what St. de Monfort said “If you cannot take risk for God, you won’t do anything worthwhile for Him.” Lately I have met many people who have great potential to be successful and can do great things for God, the only thing holding them back is their fear to fail. One author said we all have our “Chicken Little” in all of us! And we should follow what Col. Sanders, the founder of KFC, did. He fried it! Even though he failed so much he did not quit. He only became a millionaire in his very late age. So what are you waiting for? Do something daring! Maybe pray before u eat your meals before your officemates and friends. Risk looking strange for God. Doing this little daring things builds in us strength that will overcome our fears!

Blog by Daxx Bondoc
(www.inspirationalblogs.com)

*If you want to repost this blog please include “ From Inspirationalblogs.com “ and the end.

Pope: Charity Based on Faith in Christ

Benedict XVI Thanks Papal Foundation for Support

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 4, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI personally thanked members of the Papal Foundation for the support they offer, which assists him in carrying out his ministry to the universal Church.

The Pope received in audience today members of the foundation, which organizes annual fundraisers to support the Holy Father's charitable endeavors, and offers grants, projects and scholarships to developing countries.

"The very source of the Church's service of love, as she strives to alleviate the suffering of the poor and weak, can be found in her unwavering faith that the Lord has definitively conquered sin and death; and that in serving her brothers and sisters, she serves the Lord himself until he comes again in glory," the Pontiff told the foundation representatives.

"Dear friends, I am pleased to have this occasion to express my gratitude for the generous support the Papal Foundation offers through aid projects and scholarships which assist me in carrying out my apostolic ministry to the universal Church," he continued. "I ask for your prayers, and I assure you of my own.

"May your good works continue to multiply, filling our brothers and sisters with the sure hope that Jesus never ceases to pour out his life for us in the sacraments so that we may provide for the material and spiritual needs of the whole human family."

Cardinal John Krol, then the retired archbishop of Philadelphia, established the U.S.-based Papal Foundation in 1990.