There was a Christmas Cantata and exchange gift party last night at church, the cantata started early and wasn’t able to watch it from the start since we went to town to buy some stuff. It wasn’t that exciting anyway since it was just the same as last year, the young people sung the same song. The exchange gift party was done after the raffle draw where I bought few tickets and didn’t win even a minor prize.  I received colorful food container from the exchange gift party, it turns out my cousin’s wife picked my name during the raffle of names for exchange gift party.

Today is Sunday and it is Christmas day, most of the people in church were wearing red and the kids are feeling festive. Pastor E’s topic for today is part of the series of “Experience the Miracle of Christmas” which is The Miracle of the Method – from the scriptural verse of Romans 11:33.

Pastor E talks about how God’s method transcend us, His greatness beyond measure and beyond human understanding. He added that God’s method include each one of us, He uses ordinary people to accomplish extra-ordinary things and God’s method sanctify us, God is at work in our lives in ways that we do not and cannot fully comprehend.

After the church service, Pastor E told everyone not to leave since there will be a gifts to be given. The kids were given bag of goodies that consists wafers, biscuits and chocolates. When all of the kids got theirs, Pastor E called the young people to get their goodies I immediately run upfront while calling the attention of my younger cousin who is set to marry in a few days, she was in hesitation maybe because we are too old for the bag of goodies but with an older cousin pushing her upfront she followed me. When I returned, my cousin told me that some people voice out if I am  still a young people because as what they knew I am not anymore and I am already married, so I replied while laughing that the bags of goodies are for my younger sister who’s a member of the young people, she went home ahead because she needs to reheat something.

We prepared a little food to eat on Christmas day so some of of our relatives went to our home after the church service, they didn’t stay longer but I have enjoyed their company that I wasn’t able to feel Christmas blue making this Christmas a bit better than last year, especially with my little cousins visiting.

Well, since my personal photos were stolen from my dead travel blog and posted to other people’s website I started to blur photos with people in them for privacy reason.

A few more days before Christmas and I can already feel Christmas rush around me, the parents were already busy buying new clothes for their kids and gifts for their kids Christmas party. Nothing much, happening around me I am slowly eating by the dark hole again, I have a lot worries, questions and regrets. I am feeling alone…

Anyway,  I have already wrapped gifts for my Godchildren; it was a good thing I found gifts for less than $2 at LazadaPH and for the others I just wrapped some old but new clothes. I think for the first time I bought Christmas gift for my family, I bought a bottle of Kirkland Vitamin B for my mother as her Christmas gift, she’s been skipping taking Vitamin B because the brand she is taking is quite expensive per tablet in our local pharmacy and with my father’s weekly compensation we can’t afford it daily, I bought Kirkland label because I believed Vitamin B is Vitamin B no matter what brand it is.

[Photo courtesy of freestocks.org /pexels.com]

My sister wanted a head phone so when there was a Christmas sale I bought Techno Tamashi TH-780 Over-the-Ear Headphones (Blue) for her and inexpensive red wine for my father, there are gifts for J too if only…

The good thing of shopping online when you have no card you can pay via Cash on Delivery which is good deal for me. What I am saving right now is money to send this Christmas for my maternal grandmother, she lives on her hometown together with my biological grandfather and doesn’t want to live with us because she isn’t familiar with the people and the place.

With the year ending, I hope 2017 will be a good year for me. I hope do miracles happens and I hope it will open more opportunities and work online so I can live life day by day and buy my necessities. Oh well, how can I find work online with my slow internet connection? 

Today is my grandfather’s death anniversary and I think it was Cody too!

Today the church is celebrating Thanksgiving Sunday but unlike the norms it wasn’t celebrated inside the church. A voting for the venue was done the previous Sunday which I wasn’t able to witness because I went to the church a bit late; I only knew that Thanksgiving Sunday will be celebrated in one of the popular beach resort in town when Pastor E mentioned it during announcement period.

I felt uncomfortable with the venue and I found it unpleasing, the church was built within a purpose and a beach resort was built within a purpose too, it is for fun, relaxation and to cater gatherings like birthdays, weddings, alumni and etc.  With this, I decided not to attend the Thanksgiving celebration and just went to church to read the bible and pray on my own.

It was quite sad that most churches were open and full during Sunday but the church beside us was closed because the members decided to full a resort instead.  Maybe, if it was not Sunday I may be able to go the resort and celebrate with them but it is Sunday and I found it improper to attend a service outside of the church when the church was quite large to cater a lot of people and guests.

[Photo courtesy of ddouk/pixabay.com]

Well, it would be better if the Thanksgiving service was done inside the church and the reception for the Thanksgiving Day was done in the resort rather than leaving the church empty on Sunday. It was quite disappointing that it seems most of the church goers (over here) already forget the purpose of the church, the effect of worldly influence to them is quite scary.  Who’s on their straight mind abandon a church during Sunday?

Well, some people forget too to respect the holy place and it seems going to the church is just becoming their habit.  Who the heck cut their fingernails inside the church when a Pastor is preaching in the pulpit? Shocking isn’t it? But that’s the weirdest I’ve seen inside the church, weirder than someone combing their hair or playing games on their phone during Sunday service.

Anyway, I am not saying I am a perfect Christian because nobody is perfect but my views and opinion doesn’t correlate with was just voted and decided by many.