America, America….. As we cry out for you

Today is voting in America. I am not going to talk politics in this entry. I have spoken about politics before but this time which I am keeping my mouth shut. It has been a stressful four years for all of us with many issues. Everyone has their reasons on who they are voting for this election in 2012. Prayer will be the most important fight for our nation tonight. Prayer will be in need for all the hurricane victims across the East coast especially in New Jersey & New York.

New Jersey is like a 2nd home to me. Every two years, I spend my holidays in New Jersey or in New York. My friends live in New Jersey & New York. It is heartbreak to see many of the cities in non- exist. Families are in tears of the lost of their homes and their neighborhoods. Most these folks did not know what was tomorrow going to bring when the hurricane hit their cities on October 29, 2012. Their lives may be broken now but tomorrow brings a new beginning for New York and New Jersey. My heart goes to all the families in New Jersey. We will stand behind you New York and New Jersey and also in prayer. We will give, give as much as we can. We love you, New York and New Jersey. People of New York and New Jersey...you are in the hands of the Lord.

Pink & Blue Ribbon

Pink Ribbon is sign of a fight from all woman fighters who have breast cancer or who had fought breast cancer. This October, I have noticed more pink ribbons are worn for breast cancer all month long. Each woman who is reading this blog please keep fighting for your healing in Jesus Name.

Blue Ribbon is worn who is fighting colon cancer or who have fought cancer. March is the month to wear the blue ribbon but I have decided to combine blue and pink together. Why? Cancer awareness is the real issue. We must find a cure for this ugly disease.

Recently, a friend of my dad’s who had passed away from colon cancer. I was saddened with the news but I know he is in heaven golfing with my dad on the heaven green fields.

See below of my pink and blue ribbon cancer awarness at Susan G. Komen Race at North Park Mall on 10.20.12. 

" Why I Serve the Lord" By: Dan Rodriguez

This past weekend two families are mourning for their love ones who had passed away. My heart is with sadness of the love ones who had passed away. I did not know these two individuals very well but my heart breaks for all family members.

I am mourning the loss of my dad who passed away a year ago on September 14,2011. I have struggled all year missing my dad. Some of you guys miss my dad too. My dad encouraged you during difficult times in your past. Today, as I was going through my dad's written notes. I found this interesting note that will make you cry.

"Why I Serve the Lord” By: Dan Rodriguez 1999

I want God's word to continue to flow through me like a river of living water where there is no beginning and no end providing pure clean blessings from his word to all areas to all places to all people within reach.

I want my kids and all my family to do the same. I can not expect them to serve God if I'm not willing. Surely only good can come when we serve the living God who gives us all authority and power through Jesus Christ. To overcome the adversities of this world because of the Blood of the perfect lamb who died on that cross on Cavalry. Thank you Jesus for that amazing task that none of us could do.

I want to meet the people that we read everyday like Moses, Paul, Elijah, Daniel, David, and Joseph whom God used greatly in the assigned tasks in their life while they lived like you and I waiting for their savior to appear in the clouds with a loud trumpet. ( My dad said this quote to me few times.)

I want to make a difference even if it seems so small. I know that my redeemer lives within my heart and anything I do will be in the same body of Christ of whom we will not know until we all gather together with the Lord. We will find out all the pieces really did come together without loose ends.

I want to see Jesus and the Father whom we know is love, joy and everlasting. I want to tell the Lord that I love him and wish I could do so much more for him and his gospel.

I want to see my parents who I know made it with the Lord because they accepted Jesus in their lives before graduating home. I want to have so much more of him everyday. I know I can always use more of Jesus and less of me.

I want the Lord's word to spring out of me refreshing and enlightening those individuals who I know need a fresh shower of his word so life can begin to flow forth where there has only been emptiness and loneliness so shouts of JOY can come from these folks touched by his mercy and truth!

I want to take every individuals around me with me to God's home because I know many are lost, hurting, without hope. I want them to see the Lord while yet there is time, energy, and life left.

I want to walk on the streets of Gold. I've only seen very small amount of gold only on rings and chains and gold bars in pictures.

I want to see the chariot of fire Elijah rode in to Heaven. I want to talk to the man who moved God so much to do the mighty miracles while he lived on the earth.

I want to see all the Angels of the Lord for I know they are numerous as the Sea and more variety compared to the people on Earth. Having been made by our heavenly father.

I want to rest in the Lord knowing he has got me covered without having to look around for the opposition on every corner every crack everyday everywhere.

I want to spread this peace within my heart to others in turmoil and constant pain to release the much hurting the much afflicted from their bondage through our Lord and Savior Jesus.

If I don't do anything else, I want to be at least light to others to see that serving isn't about things, places, time, but a real significants relationships with the one and only Lord of who's name every tongue will confess and every knee will bow. A name above names that has earned our most deepest honor and gratitude that name would be Jesus Christ of Nazareth from Galilee who still today is saying to all man kind as he did to two brothers Simon and Peter while were fishing besides the sea of Galilee Follow me.

Be Ready

Who am I living for?

"How do you define yourself as woman? Are you woman with a vision? Are you a single mother, mother of two, single gal, a married gal. I recently found myself one day as I was driving to work to ask myself of who I am? How do I define myself in life? As, I was hearing the words, “Who am I living for” sang by Katy Perry.... I found the words interesting from a famous singer to sing this song. I am using this song from everyday woman perspective. I can relate a lot to Katy Perry as she sings this song."

"It's never easy to be chosen, never easy to be called

Standing on the frontline when the bombs start to fall

I can see the heavens but I still hear the flames

Calling out my name

I can see the writing on the wall

I can't ignore this war

At the eh-end of it all

Who am I living for?



I can feel this light that's inside of me

Growing fast into a bolt of lightning

I know one spark will shock the world, yeah yeah


So I pray for a favour like Esther

I need your strength to handle the pressure

I know there will be sacrifice

But that's the price"

"To be called it not easy... front lines or behind the scenes. There are pressures of life. Life happens. There are many sacrifices that are made in your everyday job, your family life, in your ministry, in your school or even as mother, or single gal, from divorce or a break up. We all feel the pressures of life as woman. How do you define yourself? Are you positive with your life or depressed? Do you live your life as if it is your last day?"

"It's never easy to be chosen, never easy to be called

Standing on the frontline when the bombs start to fall

I can see the heavens but I still hear the flames

Calling out my name"

"Some of us are chosen to live a separate life from the world? I see myself so different. One night, I found myself from the crowds of people in this dance club. I watched the people from the distance unhappy, unsecure, a gal who wants to be loved from a guy, trying to find the right guy. I told myself... I am woman who is precious and different from the crowd. I am woman who is defining with love. I am woman who is there for others who are hurting. I have destiny and purpose in life that is more than about me."

"I can see the writing on the wall

I can't ignore this war

At the eh-end of it all

Who am I living for?

"I like the words she uses in this song... Who am I living for? Are you living for yourself or your living for the Lord’s standards?"

I can see the writing on the wall

I can't ignore this war

At the eh-end of it all

Who am I living for?



At the end, at the end

Who am I living for?

At the end, at the end

Who am I living for?



Heavy is the head that wears the crown

Don't let the greatness get you down

Heavy is the head that wears the crown

Don't let the greatness get you down, oh, oh yeah



Don’t let yourself be down but live your life as great one.



I like the end of this song. Don’t let your greatness down. Don’t let yourself be down when there are pressures of life. Your life is great one.

Inside background of this song, “Who I am living For.” See here

Life of Esther

"When the fateful day arrived, the Jews overcame their enemies (Esther 9:1-11










). To express their thanks to God, the Jews instituted the Feast of Purim. The name of this feast is a reminder of Haman's casting of lots ( pur means "lot") and God's deliverance of the Jews from their enemies on the day they were to be annihilated (verses 17-32).

Esther, Jewish queen of gentile Persia, set a remarkable example of personal sacrifice. Although understandably at first hesitant, she willingly risked her life so others could be saved. In this respect she prefigured the sacrifice of the coming Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, who willingly gave His life so each of us could have the opportunity to receive God's gift of salvation, eternal life in His Kingdom.

Similarly, Christ expects His followers, His saints, to be willing to put their lives on the line to follow Him (John 15:13
)."

Check out more life of Esther in this website

Another verse to check from the Bible:

Luke 12:22-34

"Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

"Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

I'm Wide Awake- Isleen

Hello, World!

It has been awhile since I have written anything on this blog. I have reflected many things in my life this past summer. I have my dark days and my sunny days in my life. Sometimes the dark days are longer than it should be in my life. It will be a year from now since I lost my best friend, my dad to colon cancer. Yes, I have tried to move on this year but it has not been easy to be healed from the pain this year. I have tried to put aside the pain and keep busy but the pain follows me. I cried my tears away in depression sometimes. Yes, I am mess, people. I am human. I am Christian who has this huge pain in my life. A death has occurred with your love one. The death can also have effect inside of your own heart. The Lord has taught me to come to him with open arms. The Lord has been my salvation of this pain during these times. At times, I feel like I am the only one dealing with this pain but I know I am not the only one who is dealing with this pain of love one who has passed away.

One of the songs that has helped me is Katy Perry song “ I'm wide awake.” Katy sings about the man she had fell in love and how she is picking up the pieces from her life. I feel the same way right now in my life. I am trying to pick up the pieces to be stronger inside. I will admit, I have been weak. Tonight, I cried in front of my nieces of how I feel. My little niece Raya kissed me and Lily hugged me. Lily tells me how my dad would make coffee himself and cook eggs for her every morning. Children think of the simple things in their lives. Adults we think of the pain and how life is complex. We must think like little children in our lives and come to him with open arms including with our hurts.

Isleen

Katy Perry's Lyrics to , “ I'm Wide Awake”

I'm wide awake

I'm wide awake

I'm wide awake

Yeah, I was in the dark

I was falling hard

With an open heart

I'm wide awake

How did I read the stars so wrong

I'm wide awake

And now it's clear to me

That everything you see

Ain't always what it seems

I'm wide awake

Yeah, I was dreaming for so long[Pre-Chorus]

I wish I knew then

What I know now

Wouldn't dive in

Wouldn't bow down

Gravity hurts

You made it so sweet

Till I woke up on

On the concrete[Chorus]

Falling from cloud 9

Crashing from the high

I'm letting go tonight

(Yeah I'm) Falling from cloud 9

I'm wide awake

Not losing any sleep

I picked up every piece

And landed on my feet

I'm wide awake

Need nothing to complete myself - nooohooo

I'm wide awake

Yeah, I am born again

[From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/k/katy-perry-lyrics/wide-awake-lyrics.html ]

Outta the lion's den

I don't have to pretend

And it's too late

The story's over now, the end[Pre-Chorus]

I wish I knew then

What I know now

Wouldn't dive in

Wouldn't bow down

Gravity hurts

You made it so sweet

Till I woke up on

On the concrete[Chorus]

Falling from cloud 9

Crashing from the high

I'm letting go tonight (yeah, I'm letting go)

I'm Falling from cloud 9

Thunder rumbling

Castles crumbling

I am trying to hold on

God knows that I tried

Seeing the bright side

But I'm not blind anymore...

I'm wide awake

I'm wide awake[Chorus]

Yeah, I'm Falling from cloud 9

Crashing from the high

You know I'm letting go tonight

I'm Falling from cloud 9

I'm wide awake

I'm wide awake

I'm wide awake

I'm wide awake

I'm wide awake

America is Beautiful!

Many Blessings on this wonderful Holiday of Rest!

President John F. Kennedy


Philadelphia
, July 4, 1962

     “It is a high honor for any citizen of our great Republic to speak at this Hall of Independence on this day of Independence. To speak as President of the United States to the Chief Executives of our 50 States is both an opportunity and an obligation. The necessity for comity between the National Government and the several States is an indelible lesson of our long history.

     Because our system is designed to encourage both differences and dissent, because its checks and balances are designed to preserve the rights of the individual and the locality against preeminent central authority, you and I, Governors, recognize how dependent we both are, one upon the other, for the successful operation of our unique and happy form of government. Our system and our freedom permit the legislative to be pitted against the executive, the State against the Federal Government, the city against the countryside, party against party, interest against interest, all in competition or in contention one with another. Our task--your task in the State House and my task in the White House--is to weave from all these tangled threads a fabric of law and progress. We are not permitted the luxury of irresolution. Others may confine themselves to debate, discussion, and that ultimate luxury--free advice. Our responsibility is one of decision--for to govern is to choose.

     Thus, in a very real sense, you and I are the executors of the testament handed down by those who gathered in this historic hall 186 years ago today. For they gathered to affix their names to a document which was, above all else, a document not of rhetoric but of bold decision. It was, it is true, a document of protest--but protests had been made before. It set forth their grievances with eloquence--but such eloquence had been heard before. But what distinguished this paper from all the others was the final irrevocable decision that it took--to assert the independence of free States in place of colonies, and to commit to that goal their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

     Today, 186 years later, that Declaration whose yellowing parchment and fading, almost illegible lines I saw in the past week in the National Archives in Washington is still a revolutionary document. To read it today is to hear a trumpet call. For that Declaration unleashed not merely a revolution against the British, but a revolution in human affairs. Its authors were highly conscious of its worldwide implications. And George Washington declared that liberty and self-government everywhere were, in his words, "finally staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people."

     This prophecy has been borne out. For 186 years this doctrine of national independence has shaken the globe--and it remains the most powerful force anywhere in the world today. There are those struggling to eke out a bare existence in a barren land who have never heard of free enterprise, but who cherish the idea of independence. There are those who are grappling with overpowering problems of illiteracy and ill-health and who are ill-equipped to hold free elections. But they are determined to hold fast to their national independence. Even those unwilling or unable to take part in any struggle between East and West are strongly on the side of their own national independence.

     If there is a single issue that divides the world today, it is independence--the independence of Berlin or Laos or Viet-Nam; the longing for independence behind the Iron Curtain; the peaceful transition to independence in those newly emerging areas whose troubles some hope to exploit.

     The theory of independence is as old as man himself, and it was not invented in this hall. But it was in this hall that the theory became a practice; that the word went out to all, in Thomas Jefferson's phrase, that "the God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time." And today this Nation--conceived in revolution, nurtured in liberty, maturing in independence--has no intention of abdicating its leadership in that worldwide movement for independence to any nation or society committed to systematic human oppression.

     As apt and applicable as the Declaration of Independence is today, we would do well to honor that other historic document drafted in this hall--the Constitution of the United States. For it stressed not independence but interdependence--not the individual liberty of one but the indivisible liberty of all.

     In most of the old colonial world, the struggle for independence is coming to an end. Even in areas behind the Curtain, that which Jefferson called "the disease of liberty" still appears to be infectious. With the passing of ancient empires, today less than 2 percent of the world's population lives in territories officially termed "dependent." As this effort for independence, inspired by the American Declaration of Independence, now approaches a successful close, a great new effort--for interdependence--is transforming the world about us. And the spirit of that new effort is the same spirit which gave birth to the American Constitution.

     That spirit is today most clearly seen across the Atlantic Ocean. The nations of Western Europe, long divided by feuds far more bitter than any which existed among the 13 colonies, are today joining together, seeking, as our forefathers sought, to find freedom in diversity and in unity, strength.

     The United States looks on this vast new enterprise with hope and admiration. We do not regard a strong and united Europe as a rival but as a partner. To aid its progress has been the basic object of our foreign policy for 17 years. We believe that a united Europe will be capable of playing a greater role in the common defense, of responding more generously to the needs of poorer nations, of joining with the United States and others in lowering trade barriers, resolving problems of commerce, commodities, and currency, and developing coordinated policies in all economic, political, and diplomatic areas. We see in such a Europe a partner with whom we can deal on a basis of full equality in all the great and burdensome tasks of building and defending a community of free nations.

     It would be premature at this time to do more than indicate the high regard with which we view the formation of this partnership. The first order of business is for our European friends to go forward in forming the more perfect union which will someday make this partnership possible.

     A great new edifice is not built overnight. It was 11 years from the Declaration of Independence to the writing of the Constitution. The construction of workable federal institutions required still another generation. The greatest works of our Nation's founders lay not in documents and in declarations, but in creative, determined action. The building of the new house of Europe has followed the same practical, purposeful course. Building the Atlantic partnership now will not be easily or cheaply finished.

     But I will say here and now, on this Day of Independence, that the United States will be ready for a Declaration of Interdependence, that we will be prepared to discuss with a united Europe the ways and means of forming a concrete Atlantic partnership, a mutually beneficial partnership between the new union now emerging in Europe and the old American Union founded here 175 years ago.

     All this will not be completed in a year, but let the world know it is our goal.

     In urging the adoption of the United States Constitution, Alexander Hamilton told his fellow New Yorkers "to think continentally." Today Americans must learn to think intercontinentally.

     Acting on our own, by ourselves, we cannot establish justice throughout the world; we cannot insure its domestic tranquility, or provide for its common defense, or promote its general welfare, or secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. But joined with other free nations, we can do all this and more. We can assist the developing nations to throw off the yoke of poverty. We can balance our worldwide trade and payments at the highest possible level of growth. We can mount a deterrent powerful enough to deter any aggression. And ultimately we can help to achieve a world of law and free choice, banishing the world of war and coercion.

     For the Atlantic partnership of which I speak would not look inward only, preoccupied with its own welfare and advancement. It must look outward to cooperate with all nations in meeting their common concern. It would serve as a nucleus for the eventual union of all free men--those who are now free and those who are vowing that some day they will be free.

     On Washington's birthday in 1861, standing right there, President-elect Abraham Lincoln spoke in this hall on his way to the Nation's Capital. And he paid a brief but eloquent tribute to the men who wrote, who fought for, and who died for the Declaration of Independence. Its essence, he said, was its promise not only of liberty "to the people of this country, but hope to the world . . . [hope] that in due time the weights should be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and that all should have an equal chance."

     On this fourth day of July, 1962, we who are gathered at this same hall, entrusted with the fate and future of our States and Nation, declare now our vow to do our part to lift the weights from the shoulders of all, to join other men and nations in preserving both peace and freedom, and to regard any threat to the peace or freedom of one as a threat to the peace and freedom of all. "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

NOTE: The President spoke at 11:40 a.m. in Independence Square in Philadelphia.
JFK's Speech link

Daughter's First Love is Her Dad

The quiet moments outside of the front door in cool evening, as I miss my father. I wished my dad sat next to me. I close my eyes to remember those special memories with my dad. I wished, I held my dads hand or tell my dad how big his muscle but it is only a thought. I just heard a child say out loud from a distance " daddy." I was once that child who cried for her daddy when she was lost. Now, as adult I cry for my father in heaven to hug me. I still hurt for my dad. The lost of my father still haunts me even til this day. The emptiness is still there. The tears come & go like rain. I have to manage my quiet times with the thoughts of the father above, Jesus. It is never easy to feel the lost of a father. This year, is my first fatherless day on Father's day. I will be strong this coming father's day with my mom.

"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful" (John 14:27 NAS)

This is my last Father's Day posting on my blog.

These are several blogs of my dad in the past few years:

My Super Hero is My Dad

Father, Father, I love You

One Cool Dad

Riding My Bike for First Time

Did you Feel the Mountains Tremble- The Last Time my Dad prayed for me when I was in pain