When I became a christian, my mom and Kuya (older brother) accepted Jesus into their lives a well. We started attending Sunday service together regularly around February 2013.
The thought of just the 3 of us started to sound so normal to me, even though I had 5 other siblings. I had little faith that we would all be together with Christ. My father was never exactly the “religious” type and I tried to accept that he was not going to want to go on this journey with us.
I started singing singing in the music ministry shortly after we started attending CCF Eastwood. The time was coming for me to serve for the first time, so my mom invited my dad to attend with us.
You see, my dad was always very supportive of me. He loved watching me do the things I enjoyed. He, along with my 2 other brothers attended service that one afternoon. After the first service ended, it was clear to me that it wasn’t something they were interested in.. Well, not yet, at least. I knew that God had a plan for my family. I didn’t know when it was going to be unveiled, but I knew he was going to make the “impossible” happen somehow.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” - Jeremiah 29:11
Many prayers and just 2 short months later, God reminded me that the seed was indeed planted. He proved to me that nothing was impossible with Him. My dad had a change of heart. It was surprising, a bit sudden, but it was all in God’s perfect timing. My dad started attending service with us regularly.
“Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."” - Matthew 19:26
It started with him going to service every 3 weeks when I would serve. Then he slowly began to attend every week, even when I wasn’t singing. It’s been a solid 3 years since then. I am amazed by how God has been working in our lives. I started off with little hope that my dad would ever come to Jesus. I tried to accept that maybe this was how it was supposed to be, but I was proven wrong.
We have a God out there who can do amazing things every single day. A God who can impact people and change lives, but it is our duty as His followers to help continue what He started.
“He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”” - Mark 16:15
Our whole family may not be with Christ yet, but I have hope that one day, we will all be serving God together.
If you have a family member who hasn’t accepted Jesus yet, please don’t give up on them. It might take weeks, months or maybe even years, but everything will happen in God’s perfect timing. There’s nothing better than your family. They should be your first ministry. ♡
Last week, I had the privilege to attend 2 very exciting events in the span of 3 days. It has been both tiring and exciting, but overall, life-changing.
[Warning: long post and very image heavy!!]
Move YDC 2016 is a wonderful conference that was held in CCF. It is a conference that was designed and targeted specifically for those who want to make an impact in today’s youth and the next generation.
Day 1 started with a big “bang” if I do say so myself. Praise and Worship is always a different and amazing encounter each time. I’m sure my friends who belong to their church’s youth ministry will also agree that the youth can get crazy when they start to praise Him. Seeing young people just raising their hands and worshipping our God freely is a sight I will never take for granted. And I assure you, it is only by the grace of God that we can come and worship Him freely.
The plenaries opened with our senior pastor, Dr. Peter Tan-Chi. He spoke on the topic of “Make A Difference.” The event proper had a total of 6 plenaries planned for the 3 day conference. I won’t go in too much detail about all the plenaries, but I’ll try to include some highlights.
In the story of David (1 Samuel 16-17), the king and even David’s family had very low expectations for David. They thought he was too young and wasn’t strong enough. So many people doubted him, but David’s confidence rested in the Lord. – A great message for today’s youth. God wants us to make a difference. And I believe we cannot do this if we are only going to please others. We must have confidence that the Lord can use us for His glory, because we are his children.
“God can make a difference in your life if you will totally commit your life to Jesus.” - Dr. Peter Tan-Chi
I was actually kind sad because I missed some of day 2 since I had to be in school. But I got to catch around 30 minutes of Plenary 3, which was done by Francis Kong. All I can say is that he really has a way of getting his message across and he was honestly one of the best speakers throughout the whole conference. But the most important thing about his message was Love. – Ah yes, love. It’s a controversial subject, but that’s not exactly the kind of love we’re talking about. It’s the unfailing and everlasting love we experience from our Lord, Jesus Christ. Today’s youth are blind sighted by what they think is love.
Here’s something witty and fun:
7 B’s for girls - Books before boys because boys bring babies
A little *hugot* from Francis Kong:
“Sometimes, people are meant to be in your heart, but not in your life.”
Photo: Workshop 8 - Influencing the Youth with Music (Joel Ramsey)
If you’ve been to some church conferences, you’d probably know that aside from plenaries, you get to join some exciting workshops. There were a total of 8 workshops, all with different seating capacities. The workshops ranged from sports, to social media and campus movements, as well as defending your faith. Participants could only pick 1 workshop each, so some of my friends and I decided to attend Joel Ramsey’s (of Citipointe church) workshop about influencing the youth with music.
There were some very helpful tips for worship leaders, especially during his Q&A portion. I learned a lot about how to come in true worship, how to pick the right kind of songs, etc. Joel also talked about the new Christian music today that incorporate things like rap or edm. – A little something I was skeptical about before, but I’ve learned that there are many ways to express one’s worship to Him. I mean, you can’t deny that these songs are catchy, but it’s the true meaning that matters. And whether or not the lyrics are rooted towards God and the Bible.
Photo: Citipointe Live concert
Later that night, Joel and the rest of Citipointe blessed us with a wonderful worship concert. The first 1,500 Move participants even got Patron seats. But this concert was also open to the public, so even if you weren’t going to Move, you could buy tickets.
Shout out to the Elevate Eastwood fam bc Dominion ♡♡
Photo: With some of my Elevate Eastwood girls ♡
It was the final day and the conference was coming to end. Most of us were conserving our energy for Hillsong Young & Free’s concert later that night, but I couldn’t contain myself. God’s love was just overflowing and pouring out on us the whole day.
This picture gives me chills till this day. The success of this conference has brought me to tears. These are actual people, more than 4 thousand to be exact, shining their phone lights and committing to Move with Him.
"You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." - Matthew 5:14-16
And if the Move conference wasn’t enough, God so graciously brought me and a few members from Elevate Eastwood to Araneta Coliseum to continue worshipping our Lord.
Before this day, I saw many articles about Hillsong Y&F’s new music. Many articles have come out talking about how their music is dangerous for churches. I am one of those who choose not to read those articles. I choose to worship my God in the way I love doing most – through music. Without our Lord, Hillsong Y&F would cease to exist. I mean, it is only by His grace that they can come and tour and share their beautiful worship music with so many people.
"We are young and free not because we are free to do whatever we want, but because we are free in Jesus Christ." ♡♡♡
With my Youth Revival squad!!!
“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.” 1 Timothy 4:12
So what are you waiting for? Commit to MOVE with Him and make a difference in this generation and the future generations to come! It’s time to MOVE!!
You’ve reached the end of this blogpost. Thank you for reading ♡
Disclaimer: Photos are c/o Joash Gadier and Elevate Main
Hi guys! I know my sense of style series has been on break for 2 weeks now. I haven’t been able to shoot the people I’ve been wanting to, so I’ll be resuming it soon. BUT for now, I’m going to talk about my Rilakkuma collection!!!
I started collecting Rilakkuma goodies in 2013. I really liked the way the bear looked because he was super cute and they described him as the “relaxed” bear. I started watching some clips from the cartoon show itself and I was just so hooked!! I’ll be showing everything through different categories, so let’s get started :)
I’m gonna start with some of my favorite things I own - STATIONARY!!
When my mom found out about my /slight/ addiction to Rilakkuma, she started to help me with my collection. These folders are all from a place called Stationery Superstore in Singapore! Each one costs about 1.50 SGD each (or around 50 pesos).
If you’re interested in buying folders like these in the Philippines, I’m selling some other ones I don’t use. Click here for more details!
Notebooks & notepads!! ♡
The first notebook is one of the first Rilakkuma notebooks I got. I purchased it when I went to Japan for vacation in 2014. The notebook and notepads in the middle are from Stationery Superstore again. And the notebook to the far right is from Happy Land in SM North Edsa.
More stationary!!
The post-its and correction tape are both local. The post-its are from Office Warehouse and the correction tape from Robinsons Supermarket. The rest are from Stationery Superstore again~
Clothes/accessories!!
These are the only Rilkkuma “clothes” I own. The hat is from Hatah Hatah - I bought it during the Kawaii PH Market last Saturday!! And the socks are from Kiddy Land in Harajuku ♡
BAGS!!!
These were the first Rilakkuma items I ever owned. The little Rilakkuma bag is thrifted (250php), pouch is from Happy Land again, as well as the bag in the bottom left~ And the bottom right bag is from Clipper!!
Keychains!!
These are just some little things that make me happy. The rightmost one is from Kiddy Land (my mom actually got it from the crane machine!!) and the rest are thrifted.
Kitchen supplies!!
Mug - Happy Land
Spoon & fork set - Singapore (this actually came with a bento box but I sadly can’t find it!!)
Rice seasonings - Singapore
I’m not exactly sure what those orange and yellow containers are. My mom said they were “egg holders” but I have yet to figure this out!!
These are just some miscellaneous items my mom bought me from Singapore. They’re basically like little collectable figurines or something!!
These are probably the “biggest” items I own. In a sense that, they’re really something you can use everyday!! My mom bought both of these from Singapore.
Last but not the least... PLUSHIES!!! ♡
The little one was the first one I ever bought and it’s from Happy Land. I actually just found this today (for this post!! lol) and I realized I never used it because it was still in it’s plastic wrap and everything hehe. The second one is another gift from my mom which she bought from Singapore. And the last one is my most recent purchase!! If you follow me on twitter (@jolgurango), you would’ve seen this with a Korilakkuma plushy as well. I’m so happy with it huhu!!
I only have a few plushies, but I’m hoping to expand my collection soon. I’m going to Singapore in June, so I’m super excited to get some new things!! I also plan to get some merch of the new character Koguma-chan! ♡
That’s all for now. I hope you guys enjoyed this post!! I’m so happy that I’m finally blogging about Rilakkuma because I was planning to do so for a while now. Talk to you guys next week!! ☆
I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior on May 18, 2013. It was a month before I entered my freshman year of college. I didn’t know what to expect during my college life, let alone, college life as a christian.
I’m sure everyone has this feeling of being judged by other people. But let me tell you something amazing. Some of the first people I met in college were also believers. This gave me the breath of fresh air that I needed. I felt like I could be myself around them and I didn’t have to be shy about my faith.
During my sophomore year, one of my schoolmates formed a small group with some of the girls in our year. This was the year I also started living in a condo with two other girls. Transitioning from home to living (sort of) by yourself can be tricky, but I’m honestly very lucky that all the girls I’ve lived with are my sisters in Christ. They’ve been keeping me on the right track since day 1.
This is my small group leader and mentor, Chloe!
If you know me, it’s really hard for me to open up about things, but it felt very natural for me to share things that happened in my life with her. I look up to her for guidance and biblical advice. She’s really been an inspiration to me! ♡
A picture of our small group in our campus ♡
This was taken way back in February 2015. We’ve all been so busy with school and we haven’t resumed small group yet, but I’m praying we get to meet with each other soon!
These are my amazing roommates, Bob and Chelsea!
Chelsea was only our roommate for 1 semester and has since moved to Canada, but her warm presence and love for God will always stay in my heart. ♡
Small group and my roommates combined have been such a blessing for me, but I know not everyone has the same experience.
Here are a few things you should realize if you’re struggling ♡
1. You’re not alone. Many people have been given a hard time about their faith, but always remember where your belief stands.
It says in 1 Peter 4:16, “If you suffer for being a Christian, don’t feel ashamed, but praise God for being called that name.”
2. We should still love everyone, even though they’re our enemies. “Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.” - Matthew 5:44
Bullying can be tough, but we should still love! Love like Christ loves us!
3. Always pray and ask God for guidance! If you’re struggling with showing your faith because you’re afraid of being judged, always pray about it. God knows all the answers. :)
Thank you for reading! ♡
Stalk me on Twitter & Instagram: @jolgurango
BTW, I’m sorry there wasn’t a new post for sense of style this week. I’ve been a bit busy, but stay tuned for it next week, as well as a bonus post! ☺✧
Hi everyone! I’m very excited to launch my new fashion series called “Sense of Style.” Every Thursday, I’ll be featuring one person in a blogpost that includes a photoshoot + Q&A. If you want to see a particular person, don’t forget to leave me a message!
Today I’ll be featuring my very kawaii friend, Jerica from m1lqu.blogspot.com :)
Come along with me as we learn more about her style!
Outfit #1 - go to outfit/everyday wear
This is a great outfit for running errands or just lounging around the house (something Jerica and I love doing!)
kawaii 19 top - cotton on
polka dot skirt - cotton on
Jerica is really into her skirts and dresses, so this is no surprise for me. I gifted both of these items to her and I see her wearing this a lot. (I’m very happy she wears it tbh hehe)
little sneak peek of Jerica getting ready
If you want to see what’s in her makeup bag, click here. ^_^
Outfit #2 - dressy
You’ll see Jerica wearing this on some special occasions. She wore this earlier this year when we were ringing in the New Year and she’s been wearing it a lot from time to time.
dress - thrifted (eastwood cybermall)
She also loves her socks. If anyone wants to give her an easy gift, get her some cute frilly socks or printed socks!!
left - cotton on
right - thrifted
Q: Describe your personal style
A: My personal style is based off from BBHOODZ and the kawaii culture.
Q: Where do you shop?
A: I mostly thrift - I like to buy from random shops and sometimes I go to Cotton On and Forever 21.
Q: Who/what is your inspo for your style?
A: My inspo is iamkareno, Michelle Phan, Naomi Nikola and Usagi.
Q: Tell me about your everyday makeup and where do you buy most of your makeup?
A: I am trying to buy from Etude House and Tony Moly. I’m trying to collect a lot from them. I usually just have blush, eyeliner and lipstick on.
Q: What is your advice to those people who want to dress “kawaii”?
A: Kawaii is very experimental. There’s a huge variety of fashion, so just play around with pastels and neons - mostly decora stuff. If you look it up on google, it’s really wild. Just play around with your style.
Q: What can we expect from your blog in the coming months?
A: Currently, I’m planning a lot of posts. I’m trying to do more things that will help my blog get more exposure and to get a voice out there. I’m also planning on lots of collabs!
Where to follow Jerica:
Twitter - m1lquu
Instagram - m1lqu
Where to find Jerica (in person):
Kawaii Market - April 30
That’s all for now! See you all next Thursday for my next entry to Sense of Style.
Let me know who you want to see and I might just feature them. ♡
yesterday (April 10th), my family + Jerica went to this restaurant called “Café (Ñ) Enye” for dinner. it’s located inside eastwood city and they serve spanish cuisine!
i’ve been here once before, but i was just with my brother. i decided to suggest this restaurant to my parents, since i was really happy with it the last time ♡
warning: very image heavy!!
this is pretty much what you’ll see when you first step in. they have an outside area where you can sit if you want to smoke or just feel like eating outside!
here’s a picture of where we were seated (hi parents!) & i have to say, the interior of the place is so cool. i love when restaurants are nicely decorated! 10/10 on the interior ✧
close up of the wall behind our table
left - the place has some really nice blue couches. (not seen in the pic, but my brother and i sat on the far left when we ate here before!)
right - this was my view from the table! we were very near the kitchen and you could actually see the people preparing our food
rustic menus for the win! there’s something about having a menu on a clipboard that satisfies me and my weird inner “hipster”.
their plates are really cute and i love their little touches - like using a mason jar to store utensils!
Jerica and I got similar things because i recommended this dish to her. it’s the same thing i got when I ate here before ♡
apologies for the unfocused photo!! Jerica also got a chocolate blended drink - php170. this girl loves her chocolate hehe
the restaurant/café has a bakery as well!
okay, so this might be weird, but Jerica and i wanted to check out the bathroom. actually, Jerica already went inside and she told me that it looked cute.
she wasn’t wrong haha - look at the fun wallpaper!! as well as the little mirrors and framed photos
these are on top of a shelf above the toilet. nice touches!
overall, it was a great experience eating in Café Enye. 10/10 on the interior and the FOOD, but it’s a bit pricey, so i don’t recommend going here if you’re on a student budget (like me hehe). i suggest going here on special occasions! it’s a nice place to eat with your family or maybe even a special someone, but it’s not a go-to, if you’re looking for a regular/everyday place to eat ☺︎
that’s all for now. thank you for reading!
stay tuned for more food reviews ♡
so last sunday (April 3rd), Jerica and i decided to do a late night photoshoot!!
if you haven’t checked Jerica out, you should probably do so. she blogs about all things kawaii and she’s the cutest girl you’ll ever meet. she’s been my best friend for about 3 years now ♡
i saw her do these photoshoots with Ally (who’s actually my neighboor!), so we randomly decided to do one in my room.
Jerica designed the set, as well as styled me in outfits hehe
my biggest inspo for this shoot (and in life) would have to be Vanessa Hudgens because of her amazing style, so i tried to get inspiration from her coachella looks.
romper - market market fashion hall
i’m an awkward poser but my best friend really helped me with the poses since i was so lost. (thank you boo!)
i got some really great tips from shooting this with Jerica, especially since we shot this late at night. we used my iphone 5s to shoot the photos and the flashlight of her iphone 5c for light. she learned a lot from shooting with Ally and she passed that knowledge on to me!
she did a really great job with the production design!! i’m so happy with it hehe
details:
mason jar - courageous caitie instagram shop
mustache straw - eastwood bazaar
mason jar candle - bath & body works
vase & fake flowers - japan home center
MINT was the last college i applied to. i took almost everything - UP, Ateneo, CSB and UA&P. i passed some (not UP tho lol nice try) and was waitlisted in some, but it was already january when all the results came out and i really didn’t have my mind set up on anything. i applied to these schools with very different courses in mind. UP for theatre arts, Ateneo for creative writing, CSB for HRIM (culinary arts track), and UA&P for MEM (media and entertainment management).
i’ve always had MINT in mind. i found out about it because i saw a poster in my guidance counselor’s office. i was always interested because i had a passion for music. i loved to sing. so one day, kind of randomly to be honest, i just decided to apply and take the exam. the exam can be taken online, anytime and anywhere, so that was very convenient. when i received the news via email a day or two later that i passed, i knew this was it. i knew i had to go to this school because it could give me the opportunity to chase my dreams.
when you enter MINT as someone who aspires to be a singer, you’re going to be eager. you’re going to be excited that you’re finally entering this artsy college that has the course you want. you’ll want to tackle things like writing, recording, and performing your own music.
during my first year, it wasn’t what i expected at all. we went straight to the business side of music. we discussed contracts, music marketing and more. but we also learned the basics of recording and were required to do things like make a music video, use the business model canvas, create press kits for artists, and do pitches. coming from someone who truly wanted to perform, it’s safe to say that i was a bit overwhelmed.
on my second semester, my major was “music marketing”. it was one of the most stressful classes to have, especially since my friend and i were the artists my group was pitching. we had no idea what we wanted for our genre, look, target market, etc. we were pretty clueless and it didn’t help that i personally found all these things uninteresting anyway. but i’ll be honest, by the end of the school year, i appreciated the music business more. not only were my eyes truly opened about all the problems in the industry, but i learned about all the components that came into marketing an artist. as you guys may know, our professors are/were actually in the industry. so it’s amazing that we can learn from these people who experienced all these things.
second year of college comes around and things get a bit more complicated for me. during the first semester, we learned music theory. some of my other classmates opted to take this in summer, but i stuck with the regular schedule. as someone who once tried to learn piano, it was so difficult for me. the only instrument i ever successfully learned how to play is the ukulele, and even up to now i’m just playing the same 4 chords that i first learned haha. i’m also quite stubborn and i would never practice the things we learned outside of the classroom. and looking back at it, i almost completely forgot everything we learned during music theory class. but it really helps, so don’t be like me. seriously. you’ll learn things like the circle of fifths, how to notate songs and read notes, even the correct placing of fingers on a piano. so don’t take this for granted because it can honestly help you in your other majors in the future. i had so much fun in that class, despite having my brain melted twice a week for 3 hours.
another very special moment during my second year was when my artist management class decided to organize an event entitled Music Business Matters. it was an open forum with various artist managers, basically talking about their experience on managing artists. it was a good learning experience for us because from the contacting, to getting sponsors, to decorating the location, to the tech, etc., we were all very involved. this was the start of many, many events.
something that started during my second year of college were course weeks. so every year, we had MBM week. it was a whole week to showcase our talents and organize events!
other major subjects we had during second year included MBM 4: songwriting and AMP 3 where we basically learned about how to use a MIDI keyboard to produce music. during songwriting class, i learned more on how to copyright a song. we even had to compose our own song (which we produced during our AMP 3 class) and copyright it. i had to fill in an affidavit and have it notarized. i’ll have a picture of my certificate of copyright registration below.
i’m in my third year of college now and so many amazing things happened during the first semester alone. our concert and touring class organized two events last year. the first one was part of the annual OPM week. we only had one week to prepare for this. luckily, our prof was generous enough to lend his equipment - so we had really good lights and sounds. it was another great learning experience for us!
the second event was our final exam. we organized another event with various music performances. it was held in Aposento, Makati. we had big names like BP Valenzuela, Joyce Pring, Jensen and The Flips, etc. it was a different experience since it was outside of school. we had to do things such as have an ocular in the location and test out the menus and check prices. we really had to sell tickets, because we had to breakeven.
so, here we are. i’m close to the finish line and i’m currently occupied by my thesis hehe. that’s basically my experience so far. i tried to give all the details, but i’m sure that typing this down won’t even give it justice. you’ll have to experience things for yourself, because i’m sure everyone will say different things.
to sum everything up, i made a list of 6 things (because that’s all i could think of right now) you probably need to know if you’re going to apply for MBM as a performer (based on my experience so far)
MBM is not just about performance. - i guess this is kind of obvious by now. yes, we have a glee club, but you’re going to learn a lot about the business side and how to produce music. it may not be your forte, but it’s important to learn these things.
it’s going to be fun, but it’s not going to be easy. - you need to be dedicated and diligent for this to work out. some things are hard to learn and requires a lot of patience.
events are everything! - there will come a time that your prof will want your class to organize an event, so you should probably get used to it.
you will want to shift courses at some point. - this isn’t for everyone, but there will come a time that you’ve had enough of MIDI keyboards, music theory, and all those business pitches. just hang in there, because it gets better.
you might want to do everything. - by everything, i mean, you might just be tempted to perform at every event. it’s a great opportunity to be honest, and if you can, take it.
you will have many opportunities for experience. - MINT gives some great opportunities. sometimes it’s not necessarily for performance, but it’s still great.
