The More I Seek You

Today’s sing along song:

The More I Seek You- Kari Jobe

The more I seek you,
The more I find you
The more I find you, the more I love you

I wanna sit at your feet
Drink from the cup in your hand.
Lay back against you and breath, feel your heart beat
This love is so deep, it’s more than I can stand.
I melt in your peace, it’s overwhelming
(From Top)

Chorus:4x

BOOOO Valentine’s To Y’All!

Ahh…Valentine’s Day. Commercialism at its finest.

Nah, don’t get me wrong–I’m all for LOOooOoOoVE. But corny teddy bears and diabetically sweet chocolates are not my thing. One of my 8th grader student came to class with a small Kay paper bag and yeah 5 minutes late, she’s flaunting this pink-stoned ring whose size I bet won’t fit in any of her fingers.

And then there were these wilted red carnations that our school sold to the kids. It was just everywhere–hair, ear, hands, books, floor, toilet bowl–that by the time I got home, everything just look red to me.

And the teddy bears. I’m not talking about palm-size teddy bears. These are GIANT teddy bears that the kids were dragging from class to class! Which I think is not FAIR! I’ve never gotten a teddy bear in my life..pathetic me!

What is more pathetic is that I think my husband didn’t get me anything for Valentine’s (which is so unforgiveable) despite all of my not-so-subtle hints!  

HAH!

Waiting

Ask anybody and they’ll tell you the same.

The toughest thing to do is to WAIT.

But then…

“When I was waiting quietly for the Lord, His heart was turned to me, and He gave ear to my cry.” Psalms 40:1

And this is the ONLY thing that gives me hope– that the Lord whose Word and promises I trust– shall hear my cry…

Saving Grace

I waited patiently for the LORD;

he turned to me and heard my cry

He lifted me out of the slimy pit

out of the mud and mire;

he set my feet on a rock

and gave me a firm place to stand

He put a new song in my mouth

A hymn of praise to our God

Many will see and fear

and put their trust in the LORD.

Psalm 40: 1-3

A History You Might Have Never Known

A little History lesson for you.

I was browsing the net earlier today, looking for some stuff for my lesson when I came upon an article that I find quite interesting…

Did you know that Pinoys were the first EVER Asian settlement in the United States? At least that’s how historians see it. The “Manilamen” were a bunch of slaves in 1784 who jumped from a Spanish ship during the Galleon trade and made settlements in Saint Malo, Louisiana (where else?). Saint Malo is a small fishing village that existed in the present-day St. Bernard parish from the mid-18th century to early 20th century before it was destroyed by a hurricane in 1915.

They built houses for themselves, they paid no taxes (I could live there), and had their own government. Offenders were put in “fish-car” or makeshift jail and since food was very, very scarce, offenders usually promise to obey the law (and the town lived happily ever after). And to keep the tie between them and our dear old Pinas, these Manilamen allegedly would send money to their friends in Manila with the profits they made from fishing. I have NO CLUE as to which money remittance they used and how the Pinoys in Pinas traded these dollars to peso. Interesting, huh.

These Manilamen lived in secrecy amongst the swamps until a journalist from Harper’s Weekly found them in 1883 and exposed their existence to the Americans (that must have been a riot!). But these Manilamen apparently didn’t hid themselves from the local women. Since there were no Filipina among them, they eventually courted and married some Cajuns and Creole ladies.

Now, what I find interesting about this is that some things about Pinoy never changed. Like:

1. Even in 1784, uso na ang jump-ship sa mga Pinoy seaman!

2. Even in 1784, some Pinoys were already tax evaders…

3. Pinoys are naturally matakaw…gutumin mo lang, magpapakabait na

4. Uso na ang remittance nung 1784…and

5. Magaling magtago ang Pinoy! 100 years bago nahuhuli! 

Seriously, though, this is hard stuff!

Marina Espina – Filipinos in Louisiana (A. F. Laborde & Sons, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1988)