Our Family's Concise List of Beach Road Trips and other Summer Hide-away

Taken five ears ago with m kids at La Luz Beach, San Juan, Batangas

A fraction of my entire life is spent in the kitchen, cooking, baking and washing the dishes.  It's a love-hate relationship between me and those daily chores.  My husband would always hear me complaining about my back and shoulders, from all the household chores I have to do everyday.  My life was like that ever since I got married.  In fact, it even came to a point when I thought that life isn't supposed to be like this, just because, I could not afford to have the things that I like or be the person that I dreamed of when I was little.  To sum it up, I forgot about how I looked, how the husband sees me and how I'm not getting the best that this life could offer.  I missed on a lot of things, BIG TIME!

Okay, well this blog isn't supposed to be an angst-ridden life, well there is still a fraction left for me to enjoy life just not yet at its finest, only the brink (*wink, wink), alone, with friends, and with m family.  So, I troubled myself to collate some of our family escapades to partly feed our fetish for adventure and escape the daily grind.  There are a lot (I mean tons and tons) of beach in every theme and nature which you can either drive to or with bus rides.

Here is a list of the places to explore with your family, to get further details, do click on the link provided.

Beach Guides

Sunday Wandering at Pinto Art Museum

"Shalom I leave with you. My shalom I give to you; not as the world gives, give I to you. 

Don't let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful."

 John 14:27 HNV (Hebrew Names Version)

SHALOM.

A big and deep word.  Have you encountered this word already?  

When visiting Israel, one of the first words you will learn is shalom.   More like saying "buon giorno" in Italy or "aloha" in Hawaii, it is used to say “hello” and “goodbye” to someone.  It is however defined in Wikipedia as a Hebrew word meaning peace, completeness, prosperity, and welfare and can be used idiomatically to mean both hello and goodbye.  In the NIV (New International Version), John 14:27 is written in this manner

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

Those are Jesus' words of This is worth pondering though, to wish someone “peace” is a very nice thing. And, if shalom only meant peace, that would still be great. However, in Hebrew, shalom has so many more meanings than the word “peace” in English, which simply means, “freedom from strife and disorder; harmony; and to be quiet.”

In one of our Sunday wandering before going to New Life the Fort's last service, we managed to feel the shalom God intended for our family life in a vast place, a haven even.  It took as an hour to get there but we never minded, even the traffic, for after all, together we all are as we destined to Antipolo, and that's one shalom right there.

As we reveled with joy and amazement with what God had gifted our artists, the soft hills cascaded with lush greenery and Pinto Art Gallery stood majestically tucked in between the earth's bounty.

As "peace" being one small part of the meaning,  Hebrew words, as such, go beyond their spoken pronunciation. Each Hebrew word conveys feeling, intent and emotion. Shalom is more than just simply peace - it is a complete peace.  It is a feeling of contentment, completeness, wholeness, well being and harmony.  As what we have learned from New Life's preaching.

To give more meaning and stress to shalom here are exceprs from The Refiner's Fire:

According to Strong's Concordance 7965. Shalom means completeness, wholeness, health, peace, welfare, safety soundness, tranquility, prosperity, perfectness, fullness, rest, harmony, the absence of agitation or discord. Shalom comes from the root verb shalom meaning to be complete, perfect and full. In modern Hebrew, the obviously related word Shelem means to pay for, and Shulam means to be fully paid. 

Of course, there is only one way to find TRUE shalom - and that is in the Word of Jesus. Many search for fulfillment, happiness and contentment in material possessions, money, sex, entertainment, etc. But those things do nothing to fill "that little hole in our soul" that only GOD can fill! Those things only serve to distract and prevent us from finding true peace...the shalom that can only come from Him who created and put all things into place.

Aside from the inspiration I hoped to instill my girls, especially the eldest, Danielle, who is taking up Fine Arts, Bhogs and I, got enough inspiring ourselves with the vast collection of artworks, landscape, interior designs, architecture and nature-communing.

From the dramatic set up, to traditional culture and arts, down to the wild and funky paintings, sculptures and art installations, we had pure enjoyment and so much appreciation for our local Filipino talents.

 The beauty the surrounded us, have just encompassed all my thoughts about gardening and architecture.

 I was in awe...

Forgive me for posting these photos of me.  I just could not help but blend in...
Like you and many others, I'm God's masterpiece...

The irony of it all!  

I would not have traded my children for anything else, and I don't have to warn anyone against them, for they are blessed by God for us.

That's my daughter there on the photo above, who couldn't get enough of her favorite subjects.

I'm not yet done with my photos so please keep coming back fro more.

I would truly appreciate it if you could leave any comments or shout outs!

credit here

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