A Day of Gratitude

Today, April 8, 2019, I took a leave off from work for my follow up check up with my cardiologist. I thought I’d go to UST as well since our request for prenup photoshoot just got confirmed last week.

I woke up almost 11am today. I was supposed to go to UST at 11. Haha I slept for 11hrs! Which is good. I slept late last night because of my 11pm work. I played with my dogs as always. Summer and Golden are such babies they make me happy. I got up from bed to find that World Vision sent me a pen! Yay! It was so hot today. I went to St Lukes a bit late because  it’s just soooo hot! Also, because of my forgetfulness, I was looking for my breast ultrasound result all over just to realize after a full 15 minutes that I haven’t even gotten the result yet. My memory is so bad, I know. So I went to St Lukes, straight to HMO, then to get the breast ultrasound result, got listed on my Cardio, then to the Stress Test result, bought my favorite Boulangerie 22 bread and went up again to wait for my turn with my Cardio. Great news is that my stress result is excellent. Dr Myra Canlas says I can play basketball. My heart is working great. I’ll take a 2D echo on September just to check if my prolapse is really gone. My breast ultrasound on the other hand showed many benign cysts and should be monitored next year again. I’ll be back September for another set of tests: Vit D levels which is still deficient as of writing, and cholesterol which was a bit high when I got tested a few weeks ago. My St Lukes trip was fast considering that there were so many people everywhere. Despite the traffic, I was able to make it to UST Secretary General before 5pm ang got the prenup permit instantly! Just in time for the 5:15pm mass at the Santissimo Rosario.

It was a different mass today. It felt so good despite my mild headache from the scorching heat. I was overwhelmed with joy and gratitude knowing that my heart is healed. Knowing that the prenup date is now for real. Knowing that God has forgiven me and that God loves me so much. That despite my inadequacy, He healed me. He gave me so much more than my physical healing. He healed Tita Sue from breast cancer. He’s healing Papa’s lungs. He’s healing Jhoanne’s unconsciousness. He’s healing Mama’s acid reflux. He’s healing Charles’ high blood and muscle pains. God is guiding our road to our marriage. I couldn’t help but took communion today. Eventhough I haven’t gone to confession. I am overwhelmed with God’s grace I almost cried.

Many times in my everyday life I’m too lazy to praise the Lord. Many times I feel down. Many times I feel fear. Many times I look down on myself. I look down on others. I don’t think and do good. But God always gives me another chance. God loves me and gives me the best. The best of all the experiences. Happy and sad. God guides me. And for the past year or so that I’ve rested and reflected
more because of my heart condition, I have come to learn how to live in the present. How to be here right now. How to be still. And to focus more on my family. My relationships. Myself. For a year or so I haven’t really pursued the teaching career that I wanted or the Prulife financial advisor that I started. But I’ve been promoted to Manager 1, Senior System Administrator at work. Charles proposed to me. We bought a house in Cavite. All these things came as God’s blessings. This new focus is different and new. But this new focus is good. I’m 32 but I’m not worried that I will die poor. I’m not worried that I’ll retire with only a small amount of money. I’m actually feeling more secured. Maybe I’m just reaping all of my efforts from the last 10years of working. Maybe God is telling me its enough. I guess what I’m seeing now is a new season. A new chapter of my life. Rather, a preparation for a new and bigger chapter of my life. Exactly 7 months from now, I will be Jhoanna Mary C. Madrid. And God will be forever with us in our new journey.

"Everyday is a happy day!":p