Listening to: James Brown - Get on the Good Foot
One of my favorite James Brown songs. Bye James Brown!

I forgot to make a post on Christmas day, so I'll try to catch up here.

First off, God has been so good to me and my family this year, and I came to realize it especially in the last few weeks of the year. I mentioned stuff in my birthday post similar to this. This year, we truly had a Merry Christmas.

I got a bike for Christmas, among other cool things. So we go out riding every 2 days (it should be everyday). Also, we're starting a new project: we're going to do individual webcomics featured on a joint website. I already have a story, and I'm working on my drawing style. Needs to be consistent and comfortable enough for me to draw quickly.

Finally the New Year rolled in. Good bye 2006; you've been a good year. The Lord blessed us greatly this year. He gave us a wonderful house to live in, He kept our family together even through hardships, He kept us all healthy and He kept us in mind, and we could feel it. There's so much to be thankful of this year that it's not even an option to write them all down. However, the 5 heaviest things that come to mind shall now be listed here:

Top 5 Things I'm Grateful For In 2006
1. My Family. I love my family so much. God has even renewed my relationships with all my family members. And I'm appreciating them more every day. I love that we're together and happy, and even if trials and hardships are everywhere, the Lord keeps us together as a force and we forge right through with His strength.

2. My New Friends. I made a lot of new friends this year, and I've even come to appreciate my old friends more. Some of my best friends that I made this year include my students Axel and Macro, and the b-boys Junar and Nicolo, and Jose, Lester and Kuya Mark. Special mention is my good old best friend, Michael Roman. I love all of you. :D

3. My Newly Discovered Talents and Passions, and Newly Appreciated Old Talents. I lol at this, but it's definitely worth mentioning, because my talents are from God. One of my new talents is breaking, and the Lord has infused in me a passion for it. He even allowed me to use it to glorify His name. He even gave me a loving family of Urban Lifestyle people in Urban Hope. Old talents that I'm getting a new appreciation for is my drawing and writing. As I mentioned, we're going to start a webcomic this year. I'll keep you posted on it.

4. Peace and Happiness. Yes, actually I genuinely feel peace and happiness, and I know I couldn't do this myself. Only God could provide that sense. I have peace because I know God's got my back. I have happiness because I know that God is good. It's hard to explain in detail, but my worries dim and seem like nothing when I think of God. This is extremely evident in these last few weeks of 2006.

5. A New Year. It may seem cliche to be thankful for the new year, but it's honest to be thankful for it. I know 2006 has been a year full of blessings, and opportunities to learn and serve. And I know that in God's goodness, he can provide me with all that, and hopefully even much, much more in the next year. So I'm looking forward to each day, to see what God does.

What is my New Year's Resolution? I've rarely ever been able to keep these things, but I'll state it anyway. I honestly want to say something selfish like I'll work out more or whatever, but I think I'll make a resolution that matters. I'll try my best to seek the Lord, no matter how I feel. Yes, because LOVE is more than a feeling. It's a commitment. Love is not limited to feelings. I don't have to feel love from God to know God loves me, and I don't have to feel like loving God to love him. I must do what he wants me to do even if I don't feel like it. That is love.

Oh yeah, and if you're wondering what BOGA means (the post title), it's sort of a noise-maker in the Philippines. It's a big pipe (usually made of PVC), in which people put lighter fluid to vaporize at the bottom, and light with a spark from a flint. This causes an explosion like a cannon, which is why a lot of them are decorated to look like cannons, guns or bazookas. However, this dangerous toy was recently made illegal by the government, seeing how many people were getting injured from it, even weeks before the New Year's celebration. Actually, their injuries usually come from misuse by the handler, as some of them actually peep down the tube while there are vapors inside. Some guy had his eyebrows and eye lashes burned clean off his face, but he's lucky that's all that happened. Some people are permanently blinded, and some have really bad injuries from it, all because of carelessness.

Inspite of all that, I wish you all a Happy New Year! :D Let's enjoy this year like we did the last!