The LJ Edit: Life in US

10/31/2025

Who knew pumpkin carving could be this fun?! 🎃💫 Huge thanks to ante Auuuie & CC for the spooky-good time — my first ever carving experience and I loved it! 👻🫶🏽

10/26/2025

Supposedly, today would have been my first year anniversary here in the U.S. But God had a different plan. He tested me — I was offloaded because I lacked one document. It took me months to process everything, but I chose to trust Him. I kept my faith and surrendered it all to Him.

Just like the seasons, life has its own timing — and everything unfolds beautifully when we learn to wait and trust His plan. ✨🙏🏽

10/24/2025

Life can be hard.

Sometimes it feels like you’re just surviving, not really living. You feel lost, alone, and defeated. But remember — life itself is a blessing.
We feel lost because we’ve once been found.
We feel alone because we’ve known connection — with family, true friends, and that one person who cares.
We feel defeated because, at some point in our lives, we’ve also known what it means to win.

It’s never easy. People will judge you, and the environment can be toxic. But even in the darkest moments, there is always hope.

And sometimes, you can be that hope — because hope is meant to be shared. 🌤️

10/23/2025

🍀🫶🏽

🌸 Why I Chose to Become a Financial Advisor 🌸

As a parent, every decision we make kay para gyud sa future sa atong kids. 💕

It started gyud when I decided to get an educational plan for my child so nakig meet ko sa akong college friend who is also a successful and trusted Sun Life Financial Advisor.

We started reminiscing about the past — how life has changed, and how I went through one of the most painful seasons of my life. I shared how heartbroken I was, how lost I felt, and how hard it was to start over again. 🙏

She listened without judgment, and gave me practical advices — simple yet powerful words about handling finances, rebuilding dreams, and taking one small step at a time. Those words gave me hope. 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

Hope that even if life didn’t go as planned, I can still build something beautiful out of it.

Fast forward today — I’m now almost on my 2nd year as a Financial Advisor, and that same friend who once inspired me is now my Unit Manager and my Mentor. 🥹✨

Thank you as always Mariel Grace Cañas, for believing in me. ❤️ Your passion and care touched my life and I know you can inspire and give hope to even more people. Please continue what you started, because the world needs your light. 🙏✨ (sabayan ra ka namo UM kutob sa makaya)

And to all single parents and dreamers out there — never lose hope. Sometimes, what feels like an ending is really just the start of something beautiful. 🌸

10/16/2025

the day still ends with grace 🌅

09/17/2025

🤞🏽🙏🏽

Sometimes, we mistake a no for the end of the story. We confuse silence with abandonment. But heaven’s quiet is not the same as absence, and delay is not the same as denial. Some things take time because they are being prepared in ways we cannot yet perceive. What hasn’t arrived when you have asked for it may still be unfolding, shaped by a timing more sacred than your own.

09/13/2025

Like rain in a waiting season—quiet, steady, and full of promise. Don’t lose hope; your season will come. ☔️ ✨🤞🏽

07/21/2025

It was God.

The reason you made it through, the calm in your chaos, the strength when you had none left, the unexpected help, the peace,

that was Him.

Not luck. Not coincidence. Just a faithful God showing up, again and again, often in ways you didn’t even realize until you looked back.

—Letters 80

07/19/2025

To someone who needs this today,

The Bible never promises a life without grief—
but it does promise a God who stays close to the brokenhearted.

"The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit." — Psalm 34:18

You are never alone in your sorrow. 🤍

07/13/2025

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝘀 — 𝗮𝗱𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆.

One day you wake up and realize you’re in survival mode.
Everyone’s silently carrying their own version of struggles —
from unseen responsibilities, unexpected breakdowns,
to quiet disappointments and daily inconveniences.

That’s why it matters to be gentle —
with yourself and with others.
We’re all trying.
We’re all fighting battles that we rarely speak of.

💭 Be kind. Be patient. You never know what someone’s holding behind their smile. ✨