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For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. – Matthew 16:25

 

       The man we know as Saint Francis of Assisi was not always so “saintly.” In his young adulthood, he lived a life of partying and pleasure, very carefree. Being born into a rich family, he had everything a guy could want. But because of a series of events, Francis realized that he wanted to change. He decided he would live for God. He left the lavish lifestyle he led. He began to give away his belongings and upon his interpretation of Jesus’ message in a vision, he even sold his father’s expensive fabrics to help rebuild a chapel. His father disapproved of Francis’ behavior, so Francis cut himself off from his family completely, literally taking the clothes off his back. He lived in poverty while ministering to the needs of others, later on becoming one of the more popular and well-loved saints, so much so that our Pope has taken on his name.

       Our worldly attachments — riches, popularity, vanity, pleasure, pride — are things that can hinder us from focusing on

what is truly important. In denying all these, Francis found a life of meaning. In giving up all he had, he gained eternal life. Like St. Francis, may we find ourselves detached from this world, and immersed in His work, that we, too, can be called “saints” one day.Geraldine G. Catral

 

Reflection: What do you truly value in life? How is it drawing you closer to God?

 

Lord, You are my true treasure. May I be ready to give up all for You.

LISTEN TO THE CLOUD...

They became frightened when they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my chosen Son, listen to

him!” – Luke 9:34-35

 

       My son, David, is visually impaired. He could only see with his left eye when he was born. When he was four, he needed to undergo a corneal transplant to save his left eye. His body rejected it. He underwent another one and it failed again. I was so disheartened. I thought this operation was the answer to our prayers for my son to be able to see.

       There are times in our lives when we’re so sure that this was God’s answer to our fervent prayer. Then something happens that dashes our hopes to the ground. When you find yourself in this predicament, trust that God is bigger than your problem. He is in control. Always.

       As for David, I don’t really know how much he can see now. But this much I know — he can play Temple Run with his iPad and get really high scores while I can’t even get past 10 points. He can play Mario Kart games on Nintendo DS with his eye one inch from the screen. Oh, and he told me this afternoon that his crush wore a beautiful red ribbon on her hair today! Yes, I have a big God. Ronna Singson-Ledesma

 

Reflection: “Clouds are the sorrows, sufferings or providential circumstances... which actually seem to contradict the sovereignty of God. Yet it is through these grey clouds that the Spirit of God is teaching us how to walk by faith.” (Oswald Chambers)

 

Lord, may I always listen to Your voice whenever I find myself engulfed by a cloud of uncertainty.

HOLY DISTURBANCE...

Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more. – Luke 12:48

 

       You must have heard it a thousand times, but I’m saying it again here. “With great power comes great responsibility.” And yes, you must have heard it from Spiderman (or Uncle Ben or Stan Lee). But hey, it’s solidly biblical after all!

       Sometimes you may regret knowing too much, having too much, or having become somebody. Because along with the blessings is your conscience prodding you to do more because of the “more” that you have. I call that “holy disturbance.”  Because when you’re disturbed, God will give you peace. But when you’re too peaceful (and comfortable), God will disturb you. Whether you’re a fisherman, a doctor, an employer or a church volunteer, there will always be the call to do something  with what you have — for others.

       It doesn’t matter if you were entrusted with millions, thousands, hundreds or even with just 10 or one. The ultimate question is, what did you do with it? In the end, your true peace and joy will come only from fulfilling your life’s purpose using everything you’ve got. And you just can’t retire from who you truly are! Alvin Barcelona

 

Reflection: How, where and for whom are you using your gifts?

 

Lord, may I use the blessings You give to fulfill Your great purpose and plan for me.

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights, praise him, all you his angels; praise him, all you his hosts. – Psalm 148:1-2

 

       Two weeks ago, I shut down my social media connections and went offline. As someone who purposely reads the news every morning, I had become fearful of the current events that littered the Internet. Plane crash. Outbreak of disease. War and retaliation. I began to ask so many questions. Why was this happening? Is this the kind of world that God envisioned?

       Disturbed by my own lack of faith, it took a few days before I realized that you must first face the problem to find a solution. So I came back online and the bad news didn’t disappear. But in between, friends got married. Beautiful babies were born. Celebrations were shared and achievements proudly applauded. And then I saw it. The same line, although phrased in different ways, was always visible somewhere within the captions of these posts. Thank You, God, for this blessing. And it all made sense. He creates both small and great miracles every day.

       So do not doubt Him. Praise Him instead for the good that is present in this world because, together, we can make this world a better place. Eleanore Teo

 

Reflection: Do you focus on the sins of the world or the beauty by God’s hand?

 

Lord, I place my hands together not only in prayer but in applause and glorification of Your work.

NINETY-NINER...

He rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. – Matthew 18:13

 

       It looks like a harmless and stylish wristwatch, but it’s actually a device that tracks steps, distance and calories burned. My husband and I immediately wore it and started a bond that’s extremely difficult to break without feeling a sense of defeat. With the use of LED lights, it shows us how we stack up vis-a-vis a daily goal — steps, calories or distance. It automatically syncs the data to my laptop and smartphone, giving real-time access to our stats, 24/7. Knowing how close I am to reaching my goals gives me the motivation to reach for them and aim higher.

       If this is the kind of commitment that I am willing to make to my health, how much more can be expected of me as a follower of Jesus? On my own, it’s difficult. But by God’s grace, I have committed myself to be counted as one of the 99 who chose not to wander off. Faith lights up like the scoreboard on my wrist, challenging me to be more committed day after day. Mari Sison-Garcia

 

Reflection: What can you do on a daily basis to deepen your commitment as a follower of Jesus?

 

Lord, give us the grace to get closer to our goal of attaining eternal life with You.

Design for Seismic Tie Beams

Per ACI 318-08 section 21.12.3.2 – “Grade beams designed to act as horizontal ties between pile caps or footings shall be proportioned such that the smallest cross-sectional dimension shall be equal to or greater than the clear spacing between connected columns divided by 20 but need not be greater than 18 inches. Closed ties shall be provided at a spacing not to exceed the lesser of one half the smallest orthogonal cross-sectional dimension and 12 inches.”

But ACI is not telling us that what force these tie beams should be designed for, so here is the IBC 2009 section to tell us that:

IBC2009 section 1809.13 for shallow foundations and 1810.3.13 for deep foundations:

for SDC C, D, E or F, ties shall be capable of carrying, in tension or compression, a force equal to the lesser of the product of the larger pile cap or column design gravity load times the seismic coefficient, Sds,divided by 10, and 25 percent of the smaller pile or column design gravity load. (there is more in this section so please read the code before applying this to your case)

In simple words Tie beam force; FT = Larger of ( Pu_large x Sds /10 , Pu_small x 25%)

https://ztwocents.wordpress.com/2012/09/14/design-for-seismic-tie-beams/

Wind and Earthquake Resistant Buildings by Taranath

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https://drive.google.com/drive/my-drive