Thanks To You

I am very thankful for the recent events that I got to meet with friends who are honest and bold enough to ask me hard questions that I need to process and think about. I praise the Lord of their lives and just how God has continued to connect us.

So Close

Working from a geographically distant place always gives an atmosphere of excitement everytime I am able to get a break and travel back home 'closer' to family and friends. I usually try and ask friends that I believe who are close to me to meet together, update each other, and talk just like 'old times'.

But i guess my excitement is slowly fading everytime i get back. Slowly i am beginning to think that people are so busy that trying to meet them would just waste their time or take their time from what they need to do. Plus the fact that i know that in meet-ups i usually come in the latest, so that really stinks. Somehow i just want to settle with SMS and email to know how they are doing and meeting up would be the last option i would take.


One of the saddest thing that i know i do is that when i feel that communication with a friend becomes indirect, my heart starts to shut towards that friend. My usual eagerness to tell them stories would just end up with template answers like "Ok naman!"


Anyways i know that i am not a perfect friend, i have much to learn, i know that people are do busy with their calling and fulfilling their destinies in life, and i don't want to take them away from that. I just believe that life is meant to be shared, so i hope i would be someone that could be considered.


Maybe its better that i'm far.... at least i know that i cant to anything about the distance...

27 Random Thoughts

1. Getting old is out of the question, growing and maturing is.
2. If a text message encourages; how much more an email, a phone call, a video, or a chat?
3. There are more stars here in the province than in Manila, guess why?
4. If you keep your birthday a secret, no one will greet you and if they do find out, you wished you've told them.
5. Sweating and feeling your muscle ache after exercising actually feels good.
6. Getting tired from a long walk is not so bad after all (especially if your alone, walking in near pitch black darkness). After reaching your destination, you'll look back and say "Wow, I actually made it!"
7. When you're walking in near pitch black darkness, you'll appreciate even the littlest light.
8. Late greetings are late, but you'll appreciate them anyway.
9. When people text you Bible verses, you should get you Bible, look for them and read them.
10. There is a list of people you'd expect to greet you on your birthday.
11. If you're far away from home, you'll appreciate you family more.
12. What you plan, you should do.
13. One of the greatest if not the greatest physical ache in the world is the tooth ache; it can keep you crying for hours.
14. Laundry work is tiresome, even if it’s just your own clothes.
15. You can only do so much in ministry. Praise the Lord! For if everything was up to me; it would be a total mess and I would be a total failure!
16. It's sad to see adolescents and teenagers caring more about how they look than how they behave.
17. There are two kinds of discipline-preventive and corrective.
18. Theologically, God is good, all the time; Experientially, He's the best!
19. Christians should put the pressure on their peers.
20. Problems expose who or what we really believe.
21. Some of the most passionate and spiritual people I know are funny, cheerful and energetic-they are the people you don't meet everyday.
22. There's no place like home, but you'd rather be where God wants you to be.
23. The real problem with conflict is selfishness.
24. The question is not if you have been influenced by the world; the question is how much; and if you’re are Christian, the next question is how is 'your mind being transformed by the Word?'
25. When you read notes and letters given to you by friends from way back; they still touch your heart today.
26. Computer games are a great source of entertainment and a total time-waster.
27. When you blog; you hope people who would read it would also post comments about it.

Before I Let You Go

It seems a reality that when a person is in a tight situation, he/she realizes who are the people that have really made an impact in their lives, he/she identifies people who have contributed to the welfare of his/her being even before the tight situation came. So in these situation a person immediately longs for his/her most trusted friends. He/she somehow expects that these people would be available to help. Moreover, it’s not even the ‘help’ that is wanted, it’s just the company and the encouragement knowing that a live human being is beside him/her and is walking with him/her even for just a few steps along way of that difficult road. Amidst the difficulty, amidst the pain; faith is strengthened; hope is heightened and love is expressed.

However, I find it also interesting that in these situation, the person in distress will also know who are the people whom he/she has touched for these people will be the people who are ready and are most willing to respond immediately to the call for ‘help’.

Why I am saying these things? As I write this blog (my officially first one), I am faced with the reality that tomorrow is the start of the two year journey away from the environment and people that I have grown to love. One superseding feeling I now realize during the past months is that in this situation I longed for the comfort, encouragement and love from the people that for me have touched (‘touched’ lang ba? Yung iba, kwan…) my life greatly. So I really tried to meet them. To paraphrase what a friend said, I went a long way just to meet them to a place where it is nearer for them to meet me (kaya lang yung iba hindi sumipot, bitter?). In one occasion I waited for a friend for more than two hours so that we could just meet for approximately 20 minutes.

So before I go and as a response to these people who took the time in their busy schedule to meet me, in the time where deep down I really wanted to feel loved (wow shocks, tears falling…), I want to tell you now that the small amount of time we spent together this past few weeks were very meaningful to me and I really felt loved. And I thank you for that (lalu na sa mga nanlibre! Sa uulitin! Yung iba, pwede pa, padala niyo na lang yung cash!), and I thank God for meshing our lives together. I do not really know when I would be able to formally and personally appreciate what you have done for me especially these past few days, but I want you to know that you are appreciated. I thank you for walking with me towards the door of the next chapter in my life (well I think hindi lang naman towards the door, kasama pa kayo sa mga susunod na chapters… subukan niyo lang mang-iwan sa ere!) And I would want to be there and walk with you in one of your difficult moments. Anyways, we’ll see again this Christmas season.

So this is it, my first official blog posted to the world, due to the insisted personal demand of a friend!