Hi everyone, thank you for being with me for the past years here in blogger. Since I have been maintaining another site with the stories that God is doing in my life, I have decided to close this site and continue writing there.
While it's goodbye for Blogger, it's hello for Wordpress!
Come, join me here: http://onefaithstep.wordpress.com
It's the last day of the year already. I honestly felt it was a blur. I came in 2024 somehow busy and already preoccupied with a big role that I will be undertaking. I was chill about 2024, yet also caught surprised with things God can do!
I typed "2024" in the search box and Google Photos showed me the smiles, the scenes, the people, the conversations, events, and milestones for the past 12 months. As usual, I was in-between flights which I recall made me perpetually tired. I had different sets of farewell meetups as friends left the country in search of greener pastures. Some did homecoming, while some meetups were me flying in. In all these interactions, I praise God for He is a God who is very much familiar with relationships. In hindsight, it's relationships that greatly influenced my decisions this year, as I hinge all my decisions on the most important relationship I have -- God.
As I continue to journey with God, I find myself changing as well. All that in response to the qualities that I get to discover about Him. Here are God's qualities that I had the privilege to learn and continue to be reminded of this 2024.
"The saying is trustworthy, for:If we have died with him, we will also live with him;if we endure, we will also reign with him;if we deny him, he also will deny us;if we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself."2 Timothy 2:10-13
Some photos of the year that was...
I think this is one of the best decisions I made in my 30th-- to write my 31 year old self. I used FutureMe, and I am grateful to whoever introduced this to me. Happy birthday, Jonah. :)
I love what I wrote, so I will share this here:
Dear FutureMe,
Right now ari ko sa Tubungan, writing down this letter to you. It's our 30th birthday, and honestly you're not sure if you're going to arrive at being 50. But here are 30 things I would like you to remember as what I learned so far in our life.
1. Family is constant -- and they are also a pain in the ass. You cannot change them. Continue to love them by constantly praying for them.
2. You are going to be tempted, but remember that what you feel -- it's not real. Emotions are just proof that you are vulnerable.
3. Boundaries will not always be welcomed. Do it anyway.
4. You need pen and paper.
5. Bring tissue and wet wipes while travelling. Also chopsticks.
6. Don't drain your battery and remember gadgets that have batteries because maguba na sya if hindi na pag-gamiton (remember your Kindle)
7. You need to sleep.
8. Reach out. Share. Laugh at yourself.
9. Rest. Schedule your year around vacations.
10. A rested leader will also find rested followers.
11. Create. Enjoy how God designed you.
12. Pay all your debt.
13. It's not worth it to have debt for gadgets.
14. Communicate, especially if you don't understand.
15. Don't depend on feelings.
16. Wash your face every night. Exercise. Walk - move.
17. Buy neutrals.
18. Dresses are good for travelling light.
19. Friendships are not made overnight, but some people do connect with you easily.
20. Cooking can be learned. Character is built. You have a choice.
21. Appreciate. Affirm. Encourage.
22. Helping another person is not always helpful.
23. Read.
24. Learn something new everyday.
25. Friendship is a commitment and a 2-way street.
26. Prioritize important over the urgent.
27. Relationships first.
28. It's still going to be God's word.
29. Be honest with God.
30. You need God.
You can add to the list.
For now, enjoy your day and remember -- bask in God's embrace and approval of you.
I love you Jon, don't be too hard on yourself. <3
One of my favorite hobbies is to read and re-read my past journal entries. I maintain two spaces -- a ministry update blog at http://seventhousandmore.blog and this one. I don't get to update these spaces as frequently as I wanted, but I hope that even though I fail in keeping it my desire to do it won't fade. :P
I am back in the capital city to be able to fill in some duties for an organization I am a part of. I still am a freelance IT consultant and I do love my job. Compared to the past years, I am currently in the interaction design of the ministry I am serving. I didn't expect I would enjoy it. I have been integrating my love for serving people and my IT skills in creating solutions to problems and in innovating the present. Needless to say, Mondays are fun for me. :))
On the other hand, I have been praying to visit a new country this year. I didn't expect that desire to grow but I am trusting the Lord to bring me there. If you would like to join me in prayers or for anything else, you are welcome to send me a DM and I can share you the tumblr space where I keep my prayer concerns as I prepare to fly there.
I still cry whenever some of our dogs would leave to their respective owners.
I still buy books and not read them (though I hope to improve on my yearly book goals!)
I am still in love with global cultures and global languages.
I would want to continue to fall in love with Jesus. <3
"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your[a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."
Colossians 3:1-3
Photo by Mikeel
今日日本へ行きました！
２年後またこの国に戻りました。
Hanggang jan na lang siguro ang makakaya kong Nihongo for now. Naubos na lahat ng pandemic, etc. Just glad that I was able to fly back here, meet new people, and even be amazed by how madiskarte Filipinos are.
Hoping to be able to create a travel vid for this whole experience! Here with my mom and her friend, please pray for a safe and meaningful trip!
Sunday morning, I woke up with my mom and aunt exclaiming that my puppy is sick. Immediately I thought about the worst case scenario of losing him, but I kept composure and thought it could be that he will live. During that day I was glad I didn't have anything to do, and made sure I will bring him to the doctor or find him some medicine. Thankful for my friend, Dr. Lei, who replied to my queries and worries. We got him some medicine for diarrhea, and also did some deworming. The next day, we sought to send him to a pet clinic as he was already vomiting despite us not giving him anything to eat.
I was glad we could finally provide him some medicines, and before I left for my trip overseas, I thought he surely will be okay in no time. I brushed off worrying worst case scenarios about me not seeing him again if that's the case.
We continued with the IV, then my brother took care of him at home. It was so weird and also sad for us seeing him plastered like that, so weak and frail, for such a pup that's brimming with energy and playfulness.
I left the country with hopes that I get to see him again when I be back, but I guess it'll have to be in another life.
I took my Calculus class today after a week break. I was stressing out and frustrated on the results of my last long exam that when our professor said he'd be discussing the answers, I was preparing my heart for the pain it will cause. But the news that I was to receive minutes after broke me.
My mom said that Johnny wasn't breathing anymore. And I cried.
While my teacher and classmates were droning on the integrals and derivatives in Statistics, I was bawling my eyes out and trying to hold my composure. My family back in the Philippines was talking about how they found him, and plans on preparing to bury him.
My brother offered to call me, but I said I was in my class and that we could talk tomorrow because I'd need to cry first. He agreed and said that he'd need to do it too.
Losing Johnny was so painful for me. I feel so bad and also missing out that I had to be so far from them while all of these things are happening. Early today I was having heated exchanges with my mom of bringing him to the vet, even if I feel like we are already slowly losing him. I held on to hope that I might be able to see him again. Writing these with my eyes blurred with tears, it hurts me to realize that I will be going back home and not see this playful and thoughtful pup ever again. I will not be able to scold him not to bite me, or even talk to when my work seems so mundane and routinary.
Johnny was a sweet addition to my life when we saw cute and fluffy he was. Deciding to bring him to the city was also something unplanned, yet we enjoyed and loved. We named him after the celebrity that won a defamation case just because we thought it would be funny, and also a commemoration. We brought him to the vet last June too when one morning we found him vomiting. The doctor said he just had a case of amoeba and that we'd need to change his diet. He was supposed to get vaccines since he's almost gonna be old enough for it. Apparently, the succeeding cancellations that we did proved fatal for him, in grounds we could not reverse.
Even if how many tearful "I'm sorry"'s we will blurt out, it cannot bring back Johnny. Time has passed, and we could not reverse what has been done. I have thanked the Lord for this delightful puppy, and though it's going to be painful hereon, I will always be grateful for the quick season of bursts of affection from him.
Run free, Johnny.
When you get face to face with death, you'll realize life is actually simple. Not that I always face that circumstance, but yesterday was supposed to be my last. It made me think about the possible reasons why. These are the ones I came up with, and I think what happened is actually an answered prayer.
A fun and chill trip to the local waterfall became an extreme outdoor trip for me when I tried to slide down a slippery rock and got myself in a deeper part of the water, gasping for breath. Good thing someone was able to pull me out of the depths and I was able to regain balance. The back of my head throbbed like crazy. The stress and the panic caused me to even feel the ache today.
As I was processing what happened on the possibility of dying, I realized that God had answered several of my prayers that day.
First, I realized I was grateful to have people to trust. Probably some months ago, I would have beaten myself with guilt over being a burden to others around me. I might have felt bad to have lived, after causing people around me some concern over my lack of self-responsibility. I have my share of triggers and back stories that's why it could let me think about that, and the part where I felt safe to have it handled that way was an answered prayer of how God had brought me to grow in trusting His protection and security for me.
Second, a reminder on the brevity of life and living for what matters. Should I have died that day, I won't be able to experience the benefits of the money I have saved up for the future. I wouldn't have been able to appreciate the sleepless nights that let me finish some tasks when my lifeless body need not say anything more. My family won't be able to receive the realization of plans that I have been working towards because of an unfinished plan. My life should have stopped, and if I lived for something other than the eternal, then it ended just like that.
Third, the realization that I have learned to rest on God's sovereignty and protection. When I got out of the water, it took me a lot of time to process that it could be my last day. But since I was surrounded with people who could draw me out of the water immediately, the possibility of me drowning was low. But still, it doesn't change the fact that I could have died of a heart attack or shock, or something. When I left the water, I just felt at peace. I didn't think it would be a traumatic experience, but rather it helped me strengthen my resolve to learn how to swim.
I felt like I grown closer to the people whom I went with, but my hope is that I would be able to discern what louder message God wanted me to hear or realize because of that situation. For sure, I wouldn't want it to happen again, so I pray that I would be able to find what God wants to tell me as soon as possible.
I know that the moment sure was already past me, but I pray that my days ahead would be marked by intentionality that this situation would want to sink in me, pun intended.