Think Out Loud

This past weekend, my social life was in overdrive - and it's not even over yet.

Last Tuesday, one of our new staff from Davao flew in to Manila for a training. Her name's Melanie and she's 22, making her the youngest staff in our company.

Yup, I've been dethroned.

Anyway, she's working under our department (Corporate Communication and Resource Devt.) and she's also temporarily staying at our dorm room. So, I took it upon myself to play host during the duration of her stay. I helped her get acquanted with things. What I didn't realize, though, is that I would also be having the longest gallivanting experiences of my life. She's a first-timer here in Manila so unofficially, I became one of her tour guides. She wanted to use the golden opportunity to explore the (in)famous city in the country and so I joined her in the majority of her quest.

So here's our list of activities last weekend:

Friday - went to Glorietta and watched a movie. For more details on the movie night, read here.


Saturday - watched Kutless' concert then strolled around Luneta Park. The dancing fountain generated the kind of awed reaction which Mark and the rest weren't able to get from her. I guess in that challenge, I win. (Ha.)


Sunday - went to church (CCF Ortigas), had lunch at Ate Maricor's house, went to Mall of Asia at around 6, then had a late night session with the girls to "celebrate our womanhood".


For Monday night, we were supposed to have dinner at The Fort. But because of the typhoon, we postponed it until tomorrow. (We realized going out for dinner in the middle of an impending storm was not a very wise thing to do. We could get stranded somewhere dark, wet and cold, or worse, brave out waist-length murky floodwaters. It's not an experiece I want to leave Melanie with. I don't want to traumatize her into coming back to Manila. Heck, even I would end up traumatized with an experience like that.)

So for the night, Melanie hit the lights early while I enjoyed the calming moment. I was cooped up in my bed sipping hot choco and watching Hawaii 5-0 on DVD (i missed some episodes). And yeah, blogging.

But despite of this crazy gallivanting weekend I'm not really used to, I felt strangely good. It was like finally achieving that sense of balance in my life. Usually, it's all work during weekdays, sleeping off during weekends, and building an internet social life during nights. But a whiff of fresh air (or in this case, a smog-filled air) actually helped my brain relax. And for once, I felt like a responsible adult. I finished my chores Saturday morning making me guiltless the whole afternoon. Now look at that. Who would have thought I have an ounce of self-discipline on my shoulders?

Plus, I also realized what a great bunch of outgoing friends I have. It's something I want to thank God for. (Thank you, friends =D)

So that's what happens when a Dabawenya visits Manila. You get to be a tour guide for the weekend and experience that rare sense of balance in your life.

God is good.

It was a battle between Johnny English and The Horrible Bosses.

After casting a quick vote, Johnny English won the night.
Boy, we were in for a major laugh trip that I hadn't felt in months.

Settling for the last full show while munching pop corn, burger, and french fries, I was glad I glomped down all of the food before the trailers ended. The first few scenes already had the whole theater erupting in laughter and we found ourselves out of breath. There's just something about Rowan Atkinson that's so funny even though he hasn't really done anything yet.

Johnny English Reborn is about an ousted British agent who was reinstated in the MI7, a special spy group, to stop an assassination attempt on the leader of China. He was asked to fly to Hongkong with his assigned partner, Tucker, to stop the crime. Unfortunately, Johnny's over-confidence and refusal to listen to rookie agent Tucker made him lose the evidence that would have stopped the assassination. He ended up being framed as the "mole of MI7."

Johnny's adventures were silly and extremely hilarious. For a while, you might get a glimpse of the signature "Mr. Bean moves" and it'll make you laugh even harder. There were serious moments when the story picks up but expect to crack up soon. It's a nice movie to watch with a group of friends. After the movie, all of you will certainly have fun remembering the funny bits and pieces of the story.

And for that, I give Johnny English 4 out of 5 stars.

In life, people come and go. But I'm glad that in this journey, I am able to make great friends. Though we may not see each other as often as we hoped, at least it gives us a reason to have reunions and dates to catch up with each other's lives.

The future becomes very exciting.

Though it's a little hard to admit, I'll say it now: I'm one of those people who are afraid of flirting with the unkown.

Surely you've heard of the saying "leave your comfort zone". Usually, it has the word "faith" attached to it somewhere. Saying it is easy. Mulling over it is easy. But doing it is a whole different matter. It's the time when fears, doubts, and hesitations come it. So much for faith, lol.

For me, it's the fear of failing that's keeping me in my comfort zone. The thinking that life is too precious to be wasted on mistakes has grown into me as I was growing up. Though I had my fair share of downs, I was determined to live my life without any regrets.

But it says in Eccleciastes 7:8, finishing is better than starting. How will I be able to finish anything if I'm afraid of starting something as simple as letting go? Patience is better than pride, Ecclesiastes 7:8 continues. My fear of failure is probably caused by an inflated pride and ego that I should start deflating. People fail, even successful ones do. Yet it's how you finish that matters, because you could either finish with regrets of slipped opportunities or finish with a sense of fulfillment for excellently fulfilling your purpose and mission. And when you finally stand in front of that great, white throne, you would hear the wonderful phrase:

"Well done, my good and faithful servant."

Last week, after enjoying the pleasures of the very fulfilling long weekend, I had the opportunity to celebrate the end of Ramadan with muslim friends. Since Eid ul-Fitr is the equivalent of Christmas for muslims, we at OB gave a treat to muslim children in Payatas' Muslim Community. With ages ranging from 2-17, more than one hundred muslim children received toys (Toy Story), loot bags, and hygiene kits.

But, it didn't end there (of course there always has to be a catch!). The most important highlight of that event was the bead story. We gave out "friendship bracelets" which has colored beads attached to it and each child received one. Each color represented something. The gold bead represented the heaven, the red bead represented Jesus' blood, the white bead represented a clean heart, the green bead represented growth, and the black bead represented sin.



Yes, in the midst of a muslim community in broad daylight during their most anticipated time of the year, unfalteringly we shared the truth about Jesus' intense love and care for them. The kids' curious looks and eager faces when the "bead story" was being told was priceless. It was even better than the looks they had when they received their treats.

When asked what he learned, a 9-year-old muslim child answered, "I learned the different meanings of the colors in the bracelet given to us and I learned about the love of Jesus. I am happy because Jesus loves me so much."

Just imagine how many millions of angels rejoiced and sung praises in the heavens when these innocent yet insightful words came out from the lips of this 9-year-old Muslim child. If that doesn't enliven your hope for an overwhelming record number of our Muslim friends to turn to Jesus and love Him with all their heart, soul, and strength, I don't know what will. Such a beautiful sight that will be.

If you are a teacherplanting seeds in the hearts of the next generation, believe that these these seeds will sprout and bear fruit like that of a tree planted firmly in a stream of water. It will not run dry or die.

I just read Joel Rosenberg's blog and I read about Reza Kahlili, an ex-CIA spy who spied on the Revolutionary Guards of Iran. Now a former muslim, this man shares how he renounced the teachings of Mohammed and turned to the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Here's an excerpt of his blog:

A childhood friend talked me into joining the Revolutionary Guards because of the knowledge and expertise in computers I had learned in the United States. But only months later I was shocked to witness the most heinous crimes taking place under the banner of Islam...

So I renounced Islam and began the quest to find the real God, the one who had blessed me so often in very dangerous times as a CIA spy. In that journey through a few Christian friends, I came to learn about Jesus. I found myself deeply moved by the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. His words spread through my soul as seeds sprout and grow, opening my eyes and my heart to the real love of our Lord. It was then that I knew beyond doubt that the Bible was the true Word of God. That Jesus was the One I had always been looking for. 

Click here to read more of his story.

May this testimony encourage you to keep praying for the muslims, and may this testimony enliven your hearts to believe that there is still the hope of salvation and eternal life for our muslim friends all over the world. Next time, it wouldn't be Eid ul-Fitr. Instead, it will be a banquet night with loud chorus of praise. "Hossana! Hossana to God in the highest!".

You have been looking forward for this trip in months. You have arranged your schedule, finished what you had to finish, and prepared yourself physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally. And then, just a couple of weeks before the anticipated trip, they suddenly broke out the news to you:

You've been cut off from the trip.

Suddenly, you're pre-arranged schedule becomes useless, your sleepless nights becomes meaningless, and the preparations you made on yourself becomes pointless. In the end, all you were left with is a crashing wave of disappointment.

It happened just a few weeks ago. Til now, I'm reeling in fool's paradise. Yes, it was terribly upsetting because it was unexpected (and for some reason a bit unfair), but more than that, I had great hopes for this trip because it lands on my birthday. I thought I was finally going to have a different birthday this year. Unfortunately, it was not how things worked out.

So the pre-birthday festive mood I usually feel a week before my big day has drained out completely. I'm even starting to dread the day of my birthday because it's only going to remind me of of what I should be doing and where I should be. I honestly don't feel like spending my birthday with anyone because I know I wouldn't be okay. So, I just want to spend it like any other day. I know it may look like I'm wallowing in pain and self-pity but there are times when you just feel like being a masochist because things brought a deep pang in your heart.

But don't get me wrong. I still force myself to find something positive from this really disappointing situation. I learned that if God doesn't want you to go somewhere, you really wouldn't be able to go no matter how many ties you have and how many strings you pull.

Here's part 2 of my earlier post, Juggling Media. I mentioned back then that I was able to do 3 of my top To Do favorites last month: travel, write and take pictures. I have shared my Valenzuela experience so now, I will take you somewhere farther north: Pangasinan.

Believe it or not, I have never been to Pangasinan. Passed by it, yes, but not really stayed long or went around. Anyway, I covered our CT medical mission there and just like any other mission, it's different from the rest.

First off, I was able to minister to a couple of mothers. Nothing beats travelling than taking the opportunity to minister to the locals and share God's Word and love to them. It makes my work purposeful and relevant. Plus, there's this sense of fulfillment because you were able to touch a life in your lifetime. I encouraged the children to dream big dreams and always lift in up their prayers to God. Dreaming was one of the things that made me desire to achieve great things in life.

Second, I had a really great time with the volunteers. They were all funny and craz-eh. The ride back home was the craziest ever. I learned never to place ladies together in a van after they have eaten dinner and if they have a pack of ice breaker questions. If not, you'll be bound to have a crazy 4 hour road trip! But it was really fun.

Plus! I was able to have a picture with a 92 year old woman. How cool is that?!

Whoa. A whole month with no blog entry? No wonder my few loyal followers started demanding new entries on my FB wall. (Yes, demanding by using excessive exclamation points and letters to prove a point.)

I know, I know. Here's the part where I explain my lack of posts. Well, aside from the fact that August is my least favorite month of the year (coz it's the birth month of my least favorite person in the world - i know, immature), August has been pretty busy. Not the kind of busy that you'd particularly enjoy, but just the kind of busy that would keep your mind reeling and preoccupied. Now that I think about it, boredom did become a rather rare thing...

Anyway, I did have a number of great higlights during that month (in fairness to August), I was able to do 3 of my top favorite things right now: travel, write and take pictures.

Though it's not really that far in terms of transportation and geography, I had quite an adventure in Valenzuela. No, not the country (how I wish). Just the one in NCR. But believe it or not I haven't been to that city. I'm usually the 'south' person, spending my days and time in the southern part of the metro. I covered a story there. What made the trip adventure-like was that we spent the whole day in what was said to be a former dumpsite. Yeah right, former. The place looked anything but former. It is still a dumpsite whether anyone accepts it or not.

Anyway, covering the mission was overwhelmingly nerve-wracking. I haven't written for a medical mission in 2 years! So I charged into battle with a rusty mental pen and turtle-like writer's intuition. It was a bit depressing, really, but when you're in the midst of the chaos and action, there's no time to be depressed. I just did what I do best: prayed and pulled out my resourcefulness card. Thank God He helped me piece together a story from practically out of nothing.

And aside from coming as the official writer, I was also the unofficial photographer (yes, Nikon and I were finally reunited after 3 months). Our official photographer was Leeane Padernal and though it was only her first time to join us, she was able to produce great photos. She was really cool (as a person and as a photographer) and she taught me some photography stuff (for free. Lol!). Because of her, I learned how to operate the camera using manual settings and that's a HUGE achievement!

BUT, the tasks didn't stop there. Our radio program, Sa Totoo Lang, patched the medical mission LIVE from the field. And because of that, I had to gather all necessary information needed for Doc Yvonne's brief interview (she started warning the doctors never to come near me because people who do usually end up having sudden air times in radios or tvs). I also had to grab a patient who could handle an interview. Thankfully, I was able to find one.

The Valenzuela Mission was like juggling 3 media in one hand: print, radio, and camera (when you're a photographer, the camera is your 'media'). But it felt great to roll back into action. I felt refreshed, sharpened, and ready to take on more!