Think Out Loud

There was a time when I was in sixth grade that I drove a lot of my classmates almost on the edge with my simple naughtiness. Now don't get me wrong. I was a well-behaved kid back then and never got into silly cat fights. But there was this time when I could not help but be naughty with my classmates even though i knew it's not a good thing to do. Here's what I did: whenever someone asks a question to someone, i answer it.

That got them peeved big time, especially the girls. But they never really told me about it straight on. Coward, maybe? They just made parinig. Whenever a certain someone would answer the question, they would reply with, "I know you're not asking me but the answer to your question is..."

Man, deep inside i was rolling on the floor laughing.

Even though I knew that lame attack was intended for me, they didn't know how funny i thought they were. But along the way, I got bored doing it so I stopped. But until now, I still get a good laugh whenever I remember it. People are so easy to peeve, annoy, and irritate. No wonder the devil uses these tactics to make people's lives miserable. And just like what I felt back then, he gets a good laugh whenever we fall into his 'naughty' trap.

Now that I think about it, that was devilish thing I did back then, don't you think?

one thing about working in a humanitarian organization that specializes on emergency aid is that when disasters strike, you become so overly aware about it. you become so engrossed to take in even the smallest details that you never took seriously before. it makes you feel a bit panicked in a way but, ironically, should be the last thing you should feel. responding to emergencies like natural disasters is like being a catalyst of peace in the midst of the storm, oftentimes taken literally.

the devastating tsunami in Japan is horrifying. i am really praying that such devastation of properties, especially of lives, wouldn't happen here in the Philippines. responding to disaster emergencies is not really an easy thing to deal with even if you memorize every procedure like the back of your hands. it involves lost lives, orphaned children, discouraged hearts, devastated minds, and terrorized souls. losing a loved one over a natural disaster is never an easy thing to accept.

now i'm keeping myself glued on the news about the oncoming tsunami - something i've never really done before. i used to be one of those people who believe that media reporters tend to exaggerate a lot and their reports should not be taken seriously. but over the years, i realized that overpreparedness never hurt. in fact, it saved a lot of lives.

i'm relaying the information i could get from the news and from the people i hear talking on the streets to our emergency aid coordinator. she'll probably be awake all night to stay vigil. it's not going to be easy for her and for everyone of us because we just had a rough day at work (something very unfortunate happened) and now, we are being bombarded left and right with tons of responsibilities we could not afford to ignore. and talk about perfect timing. our massive medical mission in Cebu and Bohol happens to commence on monday and it will last for two whole weeks. good thing time is in God's hands, not on situations.

i hope all of us wake up tomorrow morning with a load of good news.

One of the things I wish to fulfill now that I'm living near my workplace is to improve on my blog. Since the beginning of time, I'm putting up nothing but nonsense here, lol. Now I don't want to be known as a nonsense person even if I do tend to rant about nonsense things (that's why it's called a rant). But anyhow, I do plan on updating my blog often with sensible entries so that I would be encouraged to think sensibly.

Now, how do I start thinking sensibly?

This morning, I woke up with a horrifying thought.

I'd be 25 in two years and then I'll be 30 five years after that. And sometime before thirty or after thirty, I might get married. The thought chilled me. No more single "freedom", single "independence", and singles night out. But my fears were assuaged when my rationality returned and was reminded that in marriage, there's love. (Thank God for love.) So I'm not going to get married with someone I don't love and someone who doesn't love me.

That's a relief.

I don't know what came into me for getting scared of the idea of being married! LOL. I guess all this love talk at church (and for 40 days at that!) has rubbed in on me really hard.

I just remembered it's my turn to facilitate our D-Group discussion next week. We're still continuing with the book Emotional Purity (by Heather Patenaude) and the topic I picked out is entitled: Just Friends.