A son's salute to his father

What’s stopping my father to go home and leave his work in Saudi? All his potential years are spent working away from us. He is not getting younger anymore. In fact, he already had mild stroke causing him to be confined and nobody from among his family members, for proximity reasons, took care of him. That would be another agonizing factor for him to feel sorry and down.

But he’s so strong. I admire his endurance and sacrifices. I admire how he keeps his sanity intact. I admire his fatherhood. But I’d rather have him with us though.

Time is more precious than gold. Almost a cliché but it’s never been fully understood. The significance of time spent to cultivate relationship, the value of time you shared to listen, the essence of time devoted for loving, matter so much to busy people. Time is the reason why I want my father home. Time is the reason why we want him home.

I do not want to reiterate the important events in our lives, in my life specifically, where he is absent. That’s equivalent to blaming him, and how dare me if I do. We just want to spend quality time with him. Before, we’re just six in the family. Now, he has three grandchildren, innocent but longing for a grandfather’s caress.

We long for his presence. I want to enter the next chapter of my life with him giving me advices. I want him to see how persistent we are in helping ourselves, because we know that he’ll be happy when he sees us growing and improving. I want him to see life from the very comfort of his home, a place he so loves to linger and stay. I want him feel relaxed, a word I surely bet he seldom enjoys. The more I say of the things I want my father to enjoy and experience, the more I miss him. “It cuts like a knife,” if I may borrow from a song, is how I feel whenever I cite my hopes for him. It makes me sad. It makes me teary-eyed.

Today is his special day. I just don’t know how he would celebrate this day. But as a son who, I believe, grows in love and respect, I honor him. I want to salute him for his sacrifices, for his love, for enduring so much pain and sorrow. Indeed, you are a hero, ‘Pa. I love you! †

My Half Year

Because of at least one person who reads my blog, I decided to scribble again online. I cannot sum up all the events of my life for the past months, but I can conclude that God has been faithful and good to me. I can declare the glorious riches of God in my life: the family I have, the gift of work, the friendship, the people I’ve met who touched my life, and hopes I shared to ordinary folks. I want to shout the works of the Lord in and through my life!

Half of the year is almost over. Valentines. Panagbenga Festival. Graduation. Birthday. Holy Week. Automated Election. Vacations! All these events were indeed wonderful. I can sense the Lord had blessed with me so much fun and adventure I almost forgot to declare it. Why do I have to? Because with a heart full of gratitude comes the realization that the Lord is alive and very much concerned with my affairs.

I had a lot of first times, too. I was not fortunate to participate in the automated election, the first ever in the country, but I still consider my participation of covering the election as part of the history. I served as a watchdog for a clean, honest, and credible election, despite some allegations of fraud. But what overshadowed the stressful election was the reality that there are still more people who hope for a better country, hungry and craving for genuine reform and transformation.

Scuba diving is fantastic. Being one with nature, underwater in particular, creates a realm so good to be inhabited. Of course, that’s just for sea creatures, unless Atlantika exists:) Pagudpud beach and windmill in Bangui, Ilocos Norte are also exceptional places to visit. Bolinao is a haven as well. The historical Corregidor Island is worth-exploring too.

So much travel, so much fun. It’s probably a wake-up call why I suffered influenza this week, causing me to be off-cam for three days. Haha. Since there is always a reason for everything, I would just accept the situation that this is my present, my now, the moment the Lord wants me to be. †

A heartbeat for transition

Transition will be my next disciplinary program in the coming days. I'll be moving out of Baguio to traverse a new path, to exploit greater heights, to grow more and to love deeper. I anticipate positive things to happen in this new journey, confident that the hands and blessings of the Lord are upon me.

The city of pines has become a comfort zone for me, enjoying every freedom and access crucial to my development as a human being. It has given me the chance to see all kaleidoscopic enigmas of life. The beautiful and the not-so-wonderful are all part and parcel of the lessons of life. Oppositional binaries are at work all the way, but praise be to God who sustains and preserves those He called, justified and destined to be with him.

Though not everything has been laid down crystal clear, the plans of the Lord are sure to come. His plans are a work in progress, and He considers it done when He wills it to be. And so what will I do? Follow his leading, remain in him, know his heart, seek his face, ask for his blessings and favor, and continue to serve him wherever he leads me. (It’s really easier said than done).

All I really need is to put my hope and trust in the Lord, the author and perfecter of my faith (Heb. 12:2). He understands the beating of my heart, and I believe that as I long as I know the heart of the Lord, (which is also a process of knowing) I will never go wrong. And when I go wrong, I, myself, will be blamed – a vulnerable sinner who needs grace and mercy every now and then.

”You may not always be able to feel a deeper heart feeling right away, but stay focused in the heart. The sincerity of your effort can reconnect you to your heart current and start the juices flowing. To plug in, think of someone you love or remember what feels good, maybe a fulfilling experience. Feelings help you remember.” - Sara Paddison, The Hidden Power of the Heart