oo nga... may God ba talaga?

last month (if my memory serves me right), i got a text from a friend asking for prayers. honestly, i was a bit surprised and worried at the same time. kce i never really get to talk about God to him ng malalim. puro pahapyaw lang. i asked him what’s going on kce well this friend is not just a friend. he’s like a brother na to me cos we go pa from way back. he said na he has a tumor in his spine --sa may batok area to be precise. risky daw yng operation. cos aside from the fact na its located sa spine nya, yng area daw where the tumor is lodged medyo mahirap daw operahan. matatanggal daw sabi ng doctor pero walang assurance kng ano yng magiging result. possible daw kceng maging gulay na siya if hindi successful.

i cried. ayaw tumulo ng luha ko. kce the possibility of losing this person is high. i know what you’re thinking --nasan ang faith ko. it’s still there. pero i guess its a normal human reaction to feel that way. so yun text text pa din kme. in the course of our conversation biglang napatigil yng pag iyak ko. because he mentioned... God.

and the way he talked about Him was really a surprise. naisip ko nga, regardless kung maging successful yng operation nya or not. win-win situation na kce in the course of his struggle he got to know the Almighty. i was amazed how our text conversation went. sobrang amazed ako kce the way he talks now is really different. yng last line that stuck to me was when he said... its not my battle now nats it’s His.

smiling and amazed i stood.

weeks passed.

he had moments of uncertainty and doubt so when we got the opportunity, my best friend and i visited him. we ate sa coffee shop near their place and i noticed na may dala syang envelope. sabi ko kung ano yung lama nun. he showed it to us. photos. napakaraming photos of his happy thoughts. he wanted to overwhelm himself with positive thoughts. because the moment he loses a grip, the enemy/devil can instantly turn his hope into anger kay God. i was smiling while looking at them pero sa likod ng mga ngiti ko, ay balde-baldeng luha ang gustong umagos. pero i can’t. we had to be strong for him.

last thursday inoperahan sya. i texted him nung friday until over the weekend. told him na text lang nya kme pag pwede na kme dumalaw. he didn’t reply to any of my texts. naisip ko na ah he’s recovering na malamang and all.

this morning...

Shade: Praise our Almighty Father! Nats im recovering slowly but surely. My left leg is weak pero may pakiramdam pa din. Thank you sa mga dasal ha, naiiyak ako sa tuwa at masaya nako ngayon na nakabalik ako kay God. Lets stay forever under God’s grace. God bless bro!

Me: Wooowooow!!! Praise God! Naiyak ako sa text mo! Ang galing-galing talaga ni God! He is indeed sovereign over everything. Cge pagaling ka. Will pray for your quick recovery. It is a privilege to stand in faith with you and worship the King of Kings! Will see you soon my brother. Text me when we can visit. And let’s plan how to share His word to other people. God bless you and everyone around you bro! He is one awesome Father!

Shade: Nats, milagro ang nangyari sa case ko. Nagulat ang surgeon pagbukas nya ng spinal cord ko and nung hiniwa nya ang tumor. She said its very rare. The tumor turned into blood and leaked out! God is really our One and Only Almighty Father! Praise God forever!

Me: AMEEEEEEEN! Shade wow! Hold on to that and plant that in your heart. That’ll be your life testimony. And that life testimony is what God wants you to use to forward His kingdom.

Shade: Anything to give the Almighty Father praises and glory! I will ready myself for that moment. Thanks nats for being a brother. Ur a blessing to me...


MAY GOD. AND HE IS INDEED ALIVE!

ang cool ng acronym na 'to! :D

Basic
Instructions
Before
Leaving
Earth

at para maengganyo kayong basahin ang instructional manual ni Itay, gusto ko i-share na may mga makabago na syang versions. yng dati kce medyo mahirap basahin. tsaka ang daming "ano daw?" moments. pero ngayon, wala na tayong lusot. ehehehe. eto ang ilan sa mga versions na trip ko and baka matripan niyo din:

1. New International Version - eto yng una kong bible na nabili. ok sya para sa ken kce hindi malalim tulad nung mga naunang bible na "thee" tsaka "thou". the way they wrote it is mas friendly na.

2. Audio Bible - eto sobrang astig 'toh! dati hindi ko 'to kinonsider as an option kce alam ko aantukin ako. pero nagkamali ako. when you listen to it, pikit nyo yng mata niyo tapos maiimagine nyo kung ano yng nangyayari. complete with sound effects, different voices ng mga tao at may sound track pa. this is a must have! well for me. wag nyo naman 'to pakinggan pag nasa shuttle kayo. baka naman katulugan nyo 'to. :p

3. The Message - eto ang ultimate favorite ko! i call this the-walang-lusot-ka-na bible. kce the way this version was written is like reading LOTR, Narnia and the like. if the NIV version is friendly na, naku eto mas friendliest! ;-)

ako what i do i combo yng 1 and 2. ok sya kce para pag may verse na nagstrike sa ken i can mark and tab it. ;-) wala pa kce akong nakikita na audio bible ng The Message.

basa! :D

grabe sayang

kapag may nababalitaan tayong pumanaw, nasa oras man o wala, bukod sa pasasalamat ay panghihinayang ang nangingibabaw na emosyon sa atin...

- sayang ang bata pa niya ang dami pa nyang pwedeng magawa
- wala na siya iniwan na niya tayo pano na

hindi maiaalis na mas piliin natin na tayo ay malungkot at damahin ang pighati. bahagi ito ng tinatawag na healing process. ngunit habang tayo ay nalulungkot at nanghihinayang sa pagkawala ng ating minamahal, ni minsan ba naitanong natin sa ating mga sarili...

- hinayang na hinayang ako sa pagkawala niya at sa mga maari pa nyang nagawa, eh ako ano ba ang ginagawa ko sa buhay ko?

bahagi na ng buhay ang mamatayan ng minamahal, pero ang pagkamatay o paglisan ng ating minamahal ay hindi natin panghihinyangan kung ating pagpapahalagahan at isasabuhay ang mga magagandang bagay na itinuro at ibinahagi nila sa atin.

at kasabay nito, tayo din ay magdasal ng mataimtim at humiling sa Panginoon ng paggabay sa iisang buhay na kanyang ibinigay at ipinagkatiwala sa atin.

wala akong pamasahe

Last Saturday after church, I decided to walk from Festival to Alabang Town Center. I usually go there cos there's a bus that goes straight to BF Resort and it's normally traffic from Toyota Alabang up to Moonwalk kaya mas masarap mag bus kce kahit traffic at least hindi mainit. I walked not because I was broke (hahaha! defensive), I walked kce gusto ko lang mag muni-muni.

While walking, I was texting a very good close friend of mine na si Shade (hindi po nya tunay na pangalan wala lang gusto ko lng Shade para unique). He told me na he's been in the hospital for 5 days and got admitted because of a serious back problem.

He was asking me to pray for him cos of the series of tests that he'll be undergoing this week. I felt na timely yng message na narinig ko sa church so I texted him:

Hi Shade! Just got off church. I wana share something lang that hit me... Life most of the time does not make sense. And when it doesn't, we try to find answers by ourselves. And when we do try to find answers, we are left with more questions. I learned today in church na we really cannot and will never find it by ourselves. We need to let God do the revealing for us. Because in the process of our waiting He is teaching us something. As we wait for Him to reveal the answer to us, we need to live a life of faith. And by living a life of faith, we need to read the bible, understand, be obedient to Him and live His word. Let go of your worries Shade an let God. He is greater than anything. :D

He replied...

Shade
25-Jul-2009 8:06 pm

Amen. This battle is not mine but God's. I just need to hold on to Him all the way. Trust in His word. I'm giving my 100% trust.

I was surprised when he sent me this reply. Cos I wasn't expecting something like this from him. While reading his text message (and while walking astig noh multi tasking ahahaha!) it brought me to tears. Aside from the fact na naoverwhelm ako sa text nya, God made me realize something. Sabi Niya... anak wag kang masyadong matanong at atat (these past three weeks kce hasn't been ok. but things are better now) basta be in faith and trust in Me.

Ang amazing lng kce yng sagot ni God sa mga tanong naten always comes in a way na hindi mo ineexpect. I guess its His way of making the answers na we are asking for fool proof. Yun bang sure tayo na sa Kanya talaga galing yng sagot at hindi lang nilikha ng isip naten. :D

Para sa mga makakabasa ng blog na 'to kindly include Shade in your prayers. Totoo kce ang kasabihang the more the many-er. Nasusulat yan sa Matthew 18:19, If two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there Am I with them. Please pray for strength for Shade and his family, for healing and for God to reveal to Him why he is going through this.

He will greatly appreciate your prayers.