Thursday, March 31, 2011

Blooming

I have just concluded two of my classes this trimester. Once more, tears welled up in my eyes. Fortunately, my eyes are big enough to swallow the tears again *haha!*. Every trimester, my students just really make me so grateful that I teach. I love their messages to me after the trimester ends. Even after they get their grades ( I compute their grades already during the last meeting).

Thank You Lord for leading me to this place. For planting me where I can bloom in so many ways.

Thank You for this gift.

I want to volunteer at a nearby orphanage. I hope to do this, this Saturday. Maybe I should go there tomorrow to inquire. :)

Exciting!!!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Sand Castle

A week ago, I was able to build my first, very own sand castle! I was not able to immortalize my sand castle because I was too lazy to get the camera from the room but I really think it looks better in my head now. I loved how my Arabian Nights inspired castle looked against the dusk with the tranquil sea in the background.

I built a moat around my castle (I know Arabian castles do not have moats but leave me be... build your own castle!) and as the tide rose, water started filling in the moats. This was partly assisted much to my dismay. I watched how slowly the sand castle was eaten up by the waves, gracefully melting and rejoining the bigger magnificence of the beautiful creation that is the sea.

Like my sand castle, I wish to be beautiful as well, amidst the dusk and the tranquility of the ocean as I age. I want the waves to slowly lick me and then swallow me as I gracefully melt into oblivion. I would like to fade only because fading will make way for unrivaled art.

Who would have thought that a simple act of scooping dirt and shaping it into something could create so much meaning into something I have feared for so long?

Thank you for allowing me to experience getting my hands dirty so I could build something that I did not know I could. It was such an imperfect castle but it will always be, in my mind, perfect, as the moment when it was crafted.

Until the next sand castle.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Vacay!

My head is already reeling because I need to sleep but I want to write down my thoughts before I finally give in to exhaustion.

I think I can honestly say, that I have had one of the most enjoyable vacations ever.

I finally got to try FlyFish which is soh fun! I want to try that again next time I am in Bora! :) Might go again this June for work. I hope we can squeeze it in.

Thank You for the busy and yet restful vacation that You have given me. You have given my mind, my soul and my heart rest.

Thank You.

The birthday gifts just keep on coming. :)

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

A Birthday Gift

This year, I got to have two cakes. One cake was from Osaka that was topped with strawberries and the other cake was from the Philippines topped with mangoes. But apart from these cakes topped with strawberries and mangoes, I got my cherry on top. Yes this is on top of all those yummy toppings! :)

I think this year, I got a gift that I did not imagine to get. The giver probably does not understand how it meant a lot to me but it did. It came least expected and it made my heart want to jump out of its cage, but in retrospect, I am just glad that it all happened.

I did not think it would ever be possible and that it would happen as it did but it did! :) Until now, as I recall all that transpired, I feel like everything was surreal. Of course, being the masochist that I am, I imagine myself saying something else or doing something else because I like to torture myself that way but I think all went relatively well. In the end, I just have to let go because none of what has been can ever be changed (and I am not just talking about this particular thing but other parts of my life as well). I have to learn to forgive myself and trust His hand. He has a greater design, a greater plan and all I have to do is to trust His heart.

So, thank you and most importantly, thank You.

Monday, March 14, 2011

On Japan

The day the horrible quake hit Tokyo was the same day I went home from Osaka. It was also my birthday. People were calling me up to check on me. Family members, colleagues and friends were calling me up, asking me if I made it back.

I did and I feel blessed. Thank You Lord for keeping me safe and for helping me make it to my flight (This is another post in itself).

When I heard that there was an earthquake in Japan, I thought to myself, "There is no way Japan will be affected. They are very prepared.". Even after they said a tsunami hit Japan, I was still very confident that Japan was able to warn everybody". My faith in the Japanese people is that great.

Unfortunately, the tsunami and the quake were too horrendous even for the most prepared. Still, as I watch them as a people, I cannot help but be amazed at how dignified they still look in spite the tragedy that hit them. How their government has responded and how they are now picking up all the pieces. Some of my friends from Tokyo were telling me how business, day after the tragedy, was going back to normal.

Even now, that there has been explosions in the nuclear plant, I still think that even that they will be able to contain soon. This is how much I look up to this nation, this group of people, more so because I have seen how they work like clockwork and how much pride they have as they do what is expected of them.

They have, over the years of their existence, triumphed over tragedies. I think this is one of those and one of these days Japan shall rise again to inspire and to awe.

Let us pray for Japan and for the rest of the world.

God bless Japan and the rest of the world.