On Olympic mode..

Ave Maria:-)

It's been an exciting August.. in all areas of life - Family, community...work ..thank God healthwise not much movement there... but in most areas a lot of Action : by that I mean some turbulence, some radical changes...extreme challenges.. also some suffocating complacencies from least expected sources -- but see.. all of that is part and parcel of life -- I term it exciting because our true mettle is tested... likewise the true colors of people involved in our real life screenplays will show -

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 hehe sorry if rough edges will drive you up the wall... but that's the reason revelation of true colors can be exciting. Thru it all.. one's basic tool to cope and make sense of the chaos  is good ole' personal and communal prayer and communion with the Lord -- that way we pass the tests and pass it most graciously...coming out all the better.... thank You Jesus. Glory to You oh Lord.

If we had our bratty ways we would insist God answers all our questions clearly ... giving us a very specific WHAT-TO-DO?-HOW -TO -DO-IT?-SOLUTIONS -GUARANTEED -LIST.. BUT God is not like that.. He respects us too much.. believes in us..and would want us to grow slowly surely... and if we were a cake be baked to perfection never mind if we make horrendous mistakes along the way ... 

Coloring mi vida loca 2016 would be situations like serious illness of loved ones --- an aunt , my father's younger sister very ill after battling the Big C for many yrs now.. inspite of her affliction she has been a beacon of light and hope all these years... and her two other remaining sisters are just like her ... in their eighties and still Magnificent Givers  oh Lord bless us in that same exceeding way... Giving Life, hope, strength, wisdom, inspiration -- it's a wonder --- their old age, weakness, sometimes even meagre financial means not a deterrent to give God's love so generously ... it's their abundant Faith and love for God that allows them to share and to give what is priceless and essential. 

there are also some amongst loved ones (relatives and friends going thru tough times in relationships -- and when I say tough just think of the worst you can imagine and that is what they are going thru )

And because we love them ...when they suffer , when they hurt.. we experience in an indirect way their suffering and their hurts... The closer we are to them, the more we feel their pain -- there is that invisible connection due to real friendship. 

Home -wise... family -wise ..our little family also had to recieve our quota of tests and hurdles --- God has a strange sense of humor...kahit hindi tayo Olympians He actually thinks we can pass the Olympic hurdles in life with flying colors... 

So even when we think we can't jump we jump , or  leap that high -- we find ourselves leaping astounding heights and what's more we safely land ...and survive hahaha. that's God's love and grace for you.

In the end we begine to understand how pain and suffering can do us a lot of good... we develop compassion.. patient endurance... spiritual muscles and courage we didn't know we had... we find ourselves refraining from inflicting pain upon others -- because pinagdaanan natin...and we don't want to be part of that vicious cycle.

Let's see... I think  after all the requirements for the hurdles and tests.. God granted ice cream and cake -- I mean that in a figurative sense... there was a sense of sweet victory due to the following samples of developments:

1) Lena our dear classmates who suffered brain aneurysm has survived and is healing magnificently... she even went with us to a classmates' resto --- for afternoon meryenda... it was a miracle especially if we recount how we saw with our own eyes her touch and go situation many months ago..is it 2 yrs? -- I will forever praise God for the acts of kindness, patience... compassion I witnessed among  classmates and Theresian batchmates --- I said it before..I'll say it again ..I am in the Company B ... that is..Beautiful souls .... St. Therese would be doing cartwheels in heaven.

 Lena and daughter Bolay

2) The radical change at home has paved way to inner growth --- I would say a deeper love 

in the family as distance has a queer way of joining our hearts closer..the miles only serve to strengthen love. Where you might have doubted the depth of love before... the sacrifice only gave way to acknowledgment and yielding to a bond that lasts forever. Ah yes...Jesus is our epoxy.. He knows how to seal our bonds with one another...trials only cement all the more -- it's a win-win situationfor those who put their trust in the Lord. Alleluia!

3) Courage cannot exist  unless we face dead-ends... stare at a crevice that spells certain doom.. and we lose all percieved comfort zones.... we have to face it all... it makes us Yell for HeLP to God: and our voices are distinctly heard because we are Yelping for dear life :" Yoo hoo Lord ..I am really in trouble here...hindi na ito biro... You better do something ..soon please..!!! "

4) So you see... for as long as we stubbornly insist on being united to the Will of God ..we will find ourselves at peace and owning true joy -- which simply is -- recieving in massive doses God's unceasing transforming love .  Closing with this picture I found on the walls of STC... our old school ... Jesus was there from Day 1 until we graduated... the little potted plant is what we make of ourselves ..the splendid ways we can grow as human beings -- but only if Christ holds us in His hands... 

 

a dear sister in the community keeps grumbling " Awwww ...ayoko na ng mga pagsubok sis... gusto ko yung steady lang... yung payapa lang... calma lang... bakit ganon?"

She forgot how beautiful she has grown...gracious and graceful inspite of the odds -- you'd never guess what she has been thru... with a radiance or inner light no doubt anchored on faith... never leaning on herself.. nor the world... but trusting .. seeking and Leaning on God. 

Faith rocks...Faith rules...Grant us deeper faith oh Lord. Amen. 

Still a few days left for August... Let's finish with a triumphant cheer thru Christ our Lord.