Sunday Lessons: The secret of life is doing something for others.

"One of the deep secrets of life is that all that is really worth the doing is what we do for others."

                                                              -Lewis Carroll

The most remarkable life stories are those that inspire us.

A lot of people have inspired me. I've quoted Nick Vujicic several times in this blog. Mitch Albom, Jason Wade, and my parents have also been inspirations to me.

But today I'd like to talk about Rosie Hardy.

Rosie Hardy is a photographer currently based in the United Kingdom, and I learned about her through Flickr. Maybe not everyone would like her photography style, and she may not have inspired me religiously, but she taught me so much about being kind, even to people you've never met and probably never will.

Her creativity and talent are undoubtedly exemplary, but it was this photo that reached into the deepest corner of my heart and melted it down. Maybe it struck me so hard because I was struggling with something similar at that time (I'm over that self-pity and angst now), and having someone to assure me that it will be okay, that it will get better gave me so much hope.

It doesn't always have to be public figures. It doesn't always have to be martyrs. Sometimes, it's the ordinary people in our lives that extraordinarily change how we see the world we thought we knew.

And it doesn't have to be a great deed. Sometimes, all it takes is a friendly smile, or a comforting pat in the back, or--in my case--a short but sincere reply to an email. 

We can inspire others. We can be ordinary people making extraordinary choices, even if it's only choosing to make other people feel less lonely, less unloved.

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

                                                                                            - Mark 12:30-31

Hello to mornings and new beginnings.

I wouldn't mind waking up to this every morning. :)

Sunday Lessons: Don't use your freedom to violate your freedom.

"God has given His children the greatest of gifts: the capacity to choose and determine their acts." 

                                                                                           - Paulo Coelho

There's always a trigger. There's always a reason why a person loses that inner battle and chooses to take his own life.

I've always been against suicide. I consider it a very selfish act--you decide to end your pain, not taking into consideration the pain that you would inflict on others. You decide to end your suffering by making others suffer.

Then again, who am I to call on the mistakes of others? Who am I to throw the first stone? I haven't lived through their pains. I haven't been haunted by the demons in their heads.

Still, it's heartbreaking to think that a person could be so broken, so hopeless that suicide appears to be the only way out of the seemingly infinite darkness. It's heartbreaking to think that someone could be so far from God to be so faithless in His deliverance.

When God gave us the freedom to choose, I doubt He was thinking we would use that freedom to destroy what He so fearfully and wonderfully made. I doubt He intended for us to waste our precious lives away.

"You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love."

                                                          - Galatians 5:13

The world is beautiful. You are beautiful. You are free to see how beautiful this God-created world is.

PS: Psalm 139 is one of the most beautiful psalms I've ever read.♥

Sunday Lessons: Family is about memories.

"...You can go your whole life collecting days, 

and none will outweigh the one you wish you had back.” 

            ― Mitch Albom, For One More Day

I'd like to go back to those times when my family would go to Sumagdang beach. In the scorching heat, we would grill tulingans and snack on boiled bananas. And at the end of the day, the grownups would have to pull the children out of the water because if we had it our way, we would never leave.

No, it hasn't always been sunshine and rainbows. There were bad times. There will always be bad times, but it's always more gratifying to remember the joys instead of the pains, the victories instead of the failures, the kindness instead of the cruelty. No one is perfect--not even the parents we thought to be invincible. Not even the sister that we looked up to with starry eyes. Your family will hurt you, but the pain should never outweigh the  love. The bitterness should never outweigh the love.

Family is about both the good and the bad memories. Family is about making every moment count. You have a lifetime's worth of stories to create and recreate together, and at the end of that lifetime, you'd get to look back and read these wonderfully flawed stories that are perfect in their own imperfect ways.

“Other things may change us, but we start and end with family."

                                    - Anthony Brandt

What comes into your mind when you're asked about your family? What do you remember? What do you choose to remember? 

Immeasurable

"But behind all your stories is always your mother's story, because hers is where yours begin.” 

                                ― Mitch Albom, For One More Day

If I could rewrite the story of my life, and be able to change one seemingly unchangeable detail, I would change myself to be a good daughter. I would never make you cry.

Do you remember that afternoon? I was walking towards the kitchen when my vision started to blur, until it finally blacked out. In a panicked voice, I called out to you, "Mom, I can't see. I can't see!" I dropped down and cried, and finally you came, and you held me in your arms and cried with me. I don't know who was more afraid that moment--you or me.

That short moment of blindness is one of the defining moments of my life. I could lose my sight, could lose the whole world, but I know I could never lose you. A mother's love could never be lost or robbed or taken away. 

And I am and always will be grateful. And I wish I could show you just how much.

But maybe I'll always be like this. Just because I don't see you or call you or even ask how you are often enough doesn't mean I love you any less, or that I don't really care. I do. In this silence, I'll always be loving you, missing you, wanting to be with you again. In this silence, I pray that you'll always know that as immeasurable as the sky is my love and gratitude for you.

Happy Mother's Day, Mother, and Happy Wedding Anniversary! ♥

Darkness Turns to Light

Dusty benches and rusty seesaws. Swings that have long stopped swinging. Scattered branches that seem to cut the bleeding wounds even deeper. In that empty playground, she can hear all too clearly the laughters of yesterday, the sad songs of heartbreak playing in the back of her mind. 

Just when she thought her well-kept darkness would come spilling out, light came flooding in.

Sunday Lessons: Ours is not to ask God why. Ours is to ask what.

I know you've heard it. Several times, maybe. I know you've heard that tiny voice in your head that tells you to do something, or to not do something. How many times have you chosen to heed that voice? How many times did you look the other way, guilty but stubborn?

"If you love me, you will obey my commands." 

                                               - John 14:15

We might not always understand, and we might not always want to obey what God tells us to do. In fact, it might be so difficult that it can take all of our strength to follow the path that He laid out for us.

"It's hard to stop swearing, Lord."

"My body is too dependent on these drugs, Lord."

"I can't live without him, Lord. I don't care if He's married."

He never said it would be easy, but He assured us that it would always be bearable.

"God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. 
But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it."

                                                                                                               - 1 Corinthians 10:13

Obedience manifests faith. Obeying means you trust that He will lead you to the greenest pastures, to a land flowing with milk and honey. Obeying means believing that He will carry you when your feet can't go on anymore. It's knowing with everything you are that there's no miracle too great for Him to perform.

"God always gives His best to those who leave the choice with Him." 
                                                            - Jim Elliot

Today, did you listen to that voice, or did you look the other way?