Back from the Mountains

Now that training's over and I'm off the boondocks, there's so much I can't wait to do: upload photos and vids, get my computer back to shape, update my blog, get home, do the laundry, see everyone, cook (yes, cook), research stuff, organize my files, share the things i've learned, buy clothes na pang Christian Living , and reply to everyone who's been messaging me for the past seven months, among others. I miss the mountains already, but I'm sure that wherever the Lord is taking me will be even more beautiful. I'm still not better than anybody, but I believe that I'm better than who I was. I praise the Lord for His goodness and for His faithfulness in my life. Everyday I learn that He loves me with more love than I could possibly know in this lifetime.

Running

"Today I went out for a run, afraid of the darkness, afraid of falling down, afraid of running out of air. But I ran. And later at group devotion, when the guys sang "O Let Me Walk with Thee," I realized that God wanted me to run with Him, that it's okay to fall, that I can go further and still be alright, that I will gasp for air, that my legs will hurt until the day after, but i will be alright. This morning, I realized that though running from something takes you far and fast, running toward something is always, always more beautiful."

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Life in LIGHT, Nueva Era

“Life is getting funny in Nueva Era.”

Or so two of my classmates would say. We are much into our fourth month of training here at LIGHT, and as is commonly said, it is the time when true character begins to be revealed, and thus is also the time for more interpersonal and intrapersonal conflicts.

December of last year, my church sister Dowry and I travelled from Davao to Manila, to Pangasinan (to attend a camp meeting there), to Cavite, to here in Ilocos Norte, virtually spanning the entire length of the Philippines to attend this Health Evangelism Training here in LIGHT, Nueva Era.

When we arrived here in January, everything was new to us and we didn’t really know where to place ourselves, except that people have always been kind to us, always going out of their way to accommodate us and make things a wee bit easier for us.

We were 25 students in all, including a 71-year old Tatay and a musically-inclined couple (plus their baby). Our classroom was (and continues to be) more than just the multi-purpose hall where we sat to lectures, ate our meals, and held worship and Sabbath services. As it turns out, everywhere we went in this place is a classroom, and everything and everyone we saw was a teacher. We learn daily from work, from people, from nature, from assignments, and from our experiences.

“Character-building” was the watchword, the battle cry, the answer to so many questions and concerns.

We are good so far. We have lost four classmates over time, and are in danger of losing two or three more, but God is good. He has not only sustained us, but has also given us joys to to outbalance the tears and fears, and growth to more than compensate for all the trials.

There’s more to come. We all know it in our bones, there’s much more to come – more of the struggles, the hardship that require painstaking endurance, the conflicts, the everyday battles against self, the testing and trying of patience and faith. And it's alright -no, it's more than alright, because we also know full well that there will be so much more of the learning and growing and blessings and opportunities to be ourselves the blessing.