#and flying with Tiny Kong hahaha...

[lurafita]

Some big brother Peter and little sister Morgan stuff cause I’m in a fluffy mood

Morgan tiptoed her way towards the bed on the other end of the large room, hoping Peter hadn’t heard the door open. (He had. Just as he did the excited little gasps that Morgan made, as she stealthily - well, as stealthy as any five year old could - crept forward. He was trying very hard to control his smile as he feigned sleep.)

At the foot of the queen sized bed, the girl scrambled up and crouched into position. A big smile on her face as she narrated her actions.

“A wild Morgan has appeared! Morgan uses ‘tackle’ on sleeping Peter!”

Then she pounced. Peter let out an ‘oof’, as she landed on his middle, and quickly wrapped his arms around her so that she wouldn’t fall off. Not bothering to hide his grin any longer, he squinted up at his little sister.

“The attack was very effective. Sleeping Peter woke up. Awake Peter uses ‘tickle’.”

Morgan squealed as Peter’s fingers danced over her sides, laughing loudly while trying to wiggle out of the 19 year old’s grasp. 

“Morg-hahaha- Morgan has no more- hahaha- hp- haha. She fainted.”

Smirking, Peter stopped his assault and the little girl collapsed on his chest, exhausted but smiling.

“No fair attacking my weak point.”

He chuckled and lightly wrapped his arms around her, feeling as she relaxed against him. 

“That’s for the surprise attack. So, Morgie-moo. Why are you up at-” he quickly grabbed his phone from his nightstand to look at the time. “6:21am on a Sunday. Did we have plans today and I forgot?”

Morgan shook her head against his chest, then folded her arms over it and propped her chin up on her hands to look directly at her big brother.

“I had a dream.”

“Good dream, or bad dream?”

“Hm. First it was a bad dream. But then something funny happened. And then it was a good dream.”

He smiled at her encouragingly.

“Really? Sounds exciting. What was it about?”

“There was a dragon!” She exclaimed with wide eyes. “And it was flying around and roaring really loud and people were scared and running away.”

Peter nodded. 

“That does sound scary. Was the dragon breathing fire?”

Morgan shook her head.

“No. But it had really sharp teeth and claws and it was super big. And then it was flying up to the top of the tower and clung to it like the big ape in the movie.”

Peter frowned.

“Who showed you King Kong?”

“Uncle Sam. He said if he don’t show me good movies, you and dad will wash my brain with only bad sci-fi flicks like Star Wars. I told him you can’t wash a brain. Only hair. And then he laughed and we watched the movie, but he covered my eyes during the scary parts. Hey, what’s sci-fi and Star Wars? How come you haven’t shown me?”

She looked very indignant for a five year old. A skill undoubtedly learned from her mother.

“Don’t worry Morga-chu, I’ll show you all the Star Wars movies when you are a little older. Promise. Remind me to web Sam to the ceiling later. But what happened in your dream? Did the Dragon attack the tower?”

“It was about to! But then you and Daddy and the others showed up and fought it!”

Peter grinned, while carefully rearranging his blanket to cover Morgan as well. No sense in letting her get cold, and maybe he could get her to sleep a few more hours.

“Avengers and Spiderman to the rescue! So, what happened then? We kicked it’s scaly butt, right?”

But Morgan regretfully shook her head. 

“It was too powerful. Daddy’s blasters (- she hadn’t quite mastered the word ‘repulsor’ yet) just made little puff-clouds against the dragon’s skin, and all the other weapons were useless too. And the dragon was too strong for your webs, and just snapped them. And it knocked Thor out of the sky. And it stepped on the Hulk and he couldn’t get it’s foot off him.”

There was just the slightest tremble in her voice, and Peter wound his arms around her a little bit tighter.

“I’m guessing that was the bad part of the dream, hm?”

She nodded. “It was really scary.”

Peter was getting ready to console her, when suddenly she brightened right back up.

“And then your tummy growled!”

He looked at her, stunned and bewildered.

“My... tummy growled?”

“Hmhm. Really loudly. Like, as loud as when the dragon roared.” Then she waved a finger in his face, again, in a scarily good imitation of her mom. “Because you been skipping meals again, mister.”

The sight of a five year old girl berating a 19 year old enhanced superhero would be funny, if it wasn’t also strangely intimidating. Peter was quick to lift up both his hands in surrender. 

“I promise to take better care of myself. Including all the dream versions of me.”

She looked at him closely for a second, nodded, and then went back to recounting her dream.

“And then everyone was looking at you. Even the dragon. And it bowed it’s big head down to you and then it licked you up with it’s giant tongue!”

“Eww. Dragon slobber.” He shuddered for effect. Morgan laughed.

“It thought you were a dragon baby, because of your empty tummy sounding just like a roar. And then it didn’t wanna fight you anymore. And then the dragon told you-”

“Wait, the dragon could speak?”

“Yes.” She made it sound like that should have been clear from the beginning. The eye-roll was definitely picked up from Tony. “So, then the dragon told you that someone had stolen her eggs!”

He nodded seriously.

“Female, speaking dragon looking for her dragon-napped children in Manhattan. Got ya. What happened then?”

Satisfied that her brother was keeping up with the story, Morgan continued.

“So then you all decided to help her find her eggs, because someone who would steal a dragon’s babies is bad, and heroes fight bad people.”

Another nod. “Right you are.”

“So then Daddy called Mommy, because he didn’t know how to find dragon babies, and Mommy knows everything.”

Peter bit his lip hard to stop the laugh that was bubbling up.

“And then Mommy put on her Rescue armor and flew to where you were, and then she and Aunty Natasha found the bad people. Because Aunty Natasha is always winning when we play hide and seek, so she can find anyone.”

Which made perfect sense to Peter.

“So then you all beat up the bad guys and saved the eggs! And THEN the eggs were cracking open, and there were tiny, little baby dragons!”

“How many?”

Morgan had to think for a few seconds, scrunching up her nose when trying to remember.

“Uhm... 3. And as a thank you for helping her find her children, the Mama dragon let me play with them.”

“Wait, when did you get there?”

“I was there the whole time, how else could I know what happened. Duh.”

“Well... you got me there.”

“And then I got to name the dragon babies! I named the one with blue wings Blueberry. And the one with red wings Cherry. And the one with green wings Kiwi.”

A tiny yawn escaped her at the end, and her eyes were getting a bit droopy. Peter started to gently rub his hand over her back.

“Those are excellent names. Was that how the dream ended?”

She shook her head and then softly laid it down on her brother’s chest, trying to smother another yawn with little success.

“No. We played a lot with Blueberry,.. and Cherry, and Kiwi... and then... Daddy built them... a really big... and nice.. dragon cave... and then we had... a sleepover...”

A quick look down revealed that Morgan had fallen back asleep, and Peter carefully, so as not to jostle her, pulled the blanket a little higher, so that they covered her shoulders. He leaned down a little to press a soft kiss to the crown of her hair. 

“Sleep tight, little dragon.”

Then he too closed his eyes and went back to hopefully catch a few more hours of sleep.

[sherylbajao]

I’d Rather Not Know

Hi there. It’s been a while.

I’ve been hiding in my cave — distracting myself with busyness and indulging in the business of wanting to know what will happen next. All the while I thought I was living in faith, until the anxiety of not knowing what’s next started to eat me up.

Anxiety, you say? Uh.. yeah. I have been in the lowest tide of my faith (yet again) just recently, thinking everything is hopeless and there’s nothing else to look forward to. Taking fear with me in every turn I take in this journey called life. I thought to myself, “Why is God testing me?” Apparently, He was just revealing what’s in my heart. And I am utterly rebuked. He showed me how I wanted to take control of everything, (I want my own version of my life, Lord! Can’t we just revise the things I don’t like?! #graphicdesignerprobs) when in fact He is the one who’s in control and Sovereign.

So yeah, that’s why I’ve been hiding, and It’s been a long while, and now I’m coming out of this prison I made myself. You might wonder, why did I even do this or from what am I hiding from. I believe one reason is that I get to control what’s happening in my tiny niche: I’m busy with the “work” I’m doing, I know the outcome, I can make contingency plans ahead of time just in case things wont turn out fine. I try so hard to focus on it that I neglect to continue on the other things I’ve started before e.g. this blog. To be honest, I was about to take this down, I thought it’s pointless to post here. “Who reads this anyway?!” Earlier this year, I promised myself I’d post an entry here, but then procrastination and doubts came in that I ended up sharing nothing. (I have tons of drafts saved in my laptop huhu). Months have passed and I didn’t even bother checking this page, until my domain automatically renewed. Thanks, GoDaddy. Hahaha. Now I’m forced to make use of this haha! Perhaps the stories I have should be shared, not for all to read, but maybe one or two, and the rest is up to God. And that’s where faith comes in.

Still, I am thankful for this season that I am learning to stretch my faith muscle. I think every season should be exercise season for our faith, ang tagal ko lang talagang tumambay, ang sakit tuloy ng muscles ko. But no pain, no gain. :)

I know He is calling me to live for Him, like a child, with childlike faith. Sometimes I hate growing up and the fact that knowledge is so easily accessible these days because it desensitized me from God’s Sovereign hand upon my life.

And so I’ll take it from here, and I’ll trust Him as He unfolds the succeeding chapters..

I think that’s good enough for my comeback message haha, thank you for reading! :p But if you’d like to stay a bit longer. I’m inviting you to read further as I share my praise report and reflections from the past year (from the date of my previous post) to present. Like I said in my previous post, there were so many movements — from traveling, to transitioning, and to entering a new season. God is moving me indeed, and He has been reaaaaally faithful to me in every step, even at the times I’m not.

This is not to brag about the blessings I received, like I previously said, maybe my stories should be shared. So now I’m jumping out of the boat and walk in water. These things shouldn’t just pass without being shared because God is worthy to be praised and He is always teaching us something, even in the littlest of things. I pray this will encourage you to always be in the attitude of thanksgiving (that is directing toward the one responsible for our blessing), and to never lose sight of God’s goodness upon your life and what He is teaching you along the way.

Most of these were from the draft that was made early this year. It wasn’t entirely eventful, but I believe these were defining moments where God met me and taught something to me.

Around the World (char haha)

Hong Kong was my first travel abroad. I always thought it’d be far-fetched to go back, because let’s face it, we’ve got bills to pay haha! But days before my birthday this year, I got the chance to explore Hong Kong again, with all expenses paid. Just wow. (And I still have a pending post for my 2016 HK Trip lol) It’s a great reminder for me that God can + will provide, and He hears even my silent prayers.

Weeks before the trip, I was in a shuttle en route to Makati. As we drove along Skyway, a plane that’s about to land fled above us. I asked God, “When will I be able to travel again? ...Only You know.” It was a short and random thought, and pinalipas ko lang. Then came the day that I found out we’ll be flying to Hong Kong for our team’s anniversary outing. They were joking me that we’re just going to McDonald’s... Nathan Road. Knowing the slowpoke that I am, it took around 5 seconds to finally sink in that we’re really going to Hong Kong!! I asked myself, “Sa Hong Kong yung Nathan Road... diba?” And my eyes went big! “Shaks, sa Hong Kong nga kami pupunta!” O_O

And so I budgeted for the trip, I allotted 4000 PHP (~600 HKD) for my pocket money. Pero di ko siya napapalitan, ‘di ko alam kahit anong attempt magpapalit walaws talaga. It’s either the bank didn’t have any HKD or the money changer doesn’t sell any HKD. Tapos nalaman na lang namin pagdating ng Hong Kong, bibigyan nila kami ng 1500 HKD as pocket money for the entire stay. (Tinagalog ko na kasi tinamad nako mag-English hahahahaha) I’m like, whaaaat?! Legit all expenses paid?!?! Thank you, Lord. Sobra sobra pa.

Here are a few photos from the trip (and some from last year for reference sa mga kwento ko kasi di ko nakuhaan yung iba this year haha):

I’ve always loved Hong Kong’s architecture. This was taken while were on the Airport bus to Kowloon. I learned that day that Hong Kong airport lies on artificial land. Wow lang!

This was in Causeway Bay. On our last day in Hong Kong this year, there was a typhoon so malls and stores were mostly closed. We wanted to visit IKEA but to no avail. We ended up walking around the vicinity and took photos instead.

I love their city lights at night! This was in Mong Kok. I had a similar shot taken on my 2016 HK trip, pero sa kabilang side naman. Haha! See below.

We stayed in Tsim Sha Tsui throughout the trip. The hotel was a few kilometers away from the train station so we always walk. 

This is one of the alleys we usually pass by.

And mannn, our hotel room was very nice! Super hi-tech! It made me think what made us deserve this kind of generosity. Look at the remote control! We could’ve stayed in an Airbnb but we didn’t. Wooow.

Di ko talaga kinaya yung generosity nila. Even our Disneyland trip was paid for as well. It was my first time (we went to Ocean Park last year kasi).

Dito muntik maubos pera ko. Hahaha! The stuff they’re selling there were so nice and enticing, it makes you want to get it all, even if you don’t really need it. It made me realize that if you get easily swayed by the things you wanted for yourself, you’ll end up wasting the gift that was given to you. I believe it was a gentle reminder for me to not take the gift God freely and abundantly gave me for granted. :)

I loved the Lion King musical! It made me feel like a kid again. 

Spoiler alert: The plot of the musical was that they are to retell the story of how Simba became king. The songs were uplifting and the production was great! THE CIRCLE OF LYYYYYFFFF~~

My realization: if we are to share the greatest story ever told (i.e. John 3:16), we should be all out. Even if it takes you to share it a million times over and over again, never grow tired of sharing it. Just as how the cast in this musical give their best in every show, everyday.

I think the highlight of my Disneyland trip was the fireworks show. It was so beautiful and magical. I am in awe, and got semi-tearyeyed hehe. If it’s already a wonderful sight here, I wonder what beauty and glory awaits for us in Heaven, where all things are perfected?

A few things I noticed throughout our stay in Hong Kong:

1. People are too fast-paced, busy, and focused on too many things. It’s either they’re looking at their mobile phones or they’re rushing out of the train, walking fast to cross the street. It’s like they are always on to the next thing, which is binding and paralyzing. And that compelled me to pray for their nation. “This nation is Yours. May they see the beauty and freedom of having and knowing You.”

2. Ang ganda ng way finding sa kanila! Clean and minimal.

3. Their train systems are well-maintained and organized. And people know where to fall in line — they follow the signages! I believe our nation is capable of doing that as well, it just really needs to start with ourselves. Hehe.

(These were taken from my trip last year)

Thoughts on Flying

My reflection on flying has always been the same: Trust the Captain, because He knows where He’s taking you. It was a turbulent ride en route to Hong Kong, we entered the sea of clouds yet again, and everything we can see was just cottony clouds. It doesn’t make any sense. Why put a window yet enter the sea of clouds?! You could’ve just taken a different path. Now we can barely see anything and it’s turbulent! R u ok, captain?! My palms are sweaty and I’m nervous, but after a few minutes, we’re back to normal flying mode. Haha. Panic agad eh! And that experience revealed my heart. I don’t trust God entirely. Huhu.

That’s our usual response to God. We easily fall to stress, anxiety, worry, pain, etc. that we lose sight of where God is trying to lead us, and we end up sinning. We end up resisting God, leaning on our own understanding, and doing things our own way, because we believe it’s what best for us and we want to resolve tensions as fast as we can. Newsflash: we’re wrong.

It’s human tendency to always want certainty and what lies ahead in the unknown. We want to know the why in everything. We want to know, “Why this path?” “What awaits at the end of this?” “When is this going to be over?” That we neglect to notice we’re losing faith already.

“The problem is we’re always trying to live by sight and call it faith.” Ouch. That was from Ken Wytsma’s book, “The Grand Paradox”. He said in another chapter, “The secret to understanding where to go in life is found not in navigating our way to safety, but rather simply trusting in God’s leading. Trusting that He is good. Trusting that even if we don’t like where He takes us, He’s taking us there for a reason.”

Without trust, there is no faith. Without obedience, there is not faith as well. To trust is to obey God’s Word. To obey is to jump into the unknown move based on trust in a dependable God. I pray we all choose faith than looking around in fear.

Around the Philippines (char ulit haha)

Here in the Philippines, I was blessed with the chance to visit Batangas, Nagsasa, Bacolod, and Baguio, with my family and friends.

September last year, my good friends and I had an overnight trip to Batangas. And I made new animal friends.

Other people might classify me either a dog or a cat person, I don’t think I can ever be on one side. Let’s get things straight, I’m an animal person. I like talking to animals, I feel like we have this ~connection~, there’s just something about their innocent eyes that makes you want to love them dearly. I believe God has given us dominion over these creatures to properly take care of them.

Come November, we went to Nagsasa Cove in Zambales. 

There was no signal reception in the island pero keri lang! A great 2D1N trip away from the busy and noisy that is Metro Manila. I’m not a water person, in fact I’m totally scared of the water, but heeeeeyy I managed the 2hr boat ride + intense swimming against the current (THANK GOD FOR LIFE VESTS AND PEOPLE WHO KNOW HOW TO SWIM HAHA). Also, the view was spectacular! I am stunned and amazed by just how wonderful God’s works are.

higher than the heavens

stronger than the sea

mightier than mountains

Your love amazes me

My last out of town trip for the year 2016 was in Bacolod. Good food, bro, plus it’s very affordable! Thank God for sumptuous meals. We had a day trip to Lakawon Island too!

Dinuguan with puto. But I ate it with rice hehehe.

La Paz Batchoy. Yummers.

Would you believe that this costs less than 200 PHP? Delicous ribs, yo!

We also met our church family and I was immensely blessed by their hospitality and generosity! (They paid for our food most of the time, and they fetch us at our condo everyday and they toured us around Bacolod!)

I guess how grateful you are for what God has done in your life will truly manifest in your life. I’ve never seen a person who is so thankful yet so timid and silent about it. As the song says, “So blessed, I can’t contain it. So much you’ve got to give it away.”

Indeed, if you know in your heart that God is more than enough for you, you won’t think twice about giving to others—you will truly be a cheerful giver, because you know He’s a God who provides for whatever you will need and He’s a God who will never leave you alone.

We were invited to join their event, Jesus Reigns. Thousands of youth were there, praising and proclaiming the name of Jesus. The next generation is on fire, indeed.

Baguio will always have a special place in my heart, and I will always go back! Thankful for the opportunity to be in the city with the people close to me.

This is Winter, my niece. She’s so bubbly.

Bilanggoals. October 2016.

Tomodachis. November 2016.

Fam. July 2017. Insert kuya Erick, ate Mags, and Winter.

And that’s about it for now.

I actually can’t remember how I came up with the budget to travel, but one thing is for sure, God has provided. And He has blessed me with wonderful people as I explored these places. Thank God for family and friends! Thank God for we are relational beings, that we are not meant to be alone but to be surrounded with people who will encourage and build us up.

Adjustments

People never liked the idea of change, despite it being the constant thing in this world.

Earlier this year, our church transferred to a new place. Tons of adjustments were made, we used to be in a mall in CBD Makati, and now despite being inside a mall, we’re placed in the middle of a residential area. Different barangays! It’s very exciting to see lives of people in the area transformed by Christ, but it’s not a walk in the park of course.

I am thankful that our pastor has been very open about the struggle of transitioning into a new home and for continually reminding us to be strong as we move forward to where God has called us. Indeed, our present adversities shouldn’t hinder us on the ministry He has blessed us with because He is with us and He didn’t bring us this far just to leave us.

What a wonderful opportunity to grow in faith, in ministry, and in my personal walk. There are discouraging times because there seem to be no fruit for what we’ve been doing, I must admit I’m in the brink of recoiling and giving up in serving Him, because I didn’t know what’s next. It seemed redundant! But God revealed my heart again, and I am rebuked. He reminded me that it’s not about what I see or what I feel, all of what we’re doing is for Him. And if it’s for Him, it will never be in vain. It’s also a season where God is teaching us to persevere and pray harder. The enemy is indeed at work, he wants people to give up, so God’s work will be delayed. But we should not give him a foothold of what he wants. Kaya push lang. Laban lang.

A New Season

I thought this would be the easiest part to write, but now I’m lost for words. Actually, words aren’t enough to show my gratefulness to God for blessing me with a great partner, Steven. :) Yieeeeee haha! Indeed, there is a season for everything. And this season comes with lessons and discipline, it’s continually teaching me to be selfless, loving, understanding, to be more focused on giving rather than receiving, and to be more obedient.

To me he’s the greatest musician. He’s my listening ear, my shoulder to cry on (literally), and my comedian. He likes to make puns out of the store names whenever we’re in a mall, and I can’t help but laugh. He knows how to make me burst in laughter! He always tells me how he loves seeing me smile. And I love seeing him smile too, most especially when he’s about to order that slice of cake/blizzard/glass of coke. HAHAHAHA.

I praise God for your life and I thank Him for showing love through you. You always make me happy. You remind me to be grounded on Him when I start to falter. And you hold my hand and hug me when the anxious kid in me starts to kick in. Hehe. Thank you for always encouraging me to push through with the things I thought I couldn’t do, like this blog.

You are a great blessing to me. I will always support you and your leadership, and I’ll continue to grow on being a suitable helper for you. We’ve got a looong looooooong way to go and I’m happy to be in this journey with ya. Apir!!! ;)

I don’t know how to end this post again, hahaha. So here goes:

I wonder what’s the next move? Sovereign Lord, only You know. I always ask You, what’s Your plan for me? And I am reminded that I’d rather not know the entire plan, because trusting in Your goodness is much much better and rewarding.