Day 12 - Such a Blessing

No more clean clothes left in my bag. Last day at the hotel.

I called up our Engineer at home to check if there was an update. He was sad to tell me that water supply may take a while and that he was trying to coordinate with Meralco. There was scarcity with manpower. Oh. I thought I saw one Meralco truck along Ortigas Ext. last Monday before we left. But I guess I was wrong.

And so I had to let my manager know about the still sad news.

Next plan was dorm. For a week. I am sooo grateful for my company's provision of my temporary accommodation. Thank you so much! It's a great help for me. Such a blessing!

So me and my brother rushed home to gather more clean clothes. Upon entering the gate, a group of people were busy pumping out the muddy water from the basement. Looked like they were having a hard time drying out the basement. This may take a few more days, I thought.

Then there we were again at the bottom of the bridge, waiting for Ortigas-bound vehicles for half an hour or so.

I got a call that the room will be ready in a while but when I checked my watch, there was no time to drop by at the dorm's counter to claim the key. Instead, I went straight to work, finished my shift with half of my lids closed, then went to the dorm to rest.

It was tiring but still very thankful that there's a place to stay, water for bathing, and power to charge our communication tools.

We're still so much blessed. News say that there are parts of Pasig and Cainta still soaked in water. Many are homeless, hungry, and have no more clean clothes to wear.

We are still blessed.

PERSPECTIVE

Puddles are baby oceans. Really, there’s not much difference except that the wildlife in one lives longer and is big enough for us to see.

Trees are giant weeds. Just look at one when the leaves have fallen, and you’ll see how similar they look.

And our house is nothing but an overgrown dollhouse.

It’s all a matter of perspective. Try looking at something differently today. It will help your creative juices flow and your tolerance level grow.

By THE HAPPY GUY

SADNESS

Feeling a little sad? Down in the dumps? Should I try to cheer you up?

Maybe not just yet. It’s Ok to feel down sometimes. Happiness is not about constantly feeling like you’re on top of the world. Yes, it’s great to feel joy and excitement, but sometimes we have to charge our batteries and come back down to ground ourselves.

Allow yourself these moments. The key is not to let them drag on for hours or days. Kick yourself back up if it starts to drag on. But until then, you deserve the space to come down for a while.

-The Happy Guy

Something You Never Had

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18

Cindy waited 34 long years and stayed in the marriage. She gave it her all, and waited for her husband to come around. He was emotionally unavailable. He dropped dead from a heart attack last month. Bye-bye to that hope. Sam is 58 years old. There's been a hole in his heart as big as all outdoors for 56 of those years, wanting his father who disappeared when he was two. Dianne has been looking for someone to come into her life for many years. A partner and lover. She is old now. It may not happen.

Have you ever longed for something you've never had? Something money can't buy? Maybe a good relationship with your mother or father, or your kids. Perhaps you would really like a relationship that is now impossible, because that person has died.

You can be sad about something you never had. You can grieve something you never will have. But can you lose something you never had? 

One thing you could never lose - even if you wanted to - the unconditional love that God your Father has for you. Never. No way! Not possible to lose that; it's there for ever and ever. It's just for you.

The LOVE that GOD has for YOU is not, and never could be, something you never had. It's been there all of your life. Even before.And it will be after.

Just ask him to show you. He will!

Sally I. Kennedy is the author of Irish Thursdays: More Little Parables, Words from the 
Heart, and 52 Little Parables from Ireland . She lives in south Florida, with her husband 
Ben. Please visit her website at this address: http://www.sallyikennedy.com Sally's 
email: sallyikennedy@bellsouth.net

SElECTIvE HEaRING

And we have this confidence in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. – 1 John 5:14

I know a man who used to get in trouble with his wife because she claims he never listens to her. Every time she would call him, he wouldn't respond. "Why don't you answer me?" she'd demand. His reply would be, "But I didn't hear you." The wife interpreted this as her husband's way of ignoring her. She accused him of selective hearing — subconsciously not listening to her whenever she spoke. Of course, the man vehemently denied this. And the conflict only deepened.

Until the man had a hearing test. That's when they discovered that he was partially deaf to a certain frequency of sounds, including — you guessed it — his wife's voice. The Lord has selective hearing, too. He doesn't hear our prayers that will not benefit us or, at worse, harm us. Like those times we asked Him to make us sick just so we could avoid an undesirable situation. Or the times we prayed for death because we were depressed or heartbroken. Or the times we asked Him to bless us with something less than what He actually wanted to give us. But when we do ask for something according to His will, be sure that He has perfect hearing. 

by Rissa Singson-Kawpeng

REFLECTION:
When did you ask the Lord for something that wasn't good for you?

Lord, thank You for wanting the best for me. Amen.