"Napakabait ng nanay n'yo..." (You have a very kind mother), Aling Leoning tearfully said when I stumbled upon her on the cemetery yesterday. "Wala akong masabi...", (I've got nothing to say of her kindness) and she continued to wipe away her tears. ALING LEONING. More than a trusted kasambahay (househelp), she was Mama's friend and confidant. When Mama passed away, I knew she was one of those who mourned with us deeply. Time and circumstances took its course that we lost touch. We were eventually reconnected upon knowing that her family turned out to be a cemetery caretaker ~ particularly where Mama had been buried. It's been 21 years since Mama passed away but, still, Aling Leoning looks after Mama's grave and assured us not to worry. She selflessly took it upon herself. Such friendship. Such loyalty. Such dedication. Such love. What can I say to that? Nothing. That's something you can't teach, quantify or able to repay. I am just more than blessed to have witnessed a God-given & inspired friendship. I may have known Mama as a mother but, through Aling Leoning's eyes, I am able to at least get a glimpse of who Mama is as a friend. Thank you, Aling Leoning. Thank you. I thank God for you. I will see you again.
Contemporary Christian Music, it is. :) Credits to Wikipedia. Contemporary Christian Music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith. Today, the term is typically used to refer to pop, rock, or praise & worship styles. Just to name a few of my favorite, these artists/songs are currently on my playlist:
It's amazing how music come to minister and encourage weary and lonely souls, liven up dull moments and the like. As each has his own music & lyric preferences, I believe as each song accomplish the purpose of giving glory to God and making his Name, Person, and Attribute known, I can say it's all worth it. Then, listening to their songs is all worth it, supporting them is all worth it, going to their concerts is all worth it. More so, mere listening that leads to worshiping the Lord with them makes it all so definitely worth it! :)
---
* All images were taken from their Facebook page. View and hope you'll listen to their songs, too. (L-R, row by row: Kutless, Building 429, Mikeschair, Avalon, Phil Wickham, Josh Wilson, Laura Story, Britt Nicole).
For the past years sitting among pools of listeners be it in church, conferences, meetings or schools, I had learned to love taking notes. Aside from listening to the speaker, I find it challenging and interesting to scale down or construct the skeleton/outline of the topic being discussed. At some point, when I, being a listener engages to think & reflect at the same time, I love to write down my thoughts in between the speaker's arguments on the sides and on the margins.
Some speakers are well-organized in articulating their thoughts that they would explicitly say and guide their hearers with their Point 1, 2, and 3 or with their A, B, and C. The challenge comes when the speaker shifts from an organized flow to babbling blows. Now, the listeners (while trying to catch up where would all those thoughts lead) begin to realize that it would now be a DIY, Do-it-yourself-figure-out-the-outline kind of thing. Isn't it a speaker's accomplishment when the topic or message being delivered was grasped and understood by the hearers because he was able to get them journey with his trail of thoughts? Then I met this woman. A woman who loves God... A woman who loves God's person, work and people. A woman is an understatement though. She is a friend, a boss, a mom. Her message on life skills is not represented by the outline she prepares. It is represented by the life she lives. She never needed an audience or listeners be given her. They simply draw near to her. There are times she doesn't need to speak anymore. You just need to watch her. I am more than blessed and so, with the others to have met, known and worked with her.
Being under her leadership and instruction for a few years, her mega-themes, her major outline about life and work were strongly etched in my system. A pen and a journal I do not need. The outline is simple but, they are indelible.
(1) Control what you can control. It is not about manipulation. It is taking responsibility. It is being prepared for what is expected. It is calculating & acting upon some risks and possibilities. It is identifying the extent or the line on things that you have involvement or control. As long as you take your position and do your best on the things you can control, you'll be fine. When things go wrong on things you can't control, be gracious to yourself and others. Take what you can learn from it, then move on. (2) Choose your battles. Know your value system. What kind of arguments will you allow yourself to be engaged in? What kind of confrontations will you involve yourself with? What kind of problems will you gear up your energy in solving? IS IT GOING TO BE WORTH IT? There are battles in and out of life. Some battles are caught, some are brought. It is important to note that whatever and wherever they come from, the battle is your call. (3) Never assume. All of us think differently and each has his own way of carrying things out. If you want your point to come across the board or a certain work needs to be done, GO & ASK. Never make the mistake of assuming that people already know what you have in mind. There is no harm in asking for confirmation. --- As I go and carry on with the things I am called to do, this outline had and have saved me from a lot of self-condemnation and tears. Indeed, lessons in life can't just be heard. It must be lived. To this I'd like to wrap up and close: We had, have, and can meet a lot of speakers along the way raising up their outlines in life. Whatever outlines they may present, this we should remember in carrying them out:
Without any known occasion, I was informed that a gift will be on its way. My friend refused to tell me what it is ~ saying that it's not grand but, I was assured I will like it. Ahm, okay. So, I just waited for it to reach me. It did. Along with a note and a pen was a journal. Just the idea of being given that gift sincerely touched me beyond words... the thought, the effort, the choice of color, and all. But I stopped. Thinking. How am I going to use this journal when I already have these?
Tada! I already have a handful of journals! A combination of 'some-received-and-some-bought'. Some had already been written and used out up to the last page, while some of them still I am currently using. As each has a designated purpose already, how will my mind come up with another purpose to maximize an addition to the family?
The journal found its way to me. It indeed joined the league. Talk about the owner who loves the color green :)
Thanks to this day, a day of rest, a day of simply doing my thing. I organized my room, did a little clean up then, found my pens by my desk as if calling me to use them. A few minutes here and there, I came up with these:
Oh, how I enjoyed! Now I don't want to stop! I think my blogging has found a new mistress. Heehee. Now my new journal has found its purpose, too. I will keep on doing this up to the last page. Who knows, I might get truly hooked and do a Volume II! So, now to you my friend, I can truly say,
THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
I can't afford to miss the first page, of course, which is for you (also for all the other good people out there):
To you my friend, again I want to say thank you. Thank you for giving something that joined the green side. :) ---
P.S. Can I tell you something? Just a little trivia treat. This blogger is ambidextrous. The pictures you see up there are joint efforts of her left and right hand. Go figure. Heehee. *wink*
In wanting to preserve this post, I am providing a space for a guest blogger, my friend. Here it is:
"I can still vividly remember. My friendship with Ate Jo started with her warm smile and willingness to join me for lunch. It was my first week in college. We were lunch mates. I forgot what kind of conversations we had, but I can still remember that smile. All along I thought she was one of the "long term-er" in our campus fellowship, but found out that she was one of the newbies. The rest is history...
Then, during the time we still have nook in PCU, I find Cherry's personality strong. But the impression was neutralized when we had a Get-To-Know-You chat over meryenda one afternoon at school. Then her welcoming spirit made me comfortable to be friends with her.
Cherry, Ate Jo were my batch mates. Eventually, we became leaders in our campus fellowship. I can say we're soft, fragile ladies but strong-willed, principled and no-nonsense girls. We believe we're beautiful. But we know that Christ in us is the beauty we want others to see.
Food. Such a superficial factor that went along way and our friendship grew. We learned to love each other and be patient with one another. We laugh together, we cry together, and sometimes get into trouble together (which gives the excitement). But I am thankful for the openness for one another over snack time ten years ago. We must never underestimate the possibility of doing small things together. You'll find heart friend, eventually, heart sisters. :)
I guess that's why Jesus sited an example of a Banquet for His return or even the desire for invitation for relationship. He is fond of seeing us being ourselves, enjoying food and His presence. He loves to satisfy us with His friendship and His provision. I thank Him for He is a deeper foundation of the Heart Sisters. This is not limited on us three, but every girl is welcome who welcomes Jesus Christ in her life and welcomes us as her sister. God wants each one to be a part of His family.
His Kingdom and His family. Thank God, heart friendship/sisterhood started with F O O D and will last till eternity."
As surely as Mia decides to follow the Lord's leading, she will make it through.
That is my faith and blessed assurance. So, yes, Mia has always been in my thoughts and prayers even we have all packed and gone to live our separate lives after the camp.
Being completely human, with a set of limitations and stuff, I know I can't be there for her (at least physically) to speak with her and journey with her. As much as I want to but, work, time, and space make it impossible for me to be an omnipresent friend.
But, I am not giving up. I remember this book that I keep on buying, not for me (anymore) but for others. I know that the book is not mine to keep, but mine to give away. It had helped me ~ BIG TIME, and I pray it will help others, too. So, I packed it full of hope and prayers that this will help her cope and understand this common life we are living. Weeks passed and the book reached her hands. With excitement in her text message, she said that that the timing is just right for her birthday. Then I asked, "When's your birthday by the way?" "This coming Monday, Ate... January 28th!" :) Come on now. --- image credit : pinkseele.wordpress.com
Flipping my desk calendar to today's date, I found and read this:
I am stunned. How did this get so timely ~ the message and the Bible verse today? Today is Mama's birthday. She should be 56 years old now if she had not gone ahead of us and went Home 18 years ago. Please don't get me wrong. I am not melancholic right now upon reading what is in my desk calendar. I am in fact very thankful to the Lord for giving us the gift of her, whose life will always be a constant reminder of God's love, comfort and faithfulness... beyond words can ever say. Today, I will celebrate LIFE not death, JOY not sorrow. I am thankful and so looking forward to Eternity because I know I will get to meet her again. :)
It sure does and that's the way it has always been. Day in or day out, standing or lying down, going in or out, name it ~ It will really never shout. --- It was shortly after our field work lunch that I decided to sit still and rest for a while. Some stood, went out, did their grocery, and some did their own little, mini-personal stuff. And so there I was, sitting idly by as I work & read through my mobile phone as I pass the time away.
Look away from your phone for a while and turn your eyes on your right.
Okay, so I did. Graphing out my location, about 30-ish meters away was a woman standing by the grocery counter. Seeing just a typical scenario, I went on with my phone.
utne.com
Stand up. Go to that woman at the counter. Before I even responded further to that, something came up again.
And please, bring your purse with you. The woman at the counter is short of money.Pay for how much she still needs.
I needed no thunderous voice nor a holy lightning to respond. In a heartbeat, I stood up bringing what I was told to bring. I know I do not have a sumptuous amount in my purse as it's an S.O.P. on field work not to bring such, but I find no harm in obeying. A hi, a smile, and a quick glance on her grocery cart were the first few things I did when I came to the counter. I saw food and other goodies. She's a wife. She's a homemaker. She's a mom. Not so long (I opt not to elaborate), the woman and the cashier exchanged non-verbal, eye communication. And I was there ~ just there. The woman released a deep, long sigh, "I am sorry, I just did not expect this. I am short of money and..." Tada! No further explanation needed. I immediately did the thing for which I was sent. I took out my purse and paid for the amount she still needs. And to my surprise, the not-so-much money I had was the exact amount she needs! The woman, the cashier and I were caught by surprise in different, unuttered ways. Can somebody just made that up? I don't think so. It was a divine encounter at the counter. Days after, the woman made an effort to pay. I refused. She insisted. I refused again. Then she asked, Why?
I smiled and said, "I didn't do that out of obligation. So I am not putting back such on you. You are completely not in debt. I did that out of obedience."
The encounter was not that grand, but it was a sincere act and expression of love from Above. I know the credit is not mine, but to the One who told me to stand. For the past years, this I learned: Never doubt or discount your ability to hear from the Lord. A thunderous voice, a holy lightning we do not need, or even a question of doubt like "Maybe it's just me". A life-fellowship with Him can bring something extraordinary from an ordinary, still and peaceful day. Told you ~ that still small voice will never shout. :)
If you know this children's song, share this few minutes with me singing:
Father Abraham had seven children
Seven children had Father Abraham
One of them was tall
All the rest were small
But none of them were right
Raise your right... Raise your left...
It's not that I am going to do a song analysis on this one. It is not that I am nostalgic about my childhood days either. This children's song suddenly came up to mind when I was processing the story of one of my colleagues. For the sake of consistency, I will name him, Mr. Abraham.
Just a few hours ago, Mr. Abraham, another colleague and I were on the company truck. Our weekend field work had just ended and we were heading back home. It was a long day and we were all very tired. Mr. A was driving. To help keep himself awake, he shared bits and pieces of his life. We listened. It's not a new thing for Mr. A because he really loves to talk ~ a lot. As provided by the children's song, true enough, our very own Mr. Abraham had seven children:
In our grandparents' generation specially in rural areas, having many children was normal, pretty normal. I knew families who had 9-13 children. But when we talk about today, we all know that having seven children in the city is just ~ way too much. Mr. Abraham's children range from 18 years old as eldest and 4 years old, youngest. As each family has its own dynamics, theirs is kind of unusual. One recently moved out. One is deaf. One has cerebral palsy. One is athletic. One is smart. One is street smart. One is still too young for school. Mr. A and his wife has a big responsibility placed upon their shoulders. They have 7 children with different personalities to deal with, 7 mouths to feed, bodies to clothe, and precious little lives to love and protect. Mr. A said that they are careful not to regard one above the others, that they won't feel one is favored while the others are less loved. As many as they are, they still make time to talk to each one personally. Covering and providing for the needs of the family is a great challenge for Mr. A. There are times it's really hard to make both ends meet. As hard as it is, still they see the grace and providence of God. They see their children as blessings and gifts. In Mr. A's eyes, fulfilling the role as the head of the family is a service done for the Lord. Not for men, not for neighbors or relatives, but for the Lord. It makes me smile hearing good and positive words from Mr. A. What a humble, spirited, God-fearing man we got here! His family life is no joke. There may be times he had been at the end of the ropes. But see, we were the one blessed hearing Mr. A's stories along the way. No complains, no rants, no regrets. No wonder he has been blessed a 'lot'. To Mr. Abraham who had seven children, we salute you!
Psalm 127:4-5
New International Version (NIV)
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are children born in one’s youth.
Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their opponents in court.
Psalm 37:25-26
New International Version (NIV)
I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.
They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be a blessing.
Song reference: kalisch13.tripod.com/lyric_act.htm Image credits: crcschool.scoilnet.ie &annieink.com
"So you dance too, I suppose?" I asked Rowel* while taking a break.
"Ah, yes. I dance, too, same as Miriam*. But that was before the accident."
"What accident? Why? When?" This curious little me sparkled with the greatest undivided attention to a story I'm about to hear.
2004. Motorbike accident. Head to head collision. I knew and saw that something's wrong, that something's not right with his face. I didn't pay attention to it. I shrugged it off to myself. Maybe it was because I was raised not to single out & pick out people's disabilities, abnormalities, and the like. And maybe, I was just polite not to ask. My interrogation might offend him. Good thing, he paved his way to the story.
"My face that you now see has 39 steel plates and 19 screws in it. The surgeons needed to do that to at least get my face back. My face was totally crushed and unrecognizable. I was bleeding to death. But you know, God's grace made a way for me to get help, and to live."
"I can't dance the way I used to. I can't join competitions, I can't do exhibitions, and I can't do lifts anymore. But you know what? I may be limited, but I know I can still do other things. I see life more differently now."
There I was, sitting at the dance floor room, talking to once a stranger named Rowel. A living proof of God's grace. He may be a 'bio-man', but hey, he's been through tough ordeals. This bio-man is a survivor. The accident itself is one thing. And getting his life back after the accident is another. His disfigured face has a story to tell. Behind his face, behind this bionic man's face, is the love of God that wants nothing but for him to live. It's sad how some of us fret with how our faces look like - becoming so particular with our face's symmetry, angle, color and lines. How vain we turn out to be at times. But here's a man who didn't mind the symmetry of his face. He just wanted to see, he just wanted to live. Put in the steel. Put in the screws. Put and stitch it all together.
"I thought I was going to die. But here I am... still alive."
On Rowel's behalf, I thank the Lord for the gift of life. It was God's grace in this bio-man's life. -----
*Rowel is the best friend of Miriam*, a dance instructor I invited to teach dance for our upcoming event at the office. Miriam asked Rowel to accompany her. *not their real names. *Cropped image credit : ideationox.deviantart.com
* This is an overdue response to one of my previous posts. :)
Calling SG # 6. It was our turn. After words of testimonies for the 7-day Leadership-Discipleship Camp were read & heard, our Small Group stood in the middle. Shortly, a chorus of audible, low key hushes and silent words of prayer enveloped us. With my hands still holding my SGmates, I heard sobs. I knew one of us was shedding tears.
Then I saw teardrops on the floor.
I just didn't know who was it. I was trying to comprehend where that intense feeling was coming from. I knew it was something deep. Those were sobs that's been wanting to be heard, and those were tears that's been wanting to be dried. Soon after, Mia (not her real name), grabbed my hand and embraced me wholly.
Flood of tears and louder sobs came from Mia. She can't say anything. She just wept and wept. I took her aside and held her tight. We went outside. I watched her intently, saying silent words of prayer for her.
"This is our last night, Ate. I hope I can always talk to you." Then again, she cried.
Then to her I said, "The Lord loves you very much. Always remember that. He is Your Comforter and the Lifter of your head. I am here before you because of Him. I am just like you and may fail you at times. I have frailties and a complete set of weaknesses. But the Lord, He surely doesn't and will never fail you. It is by His grace I survived. And it is by the same I will continue to live.
You can live, you can rise, you can shine in and through Him."
There were more teardrops on the floor. I wanted to cry, too. I hugged her back, tucked her in. I couldn't say anything more. I completely know where she was coming from and how I wish ourstatistics would decrease.
Mia and I are both motherless. She's been living a motherless life for a year. I've been living mine for 18 years. And you know what more comes to that?
The Lord must have known all this and purposefully joined us together in SG. It is something you can't just make. It is something... divine.
To dear Mia, as surely as the Lord lives, you got me here. I will always be here to pray for you, and will surely remember you every March 13th. And I will remember the night you cried, the night I saw your teardrops on the floor.
Incalculable loss? Yes.
Experienced comfort from the Greatest Comforter? A bigger YES.
I miss my friends. I miss them in a sense that before, I had a 'daily' or 'regular' time spent with them. Some of them were my schoolmates so we see and talk with each other almost everyday. Some were inter-church friends who I regularly meet then for activities, fellowships, etc.
Things and situations really do change. Friends oftentimes are separated from each other because of very valid reasons relating to family, work and ministry. Having been conditioned for those kind of changes, I have accepted it with love and grace. :)
Friends are treasures. And I thank the Lord for blessing me with them. They may not be as many as one can think of, but I can say I have few real ones. That's the real deal about friends isn't it?
My human strength may fail (and it so often does) to prove what a treasure they are to me, but the Lord knows how they are sincerely well-cherished in my thoughts and in my heart.
Okay, I am getting a bit softer. Well, I miss them, so please bear with me... at least for this post. :)
What inspired this post was the thing that happened yesterday. It was just simple and sudden so, please don't expect to read something magical here. :)
I went up to my room for a very quick wash up then this came up to mind:
1 Corinthians 13 ... 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a. Okay, I know that's the 'Love Chapter'. But now what? I knew I needed to stop for a moment. So, I took my Bible, took a seat, and intently read it. If you may, for this time, read it with me again:
Reading this passage yesterday touched me in a different way. Missing my friends & with the Lord reminding of this love chapter has made me see how friendship, or being a friend really is ~ in God's eyes. So I came up with this 'Friendship Chapter':
"A friend is patient, a friend is kind.
He does not envy, he does not boast,
he is not proud. He is not rude,
he is not self-seeking, he is not easily
angered, he keeps no record of wrongs.
A friend does not delight in evil but rejoices
with the truth. He always protects. He
always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
A friend never fails..."
I closed my Bible with a smile and uttered a simple prayer of thanks for the gift of God-inspired friendships I realized that day.
Then from my room I came out with a washed up face and heart to finish my day away. :)
I have always been encouraged by this prayer. I have read this the first time from a book I have bought so many years ago. The author offered its readers to borrow the prayer and so, at some points in my life, I did. :)
This is the prayer of a man (A.W. Tozer), called to be a witness to
the nations. This is what he said to his Lord on the day of his ordination.
After the elders and ministers had prayed and laid their hands on him he
withdrew to meet his Savior in the secret place and in the silence, farther in
than his well-meaning brethren could take him. And he said:
“O
Lord, I have heard Your voice and was afraid. You have called me to an
awesome task in a grave and perilous hour. You are about to shake all nations
and the earth and also heaven, that the things that cannot be shaken may
remain. O Lord, my Lord, You have stooped
to honor me to be Your servant. No man takes this honor upon himself save
he that is called of God as was Aaron. You have ordained me Your messenger to
them that are stubborn of heart and hard of hearing. They have rejected You,
the Master, and it is not to be expected that they will receive me, the
servant.
My God, I shall
not waste time deploring my weakness nor my unfittedness for the work. The
responsibility is not mine, but Yours. You have said,
“I knew you – I ordained you – I sanctified you,” and You have also said, “You shall go to all that I shall send you,
and whatsoever I command you, you shall speak.” Who am I to argue with You or
to call into question Your sovereign choice? The decision is not mine but Yours.
So be it, Lord. Your will, not mine, be
done.
Well do I know, You God of the prophets and the
apostles, that as long as I honor You, You will honor me. Help me therefore to take this solemn vow to honor You in all my future
life and labors, whether by gain or by loss, by life or by death, and then to
keep that vow unbroken while I live.
It is time, O God, for You to work, for the enemy has
entered into Your pastures and the sheep are torn and scattered. And false
shepherds abound who deny the danger and laugh at the perils which surround Your
flock. The sheep are deceived by these hirelings and follow them with touching
loyalty while the wolf closes in to kill and destroy. I beseech You, give me sharp eyes to detect the presence of the enemy;
give me understanding to see and courage to report what I see faithfully.
Make my voice so like Your own that even the sick sheep will recognize it and
follow You.
Lord Jesus, I
come to You for spiritual preparation. Lay Your hand upon me. Anoint me with the oil of the New Testament prophet. Forbid
that I should become a religious scribe and thus lose my prophetic calling. Save me from the curse that lies dark across
the modern clergy, the curse of compromise, of imitation, of professionalism.
Save me from the error of judging a church by its size, its popularity or the
amount of its yearly offering. Help me to remember that I am a prophet –
not a promoter, not a religious manager, but a prophet. Let me never become a slave to crowds. Heal my soul of carnal ambitions
and deliver me from the itch for publicity. Save me from bondage to things. Let
me not waste my days puttering around the house. Lay Your terror upon me, O
God, and drive me to the place of prayer where I may wrestle with
principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world. Deliver
me from overeating and late sleeping. Teach me self-discipline that I may be a
good soldier of Jesus Christ.
I accept hard work and small rewards in this life. I
ask for no easy place. I shall try to be blind to the little ways that could
make life easier. If others seek the smoother path I shall try to take the hard
way without judging them too harshly. I shall expect opposition and try to take
it quietly when it comes. Or if, as sometimes it falls out to Your servants, I
should have grateful gifts pressed upon me by Your kindly people, stand by me
then and save me from the blight that often follows. Teach me to use whatever I
receive in such manner that will not injure my soul nor diminish my spiritual
power. And if in Your permissive providence honor should come to me from Your
church, let me not forget in that hour
that I am unworthy of the least of Your mercies, and that if men knew me as
intimately as I know myself they would withhold their honors or bestow them
upon others more worthy to receive them.
And now, O Lord
of heaven and earth, I consecrate my remaining days to You; let them be many or
few, as You will. Let me stand before the great or minister to the poor and
lowly; that choice is not mine, and I would not influence it if I could. I am Your
servant to do Your will, and that will is sweeter to me than position or riches
or fame and I choose it above all things on earth or in heaven.
Though I am chosen of You and honored by a high and
holy calling, let me never forget that I
am but a man of dust and ashes, a man with all the natural faults and passions
that plague the race of men. I pray You, therefore, my Lord and Redeemer, save
me from myself and from all the injuries I may do myself while trying to be a
blessing to others. Fill me with Your power by the Holy Spirit, and I will go
in Your strength and tell of Your righteousness, even Yours only. I will spread
abroad the message of redeeming love while my normal powers endure.
Then, dear
Lord, when I am old and weary and too tired to go on, have a place ready for me
above, and make me to be numbered with Your saints in glory everlasting. Amen.”
Written in 1950, this chapter has been reprinted many
times and widely circulated.
When I don't talk or write about her, they'd say I've forgotten her. But when I do, they'd say I've never recovered yet.
Whatever. Whatever they say is all right with me. They may say whatever they like of these.
As for me, this I do as a toast to life. A toast to a life once witnessed, a life once shared and a life that will ever be loved. Happy thoughts!
Disclaimer: I don't drink. This is but a picture for this post. ;)
This day marks the 18th year of Mama having went Home. And I want to remember and thank the Lord for the full 37 years she had lived. Her life may be short, but that's really it. She's in her fullest. It was really her time to go.
As I look back, I smile how Mama so firmly taught us the basics of life. I still remember them so well. She taught the basics, life skills followed afterwards.
I understand how words on some posts can be so limited. And this post falls here. The urge to write is not really here at this moment, but I just don't want to miss this date. Thank you for bearing with me. :)
Thank you Lord for Mama's full years. A celebration and a toast for a life well-lived. Cheers!
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