Off The Beaten Trek: 06/01/2008

He Helps Us Get Through

My father had passed away back in December 8, 2007. But he was ill for a long time prior to his death. I was browsing my journal when I came across one of the songs I had composed on December 16, 2005. At that time, my father was in a hospital, his breathing aided by a ventilator. With the many oceans between us, all I could do was pray for him and made my love known by calling him everyday. Being a nurse, it was a very tough trial for me not to be able to care physically for my father. But knowing how faithful the Lord is with His love and promises, I knew then, we would all be okay, especially my father. Thank You Lord for this song that constantly serves as a reminder of Your faithful love:

Help Me Get Through

We may never understand

Every trial that happens in this lifetime

Lord, You're always there that I know

Giving us strength when giving up is all I want to do

Oh Lord, please be there for me

Help me get up whenever I fall

Oh Lord, draw me near to You

With this pain, help me get through

My hope comes from knowing You

In my dark moment, You are the Light that shines on me

Lord, You take away all my fears

Giving me the courage to fight all my battles

John 14:27 - Jesus said, "I leave you My peace; My peace I give you. I do not give it to you as the world does. So don't let your hearts be troubled or afraid."

Psalm 46:1-2, 10 - "God is our refuge and strength. a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea....Be still and know that I am God."

Philippians 4:6-7 - "Do not worry about anything but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks. And God's peace, which is so great we cannot understand it, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

Matthew 11:28-29 - Jesus said, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls."

Joshua 1:9 - "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord God is with you wherever you go."

Nahum 1:7 - "The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble and He knows those who trust in Him."

Door Bell

The Most Important Clothing

Father's Day

What a tough month it would be to celebrate "Father's Day" come the 15th, this year! My father passed away back in December of 2007. Long ago, how easy it was for me to call him on the phone. Despite the many miles between us, we just shared a lot of good talks only a father and his child could have. His health went down really fast, after being diagnosed with colon cancer. Up to this day, I'm really grateful that my brothers and I had the chance to be by his side as he laid on his bed before he passed away. Every minute of each of those days felt like a lifetime's worth of catching up with good mem'ries we lost as we lived our lives in different places of this world. Despite the pain and that predicament he was in, he kept joking around and he wanted to be remembered by everyone that instead of us crying and feeling down, he wanted people to know that he died happy, same with his family and all the people he cared about. He didn't want it to end with mourning, but with celebration of life and joy despite the pain!

I wanted to be strong for him because I knew how much pain he was in even though he wasn't complaining and wasn't able to nourish his body anymore. I recalled every fun mem'ry we all had shared together with our mother when she was alive. What a great feeling to see my father's big smile knowing how much energy he must have used just to do that! The heck with my not so nice voice, I sang with my other brother as I strummed the guitar and he liked that. I would often lay down next to him and asked him to hug me, until the last one was going to be the "last one" for real. Lots of people flocked to his room to pay their visit and prayed for him. They came crying when they saw how fragile he looked but when they left, they were all laughing with tears, their broken hearts replaced by the good spirit my father had shown them through his jokes. Much later, as I figured things out, it wasn't me who kept my father strong. It was the other way around...He was the one who kept me and the others strong. He remained in good spirits and I believe up to this day, it was his deep faith in God that made him survive this hardest trial.

Yes, my father may not be here this Father's Day, but we have a spiritual Father Who is always there for us, going through our tough times. From 2 Corinthians 1:3-7, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, Who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort."

Happy Father's Day to all of you, dads out there!

Candies and Honesty

I usually pick up all the trash from all the trash bins upstairs everyday and there's one bin in my son's room. Upstairs, we also have a jar of candies and told my son not to eat too much, only a little bit at a time. I wanted him to know that I could trust him and it would start with a simple instruction like that. One day, I found too many candy wrappers in the trash bin in his room and some in the bin close to the computer. I asked my husband if he had eaten a lot of candies and he quickly responded that he ate only 1 piece. I didn't have anything yet so there was only 1 "culprit" left to blame...When I confronted my son regarding my discovery, he whispered in a very soft voice, "ahhh....some of those wrappers were there since Thursday, mom!" [I was thinking, "did he forget that I pick up the trash everyday?" I got upset with the fact that he lied. Much later, he told me that he did that thinking that he would get away with it, he then knew, he got in deeper trouble. He said he was sorry and gave me a hug and a kiss.

What happened was true with all of us. We all prefer to deal with honest people--people we can trust, people who don't lie and don't try to deceive us. But it must start with ourselves, too. A noble goal for one's life is to pursue HONESTY--honesty with ourselves, with others and with God.

I read this from one of the books I had: "An honest man is not a man who never lies. There is no such man. When an honest man is caught in a lie or discovers he has lied, he is quick to admit it. He then speaks the truth. He's not afraid to say, "please forgive me for not being honest." He does not defend a lie.

We surely need God's help to be honest. In a court of law, it is asked, "Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?" And the reply is "so help me God."

After that incident, the jar of candies do not get empty in just a matter of days. There were lesser candy wrappers in the trash bins by the computer and in my son's room. Most of all, out of that incident, I knew I could trust my son again...

Brace

The orthodontist applied the braces on my son's teeth last week. After a little over an hour, we were instructed about the proper maintenance and care so as to avoid problems as much as possible. He has to wear the braces for 30 months and that seems like a long time. But my son understands, these appliances will help his slightly crooked teeth to be straight and when the treatment is over, he will have a nicer, even teeth. He was fine all night long but when morning came, he complained of some soreness with his upper teeth that I had to give him some pain reliever to make him more comfortable. Thank God the medicine helped him that day and ever since, his pain is much more tolerable. He understands quite well that with the brace, comes some discomfort or pain once in a while. He knows if he learns to be patient, then everything would be worth the wait!

Spiritually speaking, I want the Lord to be the brace in my life. I know and fully understand that He will make my crooked ways straight and only Him can do that. I know that I need to learn how to be patient in order for me to grow in His likeness, despite the expected discomfort and pain from the trials in this lifetime and with the changes I need to make in order to be more like Christ in all of my ways. 1Peter 3:17 says, "Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong!".

Romans 5:3,4 - "We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us-they help us learn to endure. And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation."

Becoming more Christ-like in all things is an everyday process called work. If I want to have a Christian way of life, then I must patiently allow the brace [Holy Spirit] to reshape my life. I can do that only by trusting Him.

Romans 8:28 - "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose."

Any masterpiece takes time to be perfected.....in the hands of the Master Artist.....God bless.

The Attacker (5/15/09)

The sun was just peeking from the Eastern skies.

Out in the prison’s yard, some huge Sheriff’s buses were illuminated by the soft glow coming from the lights all over from the tall lamp posts. Their engines were turned on, warming up, before the buses would take the inmates to the different courts where they would have their trials.

Orange-uniformed men were lined up in pairs, joined together with handcuffs and chained, forming a long line. They already had their breakfast and had their morning medications prior to going to courts. Some were fidgeting, as they waited to board those buses.

All of a sudden, all hell broke loose! Two men were engaged in a fight, using weapons they made secretly for a while. Deputies called for help on the radio, both for custody back-up and medical staff, as well.

When the air was cleared and the other inmates were secured, one man was down on the floor. He sustained multiple gashes but two of them were deep. One cut was vertically etched from his left ear going down to the jaw line. The other dangerous cut was horizontal on his left neck, close to the jugular vein. Pool of blood dripped all over the floor. Holding his bleeding neck, he was pointing at the other inmate few feet away, being guarded by the other deputies.

The other man being accused was not hurt. There were no lacerations nor any other signs of trauma. He was obviously very agitated as he was being questioned by those deputies, while the medical staff started treating the other man on the floor. They cleaned the wounds and controlled the bleeding. That man was sent to the nearby hospital.

When the investigation was finalized, it turned out to be that the “downed man who was accusing the other inmate” was the attacker and the other one who didn’t have injury was the one attacked. The deputies found out that it was the second attempt to attack the unhurt man. Both attacks on him failed. He was well-prepared after the first attempt on him, that when the second attempt was done, he was able to defend himself and ended up injuring his attacker severely.

[Source: NLT Bible ]:

We also have an “accuser of the brethren.” Satan and his army of demons are the enemies of God and of everything good.

“Because God’s children are human beings – made of flesh and blood – Jesus also became flesh and blood by being born in human form. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the Devil, who had the power of death.” –Hebrews 2:14

Because of what Jesus had done [dying on the cross], we, who live in constant fear of death shouldn’t be afraid anymore. Jesus had freed us from that fear so we can live for Him. When we belong to God, we know that death is only the portal that leads into “eternal life”. [“Thank You Lord!].

Paul warned us, too that we also battle against the evil forces of Satan, who is a vicious fighter. But to be able to withstand their attacks, we must depend on God’s strength and use every piece of His armor. We face an army whose goal is to defeat Christ’s church. When we believe in Christ, they become our enemies. They will try any device to turn us away from the Lord.

Fear not! For God has provided His supernatural power to defeat Satan and his army, through His Holy Spirit within us. So, arm yourselves with God’s armor.

Let us be strong in the Lord's mighty power. Let's put on His whole armor to resist the enemy's attacks: put on the sturdy belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News, so that we are well-prepared. We will need faith in every battle as our shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed by Satan and his army. Let us put on salvation as our helmet, not forgetting the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Let's pray at all times, on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. We must stay alert and be persistent in our prayers for all Christians everywhere. [Ephesians 6:10-18].