The One True Light

Rejoice! A blessed Christmas to all :-)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God;
all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.
In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him.
He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light.
The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not.
He came to his own home, and his own people received him not.
But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God;
who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.
(John bore witness to him, and cried, "This was he of whom I said, `He who comes after me ranks before me, for he was before me.'")
And from his fullness have we all received, grace upon grace.
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known. (John 1:1-18)

A New Space

My Christmas gift to myself is *tadah* a new space. I was creating one in Baguio City when life stopped "happening" to me and I started to make it "happen," and now it looks like I've made it happen at new digs in Mandaluyong. What it's going to eventually look like is something still in my head, but bits and pieces are starting to get put together. Worst case would be a sleeping mat in the middle of the condo floor, but that's a little too sad to imagine (I'd probably be better off crashing over at Rhia's, Ney's, or Miles'!).

The great thing is that almost everything important to me is within the perimeter - my best friends, both my offices, my training program. Home, He Cares, and the kitchen are still not too far away, and it'll save me a huge chunk of travel time to be centrally located. An added bonus is that an old sorority sister lives only three stories up - so there'll always be someone to borrow a cup of sugar from (as if I'll be doing anything that needs sugar).

So it's an exciting new phase in my life. Come to think of it, it's actually God's little gift to me, just like JJ Phad in BC, and I'm looking forward to what the New Year in the new digs will bring, sleeping mat and all. :-)

Failing Forward...and Into His Arms

Breakdown, major one. I never expected that one coming; and it was dark and ugly while it lasted. Thank God it took only a few hours out of my life for me to see His hand pull me out of that place and set me back on my feet.

We're not meant to wallow - although at times our humanity requires us to. In self-centered misery, there's a denial of the light at the end of the tunnel, the dancing after the mourning, the Easter morning. He will always pull us through, and in this case, He had me rejoicing in a matter of relative moments.

It's times like these when being Christian is most powerful: when the ground beneath us seems to crumble, we are assured of the steady foundation of His promises. He is the only One who walks with us in the lonely valley, when we cannot trust even our own footing; He sees us not for our many failures but lovingly acknowledges our possibility. The future we are living in truly calls us powerfully into being who we are today - after all, He who is Integrity Himself promised us a future full of hope, He who has plans for our welfare, not our woe (Jeremiah 29:11-16). And truly, all things work for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28).

Praise be the God of our salvation, in whom all things are possible :-)

Welcome Home Kuya, and A Bientot, Roy!

Kuya JD's back home after a month of evangelization seminars (and Hainanese chicken!) in Singapore, and our good friend Roy from Canada is on his way home tomorrow after a much too brief visit. Tonight we had a welcome home/farewell dinner for them, with food, beer, and lots of possibilities created. Praise be to God! Love and blessings all around :-)

Related

Today I just got present to the miracle of being related to another human being in terms of friendship. My definition of a "good friend" may be different from that of another, and it's all good. What's important is the blessing of friendship: the good friends I have in my life, and those who consider me a good friend. And I'm creating the possibility of being related fully to all of them, whoever they may be, and however long I've known them. :-) Amazing :-)