Blessings and Possibilities

I'm writing from the lanai of my sister's new apartment, 26 stories up on Nuuanu Avenue, with the Honolulu harbor in full view. Aloha from Hawaii: I have arrived.

It's been almost six months since my last US trip, pretty much par for the course since I created this lifestyle possibility a couple of years ago - and to think that I'd been putting this off for a number of "convenient" reasons. Now, and especially since I completed reviewing the Landmark Forum last week, I really continue to get that anything is possible, by integrity in one's word and through the grace of God. I've had the opportunity to travel halfway around the world every six months since that particular possibility was created, aside from the shorter Asian and local trips in between. Yet part of the anxiety that overshadowed the excitement of flying off again came mostly from the past - uncomfortable flights, unfounded customs and immigration concerns (would they take my sister's tuyo and taba ng talangka away?), a ridiculous niggling fear that something - any little thing - would go wrong.

None of that happened - talk about the constraints the past imposes on our view of life! I was blessed with impeccable timing (the rains from tropical depression Lawin, which caused monumental traffic jams on the roads, hit Manila only a few minutes after I'd been dropped off at the airport); no heavy lifting of luggage (yay for friendly NAIA porters!); an empty seat beside me on the plane that had me sleep better and gave me easy access to the bathroom; the fastest and friendliest US baggage claim/immigration/customs procedure ever that had me in and out of Honolulu International in 15 minutes (!!). Plus all my other concerns I left behind are complete - the Advanced Course is in the best of hands, last minute law office work handled, personal and professional communications re pending matters communicated and addressed.

Which gave me enough space to indulge in a rare luxury I haven't experienced since leaving Chicago in March - an American cable TV marathon! Sigh. Praise God for His goodness and the miracle of breathers.

Will be getting off the couch and exploring the rest of Oahu tomorrow - and then there's Maui on the weekend! And then mainland US after that. Mahalo Lord, You make all this possible indeed. :-)