A Powerful Pentecost

This last week has been leading up to the outpouring of the Spirit today, much perhaps like the time the apostles were anxiously waiting in the upper room to receive what their beloved Savior had promised.

And man, did they receive! (Acts 2)

Today was also my personal Pentecost, as I received with open arms a veritable thunderstorm of His love and messages. The clarity of the experience was much like the neon-light revelation three years ago that pointed me unmistakably to where I was being called at the time through Luke 14:12- to the banquet of "the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind," which transformed my life forever. And as I shared a long time ago in a previous journal, it takes incontrovertible evidence for the skeptic in me to actually get what's being Said. I also just realized that it's been almost three years to the day (June 6, 2004) that I received my calling to serve, and five years (June 2, 2002) since I first answered the One calling me to Him.

True to form, today's messages were brought to me, Sesame Street style, by the letter "P," from my Panginoon:

PRESENCE. POWER. POSSIBILITY. PURPOSE. PRAISE. PROPHECY.

PRESENCE (Alan's addition to my "P's" when I shared this with him earlier today; I wasn't "present" to it at the time!). During Mass at today's Feast, the priest-celebrant said that it isn't God who holds back on what He gives us - it is our willingness to receive the continuous torrent of His blessings that keeps us from getting them. Today what I got was that to receive the fullness of His abundance, we must be totally empty. More relevantly, we are truly open to His generosity and His communication when there is nothing between Him and us; when we are cleared of all our internal conversations of guilt and unworthiness (the "umbrella" we open that keeps up from His rainstorms of love) - for He has already redeemed us and washed us clean by His blood, and continues to allow us to draw near to Him through His immeasurable Mercy (from which we may constantly draw through the Sacrament of Reconciliation). It is then that we can actually be present to His word for our lives.

POWER. That said, and being fully empty and present to Him, His message landed loud and clear: "the power you wield is My power revealed." In my weakness, He is my strength; and truly, His power in me releases me from fear and enables me to allow His glory to shine forth. And, in receptive emptiness, I received yet another revelation: it is His message when it is a message that gives me power. Thus, perhaps the most powerful message I received today is that He sees me as my -

POSSIBILITY. "You are able to see others as their possibility because I see you as yours." Wow. I really GOT that. He, indeed, created us - and sees us - as no less. To rub it in a little more, worship began with All Things Are Possible, and continued on a bit later to The Potter's Hand: "Teach me O Lord, to see all of my life, through Your eyes..."

PURPOSE. I'm supervising a powerful program this coming weekend that I've promised to be nothing short of mind-blowing, earth-shaking, and extraordinary. Even more so than my own experience of that program last October 2006. What I have at stake is the future of the Philippines and the full self-expression and freedom of the Filipino people. And I brought this program to today's celebration and lay it the foot of His cross. The confirmations I received over the course of the Feast, from the messages in worship and during the talk that followed, to actual physical evidence and the Word itself in Isaiah 60 cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be coincidence, even to someone like me who needs more than the usual amount of proof (lawyers!):

"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.

"Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

"Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you;
your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the arm.

"Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy;
the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come."

Yup, the Philippines will never be the same again after this weekend. I PROMISE that. And thus it shall be. :-)

PRAISE. I'm going to be doing a lot of that over the next week and into the weekend, in everything I do. I'm blessed that my partners in my possibility are also present to the miracle of praise. For in praise, there is presence, power, possibility, and purpose. Really :-)

PROPHECY. I missed most of Jon Escoto's talk because I took my sweet time over a snack, but the last part of it was even more confirmation of all of the above. Prophecy, according to what I got from Jon, is creating out of one's speaking (hmmm...sounds familiar, heh heh). And SO IT SHALL BE. At the end of his conversation, he bade us to prophesy to our spouses and children (I have none of the above - yet!), to the people around us, and most importantly - to our country. He said that too many "negative" (in my language, "disempowering" would be more accurate) things we say about the Philippines keep it where it is. Prophesy that it be blessed and be the First World, God-loving, God-abiding nation it is meant to be. How much more confirmation did I need?

A first-world Philippines, powerful (without disempowering anyone else, and instead empowering every other nation and people), free, and fully self-expressed! I prophesy that it shall BE sooner than any of us think. Praise God :-)

The Parable of the Talents

Something extraordinary happened over the last eight months. And I'm present to the many miracles that I've experienced over that span of time.

The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) most aptly illustrates the blessings I am present to.

"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.

"After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.'

"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

"The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.'

"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

"Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'

"His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

" 'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"

Analogous to this is Luke 12:48: "Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more."

What I get from these verses of scripture is that the Almighty has generously gifted us with extraordinary graces - talents, abilities, ways of being - that He trusts us to cultivate, utilize, and grow. Each of us has unique gifts from above, and the "challenge" is how we shall best use them and thereby proclaim the Giver's glory.

The ordinary perspective is to prioritize, sacrifice, choose the talent with the most potential - abandoning the rest. Thus we have lawyers who secretly desire to be novelists, doctors whose heart's passion is to create art, employees who covertly wish to be entrepreneurs.

My take on the Parable of the Talents, and many other verses of Scripture, is that the good Lord actually wants us to take EVERYTHING on. I am not a lawyer to the exclusion of everything else I do - I am a lawyer, a senior Partner of the firm AND I am a cook, entertainer, singer, lay missionary, entrepreneur, agent, publisher, editor, writer, educator, and so on and so forth. All at the same time.

Our lives are not meant to be a matter of multiple choice, but instead, a choice of all of the above. This is one of the biggest things I got out of my Landmark education - you can have it ALL. Really. And when I start to embrace having it all, much more becomes available. I become present to the availability of being, doing, expressing, having everything I've ever wanted, without sacrificing (in the sense of having to give up) anything else. And then I get present to that so much more is being given to me.

The conversation no longer becomes about having too much on your plate - it becomes about getting a bigger one. And that's an exciting point of view from which I choose to stand. Next talent, please?

Completion and Creation

That just about sums up what the last several weeks have been for me. Completing tasks, projects, accountabilities, programs, and endeavors...and creating new ones.

Tonight's homily by Father JBoy, to celebrate the Feast of the Ascencion, spoke about that - episozomene, in particular, or completion, which leads to ascensio, or ascencion. In other words, the prerequisite of moving on to a higher plane is completion of a task. When what needs to be done gets done properly, in time and in substance, there opens up a clearing for the next task at hand.

Completion and creation. I just completed my assisting accountabilities in two seminars (oh YEAH) and my leadership program (which means I've completed the whole Landmark Education Curriculum for Living in a span of eight months!), aside from one other supervising accountability and a program in Japan.

In "life," I've also just successfully completed an editing job, and a legal project. I also completed - albeit in the sense of termination - a business partnership that was not within my own realm of possibilities from the get-go.

Which now leaves me free to create a lot of new stuff; and, consciously or otherwise, that's what I've been taking on. New accountabilities in Landmark Education that I haven't taken on before, new projects for the businesses I'm already operating and a whole new business enterprise that's full of promise. New perspectives, new openings - even new relationships and new views of old ones. And, due to the completion, none of the old baggage weighing me down.

Now that's what life's about: completion and creation. You just gotta love that!

Being Unreasonable

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.
"The man who listens to Reason is lost: Reason enslaves all whose minds are not strong enough to master her." - George Bernard Shaw, Maxims for Revolutionists in Man and Superman

Complaint

I have a complaint.

Several, actually, with one consistent theme. In this new realm of possibility, complaints are anathema - and yet a persistent one rankles my nerves.

I cannot stand people who cannot get their greatness.

I hate it when they whine, hide, denigrate themselves, betray their possibilities. Sure, I get that part of their humanity, but somehow I cannot stand it. Especially when they trivialize what their existence is all about.

I know I *should* be compassionate, but it seems that I cannot tolerate it.

Heck, I will not.

When we make ourselves small, we make the One who created us small - for we were created in His image and likeness, and our God is definitely not miniscule.

So get off it already.

In The Moment

Today I finally got around to spending time with a new friend I'd been promising to meet up with for months (and later on with a dear old friend I hadn't gotten together with in a long while). Lately life has been like an amazing roller coaster ride (the best way to experience it is to really enjoy it instead of letting it freak you out!) going at full-speed that I just realized I haven't really allowed myself the leisure of the moment. Especially with the people really important to me.

And there are more and more people who've become really important to me recently, in addition to long-time friends and family. In reality, there are a certain number of hours in a day, and it's been quite the challenge to spend quality time with all the many people in my life. Then again, anything is possible. I got present today to the impact of my not being "available," and I really got that.

I'm creating the possibility of being present, really and truly, in the moment, and to the people in my life. All 6.6 billion of them - as far as my other possibilities are concerned :-) God grant me the grace to do just that!

Jars of Clay

Was browsing through my dear friend/business partner/sister Johanna's blog the other day and an entry really floored me. It's a compelling quote from Marianne Williamson on what we can truly BE:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?

Actually, who are you NOT to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.

There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won't feel unsure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.

As we let our own Light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

The weakness of our humanity oftentimes chokes off that Light, and we are stuck in the self-centered world of self-inflicted darkness. What saves us from being consumed by that desperate night is the reminder that, while we are fragile vessels susceptible to being broken or shattered, we contain a glorious Light - that can only be revealed each time our humanity cracks and breaks. And once we, in our humanity, are entirely broken beyond recognition and given up for others, it is only then that the glory of God's blinding Light, the priceless treasure within the jars of clay, is fully revealed as who we truly ARE.

For God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to bring to light the knowledge of the glory of God on the face of (Jesus) Christ.

But we hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.

We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed;
always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.

For we who live are constantly being given up to death for the sake of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

So death is at work in us, but life in you.

Since, then, we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I believed, therefore I spoke," we too believe and therefore speak, knowing that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and place us with you in his presence.

Everything indeed is for you, so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God.

Therefore, we are not discouraged; rather, although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to what is seen but to what is unseen; for what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:4-18)

Creating From Nothing

And so we emerge from yet another leadership training weekend, and what a powerful weekend that was! Great breakthroughs to propel us into the future we're creating for ourselves.

We're finally getting the TWT show on the road, for one, and really seriously putting our noses to the grindstone. One wonderful thing that I learned from a great friend (and business partner), who I acknowledge and admire for her velocity and intentionality in getting her dream off the ground in a matter of a few months, is doing one thing everyday towards the fulfillment of the possibility one has created. And that's just what we did, especially with the powerful new distinctions we received over the ILP weekend. Things are falling into place in a great new realm, and it's absolutely thrilling!

Watch out for Third-World Traveler, Co. - we're gonna rock the Third World!

Getting Present

...through just a smile, a conversation, an acknowledgment, a listening ear.

I love the people I work with: the mothers on kitchen duty and their stories of triumph and defeat and rising again, the people in the office with their hopes and dreams and possibilities, my partners in all the many endeavors I'm involved in - with their realizations of their own frailties, and most importantly, their greatness.

I love the people I serve for being just that - people who I can love, and to whom I can show my love through my service. I get that service does not mean bending over backward or sacrificing painfully, but comes from a genuine and loving acknowledgment of their dignity, their humanity, their equality. Service, indeed, begins with a smile - and sometimes that's all that takes. I've been profoundly made present to how that alone makes a difference.

I love my family and friends for who they are, and for what I can see they can truly be.

I love my God for BEING who He is and who He wants me to BE. My future with Him in eternity is truly the most powerful future that could ever call anyone into being.

My friend Peter recently acknowledged me for being "peace, ease, and profound happiness." I get that; I'm present to all of that. May I continue to be present to all the gifts, especially the most precious gift of relationship, that the Lord continues to shower me with.

Praise God :-)

Hmmm...

I'm not into astrology, but we were going through a book at my friend's studio earlier, and the very first sentence of the entry under my birthday read:

"Those born on July 31 take a special interest in what it means to be a human being. Philosophical and moral questions concerning the nature of humanity absorb them, especially where unusual and abnormal aspects of people are concerned." -The Secret Language of Birthdays by Gary Goldschneider and Joost Elffers

Hmmm. Very interesting.

What's your hobby?

The question was asked in a production meeting yesterday, and I got stumped. Who has time to have hobbies when, on a Saturday, you've got meetings in Makati at 10:00 am, 1:00, and 5:00, an event from 2:00 to 5:00, set-up for a friend's party at 7:00, and the party itself at 9:00 pm? And, in between, a business plan that's waiting to be done (it wasn't).

So I said, half-jokingly, that my hobby was drinking - and going to the bathroom to pee (it felt like that was the only thing I had free time to do). But I wasn't really complaining, and just continued to think about the question for the next few hours.

Later, at the party, Alan asked the question again, but with the qualification "If you had time, what would be your hobbies?"

Standard answer: travel - a little luxury now that my calendar is steadily filling up, and I'll be doing that mid-year. Diving, which I promised myself I'd do again sometime soon, and schedule is still the consideration. Movies - haven't gone to a theater lately but there's always the rare DVD marathon (of foreign art films, yum). The occasional book is always nice, recently finished The Four Agreements - but I'm not reading as much as I used to. But no regrets; I honestly didn't feel like I was missing out on doing things I really love to do.

And so the party progressed, and I had such a fun time (even when I was "working," i.e., helping out at the bar, serving food, entertaining guests), that this morning I got to thinking.

It's not true that I don't have time to do the things I love (the popular definition of "hobby"), because I'm actually already doing them in my life. And not just in my spare time! Now that's a blessing I'm now present to and profoundly grateful for.

I love to cook, and go shopping for pretty household stuff for entertaining. And that's what I do for a living, through the catering business.

I love to party and entertain, and that too I do as part of the business - and as a big part of my life, just like at Kate's impromptu birthday bash last night. I got to dance to some great bands and meet new people (and old friends!) and have great conversations with them and my friends until the wee hours.

I love to talk, and conversation is no longer a dying art in my world. I get to talk to my best friend every single weekday (and sometimes the after-work drinking weeknights) as we work together, to the wonderful people in my life, and to the great people I spend a lot of time doing the work of transformation with (even on weekends and holidays and even in the middle of a party; no vacation from transformation!). And to whoever else I meet and engage in conversation.

And I get to really live my life. I have no time for hobbies, because I'm spending it all already doing what I love - my hobby is my life. Amazing grace, indeed! Now I really get what He said about the fullness and abundance of life - and I'm truly thankful for that. :-)

Now that the business plan's done and I've gotten some writing in today, I'm going to do something I really love and have the rare opportunity to enjoy: take a Sunday nap. Yum!

Breathing Space

Finally, some down time after work-play-work-play-work-work-work over the season. Was so pooped on New Year's Eve that I didn't even make it to the countdown, and then New Year's Day was another big day in the kitchen. So today, I relished the alone time to drive to Chinatown (thank God for post-holiday traffic-lessness), comb the bookstore racks, get a *pink* pedicure, and read up on some program assignments. And to talk on the phone with someone I never thought I could ever relate to - what a great way to cap off a relaxing day. Also got some phone time in with my peripatetic BMF, just when I was beginning to really miss him. And it's back to work tomorrow! Never thought I'd be raring to say that :-)

Before I hit the sack, I wanted to share an entry from Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest, a devotional I've had a love-cynical-love relationship with. The last part of December 31st's reads:

"...As we go forth into the coming year, let it not be in the haste of impetuous, forgetful delight, nor with the quickness of impuslive thoughtlessness. But let us go out with the patient power of knowing that the God of Israel will go before us. Our yesterdays hold broken and irreversible things for us. It is true that we have lost opportunities that will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Let the past rest, but let it rest in the sweet embrace of Christ.

"Leave the broken, irreversible past in His hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him."

Amen. I got that, and I really like that. :-)

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 :-)

Faithful In The Little Things

Less than a month ago, I put together a little venture for the urban poor mothers of the He Cares Foundation - a kitchen cooperative to engage in the business of cooking and distributing packed lunches, merienda, and dinner (the call centers!) to offices and other establishments in the city. From a business point of view, the market is huge and the potential is immense; goodness knows that my own office building alone demands more than what is being supplied. But this enterprise is rooted in something more important than that: the empowerment of these women to become not just recipients of God's grace and blessings but channels of these blessings themselves. Which is exactly the essence of He Cares' mission.

The old proverb "Give a man a fish, you have fed him for today; teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime" applies particularly to the HCF Mothers' Kitchen Coop, and to other such HCF cooperatives I'd like to establish in the near future. Our counterpart of acting for ourselves upon God's providence aside from merely asking is essentially scriptural: Matthew 7:7 does not end with "Ask and it will be given to you," although it is surprising that many believers (myself previously included) seem to remember otherwise. The rest of the verse reads (to 7:8), "seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." The Bible is replete with references on how His people powerfully went into action upon His grace and received miracles upon miracles. Moses leading Israel out of Egypt. Rahab lowering down Joshua's spies, and the red cord out her window. The widow giving her last meal to Elijah. The diseased Roman centurion who bathed in the river Jordan. The faithful friends who broke through the roof to lower a paralytic down to where the Lord was. The hemorraging woman who touched His cloak...I could go on and on. The point is, they not only asked; they acted, and they received.

God has given us talent, resources, skills, intelligence, and the most wonderful gift of free will, all of which are wasted when we sit back on our heels and expect Him to do all the work. And then, more often than not, when our prayers are "not being answered," we tend to blame Him or otherwise justify our circumstances by saying "He said 'no.'" Our inaction, which invariably results in resignation and cynicism, has absolutely no place in the Good News of our salvation; otherwise, we would never be celebrating the ebullience of Easter morning.

Back to "my" mothers. Over the last two and a half years, I've seen them receive so many of His blessings, and still revert to being resigned and cynical. I've preached the Gospel to them, shared how God has been acting in my life and in the life of others, and frequently reminded them how good and faithful He is. But I never quite witnessed the rapt expressions on their faces as when I first told them, only four weeks ago, that God's providence becomes truly real when they act upon it in their own lives. When they actually become responsible and accountable for everything He has given them - and how, acting upon those gifts, that can translate to unimaginable blessings in their lives, and the lives of those around them. That they can actually be greater than what they presently make themselves out to be, and that God is glorified even more in achieving that greatness.

From six mothers on that first day, the coop swelled to 20 seven days later. Now they even want to bring their husbands in. I can't describe the impact of their transformation - from crippling despair wrought by poverty to hope - had on me. It was just a dream, an inspiration; but with faith in God's power, we remain anchored on the promise that in Him, "all things are possible!" (Matthew 19:26). Through His grace and providence, things are now moving swiftly to make the dream a reality. And the women are now truly empowered: no longer are they mere beneficiaries of "hand-outs," but they are actually taking active part in how they want their lives to become. Since the enterprise is a cooperative, they, under the guidance and auspices of the Foundation, are ultimately responsible for the operations and profit of their work. How small or how big they can make their profits grow, and how they will lift their neighbors from envy to contribution and transformation is entirely up to them. And it's simply miraculous how God's power is working in them, with this newfound hope. They are actually acting, instead of always just asking. Praise be to God!

Today's penultimate meeting of commitment before we begin full operations on the first week of December was empowering, not just for them, but for myself. As I advised them on business and money matters, particularly in handling their personal finances (who would have known I had that in me; thank you Lord for the continuing surprises!), He inspired me to draw upon His word. "The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. (Luke 16:10)" Kapag pinagkatiwalaan ka sa maliit na bagay, maaasahan ka sa mas malaki. A striking verse that applies not only to how one controls one's money, resources, and business, but also to everything in life that comes from the Creator. Skills, talents, relationships...everything that is entrusted to us by Him. Mindblowing - I got much out of that just by speaking it. And so did they.

It definitely was no coincidence that one of the mothers informed me that Luke 16: 1-10, was today's (more accurately, yesterday's) Gospel - and I was not aware of it (my story of not having time lately to go through my daily Mass readings). And to put God's word into action through this transformative Kitchen Cooperative, now a little thing, and through faithfulness, will be something really big, is indeed a blessing, and a privilege. All glory belongs to Him. :-)

The Time Has Come

Just got in from Hillsong United's concert at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. I loved the energy and self-expression of all the many thousands of young people (myself included, hehe...) who gathered together to unabashedly sing, dance, and rock their praises to the King.

While I'm admittedly partial to Hillsong's Reuben Morgan, and to a lesser extent, Darlene Zschech, I can't help but get caught up in the contagion of United's powerful performances. The first one - a new song from their most recent album (United We Stand, 2006), is particularly apt at this point of my life: I've always said that my "medium" setting is busted, and I can only operate on "high" and "low." And, these days, I've come to realize that my "low" button is busted as well. :-)

The Time Has Come
by Hillsong United

Found love beyond all reason
You gave Your life Your all for me
And called me Yours forever
Caught in the mercy fallout
I found hope, found life
Found all I need - You're all I need

The time has come
To stand for all we believe in
So I for one am gonna
Give my praise to You

Today, today it's all or nothing
All the way, the praise goes out to You
Yeah all the praise goes out to You
Today, today I live for one thing
To give You praise in everything I do
Yeah all the praise goes out to You


All we are is Yours
And all we're living for is all You are
Is all that You are Lord


Praise Him to the Highest Heavens for a truly powerful evening of praise and worship. United rocks! Even for an "old-timer" like myself :-)

Full-Speed Ahead!

Haven't had much time to write lately, mainly because I've been living life to the max and playing full-out. I am profoundly grateful for the grace to be able to do so.

In the last 10 days I:

- Went back to Boracay (a breakthrough in my relationship with the island, which I'd sworn off forever), and experienced the most perfect vacation ever (breakthroughs in my travel OC'ness, relationships with people - including men, and the Bora bar scene), with a great friend and sister I only met in September (a breakthrough in friendship and choice of traveling companions!).

- Had a ton of fun at an awesome Halloween party (only a few hours off the plane, in full costume, no holds barred!)

- Reconnected with old friends and connected them with new ones

- Attended Mass at 6:00 am (major breakthrough); on another day, got home at 6:00 am and lived to tell about it...

- Went back to Cali! (always a great idea)

- Created a kitchen cooperative with the He Cares mothers, to supply cooked food to offices, run a carinderia/s

- Got Third-World Traveler Publishing Co. up, running, and in action!

- Got in action towards the December 1 deadline of setting up HBO & Associates' new office - a big, big game I love playing

- Booked more clients for C+C Personal Caterers

- Etc. and so much more!

So this is what life feels like, at full-throttle. Barely 10 days, and I feel like I've accomplished more than I ever had in 10 years! And I have absolutely no stress, even with all these things going on...although a massage right now would be absolutely lovely (running hard, but not yet tired).

God's grace be praised!