The Rebel Pastor’s Wife

“I am not the typical Pastor’s wife you know…I make alibis so I would miss prayer meetings…I find fulfillment shopping but feel bored during bible classes… I bring along my PSP every time I attend church services and play with mobile games when the Pastor, my husband delivers the sermon…I love mingling with party folks but frown at church members.”
These are revelations of Shiela, who claims she did not really like the life of a Pastor’s wife. For almost fifteen years, she said, she really hated being called a pastor’s wife. Sheila admitted she did not really fit the expectations that other people had for her. She had responded with the expectations with shrugs of the shoulders to tears to mark defiance.
“I tried being one, doing responsibilities that pastor’s wives do like listen to people’s problems but I always end up feeling down after, I feel like so irritated. I tried to be civil with every church member who smiles at me but I really do not remember being the first to smile at them. I feel uneasy leading prayers, even during small gatherings. I tried my best to control myself and not to butt in when I disagree with my husband’s teachings. The effort of trying exhausted me, emotionally, physically and mentally, she said”
She confessed, though, that she is far blessed, materially, than other pastor’s wives. But while she admitted she is happy that her husband takes joy in his calling, except for the fact that he knows she struggles with it, she still could not reconcile with her life. The young housewife spent inordinate amount of time trying to figure out why the Lord has put her in this kind of life, when she feels she clearly does not have what it takes to be one. Sometimes she would beg, threaten and coerce her husband, but out of love for her, he would just hug her without saying a word.
Sheila knew all along, that the Lord chose her husband to be a pastor and she really loved him. So after her occasional tantrums, she would just back off, stop the fight and let peace restore itself.
“There are worse things I could tell you about”, she recounted. “Even before we got married, I had a crisis of faith, I could not deny the Lord’s existence but I found myself denying His love. At times I committed blasphemy, which tore my husband’s heart, only to find him the following day preaching to me because somehow, he saw the struggle that was still there with me. There were so many incidences of gossips, lies, judgments, assumptions that lashed my husband in pain.”

One day, Shiela attended church service but she felt really bad because for one reason or another, she forgot to bring her PSP with her. Having nothing to do during the sermon, she had no choice but to listen to what her husband was preaching at the pulpit. She felt bored at first but to her surprise, her eyes and ears were glued to what her husband was saying. “It was the story of the Lord appearing to Thomas”, she said.
Thomas’ struggle, his lack of faith is not foreign to most of us. We all have struggled with our pain, doubts and misery. But one of the truly amazing thing was that Thomas remained in the room with the others who had stronger faith than he. And because he was there, Thomas was able to hear the Lord’s words of comfort, he was able to feel the nail holes on our Lord’s hands as well as the scar on His side, to embrace Him and proclaim “My Lord and my God!”
Often, when people despair or doubt, they disappear from the Lord’s house. They stay home or do something that will ease the boredom. They go away, so they are not even there to hear the words that would bring them comfort, the message of the Gospel that the Lord wants them to hear. These people need the same gentleness that our Lord showed Thomas.
“And the Holy Spirit took all of these and smacked me in the head with the Gospel, and I literally wept,” Shiela confessed. It seemed unbelievable but in a wink of an eye, she went through a metamorphosis. She realized that she was worse than Thomas. At that very moment, she was totally stripped of her old self. She realized that the Lord did not make her a pastor’s wife because she was strong but the exact opposite. He made her a pastor’s wife because she was weak, terribly weak, and the Lord put her in this place to protect her and to shelter her.
With this was the realization of how her husband loved her so much, of how he cared for her and how much he desired to bring her close to the Lord. After this significant moment, Sheila emerged as one of the best-loved pastor’s wife in their community.

The Lord works miracles in each of us…even when we do not want to hear the His Words… He, in His infinite wisdom puts us in a situation where we will be able to hear.

Jewels in the diadem of the Lord

Are you heavily laden with problems? Have you come to a point in your life when you feel forsaken and wrestled with the Lord why you are going through so such suffering? Do you often find an escape route so to avoid the pains that come with them? We all go through trials, problems and sufferings everyday and for most of us, we feel the twinge but fail to recognize why we go through these.
So as not to feel the pain, we sometimes avoid these problems and all the sufferings that come with them. Sometimes we seek an escape route. We sometimes miss the fact that our problems are God-appointed – fashioned to stretch us, challenge us and deepen our walk with Him. We sometimes forget the lessons – that growth and wisdom come with each irritating grain-of-sand-like problem.
Sometimes, it is worthy to observe the “other small creatures” around us for they give us lessons which we ought to imbibe. An oyster, for instance, is only an ordinary mollusk served on the dining table, for most of us. But there is more of the oyster than just being an appetizer. It gives us beautiful and expensive pearls. However, the little oyster goes through so much pain before it is able to produce this precious gem.
Grains of sand and rock fragments enter the oyster shell and its first reaction is to expel the irritant substance. In the process, it struggles until rasped and bleeding, but still the irritant substance would not be expelled. Feeling helpless, the oyster lets a “new force” come into play. The peculiar physiological system of the mollusk then sends forth a crystal fluid which covers and coats the rough substance with a soft crystalline cushion and as it grows and hardens, the irritant, at the right time, becomes a beautiful pearl.


The grain of sand and rock fragments are our problems and sorrows which oftentimes, instead of facing squarely, we try to avoid. But no matter how hard we try to avoid them, they keep coming back, trying us even more, making us so depressed and helpless. We sometimes forget that there are problems and circumstances beyond our control, and we need a mightier force to solve them for us. When we have exerted too much effort and there is nothing else we can do, let us follow what the oyster does, let us allow a “new force” to come into play. Leave the “work” in the Lord’s hand, and someday, from these problems will emerge beautiful pearls, precious jewels for the diadem of our Lord.

IF MAN WAS A DOG

I was cleaning my clatter last night and came across some of the articles and poems I wrote twenty years back which no one ever read. But this time, I would like to share one of them to my readers...maybe they can get a lesson or two from this. The year 1995 was one of the lowest years of my life...there was so much pain and resentment in my heart...this poem was written during that time. IF MAN WAS A DOG if man was like a dog then hate would be a word unknown then greed and pride will never surmise. if man was like a dog then life would be so simple peace will abound and serenity will rule. if only man would love like a dog a love that's full of trust and good intentions then there'll be no more hearts broken and relationships ruined. for a dog loves with his heart and feels with his "soul" while man loves with conditions and fades easily like smoke. man's love is full of intricacies and complications he sets restrictions and limitations and makes so mch expectations. dogs love without boundaries and lets it flow freely like a storm without hesitation it makes no bounds, no conditions. but if man was a dog then love's sacredness would be lost love would be bereft of meaning and goal attractions will remain physical not with a soul. so i'd rather love like a man than a dog i'd rather feel the pain never mind the trials and complications for i know that with love in my heart i'll face them all with convictions.

Nature in my hands....

i am a lover of nature and it has been my passion to record my encounters with these God-given gifts as much as i could....in some of my trips...i had the rare opportunity to put nature in my hands....here are some of them....

Verde Island Mindoro

Tukuran Falls, Puerto Galera

Hideaway Cove, Puerto Galera

La Mesa Eco Park

Sunset at Anilao, Batangas

Sunset at Anilao, Batangas

Taal Volano

Taal Volcano

Pintong Bocaue, Rizal

Dawn at Pintong Bocaue, Rizal

Rare "Sky Painting at Dawn" Pintong Bocaue, Rizal

CORRUPTION OF OUR FAITH

Corruption is one of the words that would best describe our world today. Corruption is everywhere, is seen in all forms and aspects, including our faith. A thousand and one religion were established, each claiming to be the TRUE one. Yet most of these are established to corrupt people's minds, degrade morality and push people to sin. Among the many teachings that have been distorted is the TEN COMMANDMENTS. Its revisions are as many as the religions that abound.

God has spoken but His Word is being corrupted. What’s the bottom line?
False teachings fill our minds. We become ignorant of the truth and accept the counterfeit as genuine. The light of reason is obscured and the human will goes astray. Our actions and religious orientation become anomalous. They do not tally with the Word of God. Christianity has continued but not in its original form.
False teachings keep us in bondage.

We insist on observing killer lies, take pride in them and espouse them to our loved ones. We are given to practices that disobey the Word and to a mindset that says it’s okay to disobey. We think that what we are doing is righteous and acceptable to God, when in fact it is not.
Division, conflict and alienation creep in as we are given to different faiths.
God is greatly displeased. The impure stay impure. Satan loves it!
As our world comes close to its end, as prophesied in the bible and confirmed by a number of religious scholars, it is time to stand up and follow the TRUE teachings of our Lord Yahsuah...this is the only way we can set ourselves free from the bondage of sin.

The Correct Copy of the TEN COMMANDMENTS
Two thousand years ago God incarnated to restore the omissions. He made the Nine to be Ten again. The real commandments in the Three were given; it had been made clear what they were. The correct interpretation of each of the Ten-C was given.
And so the Ten-C should read like this:
2 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. EXODUS 20
Commandment No. 1
29The most important [commandment] is this: Hear, O Isra’el, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. 30 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. MARK 12
8 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. MATTHEW 22
20 For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And [God] has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother. 1 JOHN 4

Commandment No. 2
3 You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to idols or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments. EXODUS 20

Commandment No. 3
Use your gift of communication to build and firm up a love-relationship with God.
6 Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. ECCLESIASTES 5

Commandment No. 4
13 Observe My Sabbaths. EXODUS 31

Commandment No. 5
16 Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well for you in the land the LORD is giving you. DEUTERONOMY 5

Commandment No. 6
13You shall not murder. EXODUS 20

Commandment No. 7
14 You shall not commit adultery. EXODUS 20

Commandment No. 8
15 You shall not steal. EXODUS 20

Commandment No. 9
Use your gift of communication to build and firm up love-relationships with your neighbors.
6 Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. ECCLESIASTES 5

Commandment No. 10
21 You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor’s house or land, his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. DEUTERONOMY 5

NOTE: This copy has been lifted from the book "Create in Me a Pure Heart, O God" by Jose Ma. Castro Jr.

The Holy Week as we know it should be dead by now

by Jojo Maria A. Castro, Jr.

The Holy Week as we know it is full of lies, a perpetuation of false teachings. It is not holy at all.
It makes us believe that Christ died on a Friday; His body was interred shortly before sunset; and His resurrection came at dawn of Sunday. That is biblically inaccurate. The Lord, in prophesying to His disciples His death and resurrection, said:
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. MATTHEW 12:40 NIV
The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the Law, and that He must be killed and after three days rise again. MARK 8:31 NIV
Three days and three nights means the resurrection would come 72 hours after interment of the body. If, as we are made to believe, the body was interred near sunset of Friday and His resurrection came at dawn of Sunday, then the resurrection came 36 hours after the interment. Such belief is 36 hours short of reality.
Which brings us to our next point: The body was interred near sunset (Matthew 27:57; Luke 23:52-54; John 19:42). Seventy-two hours in the grave means the resurrection must have occurred near sunset, at more or less the same time of day the body was interred.
If interment was made near sunset of Friday, then the resurrection must have occurred near sunset of Monday. But that would be impossible. Scripture says the LORD was no longer in the grave by Sunday early morning. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went to anoint His body but it was no longer there.
As they entered the tomb, they saw [an angel in the form of] a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen. He is not here.” MARK 16:5-6 NIV
Now read the resurrection accounts (Matthew 28:1-7, Mark 16:1-7, Luke 24:1-8, John 20:1-9). It is important that you do because nowhere in them is it said that the LORD resurrected at dawn of Sunday. The churches that say the Lord did are making a wrongful assumption.
Inasmuch as the Lord could not have resurrected on a Monday and His body was no longer in the grave by Sunday, the soonest time for the resurrection could only be near sunset of Saturday.
Let us count three days and three nights backwards. Day 3 in the grave would be near sunset of Friday to near sunset of Saturday. Day 2 would be near sunset of Thursday to near sunset of Friday. Day 1 would be near sunset of Wednesday to near sunset of Thursday afternoon.
If Day 1 started near sunset of Wednesday, that would mean the LORD died and was buried near sunset of Wednesday. This would fit the historical fact that the Passover in 31 AD—the year of death of the LORD—fell on a Wednesday.
Contrary to common belief, the Passover Feast is not fixed on a Friday. It may fall on other days of the week.
Satan has been confusing the days. He has caused the lunar calendar (the reference point for the Sabbath days) to be replaced with a solar calendar—which begins in the middle of dead winter, not in the early spring as God instituted (Exodus 12:2), and which is 11 days longer.
But do not be confused. There is now available on the internet a date converter (http://www.hebcal.com/converter) where any day, month and year in the Hebrew calendar (a lunar calendar) can be typed and its equivalent in the Gregorian calendar (a solar calendar, which we are using) generated; and vice versa.
Check it and you will know that this year, 2010, Nisan 14 (the God-appointed time for the Passover Feast) falls on March 29. The country will be observing the feast (which we call Good Friday) on April 2. We shall be doing it wrong. The death of our Lord should be commemorated on March 29, not April 2. (Maybe we can blame the President again for this?)
Now, why do we observe Holy Week? Why is Wednesday called Holy Wednesday, Thursday called Holy Thursday, Friday called Good Friday?
The answer is simple: Passover Feast is a Sabbath. The day after the Passover is the Feast of Unleavened Bread, also a Sabbath. The day after Unleavened Bread is the Feast of Firstfruits, again a Sabbath. God has commanded us:
You must observe My Sabbaths. LEVITICUS 19:3 NIV
Keep My Sabbaths holy. EZEKIEL 20:20 NIV
Unknown to most of us, four Sabbath days occurred during the period between the interment and the resurrection. First was the Passover, which fell on a Wednesday in 31 AD. This was followed by the Unleavened Bread on Thursday, the Firstfruits on Friday and the Seventh-Day Sabbath on Saturday, which happened to be the day of resurrection.

The common translation of Matthew 28:1 says, “The women went back to the tomb after the Sabbath.” But Herbert Armstrong noted that in the Greek text, the word is in the plural and that Ferrar Fenton’s version of “after the Sabbaths” renders it correctly.
“Observe the Sabbaths” is the fourth of the Ten Commandments. Satan loves it whenever the commandment is written as “Observe the Sabbath” because those who are not well-versed in the Scripture are likely to assume there is only one Sabbath.
Why observe the Sabbaths? Many churches do not teach them and do not honor them. They say it’s passé, only for the Jews to observe.
If you care to know, the Sabbaths are given higher significance in Christianity:
1. The Seventh-Day Sabbath speaks the day of resurrection, an assurance of life after death for those who put their faith in Christ.

2. The Passover Feast speaks of the day of crucifixion; also, of the Last Supper, wherein the New Covenant was formally instituted.

3. The Feast of Unleavened Bread speaks of our life direction on earth: to get rid of the old hametz (the yeast of wickedness and lawlessness) in our tents, so we may be holy and pure, for nothing impure can enter the kingdom of purity.

4. The Feast of Firstfruits speaks of love-in-action: that it is not enough to be pure and holy. We must mirror the love of Christ and help complete the ministry He has begun.

5. The Feast of Harvest (aka. Day of Pentecost) speaks of the day of Baptism in the Spirit of the first Christians; an assurance that God will empower us before sending us to the warfront.

6. The Feast of Trumpets speaks of the Great Tribulation, the Second Coming and the Judgment; reminders that there’s a limit to our earthly stay.

7. The Day of Atonement speaks of the new High Priest who came down from heaven to perfect the Ten Commandments, make atonement for our sins once for all, and lead us by the hand back to God’s kingdom.

8. The Feast of Tabernacles speaks of the day of nativity (incarnation) of Christ, whom we are mandated to call Yahshua (Yah in Hebrew Aramaic means God and shua means saves). The name reveals His person (“God with us”) and His mission (“to save His people from their sins”—Matthew 1:21).

Conclusion
What are the implications of the above observations to our religious beliefs and practices?
Christ rose from the dead just as He said He would (Matthew 28:6).
In a little while you will see Me no more, and then after a little while you will see Me. JOHN 16:16 NIV
After three days I will rise again. MATTHEW 27:63 NIV
The death, burial and resurrection happened according to the appointed times, not contrary to them, just as the Word of God prophesied (Isaiah 46:10, 11).
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that the Messiah died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. 1 CORINTHIANS 15:3-4 NIV (Emphasis supplied)
Celebrating the resurrection on the Seventh-Day Sabbath is correct. Celebrating it on a Sunday would be utterly wrong.
Observing Black Saturday would be wrong; Sabado de gloria is correct.
Easter Sunday celebration? Don’t even think about it if you are a God-seeker. Its origin is paganistic, not at all Christian. Kindly research on this.
Traditionally, children are told on Good Friday, Huwag kang maingay. Magluksa tayo. Patay ang Diyos. Please, don’t do that. The crucifixion did not happen on Good Friday. The prophecy of Daniel 9:26, 27 that the LORD was to be cut off “in the midst of the week” is correct.
Besides, the Passover is a festive, joyous occasion. God intervening in our affairs so we may “pass over” from the realm of the dead (Satan’s kingdom) to the realm of the living (God’s kingdom) is good enough reason for us to celebrate. Leave the mourning to Satan.
Many churches justify their Sunday worship reasoning that the resurrection happened on a Sunday. Well, the resurrection did not happen on a Sunday. Those who profess to be followers of “the Truth, the Way and the Life” must stop peddling lies. They must revert back to observing the Seventh-Day Sabbath as their day of sacred assembly and worship.
Churchgoers are doing Sunday without questioning why. It is about sun-worship, which Deuteronomy 4:19 says is detestable to God.
Sunday observance began when God’s decree was superseded by a human decree. The Roman emperor Constantine the Great issued an edict on March 7, 321 AD mandating the observance to be moved to Sunday. Constantine decreed under penalty of death that all artisans, merchants and people of his empire should cease work on the Day of the Sun.
The Romans were sun-worshipers. To them the emperor was sun-god enthroned in a human body. It was a weekly ritual of sun-worshipers to assemble at dawn on Sunday to greet the sun at its rising. They considered everyone who did not worship the sun to be an atheist and a traitor.
Constantine’s historian, Eusebius of Caesarea, recorded the edict as saying, “All things what so ever that it was duty to do on Sabbath, these we have transferred to the Lord’s Day.”
In the Scripture, LORD’S Day is a reference to the Second Coming of Christ. Obviously Constantine’s edict was not referring to it. “Lord’s Day” in the edict is no doubt a euphemism for the Day of the Sun.
Constantine’s edict effected three things for Satan: It renamed the Sabbath as Lord’s Day; moved it to the Day of the Sun; and legalized the two corruptions, making it demandable of everyone in the empire and its violation, punishable with death. The corruptions came with the imprimatur of the Roman Catholic Church whose Council of Laodicea in 365 AD forbade resting on the actual day of the Sabbath.
To this day the church teaches the Sabbath Commandment as “Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day.”
Again, why must we observe the Holy Week? In obedience of the Sabbath Commandment, to please God. However, obedience must be conscientious. The desire to please God must be tempered with the knowledge of how God expects us to please Him.
During the Holy Week, we are instructed to celebrate four of the eight Sabbaths. Because God calls for observance of the Passover to be done on Nisan 14, observe it on Nisan 14 (on Monday, March 29). Because God calls for observance of the Unleavened Bread to be done on Nisan 15, observe it on Nisan 15 (on Tuesday, March 30). Because God calls for observance of the Firstfruits to be done on Nisan 16, observe it on Nisan 16 (on Wednesday, March 31).
Because God resurrected on a Saturday, do not celebrate the resurrection on a Sunday.
God’s instructions must be obeyed without omitting any one of its specifications. To omit a specification is to act against the will of God and miss the mark.
Whoever keeps the whole Law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. JAMES 2:10 NIV
How many disobediences did it take for Adam and Eve to be banished from the kingdom of heaven? Just one. Likewise, it takes one disobedience to keep us out of God’s heaven.
Nothing impure will ever enter [the kingdom of God]. REVELATION 21:27 NIV
A friendly advice to God-seekers: The false teachings on the LORD’s death, burial and resurrection must be dishonored and given eternal rest. Everyone must be told the truth and must practice the truth. Those who worship the Father in spirit and in truth are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks (John 4:23).
We must obey God rather than men! ACTS 5:29 NIV



(The article is contained in a book, CREATE IN ME A PURE HEART, O GOD, which the author is now finalizing. The author keeps busy by giving lectures to churches. His own church, MESSIAH Y’SHUA’S LAMBS, can be found among the poor in Caloocan North. Email your reactions, comments and inquiries to jojomacastrojr@yahoo.com.)

Slippers that perfectly fit!

Wearing a Christian Louboutin or a Sergio Rossi heels would make one really elegant and oozing with glamour. But these can never substitute the comfort that a 50-peso rubber slippers could give. Everybody, even former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos, famous for her more than 3,000 pairs of shoes, has at least a pair of slippers, because at the end of the day, at the end of a long trip, we always look for comfort, for relaxation.

Just as our feet long for slippers after an exhausting day, we too look for “slippers “ in our lives – people who makes us “feel at home”, who allow us to be ourselves, minus the so called norms and social graces. We do meet a lot of people from various stature and race, but not all of them would make us comfortable, in fact, some would even try to create a “different us”. Restrictions are imposed – how to eat, how to dress, how to talk, how to move – things which are not the “true us”. We go through this stressful masquerades almost everyday of our lives, thus, there is always this desire in our hearts to go home and just be ourselves. We have a number of friends and acquaintances but only a handful could bring out our true selves. We always wish to go back to friends in whose company we can strip off the masks, in those company with whom we can laugh our hearts out, speak at the top of our voices and move as if we are a child again. This holds true with relationships. We aspire for partners who would accept and love us just as we are, and not how they would want us to be. Many relationships fail because either partners has the hidden agenda of changing the other half according to his standards. The essence of love – which is accepting the person for what he is and not for what the partner wants him to be, is totally shunned.
In this lifetime, we continuously search for this partner and until we have found him, dumping partners become as easy as changing clothes. But as soon as that “perfect person”, comes our way, the search would finally end. When we have finally found our “slippers”, we would just want to be with him for the rest of our lives.
We wander to different places for a hundred and one reason – for work, study or business – but our hearts will always lead us home after each travel.
When this person would come, or whether he would come, varies from one person to another. Some are lucky enough to find the perfect much at a very young age, others during their twilight years yet the time actually is of little significance – what is more important is that we find this person in this lifetime, otherwise, we have to wait for him in another lifetime, if there really is such a thing.
I am blessed that I am one of those who have found our “slippers” in this lifetime – not really the expensive type, but I know he is who the Lord has chosen for me, he is the one most suitable slipper that perfectly fits me!

CAN'T WAIT AWHILE?

It’s Over! At last, the waiting is over, it’s time to celebrate! The prophesy that Jesus will rise from the dead after three days has been fulfilled!

Last Easter, we were flooded with more than a hundred Easter messages. Some messages emphasized that the Resurrection is the basic foundation of Christian belief, other messages boiled down to reminders of repentance, forgiveness and renewal, taken in various contexts.

All these messages are indeed inspiring but what really struck me is the message on waiting, I think it holds much relevance in our daily lives.

As the world becomes supposedly less obscure because of technological advancement, we still find ourselves waiting…waiting every day. We wait in line at the supermarket cashier counter, wait for that high paying yet less stressful job, wait for our crush from the other classroom to pass by our corridor, wait for the Lord to answer our prayers or even wait for that very elusive perfect relationship.

A research made showed that an average person spends approximately an hour everyday waiting in line, which totals to about 2 to 3 years in a lifetime. Statisticians have estimated that in 70 years, the average person spends at least three years waiting! The figures are surprising indeed but the bottom line is that in every man’s lifetime, he will always have to wait for something. This is life’s reality but the grim reality remains that a lot of people do not have enough patience to wait. They complain for a few minutes or hours of waiting and think that this is too rough.
If this is too rough, how then would the Israelites think of their 400 years of waiting to cross the Promise Land? How about the thousands of years spent waiting for the Messiah?
But why then do we always have to wait? There are a lot of benefits of waiting, and the benefits go beyond the physical. Waiting is a test of our patience. Waiting strengthens love. Waiting renews our strength. And most importantly, waiting increases our faith in our Creator.
Most of us sometimes do not want to wait. Sometimes, we would want God’s instant presence as we pray, His instant granting of our requests. We sometimes are more in tune with our own will than with God’s will. There are many instances when we are prepared only to hear what we want to hear and refuse to wait with an open mind to hear what God might have to say.
But we have to wait with hope rather than with optimism. People who wait with optimism later become frustrated and depressed while those who wait in hope succeed. Waiting with optimism usually implies a temporary confidence that all will turn out for the best. It suggests a failure to consider things realistically and contain a willingness to be guided by illusion. The result? When things do not come up the way they planned, when what they were waiting for did not come, frustration results.
Waiting in hope on the other hand, suggests confidence in which there is no self-deception and which is the result of a realistic consideration of the possibilities. Whereas optimism is the belief that things are going to get better, hope is the belief that we can make them better.
This reminds me of the story of a woman who waited with optimism but failed in the end. The woman waited for 20 years for her lover who is a married man to marry her when he would be free. The woman patiently waited but when the man finally became free after his wife died, he would not marry her. There was another woman, actually other women waiting for his freedom, aside from her. It was really frustrating for her because she gave him the best years of her life, and now that she has grown old, she would be dumped.
Waiting, really is important, it helps us grow strong but we have to learn to wait in hope!
“Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.” (Isaiah 40:31)

Can't be with you...but...

Sometimes no matter how hard we try to preoccupy our minds just to get away with the feeling of loneliness and longing, we could not seem to escape. The desire to be with that special person closest to your heart keeps popping up, and the desire just keeps stronger as days of absence go longer. Yet, loneliness is gradually changed to happiness when we realize that the same person we are longing for is also longing for us...

Amidst the feeling of aloneness, this poem was made...for that special someone who is miles away...but has always remained and will always remain closest to my heart - my dear BREAD.


Pangungulila

Kapag magsusungit ang langit,
Ulan ay tila walang patid
Pilitin mong huwag palunod sa lumbay
Ni patangay sa agos ng pangungulila.

Kung pilit naghahari kalungkutan at pighati
Huwag mangamba, huwag pagapi
Sisiskapin kong ipinta ang bahaghari
Iaalay sa iyo nang lungkot mo'y mapawi.

Mainit kong kamay iyong abutin
At pakinggan ang pusong pumipintig.
Kung paggising mo, kumilala sa saya ay nalimot mo na
Iaalay ko aking mata upang tanglawan ka.

At kung nauupos ka na sa pagkainip,
Kung nakababagabag ang mga tanong sa isip
Kung makaramdam ka ng pangungulila't pagkainip
Gawin akong bangka at tumakas ng kahit saglit.

Mangangahas akong idulot ang lahat.
Sapat nang sukli ang mabatid na
Ika’y nasa mabuting kalagayan
At labis na kung igaganti dalisay ding pagmamahal.

Gantimpala naman ng Maylalang
Kung piliin ang makasama ako
Kahit sa isang sandali ng aking buhay,
Dahil isang sandali sa piling mo’y katumbas ng habambuhay.

Sa dapithapon nito, ang huling hininga’y
Lagusan sa panibagong daigdig,
Doo’y kapiling kita gaya ng sa aking panaginip
Luha'y kagalakan at tuwa, hindi ng pait.

Ngunit kung sa kabilang buhay ay tumanggi,
Walang panibughong sa akin ay maririnig
Huwag mo lang sanang ipagkait
Ang pagkakataong sa iyo ay maipabatid
Ang aking pagmamahal at galak nang ika’y nakita kong muli.

GROWING OLD

SA ATING PAGTANDA

Isang taon na naman
Dagdag sa aking buhay
Maraming dagdag-bawas tiyak nakaabang
Iba’y nakakainis, iba nama’y kapakipakinabang
Ngunit lahat ng ito’y spices of life, bahagi ng buhay.

Mga kulubot sa mukha
Tiyak dadami na naman
Pero Olay Total Effects lang katpat niyan
Kakapal ang mga uban, di na mabilang
Isang box ng L’Oreal lamang
Tiyak burgundy lahat yan.

Mga excess fat at bilbil maglilitawan
Push ups at jogging lamang
Tiyak tunaw lahat yan.
Arthritis at gout naku!
Dapat nating abangan
Ngunit ABS Bitter Herbs lamang atras lahat yan.

Sabay sa dagdag na edad
Tiyak na ang dagdag na responsibilidad
Di bale, mga kaibigan, dagdag na experience
At sure na extra income yan.

Mga detractors at inggitera tiyak dadami yan
Pero lilipulin sila ng mga tapat na kaibigan

Ang pagtanda ay sadyang di mapigilan
Ngunit ito’y di dapat katakutan
Sa halip sa Lumikha ito’y pasalamatan.

Dapat tayong magpasalamat
Panibagong buhay at pagkakataon
Na magmahal at ituwid ang ating mga kasalanan.

jpp/02242010