My first in the Land of Promise in the Philippines

Mindanao! Such a beautiful place! Might be because I’ve never seen it all my life and I don’t know if I’ll have an opportunity to see it again. If I would describe the place, I would think it was like a very wide but little hotter Baguio. Or to make it more detailed, it’s filled with much trees and green plants. The people there I think depend more on agriculture and farming. I saw canyons along the road going to Bukidnon. It was a thrilling feeling as I personally haven't seen such kind of geographic feature, only in pictures. There were different kinds of trees, unlike in my home place where Pine trees are a common sight. And of course, I admire the hospitality of the people who received us and have taken care of us. The place is truly a magnificent place, a place seemingly I’m longing for. I’m an asthmatic person, a reason why I greatly appreciate the kind of nature-like place, where not much pollution can be found. Although I must say, I fear soon enough, such beauty will be marred in the near future, if the people will not learn to value it’s natural beauty and care for the magnificent creation of God.

But far than my appreciation and delight of the place are the lessons I’ve learned and experiences I probably won’t forget. One of the experiences I won’t ever forget was my first flight. At first the plane flew up and up and up, I truly felt the change of height. It was just like riding an elevator going up. And then in a few minutes the pilot announced that the plane would experience turbulence within a few minutes. Experiencing the turbulence was kind’a bothering at first, for it felt like the plane is nearly falling apart. Nevertheless, I placed my full trust in my God, that whatever His will is, so be it. I was ready for whatever would happen. Suddenly I heard whispers around me. I couldn’t understand the whispers but it can be heard. And then, I felt some kind of a migraine or a bad headache. It felt like my nerves in my head were growing bigger or something. It felt like my head was gon’na explode. I took hold of my head trying to deal with it. But while experiencing the pain, the agonizing headache, I suddenly noticed the turbulence seems to be not stopping; my companions closed their eyes, not even bothered to notice me having a headache. In addition, the whispers grew stronger, and can be clearly heard. They were praying! They were calling the name of Mary, the mother of Jesus! They were probably praying the rosary. It was a sign, people were panicking, whereas, I was more concerned on the pain I’m experiencing. We even felt the plane falling, then up again, as if the plane was going to crash. And the prayers continue to grow stronger. They were chanting, “Mary… mother of god… pray for us… Jesus….” and I could hear it clearly. At some point, I’m reminded of a verse or a song by Steve Green… saying “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the Name of the Lord our God,” which could be found in Psalm 20:7. This is just a reminder that people trust in many things but as Christians we should only put our trust in God, knowing as well that if God has a plan for us, He will put us to safety. It’s a sad note though, that people who knew not Christ are living in fear and taking their refuge in a sand castle.

For almost 15 – 20 minutes of turbulence, the pilot then announced that the plane will now go back to NAIA, due to a technical problem on the plane. Hearing that announcement, I saw my sister Kristine open her eyes, then, followed by the others, which then allowed Ptr. Lemuel to notice me having a headache. He gave me a pain killer after that. That was one unforgettable ride.

As for the lesson I’ve learned, I’ve learned that in every relationship, not only in a man-woman relationship, but in every kind of relationship, like friendship, communication is a very much substantial factor to make relationships work. I may have not to be detailed on this lesson I’ve learned, but perhaps it’s just part of reality that happens in every circumstances. It’s been long that I have been with my friends. And I know them, their weaknesses and their strengths; but of course not everything. But with my friend Joffer’s wedding, somehow things went not as what we’ve always expected. If I may give a little glimpse, we are so used in organizing, moving or doing things in our own perspectives, especially when it comes to special event. Now, Joffer’s wedding is truly a special and big event, we hope not to mess up and we would like to do all our best to make it a wonderful event. But the case is that, we are not tasked to do the task of preparing and organizing it. Because of this, we made our own ways in helping brother Joffer. The bad thing about what happened is that we went our own ways and the network of Globe Telecom had a frustrating problem, we weren’t able to communicate well with others. Night before Joffer’s wedding, we were seeing, like nothing was happening and that, what we were expected to do, we failed to do. We soon started blaming one another and our weaknesses have been unfolded becoming offensive to others. It felt so bad I could not picture what would happen on my friend’s wedding day. Nevertheless I took time to pray and ask God for His leading. Nearly midnight came, I had to talk to my friends and talk them out as to what to do. We made plans and set our minds to help in any way we could. After this, we asked Ptr. Joshua to pray. And as soon as we woke up, we did as we had to do. And as the wedding started and finished, still God blessed it as I see it. It was definitely a special day for my friend who was married that day, an interesting event indeed. I couldn’t imagine what God was thinking or was planning, but surely I know God wanted me to learn something, and I hope my friends also learned something.
After that day, a question bothered me. “What if I choose not to have friends?” It was a mere question as I am angered by my friends’ actions and attitudes. The truth? I am capable of being alone, with God alone as my friend. But is it still worth having friends when we dislike people’s character, personality or attitude? And if I may ask you who reads this note, “What will your response be?” As far as human nature is concerned, it is easy to conform to the thought that “if you don’t like it, then leave it!” kind of thought. But, if I would think of Christ, He always reminds of His sacrifice, His love, His compassion and His laid-down life for His friends; such unconditional love indeed. And because of this, as one of His own, it’s still worth having friends even with their weaknesses and flaws, simply because Christ Himself has done the same thing toward me. But of course this doesn’t mean when a friend sin, we simply forget, but it’s a challenge to put them back in the right road as they are supposed to be.

Friendship, such a precious relationship! If you choose to have it, make sure you have these factors to make it work: Love, Forgiveness, Communication and Humility. I may not say it all, nevertheless, look to Christ. He’s the best example of portraying the kind of Friendship we could ever have.