Freed to Love

Link

Check out the cutest handmade stuff!  Something in their style always makes me feel like a child skipping down a country lane...

I haven't gathered my thoughts (and pictures from the various cameras), so I've been slow in posting.  But I am so grateful that Ari Esteban has posted a beautifully written BLOG   on the subject.  Arielle is the daughter of Rommel and Flor Esteban, formerly from the Alabang congregation, and whose presence here in Penang is truly a blessing to us.

Reblogged from juelerie chest

"May lolo ka ba?" [Do you have a grandpa?]

A friend asked me that question tonight in an attempt to descibe an employee who was hard-headed and difficult to deal with.

Maybe this is related to the idiom about teaching old dogs new tricks.  There's a muscle in the human psyche named "Teachableness", whose suppleness and strength is not necessarily related to one's age, but rather to one's humility and willingness to learn, grow, change.  And like all muscles, it must be consciously exercised to build it.  Neglect or disease can lead to atrophy. 

So, “May lolo ka ba?” can also be rephrased to, “Lolo ka na ba?” Are we grumpy old men, unable to be taught new tricks? Do we growl at new ways of doing and seeing things?

If so, then we are no better than Statler and Waldorf, heckling life from our imagined box seat.

I met Biko more than a decade ago.  My husband was the first to meet Biko and her husband,
Bong, on one of his trips to Cebu back in the early 90's.  Their church was hosting a prophetic presbytery, and by God's appointment, the Mabilogs hosted my hubby while he was there -- driving him to and from the hotel, taking him to dinner, the works.  I was not with Jojo on that trip, as I had just given birth (or was about to give birth) to our fourth child.  And on that first meeting, Biko sent my husband back to Baguio with a very precious package: one of her paintings.  In essence, she had given me, a woman she had never met, a part of herself.

That was the Biko I had come to know and love in the years that followed.  Our meetings were few and far between owing to the fact that we lived quite a distance from one another, and we were always busy rearing the kids, pastoring, transplanting to new cities; and she had her school.

But for anyone who has ever spent time with Biko, a few hours can be like years or decades.  There was a depth of knowing, a gravity of emotion beneath that calm exterior.  At least that's how I always felt around her.  Maybe it was because we knew our time together would always be for brief periods, we never wasted time with niceties and girlie chitchat.  She was an "old soul," with an understanding of joy and pain.  And she had that smile... almost like a half-smirk...Yoda-ish, even. 

Is it any wonder then, that even in her darkest moments, we still ran to her for strength and advice?  The last message I had written her was a litany of my own trials.  And now I realize that despite the pain she endured in her final weeks, she had replied thus:


And I did look forward to that visit, hoping for and expecting a miraculous recovery.  But the Lord decided to take her home instead.  And we, like little children, trustfully release our hold. 

We will miss Biko, our dear friend.  But life on earth is indeed short for us all... And then, there's eternity to look forward to.

And yes, we can finally catch up then.... I love you, my friend.


Her son's obit/eulogy

 

“Death is but a passage out of a prison into a palace.” — Anonymous

We comfort ourselves with the knowledge that where you are now, there is no more pain, no more grief, no more suffering. You are playing with the angels, and snuggly wrapped in His embrace. We see you painting with the stars…

I will see you in the by-and-by. Till then, my friend…

Yes, Pastor Timothy is now a star.  His restaurant was featured in the online version of our local papers.  I am yet waiting to see if it will be featured in full in our Sunday papers tomorrow. 

In the meantime, you can view it online Here

[Thanks for the heads up, Carol and Lowell.]

-- Philip Pullman, author of "The Golden Compass"

Please be forewarned that this movie is a blatant attempt at promoting atheism among our unsuspecting children.

Link

Interview with Bill Hybels


See it in its entirety as it was shown at the Willow Creek Community Church in August of 2006.

Jojo and I recently had the opportunity to visit the Hillsong Church in Australia.  We went to the 4:30pm "off-hours" service.  It was a 'small' group of probably a thousand, yet the excellence and the level of annointing was simply staggering to out-of-towners like us. [In other words, na-'ciano kami.]

For a glimpse, I'm posting this excerpt of their 2007 Conference, the dvds of which my family and I have been feeding on the past month.  So if any of you get the chance, register ahead for the next conference in July '08.  (Our KL church sends a delegation every year.)



[Thanks, Carol, for posting this on your blog In Love.]

   "Good morning kids! Your picture's in the morning papers today."[yawn]

Hehehe! I think not.  This mommy-cum-blogger spent half the morning scanning the pages of The Star, one of Malaysia's leading newspapers.  No mother will EVER get used to or tire of this.  I could easily switch my title to 'publicist' (drawing from my college pursuit) if any of my children ever decide to take it seriously and pursue a career in front of the public eye.  Maybe one of them will even aspire to ...

...if you can call it that.  I'm just aliw with the fact that there's a way to put your fave sites in a widget.  These are mine (fave sites, I mean):

Fundraiser [A project of Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala]

Heads up, everyone! Here's an event that looks interesting, heartwarming and rewarding...

<>"A benefit food festival"
What: Fundraiser
Host: I can serve foundation
When: Saturday, August 11 at 11:00pm
Where: Rockwell Tent</a>

 Wishing I could be there, but since I can't, maybe you could go in my place?