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:
"Hi Ids! Seems like days could be better for both you and me. But the amazing thing is they have drawn us closer to God instead of farther from Him. Our kids have also grown more mature and responsible and their faith is strong.
"God has been so faithful in provision, in giving us encouragement from all our friends (including you, high on the list) and providing us with opportunities to bless others and sustaining us with hope and faith in His word.
"Praying hard that you and I are on our way to our personal breakthroughs.
"Looking forward to surprising you in Penang, haha."
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.
“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.
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.)
My old Samsung phone finally croaked. It was a faithful friend, accompanying me constantly the past three years. It was actually a gift from Marife del Valle who felt led to give me her phone back in January 2005 when my Jonathan jumped in the pool with my Nokia. From then, it journeyed to KL, Bangkok, Singapore...saw our "assignment" change from Peru to Penang, witnessed our move to a new home, made land trips to Langkawi, Singapore, KL, Ipoh, Cameron, Taiping. It flew to Manila, NY, DC, Phoenix, San Diego, LA, Baguio...
Hehehe! I said all that just to plead with you to PLEASE text me your numbers.. I lost them all in my dead phone.
Late into the season, warm steamy showers bless our parched lawns. There is an occasional gusty day, but for the most part, the heat can still be stifling. Our tans are fading, more time spent indoors.
There are no typhoons on this harbored side of the peninsula. But strong westerly winds have "blown" back some tide into our once-muddied shores. Even Batu-Ferringhi sported five-foot waves, breaking Scott's board and giving my sons some long-missed thrills.
Sunny patches bring rainbows... PoSeng and Anne, Grace, Adrian and Joy came for a visit.
Although living here in Penang has taken us away from friends and family, people we share so many common memories with, it has also afforded us one very special advantage... that of enticing Filipinos to come out from their islands and explore exotic places with us. The most recent friends to take the bait were Ritchie and Raya Llanto. We met them almost a decade ago when they were fresh out of college. Ritchie caught our attention immediately because of that aura of excellence he carried.
Today, he pastors a thriving church in Zamboanga. He also recently celebrated his third wedding anniversary with his beautiful wife, Raya, and came out of the blogsphere shadows with this gem of a blog... "LOST AND FOUND" Convictions
The shackles are undone... The bullet's quit the gun... The heat that's in the sun... Will keep us when there's none... The rule has been disproved... The stone it has been moved... The grave is now a groove... All debts are removed
Oh can't you see what love has done What it's doing to me
Oh can't you see what love has done To every broken heart
Oh can't you see what love has done For every heart that cries
Love left a window in the skies -- U2, "Window in the Skies"
"Window In The Skies" is one of two new cuts on their latest album U218 Singles.
I discovered this track and fell in love with it in much the same way as I usually did the rest of the U2's hits... via its video. I watched it over and over, got the kids to watch it, had a ball finding the band in the crowd, etc, etc. Well, see it for yourself: Version 1
