Category Archives: Life & Love

Life & Love, Who is God?

It’s All About Relationships

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A photo of me (second from left) with brother and my cousins. All of them have gone ahead to be with the Lord. This reminds me of the Beatles song, "In my Life."
A photo of me (second from left) with my brother (leftmost) and my cousins during the early 60s at the “crossing” (now rotunda) of Bayugan City. I’m the only one left at this time. This reminds me of the Beatles song, “In my Life.”

A couple of days ago, I was intrigued by a Facebook friend request. It got me interested because her name was actually the name of one of my aunts who passed away a long time ago. As I checked the Facebook account of this young lady, I found out that she is my niece whom I’ve never met and never knew before! Facebook has really changed the world and has connected many to one another. We all somehow are connected and have some kind of relationship. And it’s true for me too. I am now connected to many of my old and new friends, high school classmates, neighbors, relatives and to so many others around the country and around the world!

Connection and Relationship

All of us want to be connected. We want to relate. To have a relationship. An that is how God has wired us — to long for connection with him and with our fellowmen. If there is  separation — if there is any gap at all — we somehow would want to find a way to reconnect and re-establish that broken relationship. My newfound niece was curious about the background of her dad’s family as well as relatives and so she searched and found me on the internet. She said her dad did not really tell her much about his family background. And thankfully she found me at Facebook. Her dad was my first cousin whom I rarely met after he left our hometown of Bayugan to pursue a college education in the Visayas during the late 60s. Ever since that time, we only met once in a while as years passed. He passed away sometime in 2004. Anyway, my niece was so happy to know more from me about her dad and her dad’s immediate relatives. And so, we are now connected even though I haven’t met her personally yet.

Christ came to earth to be among us and to become one of us. That’s the meaning of one of his names, Immanuel—that is, God with us. The Triune God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit is a God of relationships — loving relationships. And the wonderful thing is, God wants us to be included into that loving relationship through Jesus Christ our Lord. Christ came to connect with us. To relate with us. And to tell us about his dad, our Father in heaven. All along, it was God’s plan to adopt us and to include us into the life and love of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And it’s a joy to know we are part of that family!

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1)

Life & Love, Who is God?

Longing For Home

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Have you ever experienced being homesick when you’re so far away from home? Most likely, you did. My first-ever experience was when I was a teenager. It was one of the loneliest times that I’ve ever experienced. After finishing high school, I was sent to the big and crowded city of Manila to get a college education. I really longed to be back home at that time. The first few years in college was really tough. But somehow, I grew up, woke up to reality and soon got adjusted to the new environment away from my parents.

Longing for God

By God’s grace, I now understand that this longing for home is something that God has built into us. God is love. God is a God of loving relationship and he created us with such a DNA — to long for meaningful and loving relationships. When we’re far away from those whom we love, we long for them, we feel homesick. We long for home.

From the foundation of the world, God through Jesus Christ has decided to adopt us as his children. He wants to have a meaningful relationship with us as his children. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit want us to be included and to experience their life and love that they have been enjoying for all eternity. It’s a wonderful life filled with love and never-ending joy — a kind of eternal, “divine dance” as some theologians would put it. It’s like a “party!” It’s “heaven!” It’s “paradise!” It’s never-ending joy! It’s filled with happiness! No sadness nor sorrow! It’s “home” with God through Jesus Christ.

Without God in our lives, we can somehow sense that something is missing — a kind of emptiness that needs to be filled. It is as if we are away from home. That is why we long for home.

I really like the way David Kowalick has phrased it in a somewhat picturesque language in his book, All About Glory:

“I well remember poignant moments such as standing on a beach or a mountain top, watching the sunset after a magnificent day spent with friends sharing good times, when, for the briefest moments, it was as if the celestial curtain lifted on a heavenly wind, and allowing me to momentarily gaze into the very meaning of creation. In these moments I often experience a deep sadness; a sweet nostalgic sense of loss. I was incapable of explaining these emotions at the time, but I have since come to recognise them as a longing for ‘home.'”

Home in Jesus Christ

Those who are in Christ are already “home” right now enjoying life and love — a loving relationship — with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in this life. That’s right, believers are already home in Jesus Christ right now.

But there is also a final fulfillment of this being “home” in the future when God will dwell with men and there will be no more war, no more tears, no more sorrow and no more pain. What a wonderful home that would be!

We are already home in Jesus Christ right now. And we can be filled with hope, looking forward to that final fulfillment of our true home in Jesus Christ!

Longing for Home
Majestic sunset as viewed at the Commander’s Lounge of the Philippine Navy Headquarters at the Manila Bay. (Click to zoom)
Life & Love

Daughter’s 3rd Blood Test

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blood test
For the 3rd time, my daughter had a blood test and this time for dengue as well. Thankfully, the blood platelet count showed much improvement compared to yesterday and the previous day. Although the previous tests were somewhat low, it was actually still within the normal range but the doctor wanted to see much more improvement before discounting dengue. Thankfully, the blood test result today also showed that my daughter is negative for dengue.

The whole family rejoiced. My daughter’s temperature has been normal since yesterday. It looks like she caught a measles virus a few days ago somewhere. She had a lot of vaccinations when she was still a baby but somehow we missed having her vaccinated for measles I would suppose. She’s getting better and better now and hopefully will be back to school by next week.

Now I can go back to work with a smile. 🙂

Life & Love, Photography

Trees and Highways

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MacArthur Highway Trees

In this photo is a portion of the MacArthur national highway if you’re passing through from the City of San Fernando to Angeles City in Pampanga and vice-versa. When I first saw these big acacia trees along the highway back in 1985, I was really impressed by the beauty of these MacArthur Highway trees on both sides. It’s really looked very nice and cool — pleasant to the eyes. If I remember right, I think there is also a portion of the national highway somewhere up north in Ilocos Norte where both sides are also adorned with big acacia trees. And if I’m not mistaken, there is also one along the national highway somewhere in Tarlac or Pangasinan. Really nice.

I’m not sure if it has been resolved already but these trees have (or used to have) white markings painted on the tree trunks  by concerned citizens opposed to a move by government to cut these trees for road widening purposes. Maybe it’s been resolved — I don’t know. In another part of this same highway, I did see some of the trees carefully uprooted. I’m assuming they are replanting it in another area. Hmm…

Life & Love

Blood Platelet Count

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blood platelet

Blood Platelet

My wife and I brought our daughter back again to the hospital for another blood test as requested by the doctor. The test results showed that her blood platelet count is lower than yesterday which is a cause for concern. Both yesterday’s and today’s blood count are still within normal range but it is a concern since it is getting lower. Glad to know that the doctor is giving wise advise.

We will go back again tomorrow for another blood test. Hope this won’t turn out to be dengue fever and that my daughter will fully recover soon. If it’s not dengue then it’s measles. Somehow we missed having her vaccinated for it if this turns out to be measles. We still have her vaccination records when she was still a baby and it seems like we missed this one. It can be tough for parents—not just for the child—when their children get sick. She had dengue before when she was about 5 years old in Manila. I’m glad the doctor has not suggested that our daughter be admitted to the hospital—as yet. Hoping it doesn’t come to that.