All About Steve

Yes, I just watched it on television and this film was on cinemas 2009! Thank you Star Movies. And this will make it's way to my favorite movies list. For the past weeks, I was just starting to appreciate the crossword puzzle. It is challenging and always makes me cheat my way to browsing my phone application's encyclopedia. Whoever constructs those puzzles are geniuses. Now, I have seen this movie played in cable channels before, but never really gave it a chance and watched it. It may be the same reason why I don't go inside a movie theater when the movie has already started, or I just wasn't interested back then. Tonight, I gave it a chance, just when I was planning to watch the first part of The Lord of the Ring trilogy. And I can say, it's not a bad decision.

Mary Horowitz is an eccentric character. Smart and not afraid to let herself out. She's bold and bubbly, and can be so annoying in the sense that she talks too much. Her lines and quotations of different authors made me want to take down notes. But she just talked too fast for me to do that. Here are some of my favorite lines from the movie:

“Words. There are meaningful words, there are pointless words, and then there are words that hurt.”

“You know what my favorite part of doing crosswords is? When you know something you didn’t think you knew.”

“Why should you have to change to be normal? All you have to do is find someone who’s as normal as you are.”

"In life, as in crosswords, some days are harder than others, and that’s what keeps your brain alive. The key to surviving those tough days is to pick yourself up and stay focused on your life’s purpose."

"If you quit a puzzle, you can’t finish it. Sure, every once in a while, you run into a doozy, that you don’t think you could ever solve in a million years, but if you stick with it, you figure it out eventually. Worst thing you can do is leave it unfinished. It’s never the solution, is it?"

“New York Time’s crossword editor Will Short says we have a natural compulsion to fill empty spaces. I like to think he means not just crosswords, but the empty spaces inside of us that come from making your way in a world that doesn’t always embrace unique."

The last quote just made me love it more. It was kinda in line with VCF's Crave Series. We all have something we long for. We fill that void with the things this world offers. We are trying to find our worth. You might find what you long for, but that wouldn't stop the cravings to look for more than what you already found. The endless cycle goes on. Well, not if you would find the ONLY ONE who can complete you. Not a man, no. God.


What Do You Long For?
helpful PODCAST

Power and Love

"POWER can do everything but the most important thing: it cannot control LOVE."
                 - Philip Yancey (Disappointment with God)

Parents have different ways of disciplining their children. Some use force; making sure their kids acknowledge their authority and power over them. Others choose teaching by example. Still, many exercise both. And if you would ask parents why they discipline their kids, their answer would most probably be: "because we love them."

God is illustrated in so many ways in the Bible. He's our Heavenly Father, Lord of lords, Provider, Savior, Almighty God, Creator, Lover, Friend and many more. I was asked before, what God is most in my life. He is all those mentioned and more to me; but He is most my Heavenly Father, lovingly disciplining me. God is the kind of Father who gives His children freedom to choose, making sure He laid down the options. And there's just two: close to Him or away from Him. I sometimes wonder how the world would be like if God did not grant us freedom. It would be such a great place, this world. We all have tendencies of choosing the wrong path, which most of the time, if not all of the time, seem to be the safer, easier, and more appealing way to take. Whenever I'm faced with crossroads, I was hoping God would just choose the right road for me. And, He does, but unlike the wrong path, the road seem so unappealing and hard and challenging. God never forced me to go His way, although I wish He did. I realized freedom isn't always good. Can't God just pull the strings and make me a puppet. Knowing Him, I know I'm in good hands even when His way isn't the most glamorous.

Why did God give us freedom? Can't He just take mine? I would gladly give it to Him. I'm better off controlled by Him than me.

"We see in the first glimpse of God's wildness the goodness of His heart - He gives us our freedom.
The wildness of giving us freedom is even more staggering when we remember that God has already paid dearly for giving freedom to the angels.
The reason He didn't make puppets is because He wanted lovers."
                    - John Eldredge (The Sacred Romance)

Yes, God is our Father, demanding obedience for our own good. But, He is also our Lover, wanting to be loved in return. A child may be completely submissive to his parents' commands, obedient to their every plan and strict discipline, but they can never force the child to love them. They may reason the ever popular phrase: "we did this because we love you" because at the end of the day, they would realize that it's not just obedience and respect they wanted, but love in return as well.

Prayer

God, I don't want to be even a step farther away from You by pursuing things not in Your masterplan. Guide me in my pursuits and desires, Lord. Without Your leading, even the greatest dreams with the best intentions will be pointless.

Proverbs 19:21 "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."

Proverbs 16:25 "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death."

Waiting on God for His answer may just be the only thing to do at this point. But there must be a preparation to be made as well. What if God's answer is the exact opposite of my plans and desires?

We seek God for direction and leading. We want to hear what He has to say. The real challenge begins when we finally got His answer. We'll have to obey. Will we follow His counsel or not?

Anawangin Adventure

April 12-13, 2009. Lenten Season   

This was the first ever out of town adventure I had with just my friends. We've been out of town before (to Baguio, Quezon, Rizal, Bolinao) but it's for our college's medical mission and retreats. I have also been to Lucban, Quezon with them, but don't find it that far from home, since I live in Laguna. 

This trip's mastermind was Karla. When she told us about Anawangin,  I never really knew where that is, or where Zambales is in the Philippine map. I was never a fan of geography. And when I finally got hold of a Philippine map, I realized I need to muster all the courage I have in asking for permission from my family. I have thought long and hard to choose the right words to say. It's not just about strict curfews and prohibitions and rules set at home, it's because I'm not used to going that far. To cut the long story short, I went to my uncle and my brothers, told them about the 2-day, 1-night trip and all went blank. Looking back, I don't believe I asked for permission. I just told them about it, went on my way to prepare my things for the trip, then breathe out with a sigh of relief.

And so, we were set to leave home early morning of April 12. I was with Karla, Che, Mark and Enzo. We took a 4-hour bus trip going to Iba, Zambales at Victory Liner Terminal. The bus left around 4 in the morning and we dropped off in San Antonio at around 9am. We had to buy some water, food for lunch and dinner and the things we forgot to bring. When we were all set for Anawangin Cove, we took a 10-minute tricycle ride to Pundaquit.

You would have to take a 20- to 30-minute boat ride to get to Anawangin Cove from Pundaquit. And there are a lot of resorts there with boat rentals. I think it cost us 1500Php for the two-way ride back then, and we paid additional 150 pesos each for the island hopping. We had to wait 30-45 minutes for our boat. When we arrived at the resort, the boat was currently guiding a group for their island hopping. So we decided to have our lunch there while waiting.

And so, our boat arrived. James "liit" and James "laki" took us to the island, and to the other islands before we went home.

As soon as we set foot on Anawangin Cove, we set up camp. I remember carrying the heaviest tent, ever! It's my uncle's. It's big. The five of us fit in, and we can even stand up inside. It was kind of unfortunate for me though, since Mark and Enzo carried the water and some other bags, so I really had to carry it myself. :(

After we set up camp, we prepared our dinner, took some pictures and took a swim at the beach. After our dinner we set made a camp fire and cooked hotdogs in the fire. We were taught the right way to cook the hotdog. It will get burnt before it gets cooked if you would stick it into the fire. So we put the hotdogs on stick around the fire, and whoala!! it's perfectly made! We were warned beforehand, and have read in previews reviews about the strong current in the beach. But that did not stop Che, Karla and I from swimming in the dark of the night, with the moon as our only light. It was scary! I was scared not of the current, but with my crazy, wandering imaginations of sea monsters and sharks and little creatures like "undins". Haha! But my girlfriends were kinda carefree, and I don't want to be a "kill-joy." So I set aside all my fears and just had fun!

The next morning we woke up early to take a tour on the island, trek the mountain, snorkel and prepare for island hopping. If there's one thing I regret in this trip, it's the group decision not to finish the trek up on top of the mountain and going beyond the streams to see the Tamaraw. 

Before our boat arrived, our things were already packed, and we're ready to go. After the Camara and Capones Island stop-overs, we're off back to San Antonio and then home. 

 Capones Island Lighthouse

 Snorkeling at Camara Island

There has been a lot of upgrades in Anawangin since our visit. I've seen pictures of friends who just went there recently, and there were huts and cottages beyond the streams. It's great to see improvements in the island; I just hope they preserve it's beauty.

That's us, on our way home. You can say we abused the beach with our sun-kissed skin.
(^___^)
More exploits followed this trip.

Love Stories

I don't know how this started, but I felt like blogging about love stories in the Bible. I don't think it's just out of whim. I started listing the couples in the Scripture weeks ago without any intention of writing about them, but then, just this morning, I wanted to share what I think about their love story and maybe refer to some of the books I've read about them too. 

In this season of my life, I believe I'm close to being in a love story of my own. A God-written love story. While there are wrong decisions I've made which I know somehow made that story complicated and tragic at some point, I believe it's not too late to make my love story aligned with the love story God wrote. 

Now, I don't think I'm qualified to be a reference for people who intend to study the Bible. What I would be blogging about are just my insights, and what I've learned from the love stories. Honestly, I don't know much about the Scripture. Every time I read it, it's always new. There's always something new to learn.

The Old testament is filled with love stories, so I'll start from there. From the love story between God's first image bearers Adam and Eve, to the Greatest Love story in the New Testament.

What's with love stories women love? I remember one of the question I was asked during my Speaking Test in IELTS. The interviewer asked if I love reading; I said yes. The follow-up question was what kind of books I loved as a child. If I was a man, I might have answered Marvel or DC comics or other reading materials about super heroes and action figures. I don't think they dreamt of becoming the only Prince Charming of a maiden. They dream of becoming conquerors and heroes with super powers to save the world. I loved stories about princesses with knights in shining armor or a prince coming to their rescue. This answer was followed by yet another question. "WHY?" What is it with these kinds of stories that captures girls hearts? "Don't these stories make women appear weak?" He asked. I don't remember the exact words I answered him, but I think it goes something like this: It's not really about wanting to be rescued and feeling weak. Every woman dreams of becoming someone's princess, and treated as one; having a prince strong and ready to be on their rescue.

I believe all women have this desire engraved deep within our hearts. God created the first woman into a relationship. She was never single! As soon as Eve realized she is alive, she was married to Adam! They will be the first love story I'll read on and blog about. The goal is to learn something from these love stories, and compare it with the original design of God, with the hope of growing and falling deeper in love with my Lover.

"I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." 
                                                                       - Ephesians 3:17b-19