A RAINY DAY CAN'T BE SO BAD

---------------
If I were to say something about this kind of weather we're having now, I'd say that it sucks. Big time! because I love weekends...... and sometimes I plan my weekends way ahead of time. The big plans with families and the small ones with myself.

But these unpredictable rains are just keeping me so grounded. Even if I do manage to raise some bravado to go out there.... it's not going to be pretty or fun. One has to contend with monster traffic snarls, pot holes especially around here in the long stretch of Marcos Highway now undergoing a huge makeover, wet shoes and feet, people scurrying to and fro trying to escape the heavy downpour, and the sudden scarcity of taxis just when you needed one.

We planned to see the movie 'Kung Fu Panda 2' but considering the 'panda'-monium that these rains bring... we've decided to stay home. Maybe next time...

But there still is something about a rainy day I must still say.

Whatever arguments other people may have as to its negative impact on ordinary and not so ordinary lives, I still think it's got something we can or should be thankful for. Mom would say that sometimes you just have to wrest your eyes and mind and even heart away from the unpleasant things of the day or life. You got to put your effort where you can rise above it or soar up way above the gray clouds hovering above you. Simply put... when your feet gets wet you have to go somewhere where you can dry it! When your heart is burdened with the irritations of the day, you go find something to bring the smile back to it. And she further adds, you surely will find it if you try hard enough.

That's where I am at right now. In the stillness and quiet of a rainy day I find my thoughts and it runs over meadows hills and valleys of wonder and awe at the beauty of things and life even on a rainy day such as this. Peace prevails, within and without.

-----------------------------
Take care, folks. Don't forget your umbrellas.

(Above photo courtesy of youngest daughter, Malen.)

I'M SHOOTING BULLETS!

---------------------------------
Today I'm on a shooting rampage!

Yeah! Fact is, have been doing it for quite a time now, long before and continuously. And the police -- oh they have no idea who-what-when-where-why. Although I wish that they knew why.

I'm invisible .... and everybody is my target... on the street where I live, out there on the main roads, inside jeepneys, at the mall, at clinics, at the supermarket. Even from here where I stand at my window looking out to my neighborhood street. Because you know why, everybody deserves to be shot with my bullet.

When I see a cripple walking down the street on his poor man's crutches, I shoot him. When I see a family crying at hospital corridors, I shoot them... all of them. When I see an ambulance rushing with sirens blaring, I shoot out a trail of bullets hitting everything animate or inanimate inside and out. When I see a fire truck screaming down the road, I point the bullets in that direction sparing no one and nothing. Recently when I saw this fat lady who, on seeing her husband gaze at sexy young women with a naughty eye, deliberately turned her face away as sadness shadowed her chubby face, I shot her... with two bullets. Of course I shot the husband too, he deserved one. When I saw this old wrinkled man reduced to a mere wisp of a body sitting forlornly in his wheelchair while his family chat nearby oblivious to his presence, I shot him two -- three times. And I shot his family too with a dozen more.

So there you see... if that isn't a shooting rampage, what is??!!! :-)

Bullets? I've got plenty. But if ever I do run out of stock... my BOSS up there sends immediate replenishment. Because you see..... GOD approves of my shooting BULLET PRAYERS!

Bullet prayers give life. It builds up and not destroys. Nothing can stop this bullet, not even the devil.

You want to join the Team? God's hiring. And you can start RIGHT NOW!
--------------------------------------

OF PENCILS AND ERASERS - OF PARENTS AND CHILDREN

So what's on my mind today? ........

OF PENCILS AND ERASERS -- OF PARENTS AND CHILDREN

I'm quoting this nice story (author unknown)...

PENCIL: I'm sorry

ERASER: For what? You didn't do anything wrong.

PENCIL: I'm sorry because you get hurt because of me. Whenever I made a mistake, you're always there to erase it. But as you make my mistakes vanish, you lose a part of yourself. You get smaller and smaller each time.

ERASER: That's true. But I don't really mind. You see, I was made to do this. I was made to help you whenever you do something wrong. Even though one day, I know I'll be gone and you'll replace me with a new one, I'm actually happy with my job. So please, stop worrying. I hate seeing you sad.
------------------------------

The author further writes.....

I found this conversation between the pencil and the eraser very inspirational. Parents are like the eraser whereas their children are the pencil. They're always there for their children, cleaning up their mistakes. Sometimes along the way, they get hurt, and become smaller / older, and eventually pass on. Though their children will eventually find someone new (spouse), but parents are still happy with what they do for their children, and will always hate seeing their precious ones worrying, or sad.

All my life, I've been the pencil. And it pains me to see the eraser that is my parents getting smaller and smaller each day. For I know that one day, all that I'm left with would be eraser shavings and memories of what I used to have.

Unquote.
---------------------
I guess this says it all. Nothing more can be said about that. You know, make everyday your Mother's or Father's Day. You don't need a calendar for that.

WHEN BIG IS SMALL

---------------
WHEN BIG IS SMALL

That's what's on my mind this morning. Let me tell you a story.. a short one.

Nene, not her real name, came to my house late one night. She didn't come in but stayed at the gate, so I came out to meet her. Saw her in tears, so I asked what's wrong. She said, in tagalog, that she needed help for her very sick child who needed to be brought to the hospital that night. She has already knocked at friends' doors for that help in the effort of trying to raise the necessary fund. And she thought of me too. My mind was racing through the contents of my purse trying to count what was left there. It was not a good time to be generous as I was not prepared for it. But I went back into the house and shook my purse, shook it harder hoping that it would cough up magically some more. No luck. So I ran back to the gate with what I had and gave it to her explaining my situation. When she saw it she cried even more and thanked me profusely saying that it was going to be a big help to her plight. To make a long story short, she came back to me a few days after to thank me for that. Such a sweet gesture from a sweet person I must say. Her grateful thanks was unexpected. You don't get something like that everyday.

Anyway, The whole point of the story is ---- in helping others small is big! You don't have to withhold help because you think or feel that you don't have enough or that you could give bigger at a better time. You don't have to wait for better circumstances for you to be able to help. Whatever there is that you can --- just give. Because you will never know if that 'small' is just what is needed to complete a 'big'. A few hundred pesos may be the missing link to raise the thousand aimed for. Or that you may have been the last person on that exhaustive list ... because there are only a few of you who the suffering one could think of as friends. Where would she go next.. if you withheld the giving?? Would there be anyone else to approach? What would have happened if she wasn't able to gather help to her desperate need?

In that moment of another person's need, This is what happens..... you are given the opportunity to make God shine through. You have the opportunity to serve as God's conduit or channel of blessing to a burdened soul. That moment is not all about you; no it is not. That moment is all about God reaching out to a burdened soul. God is using you to minister to his children. Be a willing channel of God's grace and blessing to another.

Give with whatever you can, with what you have. Serve in whatever capacity God wants you to serve. How do you know it's what He wants you to do? Simple, listen to your heart. It's all there if you pay close attention. And get your ego out of the way.
-----------------------
Be blessed and stay blessed.

THE REAL TEST OF COURAGE ARE MUCH QUIETER

What's on my mind today? ---- These lines from Charles Swindoll .....

"Courage is not limited top the battle field or the indianapolis500 or bravely catching a thief in your house. The real tests of courage are much quieter. They are inner tests, like remaining faithful when no one's looking, like enduring pain when the room is empty, like standing alone when you're misunderstood." --------

Deeply moved by it I penned these few lines and dedicate this to my best friend. She's a strong lady .......

'The real test of courage are much quieter' ... is so true.
It is those times when you suffer quietly as a dagger or daggers pierce through your heart.
It is those times when you sit alone in an empty room wondering if you can still make it another day.
It is those times when you wet your pillow many nights flooding it with tears.
It is those times when you ask yourself - 'Is there a God?'. And hope that He hears.
There is no fanfare to herald your display of courage or strength. No fireworks or band playing.
It's just you and your shadow trying to put together the shattered pieces of your dream.
As your soul gets down on its knees praying ........... still praying.
---------------------------