Sunday, May 24, 2009

A Celebration of Life

5:21 PM 2 Comments
My grandfather is still in the ICU right now but I am really thankful that there are a lot of people who are helping us to pray for him. It is very comforting to know that every now and then somebody had whispered our concerns to God. I praise Him more for the wisdom and skills that He had bestowed to that someone who had invented the internet as well as blogging because through it, I had found another way to communicate and share my journey with Christ. It is really helpful to have friends who can push you up and support you whenever you are getting weak. I thank God for family and friends because without them, I know I might had decided to stay on the ground after I had stumbled.

My lolo is not yet well but I know his life is in the hands of God, just like how our life is... Have you ever had a near death experience? Never had? I am not only talking about being sick and having a 50/50 situation in the hospital bed. The reason why I am asking you that is because I want to share some stories that we had shared during our dinner a while ago about the instances wherein God showed us his miracle. And because of those miracles, I want to celebrate my life and my family's life with you...

My story:

One of my earliest memory that I have about God's guidance and protection was when I was still about 7 or 8 years old. My dad was a soldier and he comes home like only twice a month, because of that whenever he's with us our family will always prepare something special for our meal. But there was one time when he came home and we didn't had the chance to do the grocery, so my dad and I decided to go to the wet market to buy the ingredients for our dinner. We were riding his motorcycle that time and we were traveling on a dark highway going home. The road was quiet and there were only few cars and jeepneys that are passing and there was another motorcycle traveling aside from us. While in the middle of the road my dad suddenly said that his heart was beating faster after he saw that motorcycle andd so we decided to stop on the side for a few seconds. Then after the other motorcyle had passed by us we then decided to move on...and there we saw a horrible scene. The motorcycle who was trying to overtake us was hit by a big truck. The scene was bloody scary. The driver's body was all over the place. (May that man rest in peace with God)

It could have been us if we didn't stopped for a while, allowed the man to go ahead of us and, most of all, if God didn't sent His Holy Spirit to give my dad a message. This is my second life (probably it could be more than that) and I want to celebrate it with you!

My dad's story:

I was 13 years old when this incident happened and I praise God for giving us a warning and protecting my dad that time.

My mom was in the charismatic prayer meeting that time when we received God's message through the gift of vision to all the people who were in that service that time. Everybody, except my mom, had seen through a vision that my dad will be shot. He's a soldier and his life was always in danger during that time. When the members shared the same vision to my mom, everybody decided to do a vigil to fight for the foreseen tragedy that may happen. My father was in the field that time and we didn't have communication with him.

Our family prayed and surrendered our fears and also the life of my father to Him. We fought through praying and the battle was successful. God confirmed it through prayers.

When my dad came home, we told him about the vision and he told us about the proof of God's promise. He said he usually pass in this road going home when suddenly along his journey he decided to stop by in this small store to buy a soda. He doesn't drink soda that much and doesn't like that much enough for him to stop for a while. Just minutes after he had stopped, an ambush happened not so far away from the store. There were soldiers who got killed (may they RIP with God).

My father got home safe with a testimony for all us about God's guidance and protection and God's miracles through the gifts He had given to His people. With that, I want to celebrate my dad's life with you.

I believe that my grandfather will be okay, He's life is in the hands of God. Whatever he is going through right now, I know it is just part of his journey and it's effect is also part of our journey. This may be difficult for him and for us physically, emotionally and financially but I believe that our prayers and your prayers will help lighten up everything.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Please Help us Pray for My Grandfather

5:40 PM 6 Comments
As I was writing my previous entry about my prayer request for my grandfather, I was not really aware of how he is doing for we only had received a text message from my brother that he is in the ICU and that he was diagnosed to have brain tumor. The news didn't actually sink in but I know I have to humble myself and ask for more prayers. A while ago I was able to chat with my aunt and the news is heartbreaking.

My aunt was not able to give me the medical terms about the diagnosis but she had told me that the size of the tumor is 5.5cm x3.5cm x3.5cm(LWT). His bladder is now distended because he was not able to urinate even if he already has the catheter. He also needs to have insulin shots right now.

The most heartbreaking part is that we can't afford to give him the right treatment that he needs. For less than 2 days the initial bill in the hospital was 15000php, about $300, and the CT scan costs 7000php (about $150). She said that the nurses in the hospital were already scolding them because they can't buy the medicines that my grandfather needs. They brought my grandfather to a private hospital during the emergency because it was the nearest to them but now that they had decided to bring him to a public hospital, the private hospital won't release him because the bills are not yet paid. The longer they stay in the private hospital, the more the bills will increase and they are just staying there for the doctors and the room and not for his treatment. Some of the needed tests were not yet done because they don't have the money to pay for the lab.

='( It is painful because my aunt said that my grandfather is still fighting. If only we could have money to give them...but I believe this is not just about the money. God is still the best healer and even without the money, if He permits, I know he'll be well. I know He is with us and everything will just be fine through Him.

Please help us pray for him and for our family.

Thank you very much.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

God's Throne

6:28 AM 5 Comments
I've been a while for a long time now but, praise God!, it is not because I am facing some troubles. ^_^ It is because He had added more time for me to be in the church. I praise Him more for what He have done for me and for the changed He had made in my life. I am amazed by how He works and how perfectly everything goes after I had surrendered all my burdens.

Jesus changed my life after the healing He had given me and after He had made it easier for me to see the grudges I had kept in my heart for a very long time. Our minds can truly force us to believe that we had already forgiven and forgotten the things that people had done to us but, honestly, our heart can clearly give us the picture of the truth. If you ask me about my past months ago, I can definitely relate the story to you from the beginning without getting tired of justifying why I set walls to people. I never felt tired of retelling it and I can honestly give you a year by year story of my past and cry and feel proud of myself that I can say "Oh, I had forgiven them." But it is different now, now that Jesus had taught me a lot of things and changed me big time. I praise Him for He had taught me a valuable lesson about forgiveness.

God's ways are truly perfect and, I don't know if it is the right term but well I have to say it, it is well-planned. My college application here in New York got accepted after 3 terms of being late and failing to produce my lacking requirements. I had also passed the college placement exam so by May 28 I will be joining the registration for the Fall 09 semester. I am grateful about it because I realized that if my application was accepted months ago, I know I will find it hard to adjust because I was like this someone who would automatically produce a thick wall to surround myself once I meet new people. I was like an anti-social person who loves to talk to online friends because I believe online friends can't hurt me. ^_^ I also thank God for training me for a new school environment by giving me the chance to read the scriptures on a Wednesday mass. To be a part of a mass is one of my dream and God made it come true and I also consider it as a training for my confidence in facing new people that I consider foreigners. ^_^

I also want to praise God for giving me the chance to be alone here in our house so I could be with Him. I love to pray while I am listening to instrumental songs and before I could allow myself to be in a state of peace, I prayed and ask God to help me visualize Him and He gave me Ezekiel 1. It was a wonderful verse that I had never read the way I had read it before. It was like a new verse for me and I thank Him for that.

I had also prayed for some things like our application for green card, the application for permanent resident of the Costales Family in New Zealand and for our desire to get my older brother Philip from the Philippines so we could be together here in New York. I was claiming in His mighty name that what we desire will be granted as soon as June but I had told Him that I know His time is the best time for everything. God answered me using Psalms 20 and Psalms 21. Praise GOD!

I will praise His name forever! I love Jesus so much and forever I will worship Him for all great things that He has done and promised me.