How I Spent My Christmas Holidays 2011?
I was filled with blessings this Christmas season, and I would like to share it with all of you.
Since there are outpouring blessings to share, I would like to do it part by part, so as not to bore you with a long read. Even during my writing of this post is already a blessing. God sends me messages from time to time as I went along with this sharing.
So, here it goes. I believe you will also be blessed with this sharing of mine.
My First Blessing:
I wasn't sure if I was going home or not. I have a deadline on January 1, and I needed to finish everything before this date. Since I was still very hopeful that I could go home for Christmas, I already bought a round trip ticket to Tacloban. I am not sure if this was a good idea. I don't know if they will allow me to go home. And I was afraid to make that request since I was still in my probationary period. It was already expensive since I bought it a few weeks before the vacation. After several days, my boss suggested that I just connect from our home to our office so that I could go home. But I need to be in the office by January 2, since we need to do implementation on site. I really felt so grateful that I was alowed to go home. I felt God's love through this. God just made a way for me to go home. And I thank God for this great miracle.
My Second Blessing:
I was able to arrive at terminal 2 airport a bit early, so I had the time to take an early lunch. I went to the 3rd floor of the terminal where the restaurants are located. I wanted to eat something really good but I did not know what food to eat. So I searched which restaurant to dine in. Finally, I found a perfect place -- Kenny Rogers. I missed this restaurant. I ordered classic healthy plate. It was one of the best lunch I ever had. I brought my book with me (How To Be A Millionaire God's Way). While waiting for my order, I was able to read. Double treat! That was a complete course. Food for the mind, and body. And that was one of my perfect Lunch.
After eating, I headed to the pre-departure area. There were many people waiting. There was a long line of chair with people sitting. Finally, almost at the end of the line, I found 1 vacant chair. I sat beside a friendly lady. I found out from her that the flights were delayed that's why there were many people in our area. These people had different destination all mixed up in 1 pre-departure gate. We had a nice chat while waiting. Even if our flight was delayed, I did not feel any tiredness or boredom because of this. Finally, it was boarding time. The flight was really smooth. That was another double blessing from God.
My 3rd Blessing:
When I finally arrived home, I found out that Mama was still sick with severe cough. She was just lying in bed when I saw her. Yet I felt so happy seeing my family again. And I saw them really happy seeing me again. I thank God that I got to be with my family this Christmas Season.
My stay at home was a colorful one. It was not purely a joyful one. There was the joyful, sorrowful, and the glorious part. :)
There were series of events that happened that created chaos and joy. I found out that Mama was not just sick physically. She was also sick emotionally and spiritually. I think it was the other way around. The reason why Mama is sick physically, is because of her emotional and spiritual sickness. And that created a snowball effect. Because she is sick physically, her emotions weakens. And because her emotions weakens, her sickness would not heal. And it greatly affected the rest of our family. But nevertheless, I was still happy since I was home.
My 4th Blessing:
Because no medicine could cure her, she was advised to go to Cebu to have her further check up. Papa and I went with her to Cebu, and during our way to Cebu, we had so much fun. Mama did not experience any more fever. Yes she was still coughing, but she was a lot more rested during our trip.
We had a nice chat in the bus to Ormoc. The best part was I was able to open up to Mama some of my thoughts on staying positive. I was able to share with her the negative moments of my life and how I became really restless and not at peace during those times. But when I shifted my mind and decided to think positive, it became lighter for me. And I gained true freedom and peace.
I told her that it is only how we misinterpret things that makes us truly miserable. Of course everything I said was based on my very own experience. I'm not really sure though if Mama got my message. But it was worth a shot. And it was truly a great ride.
My 5th Blessing:
Upon arriving at Ormoc, we hurriedly bought our ticket to Cebu. The Supercat was already fully booked, but it was good since there was still available ticket in the slow boat (Roble).
We had a nice breakfast at a bakery in Ormoc since the boat was leaving at 1pm. We bought coffee and 3 bread. But our main course was a very delicious food that Mama prepared. We had a hearty meal and more laughter during our meal.
After eating, we cleaned up the table, and went in the boat.
My 6th Blessing:
When we got on the boat, Mama continued sharing her thoughts. After an hour, I felt tired and wanted to go to sleep. But I did not want Mama to cut her sharing. But when she saw me that I was already closing my eyes, she just gave in and told me to go to sleep. Finally! He-he-he! I was able to restfully sleep. Mama woke me up since she was already hungry. She asked me if I wanted something for lunch. I told her that we already ate brunch. She told me, that was not brunch (branch), those were just "leaves". It took me a few minutes to realize that that was a joke. And I started laughing in the inside since I was still too tired to wake up.
My 7th Blessing:
When we arrived in Cebu, my sister and her husband picked us up at the terminal. We were not able to go to the hospital that day since it was already late in the afternoon. So, we decided to go home in my sister's house.
When we arrived, I was so happy to see my pamangkins. I was specially surprised by how the youngest of them had grown. The last time I saw her was she was still a baby. And now, she was already walking and talking a bit clearly.
After diner, we played Monopoly. I felt like a kid again. I remembered when we were young, we used to play Millionaires Game. And I often ended really rich by the end of the game. We had so much fun. We just ended the game since it was already late in the evening. I was almost bankrupt when we ended it. But we had so much fun.
My 8th Blessing:
The next day we went to the hospital for mama's check-up. She needed to undergo several tests. The last test of mama was a long procedure. My sister and I just bought food outside and we ate it inside the hospital. It was like we had a picnic.
Those were the few of my blessings during my Christmas Vacation. I could go on and on listing these blessings. Isn't it that we should be the one who should give Jesus our gift? Isn't it that it's His birthday? But yet, it was Jesus who gave me a lot of present during His day. And those are truly beautiful presents that I certainly would like to keep. And now, I think it's my turn to give. I pray that this year, God would grant me the grace to be able to give back to Him. To give more to Him who truly loves me dearly.
What about you? How did you celebrate Jesus' birthday?
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