As a daughter of Roman Catholic parents, I was raised knowing and valuing the Bible. The Bible includes guidelines that can lead to a happy and victorious life. But amidst that knowledge, I still got lost --- because there were times I chose to ignore them and headed down a different direction. I found myself alone.
Yes, I headed for the wrong directions many times, but I know in my heart that it was never too late to turn back.
Whenever I pray, I feel the Lord's comfort in a way that forged a relationship with Him bound by tears and forgiveness. I also am being comforted by the words of German theologian, Karl Rahner who said: “There are no accidents, only Divine Providence”.
I wonder, hundreds of years from now, if someone accidentally comes across anything that will identify me, what will that be? How will I be known to generations? Will they say, “We know very little about this person, but we know what she did for the Lord and what the Lord does for us now because of her.”
Yes, it will all depend on what mark we will leave behind.
I came across this message via e-mail: “It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived!”
As a human being, we have a choice: to be happy, or to be miserable. That's how life works. Experience is not what happens to you. Experience is what you do to what happens to you.
God gifted each of us with unique talents and abilities to improve our quality of life, and there is no excuse for not fully utilizing our potentials. But many of us easily give up when confronted with setbacks in life. We should confront our limitations and accept them, so we can continue to grow.
We must not allow the burdens of the day to bend us down. We should afford ourselves moments of respite - breathing moments when we can stretch out and raise our eyes to heaven. Let us not be overwhelmed by things that we need to accomplish. Let us be reminded that life is not only about quantity, but also about quality.
Back in the Philippines, I was such a multi-tasker. Apart from a full-time job, I got my hands full with other projects. Even when I was asleep, I can't help but think about so many things that I need to do.
Now, it has been nearly eight months. I am a full-time housewife. And after 12 years of working, it is only now that I appreciate how beautiful “solitude” is - away from the meetings, and hustle & bustle of the academe and corporate worlds. I now appreciate the simple things in life.
Moments of silence and rest, moments of contemplation, moments of realizations are truly priceless.
God is not concerned about how much we have accomplished but how much of ourselves are we willing to give.
