Who said August is a miserable month? Not me. Not for me. Never for me. August this year is a month of celebrations. Some expected, others extemporaneous. Some for the family. Some for the country. I guess if you open yourself to blessings, blessings come.
1. The Word.
Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass; and taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied. -Mat 14:19-20
[I am re-posting here my reflections on these verses When Subtraction is Multiplication posted on April 2015]
I am technical, therefore, the title.
or
The title, therefore, I am technical.
But mind not the metaphysical aspect of the beginning,
this is just the cause and effect of my reading Thomas A.
-the dude that started it all.
I just feel the need to publish this train of thought
-actually a reflection of today’s gospel reading.
I am right in the middle of a project meeting waiting for my item,
which is I think is stuck between the 36th and the 51st slides,
to go up the discussion board. I arrived late
-just when the 12th slides off the screen but early enough
to catch the first of the doughnuts that got passed around.
Hmmmm, donuts! Read more...
2. Anniversary.
How do you celebrate 22 years of marriage? Very carefully, I guess. Finding reasons for it is like firing a .22 caliber. I haven’t fired one before because I didn’t need to. Which brings me to finding reasons. I don’t need to, either. I’m rambling, am I not? Does this make any sense to you at all? My point is: the reasons are right before my eyes: my wife and two kids. They give me every reason to celebrate.
At 22, time has come to showcase all the lessons learned all these years.
At 22, time has come to exercise wisdom gained.
At 22, time has come to reap and enjoy the fruits of what was planted.
At 22, time has come to plant some more.
At 22, you find best meaning to the words of a song. The one in particular that plays in my mind is Gary Ignacio’s (Alamid) Your Love:
I am all alone without you
My days are dark without a glimpse of you
But now that you came into my life
I feel complete
The flowers bloom, my morning shines
And I can see
Chorus:
Your love is like the sun
That lights up my whole world
I feel the warmth inside
Your love is like the river
That flows down through my veins
I feel the chill inside
Every time I hear our music play
Reminds me of the things that we've been through
In my mind I can't believe it's true
But in my heart the reality is you
Play the song, my dear. And while you listen, think of me. Happy Anniversary!
3. Nikkei Index Up By 1.
A year older. My daughter starts her final teen year. She just finished her 2nd year in college listed on the Dean’s which means she’s actually learning something and the high payout is paying off. One more year and I’m finally financially free. Maybe then she can pay for the electric bill since the brother is paying for the water bill already. I can dream, can’t I?
One of a man’s fears is raising a daughter. But Nikkei presented few difficulties that made the raising part manageable, amusing in more ways I can can recall. There are no cutting corners in raising a child but Nikkei helped smoothen the edges.
Happy birthday, Nikkei. Apart from the jacket you said you will pay me back for but you didn’t, as usual, the good words in this post are your birthday gift.
4. Grand Celebration.
It started with a Viber family group message from my brother Fred asking the family to offer a prayer of thanksgiving for their home mortgage freedom. A few minutes and about a hundred exchange of messages later, village clubhouse is booked, food menus allocated and the parteé is set.
Add to the mortgage freedom as reasons to celebrate: no.2 above; my brother Gani’s birthday, no.3 above; my niece Kate’s successful defense of her master’s degree thesis; Bernadette’s passing the board exams; my niece Shannen’s birthday; my nephew Buchi’s birthday; my brother’s wife’s nephew Walter’s despedida; God’s abundance -to sum it all up.
Little Pia sung the national anthem, Bayang Magiling…
5. Gold!
Almost. Silver, to be exact. To millions of Filipinos who have not seen a local athlete win an Olympic medal since 1996, it was a golden moment in the midst of bad news which this country has had enough of.
6. A Cockroach Got Into My Car.
Backing up in my garage one early night with the windows open, a big scary roach from out of nowhere flew in the car perhaps expecting a free ride. Next thing I knew, we were playing hide n’ seek. Give it to the roach, it’s good at playing this game because no matter how many times I say “ready or not here come,” I just couldn’t find the creepy creature. I’ve almost given up. Just when the thought of it making my new car its hatchery, an idea of spraying lemon-scented Baygon came. I was tempted to empty the can but that might defeat the new car smell. I sprayed a few but just enough for the scent to penetrate probable hiding places. The following morning, RIP roach!
7. You. Yes, You.
This blog is a few years old but I have never gotten the chance to thank you, my beloved readers -yes all 42.5 regular readers of this blog. You’ve known me, my thoughts, my work, my fears, my joys and pains. You know me not just through my writings. You know me because you are all my relatives! Thank you, family.
Please don’t feel bad just because the cockroach entry came ahead of you in this list, you are more important to me than a hundred cockroaches, dead or alive.
Again, thank you. See you soon.
Wait! Whose turn is it to bring garlic rice in the next pot luck. Me? Oh sheesh kebab…
This is the best short article I’ve read this month. If you’re not too busy, please read. It’s worth your busy time:
Despite turbulence and other conditions keeping airplanes
off-course 90 percent of flight time, most flights arrive in the correct destination
at the intended time.
The reason for this phenomenon is quite simple — through air traffic control
and the inertial guidance system, pilots are constantly course-correcting.
When immediately addressed, these course corrections are not hard to manage.
When these course corrections don’t regularly happen, catastrophe can result.
9. He Cares Mission.
For 20 of caring for God’s poor street children, He Cares Mission celebrates God’s blessings. He Cares Mission is a foundation for street children founded 20 years ago by Joe Dean Sola and wife Ardis. You must remember Joe Dean as one of us Wordly Men who meet every Monday for breakfast and Bible study. Ardis is my wife’s best friend since kindergarten. Rissa sits as one of the foundation’s board members. Needless to say, it’s one of our fave foundation. If you want to donate to any of its programs, please click here.
10. Davao.
It was the 90’s when I first visited Davao whose mayor then is a dude named Duterte. I was with Philips Lighting working on a mall project. This time, it’s for SM, Toespin’s biggest client who happens to have problems with lighting in their two Davao malls. SM knows: when you have lighting concerns, who you gonna call? #toespinlighting!
The city reeks of durian that quells any other odor present in the air. Posters, billboards and stickers of Duterte blanket every fence, wall and post everywhere. I wasn’t a bit surprised.
The city will soon shine brightly. The malls, at least.
May you be showered with God's abundance.
