Do You Suffer for Love?

Do you have a partner? A girlfriend or a spouse?

Do you suffer tailing her in the mall when she goes shopping and you carry all the shopping bags?

Do you suffer when she enters a store, picks up two items and asks you “Which one is better? What do you think?” And in your mind you want to say, “Buy both. Let’s go home!” But decided not to and tells her your preference?

Do you have a child? Or three small naughty children that appears to be 27 kids because of the noise and mess and chaos they do in your house? Do you suffer being a parent for them?

I believe that it is sweet, beautiful and lovely suffering.

But it is not suffering for suffering’s sake.

It is suffering for the sake of love.

You still go with her to the mall and accompany her because you are with the woman of your dreams.

You take care of your children because they are your jewel, your prince and your princess. You suffer because of your love for them.

Confession, I don’t have a father. I do but I never saw him. He went outside the country to work when I was one year old. And he never came back. Thankfully, my mom was there. He took care of us, six children. Do you think she suffered? You bet! And I believe that we are who we are now because there’s this mother who suffered being a father and mother for us because she loves us. (Thank you, ma!)

And right now, as the Holy Week approaches, we remember how Jesus has suffered and died for us on a cross.

Jesus died in the Calvary as a common criminal but He never committed a crime. He never committed a sin. Yet He died on a cross.

The King of all kings. The God who created the heavens and the earth. The one who made you and me, died on the cross.

Why?

He could have made a decision to save you “You’re saved.” That’s it!

But God is a God who wants to convince you that He loves you. He wants to express and manifest His love for you. He wanted to show it so that you will have no doubt whatsoever that you are important to Him.

Friends, accept that love from Jesus.

You are worth suffering for.

The Art of Enjoying Life

I am writing this article in front of the house early this morning.

I’m telling you, it is sooo wonderful just to sit here and be mesmerized by the green leaves and blooming flowers with beautiful background music from real, flying, singing birds.

No car noise. No people passing by the street (still in their dreamland).

Just nature.

I loved it!

I am recapturing the ability to enjoy every moment of my life. At no cost! (Well, except for my coffee and doughnut.)

You know, we are losing the art of enjoying life.

We have so many issues. We have so many burdens. We were thinking so many things. We have so many worries.

We are losing the art of enjoying life.

And my word for you is this, learn to relax.

It was Brother Bo who said, “Yes you’ve got problems. Yes you’ve got struggles. Yes you’ve got things running around your mind. But you know what? God wants to teach you that a big part of your life is joy and peace and love. Sure there are problems but your blessings outnumber your problems and you need to learn how to enjoy your life.”

For the past two weeks I had two consecutive weekend vacations with two different groups of people.

Two weeks ago, I went to a resort in Batangas with my college friends and stayed there for a night. They had this beautiful restaurant with a panoramic view of Taal Lake and Taal Volcano. Believe me, it is world class. And we were there talking and laughing and eating and laughing and teasing and… have I mentioned laughing? with the beautiful view of Taal in front of us.

I had fun.

Taste and See

In Psalms 34:8 says, Taste and see that the Lord is good.

How many of you know that the Lord is good?

You know what? It’s not enough just to know about it. It’s not enough just to read about it. You’ve got to taste it. You’ve got to savor it. You’ve got to feel and experience it. You’ve got to enjoy the goodness of God.

Last week, we were in Nagsasa Cove in Zambales, a remote area with no electricity and with no cellular network coverage. Now you know what that means. No facebook, no twitter and no instagram.

I can hear you. “Whaaatt??”

Yes, you read it right. But I enjoyed the adventure with my new friends most of them I just met during the trip. They were happy people. They’re so much fun to be with that when they tell a story or a joke and you can’t relate to it, you will still laugh after. Because their laugh beats SARS, Meningococcemia and H1N1 combined. It is so contagious.

When it was time to cook, I volunteered for the fire. They were amazed on how I was able to create a fire in less than a minute. (ssshh, I brought a match). And I learned that the tagalog word for creating a fire with wood is “magparikit.” (I am getting ahead of my story)

What am I saying?

Just Enjoy.

How many of you wanna recapture that? The ability to smell the flowers even on a busy day? How many of you walked on the beach barefoot and allow the sand to go through your toes? How many of you can seat on a chair looking at a beautiful view of nature just looking and enjoying life?

Friends, God loves it when you’re having fun. When you’re enjoying life, He loves it.

I recalled what brother Bo said during one of his talks, “Some people have this wrong notion that when they’re happy, when they’re glad, they feel guilty that they’re having too much fun and too much happiness. That’s not true. God loves you so much.”

Learn to relax.

Recapture the art of enjoying life!

How?

Be grateful.

Have a joyful summer.