Casa dulce casa

Also known as:  home sweet home from Europe

Cookie Monster in Madrid!

Hi everyone! I’m back!

Europe is beautiful. And God is amazingly awesome. :)

It’s been an amazing two weeks, and I definitely owe you guys blog entries on the entire trip. So, I promise to write them down. In fact, I have an outline ready. I just need time to write it. I promise I’ll find time.

But in case I don’t post anything in the next few days, I give you permission to bug me. Until I sit down and finally write about it. Deal? :)

Before I go and work, I must say this:

I am loved by a God who delights in fulfilling my dreams. :) How can I stand here with You and not be moved by You?

Have a blessed Friday, everyone. :)

Adiós por ahora

Also known as: Off to Europe, see you later!

So I meant to post, and I meant to schedule posts here while I’m away for the next two weeks, just so people would know this blog is still alive, and I’ve got stuff to write about.

But alas. The last few flurries before the trip really got to me, and I find myself scribbling this blog entry as fast as I can while I wait for my brother to get me and drop me off at the airport.

Sometimes I still can’t believe that I am actually going to World Youth Day. And to Europe. This was just a hasty prayer/epiphany I got while I was showering in the gym, wondering what I was going to do with my life. I just posted about it last January. I was scared that it won’t happen, but I’m just amazed at how God fixed everything for us, for me. And I wanted it to happen, of course, but now that I’m here, about to fly, I can’t believe that I’m actually here.

Once again, I am amazed at how faithful God has been and is to me. :)

Anyway, there’s so much stuff I want to write about, but I must hurry in case my brother arrives. One of their advice for us for World Youth Day is to empty ourselves and be ready for how God will fill us with everything we will experience in this event. A part of me is excited about that, but also a part of me is wary of what I will come back to after this is over. Oh, there’s no doubt that I will experience God in the next 15 days. I guess I’m just concerned about what will happen next after this. What will I do next? What will I strive for next? Will I even be the same person after?

Then again…I guess that’s one more thing to pray for. :)

So…let’s do this. :) I won’t be bringing my laptop, so I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to post anything. I’m not sure how much online time I have, but let’s just assume I won’t have much. :) I will try to tweet, though, but I can’t promise. :)

But if you have any prayer concerns, or you just want me to pray for you, leave a comment (or tweet me, or email me, or text me, even, if you know my number), and I will pray for you. :) That I can definitely promise.

See you in fifteen days! I promise to blog more after, really, I do! :)

Community

Also known as: On Missing Community

A few days ago, I had to go to a World Youth Day pilgrims meeting at the new head office of the Catholic community I’m a part of. Or maybe I should say, was a part of, because even if I am still a member, I haven’t been attending any gatherings in the past…oh, three years? You see, once you’re in the community, you’re a member forever. You can disappear, but you can be a member by name.

YFC International Leaders Conference Bacolod, 1999. Spot the girl with the dorky round glasses. :P

So anyway, it’s been ages since I last attended. I haven’t been showing up because I was busy with work, and honestly, I felt like I’ve outgrown it. See, I grew up in community — I was a member of the Catholic community my parents belonged to since I was a kid. My parents, being community elders by then, attended all sorts of elder events, dragging me along. Being the youngest, I sort of had no choice but to go and do what they say (my older brother was cut a bit of slack there). So from being in the kids ministry, I joined the youth, and…that really made my life different.

I loved being in community. It was my second home, and I met most of my closest and best friends there. Not to mention that being in community brought me closer to God, which is the real point of being in one. I wouldn’t be who I am, I wouldn’t be able to do what I do now if I didn’t spend all those years with them. Truth be told, I thought that I wouldn’t get tired of it, especially after that one year I took a break. I seriously thought I would even be working as a full time missionary, if not for the discernment and decision that led me to the corporate world.

But that doesn’t mean corporate world and community didn’t mix. Other people manage, so why didn’t I? Why couldn’t I?

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