Camp John Hay, Baguio CityJune 29, 2011
The generous soul will be made rich,
And he who waters will also be watered himself.
- Proverbs 11:25
The LORD your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.
- Zephaniah 3:17
Rejoice in the Lord always.
Again I will say, rejoice!
Let your gentleness be known to all men.
The Lord is at hand.
- Philippians 4:4, 5
I arrived from Baguio City about two hours ago.
Baguio City is a very beautiful city located up in the cool mountains of our northern islands. Located 1,500 meters above sea level it was built and established by the Americans in the early 1900s and was named "summer capital" of our country. (Read more about Baguio City here.)
This city is also special to me because it is where my husband and I went for our honeymoon after our wedding day thirty-three years ago.
It is still hard to believe how God has once again orchestrated the events of my life, to provide for me the much needed physical rest and spiritual refreshment that I had longed for the past weeks.
A few days after I arrived in Manila three weeks ago, our maid Irene left for a two-week vacation in her hometown. This left me with a huge house to clean and a big garden to look after in her absence. It isn't so easy these days to have a faithful and trustworthy domestic helper, so I'm really grateful God has provided us with someone like Irene. But while she was away, it fell on me to do everything.
Really I was glad and happy to do these things... but I got so tired toward the end.
This, on top of the fact that my heart had also been heavy for quite some time now because of a personal concern.
Out of the blue, the wish to visit Baguio City even just for a few days cropped up in my heart, but it was unspoken... I did not even bring it before God. Mostly because I thought it couldn't possibly happen at this point.
Much to my surprise, my friend Tina called me up early last week to say that her cousin Rosemarie, who was also a close friend of mine, was inviting both of us to join her for a few days in Baguio City at the end of this month!
The timing couldn't have been more perfect.
Rosemarie usually rents her favorite place - a beautiful country cottage in Camp John Hay in Baguio City. For some reason, the only days that this cottage was unoccupied this year were the last four days of June.
The schedule was set. I marked June 27 as the day I leave for Baguio.
I know it was not a coincidence but a divine appointment that our maid Irene was also scheduled to return on the dawn flight that very day!
At the last minute Tina could not make it, and I nearly backed out of the plan.
But having already given my word to Rosemarie, even if the idea of traveling alone to Baguio did not appeal to me, I knew I had to go.
When I reached the bus terminal at noon of Monday, the first class bus had just left. Their website had not been updated so the wrong information was posted on it. Taking the next available bus, an ordinary air conditioned one, meant it would take me longer to reach my destination.
I boarded it anyway and it really turned out to be a smooth and fairly comfortable ride, despite the many stops. We reached the mountain city at 8 o'clock that night.
Rosemarie's chauffer was waiting for me at the bus terminal. After nearly seven hours on the bus, her SUV was a welcome comfort for my travel-weary body.
The cool mountain air was so refreshing!
A slight drizzle was falling as I went up the steps to this familiar country cottage. Rosemarie and her friends were waiting for me at the dinner table, where a warm meal was ready.
I went to bed that night with a heart full of thanksgiving. It was quite cold, especially because it was raining, but I was warm and cozy under the downy comforter, the warmth of my Father's love surrounding me as I drifted off to sleep.
And so as the month of June quietly says good-bye, I name it Thankfulness.
Good-bye, June. You have been so good to me.
My heart overflows with gratitude for what God has allowed in my life these past four weeks!
What perfect timing this mountain retreat has been for me. It comes right at the end of the sixth month of 2011... and right in the middle of the year!
And it comes with a message of hope and restoration.
Cool, misty morning
Country cottage
I come to the garden alone...
Hibiscus dripping with dew!
Baguio City is a very beautiful city located up in the cool mountains of our northern islands. Located 1,500 meters above sea level it was built and established by the Americans in the early 1900s and was named "summer capital" of our country. (Read more about Baguio City here.)
This city is also special to me because it is where my husband and I went for our honeymoon after our wedding day thirty-three years ago.
It is still hard to believe how God has once again orchestrated the events of my life, to provide for me the much needed physical rest and spiritual refreshment that I had longed for the past weeks.
A few days after I arrived in Manila three weeks ago, our maid Irene left for a two-week vacation in her hometown. This left me with a huge house to clean and a big garden to look after in her absence. It isn't so easy these days to have a faithful and trustworthy domestic helper, so I'm really grateful God has provided us with someone like Irene. But while she was away, it fell on me to do everything.
Really I was glad and happy to do these things... but I got so tired toward the end.
This, on top of the fact that my heart had also been heavy for quite some time now because of a personal concern.
Out of the blue, the wish to visit Baguio City even just for a few days cropped up in my heart, but it was unspoken... I did not even bring it before God. Mostly because I thought it couldn't possibly happen at this point.
Much to my surprise, my friend Tina called me up early last week to say that her cousin Rosemarie, who was also a close friend of mine, was inviting both of us to join her for a few days in Baguio City at the end of this month!
The timing couldn't have been more perfect.
Rosemarie usually rents her favorite place - a beautiful country cottage in Camp John Hay in Baguio City. For some reason, the only days that this cottage was unoccupied this year were the last four days of June.
The schedule was set. I marked June 27 as the day I leave for Baguio.
I know it was not a coincidence but a divine appointment that our maid Irene was also scheduled to return on the dawn flight that very day!
At the last minute Tina could not make it, and I nearly backed out of the plan.
But having already given my word to Rosemarie, even if the idea of traveling alone to Baguio did not appeal to me, I knew I had to go.
When I reached the bus terminal at noon of Monday, the first class bus had just left. Their website had not been updated so the wrong information was posted on it. Taking the next available bus, an ordinary air conditioned one, meant it would take me longer to reach my destination.
I boarded it anyway and it really turned out to be a smooth and fairly comfortable ride, despite the many stops. We reached the mountain city at 8 o'clock that night.
Rosemarie's chauffer was waiting for me at the bus terminal. After nearly seven hours on the bus, her SUV was a welcome comfort for my travel-weary body.
The cool mountain air was so refreshing!
A slight drizzle was falling as I went up the steps to this familiar country cottage. Rosemarie and her friends were waiting for me at the dinner table, where a warm meal was ready.
I went to bed that night with a heart full of thanksgiving. It was quite cold, especially because it was raining, but I was warm and cozy under the downy comforter, the warmth of my Father's love surrounding me as I drifted off to sleep.
And so as the month of June quietly says good-bye, I name it Thankfulness.
Good-bye, June. You have been so good to me.
My heart overflows with gratitude for what God has allowed in my life these past four weeks!
What perfect timing this mountain retreat has been for me. It comes right at the end of the sixth month of 2011... and right in the middle of the year!
And it comes with a message of hope and restoration.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD,
“plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.”
- Jeremiah 29:11
“plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.”
- Jeremiah 29:11
This is the promise that God spoke to me, right at the end of the first half of 2011, and just before the second half begins... I have a good plan for you... to prosper you and not to harm you... to give you hope and a future.
My heart leaps at the thought.
After my seven days of stillness, God brought me up a mountain, where my soul was refreshed and re-invigorated by His presence.
He also re-confirmed to me the messages He had given during those days of stillness!
Every morning, for the next three days, six of us gathered around the table and we started the day in an extended time of worshiping and praising God, and listening to Him speak to us through His word.
With the cool mountain air drifting in through the windows, and our eyes feasting on the beautiful scenery all around, our hearts were in one accord as we sought God to touch us afresh, to heal us where we have been wounded in the battle, to send His rain on the parched and hardened places of our hearts.
God heard the cries of our hearts; indeed, He graced us with His presence.
What a beautiful time of meeting with the three Persons of the Godhead... Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!
God remains true to His promise. “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD...
By being still before God, I assume a posture of humility and openness, admitting that I need Him, that He is my source of life... that He is the wisdom from above...
In the midst of the busyness and urgent concerns all crying for my attention, moments of stillness create an inner space where God is welcome to bring renewal and a much needed sense of peace.
Setting aside time to be quiet before God gives Him room to redefine our boundaries and our priorities for us.
I must be about my Father's business. If I am obedient and do as He says, then I will be in His perfect will, and I position myself to receive the instructions and the strategies that I need for my earthly battles. This was one clear direction imparted to me during the three days that I spent up in the mountain.
Don't draw attention to yourself... willingly give... humbly serve... don't grow weary in doing good.
Extend compassion... withhold judgment... be a life-giver...
Above all... rejoice! Look at life from the vantage point of victory, provision and celebration!
I truly am thankful to God for having spoken so directly to my point of need.
Indeed, celebrating each moment as it comes causes my heart to become soft and gentle.
Train your heart to be thankful in everything, My child.
What my heavenly Father desires is what I desire as well.
Thankfulness becomes a way of seeing... a way of life!
One of my favorite authors, Charles Ringma, writes in his book Life in Full Stride:
We truly possess only what we are thankful for. What we take for granted is something that we do not really have; it slips through our fingers. The things that we are thankful for are the things we endow with meaning.... We can be thankful not only for the gifts of life and health, friendship and safety but also for kind words, a beautiful sunset or that things went well at work.
Gratitude is thus an acknowledgment that so much of our life is really a gift...
Gratitude helps us to rightly define ourselves and to see ourselves in a proper light. For we do not make it all happen; we are simply recipients of so much from the Father's hand...
When we have the eyes to see, our whole way of life can be marked by thankfulness and thus by a new inner joy.
My prayer:
Dear God, thank you for mapping out the future for me, and showing me the direction in which to go... the Godly response to make... the Christ-honoring attitude to carry as I enter the second half of this year.
You have brought me to still waters and green pastures when I was not even expecting it.
You saw the longing of my heart, and you granted it...
Thank You for Your generosity and kindness!
Father, You said that You will keep feeding me if I will not withhold my time and effort and willingly share what You have given me with others....
And indeed, You have been true to Your word. As I have given out, You have kept pouring more into my cup...
Thank you, dear Father... I truly am thankful to You.
Bus bound for Baguio, shot taken during one of the stopovers
June 27, 2011, 5:20 p.m.
Good morning, Baguio!
Misty view from my bedroom window
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
5:09 a.m.
Cozy hideaway
My heart leaps at the thought.
After my seven days of stillness, God brought me up a mountain, where my soul was refreshed and re-invigorated by His presence.
He also re-confirmed to me the messages He had given during those days of stillness!
Every morning, for the next three days, six of us gathered around the table and we started the day in an extended time of worshiping and praising God, and listening to Him speak to us through His word.
With the cool mountain air drifting in through the windows, and our eyes feasting on the beautiful scenery all around, our hearts were in one accord as we sought God to touch us afresh, to heal us where we have been wounded in the battle, to send His rain on the parched and hardened places of our hearts.
God heard the cries of our hearts; indeed, He graced us with His presence.
What a beautiful time of meeting with the three Persons of the Godhead... Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!
God remains true to His promise. “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD...
By being still before God, I assume a posture of humility and openness, admitting that I need Him, that He is my source of life... that He is the wisdom from above...
In the midst of the busyness and urgent concerns all crying for my attention, moments of stillness create an inner space where God is welcome to bring renewal and a much needed sense of peace.
Setting aside time to be quiet before God gives Him room to redefine our boundaries and our priorities for us.
I must be about my Father's business. If I am obedient and do as He says, then I will be in His perfect will, and I position myself to receive the instructions and the strategies that I need for my earthly battles. This was one clear direction imparted to me during the three days that I spent up in the mountain.
Don't draw attention to yourself... willingly give... humbly serve... don't grow weary in doing good.
Extend compassion... withhold judgment... be a life-giver...
Above all... rejoice! Look at life from the vantage point of victory, provision and celebration!
I truly am thankful to God for having spoken so directly to my point of need.
Indeed, celebrating each moment as it comes causes my heart to become soft and gentle.
Train your heart to be thankful in everything, My child.
What my heavenly Father desires is what I desire as well.
Thankfulness becomes a way of seeing... a way of life!
One of my favorite authors, Charles Ringma, writes in his book Life in Full Stride:
We truly possess only what we are thankful for. What we take for granted is something that we do not really have; it slips through our fingers. The things that we are thankful for are the things we endow with meaning.... We can be thankful not only for the gifts of life and health, friendship and safety but also for kind words, a beautiful sunset or that things went well at work.
Gratitude is thus an acknowledgment that so much of our life is really a gift...
Gratitude helps us to rightly define ourselves and to see ourselves in a proper light. For we do not make it all happen; we are simply recipients of so much from the Father's hand...
When we have the eyes to see, our whole way of life can be marked by thankfulness and thus by a new inner joy.
My prayer:
Dear God, thank you for mapping out the future for me, and showing me the direction in which to go... the Godly response to make... the Christ-honoring attitude to carry as I enter the second half of this year.
You have brought me to still waters and green pastures when I was not even expecting it.
You saw the longing of my heart, and you granted it...
Thank You for Your generosity and kindness!
Father, You said that You will keep feeding me if I will not withhold my time and effort and willingly share what You have given me with others....
And indeed, You have been true to Your word. As I have given out, You have kept pouring more into my cup...
Thank you, dear Father... I truly am thankful to You.
My mountain retreat in pictures:
Bus bound for Baguio, shot taken during one of the stopoversJune 27, 2011, 5:20 p.m.
Good morning, Baguio!Misty view from my bedroom window
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
5:09 a.m.
Cozy hideaway
Cool, misty morning
Country cottage
A harbinger of hope...
View from the kitchen window
View from the kitchen window
I come to the garden alone...Hibiscus dripping with dew!
Lamp on doorpost...
Lovely view from dining room window
Sumptuous Filipino breakfast after a wonderful time of early morning worship.Suede, Tess, Rosemarie, me, Janice and Alvin with daughter Ashka
All aglow!Rosemarie, Tess, Suede (standing) and Janice (seated)...still singing worship songs!
Streets in this city have American names!Below are some pictures I took during my early morning stroll:
Last night in BaguioWednesday, June 29, 2011
On my way to the Baguio bus terminalThursday, June 30, 2011
9:02 a.m.
Bus bound for Manila.This time I didn't miss the de luxe express bus...
and I traveled back to Manila in comfort.
Thank You, Lord!
Some pictures I took from the bus as it went down the winding mountain roads...
Good-bye Baguio... see you again soon!
15 comments:
Crown of Beauty---INDEED! That term refers to you, your family, your friends, your country and our Saviour.
Thank you for sharing your life with us. You are an inspiration!
Your pictures are just beautiful! I'm so happy you were able to have this time of rest and renewal!
What a wonderful read. Very uplifting.
And what a beautiful place!
.. the music on the page threw me off a bit at first. =)
I thought it was music coming over the air force base speakers outside..like a test or something. Ha!!
"Breath" is playing right now.. Love it.
~Brooke
Dear Lidj,
This post was such a blessing to me. All of your words are, because I know that the LORD is the One who gives them to share with us! And I'm so thankful you take the time to share your heart with us. For He is teaching you special, valuable lessons, and you just pass them on, like a river that keeps moving, giving life to everything it touches! Thank you dear sister! The pictures are just breathtaking! And the words of encouragement are life-and-HOPE-giving! Such refreshment to a tired and weary soul. :)
Love and hugs!!
tammi
The Lord knew you needed this trip:) Thank you for sharing it in photo's. I feel like I was right there with you. I love your songs/music on your blog. It goes so well with what you write.
Dear Lidj,
I rejoice with you, over the blessings the Lord so rightfully has sent you.
The Philippines must be the most beautiful country on earth, mountains, forests, waters, sea, and all the flowers imaginable.
I can see you're looking happy with all your friends, and hope you can relax while you are traveling.
i can hardly understand how you are managing to be n the road for so many days
Then again, I think the Lord is leading you from water to water, and hopefully restful sleep as well.
Take care, my sister, in every way.
From Felisol
So glad you had that exciting trip! I was still little and could barely remember when I went to Camp John Hay with some cousins. But I would never forget that I had a great time and your post brought me back to that special time. I'm sure it looked different now but one thing is that Baguio is always a beautiful place and the weather! Cold and totally different from the usual humid weather.
Best place to grab that doughnut and some freshly-brewed coffee! :)
I imagine the trek going up there in that high mountain like our difficult journey but what a welcoming treat to reach the top!
How can we not be thankful when He is always faithful with His promises and is true! God bless you sister Lidj and thank you for sharing this rejuvenating post!
Hi Lidj,
I was truly blessed reading your post this evening. I love the scripture in Jeremiah 29:11. Oh and thankfulness, we have so much to be thankful for, yet I know I take too much for granted.
Thank you for this post and God bless,
Ken
Beautiful refreshment on God's mountain! I think God planned it just for you. What wonderful, kind friends you've been given.
peace~elaine
What a lovely retreat! I am also a big fan of mountains as a place to restore and refresh my spirit. I am so glad that God worked out this time for you - and that you enjoyed your friends.
I will soon be heading to some time in the mountains myself - I can hardly wait to hear what God has to say to me!
GOD BLESS, Lidj - and the photos were beautiful!
Hello! I have seen you around the blogs before. I thought I'd say hello. I enjoyed your Bagiou photographs. I always liked that place although during my last trip in 1974 for a Girl Scout encampment in Mt. Makiling, the roads were not paved and the driver drove like crazy Norman Bates!!!
I enjoyed reading your sidebar, very interesting and smiled at your beautiful family but later scrolled down to Ernie's farewell. I am sorry. I hope you are at peace and happy.
Have a lovely summer.
Yes, God save Israel.
I am so happy for you to have had this time! It seems it was beautiful both visually and spiritually.
I'll admit that I started to get just a bit envious of your time...of friends and people to pray and worship and study the Bible with...of times to get away like that. But then the Lord reminded me that He meets my needs just as surely as He met yours...they simply look different because His ways for me are not identical to yours. And so I am at peace...happy for you, and still hungrily seeking Him right now...
Hi Lidj, How blessed you are to really enjoy your life and have such beautiful surroundings as well as, wonderful friends, yes God does smile on you Lidj, a true and faithful servant. God Bless You, Sandy:O)
What a lovely retreat .. full of His magnificence everywhere you look. Your photos shout out to the people of the earth to see the beauty of the Lord .. You must have come away so refreshed!
Dear Lidj, how happy I am to see you have enjoyed this time!! You deserve it! I love taking notes in my journal reading your rich posts. Especially the words you quoted on gratitude. I feel the Spirit jumping within me even as I connect with you this way. So good to be back here and catch up with you. I loved to see the beautiful shining Filipino faces around the table too! May God bless you more and more and more. Beloved x
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