Privilege

So give me words to speak
Don't let my spirit sleep
Cause I can't think of anything worth saying
But I know that I owe You my life
So give me words to speak...

-Aaron Shust

Surely goodness and mercy

Shall follow me all the days of my life,

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

- Psalm 23:6

For the Lord God is a sun and shield

He bestows favor and honor;

No good thing does he withhold

From those whose walk is blameless.

- Psalm 84:11

As this month ends, I'm looking back at the past four weeks... and all I can think of is the word privilege.

Privilege... all of my life is a privilege.

I remember April as a dry and weary land... and my spirit was crying out for spiritual rain to water the parched places of my heart.

The very first day of May came with a heavy downpour... a harbinger of a beautiful season of refreshing.

And indeed it was.

So, privilege is the best word I can use to describe this month.

A privilege is a special favor granted. And when I look at my life through the lens of privilege, my heart overflows with thankfulness and appreciation.

Plans miscarry, people and circumstances disappoint us...

When I live my life as a right, it is easy to demand that things go the way we want them to.

But how beautiful the heart that looks at life as a privilege.

Jesus, the Son of the King of Kings could have looked at His life as a right... then He would never have offered to give His life on the cross in exchange for ours.

And where would that leave us?

These are the thoughts filling my heart - just a gratefulness for the life that I have been given.

To some, this kind of thinking is mushy sentimentalism. But for me, it is plain and simple reality.

I owe God my life, it is only proper that I live in appreciation of what He has done.


The month of May began with much awaited rainshowers falling on the thirsty ground of my home province.

I am so thankful for what this month has been like.

At the start of this month, we celebrated First Born son's birthday.

I stood as one of the principal sponsors for Edward and Janice on their wedding ceremony.

On May 7, together with my friends William and Ruby and their daughter Stef, we flew to Manila to do a three day Ancient Paths seminar in Batangas, another province south of Manila.

Together with our Manila ministry team, we were booked in a beautiful garden resort...

Every night in Batangas, the rains also fell. The plants around were so lush and green, bringing delight to our hearts.

It was symbolic of what was happening in the hearts of the medical students our team ministered to. After going through The Question (Identity and Destiny seminar) and ministry time, these young people will never be the same!

It was a privilege for me to be an agent of healing and change in their lives.


After a two hour road trip from Batangas City, I reached my Metro Manila home on May 9... and this was what I saw waiting for me:

The photo doesn't do justice to this beautiful crape myrtle tree -- there were hundreds of buds on every twig and branch of the plant, ready to bloom.

Just a few weeks ago I had been praying for this tree, wondering if it was going to flower this year, like it usually does. So my heart was overjoyed to see it had indeed sprung back to life!

My daughter Obedient One and I celebrated Mother's Day the following day at my favorite restaurant, Cyma Greek Taverna. We ate a sumptuous lunch of Roka Salata, Paidakia (Grilled Lamb Chops), and Vongole (Angel Hair Pasta and Baby Clams in White Wine).

On May 15, I arrived in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where Obedient One and I spent ten wonderful days with our dear friends Teerapong and Angkab.

Chiang Mai's summer had also been very hot and oppressive, but while we were there, the rains finally began to fall.

My 2015 visit to Chiang Mai was such a delightful, refreshing one. Words are really never enough to express what is on my heart.

Here are some photos:

On May 28, my son Worshiper, his wife Chosen One, their two sons, and I went up to Baguio City for the wedding of his best friend Joey to Sitti Navarro, a famous Bossa Nova singer in our country. Joey's mom, Jing, is a dear friend of mine as well.

It rained every afternoon and evening in Baguio City while we were there. And yes, it rained on the day of the wedding as well.

But everything just turned out to be beautiful! So beautiful.

The rains made everything look so fresh and new.

I wrote all about it on my blog post entitled Love Someone.

Again, what can I say, except that it was a privilege for me to have been there.

These past years I have been appreciating solitude and silence more and more.

A lot of times I have realized that too many words can ruin an otherwise beautiful moment.

Sad but true... how often do our words get in the way of what the Father is trying to say to us?

And so, more and more, given the choice, I would prefer my words to be few.

I know I have said this before, but let me just say it one more time: there are times when I realize that it is okay to leave my questions unspoken.

And it is also okay to have no answers for my questions.

There is a day coming when all the answers we are looking for will be given to us.

For now, I just want to say:

Thank You, my dear Abba Father, for this truly refreshing month.

Thank You for the spiritual rain showers, the showers of mercy and grace, that have watered the garden of my heart.

Thank You for dear friends who have been so generous and kind to me.

Thank You for the privilege of being a witness to Your abounding love.

I name this month: Privilege.

I couldn't have asked for more.


Soon I will be going back to my home city of Bacolod. I've been away for almost a month, but May has been a truly incredible and amazing month!

For now, let me savor the last few days I have left in this beautiful home where I grew up... till my next visit...

treasuring the memory of my hardworking parents, proud of the way they brought me up...

packing the Lampang ceramic pottery and the Starbucks Chiangmai mug that I brought home with me from Thailand...

and most of all, being thankful... ever so thankful for this life that I have been given.


Here are a few more photos taken in Baguio City,  and a fitting song for this month, My Savior, My God by Aaron Shust.

Thank you Sitti,
I know you were tired from your wedding the day before...
so I truly appreciate your kindness in posing with me for this photo.

Note: Most of the photos of my Chiang Mai trip were taken by Teerapong or Ut, as we fondly call him. He is my friend Oy's husband. Ut doesn't like to be called a "professional." so I won't. But he does take very good photographs! Thank you, Ut...