Just Passing Through

A good photographer will do everything to freeze a significant moment and capture that smile we wear. But there are times that he needs to be creative to spread in his own way that universal language - smile 😊 📷 by a cheerful brother named Carlo exactly a year ago.. #AguinaldoSamutNuptials | 10.06.2017 Posted the above on my Fb dated 10.06.2018 to greet Preacher Rogel and Sis.Malou on their first wedding anniversary. No filter. No edit. We were intently captured appearing to be headless. I smile for this. It reminds me to always wear a smile. We smile not because of the camera. We smile because we want to spread positivity. We smile because we want to radiate beauty. We smile because it is healthy to be cheerful. We smile because we rejoice. And when we say rejoice, it is not laughing and letting others down. We do not rejoice with a mirth. We smile because of grace, because of mercy, because of love, because of hope, because of faith. We smile because smiling can do wond...

The pain in this pandemic is hard to bear. Frontliners call for time out. Some people are shirking. Many are fainting, distressed, deppressed, declined, downhearted, troubled. Maybe you are afraid to show your vulnerability. You believe that holding your tears is a virtue. But go ahead, cry... cry unto God! Cry to God just like the psalmist David. The Lord hears you. He comforts you. He notices what you say. He delivers you from your sufferings. [Psalms 34:17 The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.] Cry to God just like Job. When you think no one stand before you, when people are against you, when friends fail you, remember the Lord. Wept before Him and let Him heal that broken heart.  [Job 16:20 My friends scorn me: but mine eye poureth out tears unto God.] Cry to God just like Hannah. Mingle your tears with prayer. Bring that bitternes to God and plead to Him for His mercy. [1 Samuel 1:10 And she was in bitterness of soul,...

That day, when I thought more about the title, the more uncomfortable I got. The groom has lots of men buddies but why me, I said. He is a preacher and he should call a church staff fellow, I thought. Sharing here the text and photo below which I put in my notes just after their wedding. That superlative adjective is a gentle reminder that we are at our best when we serve. I knew that there were others there who should have been asked but later, I humbly accepted his request because I also knew there is always joy in serving. Count it as a ministry. Preacher Alfier is someone I looked up to especially when it comes to the ministry. We are in the same batch in high school and I have witnessed how 'worldly' he was. Just kidding!  I know her past girl friends (in plural form, as in many to mention! Haha ) and most of them were  crush ng campus . I do not know how he came to know the Lord Jesus as his personal Saviour, but I know it happened during those times that I was away...