a birthday incident

i celebrated my 33rd by attending a 2-day wealth summit and money expo over at the waterfront hotel and casino in lahug last august 2. on the way to the expo, while i was inside a cab, i had a little case of dilemma. normally, on my birthday i make it a point to go to church. my birthday is like one certain day in a year that you will find me inside the church worshiping and giving thanks to God. i go there to show my appreciation of how the jokester has been great to me the past year. going to church on this day is a big deal to me as i rarely, hardly ever go to church for reasons that has nothing to do with GOD. i'm just always disappointed every time i sat through the whole mass and hear the celebrating priest talk more about politics and government policies more than preaching the gospel. on this particular day, i didn't know what i should do or if it was appropriate for me to go to church knowing fully well that i'm on my way to abandoning the religion i've known since i was little. thus, i sent an sms to my then d-group leader to ask on what i should do. i told her that i truly am looking forward to going to church, but doesn't exactly know for sure if it's appropriate given what i'm slowly learning from the Bible. i remembered that she told me that i could still give thanks to the Lord regardless of the place i'm at as HE WILL HEAR. that didn't ease me a bit as a big part of me wanted to continue the long-held practice to offer candles and bow before the altar where some statues of saints and a cross is put in place. a part of me also argued that if i truly wanted to become christian i should start changing my ways. as i was confused on what to do, i just remembered talking in my mind and telling the Lord to please guide me on what to do, that i am truly at a loss on what to do. i ask HIM how i can continue to glorify HIS name without attending church that day.

x> as the world would have it, i totally forgot about my dilemma as i became so engrossed with the money summit. i enjoyed the first day so much that i just totally forgot about, no - that i totally no longer had a desire of catching the church gates open after.

so, i left the ballroom where the summit was and headed for the escalator. at the escalator, i met a woman whose name i could no longer recall. that chance meeting led to an experience of how truly God works in mysterious ways. as mentioned, i was at a loss on how to show appreciation and glorify God's name on my birthday. as the woman introduced herself, we got talking about different topics from health, business, management, to a host of other topics in under two hours. our discussion led her to talk about a friend of hers who committed suicide a few years back. at that time, i didn't know what to make of the situation as i barely knew her and what she was telling me about was too personal that she was even teary eyed when she shared bits of the story. when it was my turn to respond, all i could remember was how confident i was telling her about Jesus. i just started attending worship services and bible classes that i shared to her what an amazing GOD we have. that our encounter was not an accident. we were there to be a witness of how truly powerful our GOD is. she met me so somehow she could unburden herself about the suicide of her friend and learn some more about a loving God. a God who's always been on our side, waiting to be asked to come to our lives. HE constantly knocks on our hearts to let HIM in, only that our life has been so in tune with the world that we could not hear HIS KNOCK. on my part, i was blessed to have met her for it was my very first time to talk about our Lord Jesus with confidence and share HIS STORY to a complete stranger i've only known for like less than two hours. in hindsight, i'd like to think of the encounter as God's answer to my prayer. I asked HIM to show me a way to glorify HIS name without going to my usual church, and HE JUST GAVE ME WHAT I ASKED FOR and MORE: the opportunity to talk about HIM, HIS love for each one of us, and HIS being there with us 24/7.