the US of A
right now, i'm somewhere in north california, and all i can say is...
the weather here is positively delicious. cool air, warm sun and most important of all, zero humidity. oo nangiinggit ako. ;)
we left manila at 5:30 pm. as usual, the flight was delayed. our 3-hour stopover at taipei was kind of exciting. i got my hands on a
real ps3. sadly, it was mine for only 5 minutes. it was on display. :(
we've been in the states for three days, but we haven't done much. we've gone to church, eaten the most delicious bagels in the whole universe, and been to an american mall (it's quite tiny, but the stores are cute). i'm still getting over the jet-lag., and failing.
hopefully, my next update will be sooooooo much more thrilling than this one.
verse for the day:
speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. mercy triumphs over judgment! [james 2:12-13]
fire
i was just telling my parents that we saw a fire near the u.p. bliss area. imagine our surprise when we saw another fire, this time, right behind our house.
our house has a vast, grassy field behind it. during the summer, it's prone to catch fire because of irresponsible people (who leave cigarette butts behind) and the summer heat. the field would catch fire almost every year.
mama got to work right away. she made us dump water over the fence to wet the area around our cement wall. before we knew it, the fire was a few feet from the wall. i prayed for a miracle - the fire department or rain. instead, the fire blazed higher, almost reaching a palm tree which just happens to be right next to my room.
then, neighbors and security guards rushed inside to lend us a hand. they brought more buckets and another hose, and tried to help us prevent the fire from reaching the wall. i was told to watch the door just in case someone tried to get in. i couldn't see what happened, but when i checked about 15 minutes later, the fire was gone. i thought the fire department (who took ages to get here) did it, but mik told me the fire shrank even before he saw the truck coming.
daddy explained that as the fire neared the wall, it ran out of dry things to consume because the grass around the wall was so wet from all the water we poured, so it grew smaller and smaller until it died. i still find it hard to believe.
anyone who was there would have thought the house was a goner. the fire came from three directions. the water from our buckets couldn't even reach it. all we could do was wet the area around the wall and PRAY that it would work.
i asked for miracle, God gave me two. He sent our neighbors to help, and He protected our house from a fire which was just
inches away. we should have lost our house last night,
but we didn't. praise God!verse for the day:
"because he loves Me," says the Lord, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges My name. he will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him." [psalm 91:14-15]
summer update
our new yorker relatives visited us about 3 weeks ago. we all had lots of fun. there were parties, multiple trips to greenhills (for cheap thrills), swimming, more shopping and lots of eating. michelle showed us some thrilling ice-skating moves, toby told crazy stories about their creepy neighbors, and tito ricky gave a few horror stories (all hospital-related and very true) of his own. we made them promise to visit again asap.
then, we spent the holy week in nasugbu with grandma. when we got there, i saw two adorable, furry faces peeking between the metal bars of the old doggie cage - puppies! mac-mac named them after the famous mouse duo: mickey and minnie. overwhelmed by pure puppy goodness, i spent more time outdoors that week.
after that, things were much less hectic. i've been sleeping until 9 am (wow!) everyday. i've played so much starwars battlefront i'm actually quite sick of it. i've been updated on the "affairs of the world" AND american idol (it is the miracle of miracles. sanjaya is really gone!) i made a ref cake! the cream sauce kinda collapsed because i think i should have put some gelatin, but it tastes delicious. :)
verse for the day:
if You, o Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? but with You there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared. i wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word i put my hope. [psalm 130:3-5]
