grip of grace

I am going through an idling time right now.  You know, like a car stuck in traffic with the engine running.  Msgr. Tuazon of St. Vincent calls this kairos , a Greek reference for time described as "a moment of undetermined period in which something special happens."  It is a period which requires a tremendous amount of hope, faith and love within a person, so he or she could actually go through kairos .

I was talking with some girls from the Mission House one night about making decisions and standing by them.  How did we get to this profound exchange of ideas?  It all started with Sr. Mary Nierre's no-holds-barred pronouncement: "The problem with you young people is that you are afraid to make decisions and make others decide for you!  When I was 17, I already knew I wanted to be a nun.  You should decide.  Once you do, stand by your decisions, even if it seems to be the wrong one."  In Tagalog, panindigan mo yung desisyon mo!

…He makes sure He opens a floodgate and pours out every possible blessing you could hold in your outstretched arms. Why do I say this?  Because in a matter of days, God has again managed to shower me with gifts—so much that I need a battalion of angels to help me carry them home! Last Thursday, April 29 th , at around mid-morning, a Tito whom I had sent my portfolio to, called me and asked me to work for him part time in his printing press.  I… was… dumbfounded.  I didn’t think he’d be interested in my services anymore.  But he is, and although it’ll be only on a weekend basis, I am literally jumping up and down in excitement!  At last, I’ll be back in the publishing industry!

No, the number above more than signifies how old I am.  It signifies a period of "rebirth" for me.  You see, the number 40 is very significant in the Bible.  It connotes purification, a time of preparation, a period of completion. Jesus went to the desert for 40 days before He embarked on His mission.  A woman goes through 40 weeks of gestation and gives birth to new life.  The Israelites wandered in the dessert for 40 years before they reached the promised land. So you see what the number 40 means to me?  Some say life begins at 40, and I think I believe them.  Because from February to November of this year, I will be going through a 40-week exercise that I believe will change the course of my life forever.  I started last February 10.  The exercise will commence on November 10, my birth date.  I am excited about God's revelations.  I have asked my friends to pray for me and with me as I go through this "gestation period". I ...

I just finished reading Passion & Purity by Elisabeth Elliot. And that book discusses so much about waiting, not in vain but actively! And I really admire the honesty of Jim Elliot about he felt about "Bett" as he fondly called her. And instead of giving in to his raging hormones, he threw his energy to doing what God wants him to do at that time. And when His perfect time came, he "demonstrated" his love for Bett by declaring his love finally and asking her to marry him. In this day & age when people opt to go "instant" than to wait on the Lord, Elizabeth & Jim Elliot's love story, which they placed under the lordship of Jesus, should be every single person's standard.