From the Highest of Mountains to the Depths of the Sea.

I learned to love hiking in Japan. Perhaps because the beaches there are nothing compared to the beauty of our beaches here in Negros.

Before I left, I was more of a beach person. Staring out at the waves, hearing it crash to the shore. Taking in all that salty air. A trickle of salt on my lips. Yes, the beach instantly calms me.

It's as if for a moment there, you just get reminded that everything is in place. Everything is just right.

Yesterday, I planned with some church friends to go hiking. Days before the said hike, we realized due to work and some personal reasons, almost all of us couldn't make it.

So I prayed and asked a few close friends to help me pray for favor. 'Coz after spending time with a ton of people and the busyness of life, I just need to get away and breathe.

A few hours before the said hike, I found out I could go!

They say when you hike, you have to hike either by yourself or a friend for it to be effective. 'Coz the purpose of the hike is to regain your sense of things. To be one with nature.

Now how can you do that if you go on a hike with someone that you'd fight with as you try reaching the top? Someone that would discourage you from reaching your goal? Someone who would drive you nuts you'd like to push them over the edge when you get there?


So here are some things I've learned from that 6.6km hike:

1. Hike with the right people.

2. It's always better to be with someone. Life is not meant to be traveled alone.

3. Pace yourself. Baby steps. It's okay if you go slow. Just keep moving.

4. Appreciate the person who will look for you when you're trailing behind and guide you.

5. Say thank you when someone calls to check if everything is okay. It means they care. You are not forgotten.

6. Appreciate life when you find a person that will link arms with you and remind you of the beautiful view up there.

7. There is a time to share and there is a time to listen. 6.6kms will help you realize that.

8. Friends are an extension of God's love and grace toward us.

9. It is great to break bread together to share in laughter.

10. Time. Time is the best gift you can give to anyone and to yourself.

11. Glory. God's glory is around you. Even when you think otherwise.

12. Finish what you started.

13. Rejoice with those who rejoice with you.

14. Share each other's burden.

15. The pain is all worth it in the end. God has something beautiful in store for you if only you persevere.


The list could go on but then I wouldn't have a reason to write again now would I?

Oh and of course, we always go back to our first loves.. We went to Dauin on a whim. Wahoo BEACH!

Again, all is well with my soul.


"For where two or three gather together in My name, there am I among them." Matthew 18:20

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Psalm 19:1

“Listen to this, Job; stop and consider God’s wonders." Job 37:14

"How many are your works, LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number— living things both large and small." Psalm 104:24-25


Here are some photos of those who taught me these things and many more:

Abba, thank you for linking arms with me.

Sashi, your surprise at the peak reminded me of God's surprises and mindfulness.

The best people to climb with!

Imagine if I stopped, I wouldn't have seen all of this!

Kin, your leadership and discipline is worth emulating.

Keep climbing!

Deafening silence: In His deafening silence what do you do?

It's 4:17AM as I write this. I always wanted my next blog entry to be about how God will work wonders and get glory in the area of my career. How he would grant me a breakthrough that I could use to encourage others who are praying for a career shift, struggling with job hunting or just something timely to encourage even the fresh graduates I know.

So I fasted. Knowing that as I fast and devote myself even more in prayer, I will be able to hear from God more clearly. That as I get deeper into His presence as I read Scripture, I will hear His voice. For Christians, as a sheep who knows the sound of its' shepherds voice, I was eager to hear. Eager to have my eyes and my heart opened to what the Father has in store for me. Eager to follow. Eager to obey.

Yet what do you do when all that you get in all the seeking is silence? Silence so deafening. So unsettling. That's what I got. After hearing so clearly from Him through the preached Word during Sunday services week in and week out, when Scripture spoke to me so clearly, when Christian counsel was so encouraging and confirmed a lot of what I already knew that God spoke to me in my quiet times. Suddenly, everything was falling slowly into place. Piece by piece, things started to make sense. And then suddenly this. Wouldn't you struggle to make sense of utter silence? From the One who we know has all the answers. Yet nope. Not even a whisper.

Until I learned. God always makes me learn. I bet He smiles as slowly I am getting that even in His silence, He is there. He is teaching me that though I will not get the answers right away, though He may never answer the way I would want him to, the point in all of this journey is to TRUST. To trust in the God who knows the beginning and the end. To rest knowing that God sees me. In my frustration. In my distress. To understand that just like David, He will not call me to battle unprepared. That though He has already called me, He will make sure I am ready. Ready for the greatness He has in store for me and the people He will entrust to me. 

Dear Jesus, how sweet it is to walk with You. In your clarity and in your silence I rejoice. I am honored to be Your child. For I know You will not withhold any good thing from me because You love me too much. yet in your abundance of love, You will also not give what will harm me. You know me better than I know myself. For you formed me in my mother's womb, you have already set my days before me. In my confusion, I cling to You father. You are more than enough. Meeting you in this silence, I thank you. I would want to be in the center of Your will even if it's in silence than to be elsewhere. I will continue to hope. No longer in the answers but in You who is more than enough. Always.

"For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, How blessed is the man who trusts in You!" Psalm 84:10-12