“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” …I think in a society such as ours this is true however, it’s hard to believe this or even to say this (it can be cliché) when an entire culture has a mindset about what beauty is… One of the hardest things about being in the Philippines has been dealing with my own insecurities about my own image…but I am not here to spill my problems…rather I would like to share with you what an entire Filipino culture struggles with, what I in part struggle with and it deals with the color of skin.

So it’s been a joke amongst my host family…I swear to them that I can get as dark as them…but they don’t believe me lol because for some reason the sun won’t tan my skin. On more than one occasion, talking with some of the youth (mostly the girls) from my church the subject of skin comes up. One girl said, let’s trade skin! You can have mine and I can have yours.” I said, “why? Your skin is beautiful! Your brown skin is beautiful!!!!!!!” She replied, “No, here in the Philippines, everyone wants to be white.”

Interesting….right? In America we all want to be tan and darker, but here in the Philippines everyone wants to be white. All the commercials advertise fair skinned girls and skin whitening products; the dress code as the malls requires their women employees to powder their faces white (I’m not even joking!), all the girls carry around an umbrella to keep from getting darker.  But wait….this is more than just a bias. So what is it about the skin color? …..it’s a status.

Being white carries a symbol here. If you’re white that means you’re wealthy…if you work outside in the sun…your skin tells the story. All the fair-skinned Filipinos have high-paying jobs. The media portrays the singers, the actors and actresses and the pop culture…screams that white is beautiful, white has status, white has power, white has wealth. In a country where the gap between the rich and poor is huge (small middle class) and in a country where at least more than half of the population is in poverty…who wouldn’t want to be….white?

I want to be clear…I’m not here to accuse all  those  who are white skinned…but I want you to see how the Third World works. This is definitely not guilt-tripping…if you think it is…you’re reading this wrong. This is about a mindset…mindsets are SO important because they give a clue to how people run this world. The mindset here is that fair skin, to look American is something to be prized, something to aspire to, something that gives you worth.

Maybe you’re saying…Naomi, you’re wrong…it’s ludicrous to think that all fair-skinned Filipinos (or people for that matter) just magically get better jobs etc. Maybe you’re saying…it takes intelligence, skill, experience to get those kind of jobs…and well skin color doesn’t mean you have intelligence or a lack thereof…..true. BUT…that doesn’t deny the fact that the mindset I just explained exists. Did you know that you have to be a certain height to get a job here? If you’re not at least five foot you probably won’t get a job at the Mall? Did you know that for women over 30-40, it is hard for them to get a job (I think it’s because they know “young and beautiful” sells)?

I mean think about it….what if you lived here and all your life you always heard that you were really dark? What kind of affect would that take on you…maybe you would think there were something wrong with you because an entire culture constantly is commenting on the color of your skin. What if all your life you grew up with a mindset that American culture is the best…that being tall is what’s worth it….THIS is the mindset projected on Filipinos…this is the mindset that exists in this third world country. I am asking a question. When did we decide that white was beautiful and brown and black was not? How did it come to be such a mindset that our cultures continue to say “this is beautiful and this is not”?

Idk…you didn’t choose to be white, black, brown, pink…but how can we acknowledge that discrimination really happens? There’s a serious problem when a whole culture believes that a certain skin color denotes a good status or a bad status. There’s a serious problem when we think a certain religion like Islam means that they all are extremist terrorists. There’s a serious problem when we say that all poor must be lazy and that’s why they don’t have money. There’s a serious problem when we see a man of color (Mexican, black etc…) and assume he’s going to commit a crime. There’s a serious problem when kids hear that they’re only cool if they play guitar and basketball. What do we teach our children? How do we filter our comments?

It starts with us. We can choose to participate in this “system” or the next time a stereotype comes up…maybe you can try to fight it. We each have different beliefs…and I’m not saying I have this all figured out…but please open your mind. Brown is beautiful and what’s more is the person behind the skin…you are beautiful….you are not a failure…you are not inferior…you are enough.

So these aren’t as funny as my first mishaps (HA…I KNOW all you guys totally want me to fall outta the jeepney or something so I can have a story to TELL!) but here’s some funny moments. Enjoy

1)     So you guys knew that this kind of moment was BOUND to come, right?! Yep, I had a “zipper moment”! One Sunday in July, I walked ALL the way to church….with the fly to my jeans down and fate would have it that I was wearing striped underwear that day!  I got to church and one of the girls said to me, “Naomi, your zipper is down”. AHHHHHHH! Yep, embarrassing…but at least I haven’t spoke in front of church with my zipper down yet! Lol.

2)      So sometimes I eat turon for marienda (snack); turon is basically like a sweet eggroll. It’s fried with banana and jack fruit inside and drizzled with sugar! I was eating Turon and finished it. I was going about my business, talking to my host siblings and host mom etc….then I happened to feel my face I was thinking…what’s this thing stuck to my face….I had SUGAR STUCK TO MY FACE ON MY CHEEK! I’m talking about like syrup sugar that hardens…like I had a big sugar mole stuck to my face! And I had been talking to my host brothers with food on my face…for like 10 minutes!….I busted up laughing and my host mom was laughing AT me too!

3)      My Chacos (my sandals) have been kinda dirty and smelly; so I washed them with laundry detergent soap (the liquid kind).  So I wore them on a day where it was raining really heavy and there was lots of water in the street….I must’ve not washed them well enough because every time I stepped …SOAP BUBBLES  were coming outta my Chacos!!!!!!!!!! Wow…not only do I LOOK foreign but I’m sure people were thinking, “what the heck is wrong with her sandals and why are her feet soapy?!?!?!

4)      Okay, so I’ve given my phone number out to some of the youth at my church so we can txt and get together etc… This one guy who’s my age… texted me in Tagalog….and I couldn’t read it so I had my host brother read it to me….he starts busting up LAUGHING! WHY?!?!??! “What does it say?!?!??!,” I asked. Here’s what it said, “Tutor, ka ba? Pwede paturo mag-mahal?”  TRANSLATION: Are you a teacher/tutor? Can you teach/tutor me in the ways of love?” HECK WHAT?!??!  Yes…So this is the Filipino equivalent of a cheesy pickup line….my host mom and brother were busting up laughing at me!!!!!!!!!!!!            

I said…”didn’t he just lead devotions on Thursday and didn’t we JUST talk about being SINGLE last devotions??!?!?! Lol!  

5)      July is a really rainy season and so it’s been pouring down rain recently. So (this has happened MORE THAN ONCE) I went to the mall the other day and came back alone. I sat in the front of the jeepney and it was raining really hard…I got to my stop and I tried to get out…I’m wearing flip flops and trying to STEP on the metal step that’s wet with water……okay….so here I am…I step…then WHOOP! I slip….(I’m holding on the bars so I don’t totally fall outta the jeep)…. Then I step again and WHOOP…my foot slips…..here I am STRUGGLING to get outta a CAR! I finally had to basically stretch my short legs to the ground as far as I could… and hop out. Please tell me you can picture ME doing this!

6)      Okay….this is a WEEK long story…..In August on a Tuesday I was walking to the local school to go to my language class…it had been raining the night before. After language school when I got home Ate Grace said, “Naomi….did you sit on something?!??!” I had mud splatter all on the back of my pant legs from walking to the school…and some unknown substance that I must’ve sat on! Then the next day I was brushing my teeth….Gabriel (my 1 ½ yr. old host bro) loves to watch me brush my teeth…so he came running and tripped….totally catapulting our arinola (it’s basically a small bucket where you pee so you don’t have to go to use our bathroom downstairs or outside during the night)….YEP sure enough…my baby host brother totally spilled PEE all on the back of my legs! THEN on Friday that SAME week I went to a birthday party…one of the little boys there was so impatient and was totally pushing to get somewhere…he tripped and spilled SODA on the BACK of my shirt and pants! I said to my host mom, “GEE I swear I’m gonna have to start WEARING A Trashbag on me everywhere I GO!”

7)      So this is not an embarrassing moment….this is a FUNNY situation. Melanie and Candice are both my classmates also studying in the Philippines. One Sunday I invited them to sleep over at my house….so like everyone does at a sleepover…you stay up talking or doing some other crazy stuff…that’s what we did, we stayed up till midnight talking. So after my friends left, the next afternoon Ate Grace (host mom) called me upstairs…I thought I was in trouble! LOL all to find out the neighbors we share a wall with, one of the guys living there HEARD US TALKING and wanted to MEET the girls whose “pretty voices” he heard last night!  It gets even funnier…..Ate Grace said he couldn’t meet me until she saw his face (She wanted to approve of his looks FIRST!) LOL Ate Grace has got my back! She told him he couldn’t have my phone number! 

Only in the Philippines….

Only in the Philippines do they play Christmas music starting in SEPTEMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO JOKE! (For those of us who LOVE Christmas music….(me!) this is like a dream come true! And for those of you who are annoyed by those of us who even start listening to it before Thanksgiving….well sorry this is the Philippines! Lol! J (I heard someone playing the 12 days of Christmas song in AUGUST!)

Only in the Philippines would there be karaoke for a birthday party…(yah maybe you had karaoke at your party too but WAIT!) Here….it’s COMPLETE with old songs, pop songs, Tagalog songs, BAD singing…and best of all…they start early or late afternoon and go till 4AM OR 6AM IN THE MORNING!…I can testify to this….I was praying for the rain to make a power outage SO I COULD SLEEP! Aiyaah!

Only in the Philippines would you eat dinner once, then go to another person’s house and eat a SECOND TIME…I’m talking another full dinner sometimes! I’ve experienced this on MORE THAN ONE occasion. It’s hospitality…you may have eaten, but you’ll be invited to eat again when you go to someone else’s house… even if it’s for a short visit!

So if you didn’t think those were funny…then I’ll have to tell you these stories in person…I’ll add all the dramatic affects, motions, voices so you can REALLY understand what’s been goin on here! Much love!

Another serious post, I’ll give you guys a break soon….but hey being changed is some SERIOUS stuff! J

Things are crazy because even the most simple lessons or truths you have known all your life become real.  Love, it’s such a broad word and we repeat those phrases as kids, “it’s the golden rule…blah, blah, blah”. We memorize John 3:16 or quote 1 Corinthians 13…but up until now it’s been head knowledge!

I have a friend I’ve recently talked to and she shared her lesson in love; I am now sharing it with you. If you’ve ever taken the “love language” test you know that a person’s love languages are the kinds of ways people respond or act that makes them feel loved. For my friend her love languages include quality time, acts of service, words of affirmation….but physical touch is so far down on the list. She’s recently been staying with a woman who is like her aunt. It’s been hard for her because her aunt’s love language is touch. Every time her aunt pats her on the back, holds her hand, hugs her, it is everything my friend can do to keep from getting angry and going crazy. So my friend sat down with her aunt and said, “Auntie, I am having an extremely hard time every time you touch me. I want you to know it’s hard, but I’m going to suck it up. I’m going to try my best not to get angry or be cold because I know physical touch is your love language and you need to be loved too.” Her aunt started crying! Why? Because this is love!

Okay, let’s stop for a moment. My friend was saying, “I’m willing to bear with you…because you deserve love and need to feel loved!”

It was SO extremely powerful…maybe you’re saying…so what?! Think though, isn’t that what LOVE is? Sacrificing so that the other person can feel loved, cherished, human, and worth it? I think we look at marriage or couples and say, “yah, they’re in love or that’s love”. We look at it as a mutual thing. But think about God’s love….

“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” Romans 5:8

If you don’t think someone deserves your love or God’s love, ask yourself if you deserve it. If you think you do….eat a piece of HUMBLE PIE! It was while we were sinners, while we were doing the wrong thing, while we hated God, while we chose not to love him or respond to his love, when we didn’t love others- that is when he died for us. I think love’s test comes when it is hardest to love. Love’s test comes when we say, I will hug you even though I am not used to physical touch or I will apologize and forgive you even though we’ve fought again” Love is not based on the way people treat you. It’s easy to love those who love us. It’s easy to love someone who thinks like we do…It’s hard to love someone when they rub you the wrong way. It’s hard to love someone when you disagree with them.

To me, it’s not about playing nice, putting on a happy face or giving superficial hugs….heck, I’d rather not say anything if it’s gonna be fake! (so if I’m not talking to you….it’s cause I have nothing nice to say to you…..JUST KIDDING!) It’s seeing this person as a human being that God loves and made. I know we all have those people we see…we don’t even see their faces…all we can see is the label we’ve put across their foreheads that says, “enemy, addict, betrayer, liar, cheater, jerk, coward, sinner, pagan, drinker, beggar, liberal, homosexual, immigrant ” and that right there is the test of love.

 God’s sacrifice-he sent Christ. Wanna know why God came in the flesh? He came in a form we could understand-human form. Christ wept, he lost his friend Lazarus, he was betrayed, he hungered, he thirsted, had “no place to rest his head”, he took upon himself the sins of the world and felt what you feel. The test of love isn’t “let’s see how long I can tolerate or stand this person…it’s learning to stand in their shoes, feel the pain they feel, see the life they’ve seen, know the humanity you both share and it’s learning to cherish that person without conditions. “He loved us and we also ought to love one another.” We need to meet the other person where THEY are at…God did…and that’s why there’s love.

 Am I making sense here? Maybe I’m writing about this because right now I am convicted of the people I need to love here, right now. Idk, maybe you who are reading this will need to go on your own journey to know not in your head, but in your heart what God’s love is….Christ’s love has been so real here in the Philippines and I think it is because being in a place so foreign, it is hard to love. Readers, I don’t know your story…it’s not enough to say “just love”…we’re human too and our love won’t be perfect…learning love is something that will take the rest of our lives and no one can force themselves to love because each of us has to go on our own journey where we experience what it means to forgive, be hurt, hurt others, and then learn love in the midst of those failures and victories. But from this blog at least THINK about how you will begin or continue to spend the rest of your life loving.

Money, Money Money….Money! (Well…you’ll have to imagine the “money” song…you know the one they played on Donald Trump’s show The Apprentice) Anyway, to be serious I got a wake-up call this week about money and material possessions and to be honest it threw me for a loop and I was SUPER hard-hearted and stubborn.

So it’s no secret that my family would be considered poor and financially they are. Monday, Kuya Sonny (host dad) and I had some down time/waiting time so we had a chance to talk. We got on the subject of support (Kuya is a missionary) and how hard it is for missionaries in MMP to gain support, then we ended up talking about what I pay for rent, room, board, and meals. (Forgive me if you hate numbers). So I pay Kuya 150 US dollars (USD) a month; this is for two meals a day plus room and board. However, I get fed three meals a day plus marienda (snack) and Kuya spends a little extra for public transportation because he accompanies me to many places where I can’t go alone or have yet to learn how to get to yet. So Kuya said, “You understand that it is hard for us to stretch the little money we have…So maybe you might give us extra 50 USD for the extra meals?” Immediately my heart grew hard and I responded, “No, let’s wait and I’ll think about it”.

I was screaming in my head, “I worked hard to earn this money! My summer jobs! My good grades!” I had all these excuses, “what if I can’t pay them extra for all 5 months I’m here?” “What if Kuya doesn’t spend the money how I think he should?” etc… I was angry because I felt both pressured and I knew I was wrong. Okay, this is not a guilt trip. Some people I know have strict budgets, I have friends who pay for their entire college tuition, no help from anyone and they could not afford this…but for me…I have the funds to help my host fam….even just a little bit…why is this heart being so stingy?!?!

Here I am fighting myself…and I was SO convicted. How can I call myself a Christian when I hold onto the money that’s not even mine?! God gave me the breath to breathe, the ability to work, the opportunity for a job! How can I call myself a Global Studies major-we’re supposed to be world changers, people who fight oppressive systems and I am the very person whose mindset is no better than those who intentionally exploit others. I became the oppressor because I decided that the wealth I have is mine and I said in my head…I don’t want to distribute that.

So God wasn’t finished with me yet. That same day I came out to tell my host sis something and her two friends…out of the blue…asked if they could borrow two of my dresses for a school event. Okay people…I am SUPER territorial when it comes to my stuff so I came up with a bunch of other excuses. I was angry…cause how can you say no? You’d look like a jerk…so pouting…I run upstairs and get the dresses. I handed them over grudgingly. All God put in my mind was, “Naomi, it’s just stuff. It’s just material possessions, why should it matter somuch?” Woah, God?!?!?!?!?! DID YOU JUST SPEAK TO ME OR WHAT?!?! FIRST MONEY, NOW POSSESSIONS?!  

You know money is a hard thing…it’s hard to talk about, hard to decide what to do with it etc. Having money is not bad…we use it for the most essential things. It’s when we horde it, when we make it more important than the flesh and blood of a human being, that is when money becomes the wrong priority. This is not some kind of post with underlying tones of sending money to the nearest charity org….you know money will not and is not the sole thing that will fight poverty…there will always be more people to donate to…but what does change this world is ACTION.

What changes this world are the things we choose to do right. My money won’t solve the financial problems Kuya has 10 months from now, but what can I do with my money now? Not just that, but how can I love my host family through the way I act? God wasn’t testing me on how much I could give…it wasn’t about the money…it was about my heart. With what we’ve been given-a voice to sing, a heart to give, the mind to teach, the skills to run a program, the talent to teach kids to swim or play guitar, the wisdom to challenge others-how will we use that for others…how will we use that to glorify God?

This was more than a couple weeks ago, but this was during the days we had so much rain from the typhoon! My two host brothers (the same ones I told you were messing around and hitting each other) they’re doing laundry in the rain! Daniel is the one under the bucket and Jason is the one hiding under the umbrella! Such a funny sight and what’s better is they didn’t know I was taking the picture! :)

Been listening to this song lately…go ahead and groove to some John Legend, listen to the words, sing and dance! :)

1)      So my very first tricycle ride I was instructed by my host father to ride on the motorcycle…so here I am… I stroll up to the motorcycle and get on….LIKE A GUY….you know swing my leg over the seat….but here….YOU DON’T RIDE THE TRICYCLE LIKE THAT…. You sit sideways….like a girl! All to say my host dad…the motorcycle driver….AND two guys behind us… were laughing at me….SO EMBARRASSING! (a tricycle is basically a motorcycle with what I would describe as a pod hooked to it…look it up…or think similar to the contraption in Indiana Jones where Harrison Ford and Sean Connery are running from the Nazis….yes…Indiana Jones!)

2)      This was a month ago, but the first time I EVER did laundry I brought down my clothes to wash…I walked down the stairs….a bit sheepish…here I am with all my unmentionables and stinky laundry…As soon as I put it all in the bucket, immediately following was a roar of laughter, pointing, and stares from my family…..YEP! Like it or not the family had to see my bra and underwear….but the laughter came because my Ate Grace (host mom) yelled, “Let’s see it! Let’s see the color of your underwear! Mind you this was all in good fun….but hey….this IS the Philippines….and EVERYTHING gets hung out to dry…IN THE OPEN!

3)      “Sigue” can mean “okay, okay, okay”; it can mean “bye” or it can mean “yes”. Thinking that it only meant “yes”, the first couple weeks whenever I wanted to respond affirmatively to a question I said, “Sigue”. It was not until my friend and classmate, Candice, said…”Naomi, you say “Oh oh” or “Oh po” when you want to say yes.” Ahhhh I’d been responding wrong for weeks!

4)      One afternoon I heard my two host brothers (the two oldest sons) Daniel and Jason messing around….you know hitting each other, slapping each other, trying to pants each other…like boys/bros. do….so I go around the corner (mind you the boys rooms is open, no door) JUST IN TIME to see Jason at the last second pull up his UNDERWEAR while trying to defend himself against his laughing brother who was attacking him….I yelled, “OH MY GOSH!” luckily I didn’t see ANYTHING…but all that to say both him and I were laughing and embarrassed!

5)       So Brandon is a MATUL student (Masters of Arts in Transformational Urban Leadership) working on his masters through APU…like us they must study in a different country amongst the urban poor. He’s 24 and also a foreigner from NorCal. Well it’s a BIG joke for his host parents AND mine to say things like, “Brandon, Naomi is 21 years old…what are you waiting for?!” or when the flood came my host mom said, “Naomi, txt Brandon to come and be your superman!” And mind you…the teasing is not just two comments…they razz us for like….20 min. I’m like…NO WAY! I’m here for school….I ain’t got time for a man and I don’t need a guy to rescue me! Lol…thank you host family for all the teasing! J

6)      In the Philippines, especially in lower middle class or poor communities you do not have flushing toilets…nor do you have toilet paper…So 1) a flushing toilet is like GOLD or rather just nice to use every once in awhile and 2) it’s rare. So Melanie (my classmate who is also staying the Philippines) and I were invited to a girls’ lunch with one of the pastor’s wife (Pastor Leo and Ate Ammi). She lives in a very nice house and when I went to use the restroom they have toilet paper and a flushing toilet….only problem…I haven’t seen a flushing toilet for so long I missed the handle…what did I press instead? THE BIDET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (basically it’s a faucet that shoots water to clean yourself)…..yah I sprayed WATER all over the bathroom wall! I was like…oh my gosh…I gotta clean this up! I’m pretty sure the toilet paper roll was a little damp after that! HAHAHAHA

Only in the Philippines…would they air the Dragonball Z series years after the series had come out….yes…I watch a little bit….I KNOW ALL YOU DBZ FANS ARE JEALOUS!

Only in the Philippines would it be culturally acceptable and customary for the guys to wander around their local streets in their underwear/boxer shorts….like no joke…EVERY guy does this…..WHY??!?!! Cause it’s “Mainit”! It’s crazy hot and humid here!

Anyway….More moments to come LATER! :) love you all!

Exodus 3: 7, 10-12a

“Then the Lord told him, ‘I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering…Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.’ But Moses protested to God, “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?’ God answered, “I will be with you…’”.

My professor, Richard Slimbach, said something before we left for GLT (Global Learning Term) and it has since been stuck in my mind. He warned us not to be fooled, this will be one of the hardest experiences we will go through and what is more, he added that the fears and baggage we have at home now will be the same demons we will face during our trip….but tenfold. For some of us the insecurities we brought with us are magnified as we learn to cope with the even bigger insecurities of being in a new place or situation. For some of us GLT-ers we find that the families we live with experience and reflect the same dysfunctions we know all too well exist in our own families back home. For some of us, it is the opposite; we find we’re staying with families whose relationships we only dreamed of having. Still for others we find God asking us to step out and lead when we this is exactly what we’ve been running from…

So if you didn’t know…(ha, you will now)…everyone has things to face and for me… it is myself. The passage in exodus many of us know all too well as the time when God spoke to Moses in the burning bush, telling him that he would lead God’s people out of Egypt. Moses responds saying, God…who am I to do this? To appear before the ruler of all of Egypt and what’s more….to lead a whole people out of slavery? He was probably thinking…God, really? The Egyptians aren’t exactly a wimpy people! But God said, “I will be with you.” For the time I have been here it’s a struggle everyday to believe that I was chosen to come here. Like Moses I am asking God, “God, really? You think I will be useful here in the Philippines?”  

I think the closer graduation comes, the more looming the question becomes, “what next?” Don’t know if any of you have ever asked yourself this, but I’ve been asking God…What are you calling me to in the future, and what are the spiritual gifts you have given me to use? For those of you in the Salvation Army, you know I have worked with the youth; I have done praise and worship etc. But I have never really felt overtly passionate in those areas. For some people their passions and gifts lie in sports ministry, urban ministry, youth ministry, social work etc….but God, what about me?

So many of us GLT students gird ourselves, ready to do service when we get here and I think some of us really struggle with our role and purpose. Many times I’ve asked myself, What do I have to offer to you? Host family, Tatalon, the Philippines… While I don’t claim that I was meant to save a whole people here, nor do I ever claim to be a savior to the people here…but what has God anointed me to do here?

  It’s a struggle…my peer and friend here in the Philippines-Melanie-said, “Naomi, remember that God says you are enough”. It’s hard to believe I am “enough” when I feel like there’s nothing to start with to even call “enough”. Maybe that’s the mysterious beauty…that when we are weak…when we really feel like there is nothing to offer…God is strong. Maybe it will take this ENTIRE Global Learning Term for me to truly see that…but praise God he promises to be with us.

Family and Friends, please do not read this and think the extreme (I’m not depressed…not staring out my window moping, lol)…rather know that this is part of the process I am going through and know that you should be MORE worried if I weren’t facing any challenges! Know that I think of each of you (believe me I have the TIME to! Lol) and knowing that you guys are cheering me on back home…it means the WORLD! “Mahal Kita” (I love you) and “Ingat” (take care in Tagalog)

Rain, Rain, Go Away! Come again another day……..

It’s been pouring down rain (buckets! tubs! gallons! OF WATER!) My host family informed me that the Philippines has ANNUAL typhoons! Usually….20! And so far this year 2011…there’s been 6! The typhoon here now is called the Falcon and it has been sending us so much rain! (I TAKE IT BACK! I’ll take the heat and humidity over FLOODING! :) ) Anyway, my host dad took me to see the overflowing river…no joke…within a matter of minutes the streets near my house were flooded…I took pictures…it was up to peoples waist….on me….that would probably be near my neck! Aiyaah!

I told Kuya Sonny (my host dad), “Kuya! it’s raining SO hard!!!! I can’t believe it! And people’s houses…are FLOODED!” My host dad replied, “yes, this is what we expect all the time.” He said it so non-chalantly…I’m thinking…..why?!??!?! Why aren’t you scared?!??! But this is life in the Philippines. You could have your house one day and when the rain comes…next half your house and all your possessions could be floating in water….but you have to wonder….not blame people. You can’t blame them saying….move somewhere where it doesn’t rain! You have to wonder….what is the mindset here? I can’t say that this IS the mindset…but maybe people offer their food to their neighbors because they KNOW what it’s like to be WITHOUT…our family allowed some construction workers to sleep in the vacant room at the back of the house because they usually sleep outside…but it’s been so cold the last few days.

I’ve been having trouble sleeping at night because the wind and rain is DEAFENING! It’s like the ocean is crashing on our house! And I can’t sleep cause I get scared…what about my host family’s possessions? What if we lose this house? (no worries our house is concrete…but that’s what runs through my mind)…I kept praying…God you are bigger than this typhoon. You are BIGGER than the chaos that can be heard and felt in the streets! More and more I see that my family…the people in Tatalon, the people at my church…I think many of them know that all we have to hold onto is the person right next to us….our family…they are what’s important. When things we can’t control….terrible storms….God has become MORE real and the need to CLING to him….greater. Maybe family and friends, you won’t experience a crazy storm….but I can guess that at least once…you have felt some sort of incontrollable chaos around you…let me say there is a God GREATER than that chaos…..Imagine that…………….