2009 has been a very challenging year for me. a lot of things happened – those sleepless nights, those teary eyes, those endless laughter, those crippled feeling, those newly-found friends and foes, those funny “first times”, those super happy feelings and a treasured family.
…gift of the funny “first times”. “First time eh.” – this has been my excuse few months after i landed to this foreign land so-called United Stated of America. and most often than not, i always laugh towards myself. i can say that i was somehow shocked with the differences between the american culture and filipino way. You know that i don’t mean bad. both have their pros and cons. anyhow, You created the world so that we can’t get the both of worlds, right? thank You so much for this one.
…gift of endless adventures. wow! i can say that i traveled a lot this year! a. chicago, il (of course) – some other parts of Illinois like itasca, franklin park, peoria; b. jersey city in new jersey – we went to liberty park (where i've seen the statue of liberty), newark (seminary of redemptoris mater) and six flags in new jersey as well; c. new york – downtown manhattan and some other prominent places in new york city; c. california – san jose (ESPP prod run), san francisco (tour around the city and alcatraz, we also watched Wicked when we went there), daly city (where we spent a couple of hours eating in jolibee), union city (with peter moua), los angeles (universal studio), anaheim (disney), san diego (seaworld) – i forgot the other places hehehe…; d. washington d.c. – a meeting with Kiko.; e. las vegas, nv – i visited my family in the city and spent the Christmas with them.; f. short stop overs in the following places – delaware, connecticut (had a eucharist in one of the places there), west virginia (spent a night in one of the schools there), ohio, pennsylvania and arizona (when we went to hoover dam which is at the border of nevada and arizona). hhhaaaayyy…thanks You for taking good care of me during these times.
…gift of loneliness. a lot of people do not treat this as a gift - especially those who do not consider suffering as their way towards salvation. i thank You a lot of the unexpected things that happened to me and most of them is You know that i hate. it crippled me – YES! it made me feel that i am useless human being which makes this world a very undesirable place. however, i realized a lot of things – e.g. what am i doing in Chicago? a question that bothered me so much. but You are so great that You revealed it to me in the most perfect time. thank You so much.
…gift of self realization and preservation. thank you for giving me the opportunity to discover myself as a person…as an individual. i realized that i can do some things that i never bothered to do when i was in the philippines. i can wash and iron my own clothes, i can do the grocery and i can cook. hehehe. thank You, oh Lord for all of these things.
...gift of friendship. thank You for giving me a lot of friends. they may not like me (maybe) but i treasure them very much even those people who i hated so much. thank You for allowing me to meet them.
…gift of happyness. oh my! You know that i am very happy every time i see You moving into my life. sorry, if most of the times, disobey Your will and followed mine. i know that You are always here with me by my side but i am just too weak. sorry, i may not started the year right but i will continue to do my best to be the best that i can be. thank You for always being with me.
…gift of a supportive family. ocean may separate us but the mere fact that they give me their blessings is more than enough for me to be happy. You know God how (at first) i don’t wanna be here. i asked you several times about this but a series of event really made me think that bringing me here to chicago is Your will. thank you so much for keeping my family safe all the time.
…gift of a newly found family. ok fine! You know my initial intention. i have my reason but still You paved so many ways so that Your will be done. its right. i didn’t come here in chicago to be liked, i am here to made my community realize that whichever ways or language we have, You loved us so much. thank You so much, Lord.
thank You God, thank You so much!
love,
edward
Posted in: letter,thankful
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