37th Birthday

Last March 31 I celebrated my 37th birthday, days before that, I started to pray for God to give me a joyful surprise on my special day;  At first I didn’t know what surprise would I exactly like to receive from God but later on I realized that I was just on denial....

Two days before my birthday, friends started to celebrate, still, I am thinking as to what surprise would I really want to receive, ‘til I admitted in my heart that what I really wanted was for my dad to greet me on my birthday, it’s been years since the last time he greeted me, in fact the last time he did was through my mom 8 yrs ago.

Saturday came, my d’ day! Didn’t get to see my dad, Sunday, the day after my birthday, he prepared my usual breakfast but still didn’t bother to greet me. I felt so disappointed and can’t help but feel the hurt in my heart.  I am not the type of person who wants the world to stop for my birthday, in fact it’s already a huge deal for me if people that are important to me would take time to send their greetings (except for Adrian dapat kasama ko sya nun! hehehe), in fact it’s already a bonus blessing for me if people prepares something to surprise me.  I was just saddened when it felt like that my only special day in a year was not given importance by my dad…..Somehow, I felt God disappointed me.

Admittedly, I felt bad, though I was trying to manage my pain by placing my focus on those happy surprises and greetings that I received from friends and love-ones,  but part of me, I was wondering “Ano kaya ang plano ni Lord? Ano na naman kaya ang dapat kong matutunan ngayon?...”

On my way to CCF main for the vesper worship last Sunday, I spoke to God while in the cab; I told Him how I felt and  this is what God said:  “ My dearest daughter, isn't it enough that when you wake up each morning, your meals has already been carefully prepared by your earthly father? Isn't it enough that he is still with you and still able to do things for you? That even if you sometimes get hurt with the things that he utter about you and your family, isn't it enough that I am still giving you more time to pray for your dad's salvation?"

I cried…profusely.

I was unable to control the tears from rolling down my cheeks.  My heart was convicted.  Truly, His ways are different. And God is so goooooodddddddddd!!!! In fact God is answering my prayer, by giving me and my friends enough time to pray for my dad’s salvation;  In spite the fact that he is a 74 year old alcoholic, I still praise God that my dad is still strong and able to function well, for I know in the core of my heart,  I would rather choose to be cursed on by my dad on a regular basis rather than to see his eyes fold with the knowledge that he is not saved..

I thank God for this realization, admittedly it still hurts a little, and my home situation still makes me shed a tear or two from time to time especially when he is drunk and on rage, but I have entrusted my whole life to the Lord, every little thing about me,  I am just trusting His plans in my life; Been praying for our family’s salvation since I became serious in my Christian walk, His answer may take longer than I wished for but my heart is anchored on His promises and grace….In His perfect time I know everything will be way much better.

My birthday only comes once a year, for years, I hoped to be loved and greeted by my earthly father on that single day, but I praise God for recently, He made me realize that my dad may not be greeting me every March 31, but he is in fact making me feel that in every meal that he prepares, it is his silent way of saying I love you, my dear child and that is already enough reason for me to regularly sing my very own “Happy Birthday” song :)

To God be all the praise, honor and glory.  

MacGyver

Remember the guy in the 80’s who can invent everything with basically anything? Yup, for those who belong in my age range would probably remember the 80’s action-adventure TV show in Channel 9 called MacGyver, starred by Richard Dean Anderson.

Growing up I witnessed by Kuya Henry became a huge fan of that TV show, he consistently watched the show and even at times that he would fail to watch it, he would always find a way to tape the show by using the record timer in our Betamax player then. I also like watching MacGyver with my brother, back then I may not understand the show as much but watching it with my Kuya is what I enjoyed most that time.

When I was a kid I always wonder if there is indeed someone out there like MacGyver?  A man who could invent something useful from scratch by using simple stuffs that can be simply found at home or even from the good old junk….

When I grew up I have forgotten about MacGyver, my curiosity about what he did in the show also stopped, but just recently I realized that MacGyver is certainly not just a TV show character in my life but he is indeed for real, an existent person whose works was just taken for granted and he is non-other than my dad.

Looking back, I saw my dad how he worked on different stuffs, he can turn almost all non-useful or junk stuffs into something handy, he hates throwing things away cause for him everything can still be used, may be not now but in the future he can always find a way to turn things into something valuable.  My dad’s skills and fondness into fixing appliances (have I mentioned that he’s an appliance technician?!) lead him to enjoy doing his own stuffs without needing to hire someone to do it for him, as well as inventing simple things that can be very useful in our daily lives.

In early 2000, the side mirror of the company car that was assigned to me was stolen, upon replacement, my dad invented a side mirror protector that would discourage the thieves from stealing it; However, back then, I wasn’t so appreciative of what my old man did cause may be in my mind I was thinking that I could always afford to buy a replacement or maybe I felt that it would be a bother to put that on especially at times when I felt too sleepy and all I wanted was to get off the car and be in bed.

Recently, as most of you already know, Diego’s (in case you don’t know him, he’s my baby and he’s a car) side mirrors and its covers were stolen in broad day light while it was parked in our home street.  It was quite devastating for me, especially for someone who can’t just afford to buy a new pair (a whopping 7,000 to 10,000Php for an original one for each side, take note: for each side); But PRAISE GOD, after 2 weeks, the Lord blessed me with another pair of side mirrors, believe it or not for an original pair (with installation) that I purchased in Mazda, I only had to pay a total of 6,600Php, for a pair! What a deal! In fact, the guys even replaced the plastic structures where the window adjustment motor is located and the mirror and cover are attached with a new pair for free! Since according to them, it was also damaged when the crooks wrongly opened the cover and forcedly detached the mirror.  God is truly great! And I am more blessed because my dear MacGyver immediately and patiently worked on Diego’s side mirror protector and after his 2 days of patience (it took him a while since I always had to bring the car when I leave), Diego’s side mirrors are again very well protected, in fact my dad even made a hand sewn fabric cover made of jeans so I may cover the whole form before I put on the metal cover to ensure that the back cover of the mirrors won’t be abraded.   

I thank God for my dad, he may sometimes be quite challenging, he may often say or do things that may hurt us but one thing is for sure, I know in my heart that my dad is loving me the best way he knows how.

I love you so much dad and I pray that one day I could tell you personally, as I look at you eye to eye, how much I truly love and appreciate everything that you’ve done for me and how I feel so blessed on having you as my dad.

No matter what others may say, in my heart my dad will always be one of my hero here on earth and one of God’s BEST blessing in my life.

Thank you Lord for the opportunity to be my father’s daughter.