It might not seem obvious in the photo but there were over a hundred kids who came over. :D September 21 is my birthday (which, I'm thrilled to say, is also Stephen King's birthday. On the other hand, I'm also not-so-thrilled to note that 9/21 is also Martial Law day in the Philippines).
I turned 32 this year and I have to say that this is my HAPPIEST birthday so far. This year, I can really say that I'm a full-fledged author. This year, I was able to spend my birthday not just with my loved ones but most importantly, this year God has given me more than enough blessings to share with others. It's not that I have millions and millions of pesos, but I just feel so blessed to be doing what I love that I really want to share my happiness with others.
The readings and gospel for 9/21 are also particularly meaningful and I can't help but think of it as a special message to God. Here are a few lines I'd like to highlight...
I turned 32 this year and I have to say that this is my HAPPIEST birthday so far. This year, I can really say that I'm a full-fledged author. This year, I was able to spend my birthday not just with my loved ones but most importantly, this year God has given me more than enough blessings to share with others. It's not that I have millions and millions of pesos, but I just feel so blessed to be doing what I love that I really want to share my happiness with others.
The readings and gospel for 9/21 are also particularly meaningful and I can't help but think of it as a special message to God. Here are a few lines I'd like to highlight...
First Reading: Isaiah 55: 6-9
Seek the LORD while he may be found, call him while he is near.
Let the scoundrel forsake his way, and the wicked his thoughts;
let him turn to the LORD for mercy; to our God, who is generous in forgiving.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.
As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways
and my thoughts above your thoughts.
Gospel: Matthew 20: 1-16
Jesus told his disciples this parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. Going out about nine o’clock, the landowner saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.’
So they went off. And he went out again around noon, and around three o’clock, and did likewise. Going out about five o’clock, the landowner found others standing around, and said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’
They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’
He said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard.’ When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Summon the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first.’
When those who had started about five o’clock came, each received the usual daily wage. So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage. And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’
He said to one of them in reply, ‘My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?’ Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
These lines made me remember all the times - ALL THE YEARS - that I "saw" (online) one writer after another accepting offers of representation and book deals, some of them only after sending a handful of queries. I kept asking myself - or rather God - when would it be my turn? I was not angry, but sometime I was envious and I definitely felt very frustrated.
But now I realize how wrong I was. For His ways are not our ways. There is a reason for everything, and we must not question His plans for there is a reason for everything that happens and because it is God, it will always be for the better.
Comparing our lives - our writing careers - to others is also something we should avoid. All blessings come from God. Knowing that, why should we then feel bad when God is being generous to others? Why are we envious when God is generous? Shouldn't that be a great and glorious thing? Wouldn't YOU feel bad if you've learned other people despise you (envy is often - not always but often - close to despisal) because God has blessed you? When you put yourself in their shoes, it doesn't feel right, does it?
There are so many things I still wish - things that I hope to be able to do as an author and as an individual, but I hope I am now mature enough not to feel frustrated whenever other people achieve the same things before I do.
All I can do right now is to work harder, love my job more, and thank God for every single day that He's allowed me to write for a living.
God bless you all! :)
But now I realize how wrong I was. For His ways are not our ways. There is a reason for everything, and we must not question His plans for there is a reason for everything that happens and because it is God, it will always be for the better.
Comparing our lives - our writing careers - to others is also something we should avoid. All blessings come from God. Knowing that, why should we then feel bad when God is being generous to others? Why are we envious when God is generous? Shouldn't that be a great and glorious thing? Wouldn't YOU feel bad if you've learned other people despise you (envy is often - not always but often - close to despisal) because God has blessed you? When you put yourself in their shoes, it doesn't feel right, does it?
There are so many things I still wish - things that I hope to be able to do as an author and as an individual, but I hope I am now mature enough not to feel frustrated whenever other people achieve the same things before I do.
All I can do right now is to work harder, love my job more, and thank God for every single day that He's allowed me to write for a living.
God bless you all! :)