Identifying with Nehemiah
My mind has not really arrived especially since hearing the news regarding a most recent typhoon to hit our country. It was as if meant that we would not meet – Milenyo came just as I left. The following day, all flights were cancelled!
So how bad was it? Here is an account from my wife chi –
Hay papa… we're fine.
With the hyper emotions of yesterday because of the unexpected effects of the storm on metro manila, you can't help but be filled with news of horror and feel badly. It was a 2-hour onslaught that saw so much damage in the sense that several bill boards fell and a whole lot of trees were uprooted with lots of galvanized irons flying around. But after all that – there were relatively few "casualties".
In terms of our own family – we experienced sad news of Sonny's mini-stop store having leaking roof problems and his house under water (waist-high) with his furniture water-damaged (ref / bed / tv / etc…) but Virgie and Patricia found safety in the house of their neighbor. So relatively – what matters most is intact and safe.
As to Lola Ave….. during the height of the storm, she decided to leave Archie's place and proceed to her own room despite Archie's protest. She was probably concerned that the roof might be blown off… She slipped along the way and hurt her leg. She shouted for help but Archie couldn't hear amidst the howling winds and the closed windows. Lola Ave managed to crawl to her room and send a text to Archie. Her ankle got swollen. She was brought to see a doctor today and they found out that she suffered a fracture and though they will cast her leg… it's only a temporary remedy and that she will eventually have to undergo an operation.
We still don't have electricity though other parts of the subdivision have… because a major post near the basketball court fell. I've instructed the maids to cook what should be cooked and to give what can't be eaten today to the pedicab drivers instead of letting the food spoil.
This news really hit home. Now it was not just about a mass of faceless people. I found myself weeping as I pray. Pictures of my people facing again another calamity kept appearing before me even as I close my eyes. Suddenly, I understood how Nehemiah must have felt upon hearing the broken walls of Jerusalem and how his people live in disgrace and constant vulnerability from the surrounding nations.
This was not about Milenyo alone though how bad it seems. No, it was really about our nation’s walls and gates and how we continue to live in disgrace and vulnerability even among our own people. Our walls – what makes a nation stand proud and secured – have long been in shambles. The sad part is, most of us have been used to it. Perhaps just like in the time of Nehemiah, the remnants that remained were no longer bothered as such was a “regular site”. And it had to be viewed from the outside to see how bad it really was. Like Nehemiah, the dynamic interplay of my concern for my family and my people, and the relative comfort and pleasure of my current situation, somehow enabled me to feel with so much intensity, an otherwise familiar “regular site.”
And for this alone I am thankful. That the numbness has been removed; the callousness of my heart softened to be sensitive once again and responsive to what truly matters – the transformation of my nation! Like Nehemiah, I continue to pray and seek out God’s leading as to how I can take part in rebuilding the wall. What is clear is to share to those who are here, what is in my heart, and hopefully widen the circle of Nehemiah.
Here is the rest of t news from my wife:
I had a wonderful experience of how God provided for me and kept me safe despite being out in the storm at its height and seeing all the damage along the way…. I feel so amazingly blessed and acutely aware of His presence that I can't help but be so thankful of this experience.
Don't feel so burdened about all this…. Metro Manila was greatly spared by being lashed for only 2 hours. This is so far from what happened in Samar – and other true tragedies.
You were also so blessed to have had your flight a day before this storm!
Over-all, what we had is more of great discomfort above anything else. And that's the true state of the nation. Perhaps you feel more because it hit so close to home in a sense… since we all experienced misfortunes…. but – they are all the kind that can be overcome with relative ease and with certainty.
You know, I had left the car out on the main road and was concerned that it might have been damaged… Thank God it was spared! JJJ
We had so much blessings along with this storm! Let that not be hidden by the horror stories that accompanied it.
I love you!
Remember – brown-out in many parts pa rin, including our house kaya soon, all our celfones will be low-bat, but the telephone works fine. Again – such a blessing!
Mwah!
So how bad was it? Here is an account from my wife chi –
Hay papa… we're fine.
With the hyper emotions of yesterday because of the unexpected effects of the storm on metro manila, you can't help but be filled with news of horror and feel badly. It was a 2-hour onslaught that saw so much damage in the sense that several bill boards fell and a whole lot of trees were uprooted with lots of galvanized irons flying around. But after all that – there were relatively few "casualties".
In terms of our own family – we experienced sad news of Sonny's mini-stop store having leaking roof problems and his house under water (waist-high) with his furniture water-damaged (ref / bed / tv / etc…) but Virgie and Patricia found safety in the house of their neighbor. So relatively – what matters most is intact and safe.
As to Lola Ave….. during the height of the storm, she decided to leave Archie's place and proceed to her own room despite Archie's protest. She was probably concerned that the roof might be blown off… She slipped along the way and hurt her leg. She shouted for help but Archie couldn't hear amidst the howling winds and the closed windows. Lola Ave managed to crawl to her room and send a text to Archie. Her ankle got swollen. She was brought to see a doctor today and they found out that she suffered a fracture and though they will cast her leg… it's only a temporary remedy and that she will eventually have to undergo an operation.
We still don't have electricity though other parts of the subdivision have… because a major post near the basketball court fell. I've instructed the maids to cook what should be cooked and to give what can't be eaten today to the pedicab drivers instead of letting the food spoil.
This news really hit home. Now it was not just about a mass of faceless people. I found myself weeping as I pray. Pictures of my people facing again another calamity kept appearing before me even as I close my eyes. Suddenly, I understood how Nehemiah must have felt upon hearing the broken walls of Jerusalem and how his people live in disgrace and constant vulnerability from the surrounding nations.
This was not about Milenyo alone though how bad it seems. No, it was really about our nation’s walls and gates and how we continue to live in disgrace and vulnerability even among our own people. Our walls – what makes a nation stand proud and secured – have long been in shambles. The sad part is, most of us have been used to it. Perhaps just like in the time of Nehemiah, the remnants that remained were no longer bothered as such was a “regular site”. And it had to be viewed from the outside to see how bad it really was. Like Nehemiah, the dynamic interplay of my concern for my family and my people, and the relative comfort and pleasure of my current situation, somehow enabled me to feel with so much intensity, an otherwise familiar “regular site.”
And for this alone I am thankful. That the numbness has been removed; the callousness of my heart softened to be sensitive once again and responsive to what truly matters – the transformation of my nation! Like Nehemiah, I continue to pray and seek out God’s leading as to how I can take part in rebuilding the wall. What is clear is to share to those who are here, what is in my heart, and hopefully widen the circle of Nehemiah.
Here is the rest of t news from my wife:
I had a wonderful experience of how God provided for me and kept me safe despite being out in the storm at its height and seeing all the damage along the way…. I feel so amazingly blessed and acutely aware of His presence that I can't help but be so thankful of this experience.
Don't feel so burdened about all this…. Metro Manila was greatly spared by being lashed for only 2 hours. This is so far from what happened in Samar – and other true tragedies.
You were also so blessed to have had your flight a day before this storm!
Over-all, what we had is more of great discomfort above anything else. And that's the true state of the nation. Perhaps you feel more because it hit so close to home in a sense… since we all experienced misfortunes…. but – they are all the kind that can be overcome with relative ease and with certainty.
You know, I had left the car out on the main road and was concerned that it might have been damaged… Thank God it was spared! JJJ
We had so much blessings along with this storm! Let that not be hidden by the horror stories that accompanied it.
I love you!
Remember – brown-out in many parts pa rin, including our house kaya soon, all our celfones will be low-bat, but the telephone works fine. Again – such a blessing!
Mwah!
Now what else can I say.
http://mommywrites.blogspot.com/
posted by bongkiko at 4:48 AM
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