In the pattern of AA introduction, I hereby declare that this is how everyone should introduce themselves at The Christian Women (TCW). See, I even have the acronym already. 🙂
Joking aside, I’m one of the new contributors and perhaps the last one to introduce myself. I didn’t want to introduce myself and then not post anything for a long time. So I decided to just introduce myself when I am ready to post something. So here I am…
Let’s see, what can I say about myself?
I am from the Philippines – born and raised there. I immigrated to the US in 2003 and lived in Boise, ID for 4 years. My husband and I just recently relocated to Austin, TX (dodged the worst winter in the last 5 years…wooo…perfect timing!) and have been here for almost a year now (loving the warm weather…just know when to go out in the summer to avoid the heat!).
I started my Blogger blog in July 2007 but didn’t really write a lot. In fact, I only wrote 13 posts in 10 months! My writing started picking up in May 2008. So technically, I’m just a newbie blogger.
Anyway, I was raised by a Catholic father and an Aglipayan mother. (Aglipay is a Philippine church which resulted from the Philippine revolution from Spain and Roman Catholicism.) They were not real church-goers though. So, I guess they just agreed that we should be raised as Aglipayan. What I knew about God and church was what I got from attending the Sunday mass and various church activities. I knew of God but I didn’t really know God.
When I went to high school in the city, I lived in the on-campus dormitories. Being separated from my parents and being away from home at 12 years old was the opening that God used to introduce Himself to me. So, God adopted me into His family on my freshman year in high school. He used a Campus Crusade for Christ worker who faithfully came to our high school campus and who would gather interested children to hear about God. I understood what she explained (and what I now know as The Four Spiritual Laws). She used those 3×2 cartoon tracts with a yellow cover to illustrate how God loved me, how sin separated me from God, how only Christ can bridge that separation and how I can be reconciled with God. I still clearly remember the page showing ego on the throne versus the cross (representing Christ) on the throne.
I didn’t grow much as a Christian after that. I do not remember anymore if the CCC lady stopped coming or if I didn’t go back to her sessions (which was a definite possibility because I quickly learned how to play volleyball and I became “addicted” to it to the point of playing under the noontime sun (think 100F). But I do know that after that I was questioning, albeit silently in my heart and in my mind, my upbringing’s religion and beliefs.
Fast forward to the mid-1990s… I was on a successful professional path in the technology industry – going to different countries meeting with colleagues, visiting customers, and presenting technical papers, being recognized, making good money, lots of material incentives, etc. My personal life though was a mess – breaking up with boyfriends, missing many family occassions, always with my geeky contraptions to be on top at work. Work, work, work was all that consumed me. But somehow I had this sense of emptiness and insecurity.
I started trying out different churches…
And along the way, am glad I found Him again. Or should I say He found me. He was always there, I just was too busy with my own life. I was the one sitting on the throne!
From that time on, He has taught me that He is my Father whom I can always depend on. And just like a child who asks of a father, the Father knows what is best for me.
He has taught me that He is my Friend whom I can go to anytime – whether in happiness or in sadness, in excitement or in boredom, in anticipation or in exasperation, in hopefulness or in discouragement. He is a loving friend by my side.
I am so grateful that He is a faithful God. He never let go of me from Day 1. The CCC worker planted the seed, not many watered though. But the seed? The seed grew miraculously, even if slowly for the lack of feeding and watering. Indeed, He is the ultimate grower! In Him, nothing is impossible!
I now know what it means to be “confident of this, that He who began a good work in you (me) will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6) I continue to be a work in progress but I rest on the Lord’s faithfulness.
Now that I have introduced myself, I look forward to sharing my thoughts. And hearing back from you, of course! 🙂
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Rela blogs about her daily life at An Ordinary Life and her “secret” fertility journey in The Saga of Becoming Fruitful. So probably, you will hear from her once a week at the most. If you miss her, go visit her at her other blogs and tell her about your visit by leaving her a comment. She would absolutely love that!