one unforgettable day

september 5...a tuesday...a not so ordinary tuesday...
waking up on a tuesday and a sunny day at that is a blessing...as well as waking up on any other day of the week...i was excited...we'll be having another series of Bible Study on the book of Psalms...this is going to be fun! and it was...our text was Psalm 33 and we even had a short liturgy before starting on the study of the said psalm...as usual, our business meeting was done after the BS...and before 5pm, i left the office to go to one of my campus assignments in Cavite. It took me more than two hours to travel and get there...Our meeting started at 8:30pm and ended @9:30pm. I led the closing prayer for the night...asked God that we be able to arrive safely home...that was a prayer i voiced for myself, too. It's 10:30pm on my watch as I took the bus to Lawton. I could not sleep...there are a number of things running inside my head...i wonder why they never get tired anyway...hehehe...

and then... surprise!!!
getting off from the bus @ Lawton, rain was already pouring so hard i had to fold my denim pants up to my knees...as i was crossing the street, a jeepney and an fx passed by and showered me with flood water...hmmmmm....nice try...i was amused though..but inside me i believed i would get a nice jeepney ride home and be able to beat my special curfew of 11:30pm.

It turned out...i did beat the curfew...only it was the latest i could get home...alone and wet and terribly sad...

as i am writing this, i just arrived and washed from the flood, changed and drank milk...and sat down and decided to write about this experience for my sanity's sake...

while i was waiting for the jeep, the rain was so generous...really...pouring so hard that the water seeped through my 80-peso-umbrella and caused droplets to fall all over me...my pants which were folded were already wet up to my knees...i could feel the cold slowly creeping through my pores and i was already watching the shadows of the trees behind me knowing that there will be unwanted & dangerous company even if it was raining hard...i kept on telling myself that i'll be able to get a ride before 11pm...and it came to pass...11pm is no more...the clock slowly ticked till 1145...and still i was there a lone woman waiting for a jeepney bound to proj2-3. I couldn't believe it was happening because i have tried to go home during a typhoon and i got a ride after 20 minutes...and now, for seconds that seemed to last forever, i couldn't find a single jeep...i was tempted to take the cubao bound jeepney and decided against it...i did not want to walk in the outskirts of Araneta to take another ride to Kamuning...and so i chose to practice my patience...and all through those minutes, i was praying, watching for a jeep, texting my housemates, looking in the shadows and singing...i still did not get a ride...hmmmm...i wondered, what are you trying to teach me Lord? i was beginning to get angry...aside from the reality of the fear i was trying to avoid, i was also on the brink of tears...the rain was still generous, not stopping a bit nor getting less...and the jeepneys and the taxis and the fx's and the private cars and four-wheel-drives were all splashing flood water to me no matter how far i step back...the flood was getting higher..i was getting anxious...and then a man passed by me and told me to wait for a ride where a lot of people were also waiting...he was a rough looking guy...and hearing him say that i need to transfer before i get into trouble brought me back to my senses...i followed him wholeheartedly even if it meant that i had to walk a hundred meters from where i stood and wade through the flooded streets...he was heaven-sent...

and still...i did not get a ride...
it's already 12mn when i finally saw the jeepney...boy, was i glad...i almost asked the driver, 'what took you so long' but of course i did not have the courage to say that...i was just relieved...i almost cried...

i had not realized that my adventure for the night has yet to begin...
it has been a well known fact that espana is never a dry passage when it rains...it wasn't and worse...lo and behold! it was really flooded up to the knees of an average person...oh well...the driver was so cool...he just kept on driving as if there was no water aound us...and i, on the other hand, kept on praying that we be able to cross the long road of espana...and we did... praise God!!! was that another praise item on my list...

fighting my sleepiness...and exhaustion, i realized that while i was sitting ther inside the jeepney that i just got a prayer answered...i was safe as what i have prayed for and have always prayed for...i arrived @1am in our staffhouse...wet, almost sleeping, almost crying and very relieved...

for all the adventures i have had ever since i took the assignment in cavite, i realized how the Lord has kept me safe...i'm such a stubborn person...and i usually do not heed other people's suggestion that i spend the night in Cavite...i need to go home, i always say...and in countless times, i have proven over and over again, that my God is ever-watchful of me...that was one of lessons i learned during our BS...that our God watches over us...He watches over me...my help comes from the Lord...Maker of heaven and earth...

and so, this wonderful day has begun and ended with a note of reminder from the Lord...it doesn't really depend on circumstance...thanking God is matter of faith...trusting in His wisdom even if i do not feel secure...