… Drifter …

August 3, 2009

I went to 1221 Juan Nolasco St., in Tondo, Manila early this morning. I was there before 8AM. I went there to start my pre-residency training in Surgery in Mary Johnston Hospital. The hospital is the oldest United Methodist hospital in the Philippines. Training in a United Methodist Hospital makes it easier for me to fulfill my vocation in being a channel of God’s missionary work.

A week ago, my wife and daughter accompanied me from Tuguegarao to Manila to settle in our new place in Quezon City. Yes, I will be coming from Kamuning everyday to go to Mary J.  It’s just a little over an hour travel so it’s not that bad. I am pretty excited to start the training. But I am also anxious because I have been away from medical practice for over three years so I have forgotten a lot of things. Anyway, anything new is fun.

Mary Johnston will be the place where my drifting will be rotating for the next five years. Nope, being in one place doesn’t mean stagnation for me. I will still be drifting as I meet new people, journey with them in their most physically down and troubled moments and share God’s healing touch. Let us begin this journey…

We are on our way home to the Philippines. Our stint in the US is over. For the last three years we lived in the eastcoast. Before we head home, we thought it would be nice to drop by and see the westcoast. And so we went to see our friends in LA…

May 13, 2009

The night before we were cramming to put all our stuff in our balikbayan boxes. We were up early. Dan and Steph came to help and drive us to the RDU airport. Around 5am we were already on the road to the airport. Our flight was at 8:40am. We made sure we have a lot of time in the airport to settle down. When we got to the airport, we checked in our 3 balikbayan boxes and 2 luggages. To our surprise, the woman at the counter said all our check-in stuff were overweight and they cost $100 each. So we decided to unpack and repack all our stuff to make the 50kg weight limit. We opened all the boxes and luggages in the airport floor and sorted all things out. But then it meant we have to add a few more luggages if we were going to make the 50 kg cut-off. We didnt have anymore extra luggages. Good thing we brought some extra black thrash bags for our dirty stuff. We placed all of the extra stuff in their. So we ended up with six checked-in luggages and boxes. It took us more than an hour to sort all things out and it was embarassing with all the people walking pass by us and staring at what we were doing. Just when I thought we were over that stressful experience, the woman told us that she cannot check-in our luggages straight to the Philippines because we were staying over in LA. We have to pick it up in LA and re-check it in when we depart from there. That meant we (me and my wife + 2 babies) have to carry all six boxes and luggages by ourselves to the hotel and back to the airport. I mean, two or three boxes would fit in one pushcart and I could push it and carry the other stuff like the two baby car seats and the baby bags plus the two hand carries and the laptop while Grace would take care of the babies. But six luggages is too much. How can we do this? Looking back, I couldn’t imagine how… But we were able to do it. And so we checked-in our stuff and we got into the plane.

Thirteen hours later, we were about to land in LA.

we to be continued…

March 5-7, 2009

My family and I went to Charlotte to celebrate me and my wife’s 3rd wedding anniversarry. There was nothing fancy with the trip but it was special. My newborn baby and her 2 1/2 yrs old sister went with us. So it was a family trip.

We left Durham in the morning. We didn’t want to rush the trip and we wanted to take many stops as possible so that the kids will not be bored sitting the whole 3 hours of the trip. Because we took a lot of stops, the trip took more than 5 hours. Our first stop was for lunch. We just grabbed a take out from our favorite Cookout branch. We had some barbecue and cold drinks. Then we stopped over at a rest area near Greensboro so baby Nate can have his milk. Although the snow was more than 2 days ago, the snow there was still thick. Nea took some time to play in the snow again.

The next stop was at Concord. We were only about 20 miles before Charlotte and so we decided to hang out a little there. Concord is the place known for NASCAR racing. So we drove around and went to see the speedway. We also went to the Concord Mill Mall which was very big. It also had many outlet stores for NASCAR stuffs, shoes like Nike and other apparrels especially for kids. Yea, we spent a little more money than what we wanted but it was worth it. There was some sale going on with the Disney stuff so we just bought gifts for the kids.

We also had our fancy dinner in Chilli’s at the mall. We had some steak and fish. It was still Lent so no pork that time. Then we just killed some time driving around the area. Actually, we got a little lost on how to get to our hotel but it was not bad.

Because we were so tired already, not from the trip but for the whole week of work, the hotel stay was our actual rest time. So this trip all boils down to this. We went to bed early just to lie around and stayed in bed until late the next morning. We just took a loooooooong goooooooood rest.

In the afternoon, we went to Billy Graham’s Library. Yup, it was only a mile away from our hotel so we had to go to it. Plus it was free. The library was inspiring. The stories shared there were also inspiring. It shows how God works in the lives of people like Billy Graham and the other athletes, media personalities and politicians who came to know Christ. The architecture was also very beautiful. Hope we could have one in the Philippines - a Methodist Library - highlighting the historical work of God in the lives of Methodists and Protestants for 100 years. That would be nice.

Of course we had to go to a children’s place. We went to Imaginon, a state of the art children’s museum. They had a lot of books, computers and interactive stuff for kids. Nea enjoyed playing in the PC games and reading the books. Too bad we only had less than an hour before they closed.

Then it was time for the highlight of the trip, the NBA game. It was our first NBA game for the family. We watched the Charlotte Bobocats play against the #5 Atlanta Hawks. It was an intenst game. It was fun to watch too. Although we were almost at the end of the rafters, we still had fun cheering for the Bobcats. Nea also enjoyed it because there was another kid her age who was shouting and dancing and cherring with her. Baby Nate was also behaved, just enjoying watching his family and drinking his milk. Bobcats won, 98-91!

Then we went back to the hotel. By that time I was not feeling well already. Probably it was because of the drastic changes in the weather.  But we were all right.

The next day, we took it slow again. We did not rush goint home. We had the whole day to travel. And it was indeed. Along the way, after we stopped in one of the rest area where there was a Museum, the car engine started to falter. I had to drive slow again because I though the engine was gonna give up on us. It started to smell like it was overheating. So we prayed hard that at least we could get home. It was only 30 miles before Durham so it was not that far. Thankfully, we all arrived home safe and sound.

It was a memorable trip. More importantly, it was a fun way to celebrate three years of journeying together as a family.

The last time I was in the bedside of my wife was two years ago. The memory was still vivid for me. The events that happened 2 years ago, when she gave birth to our firstborn, was so fresh it seemed like yesterday. I remember myself freezing in confusion. I remember myself praying hard to God. Today, I was praying doubly hard. I want this birth to be a different experience.

Two days earlier, and for two consecutive days, she would note blood tinge every morning.

At 5pm yesterday, when I got home from school, my wife said she is starting to have some Braxton-Hicks.

At around 7pm, she noted to me that her contractions are becoming regular at 5 minutes interval. Her back starts to ache. She would go to bed and assume a comfortable position while I massage her lowerback.

At 9:45 pm, while we were having our weekly Friday fellowship, she kept going back to our bedroom to get into a comfortable position as her back is really hurting. She felt like something was pushing down. 

At 10:30 pm, just after our fellowship, she felt the pain and contraction intensifying. We decided to wait further and see if the contractions become closer together.

At 11 pm, we noted that the contractions are just 3 minutes apart and the pain is unbearable. Before anybody can go home, I told everyone in the fellowship that we will be going to the hospital any minute. They wanted to join us and so they readied themselves as we also packed and prepared our stuff.

At 11:30pm, everybody was on the car, Grace, Nea, my mom and Inseo, while I drove. We went to the emergency room at Duke Med.

Before 12mn, we were in the hospital. We went to the triage room and the nurse set Grace in the monitor. When the doctor came to check on her, she was 6cm dilated, 90% effaced and station 0.So we were admitted. All the blood works were done and she was given I pain meds for her contractions. Grace said the meds almost knocked her out. She closed her eyes because she was getting dizzy. She had a little rest but she keeps reminding me that she can still feel the pain and the contractions.

At 1 am, the contractions are getting close art 2 minutes interval. I would massage her back still to alleviate a little of the pain.

At 2 am, the Anesthesia resident came to our room and asked if she wanted to have some epidural. Grace says she was almost tmepted to say yes. By this time, the IV pain meds were really of no help. But I kept encouraging her. So, we said no to the epidural.Later, after 30 minutes, another doctor came in and checked on Grace. 8 cm station -1. 80% effaced. How weird is that? I thought, now that’s funny. Hehehe…

At 2:30 am, we were moved to the labor suite room #7.  Our nurse, Lisa was very kind and encouraging to Grace. So Grace llay on her left side to help her alleviate the pain a little. It also allowed me to massage her back. She was in that position until 3:30am.

At 3;30 am, Grace wanted to push. So I called in the nurse. The nurse examined Grace. 9-10 cm, 90% effaced but the water bag is still intact. Nurse Lisa called in the OB residents.

At 3:35, the doctors are in. They checked on Grace and said she is ready to give birth. They readied all the materials. At this point, the memories when Nea was born kept flashing in my head. Will we be able to deliver without complications?

At 3:40, Grace gave her first push. “Agggghhhhh!!!!!!!!” Then nurse Lisa gave her instructions on how to push. “Take a deep breath then hold it, chin to chest, and push silently!” As I was watching Grace, holding her hands tightly, I can see pure determination in her part. She followed the nurses instructions to the letter.

At 3:49, Grace was pushing her heart out. There were tears in her eyes that were fixed to the nurses face - a mirror of focus. She wasn’t complaining of the pain of the contractions, I could see how she was anticipating each contraction to be able to push the baby out.

At 3:52, the baby was already crowning. I know this was going to be a success. I was talking to God. I kept calm. Everybody around was optimistic and so was I.

At 3:55, another contraction and another three sets of forcefull pushing. Its almost there. One more and we are done. I could almost see half of the head. I was so excited I am tempted to pull it myself. But it didn’t went through. I was anxious. But I need to relax. This is going to work. I looked at Grace and her face was full of determination. I know she still has the strength. She is just pure focus.

At 3:58, another contraction. Deep breath, push 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10… It’s almost there… One more baby, don’t take an interval… push again… 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10… and the head is out… and the body and huh… deep breath. It’s over. Everything else was downhill…

Thank God. Congratulations… You did good Babes…

December 30, 2008

I just drove 140 miles from Spring Grove, VA back to Durham NC. I went to lead a Bible Study in the Christmas Institute.  We had a great time learning how and why as Christians we need to care for God’s creation. It was not too long ago that I was just one of those youth seating and listening to the sessions and just having fun in the CI. Now, I’m actually leading and facilitating them. Wow! Time flies fast!

This trip also mirrored a lot of what’s happening as the year closes.

First, I am travelling alone because my wife cannot travel being at the last trimester of our pregnancy.

Second, my roadtrips are getting rare as I spend more time at home and my family.

Third, my trips are short and short. No time really to have spend more time on travel because of some “other important” stuff to do.

Fourth, my budget is starting to become an issue not only for travels but for everyting.

Fifth, the journey is starting to head back home.

I am probably staying home for the New Year festivities. It is just to cold outside. Another reason to cut on the travelling…

November 27, 2008.

This road trip was not only with family but with friends.

For the Thanksgiving Holiday, we spent time with friends in New York to celebrate the blessings God has showered us the entire year. We drove ten long hours from North Carolina to New York with our friends Dan and Stephanie. We left Durham half past midnight on the 22. We took turns driving, giving each one of us enough time to sleep and rest. We drove almost non-stop. We got to New Jersey by 8:30AM. But then there was the traffic.

We went to see the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade. We all met at 68th Street and Central Park. We had a good spot and we saw the big balloons and some of the celebrities. After the parade, we enjoyed ourselves walking New York. We walked around Central Park, window shopped at 5th Street, saw the lights of Broadway and of course Time Square. We capped the night with a traditional Thanksgiving dinner of turkey and pumpkin pie at Arte Cafe with our friends.

The next day, we made sure we went to see Liberty Island and Ellis Island. No one should miss that while in New York. We had a great time just hanging out with lady liberty and checking in as the 1900s immigrants in Ellis.

This road trip was a perfect way to give Thanks to God for the friends He blessed us and the companions we had as we journey through this life.

May 30, 2008.

From Cebu to Virginia Beach. This is how I would describe my spiritual journey. No, it is not because I started from Cebu and ended up in Virginia Beach. It is more like a simultaneous event happenning in Cebu and in Virginia Beach. Both events being milestones in my spiritual journey. Let me start by describing what is happenning in Cebu.

In A.Lopez St., Lahug, Cebu is the Visayas Philippines Annual Conference. The conference agenda is centered in setting plans and programs for the United Methodist Church in the Visayas. Part of the agenda is appointing preachers and pastors to different churches. Also, part of the conference is to decide to approve the application of candidates to the ministry to become pastors or to elevate the status of local pastors until they become ordained elders. An ordained elder is the last step in the long process of becoming a pastor. You see, as a pastor journeys in his faith and gains more experience he is given more responsibility until he is fit enough to perform duties like administering the sacraments. It’s not simple as most people think, you just don’t decide to be a pastor one night and then the next day you become the religious leader of the church. There is a process where the church affirms your gift and calling. That is what the conference in Cebu is about.

Here in Centerville Tnpke, Virginia Beach another momentous event is happening. My spiritual journey as a preacher brings me in this place to become the associate pastor for the Young Adult ministry of Resurrection United Methodist Church. I am serving in this church as part of my Field Education in Duke seminary to gain knowledge and experience as I prepare to be in the ministry.

These two places marks two milestones in my spiritual journey. In Cebu, the Conference affirmed my gifts and calling to be a pastor and elevated my status to be a PROBATIONER, the last step before being an ordained elder. At the same time, I was appointed to be the youth pastor in my current setting. In Virginia Beach, my experience here as a youth pastor will help me shape and prepare me as I continue my spiritual journey.

May 12, 2008

“Country roads, take me home; to the place I belong.”

Sounds familiar? This was the road that my family took. We drove from West Virginia going northeast.

Along the way, we went to see the 4th biggest cavern in the US (that’s what Scott, our tour guide said). Lurray Caverns was beautiful. I have been to several caves in the Philippines, both the developed and the “unexploited” caves but I haven’t seen a cavern this big. What was more breathtaking were the amazing rock formations. The one thing that really wowed us was the reflecting pool. This was a body of water that formed from the drops of water. The water formed like a mirror that it reflected the stalactites… It was just magnificent.Other rock formations were so huge, they were like building posts.

The other thing that amazed me was the preservation of the stalactites and the stalagmites. The management did a great job of keeping the tourists from cutting a stalactite or even touching it. We all know that it takes hundreds of years just to grow an inch of a stalactite.

Yet, despite their preservation of the rocks, they were still able to invent the only rock organ in the world. Yes, an organ that is played with a keyboard and tapped to the stalactites to produce a sound. You would’nt believe it until you hear it. The music was just… rockin’. We enjoyed our side trip to the Lurray Caverns. Next stop… Washington.

April 29 - May 3, 2008

It was my birthday. So this was my birthday getaway with my family. Yes, with my family. My Mom, Dad, Grandma and sister flew in from the Philippines. Well, they did not fly here primarily for my birthday… they were here for the UMC General Conference. But they were here in the US during my birthday so I guess that would still count as them coming for my birthday.

We had dinner in a downtown Seafood Restaurant, Dad’s. I had some fish steak… I haven’t eaten fish for several months now. So, this was a treat. We also had some crab clips and it was yummy… But what was more fun was having dinner with family…

The next day, we went to the Wax Museum and in Ripley’s Place. That was a blast. We got to see Hollywood celebrities and US presidents. It was really fun. Especially the horror wax museum. The wax figures looked so real we couldn’t stand to look at it. We had to run the entire exhibit just so we could get out of the horror section of the exhibit. But the horror exhibit was so long it almost never ends. You can see Freddy of Elm St. and his unforgettable pin face. Of course, the usual suspects were there — Dracula, Frankie, the White Ladies. Hannibal was also there and Jason.

We also went to the zoo. It was funny because we went there when all the public schools had their field trip in the zoo too. So the children were swarming the place. It was so full. But we still had some fun seeing all the animals. Baby Nea especially enjoyed it, seeing the ducks and the monkeys.

Then we had to head back home because we have some more preparing to do before we head to Virginia for summer. See ‘ya later in Virginia Beach…

August 2007. Fall Semester.

Back to School. Back to Durham. Back to Duke. Back to student life.

So with a heavy heart, I left my family again. It was so dramatic because it was raining when I was saying my goodbyes. The baby was just staring at me blankly as I picked up my luggage. I kissed my wife goodbye and headed to the door. I walked in the rain towards the waiting taxi. I took a last glance at my family who is standing outside the door waving goodbye. It will be several months again before we will see each other.

But it is time to go back to school. The University is waiting. Great things are to be discovered, new knowledge to be learned, and a calling is to be answered… all with the struggle of being separated from home and family. 

So I went to the airport. Waited for my flight. And took the 30 hours plane ride that crossed the Pacific ocean, a stop in Japan, traversed the American continent from west coast to the east, until I arrived at RDU airport. It was a long and lonely journey. But it was a trip I had to make, as a start to a new chapter in my married life.