Soap Opera

We are all uniquely made: me, with my weird thoughts and quirks. One of them would be my fascination with water and my childish desire to run through sprinklers and play in the rain. Another would be my attraction (borderline obsession) with anything soap-related. I don't really expect everyone to understand my thing for bathtime, bubblebaths, working up the lather on my hair, doing the laundry, fabric conditioners and liquid bubbles that one can buy for dime a dozen on the streets. Yes, I belong to the bubble-blowing/bubble-popping crowd and I'm endearingly shameless in saying that.

I don't know if there's something about cleaning up oneself or just the feeling of being cleaned that makes it all appealing to me. I remembered during LTI we had this exercise wherein we need to slither our way out of mud. Twice. With barbwires pinching us on the back. It was not a new experience for me, playing on the mud (I got past that mudpie-making phase of my childhood) but there is something oddly familiar with the feeling of dirt and grime in my body and my face. Something normal. As if this is how I really am, dirty and grimy. While cradling my friend in my arms as she cries, while we were both muddy and wet and embracing one another, Jesus was in our minds.

Whether I am dirt-filled, grimy, wounded, bathing or completely cleaned, I just want to bask in that state.


Let me be a seven-year-old again, where my only worry is what i'll get as a Christmas present.

Homemade Bubbles
from Kids Domain Craft Exchange
1/2 (500 ml) cup dishwashing detergent
4-1/2 (4.5 liter) cup water
4 tablespoons (60 ml) glycerin (available in pharmacies or chemical supply houses)
Measure out the water, detergent, and glycerin into container with a cover and stir gently. The longer you let the mixture set, the larger the bubbles are and the longer they seem to last.

Me And Clive Staples Lewis

"If i find in myself desires nothing in this world can satisfy,
I can only conclude that I was not made for here
If the flesh that i fight is at best only light and momentary,
then of course I'll feel nude when to where I'm destined I'm compared."

Sand Dunes and Tears

This is me. Tired, alone and thirsty.

"Sanctuary... is a word which here means a small, safe place in a troubling world. Like an oasis in a vast desert or an island in a stormy sea."

Exactly what I need, an oasis in the middle of this desert. The heat, the thirst, the journey itself brought me to tears and down to my knees. It was the vision that I had today, for I know there's a good chance I will physically and emotionally fail.

Father, this is my cry. That I am not worthy, nor am I able to go on.

Forgive me if I continually fall. Let your light shine on me so I could remember what I am fighting for.

Now, this is what God did to the desert I found myself in.

In the midst of hopelessness, he revealed his beauty to me.

Me, his unworthy, filthy servant.

When it's all over, I'll finally fall down at your feet.

Finally it will all be over.

Everything will be all worth it.

Those Seven Words

Those seven words: “Oh God, oh God I needed you.”

Maybe, just maybe, set deep in our hearts is this small prayer, when everything else in our lives is going wrong. When we diverted ourselves in preparation, in band practice, in meetings, in budgets and supermami, unconsciously we are saying this. When we have tired our bodies at work or school, the struggle to be closer to Him – just to give even a small amount of our precious time – is our own escape. We never fully said it, but we cannot deny that it’s there: all this time we have all been hungry for His love, but our own efforts weren’t enough to sustain it.

“Keep your mind on higher things.”It was a simple Saturday morning when I was called to church for preparation. People strumming on their guitars like there’s no tomorrow welcomed my sight. So this is it, I guess. Another anniversary we would talk about for, say, 2 weeks max. I can’t even remember last year’s anniversary - and to say it was held for 2 days!

But amidst prayers during that day, I was chanting those seven words. Oh God, oh God I needed You. Let this not be another event.

We have prayed as we ate lunch. We have prayed as we did the run-through. We have prayed as we went home. And I know that as we all went to sleep, we still prayed together.

Sunday afternoon. The prayers never left us; instead it was growing louder, with a hint of desperation. “Be with us for this day is for You.” We needed Him so badly, as indicated by the tears that poured and by the comforting hugs that were offered everywhere. We have taken that as a cue to call on His people and just start worshipping Him till daybreak.

And life, as we have known it, would never be the same after that Sunday.

“So let Your name be lifted higher.”

At the end of the first song, we were blown away. The magnitude of their desire to just be with Him is so greatly felt, you have to be a stone not to get goosebumps. This is the cry of the young people who are taking that path closer to Jesus. Everything just made sense: this is His time, our wake-up call, to just respond to that calling. We were refreshed for we had had a glimpse of the life that He has in store for us. The freedom is ours; the least we could do is to jump and sing our hearts out in rejoice.

“We are people of destiny.” Pastor Jesse was right. We weren’t there by mere coincidence. God had placed us there, on the right place at the right time. And as God’s mouthpiece, He has delivered His message with all conviction and passion. Thank you for awakening our Took-ish side. Thank you for moving us.

Four hours weren’t enough to sing Him praises. A lifetime wouldn’t be enough either.

Here I am, four days after that one fateful Sunday. Sick, physically, but nourished in spirit. The shouts, the dancing, the kneeling down, that “sophisticated worship” – all of these I will carry on forever. I am just excited for what is in store for all of us in the future.

For the people who were sleep-deprived, have fasted and continually prayed with us through the end, thank you. Indeed, God has always been faithful to us. The miracles of Jesus are not found in the loaves of bread or in turning water into wine: The miracles are the people whom He has changed. Glory be to our one and only God.

Happy 11th Anniversary Ignite Youth Network!