My Childhood in the Philippines

In a jungle, our life in this earth looks like a road map.

My parents’ life was so difficult that we hunted nonstop to find something to eat especially in rainy days. A handful of wild fruits, it was a hard seeds and poisonous. My father and I picked them along the river and gathered them. We took them home, cracked them, sliced them thin, and put them in a basket. My father would take them to the river and leave them there for one day and one night in order for the juice to be washed away.

I was five years old at that time when it came up in my mind that I will marry a man from far away. I didn’t understood how. There are so many different kinds of roads that lead to a dead-end. My father would turn around and find another way. I followed him and put my foot in his footprints in a muddy road.

In our thoughts, we have our journeys straight and we are happy to get and focus on it. But the storm suddenly drops that you have no assurance of light. It is so dark that you can’t see anything then you stumble. But on the other side, there is a little sparkling of light. Start to survive, get up slowly again, and walk in a straight line back. Keep going and climbing the mountain and down to the valley and you’re really tired. Sit down and look up above and down, and you would see how beautiful the creation is.

We see there is someone waiting for us to call His Name. Turn your burden over to Christ Jesus and He will give you rest (Matthew 11:28). In John 14:6, it is said, “Jesus said unto him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the life: no one can come to the Father, but by me.” When we walk with Jesus, our way means real road, real life, and our guidance (1 Corinthians 1:24). He means surrender all your heavy problems and put your faith on what He did on the cross for our sake (1 Corinthians 2:2).

Walking with his footprints step by step through His blood makes the gloom turn to sunshine. As I walk with God in the Spirit through our Lord Jesus Christ, through His Love and mercy, I met my husband in the right time. We got married on my birthday for my parents and relatives and friends’ tradition. I never had a birthday celebration before. I don’t understood how I felt that day! Only Jesus was my best friend and He gave me my best friend whom I can touch and hug.

But Christ Jesus in the Spirit (John 4:24) before each other. I submit myself to my husband as he submits himself unto the Lord (Ephesians 5:21–22). Whatever we are doing or planning, we both submit each other to the fear of God.