Philippines, Day 4: Church, a Fort, and a Mall

On Sunday, we attended Dad’s old church in Manila, Grace Gospel Church. His dad had taken him there as a child, and he had been a member there until he went to America. When he had attended, there was only one service. Now there are two English services with a Chinese service sandwiched in between the two. The Chinese service just happened to be at the same time as the former single service, and that’s the one we went to. Read Full Post

Philippines, Day 3: Uncle James’ Dental Office

On Saturday, we woke up at about 5:30am. We ate breakfast and left at about 7:15am to go to Uncle James’ dental office dedication. Uncle James had moved his office to the fourteenth floor of the World Trade Exchange building in Binondo, Manila.

Because of the size of the city, and the traffic, it took us an hour to get there. All of Dad Read Full Post

Philippines, Day 2: Sights, Sounds, and Traffic

On Friday, we went with Uncle John and his brother-in-law to see the Taal Volcano. We ate at a restaurant called Leslie’s and then we went and looked at the volcano. On the way there and back, we saw tricycles, hundreds of roadside markets, water buffalo (carabao), pineapple fields, and shanty houses. I feel bad for those people.
Once again, the traffic was pretty bad. People were even driving on the shoulder (Dad and Uncle John called it the suicide lane) so that they could pass other people! Read Full Post

Philippines, Day 1: Journey to the Other Side of the World

Seven years ago this month, I visited the Philippines with my dad and sister Jennifer. It was my first time back there since my parents were missionaries to the Philippines in 1990. While there in 2005, I took a long an old Pocket PC and wrote about my experiences each day. This year, I decided to look back and read it, and share my experience with you. Hopefully you learn something too as you read. Thanks! Read Full Post

2011: The Music, a Musician, and the Maestro

Orchestra

Have you ever thought of time as a piece of music? Perhaps a concerto with millennia as movements, centuries as periods, years as phrases, and weeks as measures?

You and I are each musicians in the largest orchestra ever created, the universe as our hall, the earth as our shell, the angels as our audience, and God as the Maestro. We each have our own responsibility to play our parts correctly, but ultimately it is God who masterfully controls the performance and receives the credit for a piece well-played. Read Full Post