(4/3) After All

**This is mostly me killing time and rambling, clearing my head so I’m clear before any more uncertainly seeps in. Still, I appreciate you opening this and reading this if you choose to. -JB

I flew into the States with a mindset emphasizing – no, thriving on this absolute reconciliation we have with God, paid in full by Christ and His finished work. By God’s grace we have been made as close as we could possibly be with Christ.

Creation fell from grace, but by grace, Creator paid all to be one with Creation again.

Obviously, I’m flying to the Philippines with the same mindset. I can say, through girly nieces, rough and tumble nephews, brothers, sisters-in-law and mother, that it is good. It is well with my soul.

Indeed, it is well, for by a secure position, by a perspective of peace, I see the immediate personalities (and strong ones, at that) in the light of grace. I am taught how I am loved to love according to who I interact with, and vice versa.

There were times where I catch myself wallowing in self pity, insinuating to the Creator of the Universe that it be swell if people adjusted to me for a change. But even during these times, man, I am reminded ever so sweetly that by Christ, God is pleased to sit down with me and address whatever I think is important to me, as I would to anyone else – whether that be Dragonball Legends, or stocks, or LOLs and Jojo Siwa, or backyard maintenance, or the Endtimes…

…I mean, I could probably be doing a whole lot better than I am now, but praise God, He’s loving me through these words I type, through the photos I take, through my recovery from porn and social media… gosh, I could literally hear Matt Maher sing ‘What a Friend we have in Jesus’ in my mental playlist right now!

God’s grace truly tutors us… and how. I mean, without it I could imagine that there was a real possibility that emotional shit could’ve hit the fan.

And this was just with my blood – my family.

And so we go towards what I wanted to write this for.

I’m excited. My God, my Father has shown His absolute faithfulness to me. My Savior has proven time and time again that He is good and that He is, indeed, with me as close as He could ever be forever and ever. Through pleasurable victories and downright miserable pits of despair and failure, God has not only sustained me, but by His grace, I thrive.

And it seems like it’s never going to stop growing… to the point that I’m thinking of bringing out my shelved plans of world domination.

This, of course, comes after progressive family discussions that had us determining which plans dominated us. We came together as a family and discussed what needed to be shelved, and though there may be pain involved, it’s nothing compared to the harvest. Yet in all this, there’s nothing guaranteed, only that we have a God who is faithful to us, whether we fly higher, or dive deeper.

In the name of grand strategy, I just stood upon my one thing. Now, I’m going into immediate details.

We have around an hour left till we board, roughly an hour and a half until we fly to the Philippines. For the past couple of articles, I have intentionally called this ‘flying to the Philippines’ versus ‘flying home’ – for, I imagine, one possibility regarding my immediate future is as that one Metallica song – ‘where I lay my head is home’

I’d love to go to Baguio, but being in the States long enough had me realizing that when the excitement dies, I’m back in a prison.

So right now, this is my psyching myself, reminding myself that there’s something out there. That, as Don Moen sings, ‘This world has nothing for me’; but, consequently, we see Christ in everything, as we shine Christ on everything.

Last time I flew in from the states I had the determination to finally get a job, one that I still serve in, almost 3 years in. Now, it seems that I have two main things to work on: (1) consolidation, or the ‘liquefying’ of old assets, in order to accomplish old goals with new strategies, and (2) evolution.

Evolution. No doubt, that’s been going on, especially this year. I posted that on my first Instagram post for 2018. Thank God I lost 20 pounds. Thank God we were able to go to Israel this year. Thank God, thank God, that by the development and growth of God’s grace in each and every one of us in the Lardizabal family, we were able to bond, and more importantly, come to the actual solution of consolidation.

And I could go on. Frankly, it took some effort to fill in that last paragraph with past victories this year, only because I am filled with wonder, some fear but mostly excitement in the face of what’s to come. Perfect love casts out fear, indeed, but im seeing that perfect love also plays a great part in casting in this boldness, this courage to take on even more adventures, truly taking on this world and dominating it with a supernatural, everlasting and eternal love which is out of this world!

So the beat goes on, and man, what a beat it is… and it certainly helps that there are good friends that share my groove; perhaps, by God’s grace, I find a partner to groove with, to have a family that has us all grooving together, for the Universe to fee our groove.

Jb, what the hell are you taking about?

I know, I’ll probably confuse myself when I get back to this, but for whoever goes this far… I’m going to try selling more land, investing in more assets in tune with the seasons, while enhancing my own net worth through physical, mental and vocational training and certifications.

This may not all be done in Baguio but should I decide to stay there all efforts will go towards what I mentioned.

I mean, really, I think this helps for me to establish this before I actually land on the other side of the Pacific. Tune in for an update, a follow up to this when I get there.

Cutting this short. Boarding soon.