I’m happy that I’ve been taking pictures throughout the year, if only to remind me of all that transpired. Today these pictures remind me of all that’s transpired ever since the beginning of the year. I decided to go through each folder and to give short accounts of these events, based on the pictures I took.
I also thought I’d share the messages we shared at church, if only to give us a clearer picture, not only of what was seen, but also what was said throughout the year.
January
In Pictures:
- Real Property Tax Payment.
- Emission Testing for the car.
- Merienda buffet at Elements, not sure who with.
- Outing with the church boys.
- Printing of magnetic stickers for the truck.
- Another fellowship with the church boys.
- Fellowship with other pastors.
- Assisted an elderly couple in moving their things from one residence to another.
- Taxi was speeding on a decline and slammed into a Toyota Lite Ace, which then slammed into the back of our car. It took around 2-3 weeks for the car to be restored, for us to file the proper documents.
- Attended a wake.
- Yet another fellowship with the church boys.
- Dinner after church.
- Birthday celebration of one of Mom’s close friends, also dinner.
- Assisted a cousin and niece in buying a laptop, also dinner.
- Hosted breakfast, not sure who the guests were.
Sunday Messages:
- January 07, 2024 – Trust In the Name Of The LORD Our God
- January 14, 2024 – Trusting God Through The Famine And Earthquakes
- January 21, 2024 – Trusting In The Name Of The Lord
- January 28, 2024 – Trusting In The God Who Answers You
February
In Pictures:
- Afternoon drive and shoot.
- Fellowship with High School batchmates for upcoming Reunion.
- Church school student presentation during the Afternoon service.
- Dinner and fellowship with the church team.
- Processed more documentation for the logistics endeavor.
- Valentines’ Sunday Celebration.
- Dinner and fellowship with the church team.. Again.
- Another afternoon drive and shoot.
- Dinner and fellowship with the church team.. Yet again.
- Hosted breakfast, not sure who the guests were.
- Installed magnetic stickers on the truck.
- Hosted another breakfast, not sure who the guests were.
- Dinner and fellowship with the church team.. Yet yet again.
- Dinner at an Auntie’s place.
- Birthday of a church niece at their home.
- Processed truck emission testing, business permit renewal.
- Bought stuff for the logistics endeavor online.
- Lunch gathering at the Anglican church hall.
- Flower festival walkabout
Sunday Messages:
- February 04, 2024 – Trust, For The Generations
- February 11, 2024 – No Ordinary Love (Valentines’ Service)
- February 18, 2024 – Saved From Fire, Saved By Fire
- February 25, 2024 – (no newsletter?)
March
In Pictures:
- Shots from church school student presentations.
- Visited a house nearby to celebrate a cousin’s birthday.
- Fellowship with college friends at one of their homes.
- Washed the garage.
- More shots from the church school chapel time with the students.
- First trimester church congregation outing at a river resort.
- Fellowship with High School batchmates for upcoming Reunion.
- Passed through a supermarket for Mom to buy stuff.
- More stuff for the truck arrived, brought them to the site.
- More random online purchases.
- Cleaned camera.
- Merienda buffet at Elements, not sure who with.
- Dinner and fellowship with the church team.
- Dinner out with Mom.
- RenFaire PH.
- Church Leadership Summit.
- Ahava the cat first shows up at our house.
- Random shots of walks around the neighborhood.
- Easter Sunday sunrise shoot.
Sunday Messages:
- March 03, 2024 – New Word, New Wine
- March 10, 2024 – (no newsletter?)
- March 17, 2024 – What We Have In Common
- March 24, 2024 – Triumphal Entry – Palm Sunday 2024
- March 31, 2024 – (no newsletter, Easter Sunday service)
April
In Pictures:
- Had some pipes at home repaired.
- Drove relatives from abroad to lunch at a remote area.
- Rushed Akira the dog to the vet after she started bleeding from a lump in her rear.
- Took GPS pictures of the truck and the site.
- More pipes fixed.
- 100+ foundation day anniversary of one of the schools I grew up in.
- Fellowship with the church team at the beach.
- Compassion Luzon Pastors’ meet in Manila.
- Quick walkabout while in Manila.
- Had car maintained and fixed.
- Haircut.
- Dinner out with Mom.
- Drive to Kalinga for a niece’ wedding.
- Uncle from Kalinga decided to ride back home with us. Mom took this opportunity to take him to visit other siblings.
- Church team’s surprise birthday party.
- Pizza for the house, pizza for the church team.
- Sunset shoot.
- Church service Anniversary celebration.
- Updates to the truck and the site.
Sunday Messages:
- April 07, 2024 – (no newsletter?)
- April 14, 2024 – Our Faithful Father’s Promises
- April 21, 2024 – On Our Faithful God
- April 28, 2024 – No newsletter, Church service anniversary
May
In Pictures:
- Worked on even more updates to the logistics endeavor.
- Church school end-of-year presentation.
- Fellowship with college friends at one of their homes.
- High School Reunion/Homecoming events.
- Outing with the logistics team at an exclusive spot in the river.
- High School Reunion/Homecoming after party.
- Quick walk and ocular inspection of a property handled by a friend.
- Mothers’ Day Church Celebration.
- Government inspection of site, followed by lunch.
- Processed installation of roof at the site.
- Surveyed family lots that have long been ignored.
- Local Compassion team beach outing.
- Mom’s fellowship with her friends at a river resort.
- Reviewed documentation for contested family lots that have long been ignored.
- Church team member’s birthday party.
- Brought Ahava the cat for medical checkup and grooming.
- Family meeting for lots that have been ignored.
- 81st Birthday of one of Mom’s friends.
Sunday Messages:
- May 5, 12, 19, 2024 – (no newsletter?)
- May 26, 2024 – The Truth Of War, The War Of Truth
June
In Pictures:
- Merienda buffet at Elements with relatives visiting from Kalinga.
- 60th wedding anniversary of former rector of Anglican church
- Church school baccalaureate service, awards banquet.
- Dinner and fellowship with the church team.
- Had the Punching Bag stand permanently welded.
- Afternoon drive and shoot.
- Celebrated graduation a college friend’s children and their place.
- On-site Consultation meeting with adviser regarding roof, etc.
- Visits to attorneys regarding family lots that have been ignored.
- Random shots of movies and series watched.
Sunday Messages:
- June 02, 2024 – The War On Peace, The Peace In War
- June 09, 2024 – Overcome: The Wise Response
- June 16, 2024 – The Faithful Father
- June 23, 2024 – The Highest Authority
- June 30, 2024 – From Faithfulness To Fundamentals – Romans 1
July
In Pictures:
- Baptism of a former church team member’s daughter.
- Wedding of the son of one of Mom’s workmates.
- Even more updates to the truck, the site and the logistics endeavor.
- Start of prayer dinners in the center of town, every Wednesday.
- Meeting with buyer of one of the family lots.
- Follow up fellowship with the High School batchmates.
- Start of men’s fellowships at a church member’s home.
- Worship ‘workshop’ facilitated by church administration.
- Family clan reunion, Mom’s side.
- Dinner and fellowship with the church team.
- Merienda buffet at Elements with relatives visiting from Kalinga.
- Wake of husband of one of Mom’s friends.
- Ocular inspection of family lots, followed by lunch at a cousin’s burger joint.
- Lunch with one of Mom’s groups at Elements.
- Lunch out with Mom.
- Second trimester church congregation outing at a river resort.
- Woke up one Sunday to see Akira the dog passed away. Buried her that same morning.
- Evening coffee fellowship with the church team.
Sunday Messages:
- July 07, 2024 – The Roman Road – Chapter 2
- July 14, 2024 – The Roman Road – Chapter 3
- July 21, 2024 – The Roman Road – Chapter 4
- July 28, 2024 – The Roman Road – Chapter 5
August
In Pictures:
- Was contacted by the son of one of my mentors, who was put in charge of the family restaurant. Assisted by taking pictures for them to post online.
- Truck maintenance.
- Dinner fellowship with the church team.
- Random afternoon shoot.
- Wednesday prayer meeting.
- Tested product background that I ordered online.
- Visited a friend’s milk tea shack and had dinner there.
- Worship team pre-rehearsal fellowship starts.
- Fellowship with another set of college friends, first in ‘The Other Office’ then at McDonalds.
- Visited the same friend’s milk tea shack and declared a blessing in the place.
- Merienda Fellowship with Mom’s former workmates at the school she was a nurse in for 18 years.
- Flowers and gifts for Mom’s birthday.
- Church administration board meeting.
- Another Wednesday prayer meeting.
- Another drive to the site to take more pictures for reporting.
- Funeral service of one of Mom’s workmates, followed by an impromptu lunch birthday blowout by Mom.
- Had front tires replaced, moved them to the rear.
Sunday Messages:
- August 04, 2024 – The Roman Road – Chapter 6
- August 11, 2024 – The Roman Road – Chapter 7
- August 18, 2024 – The Roman Road – Chapter 8
- August 25, 2024 – The Roman Road – Chapter 9
September
In Pictures:
- Worked on getting the tires aligned right as well.
- Finally received legitimate license plates for the truck.
- Wednesday prayer meeting.
- Hosted breakfast, not sure who the guests were.
- Merienda buffet at Elements with Mom’s relatives and our neighbors.
- Weekend fellowship with the church core team.
- Bought and replaced batteries for the truck.
- Brought the truck in the empty lot beside the house, to bring to the emission testing center the next day.
- Quick trip to Bolinao.
- Drive to Liwan, Kalinga, as well as Conner, Apayao. Brought home a whole bunch of fruits.
- Church administration Anniversary.
- Random drive and shoot.
- Fellowship with sponsored ministers from Mindanao.
- Merienda out with Mom.
- Home drinking sessions with the nephew.
Sunday Messages:
- September 01, 2024 – The Roman Road – Chapter 10
- September 08, 2024 – The Roman Road – Chapter 11
- September 15, 2024 – The Roman Road – Chapter 12
- September 22, 2024 – Church Administration Anniversary
- September 29, 2024 – The Roman Road – Chapter 13
October
In Pictures:
- Merienda buffet at Elements with Mom’s relatives
- Home drinking sessions with the nephew.
- Lunch and coffee with former workmates.
- Visited one member of the church team that contracted dengue fever.
- Fellowship with like-minded folks as one of my mentors decided to file a certificate of candidacy for the upcoming elections.
- Pastors’ Appreciation Month church service portion.
- Trip to Manila to attend Lausanne Congress’ reunion.
- Breakfast catch-up with a friend while in Manila.
- Wednesday Prayer Meeting.
- Fellowship with college friends.
- Took pictures of GPUs no longer in use, after Ethereum transition to PoS last 2022.
- Funeral service of the son of the same workmate Mom had who died a couple of months ago.
- Lunch with Mom’s friends.
- Lunch again at Elements, followed by pizza with the church core team.
- Sunday visit to the friend’s milk tea place, celebrated someone’s birthday.
- Visited Dad at the cemetery before the ‘Undas’ rush.
- Lunch fellowship hosted by the same mentor who was running for higher office, along with pastors from a good number of churches around the city.
Sunday Messages:
- October 06, 2024 – The Roman Road – Chapter 14
- October 13, 2024 – The Roman Road – Chapter 14-15
- October 20, 2024 – The Roman Road – Chapter 16, Conclusion/Summary
- October 27, 2024 – Trust Exercise – Q1-Q3 Checkpoint
After looking at all of this, I’ve noticed that you could divide the time I’ve spent this year into sizable chunks consisting of church fellowships, fellowships with batchmates/workmates/etc., Mom’s outings, my own outings, updates regarding the logistics endeavor, and the family lots. And memes. A whole bunch of stinking memes.
Regarding the messages, well, I have been writing a lot in my recent articles regarding how this year was a Year of Trusting in the Lord… however, there was that slight nuance that I failed to pick up on, that only an exercise like this would have me remember – that is, in our trusting in the Lord, it is inevitable that we would witness just how faithful He is.
It was around that time that I purchased a book and gave it to key members of the church service I was put in charge over, entitled Great Is Thy Faithfulness – a 52-entry journal to cover every week of the year, each entry reminding us of the faithfulness of God. That’s what kept me going through the second quarter of the year, until, for reasons that aren’t coming to me right now, I made the decision for us to go back to our fundamentals, to go back to the Word, and to discuss the Book of Romans, one chapter a week, through the third quarter of the year and even through October.
Going back to the pictures. I have reason to believe that I started lamenting over how tough life began at 40 because of that issue with the family lots that we ignored for the longest time… and on top of this, Q3 was also when I was almost wiped out of my trading capital, during August. Putting all of this together with our choice of messages through that Quarter, I think it was a good decision for us to go through the Book of Romans, if only for us to see the comprehensive completeness; Or, a much more detailed look at why and how Christ saved us.
I’m happy to report that in the year to come, I will be working towards waking up earlier, getting everything I need done for myself in a day, done at the first moment of the day, so I have time for the fellowships, for the outings, and, God willing, for the endeavors.
It’s not just a resolution… I started this morning. Worked out and wrote before lunchtime, and I want to be done earlier, so I have time for everyone and everything else.
2025 will be a year of revelations, and no doubt it’ll also be a year of reflection.. and I’m pretty sure that’ll also mean I’ll be reading and writing and PRAYING a whole lot more…
…we’ll be trusting the Lord a whole lot more. We’ll be seeing His faithfulness a whole lot more. And, I’m pretty sure we’ll be taking more time in the Word.
So, really, is it a year of revelation, or a year of more? Maybe both? May the Lord reveal more.
Until the next post, coming very soon, I hope – God bless us all.
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