The Tree is Planted

In the middle of my sem break,
I thought I was on a hiatus from everything.
Not until writing becomes an itch that wouldn't go away.
It feels so good to give in.

Sembreak at last!
And it started with a blast!

After being bombarded during the Final examinations in Med school,
my heart, body, and soul shifted focus on 'G Thing'.
A two night concert for the benefit of BLD Youth Encounter #19.
(October 17-18, 2008 in Kublai's Bar and Grill, Katipunan)
I was so excited to release and break free!

I'd spare the details of the concert,
so that you would come and see us next time. Haha.

Below are some pictures from the event...

Thank you to all who came!

Jesus rocks!

Just enjoying the night.

I must say that it was an awesome feeling
to jam and make music for the Lord.
Especially with a band who feels the same way, with the same passion.
It was uplifting experience for all who came.

This post is the story behind the band's name ---Zach's Tree

Thanks to the Y.E. class #18, a call to serve came.
Souled Out was the former name of the band.
Yeah, it had a great name recall, but it had little meaning.
Plus, we found out there are already existing
local and American bands with the same name.

It all started with an overwhelming desire
to express how you feel deep inside.
We wanted to do something fresh,
to come out with something new.
Armed with our passions: music and serving God,
we obeyed the call.

It was a blessed band planning at Greenhills Starbucks.
With the direction from Kerygma preacher George Gabriel,
our band was christened with a new name. --- Zach's Tree.

The name was taken from the Gospel of Zacchaeus.
He was a tax collector, a little man regarded by the people of his time.
When he heard Jesus was coming to his town, he wanted to see Him.
But because he was little,
the crowd gathered prevented him to see Jesus.
And you know what he did? He climbed a tree.
That's when Jesus saw Zacchaeus, and told him,
'Zacchaeus, hurry and come down from that tree
because I will dine at your house today.'
Thus salvation has come to his house.

Our band realized that all of us are like Zacchaeus in our own way.
That we all have our littleness in this world.
We want to be that tree for all the 'Zacchaeuses' out there.

Why?

Because we, the members of the band.

all had our own moments like Zacchaeus.

We want you to experience it as well.
And we see that this is our purpose, our calling.
That is to build a foundation for you

to see and experience Jesus in a new way.
That's why our genre is a new generation

of praise and contemporary music.

There are new songs with the oomph ,
while old songs become new again.
Music that is fresh, dynamic, and invigorating.

Let me share to you our dream.
That one day, we will be touring around the Philippines
and hopefully around the world to be agents of change through music.

And that the music will run through the generations to come.
So that millions of people would see Jesus

and be uplifted from their littleness.

Seems larger than life?

Hey, why not?

There can be miracles when you believe.

Zach's Tree

Remember the name.

We will rock the world with Jesus.

Are you with us?

Didoy

"The seeds that fell in good soil stand for those who hear the message

and retain it in a good and obedient heart,

and they persist until they bear fruit."

Luke 8: 15

God's Cake

Let me share to you a forwarded story from Fr. Larry Tan SDB
It was part of his homily for the funeral mass of his brother in law.
This story saved my day...




Sometimes we wonder,” What did I do to deserve this?
Or Why did God have to do this to me?”

Here is a wonderful explanation.

A daughter is telling her mother how everything is going wrong.
She’s failing in algebra, her boyfriend broke up with her, and her best friend is moving away.

Meanwhile her mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says: “Absolutely Mom. I love your cake”.
“Here have some cooking oil,” her mother offers.
“Yucks! Says her daughter.
“ How about a couple of raw eggs?”
“Mom.”
“Would you like some flour then? Or maybe some baking soda?”
“Mom, those are all yucky!”

To which the mother replies:
“Yes, all those things seem bad all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There goes my whining.

You see, I'm in the final stretch of my final exams this week for the 1st semester.
I'm struggling to put up with the demands of Med school
and I'm having a hard time with particular subjects like Pharmacology.
I'm into sleepless nights, lots of coffee, and stress.
Plus, I really miss home.
I wanna have breakfast with Mom, watch DVD's with my siblings.
I wanna play with Iday our baby in the house, and with Cheenoe our dog.
I want to relax. Breathe.
A romantic getaway with Mayi.
Plan for the upcoming YLSS, concerts, teachings in the community.
Dine out with friends. Go to the beach.
Read books unrelated to medicine, play the piano for hours.
And the list could go on and on and on.

But hey, the Lord taught me a lesson today.
It's like almost a loving slap on the head.
And I'm glad He did in His perfect timing.
It's like Jesus telling me to walk on water in the middle of the storm.
I obeyed.
But because of the seemingly big waves and strong winds(and floods in UST),
my faith hesitated and now I'm drowning. But He streches His hand,
rescues me, and tells me...
'Didoy my son, why did you doubt?'.

Boom. A strong hit to the core.

There is an appointed time for everything. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-15)
For now, study hard dude. That's why you are supported in school.
Focus. Focus. Focus.
Dids, you are gonna be a great doctor someday.
So do your part excellently.

I believe now Lord.
Thanks for never failing to remind me in moments like this.

I feel better now.
My to-do-list can wait.


Didoy

Waking up is the hardest part...

This is supposed to be short.
I'm just taking a break from studying
Medicine and Clinical Pathology finals.(ho-hum)
Just had the writer's itch. (woooh... feeling writer na.)

Last Saturday, I have a 9am rehearsal with Zach's Tree (my band)
at a studio in Makati.
Since its early, I opted stay at my dorm in UST that is 15 mins away
from the studio than to go home in Las Piñas.
So I set my alarms (yes, i have multiple alarm systems)at 7am.
It gives me just enough time for me to read the Word,
have breakfast,a good morning bath, suit up, and enough travel time.
But alas! I woke up at 7:30am!
And my alarms have been ringing for 30 minutes already.
And instead of jumping out of bed,
I said to myself the proverbial killer line:
just 5 minutes more...

The next moment I opened my puffy eyes,
it was already 15 minutes past 9am!
S***! (sorry for the word, but I really said this aloud that morning).
My heart and body raced to suit up and get a cab
that I even forgot to brush my teeth and put on deo!
Good thing I brought my bag along prepared the night before,
with the toiletries, clothes and stuff
because I was attending a debut that night.
I couldn't let it off my mind. It happened again...

You see, I have this problem of waking up on time.
It's an everyday struggle for me.
It's been a chronic condition.
Though relatively there's a significant improvement,
I still have those moments when I get lazy waking up
and get jolted out of bed because
I'm so late for a class or an appointment.

Below is the list of the measures that have been done to remedy the problem:
-I bought a loud ringing alarm clock.
-My phone is set with a multiple alarm function.
-My thoughtful dormmates already took upon themselves
to wake me up in the morning.(thanks guys)
-Sometimes even Mayi, my lovely girlfriend calls my cell just to wake me up.
-I chose a dorm just accross the street to the entrance of my Med school
so that I don't need to wake up early.
-I take a cab than to commute.

But all these still somewhat fail. It's frustrating.
Okay, I'm so embarassed with myself at this moment...

As I write this blog, I felt that there is something missing in the list.
Me.
I realized that with all the possible solutions to the problem listed
(and there could be more),
it is still up to me if I'm gonna wake up or not.
It's still up to me to move my ass out of bed
and drag myself to the bathroom.

That it is much more comfortable to wake up with less sleep
than to sleep longer and be late.
That being late reflects my self discipline.
That being late is not all about me.
I have to value the time of other people as well
because they managed their time just to be punctual.
That I may have all the reasons in the world to be late,
it is still time wasted.
That the early bird catches the worm. (tweet tweet)
That there are a lot of wonderful reasons
why wake up diligently every morning:
time to reflect on the Word, breakfast,
early morning greetings to mayi,
not being in a hurry, and a lot more!

It's a humbling experience again for me.
Can you help me?
I would appreciate hearing from you.
Pleas leave a comment on how you try to keep up with your schedules.
This is one area of my lifestyle I want to work on.
With much hope and faith, I would conquer this in God's time.

"I can do all things with Christ who gives me strength"
-Philippians 4:13

Lord, thank you for this experience.
Teach me to value every moment you give to me.
That there is always time for everything.
A time for resting, and a time for work.
Grant me the grace to know when is the right time for each. Amen.

Didoy

P.S.
Here are some pictures of my band.
Special thanks to Carlo Fernandez (center) our musical director.
First Picure(from the right):
Pier Asuncion on drums, Mico Fernandez on lead guitar,
Carlo Fernandez on bass, Mike Fernandez on rhythm,
I'm on keyboards, and Arya Herrera on vocals.

Come and watch a 'G Thing',
a concert to lift your spirits up featuring Zach's Tree
in Kublai's, Katipunan on Oct. 17 and 18. Gates open at 7pm.
For tickets call Paola #09227706245 #09178257628.

LIKE A VIRGIN!

Come on. It was just a title to rouse your interest. Haha!

Welcome! Welcome!
As early as now I thank you for following my blog! (seesh..)

As I write this, I recalled that a long time ago, I said to myself that blogging was just a waste of time. Wow. Talk about eating your own words.

Bear with me as I pull my guts together to blog. I'm a newbie, a freshman. Like a virgin in the blogger world...

I have 3 reasons why I started to blog.

One...
I want to have a breathing space.
With the crazy and complicated lifestyle that I chose, I want sometime alone to reflect and write my thoughts, realizations, blessings, mistakes, and all that I find meaning into.
I learned from a friend that if you have experiences that are worthwhile, put it into
3 P's. ------ Paper, People, Prayer.
This is the paper part.

Two...
I was inspired to blog because of 2 persons.
First, i found inspiration in one of my best buddies, Jan Silan.
Check out why I got so inspired --- http://jan-silan.blogspot.com/.
In the long years we've been friends, I just recently became aware that he knows how to write and make sense. Haha! Thanks bro.

The other person is Bo Sanchez. He's my idol.
God really gave this person the gift to write and inspire millions.
Visit http://bosanchez.ph/ and be blessed!

These two persons have their place in my list of people who has molded my character.

Three...
I want to bless others.
Sorry it sounds corny. I would just like to believe that I can contribute something to the world. This is one of them. I started blogging because I had a holy discontent. A feeling that wouldn't just go away unless you do something about it. I want to share to others how good the Lord is. I want to share to you the blessings, wisdom, corrections, and all the Lord has been teaching me in life. I feel so blessed, I can't contain it! I want you dear readers to experience it too!

Can I share to you a dream?
My ultimate dream is that when God decides that it is time for me to leave this world, I hope that when I meet Him in heaven, my Father will pat my back and tell me (ala Hancock)... "Son, good job."

Okay, am I being too preachy?

In my blog, I promise to make sense.
You will get to know me. Allow me to be connected to you as well.
You will read the 'humanness' of a person thinking aloud.
A passionate heart and mind writes.
I'd be expressing my thoughts sensitive to what I think is best needed.
So, when it calls for me to be tell all and no holds barred, I will.

By the way my dear readers, I appreciate comments. It humbles me to listen.
Let me know what you think alryt?

So there. My first ever blog. This is history for me. Yeah! *fireworks*

Oh by the way, my picture there in the header was from my band's shoot for our upcoming concert. Learn more about my band, Zach's Tree next time.


Didoy