MARGIENARY

My failing memory seemed to have recorded a movie I saw in early High School with the title "83-hours til dawn."  I do not remember the story but what's imprinted on my mind was a scene where the protagonist was wading across a pond one very dark night while his enemies were in pursuit of him.  Well, that has nothing to do with this blog entry.  It's just to give credit to the title that I have borrowed. Today at the dinner table, we were told by our hosts about a horrible story that happened in this village while we were safe in bed last night, when a man was poisoned to death by his drinking buddy; errr enemy I guessed.  The man was forced to drink an acid of some kind and he died after 24 hours of torture where his mouth and all his skin that was touched by the acid was sloughed off and rotted in 24 hours.  Inside, the poison must have eaten into his intestines which caused his tummy to bloat into explosive proportions.  After that story was told, ...

My come-and-go memory seemed to have recorded a movie I saw in early High School with the title "83-hours til dawn." I do not remember the story but what's imprinted on my mind was a scene where the protagonist was wading across a pond one very dark night while his enemies were in pursuit of him. Well, that has nothing to do with this blog entry. It's just to give credit to the title that I have borrowed. Today at the dinner table, we were told by our hosts about a horrible story that happened in this village while we were safe in bed last night, when a man was poisoned to death by his drinking buddy; errr enemy I guessed. The man was forced to drink an acid of some kind and he died after 24 hours of torture where his mouth and all his skin that was touched by the acid was sloughed off and rotted in 24 hours. Inside, the poison must have eaten into his intestines which caused his tummy to bloat into an explosive proportions. After that story was told, our hosts ...

I knew this would happen! It happens every time, that is! But I never get used to it. I'm talking about being unable to sustain the fascination to a new place beyond two days. So I have been in a paradise-like village surrounded by scenic hills in the distance and I was so thrilled to have been given the opportunity to come for free and everything (not to mention that the food's great too) but after two days, I was getting all kinds of energy-zapping thoughts of home. I'm still here but, 5 days hence, I'll be going home. Here are some pictures of this place.

These are the beauties that we see everyday when we walk to breakfast and the checking sessions...

At the risk of sounding to read too much into my circumstances of the past week or years, I feel that the enemy is really trying his best to distract me from equipping myself to become a competent translation consultant or just to become a good Christian. Two years ago, when I was supposed to participate in a TCDW, I almost died due to internal hemorrhaging and then a surgery that went bad.  So the Lord directed me to use my time to get biblical training in the seminary but again I nearly died due to sepsis (blood infection) and typhoid fever.   Early this year, a loved one's disobedience to the Lord almost derailed me and made me asked myself if I am even qualified to be trained to become a Scripture consultant when I cannot even keep a member of my team on the right tract.   This past week, while in the middle of the training, my only grandfather died.  That was both a good and a sad thing.  It is good because his suffering has stopped but losing someone in th...

1. Wake Up !! Decide to have a good day. 'Today is the day the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it' Psalms 118:24 2. Dress Up !! The best way to dress up is to put on a smile. A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks. 'The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at outward appearance; but the Lord looks at the heart.' I Samuel 16:7 3 Shut Up!! Say nice things and learn to listen. God gave us two ears and one mouth, so He must have meant for us to do twice as much listening as talking. 'He who guards his lips guards his soul.' Proverbs 13:3 4. Stand Up!!... For what you believe in. Stand for something or you will fall for anything.. 'Let us not be weary in doing good; for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good...' Galatians 6:9-10 5. Look Up !!... To the Lord. 'I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me....

Yesterday, I was hanging some sheets on the clothesline when I saw a couple of orange lilies peeping through a blanket of dry pine needles and pineapple leaves.  I went and picked three of them giving me six glorious orangeness.   I found a little vase for them and put them on my dining table, admiring them as I did my chores.  I was gonna leave the orange beauties on my dining table but I changed my mind.  I took the vase with the flowers with me when we left the house and they're now sitting on top of my kitchen worktable.  The petals looked perfect and they seemed to be telling me that this is just another quite and peaceful day--no mind-boggling puzzles to solve, no heartbreaking situations to face.  I was quite wrong because today, I felt so useless... at least to my grandfather.  When we went up our village last Friday, my younger brother told me that my sick grandfather wanted me to go to him and pull a tooth that has been giving...