I've never felt so much touched by God until I met them...
For the past few days, I've been not myself anymore. I've been trying to be ok yet it still hurts so much inside... like my heart is going to burst into tiny pieces... I'm so happy God has given me many true friends that I could count on through thick and thin. They help me to move on and fix my broken life... One of them encouraged me to join her on a retreat held last April 18-20, 2008 in Sienna Retreat House, San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan then my life started to change...
Struggling to make the journeyIt was a busy Friday and the work load for the day really burned me out. My team lead for tech support was on leave too. That day was so miserable. My friend already called me, telling me that we were running late for the retreat and yet, I'm the midst of a rush task. I rushed, trying to finish everything before I leave but I really lack the time. I just left my work and almost fly to her apartment to fetch her. It's difficult to have a ride - either by cab or jeepney. I was already losing my patience as I wait in Ayala Avenue for almost an hour. After fetching my friend, we hurried to the MRT and went to Ortigas where her parents were already waiting to drive us to the retreat house. When we arrived at Gate-2, it was 9.30 pm and we needed to wait for another hour for someone to lead us to the other gate because it is already locked... At last, we arrived but we missed the first session...
The chosen ones of God
There, I met them, the chosen ones of God... All in all, we were 13 candidates for Singles' Encounter Weekend 12.
Myself aka "computer geek"
Charmaine Xyza San Miguel aka "reyna ng sablay"
Rhea Diaz aka "obsessive complusive"
Madel Roxas aka "happy person"
Christine Aguilar
Mariz Lazaro aka "kikay"
Janina Charise Bautista aka "baby chef"
Lui Pacheco aka "rehab boy"
Ron Roxas aka "matakaw"
Jayson Rivera aka "baluktot"
Raymond Ramirez
Dexter Anguac
Juan Paolo Lleno
Know thy self
In that retreat, I began to discover myself again... I've known the different masks that I wear for me to be acceptable by other people. During those sessions, I can't help but cry with all the things that I've realized. I let go of pain, anger, rejection, fear and other emotions and I felt so much better now...
The truth shall set you free
The truth really hurts but one must accept it to be free. I've become to realize that I've been only pretending most of the time to please everybody. I would start moving all the masks and be true to myself. Now, I've opened up my eyes to the reality that when you love, you would also get hurt... and you need to love yourself first before loving others. Respect yourself.
The start of something new
It is nice to know that there are people caring for you. God uses other people as instruments for us to find the true meaning of life. Everyday, the SE 12 group would send group messages to each other - share what they feel, their problems and achievements. There is a sense of belongingness that they let me feel even if we're all separated by distance. We long for each other's presence and our bonding last retreat was quite strong that even if we are faced with difficult challenges in life, we could surpass them all with the help of each other.