Musings of Peace

 Halo!  Well, yet another blunder in the blogging sphere of my life...this picture is sideways.  haha.  You wanted to stretch your neck anyway...right?  This mountain is the one mountain that is one the island close to us.  It is called Mt. Apo.  Hopefully i will climb it one day.  It is such a wonderful reminder to me of God's glory in making beauty from ashes.  He is our Redeemer!  Although it is a "scar", of sorts, on this land, it makes the landscape so gorgeous.

This is just a picture of what most of the streets look like.  This is 8:00 on a Sunday morning, so it is not nearly as busy as what it is normally.  See how the tricey cabs wait at the corner.  There is a person's house and a restaurant all smooshed together!  That's life in the city.  What you can't see in this picture is Gaisano Mall (G-mall) directly to the left.

 This is what is to the left.  A HUGE mall.  It's pretty nice.  Because it is a little further away than two other malls we don't frequent this one as much, but it sure is nice.  The currently empty street is normally bustling with cabs coming and going.  It's a little bit of a trick to cross the street, but not early on Sunday!

 So, this is inside a Tricey.  Basically a motor bike (or regular bicycle) with a cab attached.  My friend Eileen is in the front.  The decorations are purely the driver's own addition.  This one also happened to be the loudest.  Whew.  There is a lot of variety in them. Some just have umbrellas, some have just seats, some look really clean and shiney, some look like they've just seen every muddy puddle and dust storm.  Oh, and some have a speaker which constitutes the bench back and they really blast the music...anything from hip-hop to rock to Christian.  You just never know!

 Just another view.  I'm sitting in the back.  The back has two little bench seats.  One of the right side and one of the left side.  Oh, and they really vary in size.  Some easily seat 5 people, some really only sit 2.

 Just another street shot.  Again, it's not very busy at the time this picture was taken because it is Sunday morning.  During the week it is bustling with activity at 8:00a.  The University is also on the street, so that really makes things busy on here.

Ok, so my camera wasn't clicking as fast as I was expecting. So, this was taken a little late as we zoomed by going about 15/20 mph.  Do you see the little hut?  It's right next to the tree behind the fence.  It really doesn't look like much actually.  Well, that is someones house.  Pretty sure that they are "squaters." In other words, they don't actually own that land, hence a lack of a more permanent looking structure.  right across the street is are some major gates around much larger houses.  That is the constant dichotomy everywhere here.

Oh, this is the seat in the tricey.  You just never know how they will be decorated.  There was a Mickey face on every bench seat: the two in the back and even the one in the front.









Ok, that's all the pictures for now...now "Musing of Peace"


"And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:7

"The peace of God is an eternal calm like the cushion of the sea.  It lies so deeply within the human heart that no external difficulty or disturbance can reach it.  And anyone who enters the presence of God becomes a partaker of that undisturbed and undisturbable calm." -Arthur Tappan Pierson
Sometimes in the hurry and hustle and bustle of life here I forget to dive into His peace and drink deeply!  In all our adventures sometimes the deepest longing of my heart is to be in silence!  Not rushed, not wishing for quiet, but in silence.  Yet, God has said we can have peace with Him!  So, even in the busy moments, whether its in a birth room or living in a house with 13 other girls, He has promised peace for my soul.  I will love Him with all my strength, heart and mind.

Those are a few musings recently.  Especially as we don't have fall here or autumn.  And, although my mind comprehends it, sometimes, I don't even realize how much i miss it.  It's a bit confusing sometimes.  Talking to a friend about this, she said to keep an eye out for Scriptures that talk about PARADOXes.  That will be where my focus is.

Prayer Focus:
Continued prayer for the clinic
Safety as the Christmas Season approaches and people become more greedy
For each of our hearts to be content and at peace in Christ!

Praise:
All the new babies!  (really, every week...they are precious!)
Minimal sickness that has not spread through the whole house
Quiet dogs...the neighbor's dogs are sometimes loud ALL night
Wonderful MMC staff