the biking sisters

Two girls made me cry when I saw them biking 5 kilometers from their boarding house to the school where I am teaching. Almost all the students ride motorcycles or drive cars going to school, but these two ladies have been pedaling their sole bicycle alternately for almost 4 years already.

ben

Whenever I see these two young ladies, one who pedals and the other is at the back, my heart tears up inside. It seems that they don't bother the heat of the day. It was all extremely opposite from what I had experienced. When I was a kid, I always got what I wanted. All my whimsical dreams were all given by my mother. I had this and that. I was able to visit here and there.I was full of caprice wanting everything that might have crossed my mind. As a matter of fact, from my primary to high school years, my parents had been picking me up at school. When I went to university I drove my own car to go to my classes.

But why did I cry? When I found out that these two young students are orphaned sisters, my eyes couldn't stop from crying. I didn't know why. 

i pray for faith

A very close relative divulged to me yesterday that she has cysts on her breasts, the left and the right. At a moment, I went into silence because I was so dumbfounded. All I thought was that her struggle into cyst  was over. Last year, she had her ovary cyst removed as well. For some minutes, I was mummed by the situation.

As I am writing this article, I am pleading to God for this woman I truly care:

Dear God,

You know how I love this woman. 

ben

Last year, I knelt down for her as the doctors removed her cyst in the ovary. You proved to her that You were the greatest healer. And, the operation turned out smoothly successfully.

Now that she is carrying a heavier burden, I pray for faith. Strengthen her faith so that she can face this gloomy music she is listening to right now. 

I pray for understanding. Let her understand these happenings into her life. Give her the spirit of discernment. Reveal the purpose of this struggle.

Lastly, touch her heart more than her wounds.

In the name of Jesus, amen. 

Mom, why my nose have holes?

Laura, a now grown-up, realized she had made some foolish-yet-heart-tickling questions to her Mom since the time she was conscious of telling something up until she reached 2. These were the questions she fondly asked her Mom:

1. Mom, why do snakes don't have legs?

2. Mom, how old is that bird on that tree?

3. Mom, where did you put my baby doll?

ben

4. Mom, why am I still short?

5. Mom, why do my older brother have to go to school all day long?

6. Mom, do worms have babies too?

7. Mom, why I don't have bra?

8. Mom, does God fly?

9. Mom, where are the houses of the trees?

10. Mom, can I eat water?

11. Mom, do shoes come in two?

12. Mom, how do cars move?

13. Mom, can you make me a baby boy?

14. Mom, why my nose have holes?

15. Mom, can I be your mother?

Laura smiled as she remembered her Mom. She missed being a child. She missed her mom's smile as she childishly asked these questions to her mom.

Uncle Ugly

Everywhere he goes, one distinct feature on his face is what people see most often. He has this line from the cheek going down his jaw. It is so obvious that anyone can recognize it even from afar. In his community, most people tag him as Uncle Ugly. For almost a decade of his life, he has been dubbed with this name.

The people don't know how he got his scar. The people have no idea how he had suffered from the scar he has on his face. The people criticize him. The people are mean to him.

His story goes like this:

Ten years ago, there were two men who tried to abduct his daughter. They almost raped her. But because he fought hard with these two men, he was able to prevent the bad incident that would have happened to his daughter. He gave his last drop of blood and energy just to protect his daughter's dignity. In the end, the two men went to jail, however, the scar on his face was a poignant remembrance from fighting for his daughter.

ben

Now, would you also call him Uncle Ugly?