Reminiscing Truths ⚓

Joash Maramara Photography (2018) And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!” (Revelation 14:13) August has, for the second time in a row, proven itself to be a month of grief for me. The last two weeks have subjected my entire church, and more especially the Maramaras, in deep emotional turmoil with regards to Kuya Ryan's falling ill.   Suddenly, our hands were all filled with tasks and things that we could do for this family who has done so much for us. From entertaining Ethan and Mikki throughout the two very long weeks by playing various board games. (And yes, Dix It is the best.) To setting up "camp" for everyone, to keep the insects out and to have a semi-adventurous feels despite everything. To simply just watching the kids. Or, uh, with the kids. We Youngles had our...

[I presented this testimony earlier this year to the congregation for an evangelistic night. An evangelistic night is a vesper service modified to accommodate the sharing of the gospel to unbelievers, and one part of it is the sharing of the members' testimony of how God saved them. I was one of the first ones to share.] A friend once asked me just a few months ago for my written testimony when I applied for this church. I didn’t think there was any problem, but when I thought more about it, I realized that my testimony I wrote for the church 6 years ago is not something I could share anymore. Not because my salvation story then wasn’t true, but because a lot of God-given, life-changing lessons happened after I was saved. I guess the first thing I realized is that testimonies are always changing because God never stops writing our story. For this afternoon I would like to share who I was before I knew God, what God did to save me, and what God taught me after being saved. ...