I remember saying a prayer before I slept last Friday night, asking to guide me in making the right decisions.
I got up and I was still having second thoughts on going to the YFC event. After all, I could just skip the games during training and go straight there. I asked my parents if it was okay with them if I'd go there since my friends that they know would be there. I also shared to my mom worries that I had if I went there. I won't mention what those worries are but all my mom said was give it a try and see for myself.
I got to training and Ate Danica and Hannah were there with me, as well as Enzo and Jann. I saw Topet and Edeline there too but they left since they were going to attend the YFC event. I trained, got sweaty and all, got a good work out and I got dressed and waited for my dad. Ate Danica was supposed to join me but she changed her mind at the last minute so I ended up going there by myself.
When I got to the CAP Auditorium, I saw the freshies outside first then I saw Micah by the place where they sold the tickets. I got my ticket and went inside. The first ones I saw were Michael, Nikki and Gilleanne so I sat near them. Also, the others were surprised that I was there since I told them that I wouldn't go when they invited me to come. By the time I came, the acapella performance of Pisay was already done, unfortunately. I thought I wouldn't catch up with the other performances but I got to watch some band and dance performances. They were all good, but my favorites were the performances by SMAD for the band, and PWC for the dance (Bleeding Love!). The other people I saw there were Joey (who sat with his fellow Marisians) and Paolo (who sat with the people from CDSI). I managed to find Topet since Ate Danica and Hannah asked me to convey a message to him, but I didn't get to.
When the worship proper was about to start, there was an interpretative dance which was about good versus evil (something like that) and some story telling by YFC members from other schools. The story telling/sharing was all about LOVE - love bears all things, love believes all things, loves hopes in all things, and love endures all things.
Love bears all things. A student from UIC (his name is Elixir according to Micah.. cool name!) shared his experience growing up as a loner and a quiet and shy person until one day, his parents told him what if he would change. So, he was enrolled into UIC and he first met a friend during some school celebration and from there he started to get out more and be extroverted. He also shared that his band was looking for a band practice place from 6pm-10pm. I could imagine all the fun that I would be experiencing if that happened to me.
Love believes in all things. Joey's batchmate from SMAD (his name is Mikee, according to Micah) shared his story about his studies, specifically in Chemistry. Before sharing his story, he asked everyone of us who has a hard time in Chemistry. Of course, I raised my hand since I found Chemistry hard during the 3rd and 4th quarter of my sophomore year. Anyway, he shared that he wouldn't listen to Chemistry class and his teacher even reported that to his mom. He also said that it's okay not to worry about Chem that much since it's only for one year (lucky for you dude but for us geeks, its 3 FREAKING YEARS). But eventually he had some realizations of some sort and made things right. I forgot the other details.. Boo at me.
Love hopes in all things. This story was the most errr, sentimental of them all. The one who shared was the current president of YFC in Ateneo (I think her name is, Nica?) and she shared that she did almost everything to make her parents proud. While saying that, she broke down and cried but we cheered her on and told her that she could go on and share her story. She told us that her parents often got mad at her since she didn't have good grades and she wanted to be the YFC president to make her parents proud. Unfortunately, she didn't get to go on since she was crying so the former president of YFC came to her and told us that she saw Nica's struggles ever since she was a freshman. I kinda related to her since my parents would sometimes make me feel worthless when I do something wrong, even if I had good grades.
Love endures in all thing. Micah was the one who shared this time. I was expecting that she would share about enduring Pisay life with all the lab reports, RESEARCH (grar), and maintaining the grades to stay in the school. But before that, Micah asked us, "Who here has a hard time in Biology?". AND DUH, US PISAYERS REACTED WITH MUCH VIGOR AND I RAISED BOTH MY HANDS. Seriously, our Biology now is hard. So many terms, processes, stuff to remember. Gah, info overload. I even remember Ma'am Tenchavez telling us that she always gets feedback to give less difficult quizzes during teacher evaluation. I admit, I wrote that. Hahaha. Anyway, Micah ended up sharing about her older sister who engaged in sex before marriage and she got pregnant. Micah also shared that she and her siblings all helped in taking care of her sister's baby even if times were hard for her sister then.
Then the worship part came. The part that was the reason why I was there. I always ask God to control my life and He led me there for a purpose. I don't really remember all the titles of the songs we sang but I'm sure the first song was entitled 'All For Love'. I kinda got the hang of the song even if I wasn't familiar with it and in the middle of the song, I started to break down and cry. I felt guilty for neglecting God even if he kept on showering blessings upon me. I admit that I only pray if I need something like guidance for the exams, and the like but not just to say thank you for the great stuff I've been receiving like a loving family, crazy friends, good food, top of the line education, generally everything that has greater value than earthly things. So, I just sang at the top of my lungs, praising God, as my tears just rolled down my fat cheek, telling God that the hunger pangs I felt were for him and I didn't care about anyone around me. It's my moment with God, so don't mind me.
The next song was another tear jerker since the lines were something like, 'I am yours o God, take me as I am..'. My tears still kept on flowing but I wasn't alone. A lot of us cried as well. So, we're all in fellowship. Nothing to be ashamed of, eh? I remember the next song was Adonai and it was more upbeat so I just started clapping with the others and jumping and dancing around. But, the last song was the best. ONE WAY. It was the highlight of the night since almost everyone knew the song and all were jumping around pointing to the heavens, to God above us who is watching over.
After the worship, there was a raffle for free registration for the Regional Youth Conference and other things. The ones I knew who won were Micah, Pabs Jr, Lavi and the dude from SMAD who shared during the worship. After that, the winners for the contests were announced. And the winners are..
BAND - University of the Immaculate Conception
DANCE - Philippine Womens College
and last but not the least..
ACAPELLA - Maxine's group. :)
After the program, us Pisayers took a picture all together AND keep on cheering. I started to have a feeling that Pisay was the loudest bunch there. Hahaha. Also, Niña asked me to accompany her to take a pic with Mikee (he was also the drummer of the band of SMAD) maybe because she was amused and all. So, I went with her and I told the Marisians that their performance was really good (their vocalist was like a professional to me). Also, Niña forced me to take a pic with Mikee and another female YFC member that she knew and all. No harm in that right? Brothers and sisters in Christ. :)
So after that, I went outside and I told my dad that we'd be eating dinner and he told me that he'd just get something to eat at Apo View since it was near to Penong's. So before going to Penong's, Kuya Kevin separated us city scholars and dormers. After separating us, he told the dormers just to split into groups and get taxis to go back to the dorm (which was in the other side of the city, by the way) so that they won't get sermoned by their dorm managers and if they were hungry, just pass by a drive thru so it would be easy. And as for us city scholars, we were split on who's going North, and who's going South. After that, Kuya Kevin told us to have a buddy system so that we could watch out for each other while walking in the street since it was already 8:30pm. My buddies were Michael and Alexis. So we just walked to Penong's, and even decided to go to People's Park.
When we got to Penong's, there were a lot of us so we needed a lot of tables. I sat next to Micah, Alexis, Mariel and Chia. I ordered chicken BBQ and buko juice. I got to share a lot of stories with them and someday, I'd like to share my own story to everyone in YFC. Lol. My mom was already texting me to go home already since my dad hadn't eaten dinner yet. So, I hurriedly ate even if I knew my dad was eating a STEAK SANDWICH (that's more than dinner!). Michael and Darlene rode with me on the way home. I dropped Michael somewhere in V. Mapa and I brought Darlene to their home in Buhangin. I got home, and my dad still ate dinner. A meal isn't a meal for him if it doesn't have rice. Woah. Anyway, I was made to sleep early since we would hear mass early the following day. That's why I didn't blog.
I got up this morning, and everything that happened last night seemed like a dream but it was all so real. I felt lighter today (which is ironic since I'm heavy in terms of weight. HAHA) and more at peace. We heard mass at Santa Ana, then went to SM. I ran into Hannah and her mom a couple of times and I went around the mall in my dress. Yeah, I wore a dress. I had no choice. Anyway, after doing the groceries and buying other important stuff, we went home.
And now I blog. Haha.
I shared to my parents my experience last night and, my mom said, "You know what Macey, it's meant for you. God brought you there.". So, so true. My dad also told me that HE WENT INSIDE THE AUDITORIUM AND SAW US THERE. Okay, my dad told me that he just went right inside and they didn't even ask him for a ticket. Wow. But anyway, my dad said that he's impressed with the YFC since he really thought the crowd was decent and well behaved (of course they are!), and it broke his thought that there were a lot of gate crashers there. Now that my parents know what YFC is about, they finally allowed me to participate and be active. Thank God! My dad even said that if our gym in school is done with construction, YFC events could be held there since our gym is big and has a lot of bleachers. So I won't be going to the Provincial Youth Conference since it's exam week but I am going to the Regional Youth Conference and my parents already allowed me to. Damn, God is just amazing. <3>
"To dream that you break something, indicates that changes are ahead for you. You want to change the direction that your life is headed. Alternatively, it suggests that you need to take things slower." - from dreammoods.com
I think there will be a major change in my life. I constantly pray that God would mold me into a better person. And maybe I should take the change slowly, but surely. Slow but sure. Always the best strategy in life. But hey, at least I started to get out of my comfort zone.
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What did I eat today..
Breakfast: Penne
After church: Hamdesal with juice
Lunch: Penne (again.. HAHA)
Merienda: none since I fell asleep
Dinner: Rye bread with goat cheese
Everything happens for a reason. God wants me to change, so let His will be done. <3
Labels: all for love, FUN, pisay smc, yfc event
