Dear Dad,
Happy 60th!
I can’t believe you’re 60, you and mom are like forever
young to me probably the same way that me and Nikki are still like little
infants to you guys, haha. (Can't blame you, guys, I still do baby-talk all of the time.)
Gusto ko na sanang mag-panic kakaisip kung anong birthday
gift ang dapat naming ibigay sayo (I wanted to panic as I was trying hard to figure out what gift to give to you). Buti nalang ki-nonvict ako ng Holy Spirit: (Good thing the HS convicted me..)“
Write a letter. You’ve been needing to write him a letter and you’ve been
avoiding it kasi ayaw mong mag-drama (coz you don't want to be melodramatic). Now’s the time.” OK those were not His
exact words, but something to that effect. (God knows how to speak to us in the
language we best understand. =D)
It’s true, I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time I
just never found the courage nor the time. Alam kong madadale ko ang tissue box
maghapon kapag sumulat ako sayo dahil iiyak lang ako ng iiyak dahil mami-miss
kita ng lalo. (this is exactly what happened...I wailed and blew on a tissue for every paragraph I wrote…no
kidding.)
At mahirap ka kasing kontakin dad, nakuuuu. Kung pwede lang
tatawagan na lang kita ng pagkahaba-habang tawag dahil kung sa online chat naman,
ambagal nating magsagutan! But sometimes it helps para di nga kita mashado
mamiss. Ayoko ding malungkot kasi wala ako jan ngayong 60th birthday mo.
Pero hay sige na nga. Harapin ang kalungkutan/ka-miss-an/kadramahan.
I need to tell you these things anyway. Ayokong tumanda ka ng hindi mo
nalalaman how proud I am of you. Ayokong tumanda ka period.
Anyway, Dad, here are
the top 10 reasons why I love you and we look up to you as a great man of God
and why we thank Jesus for giving us the best dad in the world:
1.
Most of the basics of being a good person, I
learned from you. Growing up I saw how you did your best to do the right
things. You are always kind and helpful to people especially those who are in
need. You always spoke kindly to others. You extended a hand whenever you can
and I remember so many stories as a child how you stopped to help people who
had accidents on the road and such. Naalala ko pa nung binagyo tayo sa
restaurant natin sa Sorsogon and after doing your best to take care of our own
needs, you also took the time to help collect dead bodies in the streets. I
always thought you had some kind of superhero powers with the way you help
people.
2.
Your humility is always amazing. Despite the
positions you held and the way people looked up to you, I never saw you acting
like you held yourself with such high esteem. You faithfully kept doing
whatever was needed to be done even if it was just sweeping the yard or washing
the dishes. Even as the Father of the house you did this and it blows me away because
even in the culture here in Indonesia, fathers are to be served and feared. You
are always ready to serve and help, even us your children, and though we
greatly respected you, we never had to fear about not being able to approach u
if we need help.
3.
I was always curious as a kid why it was that
when we went around the wet market doing our weekly “palengke” shopping,
everyone seemed to know you and respect you and we’d go home with an extra
basket of stuff that market vendors wanted to give to you for free. It’s only
as I got older that I understood your magic, when you said hello, you really
asked sincerely how they are, and you didn’t speak much, in fact, you just
listened. You listen really well, dad. That is a powerful anointing.
4.
I could always talk to you. You’re my best
friend even as a kid. You taught us how to look at life with perspective, you
helped shaped our habits for deep thinking and understanding life in a
different light. I remember (maybe I was just 10 years old or so) when you and
I had a long walk at Dancalan beach and you helped me understand the mystery of
life and it comforted me after my rabbits died (and were probably cooked by
Lola) on my birthday. (Nakakatawa na itong memory na to ngayon, but back then,
it was really serious and heartbreaking
for me). Life seemed easier to understand when we talked. You always
help me to have a more uplifting perspective over problems. No matter how crazy
things got in our life, when you and I had a chat about it, it wasn’t so bad
after all. At the bottom of it, there was always goodness and grace to be
found. Thank you so much for teaching me this. This is probably why I was
easily attracted to Christianity. You taught me about God’s grace and goodness
even when we both didn’t know much about Him yet.
5.
You also showed all of us the best disposition
there is: “No matter what it is, it does not have to be a huge problem. Things
will be ok.” I am a big worrier like mom. You and Nikki know how to take it
easy. One of the reasons I fell for Antony is he always helps me to let go and
not worry. It reminds me of you. Worrying never added a single day to our life
says the bible. We didn’t know it when we were younger, but now we know that
there’s a biblical basis for your capacity to sit back and relax at the end of
the day kahit andami pang problema. God is in charge and He knows what He is
doing. We don’t have to carry the burden and juggle a million responsibilities
all day, God is ultimately responsible for our life now that we’ve given it to
Him. We gotta truly trust Him. When
you’ve done the best you can for the day, lay it all down and sleep like you
have no worries. Easier said than done. To this day, I am still learning and
praying to grow this attribute in my life. Please keep praying for me and mom.
=)
6.
You have an endless fascination for God’s
creation. I love the way you shared to us your passion for National Geographic
and Discovery Channel stuff, especially when it talks about amazing nature trivia
such as the way animals behave. I remember when you would stop to pick a leaf
and show me the way it shaped differently and say, “Anggaling ni God, noh? Pano
nya naisip ang ibat’ibang disenyo ng mga leaves?” I kinda do that a lot now too, and it makes for a good sermon
illustration! I love nature coz it reminds me what a genius God is. How does He
paint different beautiful sunsets for millions and millions of years now?! It’s
never the same yet it’s always beautiful wherever you go! Thank you for sharing
that fascination with us.
7.
You have
an endless fascination for God period. Your love for books or seminars or
anything educational, or good preachers/public speakers, I think it stems from
your love to learn more about God. I remember you telling us stories after
stories of how you went off for adventures as a little boy, just because you’re
curious. You’re like that same kid even now, going after whatever life sends
your way and you face it like an adventure… You’re an adventurer whose ultimate
goal is to discover God more in your experiences…and live to tell others what
fascinating things you have found about Him. When mom told me through whatsapp
about that person giving you seed money for school, and how you guys are
confused whether to take that offer to work as property agent instead, Ant and
I immediately thought, well maybe you don’t need to choose one over the other.
What if you keep on doing ministry as a tentmaker? You’ve always been effective
in sharing God in the marketplace kasi wherever you work, you easily earn
people’s respect. Whenever you are employed, in no time, your co-workers look
up to you and your bosses respect you. With that, you easily have the platform
to share about Jesus. You and Mom are one of the most natural evangelists I
know. I think you shouldn’t stop schooling, because this will keep nourishing
and empowering you as a minister. We all need continuous feeding as we also
feed others. But only take up courses that you really need . Don’t worry about
becoming a church worker full time. This will happen in time if God really
wants you in that direction. Go take up courses which you really wanna learn
about. Feed your fascination for God. I bet God is so happy and proud coz He’s
got a son who just loves learning about Him. And I have no doubt that He will
grant you the most extraordinary revelations, some of which even bible school
graduates and the highest pastoral officials would be so amazed to hear whenever
you, a humble son of God is prompted by God to preach about it. =) I’m so excited for you dad.
8.
Your kakulitan is “luar biasa” (that’s Bahasa
Indonesia for “out of the box” or “extraordinary”). If I was a westerner this
would probably embarrass me as a teenager. But
for me, my favorite memories of our childhood/teenage home was when your
silly gears were on. Remember when we were hanging out in the sofa as a family
and the lights were out and you started playing silly songs with my guitar,
turning a romantic song into a funny mess? Or when we’re cleaning at home and
Nikki puts on classical guitar music and you would dance kuracha style with the
broom? And mom would laugh and say “lapak-lapak talaga ini si Bitlog…” Haha!
Nikki and I have totally inherited your silliness. I think I even rubbed it off
on my husband (although I have to say he has his own whole brand of silly)… You
should check out our stupid dance moves sometime… They’re epic!
9.
One of the things I am most grateful that we’ve
learned and inherited from you is the natural flare for leadership. Well there are a lot of natural born leaders in
this world but I’m glad that the one Nikki and I learned from you is the brand
of leadership that serves and is ready to make sacrifices for a worthy cause.
One that that truly looks out for the welfare of those in need, that speaks for
those who don’t have a voice in this world, that does not seek for fame and fortune as the hallmarks of
success… but seeks the favor and presence of God as the only thing that makes
it all worth it. My recent quotable quote lately is “No God, No glory.”
Besides, we know without God we don’t have the capability to lead anyway. The
highlight of my grade school days was when you and I got the chance to serve in
leadership together at SPES. You were president of the PTA and I was mayor of
the student body, and with our joined efforts we were able to push for the
building project of decent waiting sheds around the school. It was such an
honor to serve with you dad.
10.
Your love for mom and your love for family. This
has been tried and tested through the years. I realize that what defines our
success in keeping our families is not perfection or lack of mistakes. It’s
making the hard choices even when you had every reason to run away from it all.
You made mistakes, we all know that, and we’ve all had our share in it, but why
do we know for certain that you love mom and you love us? Because you chose to
stay and go through all the battles of our life every week and submitted to
hard work with God to rebuild our family.
You never gave up. Many men and women chose that easy path. You and mom,
had a lot of opportunities to do so, but you didn’t. That’s a legacy we will
forever be grateful for in our family. Nikki and I could have easily come from
a broken home, instead, we can proudly say we come from a God-patched and
awesomely renovated home. Thank you for letting God take over our lives when
everything was falling apart. Thank you for choosing the best and greatest
solution for all our problems – surrendering your heart and will to Him. With
His strength you have loved me, Nikki, Una and Mom and so well. With His grace
you continue to take care of us, your family. You’ve set a great standard for
us to live up to. Thank you for raising us up this way, for inspiring us to
pursue the more important things in life. You’ve taught us well dad. I can only
pray that we all continue to learn and enjoy more adventures with God as a
family.
Actually marami pa to. You may be 60 already but God is not
finished with you yet… I pray that God will grant you more life, more favor,
more blessings…and the fulfillment of all your God-given dreams.
As I was praying for you today, God gave me Psalm 49 and 50 as
a Word for you. Let’s skype or have google hangout soon so we can talk and
muni-muni about it like we used to. =D
Love you dad! Ant also sends his love and we will be
celebrating with you here. And when God finally gives us the chance and
provision to be together again, we’ll have another round of celebration =).
Happy Birthday po!
Love,
KC
PS: dad, I’ll post this in my blog and facebook ha. Lalang,
just wanna tell the world… umiyak na rin lang ako maghapon, maige nang i-share
nang may makaalam naman kung bakit luhaan ang beauty ko. =P
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