The Ultimate Gift is an award-winning movie based on the best selling book “The Ultimate Gift” by Jim Stovall. The story is about a trust-fund baby, Jason Stevens, being sent to an unexpected journey of self-discovery in order to achieve the ultimate gift. When his wealthy Uncle died, Jason anticipated a big inheritance that would allow him to continue living in the lifestyle to which he had become accustomed. Instead, he was given 12 tasks - “gifts” to be completed in 12 months that will challenge Jason in improbable ways. A one year journey that would change his life forever.

I have personally read the book but haven’t seen the movie yet. It has a very fruitful story that will make you discover life’s most important lessons summarized into 12 gifts — work, problems, friends, giving, gratitude, family, learning, money, laughter, a day, dreams, and love (which leads to the Ultimate Gift). Every gift has a lesson and I can’t help but share it.

“In life, you have to do some things you don’t like.” I usually say this every time I am bound to do something against my will. With this book, I have discovered that learning life’s lessons is best achieved when given authoritatively. If you always do what you want, you will not learn unless you commit a mistake. Sometimes, we even do the same mistakes again because we tend to do what we want all the time. Like Jason Stevens, he has been provided with all the material things he wanted all his life. His Uncle, Red Stevens gave everything to his family that have actually ruined them in the process. Yet, upon the nearness of his death, Red Stevens realized his mistake and decided to change things. Among the greedy and self-centered relatives, Jason was chosen and given a chance to do something special. As declared on his last will and testament, he no longer gave Jason any material inheritance. He loved him so much for that. Instead, Red Stevens gave Jason 12 gifts that contains life’s important lessons. Those which has led him to gain The Ultimate Gift.

A new sequel book “The Ultimate Life” is already released. See what happens next in the life of Jason Stevens… =)

Many devotees in the country (mostly in Cebu) have already witnessed the miracles of the Divine Virgin Mary in Simala. I had been a witness to this miracle, too. My friend, Angie and I went to Simala last November 13. It is a 2-hour bus ride from the main City in Cebu. We went there right after our night shift at work. Though, our faces already seemed tired and weary, we still managed to stand on our feet while waiting hours in line with other pilgrims to kiss the image of the miraculous Mama Mary. The miracle? Seeing an enormous pile of believers waiting on what seemed to be an unending line ignoring the heat and change of weather. About 9:30 am, the sun’s heat was still at the peak of the mountain and was almost burning our skin. After a couple of hours, it started to rain. Instead of being alarmed, the people were even more grateful as they believed that the rainfall was a sign of blessing. So then, Angie and I stood our ground and soaked in the rain. At 1:00 pm, we were finally inside the Church. I was overwhelming with excitement as we were getting close to the miraculous image. A few minutes after, I have finally kissed the beautiful image of Mama Mary (see the picture above). I felt the divine power of Mama Mary surrounding the place that seemed to be washing up of all the negative energies within my soul. *whew*. It was a very rewarding feeling. I am very much thankful that we survived.

The feast of the Miraculous Mary is celebrated on every 13th day of the month. This was based on the dates when Mama Mary miraculously appeared on the mountain of Simala. The first appearance happened on May 13 and the second was on October 13. From then on, the miracles lived on. Many people were coming to visit Mama Mary and offer their petitions. Most of them became answered prayers.

I just wanted to share this story I have written not so long time ago. This was originally posted on my old blog (http://gayangismyname.blogpsot.com), which I have already shut down but I would like to keep this write-up alive, so I am posting it again…

Prelude:

March 03, 2008

I woke up today about 7:00 AM, quite anxious to get out of bed with all my bags packed and ready to go on my way home to the province (Samar). While I was drying up my hair, I got an unusual text message from my brother. “Iday, kmusta ka dda?” (Little sister, how are you doing there?). It was the first time my brother texted me at that early in the morning. But still then, I replied. “Ok la, mauli ako yana. Weeeee!” (Just okay, I’m about to go home now. *Excitement*). About 8:00 AM, I got on a taxi on my way to the pier. The Ferry Boat’s boarding time was 10:45 AM, but then I was already sitting there on the waiting area almost 2 hours before, can’t hardly wait to be finally home.

I arrived at Tacloban about 4:00 in the afternoon. Inside the van, I saw no familiar faces. Though, I felt quite uneasy listening to my co-passengers talking about some tragic news, mentioned names and places I have apparently well-known of since childhood. I never suspected or even imagined for those stories to have actually happened at our place just early this morning.

By the time I arrived home, I never suspected anything to be unusual. Until that moment when I finally stepped in to our doorsteps that I came along with quite a strange gathering of my cousins and some other people I do not usually see at home. By then, I asked “Nag aanu kamo?” (What are you guys doing?). I never felt so horrified to come across a disastrous sight of the house I have grown up with and used to have known as my comfort place and refuge that now seemed like a horror. My mother was there, crying terribly when she saw me coming through where there used to have been a door that was now wrecked apart. I could no longer help but breakdown and cry embracing my poor mother, occupied with clueless questions that was agonizingly confusing. What the hell happened?

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About 5:00 AM, early in the morning of March 03, 2008, mother was out of bed early as usual ready to start her daily routine. As she sat in the couch, holding the rosary bead with her hand, our dogs outside suddenly barked fretfully as one or two persons from outside were calling out a name. “Arellano! Arellano! Arellano!”, they muttered and started throwing out deafening gunshots in the air. Mother was stumbled. She turned off the lights, paced down the stairs to the kitchen and back to their bedroom. Father was sleeping soundly when mother abruptly woke him up. They quickly ducked down to the ground and hid behind the concrete wall. Seconds later, they heard disturbing footsteps of about 50 people running towards the house. At first, they thought it was our neighbor’s house being attacked since they were calling out the name of Nonoy Arellano, a policeman who lives next door. All of a sudden, father sensed that those goons were indeed trying to get inside our house as they started banging at our door upstairs. In a split second, an explosion of grenade blasted around house.

The rebels did manage to get inside. They intruded each room and buried their bullets into whatever comes their way. Fortunately, they decided not to come down the kitchen as they have found the house empty. They might have finally realized that they got into the wrong house as they have failed to find any weapons or police officer uniform but found only my father’s SAMELCO (Samar Electric Cooperative) office uniform instead. If in case they have forced to go down to the kitchen, they should have found out that there was still a small bedroom down there where my parents hid and could have shoot them to death. There must have been some sort of divine force which has kept them away from that room until they finally decided to recoil. About 7am, the police came. They must have been shocked to find my father and mother alive. The press came. Mother was still in terror when people started to come asking silly questions, which causes her to almost breakdown. One major silly question was that of the Provincial Director’s. “You must have had a transgression against the NPA to make them mad as they have done such terrible thing as this to your family as payback?” I could only imagine how tough it has been for my mother to hear such words from a stupid official who is supposedly helping but accusing them instead. *My blood rises up until now every time I hear that story. I could only wish I was there to knock that stupid director down.* Gladly, the children of the policeman were there to save my mother from the situation and serve as witnesses to officially confirm to that stupid Provincial Director’s face that their father was the one that the NPA were going against and not our family. *Shame on you Mr. Provincial Director. Go to hell.*

The reports explained that there had been officially a major mistake identifying the house where they should have made the assault. The basis was the following:

Bayabas Tree

Red Motor Bike

Wooden Fence

At that early morning, my father was home so his motorbike was parked outside. Meanwhile, our neighbor, the policeman was on duty. He brought his motorbike to the police station. Both my father’s and the policeman’s motorbikes were red. Both our houses have a Bayabas Tree inside the Wooden Fence. No wonder why those facts have been quite misleading to the NPA’s intelligence. (Let’s say, fortunately or unfortunately…whatever.)

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It crushes my heart as I imagine my mother and father hiding in the dark trembling with dreadful fear as they experience the unmerciful violence in the hands of the NPA (New People’s Army). How dare can they disturb innocent civilians’ lives when they popularly proclaim themselves as Army for the people? At that moment when I arrived home witnessing the damage done, I could not help but feel great angst against those who are responsible. Who are they to threaten the lives of my beloved mother and father? I have been constantly trying to protect and shield these precious lives away from hurt and harm even in my own little ways, but then in just a split second they have shattered it. It bothers me to think that I have not been able to even do something that might have avoided them from going through such a traumatic tragedy. I never felt so helpless. Any child would think the way I do if it happened to their own parents. Even my brother thought of entering the police force to be able to take revenge. Though, we thought of it as a joke, I know my brother meant it at that point. It was harder for him because he is in Manila and he could not even come home right away to somehow witness the actual situation than just hearing stories and shaping his thoughts. However, he was actually one of the first persons who knew about the news before I did. In fact, it was the reason why I got that strange text message from him early that morning. They did not want me to know about it yet because I was about to go on travel. It could have been hard if I knew. Honestly, I also did wish I could take revenge, but when I think of how I will face God, I realize that if I will think of revenge it would make me become one of them. Revenge will only make things worse. Neither of us has the right to destroy each other’s lives nor believe that those who did do not deserve to be forgiven. Though, it is difficult to accept but we all know that if God Himself forgives, then who are we not to? It is true that things do happen for a reason. Come to think of it, it was still a blessing in disguise. Why? If the NPA have not been as dumb as they were to have mistakenly assaulted the wrong house, they could have massacred about 7 people; the wife and children of Nonoy Arellano. Their mission was to take down each member of the family of the policeman who happen to have also taken the life of one of their members about a year ago. It was his mission to defend the public which made him shoot that one NPA member to death. Yet, he should not have been blamed because in his line of work, he only rendered his loyal service to the public. Also, it is in fact an inhumane act to involve the whole family and other innocent civilians into that said situation. They may have had their reasons, but still it is totally unacceptable.

Though, in spite of everything, I am still grateful to have been able to come home at that time and see my parents alive and physically unharmed. Who would have thought that my parents would be able to escape such life threat? About 100 or more emptied bullets, 1 grenade pin and a massive number of shrapnel were found scattered around the vicinity of the house. About 50 or more NPA rebels came on the attack. And to imagine it was only two of them (mother and father) trapped inside that bedroom, unarmed though equipped with great faith and prayers as their only weapons. It is at these times when we are able to truly say that God knows everything; He listens and sees beyond what is unseen. Nine innocent lives were protected and saved against the hands of those who are under the influence of evil. God’s goodness shall always prevail. This had made us realize how important it is to value one’s life as we do not know when it shall be taken away from us. Love your loved ones dearly while they are still alive.

However, still the damage has been done. Though, we are trying to move on, that event would forever leave a scar in the history of our lives. My mother has been under medication for the trauma. She has been experiencing appetite and sleeping disorders. At first she could hardly even take water into her body system as she constantly vomits and unable to eat and sleep properly. Father and I managed to take her to a psychiatry specialist here in Cebu. She has been given medicines that would calm her nerves and advised to leave home for at least a month to be able to somehow divert her mind to some other things. It is quite difficult to let her go to Manila away from my father, who is now alone at home. He could not leave home because of his work. Father stays strong. I admire him for being so brave at these times. Right now we still do not know what shall happen in the future nor where else should we go if mother comes back from vacation. I’m afraid her trauma will haunt her back if she would still be staying on the same house even if we do renovate it. I wish I know how I could help to save some money and build a house for our family somewhere else. At this moment, I am still trying to figure it out. When I was a child I thought our home in Paranas, Samar was the safest place on earth. But now I realized that no place in this earth is safe enough unless we live in the house of God in eternal life. As long as we are alive, we are bound to face life’s danger and threat here on earth. Yet, I still do believe that with strong faith in God, we are going to get through this. As mother always says, “We should never step back but always go forward”. I would still miss our home… *sniff*

the aftermath damages…