Yes in only a few hours from the time of this writing, the new year will be in. This is the time when we look back at the great and wonderful things that happened in the past year so that all the lessons and goodness can be carried over into the new one.

The year 2008 was extremely busy for me, probably more so than any other year in my life so far. It was greatly educational, and I feel like I matured at least a few years with just the things I learned this year. Haha, maybe my maturity level is finally catching up with my age now.

The year began with me going to work immediately on January 2nd, teaching English in D.I.L.C., in U.P. Diliman. Stayed there a couple months until the first week of March. I learned a whole lot there, from dealing with a difficult situation with the bosses due to language barriers and conflict of philosophies when it comes to teaching language, to dealing with a huge infatuation with a girl, one of my students there. I also had to deal with discipline with waking up ridiculously early, and discipline with going straight home after work.

During that time I was also meeting new friends, aside from those in that school. Such as Raja, a fellow WWII fanatic that spends most of his time a year overseas working.

After my contract completed in D.I.L.C., I struggled with the idea of working in a call center, as I sought jobs here and there but found nothing that felt right. After multiple dramatic conversations with my mom, who encouraged the idea, and a lot of prayer, I finally gave in and responded to an ad that ran in a newspaper in May. The ad was for a major call center. My plan was to become a language trainer in there, but first I'd have to be an agent and take calls.

"I don't know if this is God's will or not. But he'll probably stop me if it isn't. And who knows what great blessings I would be missing out on, if I don't try it and it turns out that this was what God wanted me to do." That's what I thought to myself.

I went to their product trainings and learned a lot there as well. I was getting ready to join the call center industry when something hit me during the training. I was to handle a satellite TV account, meaning I would be dealing with everything from billing to activation of channels. From troubleshooting the equipment to answering questions like "what channel is sports?"

Well during this training, around the second week, I started to feel wrong. There was something I would need to be doing that would go against my morals. As part of the job of selling channels and programming, I learned that I would also need to recommend channels. And pornographic programming was no exception. On the contrary, it was, according to our trainer, a large part of what we were expected to do. At least one call a day, sometimes as many as a dozen, would be about that. We spent hours learning about the adult channels, from simple R-18 stuff all the way to the XXX-rated stuff. All the prices and what each channel offers. All the discounts and pay-per-view information...

At first I didn't really mind. The only thing I was thinking of was that this was something I had to go through to get into the call center. After all, I'm not the one watching the pornography. But the LORD kept tapping me, until I came to the realization that God would never want me to sin even on the way to a greater good, nor would He want me to cause other people to sin. With some prayer, after I completed the training, I pleaded with the training and recruitment departments to excuse me from the required one-month call-taking period on my way to becoming a trainer. But they said their policy was ironclad. And I cannot give an excuse to God on judgment day if I tried to justify my decision even if I knew it was wrong.

So after a conversation on the phone with a member of the Human Resources Department, I looked at my computer. Lo and behold, God already honored my sacrifice. A friend of mine, who worked at Edulynx Corporation, the company that trained me in TESOL and sent us to Laguna in July-August 2007 to teach English, had messaged me. Being a Christian, I knew there were no accidents, so I took my opportunity and asked her if there were any job openings. She said yes and asked me to bring my resume the next day.

After a chat with her and the big boss of the company, I was hired and started the next day. And I still work in Edulynx up to now.

As I look back on those fateful events, I now see why God let me get into the call center trainings. He wanted me to know how call centers worked on the inside, something I would find necessary for my job in Edulynx. He also wanted me to know how to deal with various people: my trainer, fellow trainees, H.R. Department, and the training department. And lastly He wanted to strengthen me in my faith, to see if honoring God meant more to me than my dreams of being a well-paid trainer. I work in a lesser-paying job now, but I know every day that I come in for work that I am blessed, and God's blessings will continue to be with me and that company.

"... Who knows what great blessings I would be missing out on, if I don't try it and it turns out that this was what God wanted me to do..." I learned greatly this year that God truly does move in mysterious ways. I think He does it so we never become complacent, and that every step of the way we have to rely on Him, because we really don't know what He's doing.

Aside from that great chapter in my life, God has also blessed me with a lot of learning experiences. I have two educational almost-romantic experiences, that both happened quite recently. I learned a great deal from those.

All in all a good year. I'm exceedingly greatful to God for all that He has done to me, and all He continues to do for me behind the scenes. I know God is setting me up for more great and wonderful things for the next year, and I can already feel some of them brewing up even now.

May the LORD's blessing be upon me and my family, my friends and my workplace, and all who read this, for the New Year. Amen.

:D

I forgot to post a Christmas message due to various business and run-of-the-mill forgetfulness. But anyway Merry Christmas!

Let's not forget the reason for the season. No, it's not that guy up in that image above. But rather, the big J who's been lookin' out for us ever since before the world began. :D That's right I'm talking about God in the body of a man himself, Jesus!

It's been a great year, and I'll post a New Year's message on New Year's Eve. :)

CCF held an Evangelistic Christmas Cantata yesterday, Dec 13th. And I was allowed to take part in it, for even a short time. I was a b-boy in the intro song. It was really special. :D I'll try to get videos and/or pictures of it from CCF.

Anyway this is one of those great blessings that started even from the B1G 4 retreat at the end of November. Cuz that's where I met Ms. Kathy, who turned out to be one of the directors at the time of the Cantata. Though she dropped the whole thing into the hands of other people, I got to stay. And as a result I was given the opportunity to serve. And not just that. I got to meet a lot of cool people in the choir, the other actors/dancers, etc. :D

I'm looking forward to more opportunities like that.

Yeah my birthday passed already (Dec. 5th). I am now 25 years old. I know I should've made a post about this back then but I was busy all day Friday and all day today (Saturday).

But anyway, here's to looking back. This has been one of my most educational years. From learning to put up with difficult and overly traditional bosses in D.I.L.C., to dealing with a girl that was showing very confusing signs. From dealing with lazing around while trying to find another job, to dealing with my pride being hurt by applying to a call center, which was then my most hated occupation. From going through training in a call center, to learning about being strong (actually, ironclad) with my principles, and standing up for what's right even if it meant losing a very lucrative job offer. From finding a new job that I love in Edulynx Corporation, to dealing with various types of people, ranging from colleagues to bosses, and trainees to clients. From learning how to handle relationships with friends and women, to learning how to control my own emotions, especially the oh-so-evil pride. From getting over my fear of the Singles Ministry and being counted as one of them, to finally getting into a D-group after what felt like years of stagnation. Yes, this year has been very educational. And there are many many other things I learned as well, but this space is not enough to actually list them all.

Suffice it to say that God has not finished with me. He seems to be targetting my personal quirks that might interfere with present and future relationships, both casual and romantic. It has been a good year for me, but it's time to put aside the age of 24.

It's funny. It felt like so recently when I posted about me actually living to see 24, unlike the character in Coolio's song Gangsta's Paradise. And now, not only did I live to see 24, but I passed right through it and am now 25. I pray for much more growth this year, no matter what it takes. Cuz I have even more confidence in God now. He let me go through a lot of hurts and stuff, but He always somehow made me understand that it was a necessary experience for me. I look forward to what else He has in store.

Yes, finally we've recovered the lost images that went down with Ourworld.cs.com. The blog should be back up to its old self.

In addition to that good news, my beloved sister is starting on a new layout for me. :D Look out for that. It'll be turntablism based, to keep true to the hip hop essence.