Relax.

This weekend I went away to Puerto Galera- Big La Laguna for March break. This was a great break away from the hustle and bustle of a busy city with so many people to a calm and relaxing beach with a few people here and there. On Monday, Kim (my roomie), Daniel (her son), Becca (another friend and teacher at Faith) and I set off for the Batangas Port to catch a boat to Big La Laguna. We arrived there in plenty of time to catch the 10:50 boat. The ride over was not too rough and seemed to go by quickly; however, Daniel was definitely not a fan of riding on the boat. After arriving we checked into the resort and had lunch before heading out to the water. It was awesome to walk out on your porch, go down a few steps and be right on the ocean front in the sand! The next few days were spent on the beach, snorkeling in the ocean and reading. (Three of my favorite things!)

One night at dinner, Becca and I were talking and all of a sudden I felt a slight shaking. I quickly caught her gaze and realize that she wasn’t pushing on my chair. After checking the news, we realized that there was a 5.4 earthquake on Mindoro Island. (I had just experienced my first earthquake.) It was very brief and nothing like what the people in Japan experienced; however, it was a great reminder to pray for these people who experienced far worse and are still recovering from the devastation.

One afternoon, we were playing in the sand and hanging out on the beach when a young boy, about 7 years old, came up and started to play with Daniel. We soon found out that this precious boy’s name was Glenn. Glenn stuck around for the rest of the week. He entertained Daniel at meals, on the beach and at snack time! It was fun to see Glenn speak in Tagalog to Daniel and to hear Daniel make up his own version of Tagalog in response!

The last day we took a boat out to snorkel at the Coral Gardens and another site that was full of giant clams. This was my first snorkeling experience (and boy was I in for a treat!). I have never seen such awesome things under the water. We saw clown fish (Nemo), a blue tang (Dory), and Moorish Idol (Scar)! We also saw some beautiful star fish and box fish. I was also able to see the biggest clam that I have ever seen in my whole life! After we snorkeled, we headed back to the port at Sabang to take a boat back over to Batangas. I was a little curious why there was only one boat in the afternoon, but I was soon to find out. We hopped on the boat and started out over the water. Much to my dismay, the boat encountered pretty big waves and splashes. I was a little nervous and gripped the side rail until my knuckles turned white. I was reminded of the song that says, “Sometimes He calms the storm, and sometimes He calms His child.” (Although this was not an actual big storm…) I began to pray that I would be calmed or that somehow these waves would steady. Soon, I was able to see the other port and noticed that I was not holding quite as tightly and the ways were not quite as high.

The Lord has been so faithful to remind me of His faithfulness in the little things. The small things that I once would pass by now stand out! Thanks for reading.

-Mads