Beach Getaway!!

In my devotions yesterday (May 1), God spoke to me in Lamentations 3:22-23 "The Lord's lovingkindness indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness." God spoke to me that His love and compassions are never ending. It will never lack. He has lots of supply! And it will never run out. It's gonna last forever. In fact, God has new supply of it everyday. His love is so abundant that He has the capacity to deliver new portion of it every single day. I don't have to starve from God's love in my life... not even a single day. Everyday, He can and will love me in a new measure. What a great God I have!!! "Wow, Lord, let me receive my portion of Your love and compassion today." That was my prayer...

The very same day, I went to a beautiful beach in Batangas with my disciples. That's God's love right there!!! We had one whole day of fun and discovery of new things - about each other and about the hidden beauty of the deep blue sea. For the first time, we went out of town and had time together that is not in a "ministry" atmosphere or mode. We went swimming together. We enjoyed the cool, clear waters of Batangas.

The Lord has placed this in my heart for more than a month already or so. God showed me that I need to bring my relationship with my disciples deeper. So, I started inviting them for dinner one by one (on one occasion, it was one-on-two). I enjoyed my talks with each of them. They are able to ask specific questions that they need concrete answers - in ministry, family, personal, work/study, and yes, lovelife included. I love the lovelife part...because they don't have any except for one... and a half (hahahaha!). We also had some time of 'intense' discipleship whenever someone needs extra "beautification" ceremony...In other words, correction and confrontation. Yeah, it makes one more beautiful than ever! I was also able to give them specific advise on their specific concerns. Our talks are deep. The presence of God is so strong and so sweet. I treasure every moment I have with my precious girls.

And just when my relationship with each of them was getting stronger and more intimate, it was then that God spoke to me some more..."bring them together." I love my Maker and I know that whatever He would tell me is perfect for me. So, I said "yes, Lord" and started praying for a get-together with my disciples. I realize that I also need to bring their relationship with each other deeper as well. And God put to mind a long weekend around May 1. So, I checked my calendar and my disciples' calendar. Good thing, everybody is available on May 1 (except for one who need to stay in the province with the family). So, we looked for a good place to go to. I personally looked at the website of a lot of resorts. And I fell in love with the beaches in San Juan Batangas. And finally, with the help of one of my diligent disciples, we got a booking in Blue Coral Beach Resort. And we went there!!! And we had so much fun!!!

It was a day of casual time of friendship and fun. I was not in a pastor-teacher mode. I did not want them to be just in a listening mode, just as in our usual Dcell meeting. I wanted them to be free, no pressure of any sort, and enjoy just being who they are. No pressure of being 'the' leader. We just had fun. It's really amazing if you are with 10 unique people with you. Some of them wanted the sun to get some tan-lines. But some of them did not want the sun at all, they feel that their body is already full of tan lines put together. Wahahaha!!! There's one looking for a tan-line on her tan skin. Will she find one? What do you think? They were just unique in almost every aspect. And now that they are together, the more I see the uniqueness and the beauty of their differences. I love watching them, hearing them, looking at them.

Then, we had the time of our lives in the afternoon. We went snorkeling!!! It was a first time for some of them so we decided that we'd go by partner. And it was an awesome experience. A super calm person partnering with a super-hyper-panic person. Imagine? Guess who wins?...

And I had the biggest fun of the day... I partnered with a first-timer. And I brought her to the open sea. I love it!!! You know what happened? She screamed (yes, with the snorkels on) and panicked a little (little?). She told me later that she felt like it was a life and death experience. The deep blue sea scared her. So, i pulled her back to the corals to assure her that it was still the sea that she's seeing and not Jesus yet... After a while, I made another attempt to see the deep blue sea, but I did not succeed. My partner got heavier??? Well, the deep blue sea experience scared her, but for me, it excites me. When I saw the deep blue sea, the more I wanted to stay there and watch what's gonna appear before me. It was a scare to my partner...it was great fun for me! We are really unique, huh! God made us unique. God is not boring. He does not want to see identical people serving and loving Him. He created us unique and He loves us in our uniqueness. Great!!!

At the end of the day, we relaxed in the warm pool at the resort. We exchanged stories of our snorkeling experience. It is indeed equally memorable for everybody - both the scare and the fun.

The day after my beach experience with my disciples, I got this in my devotions...

Did you know that Jesus went to the beach with His disciples? Check it out... In Mark 3:7, it says, "And Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples..." See? They went to the beach together.. Jesus intentionally spent time with His disciples. In this chapter, we will see that He made attempts to have an exclusive time with His disciples. He wanted some time with His disciples, away from the crowd. Jesus was so focused with His mission of discipleship.

This all the more affirmed the fun and joy I had with my disciples. This is what Jesus did. And this is what He wants us to imitate. He wants us, from time to time, to intentionally withdrew from the crowds and just be with our disciples. Jesus focused on his disciples. Despite the crowds following Him, He would find the way to be with His precious ones. What a great model of leadership and discipleship...