Doon Mag-Ingat Ka

Huwag kang mag-alala

Nakaukit na sa isip ko

Nakatitig sa 'yong mata

Nasa langit na ba ako

Sayang din talaga

Pag kausap ka’y sarap sa tenga

Ngiti mong kay ganda

Siguradong mami-miss kita

Minsan lang nagsama

At bukas aalis ka na

Sayang sana ay nagtagal ka pa

Doon mag-ingat ka

Matulog maaga

Huwag masyadong magpupuyat

Inom gamot pag nilalagnat

Hinay-hinay lang sa kape

Lalung-lalo na sa tanghali

-Excerpts from Ingat Ka by Silent Sanctuary

First heard the song a few weeks after Aaron left for Saudi. For some weird reason my eyes moistened when I heard it. Most likely because I can relate to it.

We were together for about 3 months then he had to leave for a long term assignment. Since then, our relationship has been a series of time zone synchronizations, long distance phone calls, skype dates, gigabytes of instant messaging, facebook updates, frequent email exchanges and cramped weeks of catching up when he's home.

When he's not on assignment somewhere, we would still make the most of our time together in anticipation of another assignment that will bring us back to a virtual relationship again.

Now we're married and the situation is even more complicated because now, I travel too. There was a time he's at home & I'm out somewhere then he had to be deployed someplace else. He made sure to stopover to where I am for a day for us to have a chance to properly say our "goodbye, i love you and see you soon". We're just grateful for God's blessings that we never had to spend Christmas and New Year apart.

As I frequently say now a days, traveling, even if it is for work, is fun if you're not married. One can always find a way to explore the sites once you're already there. Of course, it's different if you travel with your partner. Traveling will always be fun then. Otherwise, there will be times that the pang of loneliness is difficult to resist and if you are not on your guard, you will begin to question yourself, "why on earth are you doing this?"

Today, I saw him post a mushy picture that just broke my resolve. And I found myself listening to this song for the nth time. I pray with all my heart that God will bring us into a situation where we can both excel in what we are good at and see each other everyday IN PERSON most of the time.

Until then, we will be 'miles apart but close at heart'.

Doon mag-ingat ka, Mahal. See you soon.

Please Return My Files :(

Before leaving the office, my laptop prompted me not to do a force shutdown because it's installing Microsoft Software Updates. So I waited. Once it's done, I packed it up then went back to the hotel. When I got to the hotel, I turned on my laptop then it showed me the same prompts one sees when installing an operating system from scratch!!!

Then I thought, did I just swipe my hard drive clean???

Imagine the panic of losing all your files just like that. Regret flooded my thoughts.

- You should have created a restore file.
- You should have placed all the completed proposals on the server
- You should have backed up your files regularly
- YOU SHOULD HAVE CREATED A PARTITION!!!

In my mind, I began sorting which of my files has to be restored (non-negotiables) and which ones I can opt to lose (negotiables).

Non-Negotiables: Proposal Files, Admin Files, References, Work Tools, Records, Outlook PSTs.

Negotiables: not telling.Ü

When I think about it, my negotiables consume more hard disk space than my non-negotiables (talk about priority). I resolved to just try to recover my non-negotiables. My negotiables, be gone.

Called my "COMMS" friends for help. Although they have an idea how to recover my files, we don't have the tools and we don't want to risk losing the laptop's warranty.

So now, I'm waiting for Monday to come so I could bring my laptop to our IT guys. Lord, please give them wisdom to recover the files.

In response to this incident, I resolve to ensure that I do the following:

1. Create a disk partition. All system files on drive C. Everything else on the created partition.
2. Create a restore point at least monthly. Also, back up files at least monthly.

First things first though...I hope I get to recover my files.

What do you expect from other people?

I just read this passage today:

Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them! (Luke 6:31 MSG)

Consequently, I would think, what do I actually expect from other people? So I came up with the following list. Of course, there would probably be more but this is what I came up with when I though about it.

• To not always depend on me.
• To be trustworthy
• To be there when I need them

Selfish, eh? But yes, that's it. Now this is the hard part: GRAB the initiative and do it for them! The to be there for when I need them is the toughest. My mind calculates and to think God's word says "Help and give without expecting a return." What happened to the SIMPLE rule of thumb? :)

But you know what? He also said in His word, "You'll never-I promise-regret it."

So let us "Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we're at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind." (Luke 6:35,36 MSG)

Your turn. What do you expect from other people.