I am starting a series of short stories about the miracles in our lives. I believe Gratitude opens our eyes to the miracles that happen around us Generosity opens our heart to pass these on. Whats your story? Fun-ding our Malaysia Holiday In the summer of 2001, we went on a family vacation in Malaysia. Vacations were meant to be a cultural education for our 3 children, as well as a way of sharing our blessings with others. For that year, we invited Marie to join us. Marie was orphaned at the age of 12. Her mom was a dear friend who succumbed to cancer and her dad died too within the same year. Her indulgent life was suddenly over and we knew she was longing for a break. So we had the greatest pleasure of calling Marie to tell her about our plans and her happiness got us even more excited. We save for annual vacations and plan our trips very well to get the best experience from a limited budget. Although we were very happy to have Marie with us, we knew we had to scrimp a little to cover Maries airfare plus $200 hotel and food expense. We were confident we will have more than enough to share. We also knew God cannot be outdone with His generosity and so we eagerly anticipated for miracles to unfold! A month before our trip, we had Mama Mary grace our house for the Block Rosary. We started the block rosary in our community in Japan to keep the families connected and in prayer since the church was miles away. We had to bring Mama Mary to the next family that Saturday night. Although it was close to midnight, the receiving family wished that we would bring Mama Mary over. And so we did. On our way back, our kids were happily running ahead of us on the very deserted streets. Suddenly, we heard one of them scream and run back towards us waving a 10,000 Yen ($100) bill and shouting “I found money, I found money!” Our instinctive response was to look for more. Barely 5 minutes into the search, my son called out “ I found another one”! There was no way we could trace the owner. After a week of trying, we figured the money was for Marie. Our story about the search of the 20,000 Yen owner and the “miracle” of our vacation plan for Marie went around the community. One afternoon, I got a call from a friend who wanted to donate air mileage for Marie’s trip! $200 for hotel and food - Check! Round trip Air Fare – Check! We were finally united with Marie for a week’s vacation in Kuala Lumpur and Penang. One of our favorite activity was sipping coconut juice by the beach as we rubbed our legs with the warm sugary sand and watch the sun set. And each afternoon that week, my heart was filled with gratitude for having our family and Marie together and to be on the front seat watching God’s daily display of miracles unfold one after the other. PostScript Marie Cuntapay passed away in 2011 from heart failure. We were glad to have had the opportunity to bless her with our love.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 14:36:52 +0000
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