New Year, New Home!

When I say home, I mean “dormitory”.

It has been such an exhausting day of moving my things from Kidapawan and my rented house in Davao into this new space. I dreaded for this day to come. I hate moving. And I hate that I have been doing it more often than the average person. In a span of 10 years I have lived in 13 different places and they are as follows:

St. Mary’s Dormitory in Cebu—2005

My grandmother’s house in Cebu—2006-2009

Fairview, Quezon City—2009-2010

Marcos Highway, Antipolo—2011

Taguig City—2011-2012

Boni Avenue, Mandaluyong—2012

BF Homes, Paranaque—2013

Studio 1, Alabang—2014  

Studio 2, Alabang—2015

Almanza, Las Pinas—2015

Estrada Third, Digos City—2015-2016

Portville Townhouse, Davao City—2016

Golden Panda Dorm, Manila—2016 Bar Review

                …and here we are now. How annoying is that? Recalling all these places brought back memories of how immensely stressed I was in the process of moving. There is always a valid reason for every transfer, most of the time it’s because of school or changing circumstances in the family. And as much as I wished I didn’t move around so much, I did. A lot.

                This morning, I prayed that God would help me on my moving out. I anticipated the physical and emotional strain and I just needed His grace so much. Thankfully, it wasn’t as horrendous as I expected. Our driver was there to give me the helping hand I badly needed. I packed my things early this morning, loaded them in the car and left Kidapawan. I dropped off my sister in SM Lanang and proceeded to our rented house in Portville where most of my things are in. I packed them in boxes and plastic bags and headed to my dormitory.

I arrived here at around 1 o’clock and finished the cleaning, organizing and what have you at 5 o’clock. It was a massive mess but I did it. Yay! A sense of fulfillment is surging in my heart right now as I enjoy the fruit of my labor. Moments ago this was only a dusty old space and now it has become my very cozy room. My small sanctuary. My new home.

While I was folding my clothes earlier, I had plenty of time to reflect. I realized that 2016 is the year that I moved the most, literally and figuratively. There were so many “new things” that happened. I graduated in law school. I fell inlove and now have a boyfriend (which a lot of you want me to blog about, haha!) I moved to Davao City for my review. I moved again to Manila for the bar preparations. I took the bar exam. I moved back to Kidapawan for a month of rest. I applied for a job in a law office in Davao and got hired. I start working tomorrow. Oh wow 2016, what a ride!

In all these variations there was however, one thing that was constant… JESUS. And this is the part where I get mushy because conclusions to blog entries are supposed to be like that right? Haha! But really, where will I be without the grace of God? The difficult situations I had to face, the battles I had to fight, the personal struggles that brought so much pain, the many, many challenges and changes that came my way in 2016 would have broken me to pieces if it were not for God’s love for me. This love was immovable. Unchanging. With Him, there is no “variation or shadow of turning (James 1:17).” No matter how circumstances get unpredictable and how things shift in a blink of an eye, Jesus loves us just the same and that is all the assurance we need in this life.

Right about now, the plan is to get settled in Davao City and work in the law office for the next couple of years. I am hoping very hard that after ten years of being restless, I would finally plant my roots deep here, Lord willing. But even if things do not go as planned, or for some reason I will have to move to another house or apartment (again!!!) I know I will be okay in the end. Everything around me may change but Christ never will.

Matthew 28:20 says, “…lo, I will be with you always, even unto the end of the world.” I hung on to this promise many times before and more so now. Wherever I was and wherever I will be, Jesus promises that He will be there with me. What assurance! It was this steady sense of security in the love of God that got me through 2016 and I know it will be the same for the year ahead. Come what may.