dear Pio youth (WARNING: SUPER LONG)

so, while all of you were conspiring behind my back... here's my
account of what happened yesterday, June 4th 2008:

as some of you probably know, i hadn't had much sleep the night
before. i was atat to go home right after The Block to catch up on
sleep. however, pastor armin told me about the post-The Block meeting
for Rock Enrolled. i tried saying no, i really did, but he assured
that that the meeting would just be quick. so i grudgingly said yes.

so you could imagine how impatient i was being when we (1) didn't
immediately leave the centre; (2) were taking forever to walk to the
Cafeteria; (3) were taking eternally FOREVER to start our meeting!!!
some of you were even.. uhh... kind enough to berate me. you really
should have seen my simangot. i was SO beratable.

what totally weirded me out was the fact that EVERYONE, or mostly
everyone, was present. i'd assumed that it would be just ptr armin and
welmar and chris and jonai and raymond and the others, but we PACKED
the entire place. it was embarrassing to a certain degree, haha! if
you noticed i sat with chris and ricky just to be "out of the crowd."
i really really reaaaaaaaalllyyyyyy wanted to go home already.

and then ptr armin started his "speech" and details are sorta blurry
but i remember seeing carmen carrying THE CUTEST CAKE IN THE UNIVERSE
and i realize that the blurriness was caused by the tears in my eyes.

and to top it all off MAY MOTIF ANG SURPRISE... THE COLOR PINK!!! and
some of you had brought along PINK thingies to give me!!

what i found most AWWWW-inducing was the fact that each pink thingy
was so "me"! jonai gave me a hanky because i was (AM) iyakin. carmen
rocked my socks off with a cellphone holder, galing talaga ng timing
ni God! mel's gorgeous slippers! beautiful bookmarks from joseph,
chris, and eca, grabe you guys don't know but i really love reading!
ptr armin's desk walis and dustpan!! *lol* ryan, don't worry, your
gift wasn't offensive at all! :D the school supplies from jesh, eca,
sam/doy/robby/simon were awesome!! and welmar's edible bouquet was so
cute!

we all have not been with each other for so long and you guys already
know me so well.

ano ba. i'm getting teary-eyed na. ay.. naiwan ko yung panyo sa house..

you've made that day memorable. as in. AND IT'S NOT EVEN MY BIRTHDAY YET!

now i'm getting really teary-eyed... argh.. basta! i know i'm never
ever ever EVAH gonna forget it.

[now don't get me wrong--even if you came and didn't have a gift, your
presence is still much appreciated :) the fact that you were there is
already a gift in itself. naks. :)]

the SHEER JOY i'm feeling in my heart totally makes up for the three
hours of sleep i've had. remember what ptr armin said last night,
about making girls lambing? YOU JUST DID. you super made this girl
lambing BIG TIME.

i just wanna tell you guys this: the same measure of love that you
have given--not just to me, but to the people around you--will be
returned to you in a much greater degree. be expectant, be REALLY
expectant, because God's gonna pour out so much blessings on you.
parang bulalakaw!

and the people whom you've impacted will praise God for all the good
things that you do, because of His love that overflows that manifests
in your lives.

i thank God for providing for your needs. for comforting you in your
sorrows. for showering you with so much.. for giving you the desires
of your hearts. i thank God for His presence in your lives.. for His
continuous work in you.. for giving you strength, patience, peace, the
endurance to persevere, to fight the good fight of the faith. i thank
God for all of you. for being part of my life, and allowing me to be a
part of yours. we're all just starting out, and we're starting strong.
two are sooo better than one... how much more twenty, forty, eighty, a
hundred, five hundred, eight hundred?

i look forward to years and years and years of friendship. truly,
"good friends are part of the memories that time can never erase."

thank you. thank you. THANK YOU. :)




much much love,
karess