A little boy’s tale at the time of Typhoon Basyang. I was oblivious to the fact that there was a typhoon. I thought it was one of those typical rainy days that happen once in a while, messing up my laundry schedule every now and then. Apparently, it was not. The wind howled all through the night. The trees bent their thick branches. Some attempted to confront their unseen opponent and proudly stood high and mighty. Others won. Some sadly suffered an uprooting.
In the middle of all that, a typical consequence wasn’t far away. BROWNOUT. In our case it lasted 18 hours or so. So what do you do when all technology comes to a halt? When you are at the last bar of your latest and greatest gadget’s battery…? What do you do when you realize that all you really need in this world is food and water? STOP! That’s not my ‘kwento’. I’m not going to go into the philosophical analysis of all that. Not in this post anyway. hahaha I just want to tell you a little story about what my 10-year old son and I did during the brownout. WE SIMPLY TALKED. Nothing earth-shaking. Nothing about saving the country or the world from the ravaging effects of climate change. I simply listened while my son talked. I listened to what he said and more intently on what he did not say.
It’s been a long way since that time when he was still in my tummy and the biggest decision I had back then was choosing which best prenatal vitamin to take. Ten years later. It’s not that simple anymore. We had a discussion about TRUST. I gave my son a hypothetical situation. I asked him “Son, if I asked you to jump from the top of the stairs and I told you I would catch you, would you?” I sensed his hesitation and that told me that there was a TRUST issue involved. With a little more probing and a lot of questions and patient waiting for answers, he admitted he had a lot of FEARS. He said he was afraid of the height of the stairs, or that I wouldn’t be able to catch him etc. etc. And then he opened up some more about his other fears like the Annoying Orange videos, bad dreams and sad consequences of children in stories he has read. I explained to him in words that he could understand that the only FEAR that he needs to have in this whole world is THE FEAR OF THE LORD. Some kids can stand the annoying orange and not be affected. If he can’t then he shouldn’t allow these things that affect him enter his life and affect his heart. After ministering to him and praying with him and for him about his fears and letting God’s word enlighten his many questions, I asked him the question again, “Son, if I ask you to jump from the top of the stairs right now, would you?” This time he said yes. I told him to jump. We were both in bed during this time and so I just told him to pretend we were on the stairs. He jumped into my arms and I “caught” him and hugged him. I asked him if he felt safe. He said yes. I told him to never forget that feeling ever again because that’s what it’s like when God catches us. Now, he comes up to me at odd times asking me if he could ‘jump’ so I could catch him…of course I let him. So that’s what we did during the brownout. The End. 
Tags: the fear of the Lord, trust
hi, ganda talaga ng mga kwento ni lola basyang tnx for sharing