One thing that I'm very worried about is leaving pets at home while traveling. Separation Anxiety (SepAnx) kicks in. I think most animal lovers can relate to this. It hurts me to see those puppy dog eyes, to hear those loud tweets, to watch those graceful strokes, and to feel and hear those lovely purrs before heading out for a day or a week.

"Do they get sad or lonely without us?"

I wondered if pets get really sad when we leave them behind. Based on my observation and research, they get sad. Some pets even get depressed. They stay near things with familiar smell of their owners. Or they look out of a window and wait for their owners' arrival. I am just blessed that our pets have not experienced extreme loneliness. But of course, little signs of loneliness and extreme excitement show whenever we reunite with them. Some fishes surprisingly die when my parents, especially my Dad, travels abroad. But I am so thankful that this has not happened to our bigger animals.

Kois

Totoro and Ratatou

Finches

Sachi

Yuki

Glad to be Back (the morning after he returned from an uninformed day trip)

:P

Big-eyed Jiji getting anxious

Sleeping on my foot the night before we left for Japan

I already thought about putting a pet in a travel crate. But I have never tried it. A few months ago, I was looking for a travel crate for my cat Jiji because I wanted her cage to serve a double purpose: Land and Air Travel. Luckily, I didn't have to buy any because my Dad bought a pink (so girly) travel crate for her last month. We usually use it when we make a visit to the veterinarian clinic. However, pets traveling by air can cost a lot. They even need microchips in order to travel from one country to another. One Datamars microchip costs around $39.50 (P1861.93). It requires a lifetime registration based on this Pet Travel Store. There is no need for this yet but it helps a lot if pets get lost.

I also wondered how our pets would react when my family and I would come back from a trip. We actually witnessed the difference between our pets' welcome greetings when we came home from Japan. Our dogs greeted us excitedly with their tails wagging and their paws touching our legs. Our cat, on the other hand, did not welcome us back with open arms. She avoided us and walked straight to her drinking bowl instead. When I lifted her up and carried her in my arms, she didn't budged but she looked at us with wide eyes and acted as if we were total strangers. When I released her on the floor, she sniffed our luggages and played with the straps and tags. She only started licking our hands and feet when she finished roaming around our things. She even gave Mom a scratch on the face due to her anxiety. She obviously missed us and felt lonely but couldn't show her feelings outwardly. The way a cat warms up to its owner is totally different from a dog's way. Cats are totally introverts while dogs are outrageously extroverts!

The language of animals is very difficult to read. It is similar to reading a person. But this is good because I am learning to be selfless through supporting and taking care of others and keeping a relationship healthy and intact. I feel like I have a child to take care of and converse with, and a companion to say goodbye and go back to every single day.

So I guess I am writing this blog to assure myself that SepAnx is AOK. Missing our pets and allowing them to miss us once in awhile have advantages too. Anxiety will surely occur for sure. But the owners and their pets absolutely need the separation or "some space." It is part of the owner-pet relationship, okay? Okay.

Last month, I have been thinking about my career in the next few years. After completing my thesis and graduating, what am I to do next? Should I continue teaching where I am at? Or should I teach in special education centers or schools? Should I pursue doing social work and teaching or developing programs for communities? I do not have any idea.

Then I came upon this quote from Malala Yousafzai in the United Nations Facebook page.

Source: UN Facebook page

I believe in this quote. I believe in a child. I also believe in myself that I can teach. It was not an obvious career to take though. I was not the brightest kid in my classes. I was not even chosen as a student teacher. But I knew deep down that I have the heart of a teacher and a great influence from a great family of teachers. When I was little, I would act out as a teacher, holding the chalk or whiteboard marker and standing in front of a room ready to teach a lesson. My students were my cousins or my family. I just could not remember what I was teaching or if it made sense. So being a teacher grew into a dream before I graduated from high school. I wanted to take Elementary Education major in Special Education in order to make a difference. However, it took 2 years before I was able to transfer from Manila to Diliman. Still, I was so blessed to know what I really wanted to do then.

The dream became a reality. 2015 marks my fifth year of teaching. Within those years, I have taught in 3 schools, 1 ESL online tutoring firm, and 1 reading tutorial center. Though I truly love what I do, I can't help but ask myself if this is really what I want to do in the following years to come. But every time I recall the reason why I'm teaching and the calling that God gave me, I always change my mind.

One question was left for me and my co-teachers to answer during the first week of classes last July. This was the question:

WHAT MADE ME FALL IN LOVE

WITH TEACHING?

It seems like a tough question to answer. But here are my answers to the question:

In teaching, you will never stop learning. You will surely get tired of teaching. But you will never get tired of learning from them and from your experiences. The art of teaching involves all areas. You are a performer when you teach. You use various skills. Though there is a tendency to become a master of none, teaching is an art itself that consists of a set of skills that you can master simultaneously with your heart, mind, and body. It God is a great example of a true teacher. He is my inspiration.

Changing the world can be done by reaching one child at a time. Being part of a village that has a huge heart for children is already making a difference. I truly believe that it takes a village to raise a child. I am blessed to be a part of a village in church and at work.

Now, I am going back to the questions I proposed in the beginning.  I think I already have an idea. I keep teaching. And I will do it wherever this heart of a teacher takes me.

Our trip to Japan was a Faith Goal that I have been praying for years. I faithfully prayed for it this year and believed that God would make it happen. He did at the right time and season. We were able to find tickets last May to witness an early fall. The amazing thing was we got very cheap airline tickets! We just needed to a few hundred pesos for our luggages. We instantly knew that it was a gift from God to our family. A box was ticked off my bucket list. Moreover, I knew that it was an early birthday gift from God: A time for a new season and a new beginning.

Japan has been very close to my family's heart. We even called it home for a few years when we visited my Daddy twice in 1989 and 1990-1991. He was still studying in Tokyo University at that time.

Somewhere in time (1980s)

Aside from visiting my friends, we even met one of Dad's disciples, Tito Joel Cuellar, who became a missionary in Japan with his family.

At Shibuya (October, 2013)

Fortunately, Dad and I had another opportunity to return with Mommy, Paul, and Luke. Instead of three or four, there's five of us now. We even met the whole family of Tito Joel this time. We all clicked right away!

At Setagaya-ku (October 2015) From UL to R: Dad, Paul, Luke, Tim, Nathan, Tito Joel; From LL to R: Me, Tita Cynthia, Mom, & Johana

I sought God during our whole trip because I knew He would be revealing to us many things. Here are five Bible verses that made me fall deeper for God and for Japan during our 6 days and 5 nights stay in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. Though these are not exactly touristy, I want to share the Word of God that I received during our time in this country.

1) 2 Thessalonians 3


The message of the Lord will spread rapidly. It will not just spread. It is not slow but rapid, like a fire that consumes almost everything it passes. The line in the verse in which I felt God's protection over us is: "We are delivered from wicked and evil men for not everyone has faith." God was with us throughout the trip. Even though we already know that Japan is one of the safest countries in the world, we remained strong and protected throughout the trip and even on our way home. More importantly, God honed us a family and made us prepared for the struggles that we would face back home.


One thing also reminded me about our family. Despite our differences, our hearts will be directed into God's love and His perseverance. Therefore, we are able to love one another unconditionally because He has loved us. I also want to claim this verse as a promise of God in our family. May He continue to use us mightily to advance His Kingdom, to transform our hearts and minds, and to bring us out of our comfort zones in order to boldly share the Gospel.


2) Mark 5:34



A few months ago, I received this verse from God when I realized how grave my feelings for someone were. I immediately knew that I was losing focus on God and that I needed answers if I was investing the right feelings on the right person. It was a perfect time because the pain became bearable. But this time, reading about the story behind this verse made my understanding deeper. God healed my heart and restored my emotional state, like the Woman with an Issue of Blood, because I came at his feet, I trembled with fear, and I told Him the whole truth (Mark 5:21-34). Because of those, I received the power of God and I was freed from my suffering. It did not occur all at once but the process was easier.



However, I could not say that the process of letting go and letting God was not hard either. I was still crying my heart out at times. But I claimed God's healing and reminded myself about His greater plans for me. My family was a great blessing because I could replace the past with new and joyful memories. I am even excited for the future that will unfold before my eyes soon.



When I arrived in Manila, I felt that my heart was new and transformed like bread tossed in flames and came out baked. There was no other way to get healed. One can attain restoration and healing through God alone.
3) Exodus 34:6-7


I believe that His love for all of us fills His infinite being with limitless capacity for compassion. He is a compassionate God. His unfailing love for us, His agape love, is performed on behalf of us. We are the object of His love. In His eyes, true compassion is strength that is shared.


As a person who desperately needs compassion from God, I must also know that His compassion is greater than my vision for myself. Like me, most people insist on what they want from God. And at times, He will force His own vision in order to overrule the visions that we think we need. In other words, He can even give us more than what we need. He does not only give sympathy but He also shows His compassion for us by allowing certain hardships in order to give way to greater miracles in our lives. This is His great act of compassion.




4) John 11:33


During the plane ride to Manila, the story of Jesus weeping made me weep. Jesus is a man of sorrows. I found myself thinking why did the Bible use weep instead of cry? To weep is to shed tears with deeper and stronger emotions. He did not even cry. He wept. The reason why He wept was because He absolutely knew what the woman was going through. Actually, the Word says he was deeply moved. It is the same with you and me when we experience grief. He is moved by our weeping. He weeps for us because He knows our grief. He will turn our weeping into shouts (or songs and dances!) of joy. But why?? Actually, he does not need to weep for you or me but He weeps anyway because He loves us so much. Now, ask yourself "Are we worth weeping for?" To Jesus, yes! But everything makes much more sense when we have come to know that Jesus is worth weeping for.


5) Psalm 30:5


God turns my mourning into dancing. I can dance because of His presence. Joy can be found in Him alone. As a source of our joy, we are able to find pieces of Him everywhere. These pieces can bring us joy: Family, life partner, children, calling, passion, and the simple and mundane things around us. They are not the ultimate sources of joy but we can find joy in them because we are filled with His abundant joy first.


The five beautiful verses strengthened my bond with God. He dated us there as a family. He dated me during our solo moments together. As much as I want to share all of our travel stories in Japan here in this blog, I will allow the pictures posted here and in Facebook to do so. Because no picture can justify His goodness, I will just keep on praising Him for what He has done not only to me and my family and to our beloved friends in Japan but to the people of all nations living in it. I am also excited about what He is about to do in the near future. Change is happening. We are coming into a shift.

October is always a time for new beginnings. Our trip was already a pre-celebration of what is about to come. I can say that this was the best birthday yet because of the greater faith that He has planted within me. More than that, I am receiving a deeper revelation of who He really is. My year was not only filled with joy. It was also filled with pain and suffering. But I am experiencing everything with the Lord. The beauty of living in joy and sadness made this year even more beautiful. I needed the darkness in order to remain in the Light. This year, I welcome both. (:

God has promised. My mourning ends here. This is when dancing begins for greater things are coming.

In Him, I fall deeper with joy.