“Hide me now under your wings, cover me within your mighty hands, when the ocean rise and thunder roar, I will soar with you above the storm. Father you are King over the floods, I will be still and know you are God.”
These are the few lines of the song entitled STILL which we – Sir Jun Corpuz, Sir Edward, Stacey, Ma’am Sherryl and I repeatedly sung for nth time while we were aboard M/B Princess of Socorro on July 28, 2009 around 1:00 PM heading for Loreto, Province of Dinagat Islands for an instant but vital mission: to assist in the preparation for the blessing of StarJED Loreto Branch.
As a first time visitor of Dinagat Islands, I felt mix-emotions as our departure time drew near. I was excited, yet there was fear in my heart – fear of bid waves since that day was a very windy day. But the excitement and anticipation prevail. And so we all went.
As the Princess of Socorro left Pantalan II of Surigao City, we gathered ourselves together, formed a circle and offered a prayer, asking God to protect us and give us a smooth-smiling trip. A few minutes after, the boat started to harshly sway and tremble as the huge waves bumped into the motor lance. As we crossed the Panumbuyon Strait (between Surigao and San Jose), 3 gigantic waves simultaneously hit the boat, the sea water started to come into the boat through the windows and the doors.
The boat stopped for a while from where we were, it was the M/B Seahorse bound for San Jose, it was tossed by 7 huge waves, and the way I looked at it, it seemed as if it was going to capsize. FEAR filled my entire being at that time… the turbulent seas seemed to have consumed all my remaining composure. Then tears started to roll down my cheeks. I felt so small while looking at the huge and turbulent seas around. Then the song STILL has brought me back to my senses. As my other companions were singing the song, it seemed to me that God was so near. I suddenly felt peace deep within. Then I became calm. I started to join them as they continue to sing songs of praise. After 5 hours, we reached our destinations safe and sound. Our mission was successfully accomplished. We were able to marvel God’s wondrous creations in the towns of Loreto, Tubajon, Libjo, San Jose and Dinagat. It was a nice trip. A meaningful one. It was not a walk in the park through but there’s one thing I’ve realized, had I not joined the group to Loreto, I could have missed half of my life. As I look back, I can’t help but really thank God for that one-in-a-million adventure in Dinagat Islands.
Now I finally know that when God send us to a certain mission, He always equip us with the necessary things we would need along the way. As for our Dinagat Adventure, God equipped my travel with wonderful people – my 4 other companions and my Loreto-Tubajon and San Jose STARJED Family plus Ma’am Nene Elago our dear BoD Member.
In closing, let me share this meaningful realization with you: “In life’s journey is just like crossing the ocean. Sometimes we encounter big waves, sometimes small. But in order for us to complete the trip, there is no better way but to ride on the waves. And there’s no other way to ride on the waves of life than to let them in and then overcome them.” May we always find time to hear God’s sweet call through the bitter situations that we face each day.
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