How God Works in Mysterious Ways, His Wonders to Perform

The title of this post is something I learned in high school, possibly from literature class. That it has stayed fresh in my mind attests to the fact that time and again I've experienced His hand in my life, so how could I possibly forget the quote that encapsulates such?

This pm, at around 4:30, I was surprised that my tutee who was dismissed at 2:20 hadn't yet arrived. I texted his mother, not so much because of the income aspect but because I was concerned. Today being my son's birthday, I wanted to have time to prepare for mass at 6:30. Normally this tutee of mine takes a lot of time answering the reviewers I prepare because he malingers - paawa effect. He's the youngest in the family and is in Grade 5.

His mom promptly answered my text telling her that I had to leave by six (actually leave for my room so I could prepare for mass) with the info that her son was at LEAP and would go to me afterwards. Then she said if it was all right, she would just pay me for the reviewer I prepared and the set of answers to the reviewer. I balked. My first reaction was "the nerve." (the memory of the father of Narding in Sinta's saying that still fresh in my mind, having watched Sinta only last Friday). She didn't exactly say how much she was willing to pay but hey, I slaved on that reviewer for several hours and just like that she'd buy them? I wanted to say "they aren't for sale, lady." So I made the excuse that I didn't think he'd need it (let me explain, Leap is a tutorial session in school conducted by a teacher of the school who's not the boy's teacher). Moreover, I said, he might be too tired and might just end up confused. She texted another time and said she really wanted to get it and when I texted back saying I didn't think so, she apologized. I was peeved to say the least but that development also prompted me to call Power Plant. You see, my birthday boy son, when I asked him last night where he wanted to have his birthday dinner (with just him, his papa and me) he said Pepper Lunch at Power Plant. So on the off-chance, I called PP to ask if there would be mass tonight. Actually I was expecting a NO because months back, when I called to ask, I was told they only had masses on weekends and first Fridays. But I called and the lady said YES, at 5:30.

By that time it must have been 4:40 and it generally takes an hour to get to Makati. Plus my husband wasn't home yet and my son hadn't bathed. I promptly texted my husband and told him that just in case he was tutoring to please dismiss the boy so we could catch the mass at 5:30 in Makati. He said he had actually canceled his tutoring session and was about to go home. With a smile on my face I went to the room where my son was busy studying (?) for Wednesday's exam. More quickly than usual, he stood up and went to his room to get his clothes. But he lingered as usual and I was getting anxious. I wanted to avoid chastising him on his birthday. Before my patience ran out, he began to take a bath. I constantly said "mass at 5:30 in Power Plant, not in OLPP(our parish)". Meanwhile, husband arrived. After a while, son finished dressing. At around 5 we were off to Makati.

I told myself if God wills it, we will be at PP maybe just a little late. I was anxious though that I might have been given the wrong info and there might be no mass. Then I assured myself, at least we could visit the chapel.

There was no traffic going to Makati even if this was supposed to have been rush hour. By 5:30 we were at the parking lot (P1) of PP. When we got to the chapel, the priest was reading the Gospel. Not bad. There were others who arrived later than we did and I'm sure they didn't come all the way from Quezon City.

The priest was okay, his homily was okay and not too long. After mass, I told my son to call his cousin who works nearby to join us for dinner at Pepper Lunch. He did and it was fun having my nephew around, he who was mistaken to have been my first-born because when he was an infant, his parents would leave him with me every morning before they went off to work, so when I'd go to Unimart, for example, he'd be sitting on my lap. Years later, when I was with my son, the security guard in Unimart asked me "saan na ang panganay niyo?" I was taken aback and realized whom he thought my eldest son was. Anyway, back to tonight.

After Pepper Lunch, we bought some bread at Bread Talk. (Their loaf breads are really tasty and soft.) Afterwards we went to Pazzo for some ice cream and there I reminded my nephew of how, when I was pregnant, I'd play catch ball with him from my bed while he stood by the door. Occasionally, I would tell him then not to throw too hard lest he hurt the baby in my tummy. And I'll never forget what he said, "Taba lang yan." As I told him, he tried to recall how old he was then and said "six or seven." My son's now 19. He's 26 and an assistant manager in a multinational company.

How time has flown and somehow, my nephew will always occupy a special place in my family of a husband and a son. Somehow he is like a son to me too and I think he knows it.

What a nice evening we had. Like they say before Christ's resurrection he went through Good Friday. In a sense my disappointment with my tutee's mom was like Good Friday and what followed was certainly a resurrection of sorts. yes, I know the comparison is really so many worlds apart in terms of impact (micro as opposed to macro), but you get the drift.

Won't edit this na. Anyway, all those who read my posts in this blog are people I care about, and that includes you. So any errors are forgiven, right?

It is my son's birthday so should this post have been about him? If I were the perfect mother, it would have been, but I'm not. He finds sentimental stuff cheesy besides, and if I dedicated a post to him and he learned about it, how aghast he'd be. Besides he knows how I feel and must be tired hearing me say how I love him very "mucho"! It has become a fill in the blanks thing, dating back from when he was a baby and sometimes he'd say "macho". hayyy.