BREAKTHROUGHHHHHHH (Ninang! One Moment in Time!)
I used to just swim for a minute before I feel my lung almost bursting. Then in that one fine day in a resort in Palawan, I learned to breathe properly while swimming (you can exhale even outside the water!). Now I can do 10 laps continuously–oh maybe just 8 (practice Lang Ninang!).

I used to start doing falsetto at “sol”. After two sore throats that almost obliterated my voice, I can sing with “head tone” and sing “Ikaw lamang” without fearing the high notes (!). And this, just a few weeks ago while doing karaoke at home! A seemingly shy classmate who didn’t show any hint of singing talent and boldness while we were in medical training staged a concert during his 45th birthday and now an avid volunteer as singer in gatherings (!).

St. Scholasticas’s College Manila Highschool Debate Team, my daughter,a member, has finally reached the Final rounds during the Philippine Schools Debate Championship (PSDC) in Ateneo de Manila. Oops.  Ok, we’re still hoping for such breakthrough today.. Hehe. (Wow, prophecy Ninang?.. “Hope and prayer.. My dear” 😋). Or maybe next year!

My eldest, after 2 years of planning that never pushed through, finally got her lower wisdom teeth successfully extracted last week. Yay!!

BREAKTHROUGHSSSSSS..

It is never too late to achieve, to shine, to accomplish, to finish.. To change.. To heal. It is possible. Turning points in your life when what you thought can’t be done WILL be done ARE possible. No one can cap your potential. Only God speak and it will be done.

Sitted as a first year medical student, while listening to a professor, I asked myself: can I ever teach? Wow! How do teachers do it? How can they know and share so much? I never had the patience to teach when I was younger. My brother and sister will attest to that (sorry brother and sister..). But I now teach in the College of Medicine, and (they say) are appreciated by students. Not even you, can tell what you actually can or cannot do — Not your past, not what you know now, not what little you can do at present.

Some breakthroughs are set up by pain. My greatest breakthrough was set during a time when I doubted the presence and love of God. It was one of the most painful times in my life. My breakthrough happened when I sought Him with all my heart. And He proved to be true to His promise. “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13) True for the Exiles of Israel then. True for people of all nations Now. I was reminded I have been born again and have Life eternal. I am, no doubt, loved. He is with me.

A gifted Pastor who ushered us to the church we are now attending once preached: pursue God, believe in His promises, and Expect Breakthroughs in your life. May you pursue God and continuously seek Him with all your heart and find Him. May you read and understand God’s word and believe in His promises. May you believe enough to expect and receive breakthroughs in your faith, family, health, work, and ministry. “All things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27).

I was just informed by my daughter that she did not get her breakthrough today. Should we stop believing when we don’t get the breakthroughs we have been earnestly praying for? Do we stop trusting when it doesn’t go well with us? For a few seconds maybe. But what sudden “pop” (like opening champagne Ninang?) and “give” (like when doing intraosseous access!) have been produced without belief it can be done coupled with controlled, persistent effort. It is in the believing and persevering that the best breakthroughs are delivered. (“So sorry to hear that.. Next year?” I comforted her. “YES!!” she answered.). May you have yours soon.

– Breakthrough Ninang thoughts
“Give me one moment in time
When I’m more than I thought I could be
When all of my dreams are a heartbeat away
And the answers are all up to me
Give me one moment in time
When I’m racing with destiny
Then in that one moment of time
I will feel
I will feel eternity”- Whitney Houston in One Moment in Time

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

“As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
(Isaiah 55:10-11)