From Glory to Glory to Glory (Day 2)

The tenor’s fluid rendition of the song gave me goose bumps. “Hosanna, in the highest. Let our King be lifted up. Hosanna.” A hush fell over the audience as Arun Gogna, the last speaker for the Kerygma Conference 2011 Faith Stream, announced the arrival of our special guest.

He was ushered in by 4 young men bearing banners that proclaimed His greatness – “King of Kings”, “Messiah”, “Alpha & Omega”, “Lamb of God.” Our special guest was Jesus, truly present in the Holy Eucharist.

As Fr. Steve Tynan bore the monstrance down the aisle, the crowd instinctively fell on their knees in adoration. It was a stirring sight enhanced by dancers solemnly marching in with raised flags.

Many faces were bathed in tears, mine included. Unlike the audience, I knew what was going to happen but I was still awed by His presence in the unfolding event.

It was a fitting finale to a day spent deepening our knowledge about the Catholic faith. It also capped months of preparation by the Faith Stream team; the last few days steeped in stress. With Jesus before me, I could now serenely look back to what was…

The job description for Production Manager only said: 1) assemble production team and coordinate communication; 2) coordinate with secretariat; 3) provide scripts/schedules; 4) provide t-shirt sizes of the team; and 5) coordinate with PAs of speakers.

Sounds manageable. I can do that. I agreed to serve especially since the whole team is from Feast Alabang. But my duties morphed into something resembling the mythical Hydra. When I ticked a task off my list, more popped up.

So there I was at the Faith Stream dealing with a string of unrelated tasks and bloopers. “Where are the table cloths for the book tables?” Huh? “Where will we put the signage for the parking lot?” Duh. “There are attendees who bought food stubs for the other venue and they’re mad the concessionaire is not here.” Uh-oh.

“Sis, even the front row seats were numbered, where will the speakers sit?” I cringed as I imagined asking our first speaker, the Archbishop-elect of Manila no less, to vacate his place when the ticket-holder for that seat comes.

And there’s my personal blooper. I turned my cellphone to silent mode in obedience to the house rules. I therefore missed several calls to alert me that Bro Bo Sanchez had arrived. I flubbed my primary role of being the key coordinator.

But I was not alone in the welcome bloopers. When Myrna, our hardworking Program Director, asked Bo to sit beside the Archbishop who had arrived earlier, he mentioned that her beloved hubby was still at the entrance waiting for our esteemed guest.

By God’s grace, the problems were addressed and the bloopers became memories we could laugh about over dinner.

God rewarded the teams’ efforts by helping each one survive many challenges. The stage with its stained glass cathedral windows design came out majestic. The singers and the band heightened worship with world class music. The dancers were gracefully in sync. The technical team managed a glitch-free event.

We were also blessed with high powered speakers(Archbishop Chito Tagle, Bro Marwil Llasos, Fr. Domie Guzman and Arun Gogna), host (J Yogawin), worship leaders (Rissa Singson-Kawpeng and our track head, Carl Fontanilla) and capable Central Support teams.

As I knelt before the Holy Eucharist during the recessional, I thanked God for revealing His glory at the KCon.

Special thanks to IC de Guzman for this precious photo with Archbishop Chito Tagle who is touted to be the next Pope. (I hope, I hope, I hope.)

My Little Big Artifact

Like ants in a sugar bowl, Proudly Filipina members swarmed around the registration table at the posh entrance of The Spa at the Fort. They each grabbed a token and tied it around their wrists. The less staid Ka-Pinays tied it around their ankles. Each component of the bracelet/anklet was a symbol of our race – a nacre sampaguita, pearls, coconut shell and carabao horn beads. All the lady guests wanted one including celebrity host Christine Bersola-Babao. I felt a pinch of pride. The trinket was something I spent several cross-eyed-from-lack-of-sleep nights crafting for our launch Spa-rty.

That was two years and many articles ago. I brought the bracelet to the writer’s workshop, “Write Now,” that I attended on Jan. 15, 2011, Rissa Singson-Kawpeng, our writing coach, asked us to bring an artifact. It was a tool we can use to introduce ourselves. Also a mental post-it to make the memory about the participants stick.

My artifact chronicles a short story. It tells how I like to make things with my hands – fashion accessories for one. It is also a memento of the first time I had the audacity to write for public consumption through the online magazine of Proudly Filipina.com. Inserted in its pages are the interesting and accomplished Filipinas I met, interviewed and wrote about.

This trinket also linked each chapter in my new profession. My two gifts that the bracelet represented – crafting and writing – were keys that opened the double-locked door to the world of writing for Insight Magazine and Didache. (I have blogged about how long I’ve wanted to write for Didache and how I met Rissa through my accessories.)

Because I wrote a reflection for Didache about an old blog, I was pushed (forced by embarrassment actually) to resurrect it before the reflection was due to come out. Didache readers might look for the blog and find articles as old and outmoded as last season’s fashion bling. I wanted them to read something new and sparkling.

From this blog, another link was created. An article I submitted to Bo Sanchez’s Facebook page was chosen Blog of the Week. It also caught the eye of Kerygma Magazine’s managing editor, Tess Atienza. At that time, she needed a testimony for their January issue. My story was exactly what she was looking for. A new chapter began when Tess asked me to be a contributing writer for Kerygma – another dream inscribed in my heart for many years.

These are the links so far in my story bracelet. Links that show big opportunities can come from little things. You never know where a blessing will start. It can begin from something as trivial as my trinket.

Creative House's Rissa Singson-Kawpeng, Arun & Lallaine Gogna (third to fifth from the left) with "Write Now" participants from Feast Alabang Osy Erica, Lella Santiago, Desi Tomas & Jo Ann Fauni

Thanks to Osy for this photo.

The Third Wish

My dream No. 3.a.1 in my Novena to God’s Love is to become a writer. Dream No. 3c is to have what I do bless others and inspire them to improve their lives.

Yesterday, something awesome happened that made me realize that this third wish is slowly coming true. (There’s still 3.a.2, 3.a.3, 3b and 3d, you see.)

Allow me to flashback a bit to how this all started. A couple of years ago, when I was still in the religious gifts business, I offered to make accessories for Rissa Singson-Kawpeng, Kerygma mag editor-in-chief. She was hosting Kerygma TV. I gave her necklaces and earrings to wear on cam. At that time it was the only thing I could contribute to their mission in spreading God’s

word. Rissa was appreciative, even asked me to make her tiara for her wedding.

When I got involved in Proudly Filipina.com, an online magazine and social network for Filipinas, I was clueless about what an editor does. I asked Rissa for some tips and sent her the link to some of my articles to get a critique. I guess she liked them because she asked me to write for Didache 2010. Wow me, a Didache writer! It was a twelve year old dream that finally came true. (I wrote about this for Didache 2011. Just watch for it there.)

My reflection for Sept. 20, 2010 was about a principle we were taught when I was taking up my Masters in Entrepreneurship. In that piece I included a prayer I composed as an entrepreneur. It’s a quirky little prayer borne out of my business frustrations but written with great faith:

When business dips and sales are few, O Lord, sustain me. When the BIR comes and finds non-existent income, O Lord, defend me. When strategies and ideas run dry, O Lord, inspire me. When opportunities knock and the risk is scary, O Lord, encourage me. When money is scarce and the SSS and Philhealth checks need to be signed, O Lord, empower me. When you finally bless us with abundance and loyal employees need a raise, O Lord, remind me.

The next day, I received some emails thanking me for the reflection. It warmed my heart that my simple little prayer touched these people. One email in particular floored me. It said:

“don't know you but I would like to thank you for your "prayer" sa Didache reflection yesterday.

"When money is scarce and checks need to be signed, O Lord, empower me."

I really like this sis. It became my inspiration since yesterday and I want to make it my personal prayer from now on. I actually posted it in my FB account. You see, I needed to fund a check worth 35k today and since yesterday, been worrying how to produce that amount since funds are low. Praise be to God, before 3pm today, I was able to produce exactly that amount... The Lord empowered me… and thank you so much. May the Lord continue to use you. God bless you.”

So this is what it feels like to be the straw through which God’s blessings flow. I was amazed, awed and humbled.