CourtsideReporter

Capturing and Sharing Jesus Moments thru Creativity

[courtsidereporter]

Hi Tope,

I want to honor you for surviving another year. It’s been a really tough journey, but you made it here. It was a test of patience, strength, and faith. A never-ending series of drama, failures, and breakdowns. You’ve gained a lot of amazing things like friendship and love, and I am really proud that you got the courage of stripping off the things that are really toxic for you.

I pray that you continue to fight and dream, continue to strive hard on the things that you desire. I pray that you continue to be a blessing to other people. To be the light to those who are struggling to find it, and to be the strength to those who need it. I pray that you continue to share God’s love through the things that you’re passionate about doing, spread kindness to those who deserve it and to those who don’t. Always continue to move forward and never stay in one place where you feel you can’t grow. Always look at beatitudes in everything. The world may be chaotic, but there will always be a better angle.

I can’t promise that all will be easy, but I do believe that you can conquer this journey called life. You have been blessed with a lot of things and I hope you cling to them.

Tope, continue to fight, continue to be hopeful, and continue to be prayerful. Keep the faith. May you have a year abundant with lessons that will make you the person that you want to be. 

Love,

From your 23 year-old self

[courtsidereporter]

To you...

Words may not be enough to express the things I feel towards you, I may sound cringey or corny but this is what my heart says. As I write this I may loose sense of what point I am actually trying to imply, but one thing is for sure, I love you and that's the point of this all.

I don't know why I'm writing this but a lot words just flows inside my mind when it comes to the idea of you. I just can't explain why or how am I going to say this, I just don't know what right words that I am going to say nor write. I just wish there's more that can match the attributes you have and the things that you're best, the best parts that perfectly define you as person who is perfectly and wonderfully made.

Am I making sense? The thing is I am not much of a words person but more in actions. Indeed, actions speaks louder than words, but the way I am writing this is in every beat of the heart, in every letter of this write up that I dont know how to end. Cringe? Corny? Yes, I am aware of that, but I am sincere.

To you who's my answered prayer, I will still continue to pray for you. I am here to support you in every way that I can. I am here to make you feel loved and secured. I am here to make you realize that you're more than what you think. I am here to let you know that you are not alone in facing those battles. I am here always when you need me. I am here accept you for who you are

I love you and that will always be true.

[courtsidereporter]

Hi 👋 Can u be mine? 🙈

I’m already yours

[courtsidereporter]

These past few days, I've been drowning myself with all the worldly worries to the point where I forgot how to be human. Having this mindset of never stop doing more, being guilty of giving yourself comfort, drained, and being ungrateful to everything. I started the year rough, yes, it's been hard but I am trying not to give up.

Today, as I went home from school, I decided to go to church to find peace, and as I sat on the bench inside, I Paused myself, took a deep Breath, Prayed and after that I Played life again.

Pause.

Sometimes, we need to pause to everything and have time to think things thru, weigh things, and discern if we have to carry this thing or drop and leave it. We tend to carry everything all at the same time, we worry too much, even at the those things that doesn't need worrying, and then we get mentally and physically tired and resort to giving up.

As I am reminded, let me also remind you to Pause yourself.

Breathe.

As we pause, let us also breathe. We're humans, not robots. Swimming in these troubled waters gives us a hard time to breathe, having this tendency to be drowned at our own worries, but as we continue to swim, let's be reminded that God brought us into these troubled waters because He knows that our enemies can't swim. So Pause and focus on God and we will never be drowned, and then Breathe.

Pray.

Focusing to God simply means that we should Pray to Him, talk to Him as if you're talking to a friend. He want's to hear your story and He is waiting for you.

Praying isn't always about asking what you want or giving thanks, but, it is also about going back to the One who made you.

Play.

Just like in a video game, whenever we are ready, we push the Play button and then face every challenge until we level up, but please know that life isn't like the video games, that we get to start again when we fail and this is the reality of everything, but what makes it special is that whenever we fail, we learn, we accept, we forgive, we get up, we overcome and play again and that's life.

Pause. Breath. Pray. Play. These are just plain simple words but has a big role in this journey we call life. Yes, being human is hard, but it doesn't mean that we should always think about how hard life is, because there's more than just that. Everything isn't always up or down, but a series of up's and down's with pauses, deep breaths, prayers and then play.

[courtsidereporter]

To the one I’ve been praying for...

I still don’t have any clue on what your face looks like nor your name, I don’t know where on earth I could find you or even meet you, but one thing’s for sure. I am praying for you.

I always wonder on how you’re dealing with every situation that you have; you may be having a hard time in every aspect of your life or maybe in the verge of giving up. You may be feeling alone or feel that the world is already against you. Your dreams in which you wish to come true and goals in which you’re struggling to reach. Your fears and insecurities that you always carry within yourself, criticisms that you always hear and the judgements that slap you. You may be feeling unworthy of being loved and questioning your worth. You may be thinking that you’re a failure to everything. You pray yet you feel it's hopeless and that you’re already having doubts in believing in His plans for you.

Again, I am praying for you. I pray to God that may He give you the strength to endure those challenges that you’re struggling right now and may He give you wisdom to not give up. May He remind you that you are not alone in facing the battles you have because He is with you. I pray to Him that may you reach your goals and your dreams may come true, may He bless you with courage and overcome those insecurities, criticisms and judgements that does not define you as person who is fearfully and wonderfully made by Him, and will make you realize that you’re worthy, deserve to be loved and worth more than just diamonds and rubies. I pray that you see you yourself as a fighter and not a failure to everything and may He grant you the grace to be hopeful in His light and may He cast out your doubts in His plans for you.

To the one I’ve been praying for, may you feel secured and know that you are really prayed for. As we continue seeking Christ in every aspect of our lives, I hope and pray that I get to see you and know you more than just your name, to meet you at the most perfect time and place that is according to God’s plan for us. Amen.

[courtsidereporter]

ON THE ROAD OF 22

Six years ago, I already have this mindset that life would be so much easier to live when you turn 22, do and decide things on my own, and get to live a life that I have always dreamed of. I got everything already planned for myself and for my family and offered these plans to God, but turns out I was wrong. Six years on the road to becoming 22, I faced a lot of challenges, I struggled in living life, and up until 22 I still haven’t lived the life that I really want.

I stopped studying due to financial difficulties, I tried to work at a call center but I gave up, tried to apply another job but didn’t continue and turned down multiple scheduled job interviews. I became unsure of everything that I do, because I fear that something might go wrong, or I might regret at the decisions that I make and it may affect other people as well.

I thought of myself as a failure especially to my parents and to God, it changed my mindset that living life is really hard; I’m at the point where I stopped dreaming, hoping, praying and became ungrateful. In short, I became a person with little faith.

Despite these things, I still continued to walk this struggling journey. I realized that I was being too much of myself to the point that I didn’t trust His plans for me, I was too scared in accepting His answers to my prayers, I had a noisy mind where I wasn’t able to hear Him, and was drowned where I fail to recognize that He was there offering His hand to pull me back up again. Little do I know that He was always there all along.

I was then reminded of His message that I shared during a conference in Bukidnon, “God is an even greater master planner than I am, and my purpose is to seek God’s purpose for me everyday”, and in that reminder made me understood that we should not see life in one angle only, where we always focus on the negative side, but rather we should also see life at it’s 360 degrees where we can see His plans and feel His love for us, and with that we are not alone.

In this journey we call life, it’s cliché to say that life is like a roller coaster, but yes, its true, either we go up, down, right or left, and we are blessed to experience this, because it just says that we’re still here living life.

Always believe, be hopeful, be grateful, and be prayerful.

“For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare, not for woe! plans to give you a future full of hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

[courtsidereporter]

Pray Despite Struggles

Doing something for the greater good and love for other people has always been the greatest struggle that I always face in my whole missionary life, I didn't expect that saying "yes" to God's call became a big burden not just to myself, but also the relationship that I have towards my family and the people surrounding me, turning grace into burden.

I always hold on to the line "God will provide", everytime I say yes to every mission that needs travel and other expenses. I always hold on to the promise that "God is in control", everytime I sail into troubled waters.

Then there comes a time of my life where I was fed up in believing those things, I suddenly doubted in holding on to those lines and His promises, because things are getting much worse than I thought, I became impatient and I became ungrateful. In my lowest state, I started to question God's plans for me, "Lord? Why me?", "God? where are You?", and instead of praying, I just and rant it out on social media.

Until, somebody asked me thru chat, "Are you available?", I needed someone that time and without a doubt I replied "Yes, I am", and then went to the place where I could meet a lot of people whom I needed the most.

I was then ambushed with the question "Are you okay?", and there I said "No", and with that I knew it was God who was listening to me, I knew that was Him who told me that "Its okay, let it all out, I am here"

I then realized that I am not alone in the struggles I am facing, I was reminded that I should go back to that time where I said "YES", and this entails not just having joyful days, but also includes struggles and hindrances in serving Him.

With these things it allowed me to go back and believe in God's promise that He is in control, that he brought us into these troubled waters because, He knows that our enemies can't swim, and He knows that we can conquer these things.

The struggles and challenges brought me to the people where I see Christ in them, and also reminded me that prayer should not be a requirement, rather, make it a lifestyle for us to have a firm faith in holding on to the promise that He has for us. Always pray, in any circumstances despite the struggles you face.

[courtsidereporter]

In moments that we fail to recognize the goodness of every person, we have to show to the Lord our willingness to change, and make commitment to serve Him. We should listen to Him and be motivated to take part in spreading the good news of the kingdom. We should always remember that it is Jesus who is calling us, therefore we need to answer. If we do not respond then we are not His disciples.

Just like in the bible where Jesus called the 12 apostles, they responded to the call and even left their former way of life, and took a life with Jesus. When Jesus calls us, He calls us to a new life.

In answering His call, joining the journey, and being like Him may not be easy, but its a way to a new life with Him. We are changed, and by changing ourselves through Him, with Him and in Him, we can also change other people.

Renewing people with Jesus Christ through radical evangelization.

Photo by Stuart Vivier

[courtsidereporter]

We cannot be paralyzed forever.

By having a paralyzed heart, then it would be hard for us to accept the things that made us broken and gave us pain, by having paralyzed feet, then it would be hard for us to move on, by having paralyzed hands, then it would be hard for us to reach out. Just like the man in Capernaum who was paralyzed but was healed through his faith. It just proves us that we cannot be paralyzed forever as long we learn to accept, move on and reach out.

Stand up. Pick up your mat and go home.

[courtsidereporter]

That's Life There are times that we don't seem to understand what's going on, we get scared of what's going to happen if we face those things, we then decide to give up, and then get dissapointed and cry. "That's life", as some of my friends say. Being human is not easy, especially when you're going through alot, but should you give up? should you let fear consume you and run away? My friend, giving up is not an option, have faith and believe in yourself that you can, no challenge or problem that's given to you that you can't conquer or accomplish. Don't run away, because if you do? It will always and always follow you and torment you, be brave and face it, remember when David used a small stone? he was able to beat Goliath with that small stone, if he can do it? then it means that you can. Always remember, God is greater than any of our problems. We just need to have faith, let us be brave, never let the worldly things tip you down. YOU CAN DO IT. Pray in any circumstances. Stand firm.

[courtsidereporter]

Ang layo na ng narating mo. Ngayon ka pa susuko?

Bes alalahanin mo, iba yung kahapon tsaka ngayon. Kung na disappoint ka kahapon, pabayaan mo na yun, pwede ka naman babawi ngayon oh kaya bukas diba? Huwag magpaapekto sa pagkatalo mo kahapon. Ganyan naman talaga ang buhay diba? Minsan up, minsan down. We all know mga bes na ang road to success has many obstacles and challenges. Pakatatag ka lang ui. Giving up is not an option kaya. A sword cannot be created without pounding and burning it. A diamond cannot be made without intense pressure. So ano na bes? Give up ka na? Think twice bes. Haba pa ng buhay mo oh, humihinga at nakatayo ka pa. Sige na may gagawin ka pa. Offline ka muna. Pray palagi. GodBless!