TGIF...again!

I watched Kung Fu Panda again.

Yup... you read it right... I watched Kung Fu Panda again...with Sasah! There are just few friends whom I can watch movies with...twice...on big screen...in two consecutive Fridays! It was another TGIF! Thank God for Sasah! Since the first time we watched KFP with our other friends, she has been so eager to watch again... and so did I.

I stepped out of the office at about four-thirty in the afternoon...yeah, it was sooooo early...thank God for my boss who left earlier. I was glad not to be jammed in traffic that I had to drove back home first because my movie-freak friend, excuse me for the term, was still crunching numbers. She handles one of the biggest accounts in the audit firm and it seems like her weekends are just any ordinary work days. We were supposed to go to the Manila's Oceanarium last Saturday but there was a sudden call of duty that we canceled the trip.

Anyway, when I came home my housemates, Len and Pia, who both took a sick leave, were there. In an hour Pia had to leave for Batangas and Len had to wait for Tin to come home. I took a nap and was awaken by the sound of our kitchen utensils and paraphernalia. They were cooking for dinner! Wow! Sinigang! I immediately called Sah if she like to eat @ 2724 or if she likes to eat out since it's our usual Friday Nightout. She was okay with the idea that we were going to eat one of 2724's specialities. So I fetched her in her apartment to have a quick dinner so we can catch up the 10:10pm show in Rockwell. It was a yummy dinner! home-made! =)

We hurried after dinner and arrived in Power Plant at about 10. Good timing. Enough allowance to grab a fruit shake. And thanks to Sah for paying for the movie tickets!

It was fun watching the movie again. I was looking forward to seeing and hearing my favorite scenes and conversations. And yeah, I could not help it but laughed before those hilarious scenes lines were spoken. Though based on my research the principles were from Zen philosophy, I believe it was rooted in Christian beliefs. The discipleship principle was demonstrated and lived well by Christ. I also like how Oogway dramatically said his line, "Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is mystery. Today is a gift, that's why it is called Present." It reminded me of one of my mentors who quoted the same line when she was teaching me to enjoy every moment of my day...to thank God for the gift of Today.

As I was watching the movie again, I just could not believe how Tai Lung can be so furious with Shifu. I just could not imagine how you can hate so much the person who loved you most. Then I was reminded of Lucifer. He was loved by God, as his angel. But because of his pride, wanting to be like God, he fell. He was corrupted by his desire to be of equal position with his Creator. So he became a fallen angel. He even instigated that Jesus was to be killed. Tried everything in his limited power to wage war against God. Even attempted to thwart God's plan of salvation. But we know the ending of the story. It is not only "good" but it is surely "GOD" who will triumph over evil. Victory belongs to the children of God...and we have our destiny in Christ Jesus. He will not only give us the strength and everything we need for the battle, but He will be there to fight with and for us.

Sasah and I went home after the movie and before we bid good night to each other, we prayed. And this is what I love about us...our friendship is rooted in prayer. And at the end of the day, after everything that had happened, we always acknowledge Christ's Lordship over our lives...all areas of our lives.

Looking forward to the Oceanarium trip and for another great Friday.

Kung Fu Panda Night

Prepare for Awesomeness.

TGIF! My friends and I watched the most-awaited Kung Fu Panda last Friday. Guess how many of us lined up during the opening day? Fourteen... yes 14! It has long been planned to watch the movie together. We were looking forward to seeing it that my mailbox contained a lot of email with this subject: KUNG FU PANDA.

We decided to watch it at Glorietta...then we changed it to Greenbelt 3...but since it was on a Friday, and we were beleaguered with time and traffic, we ended up with Greenbelt 1. Well, I couldn't imagine fighting for 14 tickets on a Friday Night at Greenbelt 3, could I? Unless I did some reservations but you see the movie was at 8:50PM and together with Richlyn, I arrived at 8:05PM. No way we could get 14 tickets!

And so the Kung Fu began. Along side with me (from the left) were Klaire, Rich, Sah, Pia, Roche, Tin, and Len. The row before ours was occupied by Greg, Joel, Lulu, Honey, Jai, and Mau.

The cinema was filled with laughter. Po (the Panda), chosen to be the mighty Dragon Warrior instead of one of the Furious Five (Tigress, Monkey, Crane, Mantis, and Viper), the took our breath away. He was sooooo adorable. And he was such a dreamer. Though he was no master in marshal arts, he had the biggest heart...who was to fight against Tai Lung. We were also moved by the conversations of Master Oogway and Shifu on destiny and believing in someone.

Well, I don't want to elaborate so much on the story as you can also read then in the reviews and other sites, but I'd like to share on the principles that reminded me of my own destiny in the Lord Jesus Christ and as being "master shifu" to others, as I was reflecting on the conversation Oogway and Shifu had.

In our faith-journey and our desire to be an influence to others, God consequentially and as part of His plan, brings people in our lives. Some we may like. Some we don't. Not even an inch. But as Christians we ought to accept and love one another, despite of our differences. We must learn to see them through God's eyes and with Christ's heart. As leaders, we must look beyond the physical appearance of the person, seeing not only who he is but more of what he can become.

It takes hard work to train people, to raise them up, to care for them, to impart to them what you have learned, and most especially to live and die for them... but the patience, strength, love and resources that we need will not come from us. Remember that we are just channels of all good and perfect gifts that God has for them. And as we learn Jesus' way of raising up His 12, we will also commit our lives unselfishly to those people God wants us to raise up and yes, grow with. A teacher's greatest joy is to see his student grow to be the person God has intended them to be...not only to discover his potentials but to victoriously achieve and use them.

Shifu failed to see what Tai Lung (his first disciple) was becoming... he was blinded by his love for him. Yes, he could have been the greatest warrior with all the marshal arts disciplines in the history of China but he became evil and his master failed to correct him, to discipline him from the inside. You see, character building is one important element in raising up men and women...especially in faith. It requires brokenness and testings so that not only the worst of the person will die but also the best be brought out and lived. We can find many stories in the Bible how God would "break" the leader's heart, allowing him or her to go through challenges and difficulties so that the person will have more faith in Him and learn His wisdom and ways.

In our quest for our destiny and purpose, we don't only have Kung Fu fighters as our heroes today but if we read our Bible we will discover a number of stories of great faith-heroes that can inspire us to dream big, fight and win the battle, and ultimately live out the call for greatness.