My Double Life

"Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will act in your behalf."
- Psalm 37:1


I'm back in my second home again, leading a much quieter and more sedate life surrounded by family.

We arrived here last week-end and it's wonderful to have all this peace and quiet once more. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy my life in Manila -- the sometimes harried pace, playing mom and dad, minding the house and the help (though that can be bloody sometimes...) and shuttling between office and home thrice a week. However, the quiet that being here affords is priceless. And since the kids are off from school we are together 24/7. Plus, I don't have to be both parents here because dad is around in the evenings and on Sundays. So we have a normal, quiet life here, so different from Manila.

Somewhere else in Asia, my best friend of 30plus years leads a parallel life. She's in Singapore as I write this. Keeping her mom company as she goes through chemotherapy. "C" left kids and hubz back home to be with her mom for a week or so. We chatted this morning and both agreed that we are more serene when we are away from our lives in Manila. There is so much more time to pray and meditate and rest where we are. We thank God for this opportunity to get away from our busy lives so that we can settle down and exhale :) And as we communicate from different countries we trade tips on how to text for free (chikka.com) and view our loved ones from afar via YM and Skype. Technology obviously, for all the negative flack it gets, has its pluses too.

Life on this visit is much easier because we now have a full-time housekeeper - let's call her Tiger Lily -- whom we brought with us on this trip and who will take care of the house after we leave. In addition to Ms. Yim who comes and cleans every morning, Tiger Lily will be cooking good old Pinoy food for H - sinigang, nilaga, tinola, adobo etc... you can only take so much of Pho. Pinoy pa rin tayo after all.

And then there is Mr. Thin, our driver who is interpreter and tourist guide rolled into one. An essential part to making life here all the more bearable. He takes us where we need to go and tells us where to get this and that. God has blessed us with good help. And you need all the good help that you can get especially in a foreign land where English is not the predominant language.

It rains in the afternoons now, making it all the more conducive for sleep and reflection and writing... and blogging. I'm looking forward to seeing new areas like going on a Mekong Delta river cruise, visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels, watching some elephants play football (yes, you read that right...) and strolling on the beach.

Life's not all leisure here by the way. For many hours each day, I still sit in front of my laptop as I telecommute with my super-able assistant in Manila, as we coordinate projects for the hospital where I do consultancy work now. Working from wherever I am is something that I consider such a huge blessing as well.

A year ago, I would never have imagined being in this place or living this "double life". Vietnam had always been on my wish list for many, many years and so I am thankful for the way that God has worked in our lives by bringing us all here at this time. In life I have learned that we can only plan so much but in the end, it is really God's will for us that is most important. Proverbs 16:1-4 says -- "To man belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the reply of the tongue... Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed." Everything I do nowadays, I ask God first to bless. If He desires to, it happens, then if not, I just go with Hsi flow. Life has become less stressful when one turns it over to Him.