Straight From Pastor Ey

Serving is more a blessing than a burden when we serve according to our gifts. We serve more in the power of the Spirit and less in our own strength. One way of checking what spiritual gifts we have is through the way we respond to a need. During a church potluck, a member dropped a plate of pancit noodles on the new floor of the fellowship hall. Here’s how people with different gifts responded: The one with the gift of service rushed to help and said, “Oh, let me help you clean it up.” Then the person with the gift of administration immediately took charge, “Lucas, would you get the mop? Matthew, please help pick this up. John could you get him another plate?” “The reason that it fell was because it was too heavy on one side,” the person with the gift of teaching commented. The one with the gift of exhortation added, “Next time, maybe you should let someone else carry it.” Another with the gift of giving handed her own plate, “Here, you can have my pancit.” The one with the gift

[ Note: I wrote this the day after she died.] "Seventy years are given to us! Some may even reach eighty. But even the best of these years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we are gone… Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom." Psalm 90:10, 12, NLT My beloved mother-in-law, Benita Gamboa-Buccat, went home peacefully to be with the Lord yesterday, December 22, 2007. She is 81 years old. When she first learned that Ellen and I were going steady, at first she rejected me. She would walk out of the house whenever I would visit Ellen. When I was about to leave, I would look for her outside. I would say goodbye and she would reply with a courteous, "Adios!" (Spanish for "Good bye.") I decided to travel 200 kilometers from Manila to Pozzorubio, Pangasinan to visit their ancestral home and have a heart-to-heart talk with her. I explained to her my intentions. She explained her side. She won my heart. Mothers-i