Hurting? Turn to God’s loving embrace

I was given the book Your Best Life Now, 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential by Joel Osteen by my dear friend Rey Lanada. Joel Osteen is a Houston-based Christian minister, and he has the gift of inspiring his reader to be happy, living with the security of realizing God’s infinite capacity to love us. Allow me to share with you Joel Osteen’s retelling of the "Tale of Three Trees" – an olive tree, an oak tree, and a pine tree.

"The olive tree dreamed of becoming a finely crafted treasure chest. It wanted to hold gold, silver and precious jewels. One day, a woodsman chose the one olive tree, out of all the trees in the forest, and cut it down. The olive tree was so thrilled. But as the craftsman began working on him, the tree realized they weren’t making him into a beautiful treasure chest; they were making him into a manger to hold food for dirty, smelly animals. Heartbroken, his dreams were shattered. He felt worthless and demeaned.

"Similarly, the oak tree dreamed of becoming part of a huge ship that would carry important kings across the ocean. When the woodsman cut down the oak, he was so excited. But as time went on, he realized the craftsmen weren’t making him into a huge ship. They were making him into a tiny fishing boat. He was so discouraged, so disappointed.

"The pine tree lived on top of a high mountain. Its only dream was to always stand tall and remind people of God’s great creation. But in a split second, a bolt of lightning sent it tumbling to the ground, destroying its dreams. The woodsman came and picked it up and carried it off to the scrap pile.

All three of these trees felt they had lost their value and their worth; they were so discouraged, so disappointed. Not one of their dreams had come to pass. But God had other plans for these trees. Many years later, Mary and Joseph couldn’t find any place to give birth to their little baby boy. They finally found a stable, and when Jesus was born they placed Him in a manger made from – you guessed it – the olive tree. The olive tree had wanted to hold precious jewels, but God had better plans, and it now held the greatest treasure of all time, the Son of God.

"A few years went by and Jesus grew up. One day, He needed a boat to cross to the other side of the lake. He didn’t choose a large, fancy ship; He chose a small, simple fishing boat made from – you guessed it – the oak tree. The oak tree wanted to carry important kings across the ocean, but God had better plans. The oak now carried the King of Kings.

"A few more years went by, and one day some Roman soldiers were rummaging around in the pile of scrap wood where the discarded pine tree lay. The pine tree just knew they were coming to cut him up for firewood. But much to its surprise, they cut only two small pieces out of it and formed them into a cross. And it was on this pine tree that Jesus was crucified. That tree is still pointing people to God’s love and God’s compassion to this day.

"The point of the classic story is clear: all three trees thought they had lost their value, that their stories were over, yet they became integral parts of the greatest story ever told."

Thank you, Joel Osteen, for strengthening my relationship with God. I’m a voracious reader, but hesitated to read books to enrich my spiritual life because I thought they’d be too preachy or too righteous. After reading Your Best Life Now, I also read The Power of a Praying Wife and The Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian, both of which were Christmas presents of Jin Salgado Gregorio, the wife of coach Ryan Gregorio, James’ (Yap) coach in Purefoods Chunkee. Currently, I’m three-fourths of the way done with Omartian’s The Power of a Praying Woman. Every night, I read my Catholic Women’s Devotional Bible. It’s excellent because daily there are three readings assigned, never too long and with an accompanying modern-day reflection.

I used to be afraid to speak too openly about my faith because I felt that the cynics would just be waiting for me to trip or tumble so that they could say I really wasn’t a worthy Christian. I was also afraid to express that I was happy with my life, my career, my family life, and my relationship with James, because again I was afraid that I wasn’t worthy of all that I have now, and maybe everything would be taken away from me.

Until I realized I have been tremendously blessed because I’m able to share with so many people how much good has come into my life because there have been so many people who loved me and believed in me enough to keep praying for me, and because of their prayers I have moved on from my past mistakes. I started praying on my own and inviting others to join me. And I honored my work, which is shared with millions of Filipinos, with passion, diligence and discipline. I now work with the belief that "it’s possible to do well by doing good, and it’s possible to do good, by doing well."

I will be 35 years old on February 14. There are still moments of exhaustion from working 20-hour days, insecurity when ratings are not as high as I thought they’d be, James and I have our arguments, my mom and I have our disagreements, Josh lets it be known to me in a very clear manner whenever he feels displeasure at not having enough time and attention from me, I feel frustration when I make my BIR payments, and I still cry when an endorsement I was hoping to get doesn’t go to me. Yet I know that life is good, because God is good. He loves me, not because I’m Kris, but because for a long time my sinful self wasn’t worthy of His love. He loves me in the way He loves all of us. The only difference is life has taught me to appreciate, embrace and celebrate God’s love.

If we are lost, depressed, lonely, hurting, without hope, or angry, a lot of people encourage us to pray. Sometimes shame, just like in my case, prevents us from becoming closer to Him. If you’re hurting there’s no better place to turn than to God’s loving embrace. I was blessed because my prayer warriors kept on praying for me. And now I pay it forward by constantly praying for others who are in need.

Unlike the three trees, God granted me my childhood dream. I just nearly blew it because I became arrogant and failed to honor God with the fame and glory He had blessed me with. But now I know the value of saying "thank you." Think about it, when you do a friend a favor, or send a thoughtful gift, you do it because you want that friend to feel special. But what if after doing good, your effort is ignored? Nakakawalang-gana nang tumulong o mag-abala.

But if the appreciation is effusive and sincere, there will be no hesitation the next time around your friend calls on you, and you’ll enthusiastically give the support or the gift your friend needs.

I thank you for taking the time to read this piece. I pray that my experiences with God will give you a measure of comfort and hope in what the future has in store. I end by sharing with you Jeremiah 29:11-12. "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you."