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Philippine locations: Makati skyline in Metro Manila; beach and family picture (2012) at Puerto Galera in Oriental Mindoro province.
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British Columbia, Canada locations: Burnaby view, Jug Island Beach and family picture (2017) at Whistler Mountain.
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I grew up in Metro Manila in the Philippines in an urban middle class home, living a relatively comfortable life, raised in the traditional religious upbringing common to most Filipino homes. It was in my early twenties, when I felt a longing, of which I was not sure for what, but a feeling which C.S. Lewis somehow captured in his book "Surprised by Joy." It was a search for meaning, essentially, but accompanied also by a strong fear of what happens after death. It was only after I accepted Jesus as my Saviour and Lord and started a personal relationship with him, did I begin to find peace and direction.
His will for me eventually brought me to the United States to take up graduate studies in business at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, then back to the Philippines to start and raise a family (three kids!) and pursue a professional career. He ultimately brought me and my family here, to beautiful British Columbia, Canada, where his Spirit has led me to finally finish my book on grace and publish it. He now continues to lead me to pursue grace, to understand it, and most of all, to live it and share it with others.
I am not a pastor or preacher, not a scholar or theologian; but just like many of you, I am an ordinary person, trying to make the most out of life and of what God has blessed me with, rising day by day, trying to make a living, beset with worries and struggles just as every person faces. And I swear that sometimes, I get crazy trying to figure out what God wants me to do. But I am learning that clear direction in life is not always God's way. We just have learn to live by faith moment by moment, day by day, thankful for the portion of grace he gives us at the right time we need it.
I keep saying, it has not been easy, with my struggles and natural temperaments, my professional life, and the distractions arising from the day-to-day urgency of living. But as long as I continue this path of grace that God has led me to, I feel blessed.
A. G. Astudillo
His will for me eventually brought me to the United States to take up graduate studies in business at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, then back to the Philippines to start and raise a family (three kids!) and pursue a professional career. He ultimately brought me and my family here, to beautiful British Columbia, Canada, where his Spirit has led me to finally finish my book on grace and publish it. He now continues to lead me to pursue grace, to understand it, and most of all, to live it and share it with others.
I am not a pastor or preacher, not a scholar or theologian; but just like many of you, I am an ordinary person, trying to make the most out of life and of what God has blessed me with, rising day by day, trying to make a living, beset with worries and struggles just as every person faces. And I swear that sometimes, I get crazy trying to figure out what God wants me to do. But I am learning that clear direction in life is not always God's way. We just have learn to live by faith moment by moment, day by day, thankful for the portion of grace he gives us at the right time we need it.
I keep saying, it has not been easy, with my struggles and natural temperaments, my professional life, and the distractions arising from the day-to-day urgency of living. But as long as I continue this path of grace that God has led me to, I feel blessed.
A. G. Astudillo