An Island of Hope and Healing

I think I'd be a morning person if I could wake up to this each day.

Marami ang nagsabi sa akin: "Mabuti at napadaan kayo dito sa Culion." Ang aking sagot: "Napabuti ako sa pagdaan ko sa Culion."
(Roughly translated from Filipino to: Many people there told me: "It's good you got to drop by Isla Culion." My response was: "I was made good, or a better person, because I did.")

God is in Isla Culion in the Philippines, a beautiful home-away-from-home where I spent an entire week on a silent retreat leading up to Easter. More than 100 years ago, Isla Culion was the world's largest leper colony. Today, it is a healed, historical, grace-filled island aspiring to be a top eco-tourism destination. It's a simple and laidback coastal town, with only 12 hours of electricity a day, but in close proximity to amazing coral reefs, dive spots, and white beaches, and blessed with the most amazing sunrises. I experienced God in all of that--but most especially in the warm and gracious people who, with their bedimpled smiles, earnest eyes, and open hearts, welcomed me to their home and changed me for the better.

PS. I have so many stories just waiting to be shared. I wish to write them soon. (I also wish I was there to soak in the seabreeze and all that sky.)