Praying For The Pieropractor

This last weekend I took a little trip with Brian and Nathaniel on our motorcycles to Daranak and Batlag falls near Tanay Philippines. It was such a nice, hot summer day to be taking a morning ride along the beautiful winding roads around Lake Laguna and as the day heated up the destination of a beautiful falls with cool refreshing pools sounded better and better.

Daranak falls is a really popular place since it is within 2 hours of Manila and yet feels worlds away as it is nestled on the edge of the mountains and surrounded by lush forest. As we arrived in the parking lot it was quickly apparent that we were not the only ones with the great idea of taking a swim to cool off. As soon as we got off our bikes we were met by a guy offering to show us where to park and to keep an "eye" on our helmets. While he was at it he gave us a peak at the pies he was selling. They did look good but at that moment all I wanted was to get in the water.

We paid our P20 entrance fee and began picking our way across the bamboo bridges and through the masses of picnic parties. Daranak falls was packed with swimmers and there was barely a place to set our bags down so we went up stream to Batlag falls which is often a quieter place probably due to a second P20 entrance fee. Once we arrived we knew we made the right choice. We were quickly swimming and having a great time.

After a couple hours we were just getting ready to go when we see the pie vendor going from picnic group to picnic group selling his pies. He was a young, friendly guy and had some really delicious pies so it was not surprising when he told us he walked up with 25 pies and sold them all. He did reassure us that he had more in the parking lot for us.

We walked back down the mountain with him, chatting along the way, and found out his name is Timothy John and that he is a Chiropractor but selling pies is his sideline. He hopes to go to the States and have a practice some day. He offered to give us a free adjustment in the parking lot and he informed us there was no need to a stethoscope. I think that is what he was saying.

We declined the adjustment but I did get 2 pies from him to share with our church group that night. After this he said, "So are you guys Christian?" I told him we were and he asked what church we were with. He said he had grown up being Catholic but lately had been in a Mormon church and most recently a Baptist church. He said he is not Christian but is really searching ... these are HIS words! Sometimes it really is amazing how God will serve us up divine appointments on a silver platter. We had a brief talk about how simple faith and Christianity is — Jesus is the only thing that matters. No need for the performances or added complications, it's just about His grace and experiencing God's fullness of life in Salvation. After eagerly listening Timothy John (the pieropractor) suggested that we pray - of course ;-) We prayed with Timothy, God came and showered His grace on him and we parted knowing something really special had happened.

All-in-all it was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday. God is SO good and life with Him is the ONLY way to go. Again I am humbled and blessed to be a son of God and in His service.