My piece of Heaven on earth: Gaming!

Greetings from beautiful Gaming!

I sit here in my favorite town, Gaming, Austria. You may think it is my favorite town because Vince lives here, well yes of course it is a factor. If it weren't for him, then I would have never traveled to Gaming. Ask Austrians, and not many would even know where Gaming is, or that it even exists. So why would I ever think of sitting in a car or train and travel to Gaming????

Aside from this being the town Vince lives in, I love Gaming for its beauty, the kindness of people, and most of all its peacefulness. I truly find peace and joy here. And I thank God that He has created a place where I can find this peace and joy. Each time I come here, and each time I enter the Church, Maria Thron, I thank God that I am here. It overwhelms me each time. I have come here so many times now, yet I am still overwhelmed at what God lets me experience in Gaming. I am in awe of His creation, this special place made for me, and for every person who experiences peace and joy in this little town!

This weekend I had 3 goals:
1) Share Gaming to my best friend and her family
2) Spend time with God (adoration and mass)
3) Spend time in His creation doing outdoor activities

This time around, the trip to Gaming was special, because I was able to bring my best friend, Rebby Precilla, and her hubby Jerico Precilla and their two kids, my Godson Coby and Isabella to Gaming. I have had many opportunities to share my favorite town to many people who are dear to me; my parents, friends, Singles for Christ (the community I am part of), Youth for Christ Mission Volunteers (voluntary part-time missionaries for the community I am part of), uncle's and aunt's. However, my best friend Rebby has not been here yet, and finally we were able to make arrangements where all of us could make it to Gaming at the same time.

It was so amazing that I could share this wonderful place with my best friend. She has finally experienced Gaming the way I keep on sharing it to her. And I am so happy that she loved it here, and also Jerico. Jerico has been wanting to be outdoors and to hike, and he finally got to. A well deserved weekend for Rebby and Jerico!

First day we got here, Vince prepared a delicious Mexican lunch... my special request: Fajitas! Afterwards we rested a bit and then we went to the Nature Park. We walked uphill with the entire family, including the baby carriages/strollers! YES, you read right, we pushed two baby carriages/strollers uphill. Thank God for the most part the path was cemented, but as we were "hiking" we had to laugh that we were doing this with two strollers. You know, it was worth it. It was beautiful company, and once we got to the top, it was worth the muscle aches, the sweat and losses of breath. I LOVED IT! Then we had dinner, cooked by myself =) We had one of the students over for dinner, Paul. I love that guy, and so does Coby. He went straight to Paul, he never does that.

Second day, I went to Vienna to do Jesus Time (Sunday school at the Filipino Parish), while the rest stayed here in Gaming. I am one crazy woman I know, but I committed to do Jesus Time, so I traveled to Vienna for Jesus Time and then drove back again right after. I do not regret having done it, because I was able to share about God to 21-23 children! Seeing them sing a worship song to God at the end of mass, put a smile on my face.

I got back to Gaming and Vince and Jerico hiked to the waterfall while Rebby and I took the kids for a walk around Gaming. It was nice being able to be with Rebby, because it has been hard to find time where the both of us could peacefully talk. We didn't have to think about time, nor rushing to finish because we had to be somewhere else. God gave us quality time. THANK YOU GOD! Then we had dinner at the restaurant care of the Precilla's.

Mass was at 8PM. Vince and Tina (a student) did the music for mass... it was BEAUTIFUL! =) And I loved mass, as always. Then we ended the evening with coffee and dessert at the restaurant. Some students were there too, so we got to meet tons of students. Then the rest of the evening was spent chilling in Vince's apartment.

Third day was spent preparing the Precilla's for their trip back to Vienna. They left 12:20PM, and honestly I missed them right away. I kind of felt lost for a moment. I was so used to having them around =(

But God gave me the rest of the day to spend with Him. When the Precilla's left, Vince and I went to mass. I got to talk to Sister Monica!!!! I missed her! And I got to chat a bit with some of the kindest people I have ever met, Maros, Michele, Tom, Maria, Niki, Mark, and Fr. Brad... there are many others, but this time around I didn't get to see them. Then I took a nap =) That was amazing! Hehehe. I started to clean up Vince's apartment then went for Holy hour!

It was so beautiful to have adoration after a long time!!!!!! I missed being with Jesus! I was in tears because I just really missed my time with Jesus. Since I began working at the U.N., my whole prayer life came to a halt. I wasn't able to go to adoration anymore or to daily mass. I would try having my prayer time at home, and it worked a few times, but it was not enough. Being in Jesus' presence this afternoon was so wonderful. I missed Him and I missed my time with Him. It's amazing how I could miss it. I have been praying to God that He helps me find the time to go to daily adoration again and mass. And He gave it to me today!

After adoration I went for a run!!!! THANK YOU LORD! It was so nice to run again after a long time. And I got to do it in the midst of God's wonderful creation! Right after running I went into the Church, because I had to thank God for just blessing me so abundantly! He let me experience everything I have been longing for! God is so good, so amazing, so loving!

Thank you Lord for this perfect long weekend spent with some of the dearest people to me, in the most beautiful, peaceful and joyous place... Gaming! May this towm continue to be a vessel of love, peace and joy to the many travelers! AMEN!