I have always thought that Mark was not the right guy for me, it could have been John, or maybe, Paul, but the universe gave me Mark. He was not the person that I have always waited for, but he came in the right moment and at the right time and place, where I, for one, never expected him to be there. Mark was introduced to me by someone close, it may have been a coincidence because I needed someone to lean on before, I wanted to be someone who I was not. It was a moment to remember for the rest of my life. It started with a simple conversation where things began to stitch themselves together until a misunderstood event became clear, clearer than water, I believe. Before him, I was out of context. I did not know what path to take and the road to drive in, which choices to choose, where to go next, and why was I taking all these decisions. It was an unending roller coaster ride for me, I am beginning to feel depression and all the things around me are starting to fall back. Losing confidence in one's self was one of the hardest parts of those times. Every day, I was always thinking of him, every single word that he said, those simple details made me believe in everything I have right now. It has been no secret beyond anyone else the relationship I had with Mark. I tell stories about how we met and how he has been helping me with my friends and colleagues. who is mark?His classic work made me better when He wrote: "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours" (Mark 11:24) Mark, or commonly known as St. Mark, is the second of the four New Testament Gospels and, with Matthew and Luke, one of the three Synoptic Gospels. It is attributed to St. Mark the Evangelist (Acts 12:12; 15:37), an associate of St. Paul and a disciple of St. Peter, whose teachings the Gospel may reflect. It is the shortest and the earliest of the four Gospels, presumably written during the decade preceding the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE. The Book of Mark, based on the Bible, will give you more than anything else on your day-to-day basis, for, in fact, the Bible has already written our lives. But before I discuss all the parts of the greatest book written, I will only share, for now, Mark 11:24. This article may be a continuation of my previous blog entitled Why I Left My Dream Job? Let me state that again, "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." Before I entered the first day of my last year in teaching, I was always with my dad and he would always tell me, "You know what, the reason why we have a roof above our heads, food in the refrigerator, lights in the night, and a car to ride on is because of one single statement: Mark 11:24. For almost every night, Mark 11:24 has always been one of the topics in our conversations until this verse has made a mark on my mind. Going back to the last year as a teacher in a respected university, this verse was with me. It has always been in the back of my mind and I have carried it throughout the entire journey. Now, I am going to share with you a miracle, together with hard work, that my editorial board and staff have experienced. the bumpy roadsI was appointed as an adviser of the college's student publication, and to be honest, the publication was falling behind other student publications in the university. That time, I wanted more and I needed to push to the limits. But before a great view on top of a mountain, you need to climb a steep hill. Before I sat down as an adviser, I had to face issues that came from trashes. What was the issue? As the appointed personnel to facilitate the interview of the incoming batch of journalists, I was thrown with the question, "Why did you put these people on the highest positions in the publication?" The question, not mentioning or pointing anyone, came from a person who did not even have the chance to read the Editorial Policy of the publication. To my own personal belief, the allegations thrown was that the people placed in the Editorial Board were my closest friends, whether other people were more intelligent than these people. I have constantly answered that I did not need intelligent people, I needed skilled people. Other claims have been raised like appointing "who-are-those-people" kind-of stuff. I admit that some of the editors that I have hired are not perfect in terms of grammar, but what was behind these people turning out to become editors of a falling student publication? During the interview and throughout the school year, one of the statements I wanted to mark on their minds was: "I do not need a perfectly written article, I need ideas. I will be the one tasked in fixing the grammar." This statement, I believe, has made my editors confident in writing creative ideas and articles. I am convinced that there is no perfect thing even in the right context. Going back to MarkI believe that you are now wondering why am I focusing on being an adviser of a student publication, Mark has been a great influence on me and I wanted to show it to other people. It is no secret inside the publication that I am always telling them that what we are doing is a "winning piece." I wanted to see my team on the stage receiving the best recognition for a student publication at the university. I have constantly convinced my team:
And many other statements thrown to my colleagues. I have used all my convincing powers just to lift their spirits. I have also told my colleagues in the office that the magazine we were making that academic year was a "winning piece." Not to brag but to convince, not only the team but everyone around us. Though many eyes rolled during those days, and yes, I know every little detail, those things did not stop me in pursuing what was in the plan, to win. Truth be told.Honestly, and we know, the magazines produced that were submitted for the competition were not perfect, probably, not the best amongst the rest. Some of the articles were only there to fill in the blank spaces and only a few were competition ready. But what was in our minds? ... believe that you have received it and it shall be yours. We had faith, not only on ourselves but on the words written in the greatest book. The Sweet AND SOUR TASTE OF VictoryThe funny thing here was that on the day of the recognition of the best of the bests, I had to fetch my editors on their houses so that we will arrive at the venue together and as a team. Were we unlucky enough or were we just having a bad day? At one part of the travel from one of my editor's house to the venue, the van that we were on broke down and we had to leave the car behind and thought of riding tricycles to go to the venue. It was a damn bad day. We were already thinking of the fact that maybe these things happened because we will not win in the end and God is already making ways for us to stop and not attend the event. During the chaos, I thought for myself, why will we give up now that we are already here, ready to attend the event, and have believed that we have already received the award we think we deserved. The event has started and we were still stuck, the dean was already calling me asking if we are going to attend the event or not, and one of my editors is already there and also asking us where we were. After several minutes of being stuck, we have arrived at the conclusion that we are going to go home and take our motorcycles and just attend the event even if we are already late. A Recognition for the TeamThis article was not only on how Mark helped us throughout the journey but also to recognize my team who worked hard for more than 15 hours a day, non-stop and adding up their academics. At the end of the day, even if we had to face unplanned circumstances, the team bagged the following awards:
It was an unexpected turnout of events, we only wished to be on the top three outstanding student publications, better yet, even third place is not bad already. But at the end of the day, we grabbed the top, we were recognized as the Most Outstanding Student Publication in the university. Not bad. LOL! The AftereffectsSee? From a student publication with no major awards for how many years, with faith and belief, you can lift, not only yourself but the entire team. Remember that the only way to win our battles is to surrender and let God fight for us. Mark 11:24. Write that down.
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iKenSpeak by Kenneth Jesmar Pacis | Author
Hey there! I'm Kenneth Jesmar Pacis, a newbie blogger and currently a manager of one of my family's business in Ilocos Norte, former instructor in a university in Ilocos Sur and a journalist of an award-winning student publication.
I'm on my way to becoming a vlogger, kidding! Writing has always served as a creative outlet of my random thoughts. I hope you enjoy my writings because I believe that #iKenSpeak and everyone can. |