Of Earthquakes and Passing an Exam!

On November 17 at about 4:14, I was just lying on the bed reading Kevin Kwan's The Crazy Rich Girlfriend on my phone when there came a sudden jolt, and what was a simple shake turned into a crazy frenzy of tremors up until its first minute. 

My first instinct was to go out even if I wasn't really clothed properly since I just arrived from a meeting and just wanted to lie down and take a good rest. But I couldn't get myself out of the house since the shaking has disturbed my peace of mind. 

I was trying to open the latch of the door to let myself out but I struggled with it. And for a while, I thought it would be the end of the world. 

While we in Mindanao have been experiencing normal shakes here and there, this was quite a different experience; it was the longest one minute of my life, and it was by far the strongest one I have experienced. 

If you follow me on Facebook, I have posted a similar experience while we were in Baguio City. It was a M7.2, Intensity 4 kind of earthquake. This time, it was a M6.8 but with an intense shaking of Intensity 6. The epicenter was in Glan, Sarangani Province, a municipality under my care in DOLE. 

The first thing I did was call the hubby, and then the daughter, and then my immediate family, the Mother-in-Law and then my staff. I could never recall how many times I attempted to call my daughter or the hubby yet, my fingers were shaking I couldn't push the dial button. It seemed as if at that very moment, all hell broke loose. 

The damage wasn't too bad though, we only had a broken picture frame and a few ceramics that lost their arms, two broken salt and pepper shakers, and books that toppled over. 

That very time, power was already gone. So we were careful not to move much in the house because it was so dark and of all the things I never got to buy, candles. No candles in the house!

By 8PM, I got a message from a friend that I passed the CES-WE! I passed one of the most difficult exams I had to take! It was never a joke! It was a heavy exam, that in my heart, I was settled in the reality of taking the exam again. 

So I PM'ed Ric and told him I passed. 

I cried while thanking God profusely for saving us from harm and not denying us of protection, and even more because of the good news!

But you see, when all these things come in unison, you don't know how to feel. The alarming effect we saw after the quake was terrifying. And if you tell me what could be worse than this, it's the fact that anytime, life may change for you or your family because of circumstances like calamities and deaths. 

We all are passing this life but once, let's choose to be kind to one another!