INTRODUCTION
"He kept smiling as he thought of his father, who strolled down the street to take them
to the nearby school, and later after class they drove to a neighborhood park, ate delectable food, and enjoyed the remainder of the afternoon together with a resounding laughter echoing throughout the site. Suddenly, he was awakened by his conscious thought of the reality that he hadn't had a father since he was born. TATTOOED IN HIS YOUNG HEART, HE IS A SON, BUT WITHOUT A FATHER!"
An innocent smile longs for a father.
Michael Joie Jagdon was abandoned by his father before he was born. His parents separated due to an irreconcilable perspective on life. Such a tragic, unrequited love affair. Thus, Michael Joie was left alone in his mother's custody. It was a very sad story indeed.😔
Childhood Dream
How does it feel to have a father?
MJ, as we call him, grew up looking for his father's love and care. Dreaming that he would also have a recognized father. How does it feel to have a father? He used to ask that question. Hence, undeniably, he was envious to his friends and classmates, who had a complete family. Nevertheless, his longing for a family that could grant a child's wish was so far a punch to the moon.
He must have been to college and not indulged into vices, he thought to himself. But when he became a teenager, he tried to shake it out of his head, yet his story left traces of sorrow in his personality.
Captured moment with MJ and his mom at his high school graduation.
Moving on, he graduated from Kal-anan High School in Tabogon, Cebu. From that time on, he became like a bird freed from a cage. Then he decided to look for his fate in the city.
SEVERAL JOB EXPERIENCES
One of the backbreaking jobs he engaged in was as a television antenna fabricator for 175 pesos in their regular days of work from 7am to 6pm. What made it grueling was that when the ten wheeler truck was scheduled for delivery, he had to carry bundles of manufactured products back and forth to the 3rd floor of the building once a month from 8pm to 6am and that's for 280 pesos. Furthermore, he also had a work subsequently as an egg handler cashier. Mischievously, they would add 1 peso each egg from its regular prize in order to obtain financial gain and survive of everyday needs.
Held Hostage to Loneliness and Vices
"It was incredibly hard if you didn't have an educational degree," he rants to himself. Until he gave up his work and looked for a better-paying job, he ended up being a massage therapist in one of the massage centers in Cebu City. It was the causal factor that his life became at its worst when he started to get involved in different vices.
He enjoyed doing them all, yes, because of the thrill he obtained. For him, he was able to search for the happiness that he had been yearning for since he was a child. Truly, his circle of friends was like a genie, captivating him much more than expected because everything he wished for was at their command vice versa. Their company was so addicting. Nightlife, overindulgent partying, unremittingly plunging into the beer were MJ's way of defining his own meaning of happiness.
What is renumeration?
However little did he know that he was killing himself softly. He was unaware of the fact that self-destruction was beginning to monstrously rule his entire being. His ways of coping with emotional distress, pain, and discomfort were yielding him more to life's complete devastation. When he began to manifest a rumination, a recurring cycle of repeating thoughts that were negative in nature, such as talking or wishing for death, self-torment, and hasty behavior.
"All at once he lost everything! Their house was consumed by flames of fire, and his partner and son were devoured by flames of anger too and fled due to misunderstanding."
What infuriated the situation was the history of abandonment being replayed when his own family left him due to extreme misunderstanding. Leaving a grieving range of emotions, odds so insuperable to muddle through, caused him to break out unmitigatingly by any chance of relief. In the event of being down in a dump, he latched onto the realization that he must have a God in his life.
A BEAM OF HOPE
Their friendship and solidarity now with "tondung" or Rolly is an answered prayer of MJ's mom from ages ago. Her mom had an instinct that "tundong" would help transpire MJ's overall transformation.
At one point, when he was adrift in the sea of uncertainty, due to suicidal attempt he was promptly reminded of a conversation with his best friend. "Do kun need ka kastorya, naa rako..kabaw nakas akong pagtoo.....I am here, if you need someone to talk to..you know my kind of faith..." That while brought him into a booming silence. He called John Rolly right away, informing him that he would go to church with him.
THE BEST MOMENT OF HIS LIFE
A doorway of hope
Brokenhearted, he approached his friend Rolly. He was clueless of what had in store for him, but his decision was full; he wanted to surrender his life to the Lord. Rolly brought him to a circle of his friends for a Bible sharing counselling especially with the guidance of Pastor Jun Nel Mark Mangoba. Mj on the otherhand felt a peculiar feeling crept in; the people around him were surprisingly different. None was judgmental, not one! He could intensely feel the tender love and care that he had never felt before. He was stunned in silence and felt enclosed by the warmth of Christ's love.
"An Encounter with Faithful FATHER"
That day, MJ, held captive of desperation, marveled at his release through the gentle hands. It was anesthetitic to his soul sufferance and overflowed his tormented mind with peace. His voidness was filled with a euphoric sense of real acceptance, love, and freedom.
REFLECTION
Now with his true friends.
Our brokenness and imperfections steer us towards finding the avenue to wholeness and infallibility. Synonymously, we have some wishes and longings that may yet come true, but just like MJ, why not begin to push the door wide open with our bare hands? Surely a marvelous hope will light our way towards inner peace and unspeakable joy.
RELEASED
If you are in a dire strait of desperateness and you’re pursuing even the world's futile metric standard of hope, if you are dead tired of going through the pain of fixing it on your own, if you are so sick of tradition and remain unrelieved, take a break. It is about time to make a change of course, with your journey, that is life-changing! Remember, there is hope because Jeaus is out faithful Father, he has tattooed us in His hands.
OTHER PHOTOS
Forgiveness Reign
Note: Content and photos of this story were declared and approved by MJ.
Thanks for reading another compelling story. Your support means the world to me.😇