"No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted."

For every pain that we much bear,
For every burden, every care,
There is a reason.

For every grief, that bows the head,
For every tear drop that is shed,
There is a reason.

For every hurt, for every plight,
For every lonely, pain-wracked night
There is a reason.

BUT IF WE TRUST GOD, AS WE SHOULD,
IT WILL WORK OUT FOR OUR GOOD,

For only GOD knows the reason.

I held on to the message of this poem as a grappled with the loss of my much prayed-for child. It gave me considerable comfort to hold on to God’s infinite wisdom, believing that beyond my pain lies something bigger than myself and my loss ..... something good, no matter how small, that can be brought to light only through my suffering.

I believe that we have all been given life for a purpose, and that each little thing that occurs in our lives is a minuscule piece that has its own specific place in a grand scheme being orchestrated by the Lord Almighty.

For a while, I became too immersed in my own grief, I almost started believing I had the monopoly of pain in this world. I almost forgot that there are others out there who are hurting just as much, if not more, than I did. But I came out from that selfish state when I read about the struggle being fought by one very brave lady. She is Muffet Dolar-Villegas, and she writes about her ongoing struggle with cancer in the Negros Chronicle.

Sensing another human in pain and seeing how she also held on to God to ease her suffering, I felt the need to reach out to her, share the poem, hoping that like me, she would find the same comfort that it brings.

She wrote back to me. And she also published my letter in her column. I am greatly honored. I am also humbled. I never knew how my small act could touch someone so deeply.

Mrs. Villegas caught my attention because of her courage. I respect and admire her. She is my model for her unshakable faith in God. The immensity and depth of her faith stayed true amidst the turmoil and uncertainty that surrounds her everyday.

But even the strongest can falter when buffeted by the tempestuous winds that life sometimes brings.

Behind her strength, I sensed a bewildered soul who, despite her convictions, may have at times found herself asking the question, “why me God?”

I had hoped that the poem would lead her to an answer, however incomplete it may be. And it did. It is indeed true that no act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted.

At this point in my life, I am coping with my loss by not focusing too much on my own woes, but rather, by looking at it from a larger perspective. I have resolved never to lose touch with the fact that no matter how big my hurt may seem to me, somebody out there is hurting more. Others have made it through and have found their “new normal” lives, but more may still be going through with their struggles.

Maybe, God placed me at this point in my life so that whenever I would see somebody who is pain, I could empathize with that person, and not just sympathize.

Maybe that is the reason why my little bird never got her chance to fly in this earth.