“Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” – Hebrews 11:1-2

For the past couple of weeks, Noy Sauce had been galivanting with his fiancée across different time zones.

Later in our trip, I caught the flu after being exhausted from the travel. The flu was bad enough that my mother and fiancée also got sick and was the first time I got sick in more than four years.

By the time I returned to work, I had not fully recovered. Life was not made easier when leadership at work was in flux, causing my coworkers and I to work extra hours. With my health not being 100% and having more meetings and assignments to attend to, I was forced to be more intentional on my focus.

I slept earlier in the evenings to wake up earlier in the morning to go to the gym and attend morning meetings.

And at the end of the week, we got a notice that I, along with other co-workers, were being laid off.

“Stay awake and be ready! For you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” – Matthew 24:42a,44

You see, Noy Sauce had lost a big part of “his edge” for much of this year, after accomplishing his goals. It’s easy to lose focus after reaching your goals with your backs no longer against the wall as you wonder, what’s next?

Noy Sauce in 2018 Before Turning Pro	Noy Sauce in 2022 With a Few Years of Being Pro
Slept in the living room of his mother’s one bedroom apartment	Owns a townhome, sleeping in his own room with a separate room for his office
Took Lyfts and borrowed his mother’s car to get around town	Owns a car he did not settle for, and has more options how to get around town
Single	Engaged to his ideal lady who teaches him his family’s native dialect, and how to be more compassionate and understanding of others
Added buckets of water to the communal washing machine when doing laundry, because the apartment manager was too cheap to get a bigger washer and change the setting to put more water.	Washes his clothes on his own modern washing machine that can customize his laundry needs. Scared of viruses? No problem, use the steam cycle to sanitize!

Back in September 2020, six months after the pandemic started, I met my now-fiancée in person for the first time. We had already been seeing each other for six months. The trip was filled with many emotional moments, as we loved each other but were uncertain where our relationship will end up.

Who was going to move? Will we accept each other’s shortcomings that have an impact on the relationship? Will we overcome our doubts that a long-distance relationship can and will work out?

When I arrived at the airport to catch my flight back to Southern California, I called my mother and Mama to share how the trip went. To my surprise, they were excited to hear about it.

After speaking with them, I made the conscious decision to fight for this.

And I’m still fighting for this to this day.

We have many reasons to not fight what matters most to us. Time, resources, and distance, just to name a few. But when we are presented with problems that challenge our own time in this world, our focus narrows to where we will fight for what matters most to us whether or not we actually succeed (we often succeed, though 😉).

We are not entitled to our success. But rather, the reward is being able to wake up each morning to do this. If we are not in peak form physically, mentally, and spiritually, none of our ambitions matter.

And some parts of our lives can be taken away from us without warning.

This past Sunday’s readings tell us to have faith and be ready. In the gospel, Jesus tells his disciples:

“Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.

Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy.

For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.”

With all that’s going on, that doesn’t mean I’ll literally give up all of my material belongings and live as a wanderer.

What it does mean, however, is that there’s time to take a step back, discern what really matters and what needs to be done, and then move forward courageously with my best first step and utmost focus.

Did I use my time and resources to help those in need?

Did I give my best when fighting for what really matters?

What did I learn from these recent experiences so that the future is better?

A few hours after getting the notice at work, my mother and I ate lunch at one of my favorite sushi restaurants. The following day, we took an afternoon trip to Mission San Juan Capistrano for mass and to San Clemente for fish tacos.

(Mass and fish tacos are a powerful combination of a fun afternoon 🤙)

And I’ve got a couple of day trips planned out for the week and rest of the month.

Life is good, bad, ugly, and beautiful. And I’m grateful for all of it.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for our lives. We thank you for the challenges that wake us up from our slumber and complacency to fulfill your calling for us. I’m sorry for the complacency I fell into, which caused me to lose focus and not always giving it my best each day. We pray for Your grace to open new doors and opportunities in our lives as we realize what is hoped for and find evidence of things not seen through our faith in You. In this we pray, Amen.

(The cover photo was taken on the last day of my first trip to visit my now-fiancee in September 2020. That day encapsulates how fighting for what matters most and having faith will lead us to our biggest growth.)