THE T-HOUSE STORY

​THE T-HOUSE STORY
[WHY did I start the T-HOUSE]

PART 1.0

It all started last August 1, 2019.

I was all-alone inside a famous restaurant, drinking mugs of ice-cold draft beer one after the other. The air-con was so cold perhaps because it was also raining outside during that afternoon. I ordered a classic pizza with my favorite combo of fried chicken and mojos. Then I started to read a book about Steve Jobs.

I was actually there hoping to have a breather. To reflect on the recent events happening in my life that time. For the nth time, I again experienced “rejection”.

When you are building a company or a team, entrepreneurs know that it’s just but normal that “people come and people go”. And I knew it so well since I experienced it countless of times already in my entrepreneurial journey. But each time it’s happening, I can still feel some pain even if I wanted to deny it.

To immediately move on, I decided to go on a road-trip from Pampanga to Laguna. I went to my south studio to enjoy the silence. I wanted solitude. I slept all day to relax my mind. I woke up early the following day and started to pray.

“Rejection is just God’s redirection.”

During my meditation, God spoke to me to help me understand the situation. He helped me realize a lot of things that were paradoxical to what I believed in.

For example, I believed in teamwork. For the longest time, I always share that teamwork makes the dream work – that if you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together. Now He wanted me to do things all by myself!

In our volunteerism ministry organization known to all as BLOC, I always live by its meaning: “a team/group of individuals united in a common cause/purpose.”

Whenever I have an opportunity, I always share it all to my teammates at BLOC.

“God first, team needs second, needs of individuals third.” Therefore my own family was always there at the last of the receiving end. It’s not bad and I am not complaining; I still believe in principles like in order to receive, you have to give.

But God was telling me that day the other way. Perhaps because I had given a lot already hence He wanted me to devote this time to my family. Anyway, I am not getting any younger. At long last, God wanted me to have a healthy balance.

I contemplated on making things simple now in my life and forget grand dreams. Yet I believe that my dreams are God’s dreams for me therefore I was perplexed.

I asked the Lord about His entrusted mission – “to help eradicate homelessness.” I am frustrated since what we have done so far is still far from His casted vision. Innovations, one after the other, had been introduced but still no major success.

God knew from the beginning that I wanted to invent something that hopefully could finally be the solution to help shelter massively the homeless population. And I realized that my innovations were still complex or not that simple enough.

“The achievement of the simplest is the hardest.”

Simplicity is the answer. Yet simplicity is the most challenging thing to achieve. Simplicity is when there’s no more you can subtract yet still it serves its purpose. Simplicity… Simplicity… Simplicity. I cannot get it out of my mind that morning.

BLOC Saturday – August 3, 2019.

After getting out of the bed and preparing myself, I sat down on my worktable. The presence of God was highly felt until I found myself sketching something. The result of that sketch became the principle of my latest innovation: T-HOUSE.
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I was stunned staring at the product of my ideation. It’s so small and so simple. Yet I know by principle that it’s so flexible – lots of potentials, lots of possibilities.

Excitement flowed down through my veins as I asked the Lord for His guidance. I asked what an ordinary person like me could do in this world using God’s gifts. An epiphany came to me. What if I yield to God and do all things just by myself?

“For a change.”

For the next 40 days, that exactly what I did. I was excited to do all things alone. Formerly, I used to delegate tasks to my team and depend so much on others. This time, I followed God’s direction: alone in action. Basically, it’s God and me.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
- PHILIPPIANS 4:13

DID YOU KNOW?

God uses 40 days for His divine purpose. The 9.9.19 Secret Event was exactly 40 days after August 1. While the 9.11.19 Event was exactly 40 days after August 3.

PART 2.0 To be continued...