Are you sick and tired?
Are you sick and tired of life looking worse than it could ever be?
Are things turning out way too different than what you have expected?
Did you ever ask God why these things happen unexpectedly?
These are few of the many questions we may have asked ourselves during our rough times—just like our newest author, Marcelo ‘Mars’ Apidos.
Mars had asked himself these questions when he acquired a contagious and potentially debilitating illness that led him astray, made him take a detour, and encouraged him to write his first book To Be: How TB Led Me Back to God and My Life Purpose.
In his book, Mars narrated one of the darkest moments in his life that had taught him valuable lessons and brought him to a greater purpose. It was his illness, called ‘TB’ or Tuberculosis, that provoked him to be in deep prayer, to know the Greatest Healer, and to surrender to Him.
Mars admitted that even if it took him only sixty days to finish the book, writing it—and publishing it and sharing it to strangers—wasn’t easy.
“Truth be told, I chickened out. The idea that I had to tell my life story to the world in printed form frightened me again. I felt scared to be judged and bashed! Thus, the manuscript lay there in my hard drive for over a year and a half, and the printout gathered dust in my bookshelf,” wrote Mars in his Author’s Journey article in Memento’s upcoming November 2022 issue.
However, the prodding of his loved ones who believed in the purpose of his book was stronger than his self-doubts. Deep in his heart, he knew that his story can shed light to every person who experiences a similar hardship; it can teach them to be grateful despite difficulties, to find meaning in challenges, and to remain steadfast amid uncertainties.
To Be is not just his ‘life story’ told in the pages but a testimony of true healing which only God can give.
Hence, after two years of being shelved, the book was finally launched on Mars’s 42nd birthday. “It was poignant and surreal but was also liberating. Maybe that is how it feels to finally deliver a baby after a long labor.”
To Be: How TB Led Me Back to God and My Life Purpose is now available in Scribblory Book Shop and Scribblory's Shopee account.
About the Author
Marcelo is a loving husband to Maribel and a wonderful father to their four kids. He is a promising entrepreneur who lives a quiet life in Tuguegarao, Cagayan Valley.
Contributing Writers: Gerylyn Basa
Marvi San Pedro
Christine Sison
Editors:
Aiko Hara
Elaine Marie Factor