"INA-TAY"

hello blogworld! its been quite a while that i haven't updated this blog and i sure do miss my friends in cyberworld... anyway, i have been very busy in my new role as "ina-tay" to my 3 lovely kids; well, busy, is an understatement to say the least. apart from tending to our small business, i have to do everything from house chores, to marketing, to taking part in my kid's school activities... the list goes on and on and on and on... whew! its hard but i'm not complaining, my daily toils sometimes gets the better of me but at the end of each day, i always thank the good "ONE" above for His blessings. i always look up to the end of each day with stories from my kid's day at school, likewise at the time we spend talking and swapping stories during dinnertime until we all retire for the night. its lights off at around 8:30-9:00 in the evening. well, sleep is a luxury for me, and i'd be happy if i get at least 8 hrs of sleep each day. you see, my day begins at 3:30 in the wee hours of the morning, when a lot of you guys are still snoring in dreamland and ends at around 8:00 in the evening, with no catnaps in between. so its all work for me up until saturday, and my saturdays are very "sacred". i tend to keep it that way now because thats when i can really enjoy my sleep and wake up at around 7:00 or 8:00 in the morning the following day. bawi ng tulog kumbaga! and sundays are my kid's day at church, we all serve during CLS' (for all of you CFC-FFL out there). i serve with the music ministry while my kid's join up with the other kids for their weekly KFL activities. i also am with the SFL as coordinator attending to 5 members. so, thats basically what our week looks like. i hope to post pictures here soon as i get hold of my cam which is with the repairman for a much needed r and r. btw, i still don't have my connection at home and am posting this via the internet cafe and my time's almost up and will try and post another one soon. see y'all around... ciao!!!!

T H A N K S ! ! !

hi y'all! i would like to thank all of you my blog friends out there for visiting my blog. something came up and i could not find time to update my posts and return the favor of your visits here. i wish i could let you all in on what's happening with my life, but its something very serious and might affect the future of my family, my kids specially. for the time being, i will be taking sometime off to attend to these very important matters and would be asking you my dear readers and friends for prayers for me and my kids. it pains me so much that all this has to happen at this stage of my life, but i would like to assure you, my friends, that in time and with God's help and blessings, all these will come to pass. in the meantime, thanks to all of you for keeping me company and for making my stay in the blogworld such a memorable experience. thanks y'all! be back soon... ciao!

Alternative?

Hey guys, its love month (February) already. How are you going to celebrate your valentines? I suppose it’s with your special someone. And that could be the girlfriend, boyfriend, hubby or the wifey. Anyway, Valentines is supposed to be celebrated with that special someone who is very close to your heart. I am asking this because I have learned from a good friend who is planning an “alternative celebration” to that special day of hearts. Why “alternative”? Alternative in the sense that the couple celebrating is planning on a not so typical celebration like going out to a sumptuous, romantic dinner, a little nightcap with a little drinks and the everafter afterwards (hehehehe, you all know what I mean). Anyway, the alternative celebration my friend is planning is to celebrate this special day with one homeless child to care for in one day. According to my friend, they have so much love in their relationship and family and will be using that love they have to care for somebody who is in need of so much love. And they found a street child to care for and give love to for one day. Very noble love. I can’t help but be envious as this is not your regular celebration. I would have loved doing something like this. I just thought that it was just great to use that love that they have for each other and share it with somebody else. It’s a kind of a “pay it forward” stuff but a bit different. I don’t know about you guys, but it sure looks more romantic to me. So, got any alternative ideas than the usual flowers and chocolates? How about dinner on top of a tree or a nightcap inside a cave, (to creepy!) how about going bungee jumping after a splendid dinner (hate what might happen afterwards, yuuukkkk!) or picture this... just the two of you with the setting sun as backdrop, having dinner and conversation and what have you, on top of a barge about a mile offshore... very romantic eh! not so, cause there'd be sharks circling by and be careful not to go into a fight as somebody might end up as fishfood for the night... just joking guys! wishing you all the very best in this here month of hearts. ciao!

As easy as 1,2 & 3

Is it always a question of who's right and who's wrong... or of who's dumb and who's intelligent... I dare ask this questions because apart from money, these has been the point of discussion if not, the quarrel for most of the time between husbands & wives. I say, it is never a question of who's right or who is wrong but rather a question of "is it the right thing to do?" and "will it be a beneficial to all members of the family? These simple questions should somehow be answered before the conclusion of every plan, decision and actions that we undertake as caretakers of our family. Each of us (husband & wife) has to do our part in building the lives of our children and that of our family as a whole. We should, likewise, be responsible for every mistake that we do and every wrong word that we say because what we do or say that hurts them now can still hurt them in the future. The grinds of daily life are sometimes too much to take, we get tired, we get bored and we get fed up with the usual routine but that’s just the way it is. You will have to find a way somehow to make your daily toils interesting, fulfilling and not boring. Raising a family requires a lot of hard work, sacrifices and even tears. The happy part is knowing that at the end of the line, we can all say, “I have done my part”.

I say also that being wrong doesn't have to always mean that you’re sorry, I say acknowledge the mistake, learn from it and move on. If you say sorry, then I guess one must be sincere in seeking the apology. Saying sorry is a whole lot different from BEING sorry. There’s a world of difference between the two.

In conclusion, family life, especially with children is no joke, never was and never will be. What could be tougher, raising a family with both husband and wife helping each other out OR raising the children all by your lonesome? I will hold forever in high esteem the single parents who single-handedly raise their children. That is hard and sure is one tough act to follow but, there will always be something missing in the balance. And that is the presence of one (spouse) to complete the whole equation. Differences can be settled with the proper communication and with God in between. I say proper because as grown ups, it is but right that we talk in such a manner that is not disrespectful and degrading. Everything is an easy task as long as we let the Lord in on our lives. Just let Him take control and everything will be as easy as 1,2 and 3.

Work & Prayer... perfect balance

has it ever occurred to you at times of how monotonous or mechanical your work is? do you sometimes feel burned out from too much work? how about the spiritual side of your life? or to put it simply, how is your prayer life irregardless of what you believe in? these questions may at one point in your life come at you. mine came at the close of this year and after giving it much thought and reflection, decided to put both in perfect balance. not too much of either. work is where we get food to feed our families, our loved ones... it is where we get the funds for our children's needs and schooling... it is where we get the funds to pay for bills and to pay for the many others that require payment, and for the so many other small things. but sometimes too much work may give you so much stress and may lead to an illness. we can't just have enough of something and we never seem to have that satisfaction to say that "these are enough". too much work may lose that spark, that passion that you used to have when you were starting out... or you may lose that yearning to learn, the challenge to excel or to be the best in what you do for a living. i just thought that putting certain things in its proper perspective will make me avoid that feeling of getting burned out. i started to refocus on the things that i have missed out on and boy! they sure are plenty. make no mistake, i am blessed by having to have to work at home and am literally, always there for my kids. it doesn't mean however, that just because i'm at home most of the time that i'm not missing out on some aspects on my children's life. its like i am there but the mind and spirit is too preoccupied with a thousand little things that needs attention all at the same time. for this year, i decided to just take it easy. not too easy that my lifeline will be the one to suffer. just a little balance to have enough time for anything, my kids and wife included. on the other hand, my prayer life has been blowing hot and cold at times. prayer is what we need as our food or nourishment for the soul, keeps us in harmony with our God. there can't likewise be too much prayer in your life as too much will make the other facets of your life suffer. i'm not saying that to be prayerful is bad. there are still a lot of other things to do in a day... like eat, sleep. study, read, etc, etc. even those leading a monastic life don't pray 24 hours a day. there has to be a balance between these two. lets just say that a 55 to 45 or a 60 to 40 in favor of prayer is not bad. there would still be a lot left for the other things in our lives. i just pray that i would maintain this all through the year.

Merry Christmas!

hey y'all! i would like to wish all of you my dear readers a happy, blessed and peaceful christmas. happy ... because it is the season to be one and everyone deserves to be whether your life the past year has been an unhappy episode of problems, trials and tribulations. blessed... because with all the unhappy moments of the past year, i feel that some of us, if not, most of us are still blessed in one way or the other. so, be blessed and stay blessed. peaceful... because some of us experienced storms, turmoils in our life the past year, this christmas season, i prayerfully hope, will be a season where we can all find peace... peace in our hearts, peace in our homes, peace in this world and peace with all the people around us. so have a MERRY CHRISTMAS y'all!!!

EXCHANGED VALUES Author Unknown

Here's something to think about. I got this from a dear friend and am posting it here for you my very dear readers...

An old proverb says that "The world is a net; the more we stir in it, the more we are entangled."

Max Lucado, a prominent author and minister, tells this story about a prank that occurred years ago: It seems a couple of prowlers broke into a department store in a large city. They successfully entered the store, stayed long enough to do what they came to do, and escaped unnoticed.

What is unusual about the story is what these fellows did. They took nothing. Absolutely nothing. No merchandise was stolen. No items were removed. But what they did do was ridiculous. Instead of stealing anything, they changed the cost of everything. Price tags were swapped. Values were exchanged. These clever pranksters took the tag off a $395.00 camera and stuck it on a $5.00 box of stationery. The $5.95 sticker on a paperback book was removed and placed on an outboard motor. They repriced everything in the store!

Crazy? You bet. But the craziest part of this story took place the next morning. The store opened as usual. Employees went to work. Customers began to shop. The place functioned as normal for four hours before anyone noticed what had happened. Four hours! Some people got some great bargains. Others got fleeced. For four solid hours no one noticed that the values had been swapped.

How Does This Apply to Our Lives?

As price tags were exchanged, valuable goods became cheap, and the cheap became valuable. This can happen to us. We exchange things that are important for those that, in comparison, are unimportant- the world honors success and hard work, so we devote ourselves to jobs we can't wait to retire from, while ignoring marriages that we entered in to for a lifetime; we seek clean, healthy homes, but let them become dumping grounds for the pollution contained in some television programs, movies and popular music; and, we want our children to have strong character traits like honesty and integrity, but spend far more time taking them to athletic events and other activities than tending to their spiritual and moral needs.

Yes, the world is a net; the more we stir in it, the more we are entangled. Seeking "happiness" and acceptance, we buy into the world's values and do what is popular. But if the world's values can produce true happiness, why is there a constant effort to create and promote new forms of amusement and entertainment?

Focus your time and attention on what is valuable to you. While doing so, put your spiritual needs at the top of the list. Nothing should come before your relationship with a man named Jesus. Even though he was dead, he is now alive, seated at the right hand of the throne of God. He understands, he knows, he cares. And he nourishes those who seek to be fed.

As Erwin Lutzer observed ...

If you are not nourished by the Bread from heaven, you will stuff yourself with crumbs from the world. Real nourishment comes only from Jesus Christ. You'll be eternally sorry if you exchange real nourishment for crumbs.

"What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" (Mark 8:36)