Yesterday (October 16), hubby and I were privileged to be able to attend a Parenting for Pro-Life Seminar organized by Pro-Life Philippines. I had recently signed up for their newsletter and saw the invitation so hubby and I registered for it. It cost us P300 per head but since we believe that educating ourselves about PRO-LIFE and PARENTING are two things that we should invest in, we knew that the money would be put to good use. (Despite the fact that we had just registered for the  on Friday, and were P1000 poorer hehehe. We believe that this event will also enrich and empower us to be better Christian parents. If you’re interested in registering, go  for more details).

Anyway, as I said, it was a morning well spent in the company of parents, teachers, guidance counselors, pro-life workers and nuns who had one objective: TO RAISE GODLY CHILDREN ACCORDING TO THE TEACHINGS OF THE CHURCH. The speakers, Mr. Raphael and Mrs. Karmelita Ocoma of HAKBANG (Haplos At Kalinga sa Buhay ng Anak at MagulaNG), were a dynamic and often amusing couple team who spoke lengthily about Effective Parenting for Peace and Nation-building.

What hubby and I liked most about the seminar was that the speakers not only emphasized the importance of positive, gentle but firm parenting, but also spoke a lot about being PROUD TO BE FILIPINO. Being someone who grew up overseas, this is something that my parents chose to instill in us kids, despite the fact that a lot of our other peers’ parents weren’t doing the same thing. Ang galing talaga! It strengthened our resolve to teach our kids, especially Tim who is preschool age now, the IMPORTANCE of LOVING OUR COUNTRY! (Now if only teaching him Filipino were easy! Haay.) Oh well, it is never too late to start. Look at all the Fil-Am stars who learnt to speak Filipino, and even the Koreans! 🙂 There is hope for Tim! 🙂 hehe.

Anyway, here are a few “quotable quotes” from the seminar:

Parenting is partnership with GOD.

The 3 S’ of Christian Family Spirituality are Stewardship, Simplicity and Sharing.

The strongest evidence of love is suffering. Redemptive suffering love is the most beautiful love of all.

The home in Filipino is TAHANAN. Tahan na. A place where one can stop and rest.

Parents are the child’s first teachers. (Go homeschooling! 🙂 Yey!)

Be responsible to a SONG. Self, Others, Nation, God.

Our first power lies in our dignity as a child of God. (We are aware of this already but it is always good to be reminded!)

The greatest challenge of a parent is to make our children happy.

There are no bad children, only bad behavior. (Must remind myself of this every day!)

True love comes about when we look at each other equally and respect each other. This applies to parents and children as well (even our little toddlers and preschoolers!).

CHRIST is in CRISIS. CHRIST IS.

There are lots more and hopefully once I’m able to get a copy of the slide show presentation they used, I can share it with you here later on.

But my alltime favorite is this:

Save the family and you save this nation.

Save the family and you save the world.

Save the family and you save the Christian civilization.

Save the family and you save yourselves.

Powerful stuff huh? Presented in a simple yet profound way. What I liked also about Mr. and Mrs. Ocoma was they also shared about a lot of their personal experiences as a couple and parents, and of people whom they had met in their ministry. Their practical tips for dealing with behavior problems and teens were quite insightful too. They even did mini-skits to portray the different ways that parents should deal with their children’s behavior.

All in all, it was P600 (excluding our transport costs and lunch of course! hehehe) well spent. Pro-Life Philippines provided snacks and a certificate of attendance for all participants, plus some pro-life magazines and brochures. Yehey! 🙂

Next month’s seminar will be about “True Love Waits.” Check out Pro-Life Philippines website here for more updates and information about how you can be EDUCATED and support the work for LIFE. No to the RH BILL, YES to HOUSE BILL No. 13! Save the family, save the world!