Truly Rich and Blessed

Financial Literacy and Your Family

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What role does financial literacy play in raising a family?

A very, very BIG one.

Families, especially those with young children like mine, need to have a strong financial foundation to ensure that nothing is lacking when the time comes (read: basic essentials people – food, water, clothing, shelter. etc plus the luxury item here and there *winks*). All parents, well, most at least, want to be able to give the best to their kids.

A lot of times however, we fail to do so.

We work ourselves to the bone, some even juggling 2 or 3 jobs at the same time. Still we fail to do so.

We try to save part of our income, hoping that that “rainy day” won’t come too soon.

We cut down on expenses, yet still the bills keep piling up.

Face it, we parents, no matter how hard we try, many many times fail to give the BEST to our kids.

But there is HOPE, people.

Don’t despair.

You don’t have to have a background in finance to be financially literate.

All you need is CONVICTION and COMMITMENT.

(More on this in the upcoming posts! Stay tuned!)

Easter should be forever :)

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Today is the Wednesday in the Octave of Easter.

It is STILL Easter!

Easter isn’t just for a day.. we actually celebrate Easter for six weeks after the actual Easter Sunday, until the Solemnity of the Lord’s Ascension.

Then comes another big feast day for us Catholics: PENTECOST!

Incidentally, last Holy Week led me to reflect on the meaning of Easter in my own life.

I’ve come to realize and decide that Easter should be FOREVER. Forever remembered, stored away in my heart and lived out every day.

It’s funny and sad at the same time that many Catholics and Christians nowadays consider Christmas to be the biggest feast/time to celebrate. Complete with decorations, carols, sumptuous feasts, carolers, gifts, etc etc.

But what about EASTER? How come we don’t decorate our houses to celebrate the day when Jesus rose from the dead, and conquered death and sin for us all?

How come we don’t go from house to house singing “Jesus Christ Is Ris’n Today” or other Easter hymns?

How come we don’t send each other Easter cards in the same way we send Christmas cards (we list down every person we want to send cards to, etc etc)?

How come we don’t have Buena Noche on Easter eve (the night of the Easter Vigil)?

I’m not saying that I or we as a family were able to do all these things this Easter either. But we have decided that next year onwards, Easter (and the Holy Week before it) will definitely include more preparation on our parts and more activities for the kids and the whole family. We will start our own Easter traditions.

To remind us that Easter should be forever in our hearts. 🙂

(Incidentally, we as a Mission Team and family celebrated Easter in our own simple way. Karen baked a delicious chocolate cake and Anthony cooked some spaghetti. 🙂 Tim asked Karen to put a candle on the cake, his “birthday/Easter” cake. Yum yum! Kudos to Karen and Anthony and thanks for our simple, sumptuous Easter feast!)

To live is to die…

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As I write this, it is already Good Friday. And in the wee small hours of the morning, I want to declare to the world that I AM GRATEFUL.

I am grateful to my God. For my family. For my friends. For my community. For my faith. For Mother Church.

There are many customs, traditions and “superstitions” associated with today, the day the entire Christian world (and some non-Christians as well) remembers what True, Sacrificial Love means, as personified by Jesus dying on the cross.

Some of these customs and traditions are considered silly, some sacred.

As for myself, I want to start a tradition of my own. To always remember how GRATEFUL I should be for this life that I have and probably do not deserve.

Yet because of Ultimate Love on the Cross, I am worthy.

And not just me.

My entire family. My husband. Our precious kids. My parents, brothers and sister, in-laws, etc etc.

All of us are worthy.

Because when He died, we lived.

Today I’d like to recall the lyrics of a beloved hymn I grew up with in Brunei…

“To live is to die

And to laugh is to cry

To live is to love with all your heart

To live is to walk

And to talk in Your word

And to live is to…” (oops, forgot the last line! LOL)

But the point is..

TO LIVE is TO DIE…

And as God holds my future and the future of our family in His hands now, especially what will happen in the next few months, I am going to have to learn to DIE..

DIE to my personal preferences..

DIE to my own wants and needs…

DIE to my hopes and dreams..

And SURRENDER all to HIM..

So that I may LIVE..

So that my preferences will be what He prefers..

So that my wants and needs will be fulfilled by Him, in His own time and on His own terms..

So that my hopes and dreams will live through His grace…

Indeed, what joy it is to DIE..

in order that one may LIVE..

Children Learn What They Live

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Children Learn What They Live by Dorothy Law Nolte

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.
If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.
If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.
If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.
If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.
If children live with praise, they learn appreciation.
If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.
If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.
If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.
If children live with fairness, they learn justice.
If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect.
If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about them.
If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.

May our children live as You want them to O Beloved, and may we open ourselves to Your will for them and for us as parents so that they may learn all the good things in life.

Disclosure

Truly Rich and Blessed contains paid advertising banners and some contextual affiliate links. An affiliate link means that I receive a commission on sales of the products or membership sites that are linked in some of my posts. So, if you click on a link and make a purchase from or become a member of an affiliate site, then I may make a commission from that purchase — at no added cost to you! Thank you for supporting Truly Rich and Blessed this way.
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