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Woman, You Are Meant to Shine! (An Invitation)

May 21, 2018 by Tina

Previous Jewels Conference Photo-1

One of the things that I had been praying for during my bedrest period was that I would be well enough to attend this year’s Jewels Conference. I went to the first conference, and had been waiting for the next one… which will be happening soon—on June 2, to be exact!

Jewels Conference INvite

So I am very grateful to God for answering my prayers—I’m finally off bedrest, and there’s a big chance that I can go! Woohoo! 🙂 (I still need to see if I can though… since I still need to take it easy. Husband’s and my parents’ orders!)

In any case, I’d like to extend this invitation to YOU, my dear fellow women out there. Take some time off to rest in God’s presence, and be reminded of how precious you are in His sight. (This goes out especially to my fellow moms. You deserve a break. We all do! 😉 )

Dear _____________, (fill in the blank with your name)

Let’s face it.

It takes a woman to understand another woman’s soul.

The anguish of a broken heart, the pain of childbirth, the challenges of raising a family and taking care of aging parents.

It’s tough to be a woman. Yet, each season every woman goes through also promises an exciting journey of struggles and victories altogether.

That is why the Jewels Conference was conceived. To be a venue of inspiration and renewed hope for women, no matter what season we all are in.

And I’m inviting you again (and all the other women you know) to be part of the Radiance: Jewels Conference 2018.

Jewels Conference 2018 is happening on June 2, 2018 (Saturday) from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the SMX  Convention Center in Pasay City, Manila.

Speaking of hope and inspiration at the conference are lay preacher and international speaker and author Bo Sanchez, Rissa Singson-Kawpeng of Kerygma Magazine, Sr. Eppie Brasil of Regina Rica, showbiz personalities Dimples Romana and Ai Ai De Las Alas, and worship leader Veia Lim-Vinas.  I’m sure you wouldn’t want to miss this!

You still have time to avail of your tickets to our much-awaited all-women gathering! I hope you’ve blocked off your June 2 already to spend a day with Jesus.

My prayers go out to you and your families.

See you at the Jewels Conference!

Peace and Love,
Marowe Sanchez (and me! LOL!)

Marowe and me 2

P.S. For more details about the Jewels Conference, please visit the Jewels Conference  too! Here’s a glimpse of what happened at the first conference:

P.P.S. Hurry! Get your tickets today at ! Regular tickets are priced at P995 and Premium tickets are priced at P1400 (with Jewels journal and reserved seating area).

And in case you need more convincing, here’s Kuya Bo Sanchez personally inviting you to the conference:

Please pray that I can go? Hope to see you there! 🙂

Filed Under: BEYOND THE FAMILY, FAMILY MATTERS, Our Discoveries & Experiences, Our Faith, Our Relationships, Our Self, SELF LOVE ISN'T SELFISH, SPECIALLY FOR MOMS Tagged With: Bo Sanchez, Jewels Conference, Light of Jesus Family, Marowe Sanchez, Womens Conference

There’s No Such Thing as an Unplanned Pregnancy

May 19, 2018 by Tina

unplanned pregnancy

Image from pixabay.com

This is a really long post, but I hope you’ll read it to the end… not for my sake, but for God’s greater glory. This is especially for my fellow moms who may be having doubts or fears about their current pregnancies, or are even afraid of getting pregnant again. But even if you’re NOT a mom, I hope you’ll read this.

“Do you have any reason to suspect that you’re pregnant?”

These words from the doctor whom I had gone to see because I had been feeling sick for a few days did not seem like any cause for surprise or “alarm.”

“No po,” I laughed.

“Well, your last period was on December 1. Why not?”

“Oh, I have had irregular periods / long cycles ever since po,” I replied.

“Well, you still need to be sure, because you can’t have an x-ray done if you’re pregnant,” the doctor said.

She had asked me to undergo a series of tests because she could not see why I was feeling ill, even after examining me thoroughly. I had been feeling out of breath, even while just lying down, and suffered on and off headaches.

So I obediently went to get a home pregnancy kit (I got two actually!), called my husband to tell him what the doctor had said, and said a prayer of surrender to the Lord. 😉

I used the pregnancy kits the next morning, and both showed up negative! To be perfectly honest with you, I didn’t know what I was feeling. It was a jumble of emotions really. And I’ve learned from my “mommy mentors” (who are totally pro-life, by the way!), that it’s totally OK to have mixed feelings about another pregnancy.

So anyway, later in the day, I happened to glance at the pregnancy kits again and, lo and behold, there were two lines on each of them instead of the original single lines that were there in the morning!

You can imagine my surprise (more like shock actually!) at that time. It was more like this:

Ha, ha! #KeepingItReal here, folks! 🙂

So I turned to Google to see what that could possibly mean, and the results suggested one of the following:

  • The pregnancy tests showed false positive results.
  • The pregnancy tests showed false negative results.

And the best thing to do was to go for lab tests to confirm whether there was a pregnancy or not. Since I was scheduled to go back to the clinic that weekend anyway, my husband and I decided to have a urine test done along with my other scheduled tests.

By the weekend, I was already feeling sicker than before. I had a really swollen throat, and my whole body was aching. I had a urine sample done to rule out a UTI (as previously ordered by my doctor), plus to test for pregnancy.

While waiting for the results, I consulted the doctor who said that I had really swollen tonsils, so he prescribed some antibiotics. Just before paying for his doctor’s fee, I got the urine test results and the pregnancy was CONFIRMED!

To be brutally honest, a small part of me was still hoping that the results were negative. But part of me also felt peaceful when we got the positive results. I felt that the Lord had been preparing me for it.

Allow me to backtrack a bit at this point and explain why.

At last year’s Kerygma Conference, God’s main message to me, especially through Chris Padgett‘s talks, was crystal clear:

“Are you truly pro-life in how you think, act, and speak? When it’s just you, or just you and your husband, do you really honor and cherish life? Are you really willing to say ‘Yes’ to me, like Mary did?”

After the Kerygma Conference, I felt convicted to share God’s message with my husband, and we both knew that we had to apply His message to our life, especially as a married couple. We even went to Confession as a symbol of turning over a “new leaf.” It was perfect timing, too, since the Advent season had already started by then.

We committed to being truly pro-life in how we think, act, and speak, especially as a married couple. And we chose to give God our “yes,” just as Mary did.

“May it be done to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38)

Fast forward to the time when we found out I was pregnant. Our fourth child was about to turn two, and this was our shortest “gap” between kids to date. And yet, despite initial “fears” of what was to come (and this included possible negative remarks from other people, including family members, about this pregnancy being “unplanned,” “too early,” etc.), I was at peace. I knew that the peace I felt could only come from God.

I believe that it was no coincidence either that the week we found out about my pregnancy was March for Life week in the U.S. Naturally, many of the posts I saw in my social media feeds were all pro-life! Below is one of my favorites (from @itssarahhall on Instagram) —it really popped out at me and I felt as if it was part of God’s message to us.

pro-life

I also happened to read an article on CatholicMom.com soon afterwards, about The Gospel of Life.

catholicmom

“The Gospel of Life is born afresh every time a family welcomes a new child of God.”

Wow!

Despite these affirmations though, Anthony and I agreed not to let anyone else know about the pregnancy first… we wanted to go for a check-up with my OB first. Before doing so, I told him, “If she says that Baby’s estimated date of delivery (EDD) is September 8, this must really be Mama Mary’s doing!”

Well, guess what she said!

The EDD based on my last menstrual period is September 8, the birthday of Mama Mary!

I know, right? Amazing!

And when we traced the time at which Baby was conceived, it was around the time when we had just finished our journey.

33 days

AND… it was around the time when we had just celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe!

A post shared by on Dec 11, 2017 at 8:32pm PST

Our Lady of Guadalupe, who is well-known as the patroness of the unborn! (And apparently, the patroness of “the nitty-gritty, dirty and thankless, sleep deprived, unacknowledged, invisible, and grace-filled aspects of motherhood,” according to this lovely article.)

It was God’s way of affirming us that this pregnancy—which others might think was “unplanned”—is actually part of His amazing plan for us, through the powerful intercession of Mother Mary.

Actually, call me naive, but I believe all the more now that every pregnancy, even the ones considered “unplanned” by society especially because the mother is not ready, etc., is a part of God’s big plan.

Every baby that is conceived in a woman’s womb is a thought in God’s mind. A thought turned into reality.

The problem is that many of us do not see this, even those among us who call ourselves “pro-life.” Many of us see additional babies as additional “burdens.” We consider having a big family “costly” and difficult, which may be true, of course, but isn’t that how the anti-life movement and culture of death gain a foothold in our society?

baby-feet-1527456_1920

To emphasize my point… last month, I shared a disturbing, heartbreaking image of aborted babies on my personal Facebook wall. I was surprised to see people commenting on my post and sharing it. Now, I am glad that people were reminded about the horrors of abortion but have we ever thought about how the “seeds” or thoughts of having an abortion are planted in the minds of women?

It’s when we as a society give them the idea that they are “not ready” to have a baby (or if it’s not their first child, to have *another* baby). It’s when we hint to women that to have a/another child is “burdensome,” “mahirap,” “challenging”, and other words that, yes, may be well-meaning but can cause a woman to doubt even for one second that the baby growing in her womb is a gift and a blessing and a miracle.

When we first found out I was pregnant again, I really did have a mixture of emotions. You know why? One of the reasons was that I feared that there would be people who would also give us “well-meaning” comments.

I know we shouldn’t care about what others say when we know deep down inside that this baby—and all our babies—are blessings from the Lord. In fact, this is actually how I feel now:

big family

BUT I must admit that it still hurt a bit when those “well-meaning” comments came (and still come, actually). Sometimes in the form of a concerned statement. Sometimes in the form of a joke.

“Tama na ‘yan, ha?”

“What? Buntis ka ulit?”

“Ano baaaa?!!”

“Last na ‘yan, ha?”

“You know, there’s an app you can use to make sure you don’t get pregnant.”

“Bakit so soon? Ang liit pa ng youngest niyo!”

And so on. Someone even told me that maybe we should try different forms of artificial birth control. I replied politely but deep inside I was like:

Now, I know that the people who make statements like these are mostly concerned for our growing family. And I am not belittling their concern in any way.

BUT. Again. These statements and others like them can cause women to think twice about the blessing of motherhood. They can cause women who may not be surrounded by supportive family and friends to think, “Ay oo nga. This is too hard. I won’t be able to do this,” and maybe even consider an abortion.

If we are going to call ourselves truly “pro-life,” then we should start being so not just in our actions, which people can see, but in our thoughts and words, too. This is actually why I’m writing this post. I have been meaning to for months but only got around to doing it now.

I must admit that, for a long time, Anthony and I were not 100% pro-life in private, when it was just the two of us, in our words and actions. And we believe that God gave us this baby—through Our Lady of Guadalupe’s intercession—as an affirmation of our choosing to be truly pro-life in ALL aspects. I just hope and pray that more and more people will learn to see the gift of life for what it truly is… that it is a MIRACLE.

Speaking of miracles, here is another story of God’s grace and Our Lady of Guadalupe’s intercession.

You see, just a few days before this post, my OB told me that I could resume normal activity, after more than two months of being on bedrest!

It all started with a small subchorionic hemorrhage (SCH) detected at my first ultrasound, which apparently grew significantly in volume, and I ended up bleeding externally. My husband had to rush me to the hospital, and I was put on bedrest and had to take medication to ensure that we would not lose the baby.

A post shared by on Mar 1, 2018 at 4:21pm PST

This has been my most challenging pregnancy so far. I had to have so many tests done, so many ultrasounds, so much medication to take… and it really cost us a lot of money too!

But by God’s grace and Our Lady of Guadalupe’s intercession, plus the prayers of so many people and the amazing support of our family members and friends, we are surviving… and are taking it one day, one prayer at a time.

A post shared by on May 16, 2018 at 8:14pm PDT

And I guess this is the main message of this post:

If you’re facing challenges right now…

If you’re doubting God’s plan for you…

If you’re at your lowest point and desperate for hope…

If you’re struggling with your faith…

If you’re about to give up…

Remember these words of the Angel Gabriel to Mary at the Annunciation:

Nothing will be impossible for God. (Luke 1:37)

And this goes out especially to the mom who may be facing a difficult pregnancy, or may not feel “ready” to be pregnant. You are not alone. God’s got this!

Rodriguez Family

“For I know well the plans I have in mind for you… plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope. When you call me, and come and pray to me, I will listen to you. When you look for me, you will find me. Yes, when you seek me with all your heart…” (Jeremiah 29:11-13)

Filed Under: FAMILY MATTERS, Motherhood, Our Faith, Our Relationships, Our Self, PARENTING, REFLECTIONS AND DEVOTIONS, SPECIALLY FOR MOMS, TRUE CONFESSIONS Tagged With: Big Families, Catholic reflections, Parenting Reflections, Pro-Life, unplanned pregnancy

Mothers Need to Love Themselves, Too (Thank You for the Reminder, Watsons!)

May 9, 2018 by Tina

Image from Pixabay.com

Image from Pixabay.com

As a mother, I know how it is to just give and give and give. To love and love and love… your kids, your spouse, and others around you even.

I also know how tiring it can be. How we moms can fall into the trap of loving others too much and then we forget to love ourselves, too. And lest you think that this is “selfish”, i.e. loving yourself is something only self-centered and vain people do, allow me to share this beautiful reminder from the Bible (Mark 12:28-31):

“One of the scribes, when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well he had answered them, asked him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” Jesus replied, “The first is this: ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

See? Even God wants us to love ourselves, because we are made in His image and likeness, and because He Himself loves us very, very much.

Oftentimes though, we moms tend to forget that. I know I do. We often don’t look at ourselves the way others see us, especially our kids. This video from Watsons Philippines shows that so well:

The reality is that we moms are often hard on ourselves; completely unaware that to our children, husbands, and loved ones, we are “perfect.” 

Yes, a mother’s love is truly selfless and our “jobs” never end (even during weekends!) but we truly deserve a break every now and then. We need to pamper ourselves and allow others to pamper us. Because happy mothers who look good and feel great in turn make their loved ones feel great, too.

Of course, I’m not referring to ourselves only—let’s look at the moms in our lives, too, especially the one who gave birth to us and gave us life in the first place. They deserve to be pampered and feel special, too, of course!

So, for Mother’s Day, here are some ideas to make each mom feel like the perfect woman who looks good and feels great always:

  1. Give her a homemade gift card for a foot and hand massage. It should be redeemable forever. 
  2. Put together a special basket for her filled with beauty and wellness goodies such as face masks, massage oil, a bottle of multivitamins, and nail polish. Basically, the basket should include items every mother will enjoy.
  3. Give her gift cards from her favorite store. If she loves beauty, then she will enjoy shopping at Watsons. If it’s fashion she’s into, she will surely love the wide selection at The SM Store. (I know I certainly do!)
  4. Write a letter or poem telling her why she is the best mom in the world and what makes her perfect. (Hmmm… maybe I should hint about this to my kids? Ha, ha!)
  5. Serve her breakfast in bed. If you can’t cook, slice some fruits and serve it with toast and butter on a beautiful plate.
  6. Take her out for dinner and a movie. Take note of what her favorite restaurant is and what movies she likes to watch.

I hope the abovementioned ideas will help us show our appreciation to the moms in our lives—including ourselves! *wink wink* I’m not kidding, moms—we deserve some TLC, so don’t be ashamed to suggest these ideas to your family members! 😉

Thanks to Watsons Philippines for their video which reminds us to love ourselves more! Visit and follow for more inspiration on how to look good, feel great!

Filed Under: Motherhood, Our Discoveries & Experiences, Our Relationships, Our Self, SELF LOVE ISN'T SELFISH, SPECIALLY FOR MOMS Tagged With: PR-friendly, Press Release, Watsons Mother's Day Video, Watsons PH, Watsons Philippines

The Blessings and Challenges of a Work at Home Mom: My Veritas 846 Interview

February 27, 2018 by Tina

work at home mom

The first quarter of this year has been a bit busy for me, not just because of family life and the kids, but also because of the opportunities that God has been giving to me and Truly Rich and Blessed.

By God’s grace, I was invited to be on one of CBCP News’ online shows, and then, not long after that, I was invited to an interview by another Catholic media outlet which I highly respect, namely Veritas 846 Radio Totoo. It is THE number one faith-based radio station in the country! What an honor; praise the Lord!

Anyway, I was invited as a resource person by a couple who is dear to me and my family, Tito George and Tita Cynthia Campos, who happened to be two of the hosts for the show “Katok Tahanan.” The topic to be discussed was “Stay at Home Wife or Corporate Life?” I was asked to share about my journey as a work at home mom.

There were other interviewees—newlyweds Nico and Laika Ordoñez, two inspiring young people who also happen to have a blog. Nico works in the corporate world, while Laika is an entrepreneur.

I must say that I have never been interviewed for a radio show before, so it was really a great learning experience for me, and, just like my CBCP News interview, I was surprised that I actually had lots of fun doing it! Looking back, I can only thank Jesus and Mama Mary again for guiding me (and everyone else!) all throughout the interview, and I hope and pray that everything I said was inspired by the Holy Spirit.

You can watch the whole show below, thanks to :

As I mentioned in the interview, my work-at-home journey has been full of blessings and challenges, but I praise and thank God for leading me to where I am now.

Having said that, let me emphasize again that I honor every mom out there—whether you stay at home, work at home, run a business from home or from the office, work at an office—whatever your state of life is, please know that you are the best mom for your kid/s.

God called you and chose you to be the mother of your kid/s. He will equip you and give you what you need to raise them. I know that may be hard to believe sometimes, especially when you face challenges, but please know that you are not alone. God is with you!

Are you a mom who works in the corporate world? Or do you work at home like me? Or maybe you’re a fulltime stay-at-home mom (my “dream job” actually)? Please feel free to share your experiences in the comments! 

Filed Under: FAMILY MATTERS, Motherhood, Our Faith, Our Relationships, Our Resources, PARENTING, SPECIALLY FOR MOMS, WORK AND EDUCATION Tagged With: Media Missionary, Radio Interview, Veritas 846

Wrap Yourself in God’s Word: A J.E.W.E.L.S. Experience

August 28, 2017 by Tina

Jewels-5 (2)

Have you ever heard of Bible Journaling? I would often see it on social media, usually in the posts of my friends from other Christian denominations. I thought it looked like a worthwhile thing to do, because their posts were so inspiring. So when I learned that the next J.E.W.E.L.S. Feast Valle Verde gathering would be a Catholic Bible Journaling workshop, I jumped at the chance to attend it. And I am so glad that I did!

The workshop was facilitated by Tita Ditas Español (pictured below) and Ate Fides Reyes, our sisters from Feast Ortigas, which is where J.E.W.E.L.S. originally started. (By the way, for those who don’t know, J.E.W.E.L.S. stands for Jesus in Every Woman Empowered to Love and Serve.)

Jewels-4

God used them both to teach, inspire, and refresh all of us at the workshop in a special way. They shared their own Bible Journaling experiences with us, and gave us practical tips on how to get started with our own Catholic Bible Journaling journey.

One of the things that stood out was the W.R.A.P. method:

W stands for the Word of God.

Read the Bible and reflect on the verses.

The Word of God was written for YOU and for me! :)

The Word of God was written for YOU and for me! 🙂

R stands for Reflect.

Reflect and write down the verse or verses that struck you. Ask yourself: What is God trying to tell you with the verse? What does the verse tell you about God? What does it tell you about how God wants you to live your life?

Jewels-2

A stands for Action.

The Word of God will not be effective if we don’t take action. Once we have reflected on God’s message for us, we must commit to His one big message for us. This is where we draw, write, trace or doodle whatever represents that message or course of action we are willing to take.

(We workshop participants had so much fun doing this part, especially because Tita Ditas and Ate Fides had brought so many journaling materials for us to use — colouring materials, stamps, etc.)

Jewels-1

P stands for Prayer.

Pray for guidance and the grace to become the person that God intends you to be. (Pray for others, too, that they may hear His Word through you!)

I’m sure I’m not the only participant who came away from the J.E.W.E.L.S. gathering feeling renewed and “full” of God’s Word. May ALL of us — women, men, and children alike, young and old — commit to WRAP ourselves in God’s love every day, especially by immersing ourselves in His Word!

Note: This article was originally written for the Feast Valle Verde Bulletin. Please do come and join us if you can every Sunday — you can choose between the 10 a.m. session or the 1 p.m. session. 🙂 More info via the . May the Lord bless you abundantly in every way!

Filed Under: BEYOND THE FAMILY, Our Faith, Our Relationships, Our Self, REFLECTIONS AND DEVOTIONS, SELF LOVE ISN'T SELFISH Tagged With: Catholic Bible Journaling

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Hi! I'm Tina Santiago Rodriguez, a Catholic wife, homeschool mom, and self-professed "media missionary." Welcome to Truly Rich and Blessed, a unique lifestyle blog about appreciating the "riches" that we have — our faith, self, relationships, resources, discoveries and experiences. I hope you'll enjoy your time here, and come away encouraged and inspired somehow!

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