Truly Rich and Blessed

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

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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!

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!)

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! 🙂

There’s No Such Thing as an Unplanned Pregnancy

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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.

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

“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.

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

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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?

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:

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.

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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.

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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!

“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)

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

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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!

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

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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! 

When God Has A Better Plan For You

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god has a better plan

A little over a year ago, I wrote one of the most honest, heartfelt and emotional posts that I have ever written here on Truly Rich and Blessed, entitled When God Doesn’t Answer Your Prayers. I cannot believe how quickly time has passed since I wrote that post. I am so amazed by the Lord’s ways and miracles, and how He has brought me and my family to where we are now.

You see, even before our youngest was born, when I was still pregnant with him, there was a time when I really, really questioned God’s ways. I actually wanted to write about it much, much earlier than now but I would always back out. I am not sure why this was so.

However, after reading this very honest article by Rebecca Frech, and how she — at one point in her life  — had an “unwanted pregnancy,” and when she first found out, she  “wanted nothing more in that moment than to be unpregnant,” I felt as if God was nudging me to write this.

So, here I am baring my soul again. #KeepingItReal as I like to say on and .

Here is the truth: When I first found out I was pregnant with our fourth baby, I had mixed emotions. The majority of which were negative. I cried. I was in semi-shock. So was my husband.

In fact, we took two home pregnancy tests (or was it three?!) just to be sure. And waited until our first check-up (when the OB-Gyne confirmed the pregnancy via an ultrasound) before we told other people about it.

Why the mixed, mostly nega emotions? The tears? The semi-shock, etc.?

Well, we had already made so many “grand plans” for the future. This included booking and paying for Cebu Pacific tickets for our whole family (my husband, our three kids and me) so we could spend part of our Christmas and New Year with my sister and her family in Brunei. We were supposed to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary and renew our vows there, too.

But when we found out I was pregnant, and counted forward to when my estimated delivery date would be, we knew that all our plans would not push through. I was to give birth in January 2016. Our tickets were booked for the last week of December 2015.

So you can imagine how sad I was. I struggled to not feel that way though. I even felt guilty about feeling sad. Which made me feel even worse.

Which is why I thank the Good Lord for the dear “mommy mentors” I have — women in whom I confided when I first found out about my pregnancy. They “heard” me out (well, more like read me out, since we conversed via chat), prayed for and with me and our family, shared their own experiences, gave tips, sent virtual hugs (and chocolate! 😉 ). The older, more “experienced” ones even told me that it is perfectly normal to “grieve” for a time; to tell God that, “Lord, puwede ba akong magtampo muna?” and then move on, choosing to accept His will with peace and joy.

And that is what I did. I allowed myself to “mourn.” I allowed myself to feel sad about not being able to go to Brunei anymore. About our plane tickets going to waste. About our plans getting “destroyed.”

After that, I started choosing joy. Gratitude. Surrendering to God’s plans. Because I believe that is part of what being “Truly Rich and Blessed” is all about. And I quote:

Drawing inspiration from Matthew 6:25-33, we hope to help you lead a richer and fuller life in all aspects, while “keeping it real” at all times. Life is never perfect, but we can find blessings all around if we actively seek them!

Long story short — I went through my pregnancy with joyful anticipation, knowing that God held our future in His hands. I chose to believe that “God has a better plan.”

But then, as I previously mentioned, when our baby was born, I felt as if God did not answer our prayers again. He got sick and took a while to recover fully from his health issues. But recover he did, and God even used his situation — our situation — to bless other babies via #TeamTitus 🙂

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Fast forward to today.

Our family is slowly getting back to our usual routine after spending two weeks in Brunei, courtesy of God’s angels on earth (i.e. my parents, who treated us to Cebu Pacific tickets at very affordable, promo prices)!

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Do you see what God did there?

He showed us how His plans are way better than our plans.

He “delayed” our trip to Brunei so we could go there at His appointed time, with His chosen people, i.e.  not just me, my husband and our three kids, but also my parents AND our new baby — the baby He gave to us. The baby He chose to give us at His appointed time, according to His perfect plan.

Why am I sharing this here?

Over the past year, I have had friends who have had what could be considered “unplanned” pregnancies, too. A few had/have mixed reactions, too, and I want to tell them (and maybe you who are reading this now and need to know this too):

It’s OK if you are not feeling what you think you are “supposed” to be feeling.

It’s OK to feel sad. To grieve. To throw an “adult tantrum.”

Feel all your feelings.

Then move on. In faith. Because God has a better plan for you.

This message is not just for my fellow moms out there — it’s also for every person who is dealing with disappointment. For every person who is questioning God’s ways. For every person who is doubting God’s plan.

Rest in His promise in Jeremiah 29:11-13.

Declare the truth of Romans 8: 28.

Take comfort in Isaiah 55:8-12.

God is not finished with you yet. He is purifying you, preparing you for something better, bigger and brighter.

While He is doing this, please be encouraged by the knowledge that you are not alone. You are in my/our prayers. God bless you today and always!

Did this post bless you somehow? Please feel free to share it with others if it did! Or leave a comment — I would love to connect with you in that way. Thanks for reading!

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