Truly Rich and Blessed

My Mother’s Day Message For Our Kids

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To Tim and Rysse,
Thank you for the greatest gift that God could ever give me – the gift of motherhood. By being your mother, I have learned so many things about God and myself. I have seen how wonderful it will be in heaven. Through your hugs, kisses, laughter and “I love you’s” I have felt truly rich and loved.
I know I have failed you many, many times, even before you were born. There were times when I (and your Papa) put you through undue stress, and spanked you too many times. There were times when we said harsh words and hurt your feelings. There were times when we did not assure you that you are perfectly, unconditionally loved, and that you are more important than our work for the Lord, and other things that keep us busy. 
For all these times and more, I am truly sorry, as I’m sure your Papa is. I want you to know how infinitely blessed, loved and grateful we feel for being called to be your parents, unworthy and imperfect as we are.
This Mother’s Day, I thank you for the best gift that I have ever received. I thank the Lord for you both (and your Papa too, of course, because you wouldn’t be here if not for him too!) each and every day.
Please know that Mama loves you with all her heart. I will do my best to be the best Mama for you both, and your future siblings.
May God bless you both to be holy, healthy, happy and wealthy, so that you can love and serve others!
Love and prayers,
Mama

My Best Gift For Mother’s Day

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We attended the 14th CFC Kids for Christ International Kids Village (IKV) this weekend, and I received my BEST Mother’s Day gift so far during the Mass earlier.

Our kids prayed over me during the last part of the Mass!

I am in tears here! 🙂 While the kids were praying, I was praying along with them for my OWN mom as well, and my mother-in-law too (seriously! hehe).

Fr. Xavier Olin, SJ, officiated the Mass and also led the 7,000 plus kids present at the IKV in praying for their moms
My family – this is why I consider myself TRULY RICH!

This is the entrance to the IKV site. We can change the world, with God’s grace!

Put on the armor of GOD! (Pardon my windy-day hairdo! hehe)

Tim, at 4 yrs and 7 months, is already officially a Junior Kids for Christ member. Rysse , who turns 2 in July, is our little “Toddler for Christ.” hehe.

The IKV was held at the CCP Grounds. This photo was taken about half an hour before we got drenched by a sudden rainstorm on Saturday night, but that didn’t stop the kids from praying, loving, serving! Go Kids for Christ! I really honor everyone who was there at the conference, especially the service team composed of missionaries of CFC Kids for Christ, Youth for Christ and Singles for Christ, and of course, Couples for Christ. We are SO blessed to be in community!

One day Lord, may our kids grow up to serve you in whatever vocation you call them to: priesthood, religious life, married life, fulltime mission work, single blessedness, all-the-time-service-to-You-while-working-at-a-secular-job, etc. etc.
It’s all up to You Lord! Help us to equip them for the future!

Father and son worshipping. *sighs happily* (If you’re wondering where Rysse is, I am wearing her in my ring sling while taking pictures!)
Congratulations Kids for Christ! Praise GOD for a wonderful Kids Village, despite the oppressions and obstacles, especially the bagyo that is still going on! 🙂 Happy that we were part of it!

Save The Family, Save The World!

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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!

For Timothy – Consecrated to God through Mama Mary

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Our firstborn turns 4 today. How time flies. While preparing for our talk on “The Christian Family as Fertile Ground for the Missions” for the Pontifical Missions Society, we were once again reminded and AMAZED at how God brought Timothy Alan “Tim” into our lives. He was, in a way, an unplanned, baby, but not in the sense that anti-lifers would put it. Actually, Tim is our honeymoon baby. We were married on January 7, 2006 and he was born on October 10, 2006. Before getting married, I had a check-up with my ob-gynecologist, who said that I would probably be having difficulty getting pregnant due to my “irregular” periods caused by a polycystic ovary. But God chose to prove her wrong! A month after our wedding, hubby and I found ourselves in Timor Leste on mission for our Catholic community, and a few weeks after that, we discovered that I was pregnant! 🙂 It just goes to show that when God wants LIFE to happen, He truly makes away! (Which is why a lot of people who have had vasectomies, tubal ligations, and IUD implants STILL end up conceiving – it is GOD who creates LIFE. Even when people try to prevent it from happening.)

See that cute little blob right there? That’s you dear Tim! We love you!

Before we got married, our Ninong and co-missionary, Tito Boy, told us one time after daily Mass, that as he was praying in church (we were there too but praying in separate pews), he heard a message for us through Mama Mary. She told him to tell us that as long as we kept serving Jesus and gave Him our all, we would not have to worry about our children. She would take care of them. Needless to say, this message left us inspired and awed by God’s wonderful love as shown by our beloved Mother.
From then on, hubby and I vowed that our children would be consecrated to God through Mama Mary, beginning of course, with our dearest firstborn, Timothy Alan. We chose the name “Timothy Alan” – Timothy after St. Paul’s young follower and missionary, St. Timothy, and Alan meaning “handsome”. We claimed that being consecrated to God, Timothy would grow to love and serve him, thus making him “handsome” inside and out.
When I was pregnant with Tim, civil war broke out in Timor Leste. There were burning of houses and cars, looting, violence and all sorts of disturbances. It was as if we were in one of those war movies, except this time, it was real life. 
Residents flee burning houses
The conflict became an “East” vs “West” issue
Fleeing the troubled city
Fr. Lalo, SJ, comforting a few of the victims of violence (we met Fr. Lalo in person before all the troubles)
Remnants of violent encounters

Young gang members get involved in the crisis
To make a long story short, the female members of our mission team joined the other Filipinos who were evacuated by C-130. Coming home to Manila, people asked us if pregnant me would be going back to Timor since our mission term had only just begun. A lot of people discouraged me from doing so. 
That’s 5-month preggy me (with the cap) when we evacuated to the Dili International Airport, waiting for the C-130 to come. We spent the night there.
But go back we did. Hubby and I, my parents (at that time, Papa was our Mission Head), with 4 single missionaries and another couple missionary accompanying us. Some people thought I was crazy to go back to Timor since the crisis was still ongoing. To tell you the truth, I was a bit scared myself. But God’s message to us as a couple was very clear: “Go back there. Do My work. Your family’s presence in itself will be a strong witness and comfort to My people there.”
So go back we did. On with the mission!
And three months after returning to Timor, Tim was born. 100% naturally. No anesthesia, epidurals, ob-gyne assistance. Nothing but the support of my mom and hubby (who fortunately was allowed in the delivery area, usually men aren’t allowed, since we moms were all just lined up on the hospital beds, haha) AND my two most important birthing “tools” or focal objects: a small statue of the Holy Family, and my rosary. My birth “mantra” in between contractions was the Hail Mary.
I was blessed that breastfeeding is actively promoted in Timor Leste. After delivery, Tim was placed on my tummy, then given to me to breastfeed. Thus was born also my love for, and advocacy of, breastfeeding as the BEST way to  give the best nutrition to our children, physically and emotionally.
Peekaboo Anak!

While nursing Tim for the first time, I sang the hymn “On Eagle’s Wings” for him. It was love at first sight! Not just for me, but for all those who had been waiting for Tim and praying for him.

We had a lot of excited nuns coming to visit us in the delivery room!

Ninong Fr. Alan (Tim’s namesake!) and proud Lola Tita

Proud parents (yuck! Don’t mind my unwashed hair! :P)

With my parents – Tim being born meant we had become a missionary family up to the third generation 🙂
With Nongning and Tita I, our “other parents” on mission 🙂

With Nirva and Karen – whom Tim would come to fondly call “Vava” and “Kaka” respectively 🙂 I love these girls!

With Maun Mario and Mana Esy – our youth leaders who had sought temporary “refuge” with us at the CFC Mission House because they were from the East (yes, East East Timor 🙂 and most of the people in Dili (the capital, where we were based, and where they were studying) were from the West

With Tito Boyin and Tito PJ – To Tim: “Ado” and … ummm… what is it again Fij? hehe. Peace bro!

One team, one family 🙂

Proud Mama

After bringing Tim home, we had to bring him back to the hospital because of jaundice.

We stayed at the hospital for four days. Thank GOD for Lola Tita, who took turns with hubby to take care of Tim and me, since I was also recovering from a double episiotomy! (It’s a long story!)

Lolas rock! 🙂 What would we do without them?

 Praise GOD though that after the first days, Tim started thriving on Mama’s milk and the love and care of everyone in the Mission House! Here are a few more pics of his first two months of life.

1 day old
Getting some much-needed sunlight
Nursing and sunbathing 🙂 

With Lolo Mon, who became his favorite – even more than Papa or Mama!
Fast asleep

Mama’s milk makes me healthy! 🙂

Sometimes I wish I could stop time so that Tim wouldn’t have to grow up so quickly. Or that I could go back in time to correct all the wrong things we did as first-time parents. Oh well. Life’s like that. I just have to celebrate the HERE and NOW. Don’t we all?
I know God will be with us through every step of this journey. And more so, our kids, whom we have consecrated to Him. Lastly, and I know this is a LONG post again (thanks for reading all the way through! :), just want to share with you part of the message I posted for Tim on my Facebook profile:
“We love you so much Kuya! God bless you more and more, and may you continue to surprise us with your antics and love for the Lord! We are proud of you, no matter what you do! You are special and unique! God created you so! Thank you for being who you are. Please forgive Mama and Papa too for all the times we hurt you, spanked you and made you feel less than what God wants you to feel. One day, when you’re old enough to have your own FB account and read this (maybe when you’re 18?! haha), you’ll probably say you don’t even remember the times when we failed you and hurt you. But WE do, and we thank GOD for reminding us every day through YOU, about UNCONDITIONAL LOVE, FORGIVENESS and STARTING OVER. Hope you enjoy our simple celebration together with Papa Jesus tomorrow! We love you love you love you! 🙂 Thank you too to all who prayed and are still praying for Tim right now, especially his Lolos and Lolas, Titos and Titos, Kuyas and Ates, WORLDWIDE, and his Ninongs and Ninangs. Special mention to Kaka, Tim’s “first love”, and Ninong Bhot and Ninang Lisa, whom he wants to visit, Ninong Fr. Alan, And all his “family” in Timor Leste – Tim sempre hanoin no hadomi ita boot sira hotu!“
Again, a blessed happy birthday to you, our dearest Kuya! 🙂 Remember, you are consecrated to God through Mama Mary! Be happy and blessed!
All our love,
Papa and Mama 🙂

Disclosure

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