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The Riches of Family, Friendship and Faith

November 15, 2010 by Tina Leave a Comment

The kids and I, along with my parents, are currently in Brunei. We’ve actually been here for almost 2 weeks, and will be going back to Manila early Wednesday morning. I wasn’t supposed to go, but decided to anyway, trusting in God’s providence and plan. So I applied for official leave from work and joined Papa and Mama on the trip. Since Rysse is still breastfeeding (yep, at 1.3 yrs!) I had to take her with me (even if she wasn’t I’d still have taken her with me! hehe). Tim wasn’t supposed to go, but because many people love him here in Brunei, especially his Ninang Lisa and Ninong Bhot, and Lola Lyna, we were blessed to be able to bring him along as well.

It has been a wonderful trip so far. I can’t exactly call it a vacation, since we also gave some seminars on financial education (for FREE!) for our Filipino friends here, as part of our family’s personal advocacy to help Filipino families, especially OFWs (being an OFW family ourselves before), be financially free and truly rich both materially and spiritually. Later, if our plans push through, I’ll be giving a training for Kids for Christ Brunei’s couple coordinators and facilitators. So, it hasn’t been a laze-about-all-you-want trip for me. But, nonetheless it has been a great one, and here are my top 3 reasons for saying this:

1. The Riches of Family

My sister and brother-in-law are based in Brunei. They have been here for quite a while now, and don’t really get to go home a lot. Ate has a relatively new job (after staying in her old job, where she wasn’t getting PAID! Gosh, her ex-boss owes her big time!) and so they won’t be able to go home for CHRISTmas. So it is GREAT to be able to spend time with her and Kuya B right now. Being with them, along with Papa and Mama, and the kids every day (Tim is sooo attached to his Ninong and Ninang now!) makes my heart so full – I am so blessed and truly rich because of my family.

Awesome travel companions Lolo and Lola

Arriving at Brunei International Airport – It’s 2am!

Hungry travellers

Happy to be with Ninang – they’re inseparable now! 🙂

Being away from my darling Bebs has also made me appreciate him more and more, and I am so grateful to God that we have been able to live, work and serve together ever since we got married. A lot of Filipino couples are forced to live separately because of work abroad, and their kids suffer the consequences a lot of the time. In my parents’ case though, they were both blessed to find work in Brunei, and were able to come here with all of us kids in tow. Personally, I believe that growing up in Brunei was part of God’s plan for me (and our whole family). Learning the Malay language, and being exposed to people from different cultures (Malay, Chinese, Indian, etc) helped prepare me for my stints as a singe missionary in Malaysia and Timor Leste. Our family also became a close-knit one, and we try as much as possible to have regular family time and annual family meetings to catch up on one another’s activities and plans for the future.

2. The Riches of Friendship

Being in Brunei has made me appreciate more and more the friendships I have made with other people, both here and in the Philippines. I am blessed to have spent my teenage years in community, starting here in Brunei. It was so nice to see old and dear friends – Titos and Titas, CFC and non-CFC alike, Ates and Kuyas from SFC who are now mostly in CFC, kids who I used to take care of in KFC now in YFC, (I am ANCIENT! hahaha) and even friends who are not in community. These friends have witnessed how I have grown from a geeky, clumsy teenager into a not-so-geeky (I hope!), though still a bit clumsy woman, now with my own terrific husband and two amazing kids. No wonder being here in Brunei always feels like home. Spending time with new friends like Cathy, Steph and Jacqui (Catholic youth from Brunei who went on mission to Timor) has also made me appreciate again the beauty of friendship based on mission and faith.

Rysse: “Hi Auntie Cathy!”

Too bad the picture is blurred! Rysse and I with Cathy and Jacqui. Pic below is Cathy with our loving Lola Lyna – We love you po and thanks for everything! 🙂

3. The Riches of Faith

Last but definitely not the least, this Brunei trip has made me fall in love with Jesus, all over again. He first wooed me during my rebellious teenage years, and despite my trying to reciprocate His love, I kept falling into sin and turning away from Him. Despite this, He just kept pursuing me, waiting for me to say “Yes” with complete conviction. I admit that even now, after being on mission for so long, there are times when I am still stubborn and want my own way, and am too tired or preoccupied to really sit down and be with Him.

Celebrating the Holy Eucharist yesterday at the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, the parish I grew up in, made me realize how blessed in the Faith I am. Growing up in a parish where almost everyone knew everyone else, it really felt like “home” to be there again. How I hope and pray that my kids can experience this too in the Philippines! Seeing the youth getting confirmed yesterday brought back memories of my own confirmation experience. We had to attend classes for over a year and go on a retreat and have lots of one on one discussions with our facilitators to help prepare us for this blessed sacrament. Personally, I considered it as a sort of “coming of age” for Catholic teens like me at the time. Witnessing the confirmation yesterday made me more inspired and empowered to live out my Catholic faith, and teach our children to do the same. Having Bishop Cornelius Sim as a family friend and pastor is such a blessing too!

That’s our beloved Bishop Cornelius Sim, “confirming” the youth

Lolo Bishop putting on Rysse’s sandals. How we love you Bishop, a true servant of the Church!

Indeed, being here in Brunei, the “Abode of Peace” has brought so much peace, love and joy into my heart. Being able to help others, not just spiritually but financially as well has been a great bonus too! I am so so grateful to You Beloved, because of my family, friendship and faith, I am truly rich!

HOW ABOUT YOU? What are you TRULY RICH in? Feel free to comment below! 🙂 If you’re interested in attending financial education seminars FOR FREE (at no charge to you whatsoever, all you need to invest is your time and transportation expenses!), please send me an e-mail at .

Teaching Baby Signs – One Of The Earliest Forms Of Homepreschooling

November 14, 2010 by Tina 2 Comments

I haven’t mentioned in my previous posts what I’ll be mentioning now – as I write this, the kids and I are in Brunei with my parents to visit my sister and brother-in-law, who are based here (working). Hubby and I decided at the last minute that the kids and I would join Papa and Mama on their trip here. You could call it a working vacation of sorts. Anyway, either way, I feel truly rich and blessed to be here – there is always that feeling of “coming home” (probably since I practically grew up here!)

Anyway, I’d better go to the topic of this post, which is on teaching baby signs. When I was a new mom to Tim, I wanted to make sure that I was a well-informed parent, along with my husband (who by the way, is not much of a reader, so whatever tips and information I’d get, I would just share with him and he never fails to forget what I tell him! 🙂 Just goes to show, everyone has his/her own learning style!). Anyway, as I was saying, I read lots of books and searched online for useful parenting info. One of the things I learned was the benefits of baby signs. So when Tim was about 7 months old, we started introducing baby signs to him, using signs from books and the Internet. Pretty soon, he was signing well enough for us to be able to know what he wanted or needed. He was speaking fluently earlier than a lot of his peers, and though I believe it wasn’t just due to baby signs alone, signing did help him in acquiring language skills at a fast rate. Even when he was already speaking in complete sentences, there were times when he would use signs (like “more” – tapping one’s fingers together) to emphasize a word or two.

Fast forward to the present… Tim’s little sister Rysse is now 1.3 years old and even if I have not been that consistent in teaching her signs, she has quickly picked up all that I’ve taught her so far, and has even started to vocalize her own “words”, like she says “a-pa” when she sees an apple (or any other round fruit for that matter, and onions as well! hahaha), and she can say “up” pretty clearly when she wants to be carried, “Papa”, “Mama,” “K-ya” for Kuya Tim, “Wowo”, “Wowa” (for Lolo and Lola – grandpa and grandma), “Tito” for uncle and “Tita” for aunt, among other sounds, which fortunately most members of our immediate families can decipher as “words” coming from Rysse’s lips. It is amazing when we are able to witness the miracle of life unfolding every day, and God just shows it more and more through the development of our kids!

As I am all for baby signs, I was so happy to have been able to borrow a book on Baby Signs written by pioneers Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn from a Filipina friend here in Brunei. I made myself a copy of the book for personal use, and I am really enjoying reading it so far, especially when it’s nursing time for Rysse.
Because of this, I was led to searching for information on baby sign language classes in the Philippines, and was pleasantly surprised to find these helpful links:

http://www.mysmarthands.asia/
http://babylingo.multiply.com/

http://www.smartparenting.com.ph/baby/development-child-care/My-Smart-Hands–Using-Sign-Language-is-An-Effective-Tool-for-Baby-Communication/page/2
http://www.hthyou.com/2009/10/baby-sign-language-faqs.html
http://www.babycenter.com.ph/baby/development/stimulatingdevelopment/babysigning/

Fellow breastfeeding advocate and mompreneur Jenny of the Chronicles of A Nursing Mom also has some informative posts on baby signing. You can find them here: http://fabnaima.blogspot.com/2010/06/my-signing-baby.html and http://fabnaima.blogspot.com/2010/06/baby-signing-classes-in-manila.html.

Part of my personal advocacy as Teachermama is to promote what I feel is of benefit to both parents and children, so I hope that through this post, I can encourage other parents to learn more about baby signing and use them on their kids. Hubby and I can personally testify that baby signing has made life a lot easier when it comes to communicating with our children. Even their grandparents, aunts and uncles have seen how it is a huge help for the whole family. And it always gives us a sense of pride whenever people see us signing together and they go “Wow! Ang galing naman ng baby niyo! So smart!” Hehe. Praise GOD for that, and for Baby Signs!

Baby Signs is available in all major bookstores in the Philippines. 🙂

Updates on our homeschooling journey :)

August 22, 2010 by Tina Leave a Comment

(Originally posted on August 4, 2010 at http://teachermamarules.blogspot.com/2010/08/month-and-half-or-so-in-review.html)

I was inspired by Mommy Michelle to update this blog when she started doing her “A Week In Review” posts. I realized that it’s been more than a month since we’ve arrived in the Philippines (my gosh!) and more than 2 weeks since my last post here (I’ve been regularly updating my Truly Rich Mom blog though. Check it out at http://trulyrichmom.com 🙂

Anyway, a lot of things have happened to our missionary family in the past month and a half or so. One of the most significant things was Rysse’s 1st birthday party which we celebrated with a Noah’s Ark theme at a local swimming resort (small but NICE!). Remind me to post pics and tips on how to throw a Noah’s Ark birthday party in a Philippine setting later on, ok?! The event turned out to be a reunion of sorts for extended family and close friends, a true celebration of God’s faithfulness to Rysse and our family for the past year! 🙂

We have not been giving Tim any “lessons” as regularly as when we were in Timor Leste (which was usually at least once a day for about 30 minutes, three times a week). It’s been a kind of “vacation” for him I guess. I didn’t want to push anything on him considering he’s already had a lot to adjust to (settling in, moving from my in-laws’ place in Cubao to my parents’ place in Cainta every other week, adjusting to not going with us all the time to the Home Office, etc etc). However, I’d like to think that Tim’s homeschool preschool journey has been ongoing although not in the “subject matter” that most teachers think kids his age may need. By God’s grace, Tim has “matured” and seems to have outgrown certain things that used to frustrate hubby and I:

1. He has learned to say “po”, “please”, “thank you”, “sorry”, and “excuse me” appropriately with less prompting from us.

2. He has gotten over his fear/aversion to:

(a) having his hair cut – he went to the barber shop willingly with his Lolo Rading and Papa, and even volunteered to go first! (What a pity, Papa was unprepared and didn’t bring a camera so we have no proof! Anyone willing to donate an I-phone our way?! hahahaha. Anyway, Tim shows off his new haircut in the pic below, taken at Rysse’s birthday party 🙂 And yes, that’s me, trying to sing karaoke! hahaha)

(b) having his fingernails and toenails cut while awake – I used to cut his nails when he was asleep because he absolutely refused to have them cut! Now he is more than willing to do so! (Although most of the time, he wants his Papa to do it, not me! Which means “Hurray!” for me! hahaha)

(c) having his ears cleaned – The same situations as his nails. But last week his Tita Gela cleaned his ears and got out a huge bit of ear wax, which has probably been growing in size since Tim was born! hahahaha.

3. He is less of a picky eater now, and knows basic table manners (elbows off the table, say “excuse me” when you’re going to leave the table). He eats most of his meals with other family members now too! (Before he would eat separately, we’d usually feed him earlier to save time!)

4. He is getting better at sharing, taking turns, waiting for his turn (although he still has his melt-downs, especially at the end of the day when he’s tired from playing).

5. He has picked up a few more Filipino words. Perhaps watching TV with his lolo and lola isn’t such a bad thing after all. He learned what pula and puti mean by watching Sa Pula, Sa Puti with his Lolo Rading, hahaha. (Although, we have been more vigilant lately about what he’s been watching. And make sure to watch with him as much as possible, so we can explain things when he asks about them. And PUT OUR FOOT DOWN when the programs are not for him i.e. get him out of the room as much as possible or ask for the channel to be changed).

6. He has been praying spontaneously a bit more often now (his morning and evening prayers with us don’t count here). Especially with the recent typhoons and rains lashing down upon the Metro. (He’s scared of thunder so he always says “Mama, let’s pray to God to stop the storm. And no flooding. No thunder. etc”) Oh, and just this evening, when we were saying our night prayers, he said “I wish Jesus could come here at Lolo Rading’s house, and his angels too.. *pauses for a while* Oh.. and God too!” HI-LA-RIOUS and oh so heartwarming! 🙂 Moments like these just make me ever so grateful to be his Teacher Mama!

7. He has learned that the “office” for Papa and Mama is no longer just outside our bedroom, as it used to be in our mission house/office in Timor Leste, but is now somewhere else. Which means that most of the time, he has to be left behind when Papa and/or Mama go to work. In the beginning, he HATED this and would throw tantrums. BUT he has learned to ADJUST, and now only protests occasionally. Thank YOU Lord. (Although I’m hoping our working arrangement will change SOON. Please po Papa Jesus!)

Anyway, so far, these are the things I believe Tim has learned DESPITE our lack of “formal learning”. I still believe that life lessons are some of the MOST important things for him right now anyway, so I won’t be pressured by all the comments like “He’s turning 4 na? Shouldn’t he be in school?” etc etc. 🙂 HOMESCHOOLING PRESCHOOL is STILL the WAY to GO for US. 🙂

For all those who have been following our homeschooling journey, and have been HUGE sources of support and prayers, THANK YOU SO MUCH. May GOD bless us all. 🙂

P.S. I almost forgot. Hehe. By God’s grace, we have never missed out on READING ALOUD to the kids every day. During our bedtime ritual, we read at least three books to Tim with Rysse occasionally listening intently alongside him (other times, she plays with the books or practices turning the pages). In connection to this, I JUST LOVE BOOKSALE BOOKSTORE! Secondhand books are the way to go! 🙂 Love it love it love it! 🙂 We must have bought, I don’t know, like 20 plus new “old” books so far, mostly from Booksale. Hahaha. Thank YOU Lord for providing all these blessings! We heart You! 🙂

Business ideas for women

August 21, 2010 by Tina Leave a Comment

In my quest to be TRULY RICH in all aspects so that I can also bless others (without having to think twice if I can afford to do so, hehe), I’ve come across some very useful articles in my journey. Here’s one of them from Entrepreneur.com.ph, (though I discovered the article originally at Smartparenting.com.ph) which talks about four things women should consider before starting a business.

1. Dream big, but start small.

2. Market creatively–and inexpensively.

3. Consider a home-based business.

4. Get all the support you can.

Click on the link below to read the full article:

Business ideas: Everyday woman | Starterkit | Entrepreneur.com.ph

I am really grateful to God for magazines like Smart Parenting and Entrepreneur Philippines, as they are useful tools for parents and aspiring mompreneurs like me! (Sadly though, Summit Media, the publisher of both mags, also publishes FHM, which for me is TOTALLY ANTI-LIFE and ANTI-WOMEN. Haay. Oh well. This deserves an entirely different blog entry altogether! *winks* Let’s just continue to strive to be IN the world, but not OF the world people! 🙂

Anyway, I hope the article in the link above is of help to other moms (and dads!) out there. God bless us all as we strive to be TRULY RICH in all that matters! Blessed be God’s name forever!