(Written on my phone as I waited in line for my doctor)
1. Be grateful always to everyone (especially to God) and for everything - be it big or small.
2. Never talk ill of others. When they treat you well it will put yourself to shame.
3. We can make plans but they can only take us so far. God ALWAYS takes care of the rest.
4. When our plans are not up to speed with God’s, be ready to improvise.
5. Stop the worrying. Identify the problem. Then do something about it. (I woke up today with a headache. There were a lot of things on my to-do list so I whined and whined. Then I ate breakfast, took my meds, and rested quietly for two hours. After that, the headache was gone and I was good to go).
6. Did I say thank, thank, thank?
Thursday, August 27, 2009
I am sorry...
… for being super-duper grouchy to everyone at home - hubby, the kids, and the yayas.
… for missing scripture and prayers.
… for missing out on my gratitude journal for two days. No wonder I was being so whiny and negative about things.
… for missing scripture and prayers.
… for missing out on my gratitude journal for two days. No wonder I was being so whiny and negative about things.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Saying 'No'
This thing is beginning to give me a headache… oh Lord, please give me the guts to say ‘No’ when I mean it. The guts to say it over and over when the person asking is unrelenting. The guts to stick to my guns when the other person refuses, time and again, to take the ‘No’ for an answer. The courage to make decisions for myself and to set my priorities, specifically, to choose time with my family over the less essential things.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Loving Thy Neighbor
I have decided to make good use of my time at home. I set out to teach our youngest her ABCs, and to help our 4-year-old to master writing her name.
It’s embarrassing. Our youngest, now three, does not know her ABCs. Her Kuya knew all 26 letters by heart at that age. I do not remember consciously teaching him the alphabet because two years ago, I was buried deep in work/training, hospital duty, and innumerable other tasks. But I surrounded him with a lot of books on the alphabet, and flashcards.
The flashcards are now long gone, hapless victims of the kids’ rough-handling. The books I very well remember. One of those was exactly the same as the one I had when I was little.
When I was very young, parents and titas showered me with gifts of books. I will never forget my big, hardboard set of Froebel-Kan books. As a little kid, I remember staring endlessly at the pretty, very detailed pictures of the frog and the princess and their sumptuous royal dinner. The same set of books were also very useful as shelter for my teddy bear and dolls; because they were very stiff, I would make the books stand up as walls, and I could manage to put another book as roof on the top. As I learned how to read, I discovered my insatiable appetite for books and read them countless times.
Imagine how delighted I was when I chanced upon exactly the same set of hardboard books at a Goodwill bookstore a few years ago. And they were on sale! I grabbed as many as my budget allowed. As soon as I got home, I stuck a sticker that bore my kids’ names (two, at that time) on each of the books’ cover. I’d like to think the two elder kids enjoyed them. I got a kick out of reading to them or simply seeing them staring at the pictures.
Now, we had a helper for almost two years whose sister lived in the same compound, just two doors away from us. This sister had a son, and later a daughter, just a bit younger than our kids. (Can you now see where I am going?). Last year, one of the yayas reported that she could not cut the kids’ nails because the small nailclipper was missing. It made me very angry to discover that the yaya had to go to the other house whenever one of our kids had to have their nails clipped to “borrow” what was rightfully ours. I confronted the helper… it was ugly, and after that the nailclipper magically reappeared.
Later on, hubby found out the same helper had been bringing food out of the house. Now, now… I know we were better off than her sister’s family; the husband worked for a hardware store and was probably earning minimum wage. But that did not give them reason to take what was not rightfully theirs. Also, we regularly shared food (cake, sweets) and old but still decently usable kids’ clothes and shoes for the sister’s kids.
Fast forward to the present. The helper is, thankfully, no longer with us. As soon as she left, we found out that a lot of Kuya’s beloved toy cars were gone. Some of their other toys are missing. Miraculously, our groceries now last much, much, much longer than before. We couldn’t help but notice. The detergent, which before lasted not longer than a week, now can sustain us up to two weeks! Even the oil, produce, rice… everything lasted longer than before. This confirmed our suspicions. And one of our yayas allegedly saw some of the kids’ toys and books in the other house. They were all battered up and when the yaya dared to ask the sister why those books were there, she said, “Itatapon na ang mga ‘yan ni ___ (helper’s name)”.
I was very angry but decided against confronting them. One never wins such arguments. They will always be defensive and feel “api”. For a while I stopped smiling at the sister, stopped acknowledging her when we ran into each other in the compound. But later, I again started giving her small smiles.
Today, with the exam over, I began looking for the kids’ alphabet books, particularly the hardboard one. It was gone! I was very mad (again). Mad at the helper who’s long gone. Mad at the neighbor. And mad at myself. Did I think that our youngest will just learn the alphabet all by herself? She is very smart and has a vocabulary that never ceases to amaze me, but sadly, does not know A from B from C.
This afternoon, I will be going out on a much-anticipated date with my sister. I will make sure to drop by the bookstore to replenish our stocks. And order Robee stickers to label them with the kids’ names, hoping that this time, the labels will work.
Loving one’s neighbors is not a very easy thing to do.
It’s embarrassing. Our youngest, now three, does not know her ABCs. Her Kuya knew all 26 letters by heart at that age. I do not remember consciously teaching him the alphabet because two years ago, I was buried deep in work/training, hospital duty, and innumerable other tasks. But I surrounded him with a lot of books on the alphabet, and flashcards.
The flashcards are now long gone, hapless victims of the kids’ rough-handling. The books I very well remember. One of those was exactly the same as the one I had when I was little.
When I was very young, parents and titas showered me with gifts of books. I will never forget my big, hardboard set of Froebel-Kan books. As a little kid, I remember staring endlessly at the pretty, very detailed pictures of the frog and the princess and their sumptuous royal dinner. The same set of books were also very useful as shelter for my teddy bear and dolls; because they were very stiff, I would make the books stand up as walls, and I could manage to put another book as roof on the top. As I learned how to read, I discovered my insatiable appetite for books and read them countless times.
Imagine how delighted I was when I chanced upon exactly the same set of hardboard books at a Goodwill bookstore a few years ago. And they were on sale! I grabbed as many as my budget allowed. As soon as I got home, I stuck a sticker that bore my kids’ names (two, at that time) on each of the books’ cover. I’d like to think the two elder kids enjoyed them. I got a kick out of reading to them or simply seeing them staring at the pictures.
Now, we had a helper for almost two years whose sister lived in the same compound, just two doors away from us. This sister had a son, and later a daughter, just a bit younger than our kids. (Can you now see where I am going?). Last year, one of the yayas reported that she could not cut the kids’ nails because the small nailclipper was missing. It made me very angry to discover that the yaya had to go to the other house whenever one of our kids had to have their nails clipped to “borrow” what was rightfully ours. I confronted the helper… it was ugly, and after that the nailclipper magically reappeared.
Later on, hubby found out the same helper had been bringing food out of the house. Now, now… I know we were better off than her sister’s family; the husband worked for a hardware store and was probably earning minimum wage. But that did not give them reason to take what was not rightfully theirs. Also, we regularly shared food (cake, sweets) and old but still decently usable kids’ clothes and shoes for the sister’s kids.
Fast forward to the present. The helper is, thankfully, no longer with us. As soon as she left, we found out that a lot of Kuya’s beloved toy cars were gone. Some of their other toys are missing. Miraculously, our groceries now last much, much, much longer than before. We couldn’t help but notice. The detergent, which before lasted not longer than a week, now can sustain us up to two weeks! Even the oil, produce, rice… everything lasted longer than before. This confirmed our suspicions. And one of our yayas allegedly saw some of the kids’ toys and books in the other house. They were all battered up and when the yaya dared to ask the sister why those books were there, she said, “Itatapon na ang mga ‘yan ni ___ (helper’s name)”.
I was very angry but decided against confronting them. One never wins such arguments. They will always be defensive and feel “api”. For a while I stopped smiling at the sister, stopped acknowledging her when we ran into each other in the compound. But later, I again started giving her small smiles.
Today, with the exam over, I began looking for the kids’ alphabet books, particularly the hardboard one. It was gone! I was very mad (again). Mad at the helper who’s long gone. Mad at the neighbor. And mad at myself. Did I think that our youngest will just learn the alphabet all by herself? She is very smart and has a vocabulary that never ceases to amaze me, but sadly, does not know A from B from C.
This afternoon, I will be going out on a much-anticipated date with my sister. I will make sure to drop by the bookstore to replenish our stocks. And order Robee stickers to label them with the kids’ names, hoping that this time, the labels will work.
Loving one’s neighbors is not a very easy thing to do.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Flowers. So soon.
A strange thing happened today. When the kids came home from school at noon, the yaya came up to me and said, “Ate, dalaga na po ang anak n’yo”. My first thought was… what? She had her menses?! Then she handed me a bouquet of 3 pink roses, in full bloom. Normally, the sight of flowers would have elicited feelings of happiness and pleasure. Definitely not this time. The next thing that came to my mind was - what the? I found this strange because the first ever bouquet of flowers I got was at age 22… and it had come from my now hubby.
Our 4-year-old is very pretty. I knew it the first time I laid eyes on her at the nursery the day after I had given birth. She had thick, shiny, dark hair; big, round eyes; and, very pink, dainty lips. Wish I could say she got these from me. She actually took after my mother. Mommy has always been a looker. I remember feeling elated when people say we look alike, and this did not happen very often. More often, I get - oh, you’re mom is prettier than you. My sister and I have gotten used to remarks like these and take no offense.
Anyway, I always knew our Little Girl would be breaking some hearts when she grows up. Countless times, I’ve teased her father about it, warning him, saying he better start bracing himself for the time when guys come knocking on the door because of his two daughters (I pray that that - knocking on the parents’ door - would be still the norm). But, one big BUT, I never thought that this would happen this soon! I thought, what in the world were this boy’s parents thinking? Apparently, the boy’s yaya told our yaya that last night, he cried and insisted that his parents bring him to the mall so he could pick flowers for our girl. And they did exactly that.
Trying my best to act as normally as possible, I told our Little Girl that the flowers were nice and matter-of-factly asked who the giver was. She said she didn’t know. She looked unhappy, even miserable. I asked why she was given flowers and she said she didn’t know. Minutes later, she told me that she was scared and didn’t want to go back to school. Why, did they tease you? She said no. The yaya said that as they stood outside the classroom and the boy came out, our Little Girl looked scared and pulled at her and said ‘Let’s go’.
It bothered me a bit that it affected her this way. Maybe the extra attention, the way she was being singled out, frightened her. But I am also quite relieved. Had she looked thrilled or flattered like a teenager, I would be pulling my hair right now and beating on my chest. Her reaction was a reminder to me that my girl is still the innocent baby that she’s always been. Minutes later, I heard her characteristic loud, hearty laugh from the other room; a cartoon cracked her up. Big sigh of relief.
There. I have gotten over it. Now, I can’t wait to see her Daddy’s face when he comes home tonight.
Our 4-year-old is very pretty. I knew it the first time I laid eyes on her at the nursery the day after I had given birth. She had thick, shiny, dark hair; big, round eyes; and, very pink, dainty lips. Wish I could say she got these from me. She actually took after my mother. Mommy has always been a looker. I remember feeling elated when people say we look alike, and this did not happen very often. More often, I get - oh, you’re mom is prettier than you. My sister and I have gotten used to remarks like these and take no offense.
Anyway, I always knew our Little Girl would be breaking some hearts when she grows up. Countless times, I’ve teased her father about it, warning him, saying he better start bracing himself for the time when guys come knocking on the door because of his two daughters (I pray that that - knocking on the parents’ door - would be still the norm). But, one big BUT, I never thought that this would happen this soon! I thought, what in the world were this boy’s parents thinking? Apparently, the boy’s yaya told our yaya that last night, he cried and insisted that his parents bring him to the mall so he could pick flowers for our girl. And they did exactly that.
Trying my best to act as normally as possible, I told our Little Girl that the flowers were nice and matter-of-factly asked who the giver was. She said she didn’t know. She looked unhappy, even miserable. I asked why she was given flowers and she said she didn’t know. Minutes later, she told me that she was scared and didn’t want to go back to school. Why, did they tease you? She said no. The yaya said that as they stood outside the classroom and the boy came out, our Little Girl looked scared and pulled at her and said ‘Let’s go’.
It bothered me a bit that it affected her this way. Maybe the extra attention, the way she was being singled out, frightened her. But I am also quite relieved. Had she looked thrilled or flattered like a teenager, I would be pulling my hair right now and beating on my chest. Her reaction was a reminder to me that my girl is still the innocent baby that she’s always been. Minutes later, I heard her characteristic loud, hearty laugh from the other room; a cartoon cracked her up. Big sigh of relief.
There. I have gotten over it. Now, I can’t wait to see her Daddy’s face when he comes home tonight.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Weeping may endure for a night...
Once again, I am in awe of God’s generosity and faithfulness.
Against all odds, He has proven once more that He is on my side. In the blink of an eye, He has wiped away every tear, every pain, every fear, and every sense of desperation.
God must have allowed all the events of the past two weeks to happen to push me to pray more… to urge me to rely on His strength instead of my own. The experience taught me the value of prayer. And of prayers offered by loved ones and friends. It opened my eyes to the beauty of God’s strokes, those which, just days ago, were difficult to appreciate and understand.
My heart overflows with happiness and gratitude to all who offered prayers for my sake.
Praised be Jesus! Praised be Mama Mary! Thank you St. Peter and St. Jude!
Against all odds, He has proven once more that He is on my side. In the blink of an eye, He has wiped away every tear, every pain, every fear, and every sense of desperation.
God must have allowed all the events of the past two weeks to happen to push me to pray more… to urge me to rely on His strength instead of my own. The experience taught me the value of prayer. And of prayers offered by loved ones and friends. It opened my eyes to the beauty of God’s strokes, those which, just days ago, were difficult to appreciate and understand.
My heart overflows with happiness and gratitude to all who offered prayers for my sake.
Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. - Psalm 30:5
Praised be Jesus! Praised be Mama Mary! Thank you St. Peter and St. Jude!
I can do all things because Christ gives me strength. - Philippians 4:13
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)