Little Mr. Bright Boy

I always tell Neil that when it comes to studying, grades are not everything. You may get high grades but it doesn't mean you're REALLY learning. What's important is that you take what you've learned in the classroom and apply it to your daily life.

I make it to a point that he doesn't feel guilty or condemned if he doesn't perfect an exam.

Just enjoy what you do.

Today, I went to his school for a parent-teacher conference and to receive his first quarter report card.

A couple of parents got there before me so I had to wait for my turn. I scanned the classroom. Observing the children's art works on the walls. Finally, my gaze fell upon the board. And this made my heart smile.

I am so blessed to have a son who has learned that getting high grades means honoring God and his parents.

Congratulations Neil! We are all so proud of you.

His other awards:

Excellence in Christian Living Education - When he was four, one of his ninongs gave him a Children's Bible. He'd insist that I read it to him EVERY night. Eventually, he began to practice reading with it. A while ago, his class moderator and teacher in CLE applauded him for knowing all the bible stories

Excellence in Mathematics - Teaching him the value of money

Excellence in SIBIKA - This made my heart jump! I remembered our trip to Fort Santiago

Excellence in Science and Health - There were nights when he'd insist that I read to him a junior anatomy book. Though I was so tired then, I'd still do it.

One by one, I went through the certificates and thought of the parties and barkada hang-out I missed because I had to go home early.

It was all worth missing them.

And oh, this is my favorite. Every morning, before he boards the school service, I don't tell him to be a good boy. Instead, I tell him:

"Be a loving person." <3

(I got this from Ate Thammie Sy's blog.)

Sometimes, he'd give me a good-bye kiss and say those lines before I can.

And this special award showed me that he really applies it.

I only prayed for my child to grow up Christ-like but God gave me bright Christ-like child for a bonus. I am so blessed.

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

Proverbs 22:6

God and I, we are in the business of raising up a godly man. Isang tunay na lalaki. ;)

Ang Tunay na Lalaki

Setyembre 1, 2012

Sabado.

Tanghali. Late na ako sa meeting. Nakakahiya naman, o. May humintong jeep sa tapat ko. Nagdalawang isip ako kung sasakay ako o hindi. Ang mga pasahero: dalawang mag-asawang may edad na, tatlong lalaki, isang bata na anak siguro ng isa sa mga lalaki at isang aso na bitbit ng isa sa mga lalaki. Oo, isang aso sa pampasaherong jeep. Dahil nga sa nagmamadali na’ko, wala na akong karapatan maging choosy. Nakabusal ang bibig ni Bantay (pinangalanan ko na talaga siya) kaya mukang safe naman siya. Pero siyempre dun pa rin ako umupo sa malayo.

Katulad ng dati, mabilis pa sa takbo ng jeep ang takbo ng isipan ko. Nakarating na yata ako sa Pluto. Pero iba ang biyahe na ‘to. Pasimple, tiningnan ko ulit si Bantay at ang manong na may dala sa kanya. San kaya sila papunta?

Magkakakilala pala ang tatlong lalaki. At tama ako, yung bata ay anak nga nung isang manong. Mautak daw si kumander, wika niya. “Pinasama ‘to (tinuro ang bata) para daw siguradong uuwi ako ng maaga.” Napunta ang usapan nila tungkol sa kanilang trabaho. Damay na pati ang boss nila. Bandang huli na ng maintindihan ko kung bakit kasama  nila si Bantay. Masarap daw siya ‘pag niluto sa tomato sauce.

Sa isip ko, HA? Pulutan pala. Kawawang Bantay.

Nakakalungkot. Dahil gagawing pagkain si Bantay ng wala sa oras. Pero mas nakakalungkot ang realidad na ang nagiging batayan ng pagkalalaki ay gano ka kalakas uminom at ilan na ang babaeng pinaiyak mo.

Tatlong lalaki. Haligi ng tahanan. Hindi ko po nais manghuhusga ng ibang tao. Ngunit sa mga sandaling iyon, naisip ko: Nasaan po ang asawa nila? Ang mga anak nila? Kumain na kaya ng tanghalian? Pwedeng oo, pwedeng hindi.

Sa puso ko, umasa ako na may ibang bagay na pwedeng pag-ukulan ng panahon at pera ang mga ama na’to. Sana sa mas makabuluhang bagay nila nilaan ang kanilang oras. Naiisip ko, ilang mga tatay ang katulad nila? Isa pang nakakalungkot na katotohanan: Marami pa.

Sa puntong ‘yon, kinausap ko ang Panginoon at itinaas ko ang lahat ng tatay at magiging tatay sa bansang ito. Na ang Diyos nawa ang kumilos ang magtaguyod ng mga lalaki na may pagmamahal sa Kanya upang maging responsableng mga ama. Mga ama na aalagaan at gagabayan ang kanilang asawa at mga anak. Magsisikap at pagyaymanin ang mga biyaya na ipagkakatiwala sa kanila ng Diyos.

Hapon.

Nanggaling ako sa volunteer’s rally ng RightStart Foundation at papunta sa Cord of 3 Strands meeting sa Promenade, Greenhills. Nakisabay naman ako sa sasakyan kasama ang tatlong kaibigan na lalaki. Kung saan saan din napunta ang usapan nila. At habang nakikitawa sa mga biruan at kulitan nila, naalala ko ang tatlong lalaki sa jeep at ang aking maikling panalangin.

Tatlong lalaki. Ang mga kaibigan ko ay pwede rin maging katulad ng tatlong manong sa jeep. Kung gugustuhin nila, meron din silang dalang aso at mga rekados para sa ulam na ipapares sa alak. Pero pinili nilang ilaan ang panahon at lakas para tumulong sa mga nangangailangan.

Tunay na buhay ang Diyos dahil kumikilos siya sa puso ng tatlong lalaki na ‘to. Ang Diyos ang patuloy na nagbubuhos ng Kanyang pagmamahal at kadakilaan sa buhay nila. At iyon din ang humuhubog sa kanilang karakter upang maging mga tunay na lalaki at balang araw, mga tunay na ama.

At ang isang masayang paalala sa’kin ng Panginoon: Marami pa sila. Patuloy lang natin itaas sa Kanya ang ating ama, kapatid, pinsan, kaibigan, ka-ibigan, tito, lolo, boss, katrabaho, guard, janitor at lahat ng kalalakihan sa buhay natin.

Kung ikaw naman ay isang lalaki, ang hamon at tanong ko sa'yo: Isa ka bang tunay na lalaki?

P.S.

Gusto ko lang bigyang pugay ang tatlong kolokoy, este, lalaki na nakasabay ko sa sasakyan. Nawa'y patuloy kayong maging magandang halimbawa sa mga kapwa niyo kalalakihan.

Val Baguios III -
IT Service Desk shift supervisor,
Author of Brokenmindset.org

Mark Ezekiel Cahiles -
Interior Desinger by profession,
Photographer by passion

Dave Milton Uy -
Marketing Specialist

My Monsoon Rain and Flood Experience

In the Philippines, flooding after heavy rains is close to normal. But this August's monsoon rains and floods taught me a lot on emergency preparedness, finding joy in awful circumstances and waiting.

Emergency Preparedness

August 7, 2012 (4:15 am)

"Ma, nasa garahe na yung tubig. Malapit na pumasok na sa loob ng bahay!" (Ma, the water has reached the garage. It's almost inside the house!") my youngest brother Nikolai blurted out at the wee hours of that rainy morning.

I heard him in the middle of dreams and wakefulness. I bolted up from my bed and ran to the front door. I saw slippers swimming in the garage and knew he wasn't over-reacting.

One of the things I learned from the Emergency Preparedness and Response Training I attended at Victory Greenhills last month is this: Keep a whistle on-hand.

In terms of emergency response, a whistle is used to call attention to lead a group of people to safety or a team to act in behalf of the victims. It's also for calling attention if you're the one who needs rescue. Remember Rose was rescued at the end of the movie?

As for me, I used this to wake up the whole household. ;)

In split seconds, my family, in our zombies-out-of-bed-looks, was all standing at the sala watching as flood water licked our doorstep. And you want to know what was our first move in times like that?

Pray. With the moment's level of urgency, we could have ran back to our rooms to ransack our closets. But the most important thing one must do is to pray and ask for God's protection from harm, wisdom to act and faith to believe that everything will be fine.

After approximately one hour of evacuating our belongings to the second floor, we -- my mother, my sister, my two brothers, my two pamangkins (my neice and my nephew), my yaya (okay, Neil's yaya) and I -- we're huddled at the second floor, watching news. Our basic needs like food, water, medicines, clothes and candles were all secured with us.

Another lesson from the training is to ALWAYS stock up on your emergency kit. The kit contains:

1.     Food supply good for one week for the whole family – these are instant and canned goods, we’re not sure if we’d be able to cook. And frozen goods will only last for maximum of 2 days in room temp

2.     Drinking water – a normal human being can last up to 3 weeks without food but die of thirst in 3 days

3.     First aid kit – self-explanatory; I also suggest to stock up on Vitamin C to help boost immune system. Sodium ascorbate is safe to take on an empty stomach.

4.     Clothes – for hygiene purposes; of course, you need to change just in case you get soaked in the rain

5.     Flash light (with extra batteries) and/or candles – in times of heavy rains and flooding, don’t take the risk of NOT pulling down your power breaker; water is a good conductor of electricity

6. Protective gears - examples are boots, rain coats, umbrella, etc.; just in case you really have to go through the flood

Did we have all these? Shamefully, no. Thankfully, though, we have school children and with that, the most responsible thing every household head must do is to stock up food supplies.

Will these guarantee our safety and survival? No. But God is calling is to break our Pinoy bahala-na mindsets and act responsibly.

Joy in all circumstances

With no electricity, rain pouring, flood getting higher every hour, our activities consisted of eating, sleeping, meditating on God’s word, praying, waiting and we go back to eating.

You might be wondering, where is Neil? The day before the flood crept all over Metro Manila, I receive a call from Neil’s grandparents. Classes were suspended so they picked him up from school, brought him home and picked him up again to attend a classmate’s birthday party. Night fell and it was still raining cats and dogs, so they called again to inform me that Neil would be staying with them for the night.

One thing in my mind: “Thank God Neil is not here.”

Even if things don’t go as we expected, God still has our best in His mind.

The most beautiful thing that happened during the three days out-pour was our family’s bond got tighter. With nothing but the candle light to illuminate our storm-sick faces, my siblings and I reminisced about our wacky childhood adventures and misadventures. Our stomachs ached in laughter as we played games like “Dugtungan-ng-Kanta”, “P.A.N.T.S.” and our made-up game “Random Signages”.

My sister with the flood scenario as background

If you’re familiar with these games, you know how hilarious it can get. In PANTS, you have to come up with Places, Animals, Name, Things and (we added) Veggies/Fruits that start with the given letter. Two game highlights:

1.     Veggies/Fruits starting with N: Nabubulok na Saging

2.     Animal starting with P: Patay na daga

My brothers are crazy and weird to some extent, but I learned to love them more after this experience.

I also want to honor my Kuya Vladimir who acted as leader during the evacuation period. 

Relief operations
c/o Bgy. Dela Paz Kagawads

On our second day, our neighbours were crying out for relief goods. We thought, "buti na lang may supplies pa tayo" (Good thing, we still have supplies here). 

But rain kept on pouring that day so by night, we were running low. Kuya braved through the murky chest-deep flood to get out and buy more food.

Before, I always thought he was stoic and apathetic but his words echoed in my heart. “Tingin niyo papayag ako na magkaganyan tayo?” (Do you think I’d let that happen to us?) Pertaining to our neighbour crying out for food.

My Hero Kuya

Waiting on Jesus

I’ll always remember that midnight when the candle lights are out and the family has gone to our cots.

Rain was pounding on the roof like there’s no tomorrow. It was pitch black outside. I strained to assess the flood level. It has gone up! And with this kind of torrent, I thought, water may get higher overnight.

What if we’re not safe on the second floor anymore? Do I need to call for rescue now? Can we climb up the roof? We have enough umbrellas to cover our heads until rescue comes.

These are the desperate thoughts racing through my fear-stricken mind. I went back to bed, trying to drown out the roars of thunder. I heard some sniffling. It’s my younger brother, Nikolai. He was panicking, too. Mama sat up on her bed when she sensed that we’re agitated. She reassured us that Jesus is covering us under His wings of protection. But I was still afraid. I, who was so brave to lead the prayer and evacuation, who posted in my Facebook status that God is in control earlier that day, was trembling in fear.

I remembered when Jesus’ disciples woke Him up as huge waves slapped every sides of the boat. Like they did, I panicked close to desperation. I imagined Jesus telling me, “You, of little faith. Why did you doubt?”

It’s okay to be afraid and tell God. He wants us to run to Him for comfort. I cried out. Tears choked back the words so Mama continued the prayer. Together, we asked for His divine intervention and declared that He is sovereign. I asked that He would increase my dwindling faith. Then, like a warm blanket on a freezing night, the peace that transcends all understanding pacified my terrified soul.

In a tiny, broken voice, I began singing:

“When the oceans rise and thunders roar, I will soar with You above the storm. Father, You are King over the flood. I will be still, know You are God.”

Mama and Nikolai joined me in singing. In the dark, water rising outside every minute, we sang praises to the only one God of the universe, to Jesus, the name above all other names.

After five minutes, we heard the rain hushing down to stop.

When we see the sun shining, it’s easy to praise Jesus and say He is good. But in dark and stormy nights, are you willing to trust Him to bring you through?

In our life, we will encounter many storms, be it literal or not. Learn to depend on God’s grace. Ask and believe for Him to show us that He is mighty and sovereign. Let Him be the anchor that will hold you safe and secure in stormy seasons.

Faith believes that beyond these relentless dark clouds the Son is waiting to pierce through with His Light.