posted by Jennie on May 31

The JIVE band did a great job today as they played their rendition of Superchick’s “Highschool”. Sing along as you watch this video clip. It was a back to school program they called, “School of the Rock.” The Rock is Jesus. The song encourages students who are going back to school to see the bigger picture and rise above what is usually expected of high school students.

We have to give it to the young people who came this afternoon for the back to school program. In spite of the bad weather and heavy downpour, there were still a lot of youth who came over to the party. They could’ve chosen to stay indoors or stroll in the malls with their families for wholesale tvs, but they all came! This is why malls are crowded this past week, because of the current back to school sale.

Enjoy the video clip and sing along!

Guy: Dude did you hear that Superchic[k]‘s playing the prom?

CHORUS:
High school (high school)
Could be (Could be)
A mini me of the rest of society
There’s always (always)
A prom queen (prom queen)
There’ll always be, always be sororities
Sadly (Sadly)
Some will be (some will be)
Eternally keeping score of popularity
And just ’cause (just ’cause )
They all do (They all do)
Doesn’t mean we have to act like we’re in high school

High school is like a big competition
Beauty contests, prom court is the mission
There can only be one queen, one king
Everyone voting, everyone competing
But these are the rules, the way of high school
If someone puts you down, that’s so high school
Someone talks behind your back, that’s so high school
Thinking you have to get them back, that’s also high school
I know, I’ll be graduating early

High school is like the state of the nation
Some people never change after graduation
Believing any light you shine makes their’s lesser
They have to prove to everyone that their’s is better
These are the rules, the ways of high school
If someone puts you down, that’s so high school
Believing they’re too cool for you, that’s so high school
and when you believe it too, that’s also high school
I know, I’ll be graduating early

Doesn’t mean we have to act like we’re in high school
Doesn’t mean we have to act like we’re in high school
We’ve all got bad yearbook photos
Which we’ve forgot to let go
And just like acne our insecurity
Should be something we left with the JV
So here’s to letting go of yearbook photos
Things we kept that hold us down so
That was yesterday, there’s always tomorrow
We are tomorrow, we are tomorrow
I know, I’ll be graduating early

posted by Jennie on May 31

our church family

the praise and worship team

the congregation

JIVE’s Back-to-School Program “School of the Rock”

JIVE (Jesus Inspired, Valuing Eternity) is SBC Makati’s youth ministry.

The JIVE Band

Kuya Rege leads the youth and starts with an ice breaker

posted by Jennie on May 30

During the first year of our marriage, we started off with the hubby taking care of our finances. Everything was jotted down. A checking account was opened for better monitoring. We were idealistic. An influence of what I have picked up from Fascinating Womanhood. It teaches about the importance of the husband take control of the family finances so that the burden will be upon him like it is designed to be.

As years went on, the hubby became overwhelmed with several things that he had to take care of and he had me take over the financial management. We were better off from then. He stays on as the provider, but had me take care of monitoring alongside every single household concern. Finances have been a major part of concern in marriage. An executive director of Evansville nonprofit community of Marriage Builders said, “Finances are certainly one of the top five, if not top three, problems that marriage faces.”

It is true that money can be a major cause of discord between couples and this is the very thing that we refuse to take over our marriage. Having both come from family of origins that did not exactly practice the biblical way of handling finances, we chose to do it God’s way. We’re still not perfect but we are happy to report that with God’s help, we are able to pull through the challenges that were thrown our way. Having each other to be accountable to for every financial concern keeps us from wavering. Even as simple as the purchase of the last Adidas shoes the hubby bought, was planned. Athletic shoes can be very pricey these, so we do not just buy without considering our budget. We make sure not to mindlessly indulge and continue be good stewards of what is given us.

Personally, I give it to my mother to have instilled upon me a prudent way of living. I would honestly go for discount shoes than the pricier brands. Of course I still go for comfort so that could be a challenge but not impossible.

Money matters in marriage. In fact, it could easily cause friction if issues are not immediately resolved. Open line of communication between spouses is important to be able to talk freely about several matters, including the finances. Security in the relationship is very important. Without this, financial talk about marriage could just about be looked upon as an issue of control.

posted by Jennie on May 29

1. It’s cold and rainy outside. 

2. I love green tomatoes.

3. My favorite health and beauty product is Organic Thanakha. The one I’m selling via my KikayCorner.net online store.

4. I want to drag my family out next week for a nice long ride.

5. Well, first of all tasks that are set to expire should be done first.

6. My family and an old friend; those were the cast of characters in a recent dream and it was a silly one. 

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to finish all pending tasks, tomorrow my plans include following up on some of the people from our church’s database and Sunday, I want to have fun with our family and celebrate SBC-Makati’s 6th year!

posted by Jennie on May 28

SBC-Makati is one thrilled bunch as we altogether welcome another year of God’s faithfulness. We are celebrating our 6th anniversary this coming Sunday, March 31, 2009. We appreciate all the years that we have been with our church family.

A lot of preparations are being done, invitations are already out and the new tarpaulin is now ready to replace our current backdrop. We have also been contacting former attendees, hoping they will be available to celebrate our 6th anniversary with us. Our church office does not yet have its own internet service. Maybe a service similar to what verizon offers will be nice.  verizon bundles will prove to be the most practical, to say the least. Our local ones charge like crazy for the simplest of service. We could make use of its wireless phone service from the list of verizon deals. This would help people who are on the follow up ministry could easily contact members and attendees in our database list.

We currently do not have anyone on staff yet, but the volunteer workers are doing a great job at their ministries. They have this sense of ownership over the ministries that have been assigned to them. It helps a lot that they are working through their giftings and talents. We have been in a celebrative mood for weeks now and we move forward to our seventh year hopeful to an even better year for SBC-Makati.

posted by Jennie on May 27

Another parenting tip I got from the book Say Goodbye to Whining, Complaining, and Bad Attitudes, In You and Your Kids.  It reminds me to cherish my son and indulge him as we sail together in his world. This is especially hard for me because I work from home.  But it is also part of my commitment.  As important as my job is, my child is more important.  It fills my cup to the brim whenever I see in his eyes that he understands why mama needs to work after spending quality time with him. His eyes will not fail to tell me that his love tank needs replenishing, whenever I get too busy for him.

Here is the excerpt from Dr Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller’s book.

One way to honor our children is to enjoy them with their own interests in mind. You may think that’s pretty easy. After all, you’ve been enjoying your children for years. But many parents, after careful examination, discover that they’re enjoying themselves and inviting their children to join in. Often parents determine the conversation topics, the entertainment choices, or the outing destinations. Parents make choices they think will please their children, but in reality, they’re loving their children in ways that they themselves would like to be loved.

One day when my (Scott) children were young, I told them that they could each have a half hour of my time during which I would play whatever they wanted. Melissa, at four years old, chose playing with dolls. I never realized how long a half hour was! We must have explored everything that one doll could say to another. I also learned that dressing a doll is like trying to put an octopus in a string bag. You just get one part in and something else falls off. I realized then that I often choose to enjoy my children according to my own needs and interests instead of theirs.

Do you know your child’s favorite color, foods, or friends? Many children are willing to join in with their parents’ plans and the family ends up having a lot of fun together. But focusing on a child’s interests and topics of conversation can be a good way to show honor. This is especially important with teens. Listening to their music, allowing them to teach you how to play a computer game, or just having a discussion about something they like offers connecting points that parent/child relationships need. The skill of enjoying children according to their needs and interests is one way of honoring kids and expressing to them that they’re valuable.

* an excerpt from the book Say Goodbye to Whining, Complaining, and Bad Attitudes, In You and Your Kids by Dr Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller, RN, BSN.

posted by Jennie on May 26

Often our most urgent and fervent prayers regarding our children are for their protection. It’s hard to think about other aspects of their lives if we are worried sick over their personal safety. How can we pray about future events when we’re concerned about them even having a future?

Things happen when we pray that will not happen when we don’t. What might happen, or might not happen, to our children if we don’t pray today? Let’s not wait to find out. Lets get on our knees now.

These are the first and last paragraphs of Stormie Omartian’s The Power of a Praying Parent. These words reminded me when I first heard about Mike Tyson’s daughter’s tragic accident. Who would have thought that treadmills could be deadly for four year old kids, right? As a mother, I have my share of fears for my son and I guess it is but natural. And my resolve as a mother is to continually pray for every aspect of his life. Such that I will not bring him up by my finite and human wisdom alone but for the Lord to lead both me and his father to raise him up aright. As for worries about what could happen and his safety, I would rather also choose to constantly pray that the Lord’s hand be upon him always.

posted by Jennie on May 26

I officially got back to my 12 hour schedule in doing online tasks since early last week. It has been a while since my schedule dove down to 8 hours a day. So that only means two things: business is picking up and my health might be on the line again. Balance is the key. I have since learned this when I was too keen on taking up a lot of tasks than my body could actually handle. It was when my resistance went down to its all time low last year. Now I know better. Risking my health only means risking my family’s as well. In fact, I turned in earlier than usual last night — before midnight struck.

Free time is not something I usually get my hands on whenever I fancy. Especially now that I will soon get down to a rigid schedule when I start homeschooling our little guy when June comes. It would possibly mean that I would have practically zero time to do other things like watching my favorite tv series. It would be sweet if we have something like Time Warner Digital. Read the rest of this entry »

posted by Jennie on May 25

I don’t know about you, but I do get this endorphin high whenever I claim a brand new domain.  Could this be a symptom common to all probloggers?  The brand new blog is the oldest I have had in Blogger. I recently migrated all contents of my original online journal to

www.jenaspacio.com

For those who have formerly exchanged links with jenaspacio.blogspot.com, here I am asking for a favor to change the URL from your respective sites to www.jenaspacio.com.  All my other web pages are niched ones.  Understandably, I cannot just about pour anything random whenever I write.  The most personal that I could get is via this blog, Marriage and Beyond.  I love that I have my name in my domain this time.  I am a little behind, I know.  A lot of other bloggers claimed their first domain with their names in it.  In this aspect, I am a very late bloomer.  The plan is for me to be able to pour my heart out in that blog.

I decided to stick with its original blog title, so it goes…

What’s in the title? It sounds pretty ordinary right?  But having no other title in mind when I was trying to think of a nice one in 2004, for my multiply site, I just figured that it will be about my life.  Each day comes and goes.  I will journal things in my life.  Blessings and otherwise. The way I spend it, whether with regret or fulfillment, it will go whether I like it or not.  Not the most profound, I know. But it does make sense, right?  so it goes…

Hope you could visit my brand new site and maybe leave a line or two.

posted by Jennie on May 25

A busy schedule has the ability to rob us away of more important things that matter, like spending quality time with your spouse. Life can be pretty toxic, that is true. But whenever I find myself overwhelmed with the hustle and bustle of everyday life, the reason is almost always that I did not take the time out to be alone with the Lord. My personal devotion is so important that the absence of which just about defines what my day ahead will be for me. It is often impossible to tweak our circumstance, but our attitude towards whatever will come our way will be up to us to control.

Spending quality time with the hubby is as important as having my personal devotion. We call it “couch time.” As we both work during the day, pressures coming from everywhere, it is easy to be disconnected with your spouse if there is no quality time spent together. It is not surprising that a lot of couples fall into the “falling out of love” trap. The lack of quality time spent together is always the culprit. My primary love language being Quality Time, I get cranky toward the hubby whenever we don’t spend time. Sometimes I even find myself wondering why I get cranky and later things will point towards the lack of time we spend together as the reason. Jeff knows me so well that he figures this out before I even get crankier. (lol) One of the things we enjoy doing at least once a week is watching episodes of our favorite tv series.

Last week, the hubby and I had no choice but to reluctantly say goodbye to three of our favorite tv series, the staples of our after couch time moments. It really looks like it is the end for Prisonbreak. We know it is going to be a while before the next season of 24 and Heroes will be back. It would be sweet if we have similar like that of dish network deals where we could choose a spin off from all of our three favorite tv series that recently said goodbye to us, all at the same time.

After terminating our subscription with our cable provider last year, we refuse to have anything less than what special dish network offers. I know it is pretty high standard. But why would we settle for anything less when, it will just cause us unnecessary headaches like what our former provider gave us. So unless there will be a local company that has similar offers like the dish network, the dvd reruns will have to suffice.

As of late, we have watched the first few episodes of Chuck and we are amused. Our friend, Frances won’t stop raving about it and I got curious. The series can be crazy hilarious and very entertaining. We are beginning to love it. A major shift from the heavier episodes of the former ones we got used to.  I so love spending time with Jeff. I especially love it when we pour our hearts out to each other. It takes us back to where we started off. The dynamics of a family can be complex. Life itself is. But zeroing in on the essentials, (like spending quality time with your spouse) make every waking moment a joy to behold.

posted by Jennie on May 24

There are a handful of preparations that are being done for SBC-Makati’s upcoming anniversary celebration. This is one of them. We are soon to replace our current backdrop that has been up for sometime now.  Thanks to Sarah for a job well done. She has been a part of the arts ministry of SBC-Makati for years now.  She is also our very talented bass player in our worship team. We appreciate you, Sarah.  May the Lord be glorified as you use your gifts in the ministry.  :-) 

posted by Jennie on May 23

Sumulong Baptist Church – Makati will officially turn six years on May 25, 2009. It was in the middle of last year when we started praying for a place to transfer to. We looked all over but found none. The location is not really the cheapest city in the country. In fact, it is the opposite.

We are more than glad that we were able to strike a deal with the owner of the building. It will give us more time to corporately pray for a better location. Another concern will be to hire a company to take care of REMOVALS. Read the rest of this entry »

posted by Jennie on May 22

posted by Jennie on May 21

One month. This is what I have left to figure my schedule out when I start homeschooling my sweet little guy. Early this coming June, we are going to have him assessed. What we are going to use for our homeschool curriculum is the international standard of School of Tomorrow (S.O.T.)  a.k.a. Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) .

We will then know from the result of the reading assessment if my son will be enrolled in Preschool with Ace and Christi or ABCs of ACE. The former is the program for children who have been tested NOT ready to read, while the latter is for those children tested READY to read. My son has been reading simple three and four letter words from age 2, so I am fairly confident that he is going to do the ABCs of ACE instead. But we will know for sure when we get him tested. He has to score at least 80% during the assessment.

I am both thrilled and nervous. Treading a brand new milestone with the little guy, with its success probability practically burdened on me is a huge challenge. My motivation is definite and I am choosing this as a part of the vocation I picked when I left the corporate world to totally support my husband seven years ago. Read the rest of this entry »

posted by Jennie on May 21

One of a webmaster’s ultimate nightmares is zero connection. It makes those times when internet connection is on intermittent mode, suddenly bearable. This is what happened to my connection yesterday. I had deadlines to beat and a handful of other tasks scheduled to take care of. 

The impatient me got to my old grouchy self and refused to call the hotline. I couldn’t believe I will be back to calling hotlines again. I reckon that our former broadband connection got me traumatized of sorts. We literally had to call several times a day, agents saying the same lines over again and not getting the connection problem resolved. Frustration to the highest level, to say the least. I was brought back to that instance. Plus the fact that I barely know what the hubby did back then when their technical team is with him on the phone going about all those crazy troubleshooting. One thing for sure, I was not in my best mood yesterday morning. The hubby was sweet enough to call the hotline himself before he left for the office and I was told that it was reported that there is trouble with the DSL connection around the East area and they are doing something about it.

Read the rest of this entry »