Marriage and Beyond

posted by Jennie on Jul 30

Working with the youth has always been interesting. It is way easier to be able to relate to them now that I am outside the box and yet I still can so understand them because I have been there once before. God’s grace has allowed me to see these young people through His loving eyes. Firm enough to rebuke but gentle enough to encourage. It is not the easiest to be an adolescent, even a young pro. The dating game and all the hassles of courtship, which if practiced outside God’s umbrella brings about haste and destruction. Not to mention heartaches and everything else in between. Read the rest of this entry »

posted by Jennie on Jul 26

My coming with the hubby for this Breaking Point missions trip in Palawan would not have been possible if it were not for my folks agreeing to care for our son while Jeff and I are away. Aren’t grandfolks the coolest? Mine are. They really are. Aside from the fact that they are both retired, my son is the only grand child they have to date.

papa and mama at Hotel Vancouver

As much as they love being in Western countries better because of all its conveniences and lesser dust (mama keeps emphasizing this) compared to Manila, they are still here. I remember having a hard time going to events when they were outside the country last year.

Read the rest of this entry »

posted by Jennie on Jul 15

When you are a brand new mother, there are so many things to learn about your child, one of which is the development of language. When I was a young mother myself, I am one of the guilty ones who bombarded themselves with information about the how-tos of taking care of a newborn. I always had a chart of the normal developmental stages of a child handy. We attended not just childbirth preparation classes but newborn care classes as well. To a degree, I even considered myself ready way before our son was born.

Jeff and I were thrilled over each and every progress our son would show. I remember this video that I took when Jed was a couple of months old. At three months, he was already mimicking the sound of the way we say “I love you” with ease and it was just one of the most unforgettable things.

It was like watching the clock when it came to how I anticipated my son to talk real words. We never encouraged baby talking. From all the studies that we have done, which were always careful to evaluate first, baby talking is not the way to go. Although, no one can really help himself when he’s faced with a baby. We always tend to don our softest voices and even sing-song tones when there is a baby around. But that’s entirely different from baby talking.

Read the rest of this entry »

posted by Jennie on Jul 14

Contest Mechanics:

1. The contest is open to all photographers – professional and non-professional – residing in the Philippines, male or female, a Filipino citizen aged 18 and above.
2. The theme of the contest is, “Breastfeeding: A Vital Emergency Response”. To qualify, the entries must capture the essence of breastfeeding, showcasing its importance and benefits especially in an emergency situation.
3. Entries must be exclusive to this contest only, and should not have been submitted as an entry in previous contests.
4. Entries must be printed in full color, size 8″x10″, unmounted – with or without boarders.
5. Entries must be submitted with a duly filled out registration form available at the Office of the Department of Pediatrics, UP- PGH , put in a short brown envelope together with original negative and data file. It must be submitted in person or via registered mail to:
   1. Department of Pediatrics
      University of the Philippines- Philippine General Hospital
      Taft Avenue, Manila
6. Participants can enter any number of entries, but can only win once. Photos must be taken using digital or conventional film camera, and must be exclusive to this contest.
7. Submission of entries is from July 15 to August 1. Mailed entries should be dated on or before 30 July 2009.
8. Prizes are: Read the rest of this entry »

posted by Jeff on Jul 14

A week from today, I will be experiencing one of the busiest weeks of my year. As a missions team from Sagemont Church in Houston, Texas composed of at least 27 individuals arrives on Tuesday, there are a series of evangelistic events lined up starting on Wednesday afternoon until the 29th of this month.

On the 22nd, we will be conducting a basketball mini-league and we are targeting to come up with four teams, one of which is a team of college students from Houston, and gather a big audience and get the opportunity to share the gospel in the event.

On the 24th, the missions team, in partnership with Breaking Point Foundation and different churches networked with our mother church Sumulong Baptist Church, will be conducting two Breaking Point programs, one in the morning at Manggahan High School and one right after lunch at Santolan High School, both in Pasig City. In these events, students will have the opportunity to watch and hear a clear presentation of the gospel and respond to it.

On the 26th, the team, together with twelve local volunteers (including me and my wife), will be flying to Puerto Princesa, Palawan for a scheduled two-day Breaking Point programs at Palawan National High School which has at least 6,000 students.

Here are some prayer requests as we conduct these events:

1. Pray that we would continue to find favor in the eyes of the school administrators we are dealing with and that we will be one in our purpose – to keep the students away from drug or substance abuse by introducing them to a right relationship with God.

2. Pray that the spiritual blindness of those who will hear the gospel would be removed and that they would clearly understand the need for God in their lives.

3. Pray for strength for all participants in this week-long evangelistic campaign.

4. Pray also for traveling mercies.

Thanks in advance to all those who will be praying for us and these requests.

posted by Jennie on Jul 14

It was when the hubby and I came home Saturday night when I first noticed that MarriageandBeyond.com, which is hosted with EzNet-Hosting.com is down. All the while I thought it was a temporary glitch brought about by the sudden unreliability of EZNet-Hosting.com, wherein which this site is hosted. Imagine my dismay when I saw that their site was down as well. Things in my head came into play. All the what ifs you could possibly think of. What if their server was hacked, etc. Jeff checked the “who is” tab to know if it is still registered with the same person a certain Dale character with the email address dalem01@ntlworld.com. The same person we transacted with when I subscribed to their one year hosting service last January. It is still under his name. We decided to give it a day until we will have this site propagated to my husband’s unlimited account with HostGator.

What happened with our hosting with EzNet-Hosting is too frustrating for me to feel anything else since. I paid them last January 2009 in good faith for a hosting service to last a year. After a day and the site is not still up, I knew we have got to decide. It was later affirmed when I cannot even access the control panel of my site. We also found out from the “who is” button that EzNet-Hosting.com is not registered with the same person anymore. That is less than a day since we last checked when it was still with dalem01@ntlworld.com. That’s as easy as letting us know that we’ve been had. If the site was hacked, then all this information below would have been opted by the new owner to be concealed by paying a minimal amount to set his “who is” to private.

The information on the current owner of EzNet-Hosting.com:

Read the rest of this entry »

posted by Jennie on Jul 12

Although it rained quite a bit yesterday, I was really thrilled to wrap up a productive day with friends, over at the Moringa Wellness event. I will post more on that later.

The day started out with my friend, Ria, as we spent more than 4 hours in a photography class in UP Diliman. I really appreciate how she helped me when I got lost along the way. Imagine, I don’t even know my camera! I got frazzled for a while because I thought I lost my lens cover. Haha! And if you are in a class with fast paced lessons, there is no way you can miss anything out or else you won’t just get your money’s worth, but it might leave you clueless through the class.

It was a happy workshop day for me, I love being with Teacher Ria. Although it was not exactly the best day for her, I just love that I could be with her in a class that we both are passionate about. Her sweet spirit can be very inspiring and a not so good day will fail to even mask that. Thanks, Ria! Read the rest of this entry »

posted by Jennie on Jul 11

Although dogs are not exactly my most favorite thing in the world (it has something to do with the phobia I picked up when I was three), I am beginning to see the advantages of having one. They really can be good guards of your home, if we come to think of it. It can also be my son’s pet. That is actually the primary reason why I may consider. With emphasis on MAY, please. It will really take something for me to agree on us getting one.

Read the rest of this entry »

posted by Jennie on Jul 10

We enjoyed our time today bonding with our cousin Jonathan and his family who are here on a medical mission’s trip. They are based in the United States and it was really a blessing to have seen them again. More pictures to come in the coming days.

posted by Jennie on Jul 9

A Chinese philosopher once said, “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life.”

The same concept is the inspiration behind Bayan-anihan—Gawad Kalinga’s (GK) food sufficiency arm, which was established to eradicate hunger by empowering poor families to produce their own food via backyard or organic farming. It advocates for a hunger-free Philippines under the battlecry, “Goodbye Gutom! Empower the poor. Eradicate hunger.”

As its main objective, Bayan-anihan (BA) aims to launch 2,500 farms in the next three years to feed at least 500,000 people for life with the aid of multi-sectoral partnership among GK and the Department of Agriculture (DA), agricultural schools, local government units (LGUs), non-government organizations (NGOs), major corporations and the youth.

During its soft launch last March, a ceremonial planting day was held simultaneously in GK communities all over Luzon— including Metro Manila, Ilocos Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, and Southern Tagalog.

Two months since its first planting day/soft launch, 24 metric tons have already been harvested from 115 GK-BA farms. This bountiful yield serves as a great opportunity to celebrate Bayan-anihan’s formal launch to the public on July 15 with a big ceremonial harvest. At the same time, it signals the beginning of the nationwide fight against starvation in the country through its upcoming activities and programs.

On this day, the official Bayan-anihan song and website will be unveiled, and there will be speeches by Sec. Arthur Yap, Department of Agriculture Secretary; Tony Meloto, Gawad Kalinga founder; and John Concepcion, Unilever RFM Ice Cream–Selecta Managing Director and CEO. A parade of vegetables and fruits will be staged by the Gawad Kalinga community, and outstanding Bayan-anihan caretaker teams will be honored.

Young adults, teens, and children can play games, while the adults will have a cooking session using the harvested vegetables. As a fitting end to the ceremonial harvest day, delicious and nutritious meals made with the harvested vegetables will be shared by everyone.

Since this is a multi-sectoral movement, the national and local government units, schools, corporations and individuals, and the NGO’s, and the youth can be involved in several ways.

The government can help out by providing infrastructure, land and water, and giving funds for farm inputs. Schools can make training programs as part of the curriculum for faculty and students and can even train the community people as part of their practicum. Any corporation or individual, on the other hand, can sponsor or adopt a farm for P150,000, which will be enough to feed 30 families. They can also participate during planting days, salu-salo affairs, and other activities. Other NGO’s can also help by leading the implementation of this program in their communities using the Bayan-anihan model.

Lastly, the youth can lend a hand by training and by being one with the community through the planting and harvesting activities. With the youth’s help in sustaining the training, the poor will never have to go hungry again, and it will espouse self-sufficiency for the next generations.

By supporting Bayan-anihan, everyone can develop and polish values like self-worth, hard work, excellence, bayanihan (spirit of teamwork), and care for health and the environment.

Through efforts like this, the seeds of hope are planted in the hearts of many Filipinos. For sure, we can anticipate a prosperous and a food-abundant Philippines in the future.

Join Bayan-anihan and call the Bayan-anihan hotline at 09284382838 or visit the website, http://bayan-anihan.com to do your part in helping Pinoys bid farewell to hunger!

PRESS RELEASE:
For reference: Jonah de Lumen, Bayan-anihan (0917-5520141)
Milen Sison De Quiros; Lucky Llanes; Ayie Torres, Full Circle Communications (6371116)

posted by Jeff on Jul 9

Airsoft Green Gas for Airsoft Gas Guns

When you look at the most popular options on the market, airsoft gas guns are some of the biggest sellers. And that makes good sense because the guns have plenty of benefits, including being affordable and fairly powerful. As you might imagine, they also need to have their gas containers replaced after you expend a specific number of shots. Most use a gas known as HFC134a, but you could sometimes opt for airsoft green gas instead.

Gas Guns Airsoft

Details of the UHC Green Gas

The best explanation is that the green gas airsoft gun is more powerful than the more traditional type of gas that is used. Usually, the gas is made from propane with silicone included and this combination can provide a boost to many of the guns on the market. Of course, you’ll have to pay a little extra for that boost but the cost may be worth the results. One point that is important to remember is that this type of gas is not more environmentally friendly than the other options. Some consumers make that mistake because of the “green” in its name. Read the rest of this entry »

posted by Jennie on Jul 6

My dear husband relieved me from my “teacher mama” role and played “teacher papa” for me today. What can I say, our son enjoyed it through and through. The hubby is definitely more animated than me, having all those skills he could readily pull off his sleeves. The same talent that he used when he played one of the puppeteers of RJ29 so many years ago.

posted by Jennie on Jul 6

A year ago today we had our trusty old car fixed up and made over. With the reality of the second law of Thermodynamics, Entropy and the fact that its model is 20 years old, one problem after another has been showing up these past months. From the clutch cable giving way to the need of its water pump replaced, we are led to pray for a better car. Read the rest of this entry »

posted by Jennie on Jul 6

This is the fourth banner forMarriageandBeyond.com. From its generic shore picture that came with the theme, we changed it when we won a banner header design fromOur Love Story

Dear hubby installed the header above when 2009 came in. It was not the best family picture we have, we just picked any random picture to paste even as we were shifting to a “friendlier” layout/template. Read the rest of this entry »

posted by Jennie on Jul 5

This entry is the next installment to the article I wrote here.

The indicators of Autocratic Parenting as defined by Pastor Clem Guillermo during the Parent Talk 101 seminar :

• Parent run roughshod over their children
• Parents believe they know what is best for all.
• Force their ideas on children.
• Very critical, demanding, threatening.
• Distrustful, manipulative and over-involved.
• Daddy or Mommy knows best.

Given that this seminar was focused on teenage kids, I now tend to agree with what was expressed in this particular subject. But it is entirely a different issue if the children concerned are younger children. Babies and toddlers to be exact. My husband and I have believed from the beginning, children (babies and toddlers) do not know any better. This is why they cannot be given the freedom to just do anything they want, whenever they want. Freedom comes with responsibility.

utocratic parenting will not work for teenagers. This is why it is extremely important to parent the child properly during their formative years. Unlike with children in the younger years, reasoning with teenagers is already possible. Given that you have a good relationship with your child. A good relationship is always a non-negotiable if we want our message to go across. Like for instance, we cannot do “spanking” as a form of discipline if we do not have a good relationship with our child. This will result to rebellion.