As opposed to most families, we actually spend our family days on Mondays. It’s something we’ve gotten accustomed to and don’t mind at all. Sundays are normally hectic (but blessed) days for us. The hubby preaches three times every Sunday and there really is no time to squeeze quality time in together, save for a very quick lunch. Yesterday, we just did a drive-thru since we spent quite a bit longer at church because I had talk with a few people (something I’ll never get tired of too). In spite of not being together much on Sundays, it is a joy to know that our little man still looks forward to it. He’d most of the time would go, “I love Sundays because we get to praise and worship God at the church.” Humbles my heart as it affirms that he’s getting quite a grasp of how it is to be in the ministry.

An interesting convo we had on our way to church last Sunday was when out of the blue Jed blurted out (like he does most of the time), “Papa, can I use your church when you’re dead?” The question came as a shock to me, that I almost reprimanded him. But I held my horses and asked the little guy what he meant. He said, “I was just hoping I can preach at your church when you’re gone.” It sure sounded a lot like this boy is more ready for his father to go than I will ever be. But then, what’s more interesting is, he wanted to be just like his father.

All right, he’s told us all the things he would want to be when he grows up. Aside from being a scientist and a robot maker, he also wants to be a pastor. We had to tell him out right that he can actually preach even if Papa is still around, for as long as he is ready. He then, gave us a sigh of relief and babbled away about his many plans of sharing Jesus to the world.

Meanwhile, this little man is ever so busy playing here at Active Fun. I love that there’s free WiFi here so I can blog away as I wait for both boys to get done with their respective businesses. Jeff is also getting the side mirror of the car installed. The part just arrived from China recently. We are now in dire need of getting hold of a side mirror protector. I really don’t know what’s up with those side mirror thieves.

It’s nice that parents have a place like this to “deposit” their children in with confidence that they will be safe. I can actually go around while he plays here. But I really would rather blog and read the eBook sent by Thomas Nelson for review.

I have a very strong feeling that Jed is going to resist when we need to leave this place. This is absolutely his favorite play place in the world. Nevermind if it’s a little too far from where we live. This is actually where he wants to spend his 7th birthday at. Now we’ll have to factor in the convenience of the other kids who will need to travel to his party.

Meanwhile, off to the rest of our Monday family day as we wait for Jeff whose on his way from the casa.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

]]> http://www.marriageandbeyond.com/2011/10/24/monday-family-day/feed/ 1 http://www.marriageandbeyond.com/2010/11/11/trick-treat-at-the-nido-science-discovery-center/ http://www.marriageandbeyond.com/2010/11/11/trick-treat-at-the-nido-science-discovery-center/#comments Thu, 11 Nov 2010 08:36:47 +0000 Jennie http://www.marriageandbeyond.com/?p=6712 My son and I spent a lovely time trick or treating last October 31 at the Nido Science Discovery Center at SM Mall of Asia. The challenge for the trick or treaters was to find Blurb, the alien. It was just the perfect theme for my son who has been so into learning about the [...]]]>

My son and I spent a lovely time trick or treating last October 31 at the Nido Science Discovery Center at SM Mall of Asia. The challenge for the trick or treaters was to find Blurb, the alien. It was just the perfect theme for my son who has been so into learning about the space, planets and more recently about aliens. Which came about because, apparently, he has been watching a show entitled “Kokey” with my mom, during times that I am not around.

Dr. Bunsen Burner’s alien friend, Blurb is lost.  The challenge was for us to find him throughout the Galaxy and travel to different worlds where Blurb was seen. We were given this galaxy guide to help us with our mission.

My son is intently listening to the space guide at the Dawn of the Space Age Gallery.  He was explaining how rockets are able to launch into space like they do and later did a demonstration of what happens that made it easier for a child to understand the science behind it.  Here is the video I took during the demonstration.

Here more pictures from our “Where is Blurb the Alien?” adventure at the Nido Science Discovery Center.

Jed test driving the Time Capsule. When he was asked who he wants to send his message to, he instantly said, “Papa” and typed away his message with his captured photo in it.

The Bug Rug

Gesturetek. Jed went one on one with a robot. How cool is that!

Jed with Azrael and Lace’s Baby Ashton

This little car dude also got to build his own car. Here is a video I took as Jed was busy choosing the kind of material he will use for each car part.

Jed enjoyed a great deal at the cockpit too. It is just so neat to have all these kinds of technology nowadays.  Kids can get the real feel of how things work in the real world.

That is my Buzz Lightyear behind the plane controls.

From the rocket ship to the car building, to flying a plane, now to this earthquake experience room, Jed sure has had the time of his life, incorporating all the things that he has read about and get the feel of what is like. He was so thrilled!

Robotics is also one of his fascinations.

The Planetarium movie took us to another world.

Grossology section showcases Sniff Sniff.

When my little guy read the instruction on how the whole thing works, he was totally grossed out that no amount of cajoling would get him to stick his nose on those holes. Even as I told him they are not smell from the real thing, he totally just gave me the don’t-count-on-it face.  But I could not leave the room without trying it out for myself, so I tried it and they were really eeewww! It was really neat though.

We also had a grand time at the Shadow World.  You can find our videos here and here. Where we got busy collecting fruits and trying to escape the leopard using our shadows. Neat!

This little guy made friends with the people in the center too.

I would have to admit that it was not just my son who had a splendid time at the Nido Science Discovery Center. I loved that we are able to go out on a date and discover these cool and neat things that he is so into.  This is something that we plan to do from time to time.

We headed on to have dinner at the Big Daddy’s Chicken around the corner and then to Timezone where he played to he dropped. Afterwhich, my little reader dragged me back to the Booksale store he saw on our way to dinner.  When he saw Krispy Kreme, he went to go trick or treating some more but was told by the lady that they ran out of candies. So Jed just conversed with the ladies behind the counter as we were in line waiting for our turn about his trick or treating adventure.  They threw in a free pumpkin donut with our order. :-)

He got himself a thick Clifford book which he read away as he munched on his donuts.

My son and I really had a lovely Trick or Treat date that day.  Thanks to Nido Science Discovery Center for the invite!

]]> http://www.marriageandbeyond.com/2010/11/11/trick-treat-at-the-nido-science-discovery-center/feed/ 4 http://www.marriageandbeyond.com/2010/07/17/mmda-color-coding-and-helpful-tips-for-motorists/ http://www.marriageandbeyond.com/2010/07/17/mmda-color-coding-and-helpful-tips-for-motorists/#comments Sat, 17 Jul 2010 04:27:35 +0000 Jennie http://www.marriageandbeyond.com/?p=6046 Thanks to the LTO Facebook Fanpage for these Color (Number) Coding Tips that motorists all over the metro can make use of.   We thought we’d have this posted to help our readers as well know of these “basic” MMDA/LTO rules we have to comply with. 1. No window hours: Makati, Malabon and Las Pinas. Number [...]]]>

Thanks to the LTO Facebook Fanpage for these Color (Number) Coding Tips that motorists all over the metro can make use of.   We thought we’d have this posted to help our readers as well know of these “basic” MMDA/LTO rules we have to comply with.

1. No window hours: Makati, Malabon and Las Pinas. Number Coding is in effect from 7 am to 7 pm!

2. No number coding: Taguig, Marikina and Paranaque. So, feel free to roam around these cities anytime.

3. Pasig City has window hours of 9 am to 4 pm (note the 1 hour additional to the normal 10 am-3 pm window).

4. San Juan has window hours now according to MMDA website.

5. Pasay City is implementing Number Coding except on the following roads: Ninoy Aquino Avenue, MIA Road, Domestic Road, Portions of Airport Road, Sales Road, Tramo.

6. EDSA, C5, Pres. Diosdado Macapagal Avenue, Roxas Blvd (Pasay) have window hours regardless of the city (meaning one can drive via EDSA in Makati any day).

7. For the rest of Metro Manila (Caloocan, Mandaluyong, Manila, Muntinlupa, Navotas, parts of Pasay, Pateros, Quezon City, Taguig, and Valenzuela) number coding is in effect (window hours of 10 am-3 pm is also observed).

8. MMDA officers are not allowed to group together in order to apprehend. They are not even allowed to stand together in groups of 2 or more. The only time they are allowed to work together is for special operations (probably when they apprehend groups of buses for smoke belching)

9. Swerving IS NOT a traffic violation. Moving one lane to the left or right is not swerving, no matter where on the road you do it. And it is even less of a violation when you do it with a signal. Swerving is defined as shifting 2 or more lanes very quickly. So you can argue your way out of this, and call the Metro Base for help.

10. Sadly, using the yellow lane is a traffic violation and will get you a ticket. However, buses are really not allowed to go out of the yellow lane, so if you see selective apprehension of private cars only, you may complain.

11. MMDA has confirmed that your license MAY NOT BE CONFISCATED at a traffic apprehension. The only time they can do so is if you are part of an accident, or it is your third violation and you have not settled your fines yet. They are only allowed to give you a ticket, which you can contest. He recommends actually receiving the ticket in some instances, so that you can report the officer who did it.

12. Also, you are free to ask any of these officers for their “mission order”, which is written by their supervisor. If they apprehend you for a violation that is not in their mission order for the day, you can report them and they will receive disciplinary action.

If any of these abuses seem familiar to you, Mr. Pagulayan has asked that you call either the MMDA hotline (136) or call the METRO BASE at 0920-938-9861 or 0920-938-9875 and ask for an inspectorate. They will send inspectors to the place where these MMDA officers are extorting, even while you are arguing out of your apprehension.

When our home insurance agent called early this month to remind us that our coverage is to expire before the month ends, we made sure we had to ask her to add in the “force majeure” feature.  Yes, we might be paying a couple more grand for the premium, but I think it is a small price to pay, just in case what happened during typhoon Ondoy will happen again – documented here, here and here.

Although she was almost sure that it will never happen at least in the next 30 years, I cannot just take her word for it. It was hard enough to shake off the trauma, let alone have all these studies come up and say to us that the likelihood of that happening again is not really far fetched. It is said that a wide portion of Rizal area should not be there to begin with. A lot of reclaimed areas are the very cause of the flooding. So this is really the very least that we could do, second to praying for God’s hand over this land.

There are a few free insurance quotes that I was tempted to still look into, but because of my very busy schedule. Homeschooling in the morning, article writing right after lunch and my virtual assistant job in the evenings. Plus the events I get to cover from time to time, I hardly have time to check out other insurance companies. I’m sticking with the one we’ve had for 8 years now. Yes, we’ve had insurance even while we were still renting. But during that time, we only had the house contents insured, now it is for the whole house and contents, against fire and flood.

Last Wednesday, February 3, the hubby and I were invited, together with fellow bloggers to have a taste of Old Vine Grille and Kuse cuisines (Continental and Filipino) in Venize Piazza at McKinley Hill. It was a sumptuous Pre Valentine Dinner, to say the least. The ambiance was divine and laid back. It was fun how the restaurants’ managing partner, Larry Cortez sat with us for random chit chats – from the history of the Tessie Tomas Salad to our (the bloggers’) passion for photography. I was delighted to know that they are the same company behind Uncle Cheffy Restaurant in Eastwood Libis.

Uncle Cheffy is where we dined in on our 8th wedding anniversary last December. It made an impact on me because their staff were extra courteous and honest. We forgot some of our stuff in the restaurant and one of them actually went out of his way to come looking for us. We hopped to another restaurant and there he was with all our things – intact. I was meaning to make a blog post of our anniversary dinner but because of the crazy holiday schedule, I never got down to doing just that.

Here are a few of the shots that I took from our divine dinner treat courtesy of Old Vine Grille and Kuse.

Old Vine Grille entrance

inside Old Vine Grille

private room  (should accommodate at least 30 people)

Tessie Tomas Salad – P295 (small)/ P595 (regular)

Paco Salad sa Laguna (with Kesong Puti) – P 165

Seared Tuna Sashimi (with olive oil and garlic in ponzu sauce) – P220 (small)/ P410 (regular) 

Salmon Carpaccio – P230 (small)/P420 (regular)

Poele Lamb Spareribs – P 395  

Garlic Dulong Rice – P95

Batangas Bulalo Soup – P495

Fried Pla Pla w/ Burong Mustasa (Sauces:Balo-balo, Escabeche, Tomato Salsa) – P295

Chocolate Gooey Fudge – P150

the feasting bunch

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.

Last Sunday, I overheard some of my girls talking about promise rings. What is a promise ring, anyway? Unlike keepsake rings, promise rings are usually given to each other by two people who commit to no sex before marriage. I was not too keen to nose around that time I heard my girls but I was really curious if they are wearing those rings to symbolize their commitment as they become accountable to each other or if there was someone special who gave that promise ring to that girl concerned. I know my girls pass by this page from time to time so I might just receive an SMS soon after I get this post live.

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.

Even as I see the fine lines on my face, I understand the fact that as I grow older, my folks do as well. My mom keeps saying that she only has little time left on earth and as much as I defy the idea, it is the truth. If I were to choose, I would rather go first before any of my loved one. But that is just not the way life is.

This brings me to express my gratitude towards my parents. As true as I do not exactly agree with their tendency to spoil my son, no nanny can do what they do and I am always more confident to leave my son with them. I choose to be nanny less for 4 years now and with valid reason. Thanks again Mama and Papa!

Turning down another wedding event is not exactly an exciting thing for me. Lately, I have once again turned down another event that is set for next year. As much as I would love to attend to its preparations, my upcoming schedule with my little kid as we home school has to come first and foremost.

In the last couple of years, I gladly offered free consultation in lieu of my committed service. Mainly because my schedule cannot accommodate wedding planning anymore and I feel awful having to turn down one of the things that I love doing and I should say I am very good at. I do not withhold my list of wedding suppliers – of trade show displays that can be used for wedding events, the banner stands that are now the norm of modern wedding events and even canvas printing services to those I cannot accommodate. I know I have a pretty good list and everyone deserves to have the best wedding ever.

Keeping to a priority, especially now that my son and I will formally start with the home school program in two weeks, is non-negotiable. The bride to be needed an answer soon and I cannot risk saying yes, if I will not be able to deliver. The most that I could do for now is to give out a list and files of my suppliers, from trade show displays provider, invites to makeup artists. I even give out program samples that soon to be married couples can use for their wedding.  

Hopefully, by next year I can get back to coordinating weddings again, even if it will just be “on the day coordination”. By that time, I should have mastered juggling all the things that I do.

After having recently bought another domain for myself, I pretty much have put more time on it than I did here on my main blog, this past week. Please forgive the less frequent updates on MarriageandBeyond.com. Aside from the blog updates that I had to do across my blogs (a couple of which still undisclosed), my sweet hubby gifted me with another website. I did not have to ask twice. Thanks, Jeff! It just occurred to me that this is a validation to my doubts that the web bug has bitten us.  If it were some years back, I would have found it queer to be gifted by my beloved spouse a blog. Of all things, who would have appreciated a website! Well, I do now. I would probably make a promotion of it in the coming days but I will have to let you in some bits about it, for now. It’s a wordpress blog, no less. A domain of its own and with a title that has been SEO-ed (if you know what I mean). Now I’m kinda stuck what I want more for a gift, Belgian chocolates or a website (good and well thought of one).

One of the more updated blogs that I have is my beauty blog. Dear readers must have noticed my inclination towards all natural products when it comes to beauty treatments. One reader contacted me and confessed of her varicose veins issues. My tendency was to refer her to VARICOSE VEINS PITTSBURGH. If you know me, you will easily figure out why. The team behind varicose veins pittsburgh use minimally invasive treatment alternative for patients who suffer from superficial venous reflux. This is usually where varicose veins often start.

As much as I would love to give my reader an all natural treatment for her superficial venous reflux issues, this is the most natural that she could really go to  spider veins pittsburgh. The truth of the matter is there is this estimated 20% of the adult population in America alone that is afflicted with this problem. Varicose problems aren’t just about the aesthetics. The pain that goes with it is reason enough to get it taken cared of.

Between homeschooling, house chores, web content writing, church and occasional blog events, it is just nice to be able to juggle things and enjoy life. Â When it comes with my time with the hubs, I have an ever faithful alarm clock seated inside by rib cage that goes off the moment I don’t get to spend quality time with him (which, thank God is not very often).  I totally get disoriented when that happens, out of sorts, frazzled even. Â That’s the time when I bug him right back to our “us” time. I have the most wonderful husband and I thank God for him everyday and that’s not just because of the website gift.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. Although the job won’t exactly entail a task as difficult as international removals, it will still be a great deal of challenge for the company that we will hire. The library will be a major part of the removals.

We are thrilled to be treading another milestone with our church family. We have been through tough times. Through the times that we could have given up, we chose to heed to what we are called to do and the Lord has proven Himself faithful. Although we do not exactly have the nicest location, a wet market as its frontage, we are confident that the Lord will lead us to the place. Right now our core group are zeroing in on praying for a lot of our own. No more having to rent.

For now we are focused on what we are here for – to impact the lives of the community around our local church. Manna Feeding Center continues to run and provide 60 children with lunch and dinner from Tuesday to Friday. This ministry is backed by Manna Worldwide. More Sunday school teachers are trained recently and even as we try to make do with the resources that we currently have, we are hoping for funds to come in that will enable us to install more fans for the classrooms. This is one of the predominant needs that I saw when I went around the rooms last Sunday. Ministers are willing and they are arising to the occasion but the rooms have become too hot for comfort even for the children, as the temperature once again rises to high levels lately. There may be a few challenges, but we will keep on and have our eyes toward the mark as we celebrate SBC-Makati’s 6th anniversary.

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.

Although I should admit that for some weeks now, I have been a little overwhelmed when I wonder how I am ever going to juggle homeschooling into my already heavy schedule. And as I dwell on them, I notice I am again getting heavier by the day. I got back to my yo-yo diet. I even think Liporexall will even do me better than being on a yo-yo diet. When I come to look into it with hope more than anxiousness, I become more excited than nervous. For sure, it will not only be our son who will learn, but I will too. The Lord has a few things to refine in my character still. I am not the most patient person and this is one way he will teach me. I would like to think that the motivation He has put in my heart will be the fuel to mold me into the person, wife, mother, friend that He wants me to be.

He will be with me through this. My heart is at peace that this is what I should do. But since I am not yet in the situation, I get concerned over the schedule. Being an action person, the Lord has always allowed me to device a system for me to juggle the things that I have to do, and I am sure He is not going to fail me this time. We do not have a househelp and so far I still refuse to hire one. My once a week cleaning lady will suffice for now.

This would mean I have to prepare our meals at night. Since our homeschool schedule will be from 8AM to 12NN, I will barely have time to cook after. I am actually giving myself a month to adjust. Then after lunch, when the little guy is tucked in for his afternoon nap, that will be the time I will do my online business. I will just adjust my schedule accordingly as needs arise. It will be a given that I cannot take in the same volume of work that I got used to. That will not work for us financially, though. But I know in my heart that God will provide like He always did in the past.

After almost two years of getting into internet marketing and five domains later, it could have been easier for me if I had chosen to get a multiple domain web hosting instead like what my husband did. I have learned since that it will not only make things easier but having one account for unlimited number sites will be the best way to go if I would like to get more domains later. Renewals will even be a breeze. Now, because I did not know better, I have to renew hosting for every single domain that I have.

Spare yourself the headache and if you plan to get serious with internet marketing, you might want to read the blog over at webhostinggeeks and choose the web hosting that will fit your need. There are a handful of list to choose from and best of all you can read through customers reviews and learn what others have to say to prospective hosting provider. It is always best to know you are with the right company, especially when you are doing internet marketing. It is hard enough to complete with a lot of web sites with thesame niche as you do, the edge of having a good host will always be a plus.

This is SBC-Makati’s brand new church sign. The framed tarp (18ft x 5ft) has been on display for three weeks now. This does mean that our local church is not transferring to a brand new address just yet. After a lot of  searching throughout Makati, the Lord has led us to decide to stay in the same location.

The owner of the building allowed us to lease the place for another year for less than ten thousand pesos on our monthly rent. That is more than two hundred dollars savings per month and that is a huge deal for our local church. Although packing stuff into shipping boxes will not be a major concern for the time being, we are still praying for God to lead us to a better location for next year.

Yesterday, one of our members and I were discussing about praying for a more permanent location – SBC-Makati’s place of its own. By God’s grace, this will come to pass. Our core leaders put it upon themselves to meet regularly (weeknights) in our church for devotions, prayer and fasting.  This has been a great encouragement to us even as we saw them grow spiritually.

SBC Makati is turning 6 years old this month and we are thankful for God’s faithfulness all these years.

It is exactly two years and one month since our brand new house was turned over to the hubby and me by our awesome contractor, Tita Eliza Bautista. It was more like a labor of love for her, more than business. She was hands on from start to finish. This collage was made shortly after the turn over. We were more than happy with the finished product, to say the least. I did not get the marble kitchen counter that I want, all right, but it was still more than what we have bargained for.

We never thought it was ever possible for us to be homeowners, if it was not for the kind of home loan deal we got. It was really a blessing. No mortgage was needed to be done, not even down payment. The lot was a gift from my folks, so all we really have to figure out is the damage for the house construction itself. During that time we did not have access to extra income just yet. After a whole bunch of inquiries and visits to Pag-Ibig, trying to figure home loans out, we were given an offer that we could not resist. At the same rate of interest with Pag-Ibig, no down payment, we were on our way to building our very own home on the first month of 2007.

To date, we have less than twelve years until we pay our loan in full. We love that we are able to maintain our home that is not rented anymore.  So if there’d be anything we decide to have done, improvements and all, will be all up to us. Even as the second law of thermodynamics (Law of Entropy) slowly eats up our home, we are still thrilled to maintain it. It was God’s tangible way of letting us know that “we will not want” during the peak of what we could consider,  the most trying time of our lives. We celebrate and are thankful for God’s faithfulness through the years.

I am so amazed about the Bible and how it is so unique. With its cover as common as other books, because of its content. However, it is not just like any other book. It stands alone among millions or even billions of books ever written.

The Bible is unique in so many ways. But I am amazed by its continuity, to think that it was written over a 1,500 year span, which is over 40 generations. It was not written by one man, but it was written by at least 40 authors who come from the most diverse walks of life.  It was also written in different places, at different times and written in three languages. Its subject matter includes so many subjects that are considered controversial topics like adultery, homosexuality, sex, abortion, war and many others.

But from the fall of the first family, their wearing of animal body wraps that shows how sin was covered through the shedding of the blood, to the choosing of Abraham and a nation, to its disobedience, to the coming of the Messiah who came to earth as a baby with swaddling clothes as body wraps, to His living a perfect and sinless life, to his betrayal, death and resurrection, to the zeal of His followers who were martyred up to the written prophecies of how everything in this world will end – everything is so amazing.

With the facts mentioned about this book or should I say, this library of books, I am in awe that the Bible’s content, and despite its diversity, has harmony and continuity. It shows one unfolding story and that is God’s redemption of the human race.