SSS #20: AMDG

Keith’s most recent post on Luigi and Rafa’s achievements in school coupled with the reading I had from my devotional today put my boys’ “laurels” in better perspective. It was on “Giving God the Glory” and it basically says that “we would have no success in our lives at all if God did not see fit to give us the opportunities to succeed, the brainpower, the education, the temperament and gifts to accomplish praiseworthy things”.

It even goes on to say that an internal battle occurs in us whenever we are faced with anything good or great going on in our lives – that is, do we take the credit for what we have or do we turn the spotlight back to God where it belongs?

I have been guilty of this a lot of times in my life, especially when I was in school and when things were looking up in my corporate career. Truly, things falling into the perfect places indeed make us sometimes lose focus on the true source of all these good things. That where I am right now and what I have is a result solely of my own efforts.

I guess, to counter these tendencies, the Lord gives us wake-up calls now and then in the form of stumbling blocks or difficulties, so that we may realize our nothingness and our total dependence on Him – to prick the puffed-up balloon of our self-sufficiency and inappropriate self-importance, so to speak.

It’s not that we can’t enjoy our “moments in the sun” since deriving pleasure from these is also a precious gift from the big guy up there. It’s just that it is equally important to give the credit for all that we have and are to the appropriate person – God, the giver of all good things.

The Jesuits put it so aptly when they taught me many years before : AMDG – Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam – In all things, God be glorified!

SSS #19: Living in the Moment

Allow me to get a bit philosophical in this blog… Don’t know what set off this “senti” trip – must be my reminiscing Lea Salonga’s song, “The Journey” (typical BB/expat song, if you ask me!) coupled with a Dr Phil episode I watched a few days ago… Anyway, for anything this may be worth, here goes…

When Dr Phil mentioned that we should “live in the moment”, it definitely struck a chord in me. He said that most of us actually forget to relish the here and now by perpetually worrying over what is in store for us in the future and where we want to be. Very true! Not to say that we should just all go bohemian and throw caution to the wind in terms of what’s in store for us (so unwise especially for us who have the welfare of our young kids to think about, right?). What it means, I guess, would be for all of us to have a greater appreciation of what life is offering us NOW – for me, it means a loving family, healthy kids, experiencing an exotic culture and getting to live the “DD” life I have long dreamt of living – and not to be too preoccupied with our wants and dreams that it gets in the way of us living our lives now. It is enjoying the journey and learning from it while waiting to arrive at the final destination, so to speak (‘ika nga ni Mareng Lea, “Through the darkest desert, through the deepest snow, forward, always forward, I go!”).

Sure, there will always be greasy pots and pans to wash but this should not prevent us from savoring the yummy tortang talong we cooked in them, right? Duh! Pardon the lame analogy… gutom na ata ako e! Hehehe!

So the next time my boys want me to play with them, I will make sure I make a mental note of this blog so that I may enjoy the moment more with them and not worry too much about the mound of washed clothes that needs folding or the furniture that needs to be dusted… Heck, there will always be the “dreaded C” (as in “chores”, as Weng puts it) but I’ll never know until when my boys will request to just be with me, right? Thanks, Lea and Dr Phil, for triggering this “paradigm shift”! I honestly hope it lasts long enough, though…

Till my next senti moment. Ciao!

SSS #18: Infected

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Among the many firsts that my dear hubby has opened my eyes to, I can say that my re-introduction to the wonderful world of blogging has been one of the most significant thus far.

Okay, let me just state it now to clear the air once and for all (as they say that the first step to \”recovery\” is always acceptance) : \”I am Pinky. I am a blog addict.\”

Admittedly, blogging and reading posts has been one of the many major activities I always include in my daily routine. So you can just imagine the disappointment I feel everytime my blog drill turns up NIL – as in no updates, comments, messages!(Ouch! Did I just hear all of you say, \”Get a life!\”? ).

I guess it\’s because of my newly-discovered \”diva-ness\” and the fact that where we are in the world currently does not afford many opportunities for ladies like me to simply get out and unwind. Suffice it to say that given our current situation, blogging has become, shall I say, some sort of \”security blanket\” that reassures me that despite our being in the desert, I am still connected with the important people in my life and that they also know that we are still alive and kicking out here.

Everytime I read about Tasha\’s milestones in Australia, Claire\’s adventures in Singapore, Abby\’s recent photo shoot, Rina\’s crazy MBA life in Malibu, Joy and Allan\’s Idaho experiences or interesting nuggets from Peachy back home, I definitely appreciate how, through your posts, you have kept us \”in the loop\” and have helped ease out the pangs of homesickness which we still get now and then.

So, do any of you have anything on your mind? No matter how trivial it seems, just remember that you are doing \”poor Pinky\” a favor everytime you post… please, please help me scratch the undying itch that the blogging bug has left me when it bit a few months back – Just blog it!

SSS# 17: Chin Up!

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Guys, allow me to get lazy this time while I reprint an interesting article I read from my devotional today. Knowing how popular \”Charlotte\’s Web\” is, especially now with the movie coming out, found this piece so \”apropos\”…

Read and enjoy!

(Adapted from an article originally written for the Our Journey devotional guide).

Probably one of the all-time favorite kid’s stories is Charlotte’s Web, starring Charlotte the barnyard spider and Wilbur the pig. The farmer’s daughter, Fern, loved Wilbur and adopted him as her pet—until he was too big for the house and had to move to the barn. Wilbur missed Fern and felt sad about being away from her. Just when he thought things couldn’t get worse, the mother hen came on the scene.

She told Wilbur that her purpose in life was to lay eggs for people to eat, and the cow’s purpose was to give milk for the people to drink. Then came the real stinger: “Hey, Wilbur, do you know what your purpose is? Bacon!”

Needless to say, the hen was not a very encouraging friend!

Thankfully, Wilbur had a true friend. When Charlotte the spider found him wallowing in the muck of despair, she encouraged him with a resounding “Chin up, Wilbur!” She wove beautiful webs over his pen with words that made him feel loved and important. The webs attracted media publicity, and people from all over the area came to marvel at this “special pig.” When it was time for the county fair, Wilbur feared again for his life and asked Charlotte to weave one more web. She knew that she had only one more web to weave and that then she would die. But out of her love for Wilbur, she wove the most spectacular web yet to prove how special he was. The townspeople were so taken with the web that Wilbur’s impending death was no longer an issue.

There are biblical parallels in this story. The most significant one being that Charlotte gave her life to save Wilbur’s. Not only that—but she made him a special pig!

Most of us can probably identify with Wilbur at some point. All of us face problems in life when we desperately need someone to come along and encourage us—a “chin up” friend. But, at the end of it all, before God we are all losers at heart and deserve to die as the penalty for our sin. Yet God in His grace died to save us from eternal death and condemnation. And, as though that weren’t enough, He makes us children of the King and fills us with hope and confidence regardless of life’s threats. Jesus is a friend for the doomed! We can either mope around our little barnyard of life, or we can get our chin up and believe that our friend Jesus is making something special of our lives.

Next time you’re feeling down in the dumps, rejoice in the fact that you have been rescued from the grave, promised eternal life, and are a child of the King.

Now that’s a “chin up” thought that can keep you going with hope and strength!

SSS #16: Darna!

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I thought my \”Darna\” moments would considerably lessen when I left my desk job 9 months ago… Was I ever wrong! <For the uninitiated, a \”Darna\” moment happens when there seems to be too much going on all at the same time that you have to grab a trusty lifeline (as in the \”magic bato\” that the crippled girl Narda swallows to become the superhero Darna) lest disaster strikes and the “bad guys” win.> Too melodramatic for your taste, huh? Well, read on so you’ll know what I mean…

Being a full-time stay-at-home mom definitely has a LOT of Darna moments – times when I desperately wish I had that magic bato that I can gulp down (of course matched with the Darna yell) to make all my “maternal and domestic boo-boos”, so to speak, go away. To all my full-time “co-moms” out there, I’m sure these sound sooo familiar:

· The baby’s wailing her lungs out and you don’t know why while you’re trying to prepare lunch for your hubby and kids who are supposed to be home in, say, 30 minutes – Darna moment.

· Your two older kids are being especially naughty and you just have to sit them down (for the nth time, it seems!) to see what the matter is and hopefully patch things up before the food in the kitchen gets burnt – Darna moment.

· The house is begging for a clean-up and the dirty clothes are piling up yet you just can’t seem to put it together since the freakin’ toilet is also clogged – classic Darna moment!

Pardon me if it looks like I’m bit@#$ng here (well, I maybe just a little bit…) but I only want to illustrate some of the things I usually go through ever since my “emancipation” from the corporate life.

I have an inexplicable secret though… Crazier as my life seems now, I actually still would not trade it for the corporate rat race again! I seem to have embraced my new-found “diva-ness” with its Darna moments and all! Even I surprise myself! Wonder why?

I guess that my trusty lifelines are helping me keep afloat. Yup, have my very own versions of the “magic bato”… Wanna know what these are? Actually, these aren’t “ITs” but “HEs”… Who else but my ever dependable supportive hubby Keith, my rock, who helps me weather all my domestic diva woes! More importantly, I have also learned to always ask help from the “lifeline of all lifelines”, the big guy up there – though I admit I still have to work on consistently doing so as I get overwhelmed with my woes (both real and imagined) from time to time.

Well, have to go for now… Hear the baby crying again and my older son also wants to do his own blog. Darna moment? Bring it on!

SSS #15: Super-Size Me!

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Was going through the Our Daily Bread devotional today and was moved to post this to hopefully encourage those among us who may be \”down in the dumps\” or \”overwhelmed with concerns\” lately… I, myself, have found comfort in these words as I admittedly get overwhelmed by the \”domestic\” part of my \”diva-ness\” many times .

Hope these words also help ease your worries! Read on and see if this also hits the spot for you as it did for me…

King David called on the Lord, and God enlarged him. \”You have relieved (enlarged) me when I was in distress\”. Pressure on the outside should make us bigger on the inside. The trials of life will press against us and make us either midgets or giants–either smaller or bigger. But we have to start on the inside. \”You have relieved me when I was in distress.\” How did this happen?

David cried out to God, \”You have put gladness in my heart\”. He started out with sadness and ended with gladness. He started with tears and ended with triumph.

David discovered that what was important was not the circumstance around him but the attitude within him. Let God enlarge you when you are going through distress. He can do it. You can\’t do it, and others can\’t do it for you. In fact, others may want to make things even tighter and narrower for you. But when you turn to the Lord and trust Him, He will enlarge you on the inside. You\’ll come out of your distresses a bigger person because you\’ve trusted in the Lord.

There is a relationship between our attitude inside and our circumstances outside. If we maintain the proper attitude, God will use our trials to enlarge us. Are you going through a trial today? Give your circumstances to the Lord and trust Him to enlarge you.

I pray that we all come out as \”giants\” after every trial, difficulty or inconvenience. O Lord, super-size me!

SSS# 14: Bahrain Binge

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We were blessed to head off to Bahrain to usher in the New Year with Bro Cuz Rinel and John, Keith\’s office mate who flew in from Riyadh. We set out the morning of Dec 31st and stayed on until the early afternoon of 02 Jan. We stayed at the Al Jaberiya condotel which, though a bit older than the Sayedaty Plaza unit we reserved during Ramadan, was more spacious and had free internet access.

Like most Filipinos who go to Bahrain, first order of the day once we got there was lunch at Swan Lake, the Filipino restaurant known for its yummy Crispy Pata. Unfortunately, as there were apparently a lot of Filipinos who also trekked to Bahrain to celebrate the New Year\’s and had the same agenda as ours, the Crispy Pata had run out by the time we got there – too bad! We had a true-blue Pinoy meal nonetheless as we feasted on Lechon Kawali, Kare-Kare, Lumpiang Shanghai and Sinigang na Lapu-Lapu sa Miso washed down by refreshing Gulaman at Sago – yum-o! For dessert, we had creamy egg pie, something I make it a point to order whenever we go to Swan Lake. Did I just hear myself let out an oinkish squeal of delight? Hahaha!

After lunch, we headed off to the Seef Mall to catch the movie, \”Arthur and the Minimoys\”, which the boys had been dying to watch since our last trip there in October. I surprisingly found the movie nice as it skillfully combined animation with \”real-life\” actors – was even doubly surprised to find out that Madonna and David Bowie were the voices behind two of the animated characters, Princess Selenia and the Evil M. As this was \”too kiddie\” for Rinel and John, they opted to watch \”The Illusionist\” instead and also found it to their liking. We also managed to grab DVDs of films we missed back home (MI 3, Monster House and Da Vinci Code) which we intend to watch in a \”movie-like ambience\” (complete with popcorn and dimmed lights) back home since movies are a no-no in the kingdom (pathetic ba?). We were so exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel that we just freshened up and said our quick New Year\’s greetings to one another before we hit the sack at around 2 am – definitely a far cry from our usual New Year\’s eve celebrations back home! We so miss Bellevue already!

New Year\’s Day was spent pretty much like our first day – brunch at Bennigan\’s (French Onion Soup, Chicken Salad and Monte Cristo Club Sandwich) and a movie (\”Night at the Museum\”, a Ben Stiller comedy-adventure which I recommend) at the Al Dana Mall – except that we managed to squeeze in a visit to the Bahrain International Circuit, the country\’s very own F1 racetrack! Too bad, though, that we only got as far as the gates and its souvenir shop as the stadium was closed for the Muslim Eid End-Of-Hajj Holiday. Hope to catch an F1 race soon when the races start again in Feb or March.

Since Japanese restos are a rarity in KSA, our Japanese lunch at Gulf Hotel\’s Sato restaurant was a definite highlight of our Bahrain visit. The classy ambience – Japanese snare drums as guests enter amid very Zen-like interiors – and the tatami room where we were served our meal lent to a very authentic Japanese eating experience. For starters, we had tuna sashimi, California Maki and Miso Soup while Keith and I both had bento boxes for our entrees. Keith chose a Japanese version of \”Surf and Turf\” while I ordered something not as delectable – fried dumplings, hammour sashimi, stir-fried noodles and beef teriyaki. Good thing the boys ordered the usual ebi tempura and yakisoba which tided me over! The green tea ice cream which I had for dessert thankfully made up for the \”blah\” meal I had for lunch. Yum yum!

As we headed home, we couldn\’t help but say a silent prayer of thanks that despite being away from home during this holiday season, the good Lord made it possible for us to still celebrate Christmas and New Year\’s in very meaningful (though simpler) ways.

A blessed and bountiful new year ahead! See y\’all in December!