Earlier this morning, I woke up with a very itchy sting in my eye. Over breakfast, Alyanna complained that she too, had an “ouchie” in her eye . I simply told her, “Yeah. Me too. Maybe a bug bit us or some dirt entered our eyes.”

I then went back to finishing my cup of coffee while I enjoyed the remaining minutes of my supposedly-quiet reading time.

Several minutes after the girls finished their breakfast, Alyanna came running to ask me, “Mom! Is the ouchie in your eye gone already??” I said no. It was still very itchy. Alyanna then proudly told me that her ouchie was gone.

“You know why, mom??”

Of course, we all know that the only way to answer that kind of question is with one word– “Why??”

She confidently replied, “Because I prayed for God to heal me!”

Oh my. How embarrassing! Honestly, I didn’t even think of that option! The thought of asking God to remove something as petty as an itchy bite on the eye didn’t even occur to me! Maybe subconsciously I didn’t want to “bother” God with this very trivial concern, or maybe I was ashamed to ask for something that all the people in hospitals would just laugh at….I don’t know. But, oh my….I can’t believe I did not think of praying for this tiny little ouchie on my eye!

Of course, I had to commend my five year-old for what she did, and acknowledge my…..”forgetfulness”, so I did.

“Wow, Alyanna! Good thinking! I’m so happy you thought of that! You know, you’re right! What a great idea! Why didn’t I think of doing that right away??? That’s what I should have done, too!”

“Yeah, mom. That’s what I do every time I have a problem. I just pray to God by myself, even if it’s just in my mind. That’s what you should do, too, mom.”

Okay, okay….I stand corrected….and reminded.

If we can believe God for the big things, why can’t we believe God for the small ones? If we can trust God with our future, why do we sometimes forget to trust him with our present daily concerns? If we can take God for His Word when He says that He even knows the number of hair on our heads, what makes us think that He’s any less concerned with the trivial things we face each day?

Our God is not just someone who’s way “up there” overseeing the affairs of mankind. Yes, He is above all. But He is also in all….and is very much involved and interested in each of our lives.

“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
   the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
   and the son of man that you care for him?” -Psalm 8:3-4

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photo: www.gotit.co

Alyanna barged into our room earlier this morning, telling me she had something very important to ask me. Of course, I put aside everything that I was doing and prepared myself to answer her very important  question.

ALYANNA: “Mom, even if Mika and I disobey you, you still love us just the same?”

ME: “Of course!”

ALYANNA: “”Even if we disrespect and sin sometimes, you still love us a lot??”

ME: “Yes, of course!”

ALYANNA: “You love us just the same??? Still a lot?? It won’t change?? It won’t become less??”

ME: “Yes, nga…why are you asking?” (Is this a trap?? Are they prepping me? Is she about to tell me she did something terrible?)

ALYANNA: “Nothing. I’m just asking because you keep telling us that you love us. That’s what you keep saying to me and Mike all the time— that you love us…. that even if we disobey, you love us. How come??”

ME: “Aahh…because you know, I myself have received and experienced God’s unconditional love.”

ALYANNA: (as expected) “Huh???? What does that mean??”

ME: “It means that even before pa, when I didn’t love God yet, He already loved me. Even if sometimes I disobey Him, He still loves me….so that same love that God gives me, that teaches me and enables me to love you also— even if sometimes you don’t obey me. Because of Jesus, God loves us whether or not we are nice or even when we sin, so now we are also able to love others the same way. We love others even if they do not do what we want sometimes. Do you understand?”

ALYANNA: “Ah, so….when I become a mommy na, I should love my babies the way you love us?”

ME: “Well, yes…but even if you’re not a mommy yet (secret thought: And please! Let it be a looooong time before you become one!!)….you can actually practice loving this way— with Mika, with us, with your friends… Sometimes we all do something that you don’t like, right? Or like when Mika fights you? Then that’s a perfect time to practice asking God to help you love her even if you don’t want to.”

*Mika then entered the room, crying that she got a boo-boo….ending the conversation* I’m guessing Alyanna breathed a sigh of relief here.

I’m sure that at the back of every child’s mind, there is that longing to be assured of our love and acceptance. We have to make sure that even as we discipline and correct them for their misbehavior and wrong attitudes, we communicate that they are loved and accepted, not on the basis of their performance. We want to communicate that the premise of our love for them is not even our  capacity to love, because even that is unstable as long as we called humans. Rather, we love because we understand that God’s love enables us to love others as well, even if we don’t really feel like it.

Thank you Lord, for loving me, even if more often than not, I am not so lovable. A lot of times, I am selfish and I disobey. Yet even then, you love me; You see Christ’s righteousness in me. I pray that you will help me to love my spouse, love my kids, love everyone around me with this same love that I have received. Help me to see them the way you do. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Enjoy the rest of the week!

I’ve had this very irritating cough for a week now. I think it started because of the weird weather change– having typhoons in the middle of the summer heat. My throat would get so dry and extremely sore because of all the coughing. Hassle.

Anyway, that’s not really what I wanted to share. I actually want to express how deeply touched I am by Alyanna (my eldest), and how she has been this whole week. <3 <3 <3

You see, I haven’t been able to read books to them for the past few days because of my throat. Since then, she took the role of being the storyteller and volunteered to read short stories to her sister. Of course, her pace is still slow, but she really tries her best! She reminds me of Dory of Finding Nemo, when she was talking “Whale” (an exaggeration of course!…she might be able to read this and get offended! hehe). Also, on two occasions when I was really down because of the stinging pain from all the coughing, she came into the room with a bottle of cough syrup for me to take. Mika was tagging along because apparently, she has been appointed by her older sister to be the “cupbearer”, so mommy could drink more water.

Everyday she has been praying for me, too. She would lay her hands on my throat and pray the most sincere prayer: “Jesus, please? Please? Please? Can you please heal mommy and take away her cough na? Please? Please? Now na? Today can you heal her na please? Thank you Jesus.” And a few minutes after praying she would ask to check whether or not I still had cough.

I know everything I just shared is nothing, really. Mababaw, so to speak. But if you know Alyanna, you’d know where I’m coming from. She’s not really the caring and affectionate type, but I can see that lately she’s been stepping up and becoming more compassionate and expressively sweet, much to my delight.

This afternoon when she came home from Kids’ Church, she asked me,  ”Mom, you check. Do you still have cough or Jesus healed you na?”. I asked her why she wanted to know (I thought she wanted me to read books to her already), and she told me that she wanted to check because they had just prayed for me in Kids’ Church. Again, I was extremely touched that I could not help but turn all mushy and I told her how grateful I was for all her prayers for the past week, and how I’m sure God has healed me already (my cough really has decreased by 89.7%! ). As I kept saying “Alyanna, thank you ha? Thank you so much for always praying for me to get healed. I really appreciate it!“, she replied to me in a very matter-of-fact tone— “Yeah! We should just pray because that’s a lot better diba? It’s better than taking medicines and going to the doctor pa diba? We should just ask God, because…He’s GOD!”

(Amen!)

I love how kids make things plain and simple. Just ask…and keep on asking God, because….He’s God!  I love how our children can be so confident when they ask God for something. I love how even if they know they’ve been praying the same prayers, they can still keep on praying and asking with equal amount of hope and faith. I am reminded of Abraham, who did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. (Romans 4:20,21).

Lord, I pray that You will give me this kind of faith— consistent, unwavering, fully persuaded. I pray that you will give me this kind of faith— faith that believes and hopes in You, “just because” You are God.

Most kids have the gift of catching songs so easily. It’s as if it’s effortless for them. They hear a song, then they start singing it. The melody and lyrics come to them– just like that.

As with any other “talent”, this gift of absorbing music can either be a good thing, or a scary realization. On one hand, music can be used to educate our kids— teaching them many different concepts and words, and they would remember them. The words and ideas are automatically stored in their brains. On the other hand, they can also easily absorb ideas that we would rather not have them remember, or even hear about– mostly through songs.

The past few weeks, the girls have been singing three very popular songs. They hear it practically everywhere they go, so I really have no way of shielding them from these songs (perhaps ear plugs would work, but I can imagine the struggle that has to take place before I can pull off this strategy). Bruno Mars’ “Just The Way You Are“, Taylor Swifts’ …..many songs (so it’s not just three!), and Katy Perry’s “Firework“, are the mainstays here in our household. Fortunately, they haven’t really learned the lyrics completely and have been making up most of the parts, but I know it’s just matter of time before they learn to get the lyrics right. By then, I want to make sure they have the ability to “screen” the words of the songs they’ll be hearing, before they start accepting any of them as truth.

Let me use the two songs Just the Way You Are and Firework as examples. Why, oh, why, are these songs so popular?? Simply because they use  words we all wish to hear about ourselves:

I am amazing!                             I am wonderful!                                 I am doing a great job!

I have what it takes!                                   I am made made for greatness!

I am a butterfly waiting to burst out of my cocoon! (That sounded better in my head)

...I am…!!! Wow!!…. I am….!!!

These thoughts do something in us, they stir us up. All the more for our kids. Just leave them with paper and crayons and you see how much their ears are itching to hear these “stir up” words– “Mom! Look! Did I do a good job??” “Dad! Look! Am I good??” ….And as dutiful, loving parents, what do we tell them?? “WOW! Amazing!” “Wow! You are so good!” I’m not saying that this is bad. Of course it’s our job to encourage them and help build their self-esteem! BUT as we go along in encouraging them, let us not forget to teach them two truths: First, apart from Christ, we are nothing; Apart from the grace of God, we can never be amazing. Second, we are enabled and empowered to do great things, not for ourselves. Being amazing is not the end goal. The end goal is to glorify God; to mirror His awesome greatness, His amazing grace.

As we were having dinner the other night, Alyanna and Mika once again started to sing that amazing song. I asked them, “What do you think of that song? Do you think it’s right in saying that you are amazing, just the way you are??” I was surprised to hear Alyanna’s response: “Mom, none of us is amazing. Because all of us have sin, all of us cannot be amazing (wrong phrasing, I know. But I’m writing it the way she said it!) But because Jesus died on the cross for us, then now we can be amazing! Because God is amazing!!”

I say this five-year old little girl nailed it.

While watching a video on Youtube…

Mika: “Mom, peetet peace!” (Read: “Mom, repeat it please”)

Alyanna: (Again feeling the urge to make things “right”)   “Mika, that’s not how you say that. Follow me okay?”

Alyanna: “Say, Ruh-”

Mika: “Rwuh-”

Alyanna: “Pee-”

Mika: “Peeeeh-”

Alyanna: “Tuht.”

Mika: “Tuht!”

Alyanna: (Just like any good teacher, she celebrates her student’s success)  “That’s it! You got it Mika! Again, say, ruh-pee-tut!”

Mika: “Ruh-peep-tet!”

Alyanna: “Ruh-pee-tuht.”

Mika: “Ruh-pee-toot!”

Alyanna: (doesn’t notice the slight error) *smiles in satisfaction* “Good.”

Christmas preparations (i.e. putting up the decorations, menu planning, gift wrapping) for me usually start around mid-October. I want my efforts to be “worth it”, so I prefer to have everything up at the soonest possible time (and I put off taking them down for as long as I can) so my family can enjoy the festive atmosphere longer. I  finish most of my Christmas shopping by June-July. By “most”, I mean 90-95% of my list. Obviously,  I like being prepared. I do not like the feeling of being rushed. I also do not like having to go to malls along with thousands of others who are in panic mode as they do their last minute shopping.

I have had a system that has worked for me for the past five Christmases in our family. I would get things done early, and last minute stress-inducing errands were, for the most part, kept at a minimum.

I had a system and it worked for the past years– except this one.

This year all systems flew out the window. With the new place came a new look, new color scheme, new feel, new schedule….new, new, new. I am not even close to being finished (as I would define the word), and now Christmas is already knocking at my door.

I haven’t done my Christmas shopping. It was just this week that I had the chance to go and buy new decorations that would be fit for our new place. The Christmas tree is up, but that’s about it. The rest of the house is still in a rather chaotic state (Dennis would say I’m exaggerating, but I really feel it is in chaos).

Now you know where I’m coming from when I tell you that I wish to finish EVERYTHING before the week ends. You would also understand if I stay up late at night trying to fix the house, right?

Last night, I was so focused on decorating when Alyanna came and started asking for my attention. (side note: I think that if the kids have to start begging for our attention, something’s off…)

ALYANNA: “Mom, dad said we could sleep in your room tonight.” (At this time, Dennis just left the house to do something for someone)

ME: (Not wanting to be interrupted, I forget to even stop and look at her.) “Yes, love. But you cannot wait up for me tonight, okay? I need to finish fixing this part tonight.”

ALYANNA: “Mom, can you please stop fixing that first so you could be with us in your room?”

ME: (Still preoccupied with my thing, I don’t stop. In fairness to me, I was trying not to fall off, hold up the garland, and put in the decorations all at the same time so I had to focus.) “No, Alyanna. you would have to go sleep without me. Okay? Good night love!”

ALYANNA: “But mom, you have to read this to us first. So can you please stop muna?”

ME: (Hehe I’m ashamed of myself as I’m writing this!) “Love, please?” …… (I look at her, but I don’t even take a look at the book she wants me to read.)

ALYANNA: *Now trying to assert herself even more, but still in a respectful tone* “Mom, you haven’t read the Bible to us yet. You still have to read the Bible to us before we sleep. That’s always more important than finishing the decorations, right? “

ME: *IMMEDIATELY drops the garland and the decorations on the floor, jumps off the stool, and goes straight to Alyanna* (Now, I see the book she was holding. It was the Bible.)

Sabi ko nga. *blush*

“YES!!! You’re right Alyanna! Nothing can be more important than reading the Bible and putting you to bed. You’re right! Thanks for reminding me love. I’m sorry ha? Wow, good thing you reminded me!! Thank you talaga!!” (I’m deliberately using an exaggeratedly-excited tone here in an attempt to make up for the momentary neglect. Hehe!)

Really, I do like to say thank you to you, my daughter, for reminding me of what is really important. All too often we get caught up with what we feel we need to accomplish and to finish as if our happiness depended on it. “I have to do this or else…”, “I have to fix this or else….”, “I have to….or else….”, and we threaten ourselves into saying yes to doing all these things, thereby justifying whatever it is that’s taking our time away from the relationships we have that really matter.

Let’s face it: there will be lots of things that most probably won’t get done— perhaps until the season ends. We have to learn to say “So, what?” and decide to use our time to be with the people we love.

So what if my house isn’t fully dressed up this year?

So what if I would have to serve take-out food to my guests this season?

So what if I would have to use crappy-looking gift wrappers this Christmas?

I will still enjoy this season and build great memories with my family and friends. I will make the most of the time we have for the remainder of this year. I will grab this opportunity to once again teach my children the reason why we celebrate Christmas (and contrary to what I communicated last night, it is NOT to have nice Christmas decorations at home); And I will take this time to remind them of God’s love and faithfulness.

More importantly, I will read the Bible to my kids EVERY day and night, even if it means getting interrupted from whatever it is I am doing….Most likely, it’s not that important anyway.

Alyanna and I were in the kitchen last night preparing dinner. We had some other kids over so we had to cook more food. As she was slicing some of the ingredients, this song started to play from the living room:

“One, two, three, four…high-five!

One, two, three, four…high-five!

Aaaahhhh….

Five in the air let’s do it together…..high-five!”

It was as if the song had Alyanna’s name somewhere in the middle because as soon as she heard it, she stopped what she was doing and looked up to me as if to say “Did you hear that mom?? They’re calling me! They need me to be there with them NOW!”

Of course she didn’t say anything, but that’s what I heard as she looked at me.

Me: “You hear that?”

Alyanna: “Yes, mom. They’re about to watch TV!”

Me: “Would you like to join them?”

Alyanna: (Obviously torn at this point) “Uhm…yes because I love watching TV!”

Me: “Okay, you can go.”

Alyanna: “But what about this mom? (referring to what she was cutting) I’m supposed to help you, diba?”

Me: “It’s okay…I understand. You can go be with your friends.”

Alyanna: *Excitedly puts down the knife as soon as she heard the words “it’s okay”, and motions with one foot that yes, she is just about to leave and have me do all the work in the kitchen.*

….but then she steps right back up on the stool and says, “No, it’s okay mom. I’ll just be fast in finishing this and then I’ll go watch with them.”

Aaaawwwww……. I know that gesture may be nothing to some, but that really just made my day!

It’s one thing when our children obey us right away. It gives us great pleasure when we see them paying attention to our instructions and following them. In my kids’ case, though, their obedience is more often out of not wanting the consequences of disobedience. They know that they have to obey simply because it is required of them. That’s just where they’re at at this stage.

It is another thing, however, when our children do something for us, not because it is required of them, but simply because they want to honor us. I knew how much Alyanna wanted to just leave me and go watch her favorite show with her friends. When she made that decision to set aside her wants in order to make me happy and be with me, wow…that meant the world to me.

I’m sure this is similar to what our Heavenly Father feels whenever we set aside our agenda in order to honor Him. It’s one thing to obey when it is required of us. It is another thing to do things simply because we know it is what would make Him smile. Aaahhh…. that would mean the entire galaxy to Him.

Yaaay! It’s mondaaay!

Unlike most people, monday is one of my most-looked-forward-to days because it is Dennis’ day off so we get to spend time with him all we want! We also get the right to complain and demand for him not to think about work stuff or take many calls.

Today Alyanna asked for us to take her to a “house-mall”. I have no clue what her idea of that is, but maybe it’s really just a big mall with lots of kid-friendly places and activities.
Would any of you have suggestions as to where the good kid-friendly places are?? I think I need to have more options…

My father-in-law came to visit us earlier today. Alyanna does love him, but for some odd reason, she just isn’t warm and sweet to him…not like how she is with my mother-in-law, at least. Anyway, as I was coming down the stairs, I overheard my father-in-law persuading her to give him a kiss. When I got to our living room, I took it upon myself to help him persuade Alyanna into obliging him with a kiss…or a hug, at the very least. I took her aside, and after a few minutes, she finally gave in and agreed to give him a hug….but she insisted that I hold her hand while she did it. I went with her, and she slooowwly walked up to her grandpa and stood there in front of him, her body somewhat inclined towards him as if it was saying “If you want a hug from me, then YOU come and get it from me.” I think my dad-in-law got the message and knew it was the closest thing he could get to a hug from her so he happily took her in his arms and hugged her– Alyanna remained still and somewhat stiff (the “shy” kind of stiff, not the scared or indifferent kind). What came after took me by surprise and just made me laugh…

GRANDPA: *Hugging her tight and cherishing the rare moment* “Alyanna, you’re so fat fat na ah!” *rubbing the sides of her tummy, perhaps implying that her tummy was getting bigger*

ALYANNA: *Quickly forced herself out of those loving arms and hands* “No! I’m not fat!!”

GRANDPA: “Yes, you’re fat na, see your tummy? very big already!”

ALYANNA: *Now very disheartened by the comment, swiftly moved away from her grandpa and sat on our coffee table with both arms covering her tummy, frowning* “No! I’m not fat. I eat healFY (healthy) food! I always eat healfy food I can’t be fat! I’m not fat. You’re fat, not me!”

…At this point I knew I had to intervene….

ME: “No, Alyanna, what Ankong meant was that you’ve gained weight since the last time he saw you, but of course, you’re still not fat….You just got bigger because you’re a growing girl remember?”

ALYANNA: *Walks away from the table and moves to the other couch, still frowning*

GRANDPA: “Yes! Alyanna, you’re not fat! you’re still thin, but you’re fatter…but you’re still thin..just fatter….but thin!”

ME: “Remember? Before, you just weighed 20 pounds..now, you’re 30 pounds already! You’re bigger! But not fatter….because you always eat healthy food right?”

ALYANNA: *Feeling better now* “Yes.”

*She now smiles…and she starts pretending to be a baby and talking like a baby*

….I would understand why she reacted this way if her parents (that’s me and Dennis!) were the type who cared a lot about not getting fat….but obviously, we’re NOT! So I wonder, where’d she get this sudden body image issue??? I thought this was an adolescent thing…She hasn’t even turned four yet! Oh, dear…