Over breakfast…

MIKA: “Mom, Why only husband and wife can kiss?”

ME: “Because that’s how God designed us. We were meant to save ourselves and keep ourselves only for our husbands.” (I have no idea if she understood this, but she shouldn’t be asking questions like this in the first place!!!)

MIKA: “Wow. Mom, I can’t wait to have a husband na.”

Patay.

ME: “Uh… Well…. You can start praying for your husband now. Pray that he will grow up loving God with all his heart, mind, and strength. Pray that he will always obey God and his parents.”

MIKA: “Mom, I really, really, really cannot wait to have a husband!!”

ME: *Change the subject! Change the subject!!!!* “Uh….Okay… That’s good…so start praying now, okay? Are you done eating?? Come on, Let’s play!!! Who wants to play na??”

I guess it’s a good thing, right??  Probably, Mika really, really, really cannot wait to have a husband because she sees from her parents that marriage is a beautiful union, right?? She probably adores how her dad is as a husband that’s why she’s excited to have a ….you know what, right??

Yes, yes, Thammie. No need to panic. That’s just it! She just wants what you have as a wife. But it doesn’t mean anything other than that. She’s still three years old. Don’t worry. THREE years old. Say it again: THRRREEEE years old.

There.

Now, breathe in…….breathe out…….

Okay…

You’re fine.

Three years old.

THREE years old.

Now, just pray she won’t ever bring up the subject again until after twenty years.

Just came from another “session” with Mika. Typical— she disobeyed, and the so the story goes….

Mika: *crying* “I’m sorry mom!”

ME: “I forgive you, Mika, and  I love you.”

MIKA: “Why??”

ME: “Because I love you! I choose to love you no matter what, and you are my daughter, nothing can change that, so I’ll love you no matter what.”

MIKA: “Why?”

ME: “Why what?”

MIKA: “Why I’m you’re daughter always?”

ME: (Thought bubble: Bakit, may reklamo?? Ayaw mo??) *Erase the thought bubble*… “Uh…Mika, you also have to say sorry to God, right?”

MIKA: *crying more* “Yes! ….Jesus, I’m sorry!! Please for-dive me and please help me!!”

ME: “Mika, you know what the Bible says, right? Each time we ask for forgiveness and say sorry, God promises to forgive us and to help us do what’s right next time?”

MIKA: “Why?”

ME: “Well, because God loves you!”

MIKA: “Why?”

ME: “Because God is really loving and you are His daughter. He loves you.”

MIKA: “Because I’m nicer than Atsi (referring to older sister) ?”

ME: “No. No one is nicer. We are all the same. All of us sin against God and all of us need God to forgive us and to help us.”

MIKA: “What about the other people? Because I’m nicer than them?”

ME: “No, Mika. All of us….we’re the same. We all sin, right? That’s why Jesus had to die for us.Good thing he died for us, right?”

MIKA: “Yes. Dood thing even if Judas tempted Jesus to not die on the tross nalang, he still obeyed the soldiers and went up the tross, right?”

ME: “Uhm…Yes, good thing Jesus obeyed God the Father and died for us even if it was painful, because he loves us.”

MIKA: “Yes. I heard Judas mom. He tempted Jesus to not listen to Dod (God). Dood thing Jesus didn’t listen to Judas….”

ME: “Ah…okay…. (ano bang pinanood mo bata??) …okay, Mika, take a bath na….”

*Whew!*

Disciplining our children takes T-I-M-E…. Agree??

Our goal is not just for them to see what they did wrong, but to see their need for a Savior. We want them to say, “God, thank you for loving me, forgiving me, and helping me each time I do wrong and sin against you. Jesus, Dood thing you died on the tross for me. Thank you so much!”

You know how they say that every moment is a teachable moment? Whether we are at home playing or eating, or out caught in traffic, there is always an opportunity to teach our little ones.

I’ve embraced that “truth”. I admit I have a tendency to over-explain things (meaning, explain even trivial matters), but I do try to be as concise as I can possibly be as I do this.

With Alyanna, it seems that my efforts in explaining are never in vain. I can always see that she understands what I try to tell her, and she is even able to explain or challenge other people’s opinions and actions based on what she has come to understand as truth or what’s right.

Mika, on the other hand, well…. she’s Mika…..

CORRECTION/TEACHABLE MOMENT NUMBER ONE:

(While teaching her to honor and respect others with her words)

ME: “Mika, you have to be very careful with your words. You know your tongue is like a sword, it is so powerful….”

MIKA: *interrupts and beams as she has a light bulb moment* “Lite a swort but with teeth and a mouth??”

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TEACHABLE MOMENT NUMBER TWO:

(Out of the blue, while eating)

MIKA: “You know, diba mom Jesus died for us on the tross (cross)?   Hala. That’s why we need another Jesus na. Let’s  find another Jesus.”

(Uhm, anak, idolatry ata tawag dun!)

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CORRECTION/TEACHABLE MOMENT NUMBER THREE:

(While trying to settle a dispute between the two girls)

MIKA: (trying to defend herself and explain what had happened) “No I didn’t do any-tin to huh but she keets sayin that I did any-tin to huh! (I didn’t do anything to her but she keeps saying that I did….I think she meant ‘something’… to her)

ME: “So who’s lying and who’s telling the truth?”

MIKA: “I’m not lyin’! Achie’s lyin!’”

ME: “Mika, you know the Bible tells us to keep our tongue from evil and our lips from speaking lies. Lying is a sin. Do you know that?”

MIKA: “Yes.”

ME: “Do you know what lying means?”

MIKA: “Yes.”

ME: “What does it mean?”

MIKA: “Not obeyin’ you?”

ME: “Mika, lying is when we are not telling the truth; when we are not telling what really happened only and when we make up our own story. SO are you making up your own story or are you telling me the truth?”

MIKA: “ Telling you the truth.”

ME: “Are you telling me the truth or making up your own story?”

MIKA: “Making up my own story.”

Hmm…Oh no. I know where this is going……nowhere.

Like I said, she’s Mika.

Each time I begin to think that Mika is finally getting something I am teaching her, she makes sure to let me know otherwise.  A lot of times, I have to ask for discernment to know whether it’s innocence, ignorance, or rebellion disguised in cute’s clothing. Still, I do not stop planting seeds of God’s Word because I just never know when it will finally click and she would finally get it.

After all, the clicking part is not really our job anymore. We can plant the seeds, but we can’t force the growth out of them. All we can do is be faithful in planting and cultivating, guiding and praying…..and wait for God’s Word to grow in their hearts and  bear much fruit.

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.