I don’t think I’ll ever be able to comprehend why you came here for us. It’s one of the things I won’t even try to wrap my mind around anymore. I just know that because of what you did, I am now free…and I am now living life to the full. My entire lifetime will not be enough to say THANK YOU JESUS, but good thing there’s eternity for that… I love you!!!!

Merry Christmas to all!

I came across these pictures of CDO  this morning:

 ” The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.”

-Psalm 9:9

Here is the link to my previous post which includes a short list of ways we can help CDO.

This Saturday, December 24, 2011, Victory Greenhills will be having our Christmas Eve service at the fourth floor of Vmall, Greenhills, San Juan (at 4 pm). The entire Christmas eve service offering will go to helping CDO.

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Photo credits: Fellow citizens of CDO. Thank you to Schen Baban for the permission to post.

I was up till two-thirty in the morning watching videos and going through photos posted by friends covering the effects of Sendong (Typhoon Washi).  I could not believe what I was seeing, since this was the first time something like this happened in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City. I did not recognize my own hometown (CDO). I am grateful that my family and relatives are all safe (despite our houses being flooded), yet at the same time my heart cannot fully rejoice, seeing all the other families and homes destroyed. I’m sure you all know what I mean. As of this writing, I have read that close to a thousand people have been found dead, and hundreds more are still missing. My mom told me some people from CDO who survived found themselves already in the island of Camiguin (that’s how bad the current was!). Sendong is said to be the worst storm that has hit us in 25 years.

I’ll get straight to the point. It’s easy to feel compassion for these people, but we all know that our compassion should lead us into action. Without the latter, our emotions would only remain as such.

Below is a short list of groups who have taken it upon themselves to help provide ways in which we can reach out to the people of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City: (Please click on the links for more details)

1. Right Start, a foundation we are supporting in Victory Greenhills,  will be doing Relief Operations at CDO next week to help those who were badly affected by the Storm.

They are now accepting donations:

Bank of Philippine Islands account under RIGHT START COMMUNITY DEV’T INC. – Account Number: 004021-0129-42

Banco de Oro: account under RIGHT START COMMUNITY DEV’T INC. — Account Number: 2030132221

DOLLAR ACCOUNT:
Banco de Oro under account name:
Right Start Community Dev’t Inc.
account number: 102030129115

2. The Philippine Red Cross

3. LBC Foundation

4. ABS-CBN Sagip Kapamilya

5. TV5 Alagang Kapatid Foundation

6. My cousins and relatives have opened their building to accept donations of goods too. Should you wish to send used clothing, water, medicines, milk, crackers, diapers, blankets, you get the picture….you may do so  by dropping them off at St. John’s Place Building, 66 Hernandez St., Pasay City (Along FB Harisson St. and beside San Juan de Dios Hospital)

7. This is a post I copied from one of my friends who is based in the States:

A memo has now been released to all LBC Branches in the US and Canada. Here are the instructions given to me when shipping the boxes for free to Cagayan de Oro:

(1) All boxes must be addressed to:
Attention Jose Garcia
LBC Hari ng Padala Foundation
LBC Hangar, General Aviation Center
Domestic Airport Compound
Pasay City, Philippines

(2) Contents must contain NO LIQUIDS. High Priority items are canned goods, blankets and toiletries.

(3) Sizes of allowable boxes are: Canada 21 x 21 x 25 or smaller, US East Coast 28 x 18 x 17 or smaller, and West Coast 24 x 18 x 18

(4) You MUST drop the boxes at your local LBC Branch. Please refer to this website for your local LBC Branch: http://www.lbcexpress.com/contents/USA/

(5) The boxes will arrive in 45 days. LBC Foundation will deliver the donated items directly to the Relief Centers and NGOs of Cagayan de Oro.

*** EDIT ***

8. TS- Relief Ops

They are accepting relevant information related to the disaster relief operations. You may join them in their Facebook Group Mata na, CDO at this link : https://www.facebook.com/groups/250406188342713 . They are also accepting collaborators for this document, email brent@cdo.linux.org.ph or evansyonson@gmail.com

9. For those who do no currently reside in the Philippines, Yahoo News has an article that includes a list of international organizations you can give to.

10. The Association of Philippine Volunteer Fire Brigade Inc. is also accepting donations in cash or in kind. Their office is at 2142 Leveriza St., Manila. Interested parties may call the brigade emergency number 5222222 for more information. A team of volunteers from Manila will be going on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011 for relief operations both in CDO and Iligan City.

11. Operation Compassion is responding to disaster by sending a rapid assessment team and donations to the affected areas. They would appreciate both your prayers and early response to the disaster through cash or kind. You may send your donations to: BP OPERATION COMPASSION INTL.INC , bpi account 3321-0178-34.

….If you know of any more groups you wish to add to this list, let me know.  :)

Thank you!

18 days to go!!!

I always look forward to Christmas! I look forward to all the time spent with family and friends, giving of gifts, sharing of lives, delicious food, and of course, celebrating and remembering the very reason why I get to live life to its fullest every day of the year— Jesus!

I doubt that I will ever outgrow this fascination that I have for Christmas. I get all giddy everyday as I, together with the kids, countdown to Christmas morning. What brings me more joy is seeing the kiddos just as excited as I am!

Ever since Alyanna turned three, we have started counting down the days to Christmas starting every first of December. In the previous years, we used envelopes that the girls “designed” using Christmas-themed rubber stamps. We then hung them on a string with wooden clothespins.  We also made “lift-the-flap” calendars using an illustration board that we dazzled up with glitters. I would love to show you pictures, but unfortunately, they were in the hard drive that crashed.

This year, I found wedding favor mini-buckets that are perfect for my color-scheme at home….white! Here’s a photo of it:

I just cut out old ribbons that I’ll never get to use anymore because of the length (bitin!) and some red Japanese paper. Into the mini-bucket they went, together with a sheet of paper saying what activity or surprise awaits the kids each day.  We’ve already done seven so far.

Ooh, I can’t wait for tomorrow!

Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.

There seems to be a pattern with me here…. Each time it nears Christmas, I go AOL. I could go on and try to state valid reasons why this is so, but I won’t go there. Suffice it to say that I barely have had the time to stay on the computer long enough since for the past month or so, the kids and I have practically been everywhere else but home. Dennis has been reminding me to at least drop a note here  just to let everyone else know that I am still alive, but…uh….well…hehe…..you know how it is sometimes. (Read: I got lazy! *blush*)  ;)

Anyway, here is a quick update:

- I missed this!!!! I suddenly realized how much I missed writing and sharing my thoughts with the hopes of being able to structure them somehow!

- I am hoping to have a new look for this site….Do watch out for that. Maybe in time for the new year??

-  I just came from a writing seminar by Salt and Light Ventures. Yes, a writing seminar where they tell you to just write and write. This led to some form of guilt on my part, which then turned into a longing to once again spend more than two minutes in this WordPress interface. Hence, this post.

- I hope to get back to writing more! So help me God.

- I just finished finalizing everything I’d be needing for the Christmas season.

What?!?! Just now?? Shame on you, Thammie!

….Yes. As I’ve said, I’ve been everywhere and I am actually quite surprised that I got to finish decorating the house and preparing all the activities for the kids! I was able to do in four  or five days what usually took me a week or two in the previous years to finish. (Side note: Usually, my Christmas shopping is done by May, and my Christmas decorations are up by the end of October….except for these past two years. I hope to get back to my “normal” timetable next year. Key word: Hope.)

- I want to try to get pregnant again starting next month. Baby boy, come to momma!!!

- I plan to enjoy all the Christmas parties and yet experience a miracle of not gaining weight by the end of the month. Who’s with me??