I am very grateful for my spiritual family.

Let me say that again… Lord, THANK YOU for placing me in a wonderful spiritual family!! Thank you for surrounding me with people who are overflowing with your love!

I know I keep mentioning this, maybe to the point that some of you might be thinking, “Spiritual what??” or “What’s the big deal about this…’spiritual family’ you keep talking about??”

…or maybe not. Maybe some of you know exactly what I am talking about and understand what I mean. Maybe some of you can very well relate to how I feel about spiritual family. (If that’s you then come say it with me: “Lord, THANK YOU for giving me a loving spiritual family!!!”)

Hehe…okay, that’s enough. I really do not want to sound all “spiritual” on you now, even if I just mentioned that word too many times in my first few paragraphs!

I really just wanted to take this time to appreciate all the people that God has surrounded me with. I have always appreciated my church family, but all the more this past week. As some of you may know, Dennis was away for a week. This was the first time since we got married that he was away that long, and out of the country at that. I was anxious about the thought of him being away. I really imagined how lonely it would be, since welcoming him home every dinner time is always one of the highlights of my day/night. To tell you frankly, though, I did not miss him THAT much (hehe, sorry love!)… mainly because I was preoccupied with bonding with good friends who are really almost like family to us. From the time he left to the day he came home, I was spending time with other people who I love so much— some invited me and the kids to go out with them, while some, I invited over to our house. Next time, I know what to do in case Dennis has to leave again: First, make a list of things I’d want him to buy for me (*evil laugh*) and second, set dates and maybe even sleepovers with friends.

After Dennis came home, Mika got sick. I wrote all about it in my previous blog. The whole day I was comforted by the fact that I knew people really cared and prayed for Mika’s fast recovery, and wow! ….I must say, PRAYER REALLY WORKS! The doctor told us to expect more vomiting for the next three to five days, and more diarrhea up to 14 days. But none of that happened. As of today, I am declaring that Mika is COMPLETELY HEALED. Her appetite is getting back to normal, her stools are back to their normal stinky state (hehe), no more vomiting, her energy level is picking up…and I know it is because God has heard the prayers of His people. I think He also saw that Mika simply cannot afford to lose any more weight than she already has! We prayed that there’ll be no need for her to be admitted to the hospital, and God answered it. We prayed that there will be no need for any IV intervention, and there was none. Thank you, thank you again to everyone who prayed and encouraged us. We love you all so so much!

Thank you Lord for my spiritual family.

If you are reading this and you cannot really relate to anything I just said, then I highly encourage you to become part of a church family where there are genuine relationships— where people have truly experienced God’s unconditional love, and in turn, are eager to pour out their love to others as well. I highly encourage you to build relationships with people who have one sole purpose, and that is to honor God– by first loving Him with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength; and then by loving others, just as He has commanded, with the kind of love that He himself has demonstrated….unconditional and unselfish.

It is my prayer that you not just find, but that you become part of such a community.

Thank you Lord for my spiritual family.

I absolutely LOVED every bit of this long weekend!

Friday, I got to spend quality time with my cousins and I got to devour my aunt’s SUPER delicious home-cooking once again (I’m not exaggerating, she’s one of the best!).

We grew up with this pool.

With my very lovely cousins

So I ask you, do we look alike??

The refugees

With my aunt and cousins

Saturday, we had a whole-day discipleship conference/ team building with some of our leaders from Victory Greenhills. About a hundred people participated….AND most of them came early! I can say it’s probably one of the best discipleship trainings I’ve ever been to— no bias whatsoever. O=)

Honored to be co-laboring with this bunch

Sunday, I had steak for lunch, our beautiful niece celebrated her first birthday, two of my cousins and my brother went to our church service (cousins went for the first time!), Dennis preached a powerful word, then had dinner and dessert with some of our closest friends.

Like I said, I loved every bit of this weekend!

There’s something about family that recharges and refreshes people. When I say family, I am referring to both the families that we’re born into, and our spiritual family. In a family, we can be ourselves and know that we are accepted and loved. We know each other and appreciate each person’s uniqueness. In a family, we help each other and build each other up. We serve one another out of love. In a family, we trust each other. We can make ourselves vulnerable. We believe in each other. In a family, we fight and we forgive, and we learn from one another. In a family, we celebrate life together.

I am so grateful that God, in His infinite wisdom, chose to design us in such a way that we would be needing families and genuine relationships. I would not like to live life any other way.

I’m back!!!

…Literally. I just came back from a very, very short trip to Davao for a conference with some of the wives from our Mindanao churches. It was a very refreshing time! Three of us from Metro Manila went there to help facilitate, and I am so glad I was given the opportunity to be a part of it. It’s always great to meet other wives and moms who have such a great heart for the Lord. I admire all of them in many ways.

I actually wanted to write a short “note” prior to leaving, just to inform everyone that I’d be out of touch for a couple of days. That was last Sunday. Obviously, I never got to and I really don’t have an excuse. *grin* I know I was going to write about something too, but I totally do not remember what it was!

*thinking*  *….Now retrieving data from Thammie’s brain….*

Nothing.

Bitin.

Anyway, let’s move on. Allow me to tell you about my short Davao trip instead.

I’m not sure if all of you know this, but I actually grew up in Mindanao. To be more specific, I grew up in the “City of Golden Friendship”– Cagayan de Oro City. Hehe it sounds a little bit cheesy, now that I’m saying it after years of not hearing that phrase. Why am I including this as part of my Davao trip story? Maybe because one of the main reasons why I got excited when they asked me if I could join the Mindanao conference is the fact that I am from there. I believe it is not an accident that I grew up in that place and know their culture, and then got equipped here in Manila. There’s so much I want to share, and so much more I want to learn from the people there.

The conference was mainly about the five foundations of productive teams. It was really intended for the pastors and church staff, but the wives were invited to join as well. We then had a separate break-out session for the wives, where we got to talk about our concerns and just get to know each other more, so we could all be more connected with one another. I kept thinking to myself how truly important relationships are in our lives. It really makes a remarkable difference if we have other wives and moms who can empathize with us and encourage us as we go through the many different seasons in our lives. Are you connected with other women? I highly encourage you to find someone you can pour out your heart and soul to, and who will share her life with you, too.

Pastor Ado talking about the necessary kind of conflict in teams

Beautiful women from all over Mindanao.

(I think some of the ladies already left when this group picture was taken)

My prayer partners, Care and Weng

Of course, no trip can ever be complete if you don’t get to enjoy the local food. From the time I set foot in Davao, I was craving for their Durian. I was surprised that of the six of us (three women, three men) who came from Manila, not one of them liked Durian! (oh, except one who had neutral feelings about durian because she hasn’t tried it yet)…Come to think of it, I haven’t met anyone here in Manila, in my more than 10 years of living here, who appreciates it as much as I do. Growing up, my dad always told me (and always with smile and with eyes closed too!) that durian is the fruit that “smells like hell, but tastes like heaven” See how emotionally connected my family is to it? Anyway, the important thing is that I got to buy four kilos and I have it all to myself since I’m the only one here who likes it! *evil laugh*

Clockwise from left: Cathy, Bishop Juray, Ptr. Alvin, Ptr. Ado, Bishop Manny, Me, Riza

NO! It’s not how it looks like! We don’t really love food THAT much….??? hehe

Ooh-la-la!!!

Those poor, innocent things…

Braving the palengke (market)

Durian heaven!!!

With Ate Vicky (our host) and Erika (our Palengke queen!)

Have you heard of the verse “He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed?” This is precisely true about my trip. I’m back home feeling so refreshed by the new people I met, from the topics that were taught, and of course, from all the yummy and cheap food we ate. I’ll probably be writing about some of the things I’ve learned from the conference in my next blogs. For now, I just really wanted to say that “I’m back!”… And I realize I’ve accomplished that goal in my first sentence.

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I’ll be editing this and will be putting in the pictures as soon  as I get them from my friend, Riza. Ah the beauty of that “tagging” system by Facebook!

* Blog updated… pictures uploaded! I noticed I had more pictures of the food than the actual conference. *eep!* lol!