MY SUFFERING IS MY OFFERING!

As i typed this blog, it's a Monday here in the pacific coast...A Holy Monday...and the music being played in my ipad is the song of Fatima Soriano entitled,,MY OFFERING....every word sang by this very innocent girl touched the very tip of my nerve endings...and can't help but cry....As the song goes....my life is very simple..my dreams are few and little..i don't have much to offer except the pains i bear,,my suffering is my offering,, i am offering all my sufferings, and if ever i will face more trials and more pains then i will offer them gladly again,,i know that there's a reason,,i know i have a mission,, someday i will see the vision,,for now i must be strong...sometimes i doubt and question,, i need some consolation,, but if this is my mission,, i must be brave and strong....

I have so much respect to this very brave girl,Fatima Soriano, a visionary...Everytime i feel down,, everytime i feel as if my prayers are not answered,, everytime i feel as if life is so unfair ,,,i always get my strength back everytime i remember the braveness of this girl..How can I question the unanswered prayers I have? when in fact this little girl bravely accept all the things that somehow make her life to end?...dialysis everyday, blind, and here she is, happy with life,,a smile that is so radiating everytime people will see her...gives so much life to every person she met.. always encouraging people to continue holding on to God...that everything happened for a reason,,...Thank you so much Fatima,,,you just don't know how you give meaning to my life..Thank you so much for your songs , always touches my heart in so many ways and helped me stand up everytime i feel down...Thank you....

Yes, Lord,,,,I have so many things to be thankful for...my family,,,my husband,,my son,,for supplying our needs everyday, and somehow help in our own little ways our family back home in PH..Thank you for giving us more than enough from what we asked of YOU...I know that YOU have great plans for me ....

Thank you for the good health you bestowed on us....the past year was so good to us when it comes to health,finances,,,,,thank you for always guiding us in our travel and letting us conquer some things just within our capacity...All these will not be possible if You did not let us experience all of these...Thank you Lord....Please forgive us for our shortcomings when sometimes we became weak with our faith when some human weakness sets in..We pray,,AMEN...

THANK YOU MAMA MARY!

(Picture above is a lovely Catholic Church in Big Bear,Ca...OUR LADY OF THE LAKE)....

OUR UNICO IJO!

As I uploaded some of our pictures during the spring vacation, my husband and I got so emotional when we watched the pictures of our son....Oh my gosh! he has grown so much that as we scanned and viewed some of his baby pictures, we can't help but felt a quench in our hearts(allow me to be quite corny and senti about this entry)......Yes, thank you son for always making us proud in everything that you do, for making us so happy everyday....for listening everytime we inculcate some reminders and values that we want you to follow...Other people said and asked us why we only have you when it fact you deserve to have a brother and a sister...but even if we gave our reasons, funny is that they felt they know our plans and ourselves more than us... as if they know the responsibilities that we have and the past that we have been through...well anyway let them be,,why will we let them rule our lives anyway, right?they might as well manage their own lives rather than taking notice of everything that we do..that does not bother us anyway,because we know that at this very moment, we have many things to be grateful to God..and these we will always treasure.....And believe that whatever God will bestow on us, we will receive it with open arms because we firmly believe that God knows the desires of our hearts, right?

We would like to thank you for understanding ......And we know that you feel everyday that we are a family.....

BEEN A WHILE

YES,it's been a while that I haven't written an entry to my blog.....A lot of reasons behind it, busy with multitasking and etc etc etc....heheheheh.....Anyway, from time to time, I will try my best to somehow share to you the past events that my family been busy of from the many days of my absence in this blogworld....What surprised me is that I received plenty of emails from readers of my blogs..I promise i will share bits and pieces of everything...You really put a smile on my face 30 minutes ago ...Thanks....I just experienced firsthand the happiness that some bloggers felt when they shared that everytime someone emailed them regarding the blog that they have written, it keeps them alive and an inner feeling of satisfaction ..now, I do....Thank you....

(picture above was recently taken at BIG BEAR,CA during the spring vacation of our son....We were just very lucky because the snow was still so fresh a night before we arrived...our son took this pic and he did a great job!)

THANKSGIVING DAY 2010

THANKSGIVING QUOTE.." It is delightfully easy to thank GOD for the grace we ourselves have received, but it requires great grace to thank GOD always for the grace given to others....JAMES SMITH

Thank you LORD AND MAMA MARY for the blessings , for the strong faith you always bestow on us in times of weakness , for good health, for safety, for always embracing us and keeping us from harm, for the continuous wisdom you impart to us which is very much needed in our everyday existence,for the opporunities that you let us experienced which contributed a lot to our beings, for the family back home in PI,for all the expected and unexpected graces, THANK YOU.

A TEXT,A CALL, AN EMAIL,JUST A HI,HELLO MATTERS MOST

This is an entry that has something to do on a simple text,a simple hello, a simple hi, a simple email, a simple how are you, a simple message , from our loved ones, matters .

Yes, i am quite sentimental at this moment.(smile).

If by chance someone will read this blog, if you have a loved one working far away from home, make it a point to say how are you to them, even if they will not reply right away,that simple how are you matters a lot to them. If you could comment hi ,hello, ingat, to your friends in their fb and friendster account, why can't you write the same to your family member?before it's too late.That simple hi hello may be a great help to alleviate your loved one's feelings on that moment.

So proud of our son!

Earlier this month, we received a letter from the school congratulating us that our son was unanimously chosen by the teachers to be honored by the Rotary Club International, Riverside Chapter as exemplary student. Honestly I cried when I read the letter. Why? because for us, as parents, it's an achievement . Whether other people will not make a big deal of this but IT IS A BIG DEAL FOR US. Because behind all of our son's achivements, are stories of sacrifice and experiences untold. We are proud of you son. Beyond words. beyond explanations, we love you so much!

The awarding and honoring was held at ROTARIAN LUNCHEON SAN DIEGO ROOM, MISSION INN HOTEL, RIVERSIDE,CA...attended by rotarians, guests,principal...There were only 2 awardees that were honored, one from Poly High School and one from Bryant Elementary.It was done after having lunch.He received a certificate, a check, and gift cards.Thank You Bryant Elementary and Rotary International Riverside Chapter for acknowledging our son's hard work. Thank you God and Mama Mary for the blessings.

Rosary Month

Yes, even if sometimes we forgot to pray the Holy Rosary everyday,,,we have to do it religiously everyday of this month to pray the holy rosary with our family in this Rosary Month of October..Let us include in our petitions for world peace,unity of family and love in our hearts always .

(above pic of our visit to Birhen sa Fatima, Carmen , Bohol,,,when we took our vacation back last summer.)

Our son's simple wish on his birthday

Days and time passed by so quickly that I forgot to write an entry of our son's birthday month..He is already 11 years old and this made me worry so much(well,in a mother's point of view perhaps..hehehe)..In as much as i want him to be our baby forever. Pardon me for being so dramatic about this. I talked about this with my hubby and surprisingly he felt the same. Yes, childish as it seems but maybe that's how parents are..ON the other hand, our boy is so excited to become a teenager. He shares to us his plans, shares to us why he is so excited to become an adult that fast. WE as parents see to it that our line of communication is very open and we are so thankful that he grew up to be the kind of boy that we want him to be. We know that he will still have a long way ahead of him but we constantly reassure him that we are behind him all the way. And with God's blessings we know, he will make it.

Above are photos as we surprised our son a very early morning songs and prayers on his special day.Opening of his gifts as included in his wishlists... Followed with our family day and a simple dinner as we got home... We asked him if he wants a birthday party with his friends in the compound. But all he asked for is that we have to send money to his cousins in the Philippines to celebrate also his birthday there..This, i pray that will always remain in his plans as he goes through life, to always think of his family back home.

Our son with family(part2)

with christian ,charlene and mommy jiji

with john2 and mimi

with cousins tricia,mimi and sam

with cousin mimi(talibon)

Our son with family and cousins(part1)

with cousins aj.angelo and charlene

with his cousin baby aj

with his cousin Hannah

Our son with his mommy mimi(my sis)

A Welcome Party

Showing some pics of the welcome party that our family prepared for us.Can't help but smile and praising God for the safe travel that we had and a family that made us feel welcome and love.Thanks God for all the blessings.!

A Welcome Banner

Aside from the surprise at the airport, this banner that touched my heart when we arrived at home.This put a smile in my face and as I went upstairs, I cried silently and thanking God for a wonderful and thoughtful family I have. (smile)

A Birthday To Remember At Plantation Bay Resort and Spa

Going back in time, when this wonderful resort was featured in some travel channels describing the beauty of it, from words of mouth from famous celebrities and foreigners as well, surfing it on a web, there was a feeling deep inside my heart that someday my family will be there . There was an instance that the seminar that was supposed to be held there, was cancelled to another venue, there was no such feeling of "sayang"(could have been), because i want to step my foot on that place with my loved ones. I would like to thank God for giving me and my family the opportunity to spend time with each other, in a very special moment of my life, my birthday. Yes, I spent my birthday in this one place that i wish to stay..Call me a shallow person with shallow happiness , i won't get mad because I am.I just love to be with my family specially in many special moments of my life. Thanks God.

1st and 2nd picture-myself enjoying the beauty of manmade and nature's creation

3rd picture-the whole gang, my immediate family and my husband's family in wacky pose

4th picture-my immediate family

5th picture-my husband's family

The ache for home, lives in all of us..

"The ache for home lives in all of us..the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.."-Maya Angelo"

Yes, we had a wonderful time, precious time with our family during our vacation. The last pic of this entry was taken at Plantation Bay Resort and Spa in Cebu City..The four above pics was taken inside a studio.