Overwhelmed - Part 1

Overwhelmed.

That is the best word to describe what I am feeling right now.

Emotions are running high.

Overwhelmed.

Another big dream is about to materialize and we can only thank and praise God for it!

We are one step closer to getting our dream home! Our own home!

The past week was the peak of our discernment process.

In my last blog entry, I told you that I, we, were willing to wait and see if everything will fall into place.

And it did.

Our plans of buying our first home has happened earlier than we have planned.

Proves that God's plans for us far better than what we have for ourselves!

After we met with the broker almost two weeks ago, we had the impression and got to a conclusion that it's not yet time for us. We were still thankful for that meeting as it paved the way for us to set our financial goals so we are better prepared when another opportunity comes. That was Tuesday, 21 January.

Long weekend. Even if we were sure that it will be impossible for us to buy, much more try, a home on the 8 Feb release, we kept on praying for it. Over the long weekend, we went to the Sales Office and hubby got the plans and prices of the home and land packages for the upcoming release.

Seeing the prices, our dreams came crashing down at us again as the prices has increased tremendously from their last release end of November 2013. The cheapest now is $544k and the most expensive ones were somewhere around $720++ thousand!

Another reason for us to give up, right?

We really didn't give up 100% because we kept on praying and discerning for it, still.

And in His goodness, He sent people our way to help us arrive at a decision, to gamble.

My friend Vera got the actual land value of the package and it gave us hope!

The funny thing is, the ideas to continue trying came in dreams and very early morning! As my friend puts it, a Eureka moment!

Alvin and I haven't really told one another to make computations and see if we can work out something, financially. But when he gets home from work, he starts talking about the topic and lo and behold, we have, on our own made some plans on how we can possibly try to work it out. And from there, we sit down and discuss Plans A, B and C. Including the implications for each. I've never had a more interesting discussion than the ones we had last week! Maths. Big Time!

Mid of last week, we have our eyes set on a particular lot which costs $560thou. We were ready to gamble but there was fear in our hearts. First, it will deplete our savings and I REALLY need to have plenty of casual work to have enough funds before the land settlement late this year. This is just in case the amount being loaned to us by the bank doesn't meet the amount we need. And another implication is we REALLY need to sell our lot in Manila.

But God in His goodness had a different plan for us.

Witnessing

This was what I just posted on my FB status:

"Blessing, after blessing, after blessing. It has been 3 weeks now since Alvin and I responded to the challenge of our Parish Priest to pray the rosary, DAILY, as a family. It was hard for both me and Alvin because admittedly, we are both LAZY when it comes to praying the rosary. But true enough, like what Fr. Ruben said, the week doesn't end without us receiving a blessing. I'm not talking about the small stuff here, but the big stuff. And today, we received the biggest answer to a petition we have been asking for more than 4 years already! Thank you, Lord! Bringing back all the glory to You. P.S. Thank you Mama Mary for the BIG help."

I already mentioned in my previous blog that we started praying the rosary every Sunday after we made it as one of our action plans during our Marriage Enrichment Retreat. But now, we have managed to pray it everyday! I'm just thankful that Sammie and Liam are both cooperative and are trying their very best to be quiet every time we have the prayer at night. I am actually proud of Liam because he is the one reminding us about family prayer time every night and he is willing to skip some shows or parts of his favorite shows for us to be able to pray.

Blessings? accreditation matters (big developments!), more work for me (which are scheduled ahead of time...I've actually turned down a couple of calls in the morning because it will be impossible for me to make it on time...and I just can't wake up the kids from their sleep), approved 3 year multiple entry visa for my in-laws and the means to finance their travel, a big opportunity opened for Alvin at work to shift his field from Manufacturing to planning (office-based) and now.....drum roll....a permanent job for Alvin! hurrah! :)

Just thankful and grateful. :)

Praying the Rosary

I am the first to admit that praying the Holy Rosary everyday is not my thing.

Don't get me wrong. My family prays it, especially when we have long trips. When I was younger, I'd write my frustrations and problems to a paper and leave it at the altar, under The Lady's image, thinking that she can solve all my worries and problems. My family always prayed the Rosary every night, I went to Catholic schools and my Mama, even up to now has always reminded me never to forget praying the Rosary and I have to teach my kids as well. Yes, I will try but after sometime, I'd stop. Ningas Kugon.

Maybe, just maybe, the reason why I associated praying the Rosary as a "waste of time" or of less importance in the daily to-dos is because of the fact that when we were kids, if it's time for the family Rosary, my Mama will "force" us to stop whatever we were doing -- school work and much worse, watching TV, so we can already pray. I remember pretending sometimes to fall asleep in the middle of the Rosary (Oooops! Sorry Ma! Hehehe)for me not to recite the prayers anymore. I felt that 15 minutes saying it could have been spent in a better way. Oh well.

Even up to now, I still don't have that eagerness to pray the Rosary, but in my heart I know that I have to and yes, I want to. I just don't have the will to do it. I need a BIG PUSH! I would love my kids to learn it, but can I expect them to love and practice it if they do not see that in me?

Last weekend, my sister invited us to their house because the image of the Lady will be staying with them for a week. After a week, they will pass the image to another family. As soon as we finished with the welcoming prayers, I immediately asked my sister if we can be the next family to receive the image. I felt it was the time.

And so, to make the long story short, we received the image of the Blessed Mother last Sunday from my sister and has been doing our family rosary for two nights now. We still have 5 more nights to go until we turn it over. But looking at it now, if I was to spare 15 minutes in one week, why not spare 15 minutes everyday? And I think I just had the BIG PUSH that I needed. I will be doing it with my family. I admit, I'm not that strong to do it religiously all by myself. I cannot do it alone. If Alvin and Liam and Sam will be with me,they will be my support group. Maybe, I can get the hang of it and hopefully be able to do it everyday, without a heavy heart.

I hope and pray that is not another case of Ningas Kugon.

Keeping my fingers crossed.