A Blessing Called St. John Vianney

Three years ago, I got a call  from St. John Vianney's Primary School and was asked if I was available to do casual work the next day. I was and so, this chapter of my journey begins.

One day led to a few more days, a few more days led to a few short blocks, and a few short blocks led to a temporary full-time position, the last one being an instrument of blessings and a big blessing in itself. 

How do I even begin? 

SJV has allowed me to re-ignite the passion I have for teaching and share it with people who also do not see it as a job but a vocation. A chance to make a difference in the lives of our students. An opportunity to teach them not only about letters or numbers, but about life itself. To mold them to be men and women of faith and of character. After all, at the end of the day, it is all about our students and not us, teachers. And I would like to believe that everyone in the teaching profession share the same principle.

SJV has allowed me to meet and work with amazing people who did not think twice of sharing their talents, skills, and expertise. Ready to lend a helping hand and answer my never ending questions so I can get things done. I will never forget the first day I did my casual work when one angel, disguised as a colleague have given me reminders before we went to church and celebrated mass with the students that morning. That was just the beginning! From opening their doors so I can attend their Staff Development Days to meet my requirements with BOSTES, to helping me photocopy materials, to laminating visual aids, to even sharing their passwords so I can access shared files, to watching over the class when I needed to go toilet, to swap duties so I cannot miss out on my kids' after-school activities, to letting me use their computers so I can print to the coloured printer, to giving tips when I had my first Parent-Teacher Interviews, and to those who offered help when I needed to write the reports. To those who believed in me and saw the real me. To my colleagues who stopped what they were doing to listen to my stories. And yes, even to those who even shared valuable parenting and holiday tips! It's endless! Everyday was an opportunity to meet angels in disguise.

On a personal note, SJV has given me and my husband the opportunity to go out of our comfort zones so we can both make things work at home, at work, with our studies and with our service -- which I thought was impossible at the beginning. It was an instrument for the two of us to grow together and work together and for that I am forever grateful. 

SJV has given me the opportunity to meet 30 beautiful angels who have taught me more than what I have taught them. The times they taught me the value of patience when I was almost at my wits end. The times they taught me to celebrate life, to be tough, to learn lessons from the wrong choices we've made...the list goes on. 

This year has been truly special. More than the opportunity to teach them to become better readers, writers, artists, mathematicians or athletes, I am happy to know that I was able to touch the lives of my students in the best way I can. The times when they needed someone to listen to them and share their joys, achievements, fears and disappointments -- when they had an argument with Mum, when Dad didn't show up as promised during an assembly, of how the family is faring as Dad tries to battle an illness, of how they went up their swimming class level, of how they fared during their karate class assessment, and of how they showcased their dancing and singing talents within the community. The times when they needed someone to believe in them when everyone else has given up on them. The opportunity to push them because you know they can do it. The times when you needed to be more of a parent, than a teacher. The opportunity to remind myself why I said yes to this calling 15 years ago. All of these, would not have been possible without SJV.

Today, another chapter of my journey ends and I will be bringing along with me all the happy memories I have shared with colleagues, all the lessons I've learned as I tried to become better at this vocation, the new friendships (and hopefully, lasting friendships) I have made. I will forever be grateful and thankful for this blessing, a blessing which is called St. John Vianney.

"1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

 2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

 3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

 4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

 5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

 6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

 7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

 8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace."

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

Lastly,  a time to let go and a time to move on.

Giving Thanks for 2014

2015 is now just around the corner and I would not let the opportunity pass without recalling the things which made our journey this year a great one!

First on the list of course is our Home, Sweet, Home. It started our year with a bang! We didn't have any idea that our good Lord will lead us to into something that big this year. The construction is yet to start but everything is set. It's the paper work that keeps us in this waiting game. We still can't believe that one of our biggest goals is now on its way. We were led and we just followed.

Second, my full-time job this year. Again, we didn't expect that such an opportunity will come my way. It landed on my lap as a complete surprise. It was challenging and hard but it was all worth it. I will be back doing casuals next year but looking back, this opportunity to work full time has served its purpose and we believe it was God's way of helping us and reminding us that He is in control, easing our worries about how we are going to finance the home which we purchased earlier this year.

Third, the opportunity to travel again as a family, overseas. There was a longing inside me but I knew it might not materialize especially after we bought the house and lot. But God is really a generous God and he gave us this bonus. The kids loved it and Alvin and I did too. It's one experience I would love to do again (maybe next year?).

Aside from the overseas travel, we were able to go back again to Snowy Mountains and actually experience real snow! It was memorabe because my in-laws and my parents were with us. Another opportunity to marvel at God's creations!

It was a good year for both me and hubby, career-wise. We both got back to school and I, of course, got my Professional Competence accreditation for BOSTES.

More than the monetary or material things, there were a lot of things which made this year a truly memorable one. One, my parents and my in-laws were able to spend time with us and their grandkids.

Two, relationship-wise, I have never been more proud of me and hubby. It was a pruning stage for us, but unlike in the past when we just ended up nagging and fighting with each other, this time it was much different. We came out of our comfort zones and rose above the occasion. We've made a lot of sacrifices and adjustments so we can work out things at home, at school, at work, and in our service. It was a year of realisations and achievements. Achieving things, together.

2014 was also a year when we grew in faith. A time to realise that He is control. A time to show our faith. Truly, it was only thru His grace that we were able to do everything what we have done this year. I still can't believe we've managed to survive having to juggle everything. He started working with Alvin, with me and with us. I know He's still not done with us.

This year was a year of rediscovering passion. Career-wise I was able to re-ignite my love for teaching and why I have chosen to respond to this vocation. It wasn't easy. There were humps along the way but God sent many angels too along my way. I have learned a lot of lessons and is ready to face the next chapter of my professional life.

As parents, we also grew tremendously this year. We had many first with our kids and it is through His guidance and the help we got from people around, particularly from our CFC community, which made the task a little bit bearable. We had a lot of time to bond as a family. Had the oportunity to watch APIA early January, go back to  Canberra twice, and our long drives with family and friends.

Speaking of which, it was also a good year for the kids. Liam, even with a difficult and slow start, was still able to excel in class and in his extra-curricular activities. More than this, I am happy that he is now more self-confident. Sam, although she drives us crazy with her stuborness and feistiness, continues to become better with her talents and skills. Our home will not be laughing out loud every night without her crazy antics!

I know that like in the past, God has something great planned for us next year. And we know, just like in the past, He will just continue to surprise us.

2014 is indeed a year of  thanksgving for us. We're still one month shy away from its finish but I am already looking forward to what awaits our family next year.

Thank you Lord for 2014!

Of Wishes, Hopes and Dreams

This was taken during my 3rd birthday. I actually don't know what I wished as I blew out my birthday candles, but at this point in my life, I feel that all wishes already came true.

There were some humps and bumps, heartaches and wrong turns. Looking back, I now see that it was all part of God's grand plan for me. I am what I am today and I appreciate everything that I have today because of all of those. 

I often hear this phrase from people as they celebrate life's blessings: 

"I think I did something good in my life to deserve this." 

I beg to differ. 

I have what I have now not because I did something good in my life but simply because

 God our Father is a very loving, generous and awesome God! 

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

As I celebrate another year, I look back and give thanks to a year that was. 

Over the years, wishes have lessened, 

but the "thank yous" have definitely increased. 

I wish. I hope. I dream.

I pray. I claim.

I am thankful. I am grateful. 

An Abundance of Little Blessings

I am happy that recently, a "positivity or gratefulness" challenge  has been going around social media. I am a pessimist by nature so it takes extra effort for me to see things in a more positive way. Since coming to terms to my being a pessimist I decided to do and act on it. After a difficult and very slow start I am happy to say that I have made progress and I am also happy to see that more people are in the same boat as me. I feel that in a world where so much negative and sad things happening,  people really need to see that there are still a lot of good things out there. There are still so many things to be thankful for!

Little blessings are abundant each and every day. To wake up each morning. To say my prayers. To have quiet times. To be updated and be connected with my friends all over the world. For the opportunity to eat healthier. For good books and finally having the time to catch up on my reading! To finally able to blog again! My kids hugging me when they sleep at night. My kids saying very beautiful and sincere prayers not for themselves but for other people. For movie nights with popcorns. For the opportunity to cook home-cooked meals on the weekends for my family. My veggie patch becoming a reality. The beautiful little flowers that blossomed in my garden. To do gardening with Sam. For Liam  getting used to doing his weekend chores minus the complaints. For warm weather. For extra time on Saturdays. To play in the park with the kids. For an ad which I saw which can help raise red flags for breast cancer.  For the kids to climb trees. For playing basketball at the park with Liam and Sam. For the physical sustenance hubby and I get every week working full time and being full time parents. For the opportunity to visit and get ideas for our future home.  For the travels we've had this year. For the opportunities to make friends. To start new friendships. To maintain old friendships. To dry my laundry under the warmth of the sun. For the music that fills the home every time Liam plays the keyboards and Sam sings with him. For the Family Daily Rosary prayers coming a reality. For the good food.  For the good reflection articles I get to read. To be up close and chat with one of the greatest OPM singers, Gary V! For not worrying about my studies and my requirements which I haven't touched for two months now!  For the full time job I have. For the affirmations of my students and my colleagues and even parents! For the beautiful sunshine. For the clear skies. For spring time. For the service. For the giggles of my children. The opportunity to ring up a close friend from overseas and be with her during a very difficult time. For parenting styles I learn from friends. For the opportunity to see, appreciate and be thankful for even the smallest things I have, around me, within me, everyday! Believe me, my list can go on and on! But aside from these, I am also thankful for the worries and stress I experience everyday which leads me back to God.

Please do not get me wrong. Of course, we are thankful for the blessings we receive. But admit it, more often than not, we tend to see the bigger blessings and overlook the smaller blessings. Personally, it took extra effort to see the blessing in the smallest of things. But believe me, once you get the hang of it, it's a piece of cake!

Everyday is an opportunity to give thanks to different things! This practice has made me become a more appreciative person and yes, less whiny. Still working on having lesser complains, but with His grace, I will eventually get there.

Let's continue to spread positivity and love to make this world and our children's future a much happier place!

Growing Together, Praying Together (Overwhelmed - Part 2)

Yesterday, I mentioned to one of my friends, Mitch, more than this dream becoming a reality, I am more thankful of the opportunity for me and Alvin to again grow together and work together both spiritually and mentally. After this, particularly last Saturday, I felt our relationship went up one notch higher.

When I wrote that we continued to pray for it, we were not pushing for us to buying a house. We were praying that if it is His will, let things fall into place. We were praying for guidance for every decision. And most importantly, we were praying for His grace to prepare our hearts, so we can humbly accept His will for us.

We grew together, mentally. Since the time we started sitting down only three or four weeks ago, we had a lot of intelligent and mature conversations. I am the type who feels bad whenever he "audits" me every now and then. I was surprisingly okay when he asked where our money went and why our savings only reached a certain amount. There were a lot of computations involved in those after-dinner conversations. Both were very patient and open to suggestions. We worked together in a way that he led and I did the supporting role by doing errands that were needed in this "project."

On the day the priority numbers were released (which was only last Saturday), we again, like in the past, came as a family (me, hubby and our two kids). Everyone was present and everyone patiently queued. Everyone had a say especially when our first two choices were gone already! Everyone prayed for it.  It was a family thing and I couldn't be happier!

Although we were 18th on the line and started queuing before 7am, (some people were more desperate than us!) we still didn't get the original lot we wanted. It could have been a better choice, a bigger lot, a bigger house, a better plan for the value of money (it's bigger but it ends up cheaper) we're paying. But God had a different plan for us. He directed us to another one, which was actually our 4th choice. Initially, we were sad that we didn't get what we wanted (the ones who got our first two choices spent the night in the queue!). But looking back, we were thinking we could have been spared from a possible stress because of the builder assigned on that lot and God probably pointed us to a different lot so we can be more comfortable with our future finances. The lot that we were able to nominate is 8 thousand cheaper than our first choice. (Now there is NO immediate need to sell our lot).

We took a gamble.

I was scared to let go of this opportunity because I felt that the prices of properties will just continue to rise with the rate things are going here and it would have been harder for us to buy our own home. (The first release was only two months ago and prices have gone up $12000 more!) One professional advice we got recently is, "if you have the money now, then go for it!"

I guess, the gamble paid off.

At this point and looking at the future it's still not 100% kink-free. There are still some areas that causes me and Alvin to worry. But I guess, God would want it to leave it like that so we can have an opportunity to have faith. So we can learn how to trust Him and let Him be in-charge!

The kids did and are doing a marvelous job of helping us. They helped us pray for it. They helped us by being patient when we visited display homes, talked to builders, and even when I queued last Saturday for 3 hours! They are helping us save money. They are excited as us, helping Mama and Papa choose possible themes for their future rooms.

The praying part is not over.

We will continue to pray as we continue to grow on with this part of our journey, as a family.

This is the second release which we tried our luck on :-)
The peach-coloured lots were part of their first release,
two months ago! Our future home will now be in front of the park.
Our future community will have our own shopping centre and will be just across
the newest Ikea and Costco, how convenient is that!

A glimpse of our future home.
We really wanted a 2 car garage so we can house both Maggie and Ben.
But after consulting our financial advisers and family,
we humbly embraced what God might have prepared for our family.

Keep an eye on this space as I will continue to share the developments of this part of our journey. 

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.

New Sacrifices

Before I start my new entry let me just share two "messages" I got yesterday and today.

Yesterday morning, as soon as I woke up, the first thing in my mind:

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and everything shall be added unto thee."

This morning when I read the reflection of today's reading, the message that struck me was:

"Our God is a God of surprises!"

I guess these two messages set the "stage" of how I am dealing everything what's on my plate now.

I remember mentioning in my previous blog entry that one of our major goals this year is to buy our first home, LATE this year.

I don't know what happened but one thing led to another and we suddenly found ourselves being led to buying our own home, NOW.

It's a big decision alright!

Hubby and I were just reading articles that will keep us informed and knowledgeable of the processes but in two weeks' time so much has happened!

We really haven't bought the house but we are finding ourselves doing baby steps.

We've studied our finances, asked advice, watched and looked at the market for the last two weeks (in two weeks there was so much movement in the market), visited possible sites, compared buying old and new houses,  talked with builders, studied the buying process, registered to new home and land releases and prayed like we've never prayed before! We're not praying that He grants our wishes but we're praying for guidance as this is really a very big investment. To make the long story short, we're new to this and we don't want to make any mistakes so we're carefully doing one step at a time.

Nakakakaba talaga. 

With this new investment comes a whole new set of sacrifices.

If you have been following my blog, you know that there is a deep desire for me to travel locally and globally because I felt I have deprived myself of that when I was younger. I really wanted to go to the US April of this year because I know that once we take the big plunge of buying our own home, travelling will be the first one to be sacrificed. And yes, my worst dreams came true!

Hubby and I had an initial study of our finances and it will be very difficult for us to squeeze in traveling for the family (to give you an idea how much new homes now cost in our area, it ranges from $500,000 and above). Unless I work full time and get the full annual pay of teachers on my level, then talagang maluwag kami, maraming sobra. But I still decided to work as a casual mainly because of the kids. At the end of the day, it will be a choice between spending time with my kids and taking care of my family well over the extra money and owning our own home with much ease.

Knowing me, I should be all grumpy and already super sad because of the would-be scenario. All traveling plans for the year and the next few years, scrapped. But I'm unusually okay. I'm not crying, I'm not grumpy, I'm not mad. I guess I was ready for it. I have long faced the music and so when we found ourselves already in that situation, I was ready emotionally.

I am thankful I'm taking all these things positively. I am also inspired by my kids as they are also cooperative and making their own little sacrifices in helping achieve our goal of saving up for our own home. When we go out and they see something they like, we just tell them NO and remind them of our future plan, and they are okay with it. No more crying and whining, especially for Sam. Everyone is focused on the big project!

I am actually not giving up. In my heart I know that all will fall into place. That there will be a time for all those traveling plans to happen. It might be a difficult start for us, but I'm keeping the faith that it will be easier in a few year's time -- the time when the kids are much bigger and I can go back to work full-time.

The search is on and our hearts are in place ;-)

Friendships in the Future

Admittedly, one of the reasons why migrating became difficult at the beginning was because of the simple fact that we left a lot of established friendships back home.

I found myself getting homesick especially during the times I wanted to rant, ask advice or share joyful stories to my friends. I missed laughing my heart out tears came out from my eyes.

It took me sometime to realise that I needed to move on. I found myself guarding and protecting my old friendships in favor of the newer ones. I have been here for almost five years and in that span of time I have been actually weighing down those people I have met and was checking which among those newly formed friendships I can nurture and keep. Sadly some "bad" points always come up. I'm not saying I'm perfect but I wanted to cultivate friendships that will bring out the best in me, influence me to become positive and inspire me. People who can teach me. People who can share and not just take every time. People who can help us raise our kids. People who can support us and see us as is, no competitions. Actually, the last one is the biggest turn off for me. Being migrants you can't help but sense if one is trying to compete of what you have and what your family can get especially during the sharing of stories. Ayaw papatalo. People who only know you when they have a dilemma or when they need something (yes I know friends should be people whom you can always count on, pero nakakainis when you see them with their other friends pag happy sila or my celebrations sila, pero nada sa iyo unless they are asking for a favor).

Last Christmas, I found myself slowly forming the very short list. It actually included cleaning my FB list too. I removed from my FB friends those people who only radiate negative energy. Those people I can actually say, "walang akong paki at walang paki sa akin/amin."  Those people who think they are the best, the grammar geniuses (just because they are well-read and are English teachers! yun na! lol)

Seeing a lot of reunion pictures being posted in FB actually inspired me to start acting now. Most of my co-migrants have already started forming friendships and my fear is that by the time I'm ready, I might end up not having any. I am particularly happy to see these group of friends based here, they have long known each other for 10+ years. I guess they have seen each other's family grow and the kids too. In that span of 10+ years you can see that they have established their yearly traditions. Every year, especially during the Christmas season, one family hosts the gathering. Umiikot sila ng bahay which I think is good. This year they had themed parties during their birthdays. Everyone was in even the dads! No killjoys! I can't really say I'm ready for costumes, and so is Papa A, but the camaraderie and joy radiates from the smiles on their faces.

This year started with me and Alvin getting invited to one of our good friends' home here in Sydney and it felt good! It was so relaxing and the stories just kept coming up. We actually felt we needed to do that more often.

I actually am not comfortable in big groups. I may be super talkative, but believe it or not when it's a big group and I really don't know personally each one of them (ex. fb friends lang kami) I have the tendency to be quiet. I am not comfortable sharing my stories with them. I will be super talkative if it's an intimate gathering of friends. For this big reason alone, I plan and I'm praying that this year, I will be successful in cultivating the "small" friendships I have now on my very short list and hopefully in years' time, I will be a much happier and a more positive person because of them.

P.S. Me cultivating and nurturing these newly formed friendships doesn't really mean I'm letting go of the ones I have back home. I guess you understand when I say it's been too long already and I need to move on. I'm sure they have. But we know deep in our hearts that the friendship is there and we have each other's back. I guess this is all part of growing up :-)

A Different Kind of Preparation

Advent as they say is a time to prepare. It is more than the gifts and the festivities.

I was struck and happy when I saw this ad on the local papers: "Go to church on Christmas. Bring back the "masS" in Christmas." I know it shouldn't just be a one day affair and the emphasis is on the "Christ" but in a society where there are more non-believers, and letting them go back to church even for one day, is a start.

I am happy to say that this year, I am having  a different kind of preparation for Christmas.

When our parish was assigned to a Filipino Parish Priest, I was happy! Very happy! I looked forward to the changes he will be making in our parish. True enough, the changes he made were patterned to the practices we have back in Manila.

Fast forward, I was elated to see that for the first time, we will be having Novena Dawn Masses or "Simbang Gabi" in our parish during the Advent season. I was happy because it will lessen the homesickness but I was up for the challenge. You see, even in Manila,  I am not really a fan of Simbang Gabi, I was trying to complete it so I can have a wish hehehe.  I tried in vain to complete the masses, but was not successful. When I was younger I always ended up sleeping during the homily. When I was much older, I ended up sleeping in, and being too lazy to stand up.

Well, this year, I still cannot complete it as I forgot to set the alarm clock on Monday, the first day, totally forgetting about it! But since the second day, I haven't missed one.

On Tuesday morning, on the way to church, I was praying and asking why am I doing this? Was it to prove something, was it for a special concern? I don't know. I was clueless. But that day God spoke through the homily. Fr. Ruben's homily was all about the reasons for attending the novena masses! The mass ended that day with me still asking myself, what is my reason for waking up at 4am, with only 4-5 hours of sleep, just to attend the mass? The homily that day helped me in finding the answers.

The answers came one day at a time. Everyday, the mass was celebrated by different Filipino priests based in Sydney. Each day, different homilies were given. Different insights, different points for reflection. It was a learning experience. You will feel the grace.

It was also another opportunity for me and Alvin to go to Confession after a looooong (years!) time! We had the opportunity last Thursday night and it felt good. For me, it was something that made my preparation complete.

As Fr. Raning said this morning, we were in a spiritual journey. I couldn't agree more. It was the best way to start my day (for a change, it's not FB or Insta) :-)

I am looking forward to the rest of the dawn masses and praying that it will now become a yearly practice in our parish so my kids can also learn one of the Filipino Christmas traditions. I am also looking forward to Lent and see how we are going to have our spiritual journey.

But for the mean time please let me savor the richness of this experience and share with you God's abundant blessings for the season.

May you and your family have a blessed Christmas and may you put "Christ" back into Christmas :-)

Best Rewards

Hi Kuya!

I can't wait for you to turn six as I have found myself really inspired to write your second letter for the year, today.

This week has been a great week for you. Wait, let me change that. This year has been a great year for you, don't you think?

This year, you started with Kindy and you have proven how clever you are! You have excelled academically. You brought home a lot of certificates and awards this year as a reward for all your hardwork. This has made me and Papa really proud and thankful. The school year is almost over yet you still surprise us with something almost every week! My heart leaped for joy when you handed our invites yesterday and yes, I am looking forward to attending our very first Presentation Assembly next week.

You have also excelled in sports. Your tennis skills have improved a lot. You can now rally with your coach and your tennis grade continues to improve each term. You have won first place in your Athletic's carnival for the 100m event. You have succeeded in passing your practicals for your swimming lessons and you are due to move up the next level next term.

This year, you have started attending a Music tuition. This morning, after watching you and the rest of the students perform for your year-end Christmas concert cum recital, I was again very happy and proud when they chose you among the seven recipients of the Outstanding Effort award from all the students from K-2. You have proven that you can also excel on that area.

Well rounded? Very much!

This week alone, I have been overwhelmed with that happy feeling because of all these achievements. I feel elated! But like what Papa and Mama always tell you, these awards are just bonuses. It's more important that you have done your best, tried again when you failed, learned from your mistakes and enjoyed yourself.

But you know what son, what makes us prouder are stories about you that proves what kind of a person you are.

Story 1. We attended Mindy and Molly's birthday party and you met a new Tito (sorry Mama forgot his name!). Tito was in-charge of balloon twisting and because you were amazed as to how he can make a lot just by twisting balloons, you decided to stay with him, observe him and share stories with him. When we were about to go home, Tito told Mama that you are such a beautiful kid. "Liam is very polite and well-mannered." Hearing that from a new acquaintance was music to our ears. I was very proud of you son!

Story 2. Mama promised to make it up to you as soon as I'm done with all my teaching blocks. The first day I brought you back to school, a fellow parent comes up to me and introduces herself. She tells me she's the Mum of one of your best mates. She tells me about how her son adores you and how her son has never forgotten your act of kindness. Your mate didn't have a hat so he was not allowed to play in the field during lunch (No Hat, No Play policy of the school!). He just stayed in the silver seats with no one to play with. Then here comes you. You left all your other friends in the field and stayed with your mate so he will have someone to play with! No one asked you to do that, not even your mate!  When I told you the story when we got home, you said, you can't remember it. Well, it proves that you really have a good heart! It may mean nothing for you, but for your friend, it did and he will forever remember it, anak!

These stories are the real rewards, anak. These are the best rewards for me and Papa!


God has given you everything that we have prayed for. It is only our prayer that you continue to grow up with a good heart and use everything that He has given you for His greater glory!

We are proud of you anak!

Keep up the good work!

Papa and Mama (and yes, Sammie too!) are here for you, all the time!

We love you to bits, Bits!

What makes me happier now is that you can now read all the letters I have been writing for you every year :-)

Love,

Mama

The Beauty Of Having A "No"

Most often than not, when we pray about something, we always hope (or expect?) that God would give us a "yes." Years ago, I was like that. Looking back at my journey, I can now only smile on the times I had a "No" from God. Now, I am even thankful that He said No to some of my prayers in the past. Time they say will reveal everything and true enough, now I am seeing the wisdom and understanding the reasons why He had to say No.

There were a lot of no's but my biggest ones?

He said no when I told Him let me finish my Dentistry course.

He said no when I asked Him to fix my previous relationship.

He said no when I said I didn't want to finish my Master's degree.

He said no when I said I wanted to defer my Certificate Course on Religious Ed here in Sydney.

He said no when I asked Him I wanted to be a mum straight away after getting married.

He said no when I asked Him I wanted a full time job in Australia.

He said no when I asked Him to give Alvin an engineering job straight away in Australia.

And recently, He said no when I asked Him to have our annual family travel to the US.

Looking back, I now know:

He said no so I can be stronger.

He said no so I can be more faithful.

He said no so I can be a witness to others.

He said no so I can inspire others.

He said no so I can be wiser.

He said no to prepare my path.

He said no to help me with my future.

He said no to show me what great and bigger plans He has in store for me.

It took me years to realise why He said no. He said no so I can have what I have now and appreciate all of it too. 

I know that the waiting part is hard, harder to do than say, but if you just open your eyes and your heart, believe me, in the end it will all be worth it. 

So embrace the no's in your life. They are all part of His plan. They are blessings in disguise.