The Rainbow

My son spotted this beautiful rainbow from our window first. He was so excited to see it since according to him, it's his first time to see a rainbow. But I do remember pointing to him the rainbow a few times when we were travelling. Anyways, we all looked out and spent a few minutes admiring the rainbow and it was only then I remembered to grab my camera. That's how slow I am as photographer. LOL! By the time I went back upstairs, the rainbow wasn't as clear as we first saw it. 

Anyways, seeing a rainbow is always a beautiful experience. I couldn't remember I time when I saw a rainbow and immediately looked away. It's just too beautiful to behold. It reminds us of God's beauty and His faithfulness. Remember, the rainbow is a sign of promise? We have truly have an amazing God. He speaks to us even through His beautiful creation. 

Barley Grass and its Benefits

I'm always on an 'endeavor' to be fit and healthy. So, I read a lot of articles on fitness and health. I have no problem reading and 'knowing' about everything on this topic, but my real problem is 'being' it. So there will be times when I will be drinking a lot of water and vegetable and fruit juices (100 % live juice from our juice extractor)  but during my 'down' times I will also be gurgling down my vitamin C, err..  Coca cola!

Lately, I've heard about the many benefits of barley grass. This is one grass that's rich with vitamins and minerals like copper, potassium, manganese, zinc. It has been said that Barley grass has more protein and fiber than spinach. Barley grass also has antioxidants, enzymes, and other phytochemicals that is said to in vitro neutralize free radicals and other unfriendly chemicals, including pesticides and food preservatives. With all these vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, it has been reported that this grass may be beneficial for those having arthritis, asthma, skin problems, obesity, anemia, constipation, impotence, hypertension, diabetes, heart disease and kidney problems. I even saw video testimonials of people with such diseases and being cured through regular intake of this grass. Another amazing testimonial is from a lady who was diagnosed with cancer and she has totally changed her diet with the regular consumption of barley grass juice. Amazing huh! I'm sure more research is underway for the cure of such diseases like cancer. There is even this site called cureLauncher which advocate for and fund clinical trials and medical and life-saving research for the cure of these serious diseases. Anyways, as for my personal health, I would be surely looking for barley grass anytime soon.

Desire Granted

It has always been Amma's ( my mother in law) desire to be a blessing to the old people at the old folks home. She actually has a heart for them and wants to show them that God loves them. So for her birthday, Hubby and siblings have arranged to for our family to go to an old folks home and bless them. 

The planning and preparation for this surprise took more than a month and we thank God for ordering everything. We went to one small home that's independently run by an Indian family. We were amazed as to how the people at that home takes care of the oldies. As many of them said, the people there are their family.  It's truly heartbreaking to know that many of them have been there for several years. One woman has been living there for 19 years. We don't know what are the reasons for them being there but what's important is that they seem happy and contented to be there.

As for our visit, we prepared a special presentation for them, fed them during lunch, gave them a small gift pack and prayed for them. It has been a blessing for us to be there and it is my prayer that God will continue to bless those oldies at the home too.

Life Transformed

While I was searching for contemporary christian music in Youtube, I came across a video of a heavy metal singer,Brian 'Head' Welch who became a believer of Jesus. His life was truly transformed from the dark past of drug addiction to finding love and joy through Christ. It's actually my first time to hear about this guy since I'm clueless on secular heavy metal music, but it seems that his band used to be so famous that they have to enforce best crowd control barrier during his concerts. 

Anyways, I'm so encouraged as to how God is truly working among everyone's life, transforming people out of darkness into light.

Amma's 60th Birthday Video

Last week was the birthday of Amma, (my mother in law) and our family surprised her on that day. At exactly 12 midnight we called her as if we were just at home, greeted her and told her that we wanted to visit her for her birthday but we were just so busy. But actually, we were just inside the car parked near the house at that time. A few minutes later, after lighting the candles and a little preparation we were already outside her door and singing happy birthday. She was really so surprised and everyone was in tears out of joy. Above it the video that we made for her.Indeed, we want to honor Amma as she has really been a great mother for HUbby and siblings, a loving mother in law for me and a caring grandmother for our kids. God bless her heart and continue to use her as a blessing for many!

Good Morning Sunshine!

Here is my daughter waking up 'all smiles'. She was ready to seize the day as it was their 'holiday'. That same morning, I wanted to sleep in but my son woke me up with a cheery ' It's Morning!!!' wake up call. I asked him to give me another 5 minutes to sleep since it's also 'my holiday' but he just refused to do so. He was shaking me and forcing me to wake up. After waking up and doing my morning routine, I woke my daughter up with a camera on hand and this is the smile she greeted me. Yes, no matter how tiring it was to travel the day before, it's never too tiring to wake up with the thought of  ' Swimming!'. They were really excited to swim in the pool on that day.

And it was even easier to get them ready, form them take off their sleep pants from the sleepwear collection with pajamas and put on their swim suits. Eating their breakfast has never been as quick and I hoped that it would be like that every morning.

That was just our first day of our mini holiday courtesy of our friend who treated us with a free hotel stay. We've never expected this blessing but indeed God is just full of surprises and giving us more than we deserve.

We thank God for a restful weekend and a fruitful week in Malaysia meeting our leaders, doing our visa renewal and spending time with family and friends. More details on my next post :)

Poor Fishy!

My daughter came to me teary eyed. She sadly told me that their favorite fish, Torax has died. My son was still taking his nap at that time and Tricia already told me that Lyle be really be sad if he learns about the death of their favorite fish. True enough, when my son woke up and heard the bad news he was crying so hard that it's almost like he lost his favorite dog. It was actually his first time to experience of a loss of a pet and it just hit him so hard. I was trying to console him and reminded him that he still has about 15 other fish left in the aquarium. But that didn't comfort him but instead he angrily told me that there is only one Torax and it's not the same. Oppss.. 

I'ts just sad to see my kids sad. I wonder how they would feel if they lose their rabbits or turtles. Now, I see that they can really be so attached to their pets and it'll be hard for them if they lose them. 

Of Christmas Break and Weddings

I'm literally counting the days before we go back to the Philippines to spend our Christmas holidays.Yes, that's another 33 days!! But before Christmas, our family will be attending 2 weddings. Two of my cousins are getting married next month. On the first wedding my daughter will be the junior bridesmaid while my son is going to be the ring bearer. Then, on the 2nd wedding we will be attending, my son will the Bible bearer.  My kids are excited and so am I! I'm really forward for these occasions since it'll be the first time for my son to play a role  in a wedding. I wonder how he will be walking in the aisle as he already has a tendency to be self-conscious. We've tried to let him 'practice' walking with a Bible, and he looks cute when he's feeling shy. :) In  preparation for these weddings, we have to search for unique groomsmen gifts, grooms and brides gift and not to mention the clothes that my kids need to wear on that special occasion.

Then, after the weddings will be Christmas,, Hubby's birthday and then the New Year! Wow! It's the exciting month of the year and I can't wait to go back home. 

Our Heart, Our Desire

This is one of the songs that truly burns in  my heart these days.

Here are the lyrics of the song:

 Our heart our desire

 Is to see the nations worship

 Our cry our prayer

 Is to sing your praise to the ends of the earth 

That with one mighty voice 

Every tribe and tongue rejoices 

Our heart our desire 

Is to see the nations worship you

 Heavenly father 

Your mercy showers down upon all people 

Every race upon this earth

 May your spirit pierce the darkness 

Break the chains of death upon us 

Let us rise in honest worship 

To declare your matchless worth 

 There is no power that for one hour 

Can withstand the greatness 

Of your word on tongues of faith 

So we're bold in intercession 

Claiming all of your possessions;

 Praying now that every heart will bow 

Before you lord in praise. 

 Our heart our desire 

Is to see the nations worship you

Leaking House

Even without the rainy season at its peak yet, our house is already leaking. This leakage is actually due to a broken pipe from the 2nd floor. And apart from that, we have some plumbing problem which leads to overflow of water from the sink. 

Hubby has tried to solve both these leakage problems. This time,it seems the problem is more of a complicated one and can be solved by an acrylic sealant or a  san switch . I think it's about time to call the house owner if her knows any professional plumber. It's not so fun living in a leaking house. 

Sharing With Their Friends

I'm just blessed with my kids and I truly thank God for them. 

During the holidays, a couple of our neighbor kids would usually hang out at our porch and play with my kids and the rabbit. They're actually Lyle's friends ( according to him, because they're boys) while Tricia serves as his 'official interpreter'. LOL! Anyways, after a few afternoons of playing with them. I saw both my kids, busily looking over our bookshelves. They were looking for the Thai bible storybooks to give to their friends. Since we didn't have a copy in our house, they had to wait for our friends to bring it from the center. And surely, the next they it came and they immediately gave it to their friends. From then on, they kept praying for their friends that they too would soon know about Jesus. 

Taking Care of Her Rabbits

We're glad that we got rabbits for our kids. They've actually waited for quite some time before buying them. We wanted them to be ready in having pets and taking care of them. Five years ago, we bought a pair of rabbits for her, but they died after a few weeks. Since she was still so small, she thought that taking care of the rabbits means was always cuddling them, kissing them and carrying them and I think they fell a few times.Oh, she was just heartbroken to learn that they died. 

Now since she's 8 years old, we thought that she's quite ready to take care of rabbits and so we bought for her and her brother. And true enough, we've seen how responsible she has become in taking care of her pets. She regularly feeds them herself, checks if they still have water, make it a point to let them come out of their cage every afternoon for 'exercise' and she can clean their cage now too! 

After commending her for the good work she's doing, her next question now is, ' Now, can I take care of puppies too? ' Yeah, she has been longing to have pet puppies. And she also 'wishes' to have ponies and  horses! Oh, if she only knows how difficult and how expensive it is to take care of horses since you won't only be needing horse blankets for them but a lot more.