Visita Iglesia Moments

It's again Maundy Thursday, the time when a lot of Filipinos have their "Visita Iglesia" or church visit and offer some prayers.  There's no really particular rule on the number of churches to visit, it's up to one's means and determination.  My family, along with some relatives started late yesterday, good thing my brother lend us his pick-up, it became convenient for us to move from church to church around the Davao City.

We really wanted to visit all the churches in our city but since the kids were already tired and sleepy, we only managed to visit 8 churches.  Here are some of the shots I took of the churches and their altars:

St. Joseph The Worker Parish Church

Carmelite Monastery Church

Our Mother Of Perpetual Help Parish (Redemptorist Church)

Our Lady Of The Assumption Parish Church

St. Jude Thaddeus Parish Church

San Pedro Cathedral

Sta. Ana Shrine Parish Church

San Antonio De Padua Parish Church

Many people say that in every church you visit, you can pray and ask for something you want.  As for others, they do this as part of their vow to our Lord.  And for some, just keeping the family tradition alive.  For whatever reason each person may have, I just hope that they're praying for betterment and more strengthen faith of the people... for His greater glory.  Might be a long shot, but hey, everything is possible with Him.  Yahweh bless.

Congratulations Ate And Kuya, Well Done...

After all the morning routines of waking up early, preparing the breakfast, and applying different strategies just to wake up the kids and convince them to eat their food and move fast so they won't be late for school... And all the after-work musts of asking them to do their assignments and study their lessons and convincing them to sleep early... at last, another school year has been accomplished... pretty well.  And indeed, all the sacrifices and efforts given were all worth it. 

We were just so proud of our kids finishing their academics with flying colors.  Going up the stage to pin their ribbons of achievements and putting their well-deserved medals are the things we will never get tired of doing, promise... LOL.   More, Ate Rael was one of the emcees of the program and Kuya Justin was singing in front of the stage, simply seeing our kids grow up with all confidence and other learnings, makes our hearts melt with joy.

With our Lord's blessing, we are confident that they will grow up as good and wonderful people... and time moves fast.  So for now, we are doing our very best to take part in guiding and supporting them towards that direction, not because it is our duty as parents but for the love and care we have for them.  And we will cherish every single step along the way... for we know that each and every one of these moments will only pass by once in our life.

To our beloved kidos, keep on aiming high, guys.  We will always be there to back you up the best we can and we will never stop being proud of you, no matter what.  And always keep your faith in God, for everything, He made them all possible for us.  Again, congratulations, guys... until the next school year... Yahweh bless.

The Best Things In Life Are Free

Indeed, never spent a single cent for any of them!  May it be a blessing in disguise or a fruit of hard work and dedication or a reward for the patience and faith or simply, a kindness from our Lord...  let me just share some of  the recent freebies in life my family received from our Almighty Father in which we are much thankful about:

Newly painted motorcycle.  My motorcycle incurred minor damages during an accident I had riding it.  Most of it's plastics were scratched including it's tank.  Good thing, all cost of damages were covered by our insurance.  It was restored and painted, giving it a brand new look.  But with all the pain and bruises I had, really it's okay if I have an old looking bike.  Still, I believe, that the accident was meant to happen for a reason...

New kids and a calf.  Yes, I'm proud to have 2 new kids and they're not from my wife... but from one of our goats (gotcha!!!) he he he.  Double the joy, my cow also gave birth to a bouncy black calf.  And please don't ask me who the fathers were, I'm not into complicated love affairs... LOL!

Breaking the 100,000 barrier.  With 1 as the highest, my blog's current global rank in Alexa is now below a hundred thousand.  I'm just proud that it accomplished much.  But it wouldn't reach such heights if not for all my friends and visitors who never get tired reading my posts.  Most especially to my avid fan... my wife... thanks for all the help.  And to Yahweh, for nothing will be possible if not for Him.

Free Immunization.  As our baby turned 4 months he's expected to have his costly but needed shots.  Good thing my wife heard of their hospital's offer for free immunization and priority to their employees.  The extra savings really helped a lot in our day to day expenses.  But more importantly, our child complied with his shot requirement.  Good health is still the best way to cut cost... and it's a blessing.

Kids having good grades.  School year is about to end in our country, and there goes the test papers and school cards.  We were just proud of our kids doing well in their academics.  Seeing them improving, learning new things and getting good grades is already enough, but getting some honors and recognition or topping their class... well, that will be more than what we bargained for.  Either way, we will always be proud of them.

Current priority date.  The long wait is over.  As we were expecting, the priority date for our application is already current.  There's still a lot to do and more or less, months to wait... but it's a good start.  This great news might be free of charge, but for the rest, hahaha... good luck to us. 

I still got a lot more... got one of the coolest job, wonderful and loving family, friends, health, etc... but I have to stop somewhere or this list can go on and on.  In the first place, everything good or not so good in life are all blessings.  We may fail to recognize some of them right away because we might be too overwhelmed of the problems and busyness of life.  But amidst all the troubles we've been through, still give thanks.  Let us not forget that everything is already planned.  We just got to have faith in Him.  Yahweh bless.

Fixing Wrongfully Tagged Posts In StumbleUpon

I was surprised to know when some of my post in StumbleUpon (SU) were tagged under pornography and BDSM or simply saying, with adult content when they have none.  A system bug or glitch or what ever the cause maybe, I'm not comfortable with them being tagged wrongfully, more as porn or adult material. 

It's quite simple how to fix it up by just following the steps:

1. Go to your SU Profile Likes.
2. Locate the posts which have wrongfully tagged interest.
3. Click the post's content button (it looks like an "i" inside a circle).
   
   
4. Choose the "Something Wrong" symbol among the buttons.
   
   
5. Among the questions, select "Is this page not about BDSM?" or whatever is applicable.
6. Click the tab selector button under the "Suggested Interest" row and  choose what's the appropriate category/interest in the list.
7. Press "Send Report", then the "Done" button.

And then that's it.  You just have to wait for SU as it'll take them 24 hours or more to process changes to the topic of a page.  Hope it works for you.  Yahweh bless.

My PMA Cadet Years (Yearling) - Spending Time With Families

January 1997

1 to 2- Celebrated the new year with my family.  I also went to see my friends in high school to have a quick catching up with them.   Although having all those moments with friends and family, still I hadn't cleared my mind of my rotting math subject (differential calculus).  Since I needed to pass it so I'll continue being part of class 99 or else I'll be "turned back" being a yearling again, joining the class of 2000. 

3- Maximized my stay by meeting friends in college (former school), before riding a poker plane to Manila.   It was my first time to travel with a smaller plane of the Air Force (being used to commercial airlines or C-130) and remembered one thing, stopovers... a lot of them. hehehe.  Then my routine: arrived in Manila, then went to the bus station in Pasay for Baguio.

4 to 5- Since I arrived in Baguio a day earlier before the termination of our holiday break, I got to stay in foster parents house, my first.  I met my foster sisters and bro (meg, tatin and noni) and got acquainted with them.  They were kids when I remembered them back then, and out of curiosity, looking at their facebook accounts, it's just amazing how they have grown and became fine ladies and lad.  Just too bad, I hadn't stayed long enough in PMA to know them well.

But nonetheless, I'm glad that I've met a good family.  Never had they let me feel different or awkward during my stay in their home.  They were hospitable and accommodating to me.  And that's a good sign, it just means that PMA cadets do have good reputation and are trustworthy people. 

    

Fit just right... hmmm.

12- We had this event in the academy called Supergames where all yearling cadets (2nd years) bond with their foster family through games and sharing the food they brought for lunch and snacks.  It was held in Camp John Hay, outside PMA, the very purpose of which is to give the event a relaxing air and everyone to just have fun.  Our class was divided to two teams, blue and red.  And the blue team won... guess what, I was wearing red ha ha ha.  But hey, we had our consolation... we and our families had fun.

Just spectating...

Teaching our foster bro how to boodle fight in a picnic.

A pose with our foster family.

14 to16-  Nearly forgot we had basic tennis lessons in our Physical Education.  Um, let me correct that, completely forgotten, for until now I still don't know how to play the game. hehehe.

18 to 19-  We were allowed to apply for leave for the weekend, so got my second sleepover at my foster parents.  Again, I stayed with noni in his room at the attic.  Then we visited his lola in the morning, where they were usually left to stay.  Noni somehow reminded me of my brother, same his age, so it was cool having him around.  By the way, they usually speak English, so I had my nose covered, just in case I got nosebleed.  My biological siblings don't usually speak English. :))

24 and 25- We personally invited our foster parents to a reception night in the academy.  It was to show them our appreciation for sharing their home to us and treating us as if we were part of their family.  Again, this might mean nothing for some, but for those cadets who were far from home, this is already a big help to keep them going.

26- This was my first religious service for the year due to activities and leaves.  I had been joining the Cadet Christian Fellowship (CCF) since my plebehood.  It was just a small congregation so one can get to know almost everyone attending.  What I liked also with the group was the off-duty bible sharing, praise and worship.

30 to 31- Joined the running events in the intramurals.  I finished 4th among the contenders for the 800 meter run event and the following day, we finished 3rd in the company run.  Running was my sport when I was a cadet.  I may not be the best, but pretty much I can run.  I guess, I was just blessed with a good stamina for it.  Just don't ask me now, I think it's good if I had a decent jog for a month.

In our life, the family always play an important role in the success of a person.  May it be biological or not, people who give us care, acceptance, support and strength to go on with life, that's family.  Yahweh bless.

Recent Related Post: Celebrating The Holidays

Preserved Heart Of Saint Camillus

My wife told me about this preserved heart of a saint she got to see up close when she passed by the chapel of Southern Philippines Medical Center or SPMC (formerly known as Davao Medical Center).  It got me curious, who wouldn't want to see a heart of a real saint preserved though centuries?  It's one of a lifetime opportunity but missed it.  Wifey told me it only stayed there for hours.
 

So I did some surfing.  Saint Camillus de Lellis died on July 14, 1614, and his traveling heart is part of the commemoration of his 400-year death anniversary celebration.  Also, his dedication in caring for the ill made him the patron saint of the sick, hospitals and health workers, this besides the chapel being named after the patron saint, might be the very reason why his blessed remains was chosen to visit the chapel at SPMC.

But then again, as we Catholics are always reminded, that such relics do not posses the power to heal sickness or take away your problems, it is there simply to remind us of people who made sacrifices and offer their lives to Christ, that we may also follow their footsteps and be inspired of their works. 

According to a Camillian priest, St. Camillus' heart can be viewed within the country through a series of pilgrimages before it will be returned to Rome on March 11 of this year.

Other information and details from their poster “Journey of the Heart” that may answer queries about the pilgrimage schedules:

• The pilgrimage duration will be from February 18 to March 10, 2013;
• Visiting Philippine places in Metro Manila, Baguio, Cebu, Davao, Mati and Calbayog Cities;
• You can also visit: www.facebook.com/TheCamillian; and/or
• Contact them at 0917-6039241.

“And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he shall be forgiven by him” - James 5:15.  Yahweh bless.