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In Memoriam – Bro. Gene Sanchez

Our family wishes to express our deepest condolences to Bro. Bo Sanchez on the passing of his father, Gene, today — just 5 days after Bo celebrated his birthday last July 11.

There is no better legacy that a father can leave on this earth than a son who carries on the mission of spreading the Good News to all. Bro. Gene has not only lived a full life in the Lord but with, and through, his son has brought hundreds of thousands of people into a personal relationship with the Lord.

Bro. Gene, may you be carried on angels’ wings to the special place that Our Lord has prepared for you. And may His Divine blessings be heaped on your loved ones here on earth.

You may also leave your messages for Bo and his family at Preacher in Blue Jeans or on Bo’s blog.

(banner courtesy of www.joshnelms.com)

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Surviving Life 101

In any situation in life, there are at least 2 ways to respond: the POSITIVE/CONSTRUCTIVE way and the NEGATIVE/DESTRUCTIVE way.

I have been pondering this as I try to guide my children through what they encounter as challenges in life.

For example, M1 is so unlike his brother M2. When something happens in school that is not pleasant, M1 reacts by becoming moody; M2, on the other hand, comes to me with a broad impish grin and tells me, “Guess what, Mom! I got my first GREEN SLIP!” (notice from school that he had several minor slip-ups) and walks away as though nothing happened.

It tells me that M1 is a more sensitive child. He is actually the more compassionate child in the family and would readily help out where help is needed. He is also the one who never fails to play with our dogs as soon as he comes home. But being more sensitive than others, his peers’ opinion of him means the world to him and he easily feels down when things do not go “right” in his perception.

Teaching our children how to survive the travails of life is not easy. But somehow, we have to try so that when hard times come, they will know how to cope and survive. I have had my share of survivals. Continue reading “Surviving Life 101”

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Internet-less for 2 Days

Can I survive 2 days without checking my email, surfing the web, blogging, twittering?

My daughter C1 was amused yesterday when I related to her that I had called the hospital where I will be for these next 2 days. I asked the Information person there if their hospital had Wifi, to which she answered “Ano ho yun?”. I think that meant NONE.

So here I am in the midst of packing a gym bag filled with stuff for the hospital. I am putting in the chargers of my cellphone and PDA (loaded to the max with my favorite music), got “The Secret” book and will pick up another book that Cathy is giving me (bless her sweet heart) to while away the time, and maybe logic and crossword puzzles.

So 48 hours, minus my sleeping time minus the medical procedure (to blast my kidney stones) minus the hours when I would still be in a stupor…..hmmm, that stay may not be so bad after all!

Sometimes, it is good to be weaned from too much technology to enjoy the simple things we used to have in our low-tech childhood.

But, as I commented in a post on Deedee’s blog, I still can’t do without my cellphone beside me all the time.

So it will be silence from me for the next 2 days. All my commenting on friends’ blogs will be on hold. Please pray for my successful medical procedure (warm hugs to all those who left comments/email/texts/twitters promising prayers). And in 2 days, I will be back (with a vengeance!).

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…In Sickness and In Health…

As I write this post, I still do not know what will become of Raul, our dear friend in the States, who has been in a coma, brain dead, and fighting for dear life. A month after their family arrived in the States, happy to have Cynthia (Raul’s wife) start her new work assignment there, Raul had a major stroke (his second one — the first being here in the Philippines years ago).

Cynthia has managed to work, take care of their 2 sons, and still have to deal with day-to-day decisions and the up-and-down stressful events with Raul’s situation improving one day and deteriorating the next. But a few days ago, in an online chat, Cynthia told me that Raul’s recovery was nil and that their family had surrendered him to the Lord and had decided not to use artificial means to prolong his life. Continue reading “…In Sickness and In Health…”

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You’re Fit…But Are You Healthy?

Are you necessarily healthy when you’re fit? Sadly, I found out the answer is NO.

Yoga has reshaped me and given me fairly toned arms, a slim build, flat tummy and 6-pack abs. A regular, active gym routine plus yoga keeps me fit. But reality came crashing down on me when, 2 weeks ago, I suddenly had an attack of excruciating pain on the left side of my back. Tests confirmed that a kidney stone I had 2 years ago had grown to a 1 cm. stone that blocked my urether and was too large to pass out.

That pain caused me to be confined for 2 days as tests were run. I was discharged with oral medications for two weeks. The other day, further tests showed that there was no improvement in my condition and by this weekend, I am supposed to check back into the hospital so that I could undergo laser or blasting of the stones (yes, there is more than one) under general anesthesia.

What is the point? Continue reading “You’re Fit…But Are You Healthy?”

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Time to Reclaim the Dignity of the Sexy Filipina Woman!

You’d never expect it to actually happen to a Philippine blogger you knew.

Most of all, you’d never think it would be done by a Filipina to another Filipina (who happens to be a mother of 7, a doting grandma, a professional who has recreated herself into a creative writer and problogger, and most of all, a warm and loving friend).

Yes, my dear friend who goes by the handle SexyMom was not just flamed. Her virtual “attacker”, who went by the monicker “decent mother”, even went as far as issuing threats to her family by posting similar hate posts on the blogs of her children. Really now, is that a decent thing to do? You’re angry with someone and threaten her kids? What decent mother would do that?

Just to give you an idea of the indecent accusations hurled against SexyMom, this is one of the emails that “decent mother” sent her: Continue reading “Time to Reclaim the Dignity of the Sexy Filipina Woman!”