Day of Prayer

Day of Prayer

When I was growing up, my family had an annual end of the year family retreat. We usually went out of town and spend overnight on vacation while we pray and discern God's will for our family. As we grew up and started to have our own lives, we dropped the out-of-town trips. It became a simple day of prayer at home.

This was one of the things I wanted to bring into my own family. I found it harder to do with small kids. There was no way we could spend a whole day in prayer! Plus, DH's schedule during the holiday break did not allow us to go out of town. A morning or afternoon of prayer was a better fit. So that's what we've been doing the past 8 years or so.

The kids are now very familiar with how this time goes. We start off by listing the things we are thankful for in the past year. We share with each other this list. The kids know how to do this well. I enjoy hearing what they are thankful for. We then list our petitions/intentions for the coming year and then share them again with the family. Next, we draw up a list of things we will be praying for as a family.

This year, here are some of our family's petitions:
1. family trip/vacation in the Philippines for my bro's wedding
2. a house with more room for us - right now, we're open to looking at homes for rent too
3. good health for everyone

We usually end this special time with some reflection and try to listen for God's message. As the kids grow older, I hope that we can hie off somewhere and combine the day of prayer with vacation. A vacation with the family and the Lord will truly be the best way to end a year.

I've Got a Tween!

I've Got a Tween!

DS: Mom, do people who get older need more sleep?
Me: Well, not really. I think those who go through growth spurts do need a lot more sleep.
DS: Like teenagers?
Me: uh-huh
DS: Well, I can feel it already, like I'm sleepy a lot of the time. Maybe I'm going through a growth spurt!

He celebrated his 10th birthday yesterday. And he officially labeled himself a "tween." According to him, a tween is that age between the single digits and thirteen. So, yes, he is now a tween.

I had to chuckle after our conversation above. He is so excited to not be a kid anymore, so looking forward to becoming a teen. LOL! As we would say in Tagalog, "feel na feel nya!" He started wondering already if he needed to put on some Old Spice. Before long, he will be asking about acne products and other facial skin care products.

DH had work in the evening so we celebrated his birthday at lunch instead. Upon his request, we ate at Black Angus Steakhouse. No more pizza or spaghetti or fried chicken for this guy. He prefers man-steak instead!

At the lunch table, we did our traditional honoring of the birthday celebrant. Here's what each one had to say...

Dad: He is very responsible. He does many of his chores without needing to be told again and again. He even does them without prompting. He is also becoming more patient, able to control his anger better. He is almost like the second dad or man in the house when I am not around.
Mom: He is a huge help to me at home. He helps me with a lot of the heavy lifting that needs to be done. When we were putting away the Christmas decors, he was the one who put away the boxes in storage. I can depend on him to help me with various chores around the house.
DD1: He is a good kuya and he helps us "ligpit"(clean up)
DD2: I like kuya because he helps us when we play Mario Kart.
DD3: I love kuya.

Gratitude Poster

Gratitude Poster

I got this idea from Becky Higgins. I thought that it was an awesome idea to do with the family.
I did a mini thanksgiving album last year. It was easy to do once it was assembled but there was some work on my part in putting it together. I was not really keen on doing it again this year. Thankfully, this idea from Becky Higgins came just in time. I actually like this idea better because it is a poster that I will be hanging on our wall instead of an album that will sit on a corner. Don't get me wrong, our scrapbook albums get a lot of loving from the kids. They enjoy looking through them. However, having this gratitude poster up on a wall where we can see it everyday will make us even more aware of the blessings we have received.
I'm keeping the poster "open" for more blessings until the end of the year. At the start of the new year, I will put the glass on top then hang it on the wall by the stairs. This way, we will be reminded every day of the goodness of God. Next year, at about the same time, we will start on a new poster for 2011. When it's time to put down the previous year's poster, I'm planning to laminate it so that it will keep better.
Hopefully, this will be a holiday tradition for our family. Can you imagine how precious it will be to look back 10 years from now and read what the little ones were thankful for? We'll also have a record of their handwriting and the little ones' kiddie drawings.

Don't Get Pinched!

Don't Get Pinched!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Don't forget to wear green today so you won't get pinched.

Before moving here to the US, I had never heard of this tradition of wearing green during St. Paddy's Day, let along getting pinched if you're not wearing green. I did some research as to the origins of this tradition and here's what I found.

It was believed that wearing green during St. Paddy's made one invisible to leprechauns. Leprechauns liked to pinch. It follows then that if you don't wear green, you'd get pinched by leprechauns. ;)

Here are some funny Irish blessings/quotes that I found at the car insurance office.

"May those who love us, love us
And those who don't love us,
May God turn their hearts
And if he can't turn their hearts,
May he turn their ankles
So we will know them by their limping!"

"May the Lord keep you in his hand and never close his fist too tight."

Seriously now ...
May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
May the rains fall soft upon your fields,
And, until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

Our Family Day of Prayer

Our Family Day of Prayer

I think I've blogged about this before but I'm too lazy to check if I have.

This was something my family would do annually. When we were younger, we'd hie off to someplace for a couple of days and spend time as a family to thank God for the blessings of the past year, intercede for the coming year and try to discern his will for us. My family back home continue to do this.

As much as I had wanted to continue this tradition with my own family, I found that it could not be done as easily as I imagined. But I continued to do it on my own, just praying to God that one day the opportunity to do it as a family would come up.

Well, that opportunity came up yesterday. I had been asking DH for the past couple of weeks if this was something we could do before the new year comes. Mind you, I was not nagging. I had mentioned maybe 2-3 times only. Then, last Monday, he casually mentioned that we could do it on Wednesday. It just so happens that DD2's Ninang was picking her up that morning to take her out. When she came, she asked if she could take DD1 too. Of course we said yes! LOL!

After they had left, we started our time of prayer - DH, DS and I. DD3 was taking her nap. We listed and shared with each other our blessings of the past year and what we were going to be praying for in the next year. Then, after DS was excused, DH and I continued and discussed some goals for our family. We set our vision for our family - to be a loving family. Our mission is to love God, love each other and love our neighbor using Matthew 22:37-39 as our guiding verse. With that in mind, we decided on things we could do as a family to fulfill that mission. To love God, we will have daily family prayers at night. We usually pray with the kids as we tuck them into bed but DH and I would do it alternately. This year, we will pray together as a family. To love our neighbor, we will keep a box of food in our vehicle so that when we see a homeless person in the street, we will have something to share with that person. During the past month, the kids and I found ourselves with this opportunity to share and I think it had a profound effect on the kids, esp. DD1. I'll blog about it next time.

Anyway, my hope and prayer is that our family will truly grow into a family that loves God with all our heart and soul and mind and that we will love our neighbor as ourselves. With each year, may we find ways to grow in love. With each year, may love continue to grow.