“He went outside and wept bitterly“- Matthew 26-69-75

As Peter huddled close to the fires burning in the high priest’s courtyard, cursing and denying that he was one of “that Man’s” followers, we seem to see the saddened figure of Jesus seated earlier at the table, and hear His grief-laden voice tell Peter, “This very night…you will disown me three times”(v 34) and the bold declaration of Peter that even if he has to die, he will not deny him (v35).

It is sobering to recall what Jesus said, “Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”(v41) Peter was so bold in his declaration of allegiance to the Lord, yet, he failed. How about us? Our flesh is indeed weak, and we should really take heed lest we fall.

All along, Jesus knew….And He knows now.

He knows when you and I disown Him by our words and actions. He observes sadly. And when like Peter we at last sense His presence again, it’s all right to weep. Yet even as we do, we have the Cross to remind us that His love for us never faltered or failed.

 “You of little faith . . . why did you doubt?” Matt. 14:22–35

Wow! it’s been a month since i last blogged. Come to think of it, that was also the start of Gab’s homeschooling. A lot of things has changed since. I’ve given up a lot of things, in favor of God’s priorities for me as a mother.

Initially, i was at a loss how to do it, you know, the homeschooling. There were times when Gab would look for his previous teachers-Teacher Ampy especially. He would imagine his classmates and talk with them. It breaks my heart! But we went on…

After two weeks, i decided to formally set up our classroom. Guess what? That made a remarkable change in Gab’s attitude towards our homeschooling. He would proudly say to our visitors that “THIS IS OUR CLASSROOM!  My teacher is Teacher Mommy. My classmate is Mommy!”

Just the other night, he asked me to play pretend with him, and I’ll be Teacher Ampy.

“Hi Teacher Ampy!”

“Hi Gab!”

“Teacher Ampy, when i was smaller, you were my teacher no? But now, i’m bigger, and Teacher Mommy will be my teacher! Bye Teacher Ampy!”

I asked him, “Are you happy with Teacher Mommy?”

“Yes!” and he gave me his sweetest smile and warmest hug ever!

From the moment I set up our classroom, it became our place! A place not just for academics, but a place for enjoying things, having fun, bonding & learning Bible stories & songs.

He packs away things, he obeys rules (tho not perfectly), he listens, asks and learns very well. His phonics is really good!

At night, we would have Bible stories, which Gab always looks forward to.

I pray that i would be able to, in the strength and wisdom that only God gives, to continue to train him up in the admonition of the Lord, teaching him diligently the Word of God.

As parents, the choice is ours to make. Whether we choose to homeschool or go for a traditional one, the bottom line will always be:

Am i obeying what God commands me to do for this child?

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”- Philippians 4:6-7

Worry is a sin. God commands us not to worry. Yet, admittedly, we all commit this sin. It reflects a heart that does not fully trust God, right? I read across this story and well, just read on.

After more than forty years of marriage, this woman’s husband suddenly died. For several months she sat alone in her house with the shades pulled and the door locked. Finally she decided she needed to do something about her situation. The loneliness was killing her.

She remembered that her husband had a friend who owned a nice pet store-a pet might be good company. So she dropped in one afternoon to look over the selection. She looked at dogs, cats, goldfish-even snakes! Nothing seemed quite right. She told the store owner she wanted a pet that could be a real companion-”almost like another human being in the house.”

Suddenly he thought of one of his prized parrots. He showed her the colorful bird.
“Does it talk?”
“Absolutely…a real chatterbox. Everybody who comes in the store is astounded by this parrot’s friendly disposition and wide vocabulary. That’s why it’s so expensive.”
“Sold!” She bought the expensive parrot and hauled it home in a large, elegant cage. At last she had a companion she could talk to, who could answer back. Perfect!

But there was a problem. A full week passed without the bird’s saying one word. Beginning to worry, she dropped by the pet shop.
“How’s the parrot doing? Quite a talker, huh?”
“Not one word. I haven’t been able to get a sound out of that bird. I’m worried!”
“Well, did you buy a mirror when you got the parrot and the cage last week?”
“Mirror? No. There’s no mirror in the cage.”
“That’s your problem. A parrot needs a mirror. It’s funny, but while looking at itself, a parrot starts to feel comfortable. In no time it will begin to talk.” So she bought the mirror and put it in the cage.

Time passed, still nothing. Each day the woman talked to the bird, but not a peep came out of its beak. For hours on end she would talk as the parrot stared in silence. Another week passed without a word. By now she was really getting worried.
“The Parrot isn’t talking,” she told the pet store owner. “I’m worried. All that money, the mirror-and still nothing.”
“Say, did you buy a ladder when you got the cage?”
” A ladder? No. I didn’t know it needed a ladder. Will that make it talk”
“Works like a charm. The parrot will look in the mirror and get a little exercise, climbing up and down this ladder several times. Before long you won’t believe what you hear. Trust me, you need the ladder.”

She bought the ladder and put it into the cage next to the mirror…and waited. And waited. Another seven, eight days, still nothing. By now her worry was approaching the panic stage. “Why doesn’t it talk?”

That was all she could think about. She returned to the store in tears…with the same complaint.
“Did you buy a swing?”
“A swing! No. I have the cage, a mirror, and a ladder- I thought I had everything. I had no idea I needed a swing.”
“Ya gotta have a swing. A parrot needs to feel completely at home. It glances in the mirror, takes a stroll up and down the ladder, and before long it’s on the swing enjoying itself- and bingo! I’ve found that parrots usually talk when they are perched on a swing.”

The woman bought the swing. She attached it to the top of the cage near the ladder and coaxed the parrot up the ladder and onto the swing. Still, absolute silence. For another ten days not one sound came from the cage.

Suddenly she came bursting into the pet store, really streaming. The owner met her at the counter.
“Hey, how’s the parrot? I’ll bet-”
“It died! My expensive bird is dead in the bottom of the cage.”
“Well, I can’t believe that. I’m just shocked. Did it ever say anything at all?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, it did. As it lay there taking its last few breaths, it said very faintly, ‘Don’t they have any food down at that store?”

Worry is such a great waste of our time. By focusing on the wrong things, we live our lives for the wrong reasons, and God is grieved. God gives to His beloved even in our sleep.

This morning, as i was reading John Mac Arthur’s “Cultivating a Godly Child” and listening at the same time to his audio broadcast about “The Fulfilled Family”, I feel i just need to share that here for some to benefit from the timeless truths of the BIBLE that he continues to preach in the midst of an evil generation. We as, parents, have a God-given responsiblity to raise up our children in the training and admonition of the Lord

An old Chinese proverb says, “One generation plants the trees, and another gets the shade.” You and I are still benefiting from the shade provided by trees planted by our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. We are shaded, to some degree, by their moral standards and spiritual commitment.

Now the spade is in our hands and the question facing us is, “What kind of trees are we planting to shade the future generation from what may well be the blistering heat of an Antichrist-dominated world?” Are we leaving our children totally exposed? It’s obvious that the morals, values, and ethics of our culture are disintegrating. The very systems on which we base our lives are convoluted, skewed, and out of sync with God’s divine order. To show you how warped our society has become, our country facilitates the massacre of millions of unborn children, yet will sentence a man to six months in jail for killing a hummingbird. An article in Reader’s Digest on animal rights quoted one authority who extolled the equality of all created things by saying that a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy. The article also stated that some people claim the killing of six million roasting chickens is the current equivalent of Hitler’s Holocaust.

Indeed, the world we live in is not God-centered. How do we respond to this? God’s instructions for us as parents are succinctly stated in Scripture:
“You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.”- Deuteronomy 6:7-8
“Train up a child in the way that he should go…” - Proverbs 22:6
“Do not hold back discipline from the child, although you strike him with the rod, he will not die”- Prov 23:13

Mang Ricardo and his wife Elsie came to my in-laws’ place just when we were about to leave. We sat back down and talked about the possibility of closing the sale of my in-laws’ house. But we ended up discussing Mang Ricardo’s search for truth.
According to him, he used to teach catechism in a local parish. He went from one religion to another in his quest. But eventually, he said he gave up on it upon reading what for him was the answer to his search. Here’s the story: St. Thomas Augustine was walking along the beach when he chanced upon a small boy digging a small hole in the sand. When St. Augustine asked the boy what he was gonna put inside the hole, the boy said the water in the ocean. St. Augustine said it was impossible, and goes on to say that the same goes with one’s search for truth- it’s impossible!
I asked mang Ricardo if he believed that the Bible was God’s word. He said yes, but he was skeptical about the various translations around. “Which is the true Bible? They seem to vary.”
Mang Ricardo said he was looking for the truth. He said he believes that the Bible is God’s Word. He also believes that God cannot lie.
But ironically, until today, he hasn’t read the Bible, not even in part.
How can one know truth apart from the only source of truth? apart from the Only One who is the truth?
God’s word, the Bible is TRUTH. (John 17:17; Ps. 119:160)
We had a lengthy talk. We preached the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to him and closed with a prayer. May God grant him repentance leading to salvation as he reads the Bible we gave him.

Why new?
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come!”
I see him now-loving, teaching God’s Word, leading gently, serving, taking care of us! Who could have imagined these transformations could happen in him?
All those dark years of his life, i almost despaired. The only flicker of hope that remained in me came from God. And God is faithful. Those who trust in Him will never be put to shame.

Thank You Father for Your grace and mercy. To God be the glory!

after 3 weeks, my maid is finally back! But, honestly, after those 3 weeks of personally attending to our home, i’m not sure i want her back. It’s not about her, it’s about me. You see, i have gained satisfaction and fulfillment doing things personally in our home, our place. Besides the fact that i will cut about 50t in household expenses alone which i could use for other things.
i am seriously considering terminating her services for good, which by the way is limited to laundry and ironing, and a little help in cleaning and some other small stuffs. But i am also a little anxious. School opening is fast approaching. This is a major consideration for me, because my adult kids may not be able to help as much as they did. I am also seriously taking into consideration homeschooling Gab, which if pursued, would take another extra 4 hours of my time.
With a full time job, extra-income work, the prospect of homeschooling…i am at a dilemma. Should i or shouldn’t i?
Dear reader, please share your opinion.

I felt unusual since last tues morning. It was as if something so heavy was just pulling me down. I didn’t want to come to work actually. And the dragging feeling went on…and i really couldn’t point out what it was. The only thing that kept me going was focusing my mind on the Lord. Until my husband suggested we talk with Pastor Larry that wed night at the prayer meeting.
Spiritual warfare! “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Ephesians 6:12. Knowing what i am up against has brought light upon me.
The reality is this : We have to be aware that Satan is going to attack. Whenever God uses us to cut a path through this evil world, Satan will come after us. We want to be able to resist the devil (James 4:7), to be sober and vigilant because the devil like a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8).
I am now studying John MacArthur’s The Believer’s Armor. I hope to be strengthened and be able to share what i’ve learned in studying this book.