Filipino American Christian Dad Blogger's Quick and Unofficial Review of 2015

So long super 2015! It has been a good year: new job, my son had a sudden growth spurt, my 11-year old daughter officially reach puberty and my wife and I got deeper and intimate in our relationship. Some friendships were lost but some new friends were gained and grown closer. Here's a quick mention of a few good things that happen to me this 2015.

A Dad's Plan for a Personal Spritual Retreat

For the first time, I’m going on a personal retreat this weekend. I’m doing it for personal reflection and spiritual renewal. I’ll been feeling spiritually dry and stressed lately and thought being away for few days free from any distractions will help me recharge and organize my life back to its proper order.

I honestly don’t have a specific plan for my retreat except for finding a place that will provide me solitude and silence, which I found at Holy Cross Abbey, a Catholic monastery in Berryville, Virginia.

My first thought was just to let the spirit lead but I realized I should to be intentional of what I need to do and organize what I need to pray so I can maximize my time at the Abbey and truly make this experience a memorable one.

Filipino Christian Dad Blogger Buys a Brand New House from Van Metre

 

It was pre-drywall inspection last Wednesday and we finally had a close look of what our new house will be like inside and out. We recently purchased a brand new house and we've been very excited about it these past few weeks. We picked a decent size end unit townhouse (3 bed/3 bath) for our first major real estate purchase in the 12 years we’ve been married. We waited for years to jump in the housing market and we’re glad we waited. We got the house just in time when housing costs and interest rates are at its lowest.

Remembering Chuck Colson

Yesterday, April 21 was the 1 year death anniversary of Chuck Colson. To commemorate this event, I'm re-posting an article I published about Chuck and how he influenced my life. The article was also published around this time last year immediately when Chuck died. Continue reading below for the entire article. It's an honor and a blessing to work alongside my boss and mentor Chuck Colson. I was personally drawn to Chuck because of his personal connections to my personal hero, Ninoy Aquino (I think they also look alike).

Team No Excuse Bruce: Thanksgiving Race for Angel Tree

Isabelle, my eldest and 8 years old daughter will be running her first 5K race this Thanksgiving Day. She saw me run the Ashburn Farm 5K race last year and said she wanted to try it next year. The time has come and Isabelle has been running with me and sometimes with her mom on the treadmill to prepare for her first race. To make it more special,  she decided to run and raise funds to help kids in need - children of prisoners. 

These children are in dire need of love. They are too often marginalized -- victims of their parents' choices. Left without some of the most basic necessities, many don't even know what it's like to receive gifts from their parent for Christmas.

Our goal is to use running to change their lives. By raising support for every mile we run, we will be able to provide these children with a Christmas gift and an age-appropriate gospel message.

Rice Topping: Help Us to See

I'm currently contemplating on this one:

"Help us not to fool ourselves with words, with talk of being sorry when we are not sorry, with talk of sacrifice when we have no intention of sacrificing, with talk of action when we are too lazy to act.

Where our vision is dim, help us to see. Where our hearts are imprisoned by fears, release them. And when we see and feel Your truth, give us the courage to act." (Avery Brooke, 1959)

It's easy to be good, selfless and loving to others. But to do it consistently? That's a task you and I need constant prayer for.

Breakfast with Kellogg's Apple Jacks & What Kind of Breakfast Are You?

Here's my son posing with his favorite breakfast, Kellogg's Apple Jacks. I think his face says it all on how much he loves this cereal.

I stumbled upon this blog post or series of pictures of people and their breakfast. It's weird to see how people look like their food and how it reflects their personality. If I'll describe myself as a breakfast menu, I'll probably be a bacon, garlic fried rice and pork tocino kind-of-guy. Yum!

Filipino Christian Blogger is Back!

That's me! - one of the many Filipino Christian bloggers online who's trying to blog their heart out for the Kingdom and influence other Filipinos for the King of Kings. After a down time of relevant blog posts due to my hectic Spring graduate school semester, I am now back in normal schedule and hopefully back blogging again.

Psyched 100 Days Before the Philippine Elections, May 10

I'm totally psyched this week because of my social media class at Georgetown. I'm ready to learn from my professors and begin hands-on application of the various social media platforms online. We're required to write 18 blog posts and I'll be posting my blog assignments on the The Living Rice in the next three months or so - please pardon me if you see entries that are not related to what I usually post on this site (requirement lang po sa eskwela).

Purple Spots and Resilience

About three weeks ago our 5-year-old daughter started to complain about a red “bug bite” on the bottom of her foot. We didn’t give it too much attention because we thought it was just a simple mosquito bite that usually goes away. Until a few hours later she was in excruciating pain and her leg was swollen and almost covered with purple spots.

A rush to the ER revealed that Isabelle has Henoch-Schonlein purpura, or HSP. It’s a rare condition where the blood vessels get inflamed, usually after a viral infection, causing bruise-like spots to appear on the body and joints to swell. HSP could last for a few weeks or a few months, it usually attacks children, and there’s no known cause or cure for it. It’s not seriously life-threatening but it’s painful and could affect the internal organs -- children who had it showed signs of kidney problems later in life. So far, lab and blood results of my daughter showed everything is still within normal range. No medication was prescribed except lots of liquid, rest, and Ibuprofen for the daily pain.

This is what my family has been learning these past few weeks: As we care for Isabelle and watch her condition, we are also learning an important lesson on resilience. It’s true what many say, that children are resilient: They easily bounce back from pain. My daughter would cry every night because of the throbbing pain in her legs, but once the pain was gone, she was back to her fun, spirited self as if nothing had happened -- no “woe is me” nor dwelling on the past. There are many children who are in a worse or more painful condition than my daughter. My heart goes out to them and their families, but it’s comforting to know that these children possess the same resilience I saw in my daughter. I think God created all children this way . . . which means that all of us adults are capable of being resilient as well. For me or anyone else who tends to forget this innate human quality, Christ offers a word of advice: “. . . be like children” (Matthew 18:3)

(Originally posted on The Point blog)