A Prayer for Little Children

Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world

Brown and yellow, black or white

They are precious in His sight

Jesus loves the little children of the world

You came as a little innocent baby child

Who was also persecuted and despised

Teach us your innocence and trust

Through the eyes of the little children

Amen.

 

A Prayer for Birthday

 

Birthdays are moments for celebrating milestones.

Dear Father,

You are the source of all life here on earth,

Who breathed life on us,

We celebrate this gift you have given us

Through this act of thanksgiving

Amen.

August 2021: Optimal Health

I always wonder why John the Baptists eat locusts and wild honey. Mark 1:6 describes to us how John lived in the wilderness wearing camel's hair for his clothing with a leather belt around his waist. We can picture a hermit with a diet that is purely organic. Well, he must have lived a healthy lifestyle... a lifestyle towards Optimal Health. 

People lived an unhealthy lifestyle. As a primary care physician we advocate for people to choose to live healthy to avoid getting ill and get the complications of diabetes or hypertension. I try to enroll my patients in an Optimal Health program. I myself have started this month this 42 day program of living towards Optimal Health with changes in the way we eat, our activity, including sleep, stress reduction, reflections and mental health.

Today is also special. I have prepared some food for my mother's birthday. She have lived an Optimal Life and advocates for Optimal Health. Well it is pasta symbolic for long life and some white meat to go with it...

May 2021: God's Wonderful Creation

 Lunar Eclipse.

There are many amazing things in the heavens and in the sky. This reminds me of the Bible Story in Psalms about awe one gets when one looks at the wonderful creation of God in the heavens, the moon and the stars. How God can make great things yet give more concern to a less than amazing being. But when you look at little children, your own kids, you understand. A parent will do anything to make their children happy. No wonder, parents can give up everything important just to make it on the special day of their child. 

My youngest daughter celebrated her 4th birthday. I tried to travel despite restrictions of this pandemic and hurdle challenges just to make it to her birthday. When we remember how God made amazing things, including us humans, then we can focus more on the good things that life may offer. 

The Ladies Month

This month is the birth month of my wife and my first daughter. It will be another quarantine birthday for them. Yet, celebrating the birthdays of these women in my life is precious. Women play a special role in each person's life. Even in the life of the church. The women were responsible for the lay movement of the early methodists. In fact, women missionaries were the one who helped spread the Methodist brand of Christianity during the American period here in the Philippines. I am thankful for my wife for being a great mother to our kids. I always remember the impact of Susana Wesley in the life of John. Mothers mold the minds and the heart of the children. I experienced that with my mom, I see that in my wife and our kids. My daughter is greatly influenced by her mother. She loves dancing, music and creative arts. She is very thoughtful and persistent even in times of challenges. Even the challenge of Covid-19 will not deter her and this family to celebrate. 

While we celebrate, we do not see Covid-19 ending anytime soon. We are preparing the hospital for a long term response. Thus, we transferred the Covid 19 response back to the Administration and incorporated it back to the regular hospital operations. We welcomed the new CMPS this month too and with the new leadership, we are excited with how our response against Covid-19 will be.

A PK's Quarantine Birthday

My daughter is a PK. It is my youngest daughter's third birthday.

The whole month of May, up until the birthday of my daughter, I was confined to meeting people only in the hospital and those I meet in the online meetings and communications. One of them was our first online meeting with the PKs last May 12. 'Cher Lhyne, Amen, Soc, Joyce, 'Te Gladz and Bhin were there for this historic event. I was so blessed to be with these wonderful children of God.

A PK has unique experiences that only fellow PK can understand. This PK (Pastor's Kids) group was my core support group when I was in Quezon City almost 10 years ago. Our PK group had been a blessing not only to me but to many other people as well because they understand that more than being a PK, they are God's children. Recognizing that you are God's child means a lot. This group has been able to reach out to other younger PKs providing support, guidance and friendship. We were able to help poor PKs go to school. We raised funds together to send help to victims of calamities and disaster. We have prayed, had fellowship with other PKs and led worship services too. We also played and had fun. We also love to travel together and visit places. We have shared many special occasions - birthdays, graduations, weddings, baptism - and many other celebrations together over the years. We have fostered a relationship for a lifetime that we hope others will experience as well. I hope my daughter, also a PK, will grow up and find a PK tribe that will be her friends and celebrate with her special occasions and her birthdays in the future. 

I was able to come home to and join my family after more than 2 months of Covid19 response and quarantine. Nothing will separate us from celebrating special events like this. Just like what James 1:17 said,"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."

Birthdays are gifts from God. Birthdays should be celebrated. We did. It was a quarantine themed-birthday party. Of course, a Princess cake was in order. But we did not have visitors. It was just us in the house and the family living in the compound, and those are the only people that matter. Family and friends who care for you and love you. It is always special to spend momentous occasions with people dear to your heart.


It was a wonderful day full of fun and happiness. It was a also a great day to remember how God loves us as his children. 

It is always a blessing to spend time with the children of God.

My Birthday at the time of Corona

First thing in the morning, I did for my birthday was to give thanks to God. I always believe that birthdays are moments that needs to be celebrated. It doesn't have to be a grand celebration but should recognize the milestones it brings. We must be thankful for these milestones in our lives. I invited some of my fellow Methodists to join with me in celebrating the Lord's Supper as part of my Birthday celebration. 

I celebrated my birthday without my immediate family with me. This is not the first time that I celebrated my birthday alone. But this one is different because I am not really geographically far from them. I could choose to travel the distance. But the implimented "lockdown" does not allow any movement of people from one city to the other. Thus, I cannot go home to my family. Thanks to technology, I was able to be with them virtually as they prepared food at home to celebrate my birthday. They prepared my favorite dish spaghetti as part of the celebration. 

Back here in the hospital, I had a simple celebration with my colleagues and friends in the Department of Family and Community Medicine and the frontline responders of Southern Isabela Medical Center.

Five Tips for a Family Trip in Boracay

“Every good gift, every perfect gift, comes from above. These gifts come down from the Father, the creator of the heavenly lights, in whose character there is no change at all.” — James 1:17

I always believed that birthdays should be clebrated because they are gifts from God. So, I celebrated by 40th birthday in Boracay with my family. To make it more interesting, my birthday was designed to be a family friendly getaway. We looked for a United Methodist Church in Boracay Island but there was none. The closest is in Ibajay, Aklan. There is a Roman Catholic Church in the island and it is accessible by their e-trike and you can always consider it attending an ecumenical worship. Never miss a worship on a Sunday. So my family made sure we went to a worship service on a Sunday morning. Family matters and so does family worship. 

Here are 5 tips for a family friendly trip to Boracay:

Tip #1: Go on a landtrip or take the ferry. 

Tip #2: Book ahead on your hotel before you travel. You can do it online.

Tip#3: Choose a hotel in Station 2. It's closer to everything "relatively."

Tip#4: Go "island hopping." There are other beach activities, but this one is a must.

Tip#5: Eat in an all you can restaurant at least once. Especially on your 40th birthday. 

If you are coming from Iloilo or just want to visit the nearest UMC in the area, the UMC in Ibajay is just a little less than an hour away. It is just along the highway and a walking distance from the town market. You may even stay there for a night as most churchworkers and visitors drop by at the church and its multipurpose building. 

Five things to do when you visit Tuguegarao City Central UMC

I usually visit Tuguegarao City because it is the homeplace of my wife. My family usually spends the summer here. The city has still that old city feel whenever you go to the downtown area. But the landscape is changing with new buildings and large malls in the new busy districts of the busy. Even the landmark Tuguegarao Central United Methodist Church along Bonifacio St. is having a facelift. But never miss the other things that make your Tuguegarao visit memorable.

Here are five things you should try in Tuguegarao City:

1. Try the Pansit Batil Patong. There are pansiteria offering this speciality in almost every corner of the City. But I would recommend the one near the airport. 
2. Try the Kalesa. Unlike in Manila, the kalesa is still available as a common mode of transport. Each kalesa can seat 2 to 3 individuals. Maybe 4 if there are kids.
3. This is tricylce city. Avoid the word "Capacity" though. The word means you pay for the whole cost of fare if the tricycle was full capacity of passengers. 
4. Chicharabao. Visit the Lighthouse cooperative in downtown Tuguegarao for the best tasting and quality products of carabeef and chicharon carabao. 
5. Worship at Tuguegarao Central UMC, one of the landmark of the city. This church has been home to several weddings, baptisms and other memorable events for many Cagayanons. There are four worship services in this church. The first is at 6:30 AM with the Ibanag Service followed by the 8:30 Service of the Ilocano then followed by the 10:30 English Service. There is a Vesper Service at 5:30 PM. 

Photo Credit: Google Maps

While the church is building a new sanctuary, the services are currently held a few blocks away at the Methodist Christian School of Tuguegarao located along del Rosario St. near Univesity of Cagayan Valley in College Avenue. Parking space is available at John Wesley College which is a few blocks away from the church. 

Birthday Ko

It's my birthday! I celebrated it with my wife while the kids are out on vacation.

Mom

Today is my Mom's birthday.

When we talk about birthdays, we think about the baby that was born. But we seldom include in the picture the mom who gave birth. Birthday's focus on the baby born.

As Christians, we often give thanks to God for the new life given to the family and celebrate the arrival of the newborn baby. What if we have a different perspective on birthdays? Why not celebrate the day the mother successfully endured the pain of birth? Why not celebrate the great accomplishment of nourishing the baby for the last nine months? Why not celebrate the day that the mother was able to give birth?

Those are reasons to celebrate. Those are reasons to be thankful to God.

Double the celebration if the celebrant is a mother.

Wife's Birthday

Today is my wife's birthday. She had gone through a lot... but she remains faithful.

Whenever people celebrate their birthdays, we always think about how our life here on earth is a gift from God... that life is given to us. It is not our own and we remain to be always grateful to the Supreme Being who had given us this opportunity to experience this wonderful thing called life.

Thus, when we encounter illness that seems to threaten the life... the gift that was given to us, we wonder if it was ever given to us wholeheartedly for us to enjoy or not. We ask if life was really given as a gift or with conditions? We try to comprehend the sense of life in the midst of illness. Why give life if life could not be fully lived? And then we pause.

Are we privileged enough to deserve anything? If life was indeed a gift, then do we have demand that the gift be given according to our standards? Can we be choosy?

Happy Birthday

On your birthday, Filipino government soldiers are sacrificing their lives in Marawi to bring the Philippine Flag up again. Lives of Filipinos, civilians, soldiers have been lost. Many more are dying still in the bondage of poverty. Freedom to live the good life has still been elusive for many. So, what gift can we give you?

People do not even know it is your birthday. Is it ungratefulness not to remember? Do we not give meaning to the life you offered? Is it our fault if our love for country could not measure to yours? What is the essence of celebrating a birthday anyway when your death was much more meaningful?

Birthday Party

I was on the road when the clock struck midnight. I was still on the road on the way home on the first hour of my birthday.  My life has been a journey. This year's celebration is just a Thanksgiving for the wonderful journey in life God has brought me.

The cake says it all!

Thanksgiving Service

Be Thankful. God gave our family another chance to have a healthy body, mind and spirit. This marks the second year of my Mom's successful transplant, adding another year in life TOGETHER , overcoming family stresses, strengthening relations and increasing our faith in God. 

Two years may seem a short time. But when you savor each and every day of it, you realize how important each little time could actually be. How such blessing could allow one to travel across borders to see friends in the other side of the world. How such blessing could allow you to participate in church event and have fellowship with other people. How each blessing could allow you to share God's wonderful work. 

Ou Our celebration also reminds us to take care of God's creation. As life is a gift from God, we must be responsible stewards of it. We must take care of our own health. We must not let our selfish desires ruin the temple of God. Health lifestyle is a Christian must. And it begins with the food we eat, the activities we do, the things we think and the little things that matter. 

We celebrate together. Even if we are miles apart, we are in solidarity as one family in the gratefulness for Grace. What are you thankful for?

My Birthday Wish this Coming Election

I wanted to reflect something about my birthday. But I also wanted to reflect about the coming elections. Very briefly, I only have this on mind right now.

On my birthday, I want a gift that that not only benefits me but all Filipinos. I want a truly Universal Health Care. And this can only be achieved if we have a functioning Primary Health Care System. What we have now is a sort of a hybrid health system, a devolved but nationally led system.

I just came from the hospital and my family needs hospitalization. I know it is covered by Philhealth but we still need out of pocket expenses which is 2x the total Philhealth coverage. Where is Universal Health Care?

How to Celebrate Birthdays with Technology

I am often on travel. Because of technology people are more mobile than ever before. We can be from one corner of the world and to the other side in just a matter of hours. Technology is supposed to help us live a better life. Although technology can let you travel a great distance in a short time, technology can also bridge people together faster. Here is how I was able to celebrate my birthday with my family despite the great physical distance with them.

1. The good "old" e-mail

Yes, email may sound old but it is still relatively a new technology that brings people close together. The first birthday greeting I received today is through my email. And to prove to you that email is not an outdated technology, the emails I received are from my friends who are senior citizens. Of course, they still pride themselves to being abreast with modern life because they know how to use an email. E-mails like mails can be saved. And I love reading mails again and again even after years have gone.

2. Facebook

Facebook messages can bring your message across faster. The simple greetings in my posts are heartwarming. The FB posts are public, making any birthday announced publicly. Good for me, I am not home so I am saved from the usual dinner blowouts and parties. But it blesses me to receive greetings, wishes and prayers from family and friends. FB can make e-birthday celebrations.

3. Skype

Skype allows you to feel like you are with your loved ones. The first greeting I received on my birthday was a skype call from my wife. Skype gives the technology where I can talk to my wife and see her at the same time. What more, it is free. I can even talk to other family members simultaneously even if they are in different places. Even with a different timezone, our celebrations can happen at the same time. My family prepared a thanksgiving meal for me with a cake and they sang a birthday song and I can see and hear them. I even get to blow the cake.

Technology can really bring people closer together despite the physical distance. But sometimes, we only realize this when we are apart. So, the next time we are together with our family and friends, let us make sure we enjoy each others presence. There is nothing much comforting than being in the presence of your loved one. "And remember that I am always with you..." M

atthew 28;20.

How to Celebrate a Birthday Away from Home

I have always emphasized the importance of celebrating birthdays. No, I do not mean that I love to party. Christians should always be grateful to God's goodness. Nothing more important to be thankful than to the life God has breathed on us. Our birth-days are a reminder of the gift of life God has graciously given to us. We ourselves celebrate in gratefulness to the life God has given us and the opportunity to experience life and worship God.

As Christians, our family members and friends must celebrate birthdays with us. They are the people God blesses through our life (I hope). Our family and friends show their thanksgiving to God for the blessings that flows through our Christian life. But what if we are far from our family and friends? How do we celebrate?

I am out of town to begin a new job - in the Middle East - with not too many Christians around me. How can I show gratitude to God? How can I share the celebration with my family and friends? To add spice, how can I praise God among non-Christians?

This is not the first time that I will celebrate my birthday away from the closest people in my heart. I have always wondered though how to celebrate my birthday if it was a thanksgiving for God's gift of life to me.  I did three simple ways  to celebrate my birthday perfectly.

- First, you've guess it right - I prayed. Of course, we talk to God and express our gratitude for our life and the blessings in the previous years. We also thank God for the opportunity to be a channel of blessing to more people in the coming years.

- Second, dine with your family and friends through Skype. While there is no substitute for physical presence - it is never the measure of fellowship. We Christians have long known that physical presence or absence does not define our relationship with our fellow Christians. Even time cannot be a hindrance to our fellowship with other Christians of old and the future we anticipate. As such, our fellowship can be spiced up by the social media available in our finger tips.

- Third, receive a gift. A gift is offered to show how special is the person. God gives us gifts because we are special to God. Birthday gifts for us are expressions of how meaningful and special we are to others. But more than that, receiving gifts is a reflection of how important we are to God. Now since, I am alone - I bought myself a gift that tells me I am special.

These three simple ways was the best way to celebrate a birthday away from home. It made me happy. I saw my family and friends happy as well. I am sure God is happy too.

Remembering God for a Memorable Birthday

I was in the hospital today early in the morning. My wife has an appointment with her doctor today. While waiting for her turn to be called, I had to go around the hospital to set her needed laboratory procedures, line up in the cashier and have her listed. Then, amidst my busy task, I bumped into my old friend, Hershey, who is one of the doctors in the hospital. She was smiling from ear to ear so I thought she might be so happy to see me or she might have some good news to share. When she approached, she greeted me, "Happy birthday, Neki." I was surprised.

I almost forgot that today is my birthday. Amidst all the troubles and the busy thoughts bothering my mind, I almost forgot that today is my birthday. It's not that I wasn't anticipating it. I just got pre occupied with many things that I almost forgot.

But I did had a lot of things to do. After, the consult with the doctor, we had to run to Philhealth to update our record. Then to the school to enroll by eldest child. Then go back to the hospital to get all the lab results. After all that, I just wanted to spend some time to relax in the mall. More like cooling down from all the summer heat.

Dinner with my family was in a videoke room. That was perfect way to celebrate all of God's goodness this year despite the challenges that we have faced. I almost forgot my birthday, and that would have meant forgetting all the goodness and faithfulness of God to us this year. Seating and reflecting for a couple of hours during birthdays, allows us to remember the goodness and all the blessings God has given. Remembering God makes it a memorable birthday.

Another Life

As another year is added to our lives, we celebrate the blessings we received. As we start new careers, we reflect if this is what we want to do for the rest of our lives. We are always thankful to God for giving us this life and the opportunities we had with it. But what if we have many lives?

What if like the cats we have nine lives? What if God has given us a thousand lives? Just like the video games we play. You get to have another chance - another life when you mess up this. What would you do or not do?

We have often asked ourselves, if we could re-do our lives this is what I would have done. We have often imagined, if I would have another life, then this is how I would do it. We have dreams of how we should have lived our lives if we knew better. We could think, I would have tried to be a politician and become President of a country. We could have thought that we would have tried crazy things and not fear of dying because another life will come. We could not care of committing sinful ways because another chance will be given by another life. So, if we have another life other than this, we would have done differently.

If you are living a Christian life today, dedicating your life to God, what would you do to the other life that will be given to you? Or would you plan to do other staff and reserve your last life in living that Christian life. Maybe, become a good businessman and save enough millions to live a comfortable life instead of foregoing the rich opportunity by being a community development worker? Or maybe practice your profession as a healthcare worker and earn big money from your patients instead of receiving your daily bread as a missionary in another country? Or maybe go to church less on Sundays and make those important graduate studies during weekends that will earn you a magna cum laude in your  university.

Are you so scared to lose your life now because you want to accomplish everything  in this one life God has given you? But if you have nine or a thousand lives, you could care less. You don't need to exercise eveyday and instead smoke your self to death and drink every night and day because you still have another life to live. You just concentrate in making enough money for your family for this life and worry later about serving God on your next 8 lives. You don't have to cram all your dreams and hopes for this one life because you can accomplish the others in your succeeding lives.

Or will you give all your lives to God? Will you continue to make God your top priority every life you get? Will you always choose church over school? Will you always choose ministry over money? Will you always choose Christian vocation over worldly profession?  Will you always put God at the center over family and job? Will you always deny yourself and follow God?