Life's Questions

What are your life's questions? What brought about these questions? Is it your need, is it out of frustration or is just a thought that pop up every now and then or, can we also say lack of faith?

I remember when I was still a child growing up in Bulacan ( province in the Philippines), there was never a time a "life's question" popped up in my young mind. If you remember in my other blog, I was grateful for the "hard life" we had for it made us a better and appreciative person that we are right now. Looking back, I think it is knowing and accepting the fact that we can not just have what the other kids have. I remember us not asking for toys, new clothes, new school supplies, of why is it that we only have little food in the table. I remember not feeling bad about not getting any gifts on our birthdays and Christmases. I remember not feeling any sadness about the lack of toys, new clothes and gifts. I remember not feeling any kind of envy to what the other kids have. All I remember is the the love and the contentment (of what we have). We are always thankful and feel blessed. We knew that Daddy and Mang were doing their best to give us a better life (and They DID!), we knew that they love us and that made up for everything.

Now that I am a mother myself, I am doing my best to instill the values and life's lesson that I learned while growing up to my daughter. I am doing my best to teach her that love is not all about getting new toys, new clothes, presents and all the material stuff that we kind of "associate" love to.

To go back to my life's questions, I guess what brought up these questions in the first place are our needs and the frustrations that comes with knowing that you are trying and doing your best and working hard but still...it seems to be not enough. That I feel like I am about to give up......

I questioned why some people have better lives than others? I questioned why is it that despite their good life, they don't seem to appreciate all the blessings that they have. I questioned why some people just have an easy life, like everything is offered to them in a silver platter.

I questioned why some people, despite of all their hard work, honesty, goodness and sacrifices never seems to move out of the life that they are trying to get out of.

I questioned why some people in spite of their hard life, still have a smile in their faces, love in their hearts and a helping hand to those that are in need.

Is it even right for me to have all these "life's questions"? I am still human. I get tired, frustrated and weak at times. Looking back, I think...I should apply what I learned growing up.

• Be thankful for everything that you have.
• Contentment on what you have at the moment.
• Be happy with what you have and who you are.
• Work harder and try harder to reach your goals.
• Have faith in God that everything will happen according to HIS plans.

Here are a couple of videos ( I found on youtube) that I would like to share with you all. These are two of my favorite songs (who the singer by the way is a fellow Filipino, Gary Valenciano) that I love to listen to when I'm at a point that I feel like giving up...

Just click on the link below.

Lead Me Lord

Lift Up Your Hands

Dominique

Dominique - French name meaning "belonging to God".

Meet Dominique, or "Nikki" as we fondly call her. She is 6, sweet, loving, caring, smart, curious, a chatterbox (this is in her own word), she loves school, loves to sing and writes her own stories. She also wants to be an author.

She is also quite an artist. She loves to draw and draw and draw. Below are resized copies of two of her most recent drawings.

She is everything that I have prayed for. She is my best friend, my joy, my life.

To you sweetheart, please remember that I love you very much, we love you very much. I do pray each and everyday that God will keep you in his loving and watchful care. I pray for you to always stay healthy and be safe. I pray for all your wishes and dreams to come true. I pray for you to be strong and courageous as you learn more things about life.

I'll do my best to be the best Mom that I can be, your friend, your teacher, your shoulder to cry on. Remember what mommy said, you should never keep secrets from me and I will always be here for you no matter what.

I will be looking forward to more stories from you, to your future books and to more hugs and kisses and laughter. I love you...

Finding Myself

What are the talents that you can be proud of? Do you consider yourself talented? Are you still in the process of discovering your hidden talents or in the process of finding out what you want in your life...what you do best?

Growing up...I am shy, timid girl..somebody who would hide in the room if there were visitors in the house. I am the school, then home type of girl. I am proud to say though that I am an above average student, who was always in the honor roll, the top five of the class. I am just not the outgoing, life of the party type of girl. I was like this until my college years.

As for talents, I never considered myself talented. I don't have much of a good voice, to join any singing club or choir. I danced at school programs but not much of a dancer to join a dance club. I love to read but can't write good stories. I am not an artist either. I can draw simple flowers, houses, simple stuff so I am not somebody you would consider "an artist".

When I moved here in 2003 from the Philippines to be with my husband and be a stay at home mom to our daughter....it was a big adjustment for me, but it comes with the opportunity of discovering myself.....who I am and what I am capable of doing.

I discovered that though I can only draw simple stuff, I am creative enough to come up with good designs for my projects, wonderful stories for my slide shows, perhaps good and interesting article for my blog. But no, I didn't realized this until 2005 and later this year.

I still have a long way to go, a lot to learn.....my grammar may not be perfect, but I am proud of what I discovered about myself.

Do you believe in what they say that we all have a purpose on why we are here on earth? I do! I can't say, I know or found what my purpose is, but I know that when the right time comes, I will know that purpose. For now, I am just going to continue with my quest of discovering my talent and knowing myself better.....then I can be the best of what I can be.

Grateful

What are the things that you are grateful for? Is it your family, new house, your job, your new car, your friends, being famous, money? I am sure we can come up with a lot of things that we are grateful for.

Me? First, I am grateful for everything that I had experience and went through (from childhood to present). Why? All these experiences are the keys as to who and what I am today. If somebody will ask me or grant me a wish to change something in my life, I would say I wouldn't change a thing. If I changed something, I would probably won't be where I am today and will probably won't have what I have now.

Second, I am grateful for my parents, my brothers and my sisters. I am grateful for all the hardships that we went through growing up, for it made us a stronger and better person. I am grateful for what we learned and accomplished despite all the hardships we had. I am grateful for all the love, the guidance and the support my parents gave us. I am grateful for the principle my father have, that in spite of the hard life we had, he overcame all the temptations at work and showed us what a great and principled man he is. Something that we will always be proud of. To you Daddy and Mang, thank you so much for everything, for all the love, the support, the sacrifices (you had to endure), without expecting anything in return. Mahal na mahal po namin kayo (we love you very much)!

Third, I am grateful for my family, my husband and my daughter (who are the loves of my life and my bestest gift ever), my in-laws and for everybody at our church (Rock Creek UMC) who love me and accept me for who I am and who never let me feel like a stranger. They are my family away from home.

Fourth, I am grateful for who I am, what I am and where I am now. I may not be rich, I may not be famous but I am grateful for all the little things that I have accomplished. I am still a long way to be considered "successful, rich and famous" but I am doing my best to be the best that I can be.

Last, but definitely NOT the least, I am grateful for all the everyday blessings that God is giving my family and I pray to God to continuously bless our family with peace of mind, good health, happiness, love, trust, faith and hope. For God to always put us in HIS loving and watchful care. The rest will follow......

Green Cards

The recent increase of stolen SSN and identities by illegal immigrants make me pondered this thought. Why is it that "Green Cards" are not required to be presented or shall we say, asked to be presented by immigrants when applying for jobs, benefits and other transactions that require proof of legality of an immigrant?

Don't get me wrong, I am not against immigrants as I am an immigrant myself. The only difference is I did it legally, complete with all the expenses and aggravation that comes with coming here legally.

Back to the green card issue, as far as I know, there are no issues yet of tampered or fake green cards, much as we hear of fake or stolen SSN. My point is, why not ask for Green Cards when we all know what is it for, to prove your legality to stay and work here in the United States? Can I say that Green Card is not doing its purpose then because authorities are not even asking for it?

It states at the back of the card that, "The person identified by this card is authorized to work and reside in the U.S." Wouldn't this be proof enough to present to authorities when applying for jobs, benefits, among other things that require proof of legality of an immigrant?

Aren't authorities and employers not aware of the existence of "Green Cards" and what is it for? It might save them a lot of troubles and this will probably help some in getting the illegal immigrants and give the job back to who it really belongs.

Just asking......after all this is just a pondered thought!