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...

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......