Top Take Aways From the Past Year #Goodbye2016

I previously wrote in one of my posts here in this blog that I recommend that we do some introspection or reflection before the month of December ends. When we do this exercise, we would most likely gain some insights or valuable lessons from the year that was. I did. Let me share a few of them with you here.

Take away #1 We may encounter many challenges, but our blessings still outnumber them.

2016 was not an easy year for me. Our stay-in maid left around early March. After that, I went back to hiring a stay-out maid who comes to our house to clean, do the laundry and iron our clothes. This went on for several months until the stay-out maid proved to be unreliable. She promises to come on certain days and then she wouldn't show up. She's simply inconsistent in fulfilling her commitments. There were days when I wished we just set our clothes to the laundry shop instead of waiting for her or believing that she would come. Anyway, I eventually fired her. I tried several cleaning agencies/companies until I found one that is relatively more sustainable and affordable in the long run.

Having no household help made it extra difficult for me to manage the house, care for my 3 kids, homeschool the 2 older ones, breastfeed the youngest, maintain my blogs, manage my business and finish my book projects. Yet, reviewing my 2016 helped me realize how amazingly blessed I was last year.

I had a lot of challenges, true. But I received and experienced more blessings.

For example, finding alternatives to our previous stay-in maid were still blessings. At least, I didn't have to do all the housework. Outsourcing these to someone else enabled me to channel my energy to more important tasks. Moreover, in the end, I found more acceptable and sustainable options that the first ones. And before the year ended, a friend of ours recommended her stay-out cleaner to me to do our laundry and clean our house also once a week. I was so happy when she shared this with me that I told her that this was one of the best Christmas gifts I got.

Another major blessing is that I was able to achieve my goal breastfeeding my youngest child for 2 years last November. My youngest hasn't tasted even a drop of milk formula. He has been breastfed on demand for 2 years! I'm so grateful that I had enough milk to provide for his needs. I'm also grateful that in spite of my busyness, I was able to honor my commitment to prioritize his needs. There was never a day that he did not breastfeed from me, even when I had to work out-of-town. This brings me to my next major blessing.

My work allowed me to be with my kids. This is one major blessing for our family. I got to work even with my kids around. I can work from home. I can bring my kids with me when I work outside. Not all parents can do this. But I had been doing this since I got married. I've been working from home for almost 10 years now. Wow! Now that I counted, I was even more amazed! I had been working freelance for this long and it has been both fulfilling and rewarding. I'm so thankful that we have this kind of lifestyle. I can be a hands-on parent while earning. I had been living my dream! This was something I dreamt of when I was still single.

This was during our Baguio trip where I gave a talk for a client and at the same time had a vacation with my family.

We've also had a fruitful year in our homeschool. We usually do a couple of hours only of structured homeschool activity and yet we covered a lot in the past year. I was also glad that most of these were based on my kids' interests. We had numerous field trips (around 10 if I'm not mistaken) that were both fun and memorable. If you've been a regular reader of this blog since last year, you've read about most of them. (If this is your first time to read my blog, some of our field trips included going to Dr. Jose Rizal's town, Dino Play, Titans from the Ice Age, the Manila International Book Fair (MIBF) and Museo ng Katipunan.) In fact, because they were so many, I still have not blogged about all of them. Now, I wonder if there are other schools that have as many field trips as we have our homeschool. The great thing about these field trips is that these are related to my kids' interests and not something that someone or a school just thought would be beneficial for them. That's one of the advantages of homeschooling. We get to choose where we would bring the kids for field trips. Thus, we can bring them where they would be naturally interested or most likely to have fun. My 2 older boys even had the chance to join fun runs as part of their P.E. classes/activities last year. They joined the Crayola fun run towards the end of summer and the HOPE run for children with special needs towards year end.

We had a number of outings and trips or mini-vacations, too. Some of which were courtesy of my clients. Isn't that great? You've read about a few of them here also like our trip to Baguio and our outing to Enchanted Kingdom. We had a vacation at least once a quarter. Then, we had family outings in between. That's on top of our field trips! 2016 was indeed a year when we spent a lot of time bonding with each other through places that we visited.

This was in Villa Marinelli in Tagaytay after Christmas. I have yet to blog about this trip.

And there were the fun and memorable birthday celebrations that I planned for my kids (like the Star Wars party I planned for my eldest child, the Superman and friends birthday party for my second child and the Daniel the Lion King for my youngest) and that of my parents and brother, plus the out-of-town birthday celebrations for me and my husband. You've read about a few of them here, too.

Star Wars party for my eldest son. We were clowning around after all the guests have left.

Superman and his Superfriends party for my second child.

Daniel the Lion King for my youngest.

We celebrated my birthday last year in Pampanga. We tried a new hotel, ate in new restaurants and went on a field trip again.

These are just some of my blessings for 2016. There are SO MUCH MORE! I had so much to be grateful for in 2016!

Take away #2 Nothing/No one can hinder us from fulfilling our divine destiny.

Our circumstance may be far from ideal or supportive at the least, but this cannot hinder us from fulfilling our divine destiny or what we are here on earth for. God will definitely find a way and help us fulfill the dreams that He planted in our hearts. It was not only I who experienced this truth last year. This was true for both me and my eldest son.

I have already mentioned earlier my challenges last year. Given my limited time to work on my business and passion projects, I was amazed and grateful that I got to achieve MANY of my dreams/goals.

Last year, my dream of becoming a children's book author came true. I was able to publish and launch my first children's book, Mommy Loves You Just the Same, here in my website (last May in time for the celebration of Mother's Day) and on Amazon (in time for Christmas). We even came up with merchandise inspired by and based on the characters of my children's book. We found the best supplier/partner for this and we started selling these items last year also. We even got good reviews and support from influencers like celebrities, fellow authors, mompreneurs and mom bloggers.

You can buy these products here on our online shop. Available as a bundle or per item.

Shirts for Mom and Dad. You can buy them here.

We finished some of the videos of the first H.O.P.E. Summit. Actually, we're almost done editing all of the videos. You can find them here in the Virtual HOPE Summit page. Some of the parents in our community already benefitted from them. These videos were already available for sale in our online shop since early last year.

My talks and workshops were well-received by my audiences and my clients were happy with my work. Even though I felt that I didn't have ample time to prepare for these last year since I had so much on my plate, I am in awe that the people I served through my core gifts were very happy with the results. How did I know that? Well, aside from their feedback on the post-program evaluation sheets, I had repeat clients and repeat invitations to either speak or run training programs and workshops.

This was in one of my talks on parenting for one of my clients.

This was at Gymboree's anniversary celebration in Glorietta, Makati.

As for my eldest son, Yanthy, although he didn't get to enroll during the school year (after their summer classes) with his previous piano teacher/mentor (his mentor had been busy staging musicals), he still learned A LOT of songs in the past year. His repertoire has grown exponentially in the past year. His very first piano mentor who is now in the U.S. is also impressed. He now knows how to play at least 20 Advent and Christmas songs on the piano. On top of that, he has learned at least 20 new songs for the Mass. I have yet to make a comprehensive list of the songs he now knows how to play on the piano to help us keep track. He learns so fast that documenting them is not easy. I love this good problem actually!

Yanthy serving in the Sunday Mass with the Children's Choir.

Yanthy has also served as the pianist in our parish for our daily evening Masses and the Children's Mass on Sundays faithfully in the past year. There were only a few instances when he was not able to serve. He chose to serve even when it was raining or when he needed to be on his own (I or his Dad cannot go to Mass with him because of sickness or traffic) or even on days when he wasn't eager to do it. He and our family have made it our priority and our hearts are filled with joy because of this service.

2016 was an awesome year for me and my family! I cannot deny that my awesome God was behind it. I know that if it were only up to me, I would have the strength to accomplish all these. But God made a way for me. He lined up the right people and the right events for me. He made what seemed impossible possible.

So, as I welcomed 2017, I was filled not only with thanksgiving for the year that was but also hope and joyful expectation for things to come. God reminded me through my introspection exercises that with determination, hard work, discipline combined with a lot of faith and grace from Him, nothing is impossible!

This was during one of my strategic planning sessions for 2017 a few days ago.

How about you? How was your 2016? What blessings were you most grateful for? What lessons did you learn? I would love to hear from you.

'Nay, magpapasukan na!

“Nay, masikip na ang palda ko.  Hindi na kasya sa baywang saka sagad na ang tahi sa laylayan.  Paano ‘yan?  Magpapatahi na ba tayo ng bago kong palda sa pasukan?”

“Pwede pa ‘yan.  Pagagawan natin ng paraan sa mananahi,” sagot ni Nanay.

Ha? Ano pa kayang paraan ang naiisip ni Nanay para magamit pa uli sa pasukan ang pinagkaliitan ko nang palda.  Nagsimula itong may malapad na tupi sa laylayan noong bagong tahi pa.  Taon-taon, inuurong ang tupi dahil tumatangkad ako.  Pero, katulad nga ng sabi ko, ngayon ay wala nang tuping pwedeng tastasin.

Kinuha ni Nanay ang aking palda at itinabi para dalhin sa kapitbahay naming mananahi.  Pagkatapos ay sinimulan na namin ang isa sa aming mga tradisyon tuwing bago magpasukan.

Tiningnan namin isa-isa ang mga kwaderno (o notebook) na ginamit ko at ng nakababata kong kapatid noong nakaraang pasukan.  Maingat naming tinanggal ang mga alambre (o spring).  Hiniwalay ang mga may sulat sa mga wala pang sulat.  Pagkatapos pinagsama-sama namin ang mga natirang mga pahina para bumuo ng mga bagong kwaderno.  Tinatahi ni Nanay isa-isa ang mga bagong kwaderno mula sa mga hindi nagamit noong nakaraang pasukan.  Tapos binabalutan ko naman ito ng mga pambalot ng regalo at plastik para magmukang bago at para hindi madaling madumihan o masira.

Bago rin magpasukan, iniinspekyon namin ang mga dati naming sapatos.  Kadalasan, wala kaming sapat na pera para bumili ng bago taon-taon. Kaya ang ginagawa ni Nanay dati, pinapapalitan lang niya ang swelas o ilalim dahil iyon naman ang madalas na unang nasisira.  Pinapalitan na lang ang sapatos namin kapag nasira na ang itaas, halimbawa ay nabiak na o nabutas.  Kaya palagi naming nililinis at pinakikintab ang sapatos namin para hindi madaling masira agad ang balat.

Isa pang paraan ng pagtitipid na ginagawa ni Nanay tuwing bago magpasukan noong elementarya pa kami ay maghanap ng mga lumang libro o second hand books mula sa mga mas nakatatandang estudyante sa aming paaralan, sa mga kapitbahay namin na mas nakatatanda o sa mga tindahan sa Recto.  Hangga’t maaari hindi kami bumibili ng bagong textbook kung mayroon naman kaming mahihiraman o mabibiling luma para mas makatipid.  Iyong mga workbook lang ang binibili ng bago dahil kailangan itong sagutan.

Mahigit dalawang dekada na ang nakaraan mula ng magtapos ako sa elementarya ngunit sariwang-sariwa pa rin sa aking alaala ang mga ginagawa naming paghahanda noong bata pa ako tuwing malapit na magpasukan.  Hindi ko mapigil na mangiti at matawa lalo na nang maalala ko kung paano ginawan ng paraan ni Nanay at ng kapitbahay naming mananahi ang akala ko ay hindi ko na maisusuot na palda. 

Dahil wala na ngang remedyong magagawa sa laylayan dahil sagad na ang tahi, dinugtungan ng mananahi sa baywang ang luma kong palda.  Ginawan niya ng bagong paha at dinugtungan ng halos kakulay na tela.  Iyong dating nasa baywang ay binawasan ng bahagya at napunta na sa may bandang balakang dahil sa ginawang dugtong.  Hindi naman daw halata kasi mahaba ang aking blusa!

Nakakabilib talaga si Nanay! Katulad ng maraming ina, tunay siyang maparaan!

Buti na lang maabilidad at maparaan si Nanay!  Dahil sa katangian niyang ito, nakapagtapos ako ng elementarya sa isang pribadong paaralan.  Ang kanyang halimbawa ng pagpupursige at sipag ay naging inspirasyon ko upang maging isang masikap, masipag at responsableng mag-aaral.  Tinuruan niya akong maniwala na hindi hadlang ang kahirapan upang makamit ang iyong mga pangarap.  Katulad nga ng sabi sa kasabihan, nasa Diyos ang awa, nasa tao ang gawa.  Ginawa ng aking mga magulang ang lahat ng kanilang makakaya upang mapagtapos ako ng pag-aaral.  Hindi naging madali para sa aming lahat ang mga taong iyon na nag-aaral pa ako. Maraming sinakripisyo ang aking mga magulang para matupad ang aming pangarap pero sulit naman lahat ng iyon tuwing aakyat kami sa entablado taon-taon para tanggapin ko ang aking medalya bilang Top 1 o First Honor at nang mag-gradweyt akong Valedictorian sa elementarya, nang ako’y makapagtapos sa high school sa isang paaralang ekslusibo para sa mga babae na may Academic Excellence Award, at higit sa lahat nang ako’y magtapos sa kolehiyo sa Unibersidad ng Pilipinas sa Diliman.

Magpapasukan na naman.  Hindi ko mapigil na hindi maalala ang mga magaganda at masasayang alaala ng aking pagkabata at buhay estudyante lalo na noong ako’y nasa elementarya pa.  Masaya ako noon kahit mulat ang aking mga mata sa kahirapan ng aming pamilya.  Masaya ako dahil itinataguyod ako ng aking mga magulang para magkaroon ng magandang kinabukasan sa pamamagitan ng magandang edukasyon.  Masaya ako dahil mayroon akong mga kaibigan noon na hindi pansin kung bago ba o luma ang aking uniporme at sapatos.  Masaya ako noon dahil may mga guro akong naniniwala sa aking talino at kakayahan kahit na ako’y mahirap lang.

Pero mas masaya na ako ngayon dahil sa aking pagtityaga, disiplina, suporta ng mga taong nakapaligid sa akin at sa tulong ng Diyos, naabot ko ang bawat pangarap na pinangarap ko simula nang una akong natutong mangarap.

Magpapasukan na!  Dalangin kong mas marami pang batang mahirap ang matutong mangarap at mabiyayaan ng mga magulang na tulad ng mga magulang ko… lalo na ng tulad ng Nanay ko!  

Happy Birthday, 'Nay!

My Mom and I at Hotel Kimberly last year
where we had an advance Mother's Day celebration.

* This was first published at POC as a Mother's Day post.  

From a 4-Hour Commute to Less Than a Minute

Once upon a time, one of my favorite past times was daydreaming. I would daydream when I'm happy. I would daydream when I'm bored.

I would daydream in school when I think that my teacher is taking too long at a topic that I have already learned or mastered.

I used to daydream a lot after lunch, when my younger brother and I were supposed to be taking our naps. I found it hard to shut my wild imagination during those times. So, I would often indulge myself with daydreaming instead. Sometimes, I daydream with my eyes shut (so I won't get scolded). Sometimes, I would daydream with my eyes open (when my grandmother is no longer looking or when she has already fallen asleep).

When I was already working, I would usually daydream during my commute -- either on my way to work or on my way home.

Do you know what was one of my favorite scenes in my daydreams then?

Being an employer or business owner who had multiple income streams and had plenty of money for travel and shopping for the things that I like!

Today, I'm living out my daydreams in a small scale. I'm not yet a business tycoon but I have started my own businesses. My mentor Bo Sanchez calls them microbusinesses. I don't mind. They are businesses just the same.

I'm also happy to enjoy some freedom to go to places I want to visit without having to ask permission from a boss for a leave or a vacation or without having to wait until weekend or my day off.

During our family vacation in Baguio after Christmas.

I may not have A LOT of money YET like what I have imagined in my daydreams; but I have more than enough for my family's needs and some of our wants. And all these without having to wake up very early every.single.day. to drag myself to endure a long commute to my workplace.

I used to have at least 2 LONG HOURS of commute to my workplace. I was living with my parents then in San Mateo, Rizal. I would first ride a UV Express or FX to Cubao. From Cubao, I would take the MRT to Ayala. If I miss our office shuttle from Makati to Sucat (which usually happened to me), I would take a cab to our head office in Sucat. It was a long, tiring and costly commute! I had to endure long lines to get a ride and after that endure the long ride to my destination.

That was just one way. Those 2 HOURS could stretch to 3 HOURS in the evening or at night because of traffic and difficulty to catch a ride home.

Now, you know why I had so much time to daydream then!

That's why I worked hard also on making my dream come true of one day leaving the rat race and having my own business, working my desired hours and doing the things that I love.

I loved my job then. But I didn't love everything about it and I didn't love that I had to endure those long commutes to and from work. That is also partly the reason why I would rather have an exhausting schedule of out-of-town or out-of-the-country training programs or workshops. When I need to run a workshop, I don't need to report to our main office unless the venue of the workshop is our head office. I would hire a cab from my residence and go straight to the airport. From there, I fly to my destination, take a cab or wait for the hotel service to bring me to my hotel. Sometimes, the travel time to the hotel or to another province by plane is shorter than my daily commute. I also liked that all my travel expenses were shouldered by my employer. But it was still tiring because there were a lot of training programs and workshops I needed to conduct nationwide. Losing my voice due to sore throat was one of my frequent ailments then.

These days, I can go to my work station in less than a minute! Why? Because I work from home and my home office is just a few steps away from my bedroom. I can even work in my bedroom if I want to. I don't do it anymore though. I have decided that my bedroom is mainly for rest.

Do you also want to work from the comforts of your own home office?

Are you currently an employee who also dreams of becoming an employer one day? Do you also suffer from long commute or travel time? Do you daydream too?

I have good news for you!

I'm holding a Mastermind Session on January 30 from 8:30 am to 10:30 am. We'll have breakfast together. My treat! I will be sharing ways on How You Can Skyrocket Your Transition From Employee to Employer. Would that interest you?

This Mastermind Session is worth at least P5,000. This is limited to a maximum of 10 participants only to ensure optimum interaction with me. You can ask me as many questions as our time together would permit. You can ask me to continue my story and learn from my experiences. The great news is you can attend it for FREE. 

Find out the details on how you can secure a FREE SEAT to this transformational Mastermind Session here.

I look forward to swapping stories with you! See you on January 30!

God Always Makes a Way for His Words to Come True

At the start of the year, God told me that I can again pursue my dream of publishing at least one book this year. I was hesitant at first, knowing how busy my schedule is. But I claimed it and listed it in my Novena to God's Love again. (You may read my blog post about dreams and how the Novena to God's Love has helped me make my dreams come true in the past years here.)

I'm not yet through planning for my dreams and goals this year. But I was starting to feel discouraged yesterday and the other day because there's simply a lot that a mom like me with three small children needs to do daily. Homeschooling two kids with different grade levels, breastfeeding a toddler who recently turned one and is teething, caring for them daily, managing a household and an online business, maintaining blogs and trying to finish some backlogs from last year are what fill up my hours each day. Yesterday and the other day, I began wondering, "How can I write and finish at least one book with this?" I felt that I was just too busy to squeeze in that dream and goal into my already full schedule. I was wondering how God can make a miracle out of my situation again.

Then, God answered me this morning during my prayer time with this:

"Just because you don't see a way 

doesn't mean I don't have a way." 

Wow! Isn't that great? God read my mind once more! And He answered me clearly and powerfully in a way I could not doubt His voice!

That's all that I needed to be encouraged and empowered to act on my dream and goal again. It was a very timely reminder to me to just keep putting one foot forward and make even baby steps of faith to move closer to my dream.

I excitedly shared about this on my Facebook account and said that I'm targeting to launch at least one book on Mother's Day this year.

Then, I followed up a potential artist who can do the illustrations for one of my children's stories. In minutes, I got the answer that I've been praying for! She confirmed that she will do the illustrations for my upcoming book Mommy Loves You Just the Same! I am beyond thrilled and happy! hahaha God just made a way for me again! I can't help but be amazed! Thank you so much, Lord! 

I'm so excited to see my story come alive in her illustrations! This storybook is special to me because I wrote it for my two older children while I was pregnant with my third child. We were preparing for the coming of our third baby and I wanted to make the two older boys especially my second child that I love them just the same even though they will have another brother.

Moreover, I wanted to continue my breastfeeding advocacy through this book. I think this is a perfect accompaniment or follow up to my book BREASTFEEDING: A Journey Worth Taking because I want to show in the illustrations that breastfeeding/tandem feeding has helped my sons in their transition to becoming big brothers. This is something that most books on becoming an older sibling did not show. Thus, I am so happy and I feel so blessed to have found an artist who is also a breastfeeding mom like me. I believe that she is the perfect artist for this story of mine.

Oh, before I forget, did I tell you that she's also expecting another child? Yes, she's pregnant now with her second child. Isn't God truly amazing? This makes her understand my feelings more when I wrote my story.

I believe that it was really God who ordained our meeting last year at an event where I was invited to speak. It was a gathering of breastfeeding moms and their families and our booths were situated beside each other. We got to talk to each other and I found out that she's interested in illustrating a book. And the rest is history, or should I say His story. ;)

That's all for now. I will update you about our book in the coming days and months and I hope you'll support us in this book project. In the meantime, please pray for both of us so that we'd be able to finish this book project amid our busy schedule as moms.   

Do you also have dreams that you are unsure if you can achieve them this year because of your current situation? Don't give up right away! Look to God for inspiration and strength! 

QUICK UPDATE:
Our book is almost done! It will be launched on May 19, 2016. :) Jia is now finalizing the inside pages of our book... just doing minor edits to it before the virtual book launch. You may see the book cover and pre-order a copy when you click here. Join the virtual book launch here.

#OneWord for 2016: ANOINTED

I spent the last week of 2015 having fun with my family in Baguio. It was a great way to end a year wherein my One Word was ABUNDANCE. I felt God's abundant blessings during our family vacation in Baguio. It was also a well-deserved vacation for me for working hard the entire year. Most of all, it was a fitting celebration for the abundance of blessings our family received throughout the past year.

Come January 1, 2016, as usual, I spent some time to quiet down and to reflect on the blessings of the past year and ask God for direction for the new year. I asked God to lead me to my One Word this year and to the Bible verse that further clarifies His direction for me.

With the "little" quiet time I had at my disposal (I've always felt that my quiet times are too short eversince I became a mom of active toddlers/kids), God led me to the word ANOINTED.

First, I was reminded of an article written by one of my mentors, Bo Sanchez, about sticking to your anointing and being faithful to your purpose.

Second, I saw this photo from his Facebook Page and I even shared it on my own Facebook Page on the first day of the new year.

Photo source here.

Third, I was reminded of a tweet I posted in the past year.

I felt God telling me that ANOINTED is my One Word for the year 2016 but I had hesitations. I felt that the word is too loaded. I was afraid to own it... afraid that I would not be able to live up to the word.

I Googled Bible verses with the word ANOINTED and read through them to find out if there is a verse that would resonate with me. I found these two:

"He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 (NIV) 

Here are my insights on these verses:

• I belong to God and everything that I do belongs to Him. Therefore, everything that I do should reflect God's character or nature.
• His Spirit plants dreams in my heart. He is the source of all my dreams.
• I have hope, courage, boldness and faith to dream big dreams and to pursue them because it is God who guarantees my success and assures me that my dreams will come true. 

"But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie -- just as it has taught you, abide in him." John 2:27

Here are my thoughts on this verse:

• God the Holy Spirit is my ultimate guide and teacher. I should not let myself be overwhelmed with the many things "experts" say I should do to become successful in what I do or choose to do.
• I will use His leading as compass and to help me filter what I hear or read from "experts."

This second verse was also confirmed by the worship song Who You Are by Gateway Worship, which God led me to sing during my prayer time yesterday.

These Bible verses clearly reiterates God's message to me through Bo Sanchez' article where he shares that when we stick to our anointing, our success is guaranteed; because that's where God has gifted us and called us to shine His light and to be a powerful instrument of His love.

This message makes me tremble. You see, I did not get to finish the books I wanted to finish in the past year. There were many factors that contributed to this. Our maids leaving one after the other and me doing the house chores myself on top of caring, homeschooling two boys and breastfeeding a baby, for almost half a year were some of them. Thus, planning to finish and launch at least one book this year is daunting for me.

The first time God impressed this word in my heart, I thought that I need another big miracle to publish at least one of the book ideas that I have.

Then, God led me to the feeding of the 5,000 this morning when I read the Bible to my sons. As I shared the Word of God to my sons, I felt God ministering to my soul and telling me that Jesus is willing to accept whatever I can offer Him and He can transform it and use it to bless many people, even thousands!

It's as if God was telling me that He can easily give me the miracle that I need. All I need to do is to stick to my anointing and live out my purpose.

To further confirm God's Word to me, I read a very encouraging Facebook post of a friend and brother in our community.

This is aligned with the feeding of the 5,000 miracle that my sons and I read this morning. There were 12 baskets full left over even though they started with only 5 loaves and 2 fish! 

I'm praying for greater courage to believe that God can and will grant me the miracles I need again to achieve the dreams He has planted in my heart. 

Through my One Word this year, God reminds me that my successes this 2016 are guaranteed because He has already won the victories that He wants me to have. His wisdom and guiding hand will lead me to the right people and He is shifting things into my favor. All I need now is to confidently step out in faith as God's ANOINTED into my courage zone.

I love the additional confirmation God gave me this morning through one of the devotionals that I use in my prayer time:

"You need to check doors that have been closed to you in the past. Things have shifted... it may not have happened the first time, but that's okay. It's prepared you for this time. Don't give up. This is a new day... Pursue your dream again."

"When God breathes in your direction, people change their mind. Closed doors suddenly open. The nos turn into yeses. Not now turns into It's your time."

Have you discovered your One Word for 2016? Feel free to share your One Word this year and how you were led to it in the comments section.

Lessons (re)Learned at the Start of a Brand New Year About Dreams

It's the first day of the new year. I reviewed my list of dreams in my Novena to God's Love booklet through the years after my morning prayers. After that, I wrote down my dreams for 2016 in my new booklet. 

I had been doing this for years. It was a joy to read the dreams I have written in my previous booklets and the dates when these dreams were fulfilled. I felt so blessed to be reminded of the many dreams God has helped me fulfill just in the past three years. (I'm not sure if I started with this practice earlier than 2013 because I could not find other booklets.) Remembering these blessings gave me so much hope to face this brand new year with joufl anticipation for more dreams coming true and becoming my reality.

While pondering on my list of dreams last year (2015), I (re)learned some lessons about dreams and dreaming. Let me share them with you.

1. Dreams do come true, whether big or small. - I wrote a number of dreams in my Novena booklet. We're supposed to write seven dreams on it only. But in some pages, I wrote multiple dreams. Thus, I am amazed that most of the dreams I wrote on its pages were fulfilled. It's simply amazing! Reviewing them encouraged me to dream new dreams and to just keep on dreaming.

2. Don't just dream. Work hard on your dream too! - It's not enough that we dream dreams. We need to do our part in making them happen. I love the quote which says, "Pray as if all depended on God. Work as if all depended on self."

I remember a funny story I once heard. A speaker said that the first step in making our dreams come true is to wake up from our dream and to do the necessary work.

Many of my fulfilled dreams entailed a lot of work on my part. I made a lot of sacrifices. I put in a lot of work hours. I hustled. I did what was necessary. And my efforts paid off because almost all of the dreams I listed last year came true by the grace of God and with a lot of hard work!

3. There's a perfect time for your dreams to come true. Learn to let go and let God be the God of all your dreams. - As I mentioned earlier, not all of the dreams I listed came true. A few are still in progress. I have started workign on those dreams but the results that I wanted to see and experience have not happened yet. 

What I learned through these dreams is that no matter how hard we work on something, if it is not yet time for these dreams to come true, these dreams would not be fulfilled. God still has the final say. 

I remember another beautiful lesson I learned years ago. A speaker shared that it's not enough that we do God's Will in our lives. We also need to make sure that we do things God's way and that we follow God's perfect timing. Let Ecclesiates 3 remind us of this truth: "God appoints when all things will happen." 

So, if like me, you have dreams that are still on stage 1 or stage 2 and there are still a few or a number of steps that you need to take, don't despair and give in to frustration. Let go and let God be God of those dreams that are yet to come true.

4. Some dreams are more important than others. - Like what I said earlier, I sometimes listed more than one dream per page in my Novena to God's Love booklet. I had so many dreams that I wanted to be fulfilled last year. God taught me to prioritize when He allowed our maids to leave us one after the other. We didn't have a helper for almost half a year. Working on my personal goals and business goals on top of Mommy duties and household chores was extremely challenging. I had to decide which dreams had more weight in my heart. So, I chose to prioritize my dreams and goals related to my role as mother over those dreams and goals related to my roles as author and mompreneur. I'm glad I made that choice! I felt so at peace and fulfilled even though I had to delay my pursuit of those dreams. I believe that I can delay finishing another book. But I wouldn't be truly happy if I keep my kids waiting too long all the time because I'm so busy chasing my other dreams. 

How about you? Do you have dreams that you want to see realized this new year? Do you also make a list just like me? Do you make time to reflect at the start of each brand new year? Feel free to share your thoughts and your dreams on the comments. I'd love to hear from you!

Happy New Year and may your dreams come true!

Earn Extra Income While Advocating Hands-On Parenting

I have good news for you at the start of this brand new week! 

But before that, let me share a short story when I was still a first-time mom almost 7 years ago.

When I had my first child, one of my small finance goals is to earn extra income while being a full time mom to our eldest. I started with small goals so that I would feel motivated each month. Since I love to write and I was given the opportunity to contribute to publications, one of my goals then was to write at least 1 art​icle each month and have it published. Then, as I got more used to writing freelance, I made bigger goals for myself and made it two to four articles each month. Earning additional income for our family through one of my favorite hobbies while being a hands-on mom to our eldest child made me happy and fulfilled.

But writing articles can also takes up a lot of time. Our eldest son grew older and he slept less often. Eventually, he outgrew nap time. He's awake most of the time after lunch. Thus, it has become a challenge for me to write articles because I usually did this task while he's asleep.

I also gave birth to two more children so my hands are usually full (figuratively and literally).

Another way by which I earn not from home but outside the home is by giving talks, trainings and workshops. This kind of work pays higher compared to writing but it requires me to be out of the house and to look for someone else to watch over my kids while I am working. Thus, I decided to conduct workshops and trainings less frequently because I want to invest more time building the foundations of my marriage and my relationship with my children.

As my circumstances changed over the years, I searched for new ways to earn from home that did not require a lot of my time or that required me to be away from my kids. Even though I wanted to stay home most of the time with my kids, I also wanted to contribute to the family income because our family has grown bigger. This led me to come up with a digital program or an online coaching program called iHOPE. I decided to use my expertise as HR practitioner and my experiences as a parent to develop a program that will enable me to help other parents to have a richer and stronger relationship with their children. I was happy to come up with a product that enables me to be hands-on with my kids, earn from home and be of help to other parents and families. 

I launched this product on my 40th birthday a few months ago. :) You can read about what moved me to have the courage and confidence to launch it then here in my previous post. 

Today, I want to share with you the opportunity to earn extra income each month through our Hands-On Parent while Earning Affiliate Program. Do you want to earn extra income each month without you doing a lot of work? Is this something that will benefit your family?

If your answer is YES, you need to keep on reading.

 

If you know of parents who may benefit from this program and who are willing to invest in their relationship with their children, I invite you to register to become one of our Affiliates. You can earn a commission every time a person to whom you shared our program to decided to sign up for it or to purchase our product. 

For example, if one of the people you shared our program to through email purchases the iHOPE Coaching Program, you earn a commission. If for example, you promoted the iHOPE Coaching Program in your Facebook Account and one of your friends signed up for it, you earn a commission.

Your commissions accrue and once it reaches the minimum amount for payout each month, you will receive payment from us for helping us spread the word about our life-changing program. 

By doing this, you not only partner with me in encouraging more parents to become hands-on with their kids, you also help me help more families to be stronger. You're helping me help more children to become happier and more parents, fulfilled! Now, while you are advocating hands-on parenting, you earn at the same time. Isn't that great?

You can register to become one of our Affiliates by clicking this link. The details of the Affiliate Program are in the Terms of Use. Just hover your mouse over these words and click that link and you will be taken to the page where you can read all the information about our Hands-On Parent while Earning Affiliate Program.

Should you have any questions about our Affiliate Program, feel free to email me at teresa@handsonparentwhileearning.com with subject Affilliate Program.

You may also read more about the iHOPE Coaching Program here.

I look forward to having you as our fellow Hands-On Parenting advocate and Affiliate!