Free eBook on Career Transitions to Celebrate My Birthday

It has been a while since I last updated this blog. I had been busy working on my goals this year and accomplishing my pending goals last year.

One of the goals I was not able to accomplish last year was to finish one of my books. So, I spent the first few months of this year to finish my manuscript and prepare for my book launch. I'm happy to share with you that my latest book From Career Woman to SAHM, WAHM then Businessmom: Lessons from My Transitions is now available on Amazon! :) I released it this month as my gift to myself. I'm marking my birthday this year with this milestone. I'm also having a FREE BOOK promotion as part of its virtual launch on April 18-19, 2018 as my way of paying it forward and being grateful for the life that I live. One of my mentors, Bo Sanchez, said that after we have become successful, we should now strive for significance. That is helping others to become successful like us. 

I'm passionate about this book project because this was inspired by the many lessons I have learned in my own life and career transitions. I want to help other mothers through this book. I want to help other moms find the courage to step out of their comfort zones into their courage zones. Some moms feel trapped in their full-time jobs and feel that they have no choice but to stay there because they need to help contribute to the family income. With this book, I want them to them that they have options. More importantly, I want them to share with my fellow moms how God has been instrumental in my career decisions and successes.

What sets this book apart from the other books on career transition is that it includes a spiritual perspective. I encourage people to go through career discernment when considering any career changes. Most books just discuss the practical and financial aspects. But because I am a Christian and a Catholic, I shared that I went through career discernment. I also shared the Bible verses that inspired me in my discernment.

I may be an author and career coach, but I cannot separate my being Christian from those roles. My faith is so much a part of each aspect of my life. The truth is that I strive to live out my faith and Christian values in each aspect and role in my life. Thus, I cannot help but mention God and how He has been a big factor in my life events and transitions. 

At one point, I paused and asked myself if I should share the spiritual side of my life and career transitions or should I stick to writing about professional and practical advice on my book. 

I've decided to go all out and share everything. I felt that if I withhold that part of my story, it would be incomplete. I felt that I would not be sharing the entire truth and the whole picture with my readers if I do not mention God and give credit to Him. 

I think that will also set me apart as a career coach and counselor. I'm a Christian career coach and counselor. Thus, I also encourage my clients to consider the spiritual aspects of their concerns and circumstances. 

Let me end this post by sharing traits that I believe mothers should have to be successful in making a career transition.

Top 3 Traits Moms Should Have

First, we need to have faith in God, ourselves and our abilities. I love this verse from 1 Corinthians 2:9: "What no one ever saw or heard, what no one ever thought could happen, is the very thing God prepared for those who love him." Another verse that inspired and encouraged me was Jeremiah 29:11. “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future full of hope.”

Second, we need to have the courage to act on our dreams and step out of our comfort zone into our courage zone. We need the courage to try new things or do things differently, to think out of the box.

Last but not least, we need the perseverance to keep on keeping on even when we are not yet reaping the fruits of our labor or we do not receive the recognition that we want to get. We will have our own time to shine if we don’t give up.

Virtual Book Launch

I have so much more to share but this is just a blog post. :) You can read more about my story in my book. I invite you to claim your FREE COPY of my latest eBook on April 18 or 19. You can reserve your copy now when you click here.

Join our virtual launch also and get a chance to win exciting prizes.

How do you join?

1. Simply tweet or share on your Facebook account about the free download and the link to the Amazon page of the ebook. 

Example: I just got my #freedownload of the #ebook From Career Woman to SAHM, WAHM then Businessmom! Get your copy  here: http://bit.ly/Career_Transitions

2. Make sure to use the hashtags #transitionsebook #careertransition

3. Tag our Facebook page Hands-On Parents while Earning.

4. Make sure that your post is public, so we can see it.

You can read more details on our event page when you click here.

Parenting Goals for the Year #BigGoals2017

People with goals succeed because they know where they are going.

- Earl Nightingale

It's the first month of a brand new year. People are usually busy these days planning for the new year. Have you done your own planning? Have you defined your goals for the year? If not, it's not yet too late. I believe that it's better to take it slow.

It's best to make sure that we are pursuing the right goals before we get busy pursuing them.

Let me share some of my BIG GOALS as a parent for 2017.

Goal #1 Be a better parent by improving in the area of handling my emotions when my kids do not obey me and the rules that we have set.

Actually, I have made it my goal years ago to live out this Bible verse:

"Slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love."

I have not been very good at being slow to anger. So, I make it my goal year after year to get better and better at it. There were many times in the past year that I felt frustrated getting the kids to listen and obey. Having no household help to assist me in managing the house and caring for the children made things extra challenging.

My kids are not the typical obedient kids who immediately obey those who are older than them or those who are in authority. Obedience is not their greatest strength. Proactivity, creativity, curiosity, quick thinking, intelligence, humor, persistence, strong will, high energy... these are words that describe them most of the time. Obedient, not always.

They like to challenge the rules. Following or doing other people's agenda is not something very interesting for them unless you are able to explain to them how it aligns with their interests or agendas. They usually have their own plans and are bent on executing them. They are not the type who will ask for permission to do what they want to do. They will simply set out to do what they want to do. Sadly, they sometimes ignore the rules or reminders given to them.

In truth, these are good traits. These are good characteristics of people who can be leaders.

But it's difficult when those who have these traits are 8 years old and under. I am concerned for their safety. I also want them to learn to respect and obey those in authority.

I tend to clash a lot with my kids... especially with my eldest son who has high intensity and who has a stubborn will just like me. My Powerful Choleric personality type finds it difficult to parent kids who are like them.

I have shared this difficulty with our developmental pediatrician already many years ago when I noticed these traits in my eldest son. He said that these are typical of gifted kids. He advised that parents be consistently firm to help kids learn to adhere to the rules and to obey those in authority.

Over the years also, I have learned to choose my battles so that we don't always go through a battle of the wills. When it will not put our lives in danger and our values are not compromised, I do my best to give them as much freedom and independence.

Goal #2 Make more happy memories with the kids by traveling with them or having vacations with them at least once a quarter.

This was one of my goals last year and we actually went beyond my target. if you've read my previous post on my blessings in the past year, bonding activities with my kids were one of those in my list. Since we had a lot of fun last year going places, I've decided we'll do the same this year. This is one goal I am very excited with for this year.

We've already booked last year our first hotel stay out-of-town for the first quarter of 2017. I'm still thinking where to go for the second quarter and the rest of the year.

Goal #3 Finish and publish at least one book for parents.

I believe that the lessons that we learn from our life experiences are only for our benefit. I believe that the insights that we gain from our life experiences are meant to help and bless the people around us, too. That is why I love sharing my stories here on my blog, in the articles I write for other publications, in my books, in my talks, training programs and workshops.

This year, I want to finally finish one of my pending manuscripts. I have already designed the book cover. I have printed it and posted it on the wall of my home office so that I am reminded every day that I have to finish this book. Let me share it with you.

Last year, I published and launched one book also, my very first children's book titled Mommy Loves You Just the Same. It was a daunting goal. But by the grace of God, it was achieved. It was another dream come true!

This year, although my situation hasn't changed. We still do not have a stay-in household help. But I claim that I can do achieve all these goals with the strength of Christ. I know that God will make a way. That He will help me make things happen. Why? First, because I have seen Him do this many times in the past for me. Second, because my intentions are good and these will not only benefit me but many people.

I may have BIG GOALS that seem difficult to achieve. But I have a BIGGER GOD who makes ALL things possible!

That's why my OneWord for this year, 2017, is BELIEVE.

BELIEVE in God more.
BELIEVE in myself more.
BELIEVE in others more.
BELIEVE in more possibilities.
BELIEVE that more and bigger miracles are on their way to me.
I choose to BELIEVE that the best is yet to come! 

This was inspired by the Bible verse, "I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." - Psalm 27:

How about you? What are some of your big goals this year? Do you also have a One Word for the year? Or a guiding verse? Feel free to share these in the comments. Let's cheer each other on!

If one of your goals this year is to be a better parent by spending more quality time with your kids and still finding time to achieve your career or business goals, check out my iHOPE Online Coaching Program. You may read the details here.

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.

Give Love on Christmas Day Year 5

My family and I watched the movie Christmas on Division Street yesterday morning after having a pancake breakfast that I prepared at home. It is one of the movies I recommended in one of my previous posts here that families can watch to bond this Christmas season. Yes, we're still in the Christmas season. Today is just the 10th day of Christmas. So, don't take down your Christmas tree and decors yet. Savor the season at least until the Feast of the Epiphany of the visit of the 3 wise men or more popularly known as the 3 Kings.

I read some short reviews about this movie before I included it in my previous blog post. I'm really glad I did that. Moreover, I am glad we watched this movie yesterday. It's a beautiful and touching movie. I could not keep my tears from falling minutes after the movie is over. I felt affirmed that my family and I did the right thing on Christmas day this year. (If you want to watch the movie on YouTube, you'll see the link here.)

We have a Christmas tradition that is already five years old. We first did it in 2012. You can read about the first time we did it and what moved me to suggest it to my husband here.

So, what is this Christmas tradition I am talking about? We give out brown bags to street kids.

This was my eldest when we first started this tradition.

I recently shared in my blog post Birthday Cake for the Birthday Boy that we make sure that we have a cake for Jesus as part of our Christmas feast. Aside from having a birthday cake, we go all out by making loot bags for Him, too. We give these loot bags (brown bags) to Jesus' favorites, the poor around us. We've decided to give it to street kids.

Our 3 wise boys or 3 kings ready to bless street kids! 

This photo was taken last year on the Feast of the Lord's Epiphany.

We've been doing this every year, usually on Christmas day. But there was also a year when we gave out these brown bags on the Feast of Holy Innocents (December 28) when we celebrated the first month of our youngest child. Last year, we got very busy and tired on Christmas day so we gave away brown bags and toys on the Feast of the Lord's Epiphany or 3 Kings with our 3 boys wearing crowns pretending to be the 3 Kings.

Our two Kings, Yanthy ands Mateo, giving away brown bags to street kids last year.

Every year, we usually think that we might not find street kids or a lot on the streets on Christmas day because the DSWD also exert effort to clean up the streets by finding shelter for these kids. But we are often surprised that we still find many homeless people, not just kids, roaming or sleeping on the streets on Christmas day. This makes me sad. I always wish each time that we had packed more brown bags.

Yesterday, after watching the movie which was about homeless people, God moved my heart again to ache for these poor people. I wished to have more resources so my family and I could help more homeless people. But God was quick to affirm me by telling me that my family and I already made a difference to the people we gave brown bags to. We may not reach all the homeless in the Philippines or in the world. But we definitely touched the hearts of those who received what we gave away. And as I write this post, God whispers into my heart that writing about our family tradition and experience can inspire and move others to do the same on Christmas day or any day of the year.

I'm so thankful to God for this beautiful family tradition and meaningful family bonding activity. It's a reminder to our family of the true meaning of Christmas... following the example of Jesus Christ and giving Jesus a gift through the poor around us. One of the priests who celebrated the anticipated Simbang Gabi in our parish asked us this question during his homily. "It's Jesus birthday, right? What is your gift to Jesus this Christmas?" Those were some of our family's gifts to Jesus on His birthday this year. But as we gave these gifts, Jesus gave us more. He gave us joy and inspiration.

Let me end this by sharing these words of Jesus in the Bible:

"Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." Matthew 25:40

'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.