On Father's Day in church last Sunday, Budik made a testimony so moving it left almost everybody thinking, “I wish my father would speak that way about me.”
He spoke of gratitude to God for this gift of life.
He spoke of his joy and excitement when Ygo was born.
He spoke of a new resolve to work harder.
He spoke of giving up the spontaneous “gimik” (night out) that used to fill his carefree days.
He spoke of wanting to be with Ygo more than anything in the world.
He spoke of his special bonding moments with him—the same quality time Ygo's mom spends breastfeeding him.
So where do I come in?
During this father-son bonding time, Budik reads to Ygo my books! (On Budik's and Karen's pre-wedding party, I gifted them with a whole set of my children's books, hoping that when their future child will be ready to read, the books will come in handy.)
Ygo arrived ten months after the wedding and little did I know that Budik would be reading the books to his infant son just weeks after birth!
Karen posted on FB dozens of photos of Budik reading the books to a very attentive baby.
Their favorite is “The Secret Ingredient.”
My oft-repeated wish with every book I write is that kids will learn to love reading. In the process, they will devour books and learn from them.
I hadn't counted on a young, first-time father to be my partner in making this wish come true. Ygo will be a bookworm.
God often sends grace to authors through readers' wonderful letters and encouraging comments. But on Father's Day this year, I received additional grace through a father named Budik and his son named Ygo.
6 comments:
Wow, what a wonderful blessing to read this piece on a rainy Thursday morning! Thank you for dedicating a whole blog post to my mag-ama, Ninang Grace! It truly is a joy for Budik to read Ygo your books. It's really our privilege to own a set of your books so we can start Ygo early in knowing about God's love and Christian values. We hope and pray he would grow up to love reading!
thank you, Karen. What a blessing it was to hear Budik speak of his son the way he did. May all fathers follow suit.
Very nicely said Sis. Grace. Am really glad that my grandson Ygo have them as his parents. They're both very much hands-on on taking care of him. I know for sure Ygo will grow up in the knowledge of the Lord. I also gifted my eldest daughter Chen some of your books and now Basti, her eldest son at 3 years old is already a bookworm and for sure the younger one Johann (6 mos. old)would emulate his kuya, mukhang idol nya kasi ito. Thank you for your God-given talent. Continue writing because you're doing great things for these little ones.
You're right, Sallie, children who grow up with books become readers. I really admire moms like Karen and Chen (and of course Gianina) who go out of their way to make sure their kids are introduced to and trained in the things that are important--especially in the knowledge of the Lord.
Ygo is very blessed, indeed!
Indeed, he is. The Lord gave him parents who love the Lord.
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