One Child at a Time

"Releasing Children From Poverty in Jesus' Name"

This first line in the Compassion International (CI) brochure so moved me, I tearfully prayed, In however way I could serve . . .

The next day, CI's National Director  was accompanied by a friend to ask me a question. Saying "no" was not an option. 

"Would you be willing to be a part of the five-man National Advisory Committee (NACs)?" 

The NACs would screen candidates for the Leadership Development Program (LDP)—CI-sponsored high school graduates entering college. I looked forward to meeting the other four members. As I was already neck-deep in writing value-driven stories for children, this new job would add dimension to my craft. 

"We commit to honor Jesus Christ in all that we do. Jesus is the core of our ministry and his life and teachings shape our programs," read CI's mission. 

Unto Jesus, I worked with four gentlemen of various persuasions for a good six years (2004-2010), documented in dozens of blogs. We'd meet several times a year to screen LDP prospects and help train the chosen ones in congresses. 

This ministry enabled me to write a book on these scholars'

struggles, dreams, and breakthroughs:

Circle of Compassion

Stories of children released from poverty  

Fast forward to 2021 . . . 

I got a call from CI's Angel, inviting me to speak at a gathering of CI alumni. 

Alumni! The "kids" we helped mentor over 12 years ago! I thought, rejoicing over their  theme, which is the title of one of my books, "Grace under Pressure." 

It was a morning of no pressure, just pure grace, unsullied by pandemic fears. I had a chance to chat with these graduates again, after many years. These once-children-released-from-poverty-in Jesus'-name are now successful professionals in their fields, and are paying it forward by participating in the CI program "Sponsor a Child." 

"Sponsor a Child" is about sharing $38 per month, which translates to life-changing opportunities for poor children to: attend school, afford food and medical care, and be mentored in a safe environment—a local evangelical church where they will get to know Jesus, whose birth Christians the world over are celebrating this month. 

Dear cyber friends, may I invite you to give a life-changing gift to one child in poverty this Christmas?

Here's the link:

https://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/

Home PINK Home

For years and years, I would not repeat my Christmas tree motif. Thinking up of what next? was hard to ignore.   

Then five years ago, we lost our long-time househelper, Ate Vi, to an undiagnosed ailment, and so I lost my persistent prodder, "Christmas is three months away; don't dilly-dally deciding on the trimmings!" 

Our tree departed with her. The pandemic made things worse—or better, depending on how you look at it. My interest in crafts departed as well. 

But on Halloween last month, Mother Teresa brought out a cornucopia of old decor from the storeroom. Before she could ask, I told her to put up some of them herself. 

Just in time, pink parol (lantern) leaped out of social media.  Supporters of VP Leni Robredo were (and still are) ordering them from lantern makers.  "It's symbolic of hope; let's hang them in our homes," they announced.

This trend resulted in a cottage industry in various places. "This is not just for Christmas; let's leave them hanging till May [the presidential election]," friends encouraged other friends.      

Suddenly, I had bespoke Christmas theme! Tony called up several lantern makers who all said, "All sold out. If you can wait another two weeks . . ." 

No, we couldn't wait. Finally we found one, but for pick-up.  

And so, they surround our home (on a corner lot), reminding passers-by that on Christmas, a season of grace, Hope came. 

Two of these lanterns made it to our terrace to frame our shrunken, token (1.5 feet) Christmas tree, trimmed with pink ribbons and balls.  

Indeed, if we vote for an honest, hard-working, and transparent president with exemplary track record like Leni, we can hope to rise from the ruins of the epidemic and calamities that have strained the economy of the Philippines, your home and mine. 

"The Lord curses the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the upright." Proverbs 3:33 NLT 

PINK and Simple

In December, it's Merry Christmas, not Happy Holidays. 

Among Christians, there are no ifs, buts, ands, or maybes. Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world, Jesus. This Holy Birth is the reason for the holidays, plain and simple. 

The phrase plain and simple means, essentially or fundamentally so, without exaggeration or elaboration.

In our home, we try hard to take this phrase literally—the birth of Christ was plain (no fuss) and simple (no fanfare). We celebrate it with the least fuss or fanfare. 

We attend a solemn Christmas service (online for the second year) then break bread late in the evening, after which we open utilitarian* gifts, others given months before**, for each other.  

This year, as the country gears up for the presidential election, I discovered that "plain" is interchangeable with  "pink," the campaign color of VP Leni Robredo. 

Pink has been defined as volunteerism and giving of self. Because Leni lacks resources, supporters have been donating time, money, food, materials, and energy for the benefit of other people in the community. What a spirit of social responsibility without expectations of any reward!  

Volunteerism can't be anything but love, the color of Christmas. 

Love has been most palpable after Typhoon Odette left many areas in total ruin—homes and crops are either flattened or swept away; people have perished or are gravely hurt; and hearts are in grief or broken. 

On Christmas eve, grace overflowed. We had a home-delivered lunch, a gift from son #2 and family who live faraway. For dinner, we partook of a roasted turkey (this 30-year family tradition is good for three meals), a charcuterie board from a friend, and some go-withs in place of rice. The 13-pound bird is son #1's gift and the preps plus roasting are son #3's. 

The other presents in pink (photos below) are from nieces and other kin.   

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*I knew son #1 would give me another translation of the chronological Bible this year. But was I suprised when I opened his present: a chronological Life Application Study Bible! 

**My printer died on me in the middle of a book draft. I panicked; I needed a quick  replacement, but I was broke. My knight in shining armor, Tony, bought me a new one and said, "That's my early Christmas gift for you.

"Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever." Psalm 23:6 (NLT) 

Too Wonderful for Words

Christians all over the world celebrate the birth of Christ on the 25th of December. 

But the date is inconsequential, really. It could be on the 12th of September or the 29th of February, or any day. Nothing changes the fact that one day long ago, the King of all creation gave man a Gift nobody could ever deserve.

On Christmas, in a lowly manger, God became a mere mortal, so that 33 years later, He would die on the cross in place of sinful me—to have the chance to live with Him for eternity.

He did this in such an incredibly humble manner that is contrary to what He owns and can do. 

Christmas is not about the date, the trimmings we fuss over, the angels, the shepherds, the magi, about the things invented by modern man—the trees, wreaths, blinking lights, and wrapped gifts that define revelry. 

So what is it about? 

Many songs and books have been written to describe Christmas, but it remains—to this day—too wonderful for words. One song title by the Ball Brothers and the Go Fish Band speaks of Christmas thus:

“It’s about the Cross.” 

It’s about how Jesus “came to be born once so that we could be born again.”  

Christmas, when He came to us, was just the beginning of His earthly story. It ended when He ascended back to heaven, after being nailed on the cross. 

“It’s the ending that will save you” the song goes. It’s Jesus’ earthly ending to give us a heavenly life that will never, ever end again.  

“Thank God for this gift too wonderful for words!” (2 Corinthians 9:15)

Reflect and pray: 

How would I personally describe Christmas? 

The above is an entry from Memories of Grace 

It's a devotional with 180 one-page entries on various topics like ageing, living with hope, trusting God in the midst of uncertainty; and virtues like faith, grace, patience, gratitude, humility, generosity, and many more. It's available at shop.omflit.com  

I believe memories of grace are unlimited. Everyone has an endless lake from which marvelous memories spring.

Christmas Extravagance

A few houses in our village are go-to places during Christmas. The owners put up thousands of lights that elicit aahs and oohs from all passers-by. The multi-colored lights blink in ways nobody ever thought possible. Neighbors say the owners scour the world for the most magnificent  lights through the year so they could display them on Christmas—as their gift to one and all.  

Every year, people in the area and from different faraway places come in droves just to behold these spectacles. 

Instead of lights, other houses decorate with everything people associate with Christmas celebrations—Santa riding his sleigh with his reindeers, musical bells, the magi, and angels. All of them are bigger than life and move to the rhythm of Christmas carols. Videos complete the décor.  

These houses, too, draw large crowds. 

Such extravagance!  And yet, we know that because the houses are owned by billionaires, the expense for those Christmas displays is just a drop in the bucket of material riches.     

They may splurge all they want, and yet they—anyone—can never approximate nor even come close to the extravagance ordinary human beings were treated to on that first Christmas. 

God gave His only begotten Son as our Christmas Gift so that we may someday live in His house which, I am sure, is beyond magnificence and splendor, defying human imagination.  

Can anyone or anything compare with such heavenly extravagance?  

“You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9 NLT)  

Reflect and pray: 

Why is there no greater than the gift of Christ Himself? 

Photo credits: top; bottom 

Same Difference

“Mom, you’ve been wanting a new sala set. Now you can choose whatever you want and that’ll be my Christmas and birthday gift to you,” said Mrs. Cruz’ eldest son. 

Mrs. Cruz would turn 75 on Christmas day and was excited over this generous gift. She went to the mall as soon as it opened. After scouring several shops, she saw the sala set she liked. “Please reserve it for me,” she told the salesman. But thinking she might still see something better, she walked round and round the mall. 

One hour later, she exclaimed, “This is it!” She told the salesman she would buy the sala set and wanted it delivered to her home right away.  

“I am sorry, Ma’am,” the salesman replied, “but that sala set has been reserved.” He then looked at his record and Mrs. Cruz read the name, “Mrs. Cruz!” 

She didn’t know whether to laugh or blush. She had totally forgotten it was the same sala set she reserved an hour ago. Am I losing my memory? she worried. Dementia? Alzheimer’s? Amnesia? 

Later, she narrated her boo-boo to her friends and like a deluge, she got similar senior stories from all. 

“But hey,” one of them said, “my apo is only 17 but he always forgets to turn off the light or lock the door! It’s not a senior thing!” 

They giggled like teenagers. 

Upon reaching our senior years, many of us begin to worry about mental health. Surely, failing of faculties come with age, but if we are steadfast in our faith, nothing should shake us. 

“My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.” (Psalm 73:26 NLT) 

Reflect and pray: 

How can I leave my health worries at the Lord’s feet? 

Baby's Firsts

Today, a newborn is welcomed with the best of care—scientific and antiseptic. 

The doctor suctions his mouth and nose to clear away fluids, enabling the baby to breath on his own; cuts the umbilical cord; then takes the baby's heart rate, reflex response, activity, muscle tone, breathing, etc. The infant will also receive antibiotic eye ointment to prevent eye infections and a vitamin K shot to prevent clotting problems, etc. 

Now, contrast this with the night Jesus was born.

Imagine a stable or a cave (the Bible does not specify the place). Both are dark and dingy, perhaps with animals roaring about. There Jesus was laid in a manger, a feed trough for animals, with only His teen-aged mother and father making sure he was comfortable. 

Our Savior’s first human experience was so different from yours, mine, and the babies’ of this modern generation. In the stable or cave, Jesus must have experienced the first of his many tears. He would come to know human sorrow—sickness, death, betrayal, animosity, ridicule, and humiliation, ending in a painful death.  

From that night He was born, God has been with us. “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” (Matthew 1:23 NLT)

Because Jesus loves you and me, He became human, and therefore can relate to our problems. So let us never feel like nobody understands us. Jesus does.

May the Light that shone upon the world that night cast its magnificence into our hearts this Christmas, giving us the peace on Earth of which the angels spoke long ago.

Reflect and pray: 

How can I honor our Savior for such love, first demonstrated on Christmas?  

Less Than Perfect

There are stores selling branded goods at cheap prizes. Reason? 

The merchandise are less than perfect: asymmetrical buttonholes; uneven hemlines; misaligned zippers; unsewn edges, etc. These are goods discarded by quality control. 

Just as there are less than perfect goods, there are also less than perfect people. Well, for one, nobody’s perfect. There are multitudes who spurn God and do everything against humanity and God’s will. But there are those who are the real deal—those who have decided to follow the path Jesus walks on.  

The good news is, Jesus loves all people, including the quality control discards: criminals, lowlifes, and unbelievers. In fact, Jesus did not cast them aside. On many occasions, he sought them out.  

This story is told in Luke 7:37-38 (NLT): 

“When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.” 

The Pharisee labeled her “a sinner ” but Jesus accepted her. He spoke gently to her, assuring her that her sins were forgiven (verse 48).

Jesus loves imperfect people—which includes me. And the greatest demonstration of His love for us is that He came on Christmas for everyone. “. . .  God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” (Romans 5:8)

As believers in God’s saving grace, may we be vessels of His love to the other flawed people in our communities so they too may know that they can receive God’s love despite their imperfections.

Reflect and pray: 

How can I share God’s love to less-than-perfect people like me?   

Photo credit: "Jesus' Feet" 

PINK Candle of Joy

Since October, I've been blogging quite often about the color PINK—about keeping a rosy attitude despite a polarized political playground.   

That's why the pink candle, which was lit today by son #3 in church (and which is lit on the 3rd Sunday of the Advent season year after year) particularly piqued (or pinked?) my interest.  

Among Christians, Advent season is a time of preparing our hearts and minds for the celebration of Jesus' birth. The Advent (the four Sundays and weekdays leading up to Christmas) this year began on December 3. 

Once a Catholic tradition, Advent was adopted by other Christian groups in the middle ages as part of our spiritual preparation. 

Why pink? 

It is the color of joy in worship. It is to remind us of the world's joy at the birth of Jesus, as well as the joy believers today feel about Jesus becoming flesh on Christmas. 

We remember that glorious day when He came to bestow His all-encompassing grace of salvation on sinful man. 

Pink, symbolic of joy, is about optimism and hope that despite the pandemic problems and other predicaments engulfing us today, we are assured of victory. 

Like the Shepherds one dark night, we are in fear. 

"Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. 'Don’t be afraid! . . . I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!" Luke 2:9-11 (NLT) 

Let's light a pink candle in our heart today and fear no more.  

PINK Be with You

 Peace was the buzzword in the 60s, especially in the US, to protest the Vietnam war. Because of its immense popularity among the hippies, who powered the anti-war movement, it became a generic word to represent world peace. 

Its popularity held till the 1980s among activists opposing nuclear power. 

Today, many peace advocates insist that PINK is the color of harmony and therefore the color of peace, or the opposite of war. 

So in today's political landscape, "Peace be with you" may be said as "Pink be with you."

VP Leni who is running for president, is an advocate for peace (the polar opposite of a warmonger). One of her most quoted statements is, "Madaling makipag-debate, mas radical ang magmahal [rough translation: It's easy to engage in a word war; it is more radical to love]." 

Heeding her call, many of her support groups conduct activities of grace that show this love for peace: free lugaw (porridge, seen as watery and non-essential), a term her competitors used to demean her, but which has been turned into something positive to feed the hungry; and free rides for weary commuters.  

And so, per Leni, it is "Pink be with you." 

These photos say it better. Again, since there are too many of them, not one replicates any of my past collages. 

"Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it." Psalm 34:14 (NLT)

PINKing Out Loud

Squeaky. That's how I described VP Leni's lackluster survey voice in numbers before October 2021. She was a poor 5th among prospective six presidential candidates. Her name hardly resonated with the research sample.

However, after she filed her certificate of candidacy, the squeaky sound suddenly became a clear, audible voice—in PINK. The volume of the once-insignificant sound has been growing louder.  

Two months later, the voice became a distinct PINK sound—blasting, booming, blaring in many parts of the country and the world, intensified by volunteerism, an attitude that is enabled by grace. 

I've never had so many chat and FB groups since social media came to being. Through these groups, with the number of creative ads for various demographics and psychographics (jingles, memes, Tik-Tok, video shorts, songs, poetry, art), the voice is loud, boosted by multiple sharing and re-posting. 

And yet, this volume has to be louder still to drown out the competitors' noise. They have the money, power, machinery and name known in the political scene for many years that can easily amp up their voices without lifting a finger. 

We, who share Leni's values (sincerity, honesty, and transparency), know what she has done and can do for the country. We need to think out loud, express our individual and collective thoughts so that we may be heard by ears deafened by lies and fake news. 

I was once shy about speaking up about my political views, but with the din of fakeries and rudeness, I decided to PINK out loud, using only PINK language that neither belittles nor berates others about their choices. Meaning, I speak only of truth and stay monadic.  

Below are moving photos (I try not to repeat any image from my previous PINK collages) of how volunteers are amplifying this volume. There are tons more. . . I can't keep up. 

"So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body." (Ephesians 4:25 NLT)  

Gift Wrapping

Christmas gifts from my friend Ggie, an art director, are always exquisitely wrapped. The ribbons are tied uniquely and the wrapping papers match or complement the ribbons. She painstakingly spends time wrapping each and every present she gives away. 

“How a gift is wrapped is just as important as the gift itself,” she says. “From the wrapping alone, the recipient will know how you value him/her.”  

Friends and family who receive gifts from Ggie carefully unwrap them so as not to rip or ruin them. They usually keep these wrappers for re-use at another time. 

If wrapping is that important, it makes us think of the wrapping that Jesus  chose when He came on Christmas as a gift to save us from our sinful selves. 

As God almighty, He could have wrapped His coming in a splendid show of splendor and power, lighting up the sky with His presence in mind-boggling  grandness. 

He did the reverse. “Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form . . .” (Genesis 1:26) 

Why would His wrapping be such? 

Being like us, He could relate to and feel our struggles. Like mortals, He experienced deep loneliness, betrayals, humiliation, and false accusations. In this wrapping, we could “. . . come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” (Hebrews 4:16)

It is the most exquisite Gift of all time! 

Reflect and pray: 

The humble, human wrapping of Jesus as man’s Gift on Christmas is as important as the Gift itself.

ooo