John 9:3 Jesus answered, “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.”
Last January, I visited a close friend of mine. He suffered a debilitating stroke about 3 years ago but has made leaps and strides in his rehabilitation. The main problem to date, however, is that his left hand is still immobile. And because if this single impairment, his capacity to effectively keep his business running smoothly or gain employment is affected. To compound their financial woes, his family have to transfer to the inskirts of the city to rent a modest house after an argument with his in-laws.
I am happy because he still has faith in God and still got those funny punchlines in our conversation. But before I left, he showed me his other self which he hides away from his 3 young children and wife. He cried because he pitied his family that instead of him taking care and providing for their needs, it is his wife working hard and his children sacrificing a lot so that his medical and personal needs can be met. He wanted so much to get to his old back self and be the responsible father to their children.
There was a time when I was tempted to asked God if it is really my friend’s fault that led to his present condition. Does his family really deserve this trial simply because he loves to eat and was not totally conscious about his health condition?
Most of us are aware of God’s “just punishments” through the accounts of the old testament stories. It is easy for us to give subconscious nod of acceptance. We shrugged those things as “an accident waiting happen” which has a grain of truth especially if it contradicts nature and natural laws.
Jesus offered us a different perspective.
The apostles were tempted to ask whose fault it was for the man being born blind, but Jesus replied that it was nobody’s fault.
We must realized that it is not important to God whether our affirmities are caused by our sinfulness or not, because He can make us well inside out.
What God needs from us is that we let ourselves be ”seen” by Him, to follow His advice and to bring back the glory to Him.
The same friend gave me the answer to my question during my last visit – his condition was his own fault but he believes that God blessed him with his second life and despite his present difficulties, he is grateful to Him.
I can feel his determination to strive to recover fully and be God’s living testimony to the people around him.
I believe my friend because I am already a witness to his faith, struggles and all.
2008/02/29
2008/02/17
Super Heroes
Dear parents (and friends),
A few days ago, we threw a simple kiddie party for our kids which was attended by families, relatives and close friends.
But while preparing for our party theme, we were seriously considering the Justice League theme similar to the first birthday theme of our oldest son 3 years ago.
Yep, they are those masked superheroes clad in their colorful skin tight outfit that we have all grown to adore and admire on TV or comic books in our youthful days.
Paying tribute to their saving-people-all-in-a-day’s-work feats are always a cool and fun way to impart on our children’s minds.
Everything was catchy right that time except for a small thing that bugged us no end.
Justice League heroes are fictional and virtually non-existent so honoring them is not only superficial but grossly misleading as well.
We realized then that children themselves, instead, are deserving of the honoring they need for what they can do and not for what they hope they can achieve with their fairy-tale strengths and powers.
Come to think of it, children are more indeed powerful than a locomotive when they hit us with strong messages.
They are able to leap over tall buildings of trials with a single bound of hope.
It is time to get real and discard the reel.
Children are our superheroes and they have the basic super powers they need to help and save, first and foremost, us, their parents and as well as the other people who meet them.
What they need is our assurance that their super powers do have good effect in our lives thereby canceling any inhibitions from their side.
Am I kidding you?
A definitive “No”.
Am I serious?
A resounding “Yes”.
Allow me to remind you about some of our children’s natural superpowers.
AURA SMILE.
Whether it is a toothless amusing grin or a charming beam on their face, nobody can deny the intricate emotional uplift a person feels when one is in the receiving end of it, even if it comes from a total stranger and more so from our very own child. It could be a random act on their side or an intentional gesture to make us feel better on a particular moment. But the effect on us is nevertheless awe inspiring.
ULTRA HUG.
Feel those small arms around your neck and experience that kindred love. The initial “choking” feeling will easily fade away as the warmth of your child’s love slowly envelops you. You may even slowly pass out, not for lack of breathable air (but it also a possibility to those with strong kids), but because of the depth of your child’s innocent expression of their need or gratefulness or pure energy of love.
MEGA KISS
Do you remember your child’s small lips brushing their chocolate smudge on your cheeks? Or that saliva-full of a smack that makes you shout that “eeewww, stop that” cry of a protest? But among the varieties of this superpower, most of us would favor to obtain the good-day and good-night kisses that packs a bunch of love as we go to and arrive from work and before calling it a day.
There are a lot more superpowers that our children possess and can develop through our ministering and mentoring.
They are called virtues and it is our task as parents to guide and teach them towards attaining them.
Let us all pray and make a deliberate effort to re-affirm the super-ness of our children.
Let us help them to master their powers to make them just and loving persons when they grow up.
By God’s grace, I believe we can because we have been superheroes ourselves to our parents when we were young.
We just have to re-discover and re-live those powers inside us again.
God bless our families.
A few days ago, we threw a simple kiddie party for our kids which was attended by families, relatives and close friends.
But while preparing for our party theme, we were seriously considering the Justice League theme similar to the first birthday theme of our oldest son 3 years ago.
Yep, they are those masked superheroes clad in their colorful skin tight outfit that we have all grown to adore and admire on TV or comic books in our youthful days.
Paying tribute to their saving-people-all-in-a-day’s-work feats are always a cool and fun way to impart on our children’s minds.
Everything was catchy right that time except for a small thing that bugged us no end.
Justice League heroes are fictional and virtually non-existent so honoring them is not only superficial but grossly misleading as well.
We realized then that children themselves, instead, are deserving of the honoring they need for what they can do and not for what they hope they can achieve with their fairy-tale strengths and powers.
Come to think of it, children are more indeed powerful than a locomotive when they hit us with strong messages.
They are able to leap over tall buildings of trials with a single bound of hope.
It is time to get real and discard the reel.
Children are our superheroes and they have the basic super powers they need to help and save, first and foremost, us, their parents and as well as the other people who meet them.
What they need is our assurance that their super powers do have good effect in our lives thereby canceling any inhibitions from their side.
Am I kidding you?
A definitive “No”.
Am I serious?
A resounding “Yes”.
Allow me to remind you about some of our children’s natural superpowers.
AURA SMILE.
Whether it is a toothless amusing grin or a charming beam on their face, nobody can deny the intricate emotional uplift a person feels when one is in the receiving end of it, even if it comes from a total stranger and more so from our very own child. It could be a random act on their side or an intentional gesture to make us feel better on a particular moment. But the effect on us is nevertheless awe inspiring.
ULTRA HUG.
Feel those small arms around your neck and experience that kindred love. The initial “choking” feeling will easily fade away as the warmth of your child’s love slowly envelops you. You may even slowly pass out, not for lack of breathable air (but it also a possibility to those with strong kids), but because of the depth of your child’s innocent expression of their need or gratefulness or pure energy of love.
MEGA KISS
Do you remember your child’s small lips brushing their chocolate smudge on your cheeks? Or that saliva-full of a smack that makes you shout that “eeewww, stop that” cry of a protest? But among the varieties of this superpower, most of us would favor to obtain the good-day and good-night kisses that packs a bunch of love as we go to and arrive from work and before calling it a day.
There are a lot more superpowers that our children possess and can develop through our ministering and mentoring.
They are called virtues and it is our task as parents to guide and teach them towards attaining them.
Let us all pray and make a deliberate effort to re-affirm the super-ness of our children.
Let us help them to master their powers to make them just and loving persons when they grow up.
By God’s grace, I believe we can because we have been superheroes ourselves to our parents when we were young.
We just have to re-discover and re-live those powers inside us again.
God bless our families.
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