Love that Never Fails

Hello, loves! It's love month again. I can't believe we're already in February. It seems like it was just yesterday when it was the beginning of 2015 and we were in the US. Time flies, whether we like it or not. But as time goes by, things happen; one thing remains constant and reliable though, the unchanging love of God. His love never fails. It never gives up, it never runs out on me, as the song goes. I, you, all of us can depend on it. Sometimes, due to unavoidable and unexpected circumstances, we feel like God is silent. We think He doesn't even care. But believe me, He does. There's this song that really speaks to me whenever I sing it:

God is too wise to be mistaken

God is too good to be unkind

So when you don't understand

When you can't see His plans

When you can't reach His hands

Trust His heart

Indeed, we can always trust the God who didn't spare His own son, but gave Him up for us all - how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things (Romans 8:32)? He has given His beloved Son. His very own. His everything. Because from His heart comes that never failing love, that indescribable kind of love (John 3:16). He loves you. He loves me. He loves us all. Whatever happens, we can trust this love. Because it never fails.

Now, why did I put a picture of a heart-shaped doughnut in this post? It's my way of greeting you all, Happy Heart's Day! Enjoy this love month with your loved ones! 

Pilipinas Kong Mahal

Ang bayan ko'y tanging ikaw

Pilipinas kong mahal

Ang puso ko at buhay man

Sa iyo'y ibibigay

Tungkulin kong gagampanan

Na lagi kang paglingkuran

Ang laya mo'y babantayan

Pilipinas kong hirang

My classmates and I used to sing this back in elementary during our flag ceremony. We sang this 5 times a week every morning for 6 years. At first, I was in Grade 1 then, I just sang this out of routine because it was a must that we memorized it. It was only in 1987, I was in Grade 6, that the entirety of its meaning had dawned on me.

The EDSA Revolution occurred in 1986 and I was just 11 years old at that time. I was merely a child and couldn't understand what was really happening to our country back then. After a year however, I was a bit curious of what was going on. Little by little as the years come by and celebrations after celebrations happened, I began to understand what it meant to be a Filipino and the significance of the song we sang every flag raising/retreat ceremony. I would say I have become nationalistic in my own way. I became interested in the news, not simply watching the current events being reported but "looking after" the welfare or state of my country. In addition, I would always set a time to pray for the Philippines, knowing and believing that it is only the Lord who can guard, protect and bless my beloved nation.

Now that I am a mom, I still have that love for my country and I would like to impart that to my daughter in ways that she will understand. It could be as simple as standing straight and putting the right hand to the chest when we hear the national anthem being played. It may not be that radical but I believe that will do for now.

How about you, fellow mom? In what other ways would you like to demonstrate/teach your little ones the love for our country? I would love to hear from you.

The Greatest Love

One of the verses in the Bible that touches me is in the 15th chapter of the Book of John, specifically, verse 3. It says there, "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." Just imagine that, a friend laying down his/her life for you, isn't that awesome? As a mom, I know this is not incomprehensible. Every mother (my mom included) will lay down her life, at all costs, for her precious child/children. But to think of a friend doing it for you? Well that must really be love.

I know of that One friend who had laid down his life for me and you. He died the most excruciating kind of death though he didn't deserve it. He gave his life because he loves us. He took what was supposed to be given to us. It is not because we are worthy of it, no, not at all. It is simply because of his unfathomable love. Actually, I cannot grasp the depth of his love for us. When I think about it, I wonder and ask, "How could you do that for me? I'm not even as good as a friend can be, yet you have loved me." One song I know that captures my thought:

You loved me 

When I was so unlovely

You sought me 

When I was lost

You showed me

How much you really loved me

When you bought me

At the highest cost. 

There's no greater love than this

There's no greater love than this

That a man would give his life for a friend

There's no higher sacrifice

Than a man would give his life

You have paid a precious price for me.

No Greater Love by Don Moen

Today, I hope you find this greatest love from Jesus. He has made it available for you. It's free for the asking. All you need to do is to come as you are. He has been waiting.

Perfect Love Casts Away Fear

I have a confession to make. I just watched "Frozen" last Sunday. Yay! I watched it with my husband while our baby was asleep. It's a sort of "date at home" because on that day, well after we watched Frozen and everything was done, he went out of town/city for work. He'll be gone for five days. Oh well, that's not the story of this post, hehe. It's about the movie. It's so cool, it's Frozen! Hahaha!

Everyone was raving about this movie. I was really so curious about it that I asked my husband to look for ways how we can see this movie now that it's no longer in the movie house. Long story short, he found it.

I found this Disney movie entertaining just like any other Disney movies but with a lot of twists and lessons too. I'm sure you have read a lot of reviews and most of them talked about the twists. So I'm not going to talk about the them anymore. There's one thing that resonates in my heart though, and that is how Elsa and Ana were reared by their parents. As a parent myself, I always look for tips and insights on how to raise my own child. And I'm so thankful that I saw a valuable lesson from this movie which I believe that every parent/s should also take note of.

Elsa was born with great power in her hands but this was not explained well to her nor to her sister, Ana. They started as really best of friends, always looking forward to tomorrow where Elsa could make a snowman and both of them would just frolic in the ice-turned floor of the castle. It was an innocent merry-making moment that turned into "this-is-getting-out-of-hand" incident when Ana was accidentally hurt by Elsa, although the latter's purpose was really to save Ana from hitting the icy floor. We know what happened next. The parents went to their troll friends. The grandpa troll told Elsa that her greatest enemy would be fear. Since then, Elsa lived in fear. That scene spoke to me.

The very thing that they didn't want Elsa to have, that is fear, was in fact the very reason why Elsa "shut out" everyone around her, including Ana.Why did the opposite happen? It's because they magnify the negative without pointing out the positive. If fear would be Elsa's greatest enemy, what could be her most important friend? If fear is the poison, what is the antidote? The parents failed to ask the grandpa troll. The grandpa troll didn't remonstrate it. Elsa grew up feeling imprisoned with fear of hurting the ones she love. The antidote she herself concocted was just to hide in isolation, to conceal and "don't let them know."

But like any other Disney movies, Frozen has a happy ending. I like that part when Elsa asked Ana after she  turned from ice to flesh again because of that one act of true love, "You sacrifice yourself for me?" Ana answered, "Yes, because I love you." Then realization came to Elsa and she said, "Love. That's it." And she was another woman; no longer living in fear but in love. It was like, only at that moment she understood that all along, it was love she was looking for. It was love that she needs to have in her heart so that fear would have no room at all. Good thing, it was not yet too late. :)

"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18), according to the Bible. As a parent, I would like to instill love in my child's heart. Of course, my baby is not perfect and neither am I. There are not so good things in the heart of a person or even a child. But it's for me not to magnify on those things lest my child would grow in fear out of trying her best to avoid doing those bad things. I believe that my husband and I are placed in this world and entrusted with this so great a gift, our baby, by our God to nurture and nourish her in love. In love, point out the good things in her. In love, correct the wrongs and provide opportunities for improvement. In love, lead her in the right path. In love support and uphold her. In love, simply love her.

As I've mentioned above, there are lots of lessons we can learn from this movie but if there's one thing that I would like to remember and pass it on to my daughter is that love is powerful enough to cast away all fears she might have in her heart. :)

Disclaimer: Photo not mine and just grabbed from the Internet.