First half of 2020

“What is the most useless material that was bought in 2019?

...

A 2020 Planner”

This... is partly true.

The ash fall from the eruption of Taal volcano at the first month of the year, shutdown establishments, highways and airports. Limiting most of our movements due to the air being unsafe.

We thought this was just a little bump at the start of the year. Everything seemed to have been back to normal after a few weeks - or so we thought.

Come March, everyone was forced to a lockdown/ community quarantine due to the pandemic. Half of the year has passed and some areas are still in community quarantine, though some business have been reopened, most areas still feel like ghost towns as there are only limited number of people allowed in establishments.

Wheeeeeww!!!! That was depressing.

To make things a little lighter, I would like to share what I am grateful for despite the first half of the year being unpleasant.

At the first two months of the year, my daughter was able to visit to at least one province from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Let me elaborate on that. We moved from Abra to Manila last October 2019. So our home base is now Manila.

So for the first day of January, my daughter and I were in the Province of Abra in Luzon.

A few weeks later, late January, we went to the Province of Zamboanga del Norte in Mindanao, with my husband who was on vacation. This is my husband’s province. We were there for about a week.

Mid- February, we went to the Province of Cebu in Visayas, to accompany my aunt who was visiting from Australia.

Despite the months after the being shitty, I look back and still feel grateful that my daughter and I were able to travel. Though, truthfully the only reason we were able to travel is because we had family matters to attend to.

What I am trying to say is, at least my daughter was able to see different places before she was home-locked due to the pandemic. 

It is within this first half of the year that I started to return to blogging and tried to revisit some of my forgotten hobbies. This is a work in progress.

That is all for now I guess.

I wonder what the other half of the year will be.

Till next time.

—- 

PS. There are other things that happened within the first half of the year, but these are family matter that I cannot share in my blog.

PSS. To those saying “ang yabang naman” or “check your privileges girl”...

I want to make it clear that the travel to different provinces were opportunities that I decided to take for my daughter to be able to see places. We don’t usually travel, it just happened that we had to go to these places and it happened that we had/ we were offered the resources for it.

I acknowledge the fact that we are one of the “lucky ones” who, despite the pandemic is still able to live comfortably. Though that does not mean that we don’t go out of our way to help in our small ways - we simply don’t post in public the kind of help we provide.

love is the antidote

i dare not ask "why" you were infront of me last night.
i dare not keep any of my emotions any more.
i dare not let go from your embrace.
i dare not push you away.

love is the antidote.
love is the antidote.
love is the antidote.
love is the antidote.

you were about to rest but you ran to my aid.
you were accepting of all my emotions and let me cry on your shoulder.
you were there to offer the most heartfelt embrace i was longing for.
you were compassionate and did your best to console a helpless soul.

thank you my dearly beloved God's Gift, Bjoy Isolana.

i thought it would never happen, but you proved me wrong; and you showed me how much you really care for me.

thank you for giving me hope and love, truly you are a gift from God. you are of the great blessings from God that i am really thankful and grateful for.

i love you.

Matthew 13:44-46

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it."

this was the core of our discussion during our household a few meetings back. We were asked what were our greatest treasures and what are we willing to give up to achieve this treasure. the common denominator for the greatest treasure between our household is family. we would do almost everything in our power just to help and care for our families.

our guest during the household was ate jean. her greatest treasure would be her relationship with her family. she admitted that she felt her prayers were answered recently regarding her family. though she has gone through a death in her family, she was able to see the goodness behind the darkness as her family is now more bonded and she has now a sense of belonging within her family. she shared that for her, she needed not to give up anything to attain the treasure she has. it was all because of prayer, patience and following the path of Christ.

our household head, ate alma, has been helping in sending her sibling and other family members in their education. though there is not much left for her, she feels joys in seeing their success and achievements. she feels accomplished in being able to help her brothers and sisters through the education of her niece/ nephew. she shared that she is willing to give up her personal desires just to fulfill the dreams of her family.

for ate taf, she shared that family is always a treasure she would also cherish. another treasure would be her relationship with her God's Gift, Kuya Reuben. she shared some experiences that made her let go of her selfishness and pride in order to preserve and protect her relationship with her love. the result of her giving up her selfishness and pride? a stronger and more meaning realationship with kuya Reuben.

as for me, the greatest treasure would be, being able to build my own "christian family." i have had my own turmoils with my family and i guess i am able to "hold on" because of my own prayers and the prayers of those around me. i know that at my age, i may still be too young to even think about marriage, though i would admit that it is not far from impossible considering i am in a relation with Joy Isolana, my "God's Gift."

when i was discerning on whether or not i would be in a relationship, sis mimi told me to decide, "if i wanted to be with the person for the rest of my life (someone i would marry) or merely someone who i want to have a relationship with." this in mind, i decided that this person is someone i will be marrying in the future. this is where my "treasure" stems from, my relationship with my GG and out future together as a family.

no family is perfect, but no future parent would like to make the mistakes that they may have experienced with their own parents, their own family. i shared that at some point in my life, i would have to sacrifice and let go my own family to build up my own christian family. i know that it may all be just words for now, but as i move forward to the future, it is definitely a reality. i would have to face the separation, the change in priorities and being more responsible for my own (future) family.