Tag: family

Teaching Our Kids a Valuable Lesson

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Why is it that my little 3 year old looks so mature in the photos that are taken of her?
Can you tell that she was absolutely thrilled to have had her photo taken? 😉

Late yesterday morning, my husband and I decided that we should go through our closets, take out the blankets, jackets, scarves, etc that we don’t use and donate it all to a homeless shelter. What an amazing idea! I absolutely love giving this time of year. I love giving at any time of the year, but I feel like giving around the holidays is extra special and I feel so grateful that my family and I are able to bless those who have nothing during the holiday season.

As I was going through the blankets I explained to Amaura what we were doing and why. I told her that there are children and grownups who don’t have a home and that they have to sleep  on the cold ground outside. I explained to her that because we have plenty of blankets and warm things that we were going to give them to the people who don’t have anything to help them stay warm.
Her face lit up and I can tell that she felt so special that she would be able to help out the homeless. We went to Amaura’s closet and I let her pick out a jacket that she wanted to give to the shelter. She picked out her pink winter coat from last year and gladly put it in the bin of donations.

After we got everything together and organized into the bin, we were off to find a homeless shelter to gladly donate to. It was a fun and joyous ride around town, looking for a place to give to while listening to Christmas carols.
When we got to the second homeless shelter, my husband got out of the car before me and the girls did because he needed to make sure that they excepted donations before we took everything out of the trunk.
Outside there was a large group of men standing and hovering around the picnic table in the front of the shelter. Ed (my husband) was taking awhile to come back to the car to give us the 411 and so I glanced out the window and saw that he was on his phone standing over a man that was laying on the picnic table. When my husband got back to the car he informed me that he had to call the ambulance because the elder man that was laying on the table was having a heart attack… My heart shatter into a million pieces… It breaks my heart that there is so much homelessness and poverty in the world that leads to illnesses and disease. The ambulance got to the homeless shelter in a hurry and took the elder man to the hospital. I’ve been praying that the Lord will touch that man with His healing hands and that the man is OK.

After we dropped off our donations at the shelter, I talked with Amaura a little bit more about the gift of giving. I told her that because she donated her pink winter coat that another little girl who is her age would be nice and warm during this cold winter season. How amazing that my little girl was able to bless someone else by giving!
I love that I am able to teach my children about the gift of giving and how important it is to give to the needy. I believe that, that is a valuable lesson to learn and I hope and pray that my children will forever remember what their daddy and I teach them and that they will be willing to give up things they don’t need for the needy.
I hope and pray that our donations from yesterday are able to bless multiple people that go to that homeless shelter for help. ❤

Deuteronomy 15:10
Give freely to the poor person. Do not wish that you didn’t have to give. The Lord your God will bless your work and everything you touch.

Deuteronomy 16:17
All must give as they are able, according to the blessings given to them by the Lord your God.

Family Traditions

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As I was kneading dough for dinner rolls this early afternoon, I was thinking about family traditions and how they leave us with lasting memories and they always have a story to tell that lasts from generation to generation.

My Lola (grandmother in Tagalog) Norma used to live in the Philippines where there is lots of poverty, homelessness, starvation, and lots of people stealing things and money just so they can have a meal that day. Because of that, when she married my papa John and came to live in the U.S. with him, when she would cook and bake, she would make plenty of food for multiple people eat and there would always be leftovers. My Lola Norma loved to feed people and she loved to hear that you were stuffed so stupid that you had food coming out of your ears.
When my parents first met, after they got back to my grandparents house from a dinner date, my Lola Norma would insist that my dad ate the dinner that she had prepared that night even if he were already incredibly full! She would not let him leave the house until he ate her food.

My mom learned to make lots of delicious Filipino recipes from my Lola Norma and has taught me to make a few of them. Can you believe that I didn’t know that corn beef and cabbage was actually a stew?! I was so used to my Lola Norma’s Filipino version and the way that her and my mama would make it that the first time I had “real” corn beef and cabbage is when my husband and I were dating for nine months and we went to his parents house for Saint Patrick’s Day. I was honestly a little disappointed because I was looking forward to how I was used to it being made that the stew just didn’t cut it or hold a candle to my Lola Norma’s recipe. 😉

I think it is so important to have family traditions and to even start a few of our own because they always hold a special story to tell about someone very close to our hearts or maybe it’s even a tradition one of our ancestors started, and how amazing would it be to start your own tradition and it be passed on?
I still remember cooking in the kitchen with my Lola Norma the mornings after I would spend the night at her house and the evenings when my family and I would go over for supper. I loved to watch her cook and bake and I loved helping her!
It is so amazing to make my Lola Norma’s recipes with my mama in her kitchen and listen to the stories she tells me about my Lola Norma and how she was brought up.

I am going to show Amaura how to make the same Filipino recipes that my Lola Norma taught my mama to make and I am going to share the story that I shared with you all with her. I’m going to tell Amaura how strong, amazing and loving her great grandmother was and I hope that one day Amaura will do the same with her future children.
I not only want to carry on the tradition my Lola Norma started with Amaura, but I also want to teach her how to make the rolls that I just learned to make and will be making every Sunday.
And I hope that I will always be remembered and that my story and new tradition will be passed down from generation to generation. ❤