Ellasphere

Let me just deviate from the theme of this blog to give way to an inspiration which was brought to me today.

The joy of knowing that the Lord will always be there to cleanse our souls before we join Him has been realized during my attendance to our Sunday church service today at Tabernacle of Grace Assemblies of God.

It is inspiring because the Lord is there to comfort us especially in times of our defeat in life, and He makes us triumphant after when we cling on to Him. And I thank Him for taking care of those who remain loyal and faithful to Him and most importantly, to those who serve Him.

Tita Beth Barredo, a servant of God in our church, is one of my favorite workers there. She is a Sunday School teacher, a member of the Women’s organization there, an active servant who would come up with nice gifts for the members and attendees of the church especially during special ocassions. She loves talking to anyone in the church, whether with the aged or with the youth. She even leads the people to worship, and sings there too. Despite of her active presence and her prominence in the church, she remains humble and pleasant to all who is there. She grew old with God, never married but you’ll see the joy when she’s in the church.  

Then she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She has undergone a series of operations. You see, you won’t even notice her deterioration. Seems that her strength has never deteriorated. She continued her works in the church… and more and more people are being blessed with her and her life.

But then she got weaker and weaker until even it is against her will, she couldn’t attend the church service anymore and we all miss her. After the service, we all went to her, visited her. The thing about this is that, she is really ready to join Jesus… she is ready to face death but we still believe in the power of Jesus to heal.. but then it is His will that should be done.

The thing is, while I was gazing upon her face, I couldn’t help but burst into tears. Not because of how weak she looked, or because I pity her. Actually, my heart was touched by her strength, not just an ordinary physical strength, but the strength that is holy… from our Lord. She looked very pleasant and blooming. I even told her, how blooming she looked. And all she could say was, “the Lord has given me this blooming look. Praise Him…”

Despite of her sufferrings, she said nothing but praises to our God and you can see how much she praises God for everything. And as she faces her future, she just said, “Pastor, I’m ready. His will be done.”

I guess that Jesus is really a shepherd who looks after His sheep no matter what or how we may be. After the death of our physical body, there is life with Christ, and this time, the soul will live forever with Him if we chose to be with Him. We may feel sad upon a life that will leave us but we will be happy and joyful knowing that we will all come home to Christ. This really I believe.

I admire tita Beth’s courage and conviction upon facing this phase and trial in her life. Whatever happens, let God be praised! Thanks tita for your inspiration.

*Tita Beth (bottom left, with the Praise and Worship team Tabernacle of Grace Assemblies of God.

One of the skills learned by a baby before he reaches his first year is how to turn the pages of the book on his own. During the 8th month, you may already expose your child to reading materials in order for him to exercise this skill. You may start giving him books made of soft material such as cloth, or the ones withhard bound pages so he won’t be able to rip the pages. It is in this period also that the baby gets very attracted withcolors and pictures so choose books with more pictures in it. You may also choose the books with pictures that provide the child the actual feel or texture of the objects being shown, and this will capture their interest as well. This will give your child a jumpstart to like books.

Another way to have your child to love reading is to actually read to them every night. Show them the pictures as you read the story to help them imagine the story. Children love it when their parents read to them. This will also train them to listen attentively and will spark up their curiosity as well.

As your child enters school, you may also have him acquaintedwith the school library, and have him meet the people there so he may comfortable visiting the library, thus making the place a real haven for them. This will encourage them to borrow books and enhance their social skills as well.

And if you have the budget for new books, perhaps you can take your child with you to a bookstore and have him choose the books he likes and buy it for him. This make him feel in control of his choices. Make this a rewarding experience for him.

My eldest, Keith got acquainted with books at an early age. Though some of the books were overused to the point that they got destroyed and dilapidated but I really didn’t mind. For some reasons, this made him love books so much that he became fascinated with word attack or the skill of decoding words and was able to learn how to sightread at an early age, thanks to his teachers, of course. Also, when I was still pregnant with Kyle, I started reading to him books and somehow, this has made him interested with reading stories as well.

So it is never early to start exposing your kids to books and love reading. Happy reading!

Passion… It is something that keeps you going. It is the thing that you chose among other things that unleashes you to be who you are and to be good at. The joy and happiness that it brings cannot be bought by any amount. And no matter how hard you try to escape it, you find yourself getting back at it. I guess, denial does not get you anywhere.

I guess passion does not come from you alone.. you get to be passionate to the one that is given to you by the Most High. Perhaps, this is why many of circumstances and coincidences lead me to go back.. to teaching.

I have always believed in what Francis Kong told us in one of his talks in Brightwoods School… that being in this profession is a calling. Well, it is not even a profession, it’s a calling, just like what Jesus did for us.

Here is my prayer,

Dear Lord,

i am so blessed to be chosen by you for a cause.

and though i am not worthy,

in your eyes, i am…

i love you and i hope i stay as passionate as you are…

Amen.

There are two types of problematic behavior. The disruptive one and the type that avoids social interaction and contact. In dealing with these personalities, children must be heard and listened to in order for us to understand their feelings, the cause of such behavior, and from there, we will be able to know the approaches suitable for them. As you deal with them, you are guaranteed that you will make a difference in the lives of these children.

For those children with disruptive behavior, you need to make your expectations clear to them. This is by means of rules and regulations set at home or at school. You must also be clear with the boundaries that you are setting in order for the child to know his or her limits and from there, the child will be cleared as to why he or she is being reprimanded on the act that is said to be deviant to the set expectations. They will then know and learn the difference between right and wrong acts. You may also want to work on the balance between freedom and structure in order for the child to feel that he or she is not being limited much with what he or she can do. As long as you have established the discipline and the routines with your child, he or she will learn and therefore cooperate with your boundaries. You must also remember that you are not forcing these to your child, you are training him or her to the right path. Remember that physical punishment should be your last resort if you think this is needed and necessary for the child to remember not to do a certain deviant act, just use your judgment. But remember that children need to be guided with constant reminders and letting them know that you are always there to listen and to understand them.

For those children who are not into social interaction with others, it is important that you are always there to boost their confidence by celebrating their little successes in their endeavors, making them feel that you are really proud of them, and by helping them express themselves in the ways where they are comfortable at. Always show them that you are always interested with them and with their likes and build that bridge to connect him or her with the family, classmates or in any group that she is in.

For these two types of behavior, letting the children know that you CARE and you are always looking forward to see and hear from them. Boosting their confidence will make them realize that the world loves and accepts the, and they will see the advantages of conforming to what is being expected of them.

image from: www.bbc.co.uk/…/you_talksextokids.shtml

Last May 6, 2008 marks the final screening of the entries for the international competition “Cities Around the World” which was sponsored by Veolia Environement in cooperation with Clark Water. The event was held at Hotel Stotsenberg in Clarkfield, Pampanga, from where they will get to pick a representative of the Philippines for the South East Asia screening. From there, the winner will get to represent South East Asia to the Cities Around the World convention to be held in Paris, to be participated in by representatives around the globe. And by golly, my Grade 3 class won second place while the first place winner was the Grade 4 class from our school as well. Brightwoods School has once again proven its caliber when it comes to competitions, this time in an international arena.

Cities Around the World is contest which aims to let the children know and be aware of how their city is, how a city works and how it affects the environment as it progresses. All entries have shared almost the same views on this issue… progress really do harm the environment. Air pollution from factories, shortage of water and power supply, overpopulation, and garbage disposal… all these are the major problems that make the Earth suffer… and if this goes on, our home planet will be destroyed.

This contest made us all aware that indeed the city is in the verge of destroying the environment and everyone will suffer once we don’t take part in saving it. And so most of the children during the contest suggested ways on how we can care for our environment and these should be advocated starting in our very own homes:

1. the 3 R’s… Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Garbage segregation is the key to make this work. Separate the biodegradable from non-biodegradable. From there, you can figure out the trash that you can recycle or sell. This will diminish the amount of trash and garbage that we need to dispose. Encourage your children to make artworks out of the trash that can be recycled.

2. Avoid littering. Pick up trash even it does not belong to you and then dispose properly. Dispose garbage at the garbage near you.

3. Save water. Don’t forget to turn off the faucets when not in use. You may also reuse the water you have used for washing clothes to clean up your bathroom or for scrubbing the house flooring. You may teach your children to never let the water running when brushing their teeth and to use a glass of water when rinsing it.

4. Make a compost pit at the backyard. For biodegradable waste, a compost pit can be helpful in disposing them and in return, they make a good fertilizer to grow your crops. This may also be an educational thing to discuss with your children.

5. Encourage your children to save electricity by thinking of practices on how to conserve it, like unplugging the appliances when not in use.

6. Your children may also donate their savings to organizations that are advocates of the environment or perhaps they may join them as well.

These are just some of the things that you can have your children involved with in caring for the environment. The idea is that, we have to make our children aware that this is their home and that we need to save it for their future. We should all start at home and spread this act to our neighbors, relatives, friends, until it spreads out to all homes around the world.

Well, yeah, the title may sound too strong and shocking for you, but nevertheless, it can be realized and attained. “What your mind can perceive, the body can achieve.”, as the saying goes. If you are a blogger, then more or less you know how your blog site can become an opportunity for you to earn online.

To all mothers out there, or even to all those who have been home and taking the delight of the blogging as a writing exercise machine, then here is an opportunity for you… blog your way to fame and fortune!

Be famous for your thoughts and opinions. Let your blog be known by writing the best you can about the niche you know, then try your best to let others know these and attract traffic. You may also submit articles about the niche similar to your blog to article submission sites out there then link it to your blog site to have the readers get the best of your world. The more traffic you drive to your site, the more you get famous for it.

As to fortune, the pay-per-click scheme will always and forever be one of the easiest earning generating in the net.

But, do you wanna get paid to blog?

So that brings you to the concept that you can actually blog for money. Did you know that you can get paid for blogging? Yes.. for all the bloggers out there, you can march your way to fame and fortune by blogging for things that you like, or perhaps blogging about your affiliates so they can sign up through your link.

You see, advertisers who get to advertise on blogs that are optimized well to get the readers to link to them to promote themselves. So your blog can be a linking channel to their earning and to yours as well. And you are just seated there and waiting after you have cast a spell. See how easy it is? The power of blog advertising will get more people to your blog and so to your advertisers, and woah! What a tag team!

So mommies, or anyone at home, take a chance to take advantage of blog advertising and let affiliates advertise on blogs that are information-rich such as yours and give yourself a chance to earn as you blog your way to fame and fortune.

Foster parenting is one of the humbling experiences for any couple who may want to build their family by having kids of their own. It takes major decisions, education, expertise and a lot of advises and counseling in order for one to take courage in engaging to this type of parenting.

Foster parenting is not something that you should be scared of. Though you need to take a lot of considerations to think of, still being foster parents can be a fulfilling for you as parents. Foster parenting will just require you to be wise with your decisions, be true to how you feel about it, and be open to adjustments, and of course, have a lot of unconditional love to give to the child you are going to care under your wing.

Foster parenting gives you an opportunity to keep a child under your care, and giving this child to feel how it is like to have a family and so this will make a major breakthrough in his or her life. You are now sent by God to this child to raise him her according to His will. Foster parenting is a very good example of how unconditional love is and it is a strong testimony of how God looks upon these children and how He loves them.

If a couple would want to engage in foster parenting, here are some few suggestions:

1. Make sure that you have decided to do this as a couple. You have weighed the pros and cons of this and you are both ready to face them.

2. Fostering institutions usually have screening procedures for interested or prospect parents and the child to be adopted so this can help you see and know the child well and to make sure that you can get along with him or her. You may also check on the permits or papers of the fostering institutions to make sure that all procedures are legal to avoid problems.

3. Note that the child will also have issues that he or she needs to face as he or she gets adopted. Always be ready to make the child feel loved and that he or she is special for you. Do not resort to bribery or to any kind of spoiling techniques to win his or her attention. Just talk to the child and spend a lot of time with him or her.

4. Counseling may also help to gain tips and techniques on how you can raise your adopted child effectively.

5. If you get frustrated along the process, note that this is normal. Even parents with their biological children also undergo the same problems or difficulties. Parenting itself is a tasking job and it cannot be mastered overnight, not even a lifetime. Communication between the child and the parents should always be open to build and strengthen the relationship.

6. Always make the child feel that he or she is home. Give the child your utmost attention, love, and affection to make him or her feel that.

I have always found parents to be generous and kind when they engage to foster parenting. Foster parents for me are God-sent, a saving grace for those children who are looking for a new family, a new home to start anew. Fostering parenting is an opportunity to give a brighter future for those couples to become parents, and for orphans who would like to belong to and make a one, big, happy family.

When we sing a lullaby to our children, it gives them a sense of comfort of security. The kind of love and affection that is conveyed in the way you sing it goes deep down into their hearts and this will have a great impact in their lives as they grow. When a child is truly loved by the home, then they take this love with them and they impart this love, unconditionally.

Now it really touches me when artists can actually compose a song for their children and I can’t help but imagine how they are at home. I could visualize that artist being a parent to his/her child. A father that grabs a guitar and sings to his children as they sleep…. I don’t know, but the melody created by the guitar is truly a heartfelt music…

As I listen to these songs, I would catch myself in tears as I am overwhelmed with feelings..

Here is the song that really caught me… from Kenny Loggins.

When you feel afraid,
When you lose your way, I’ll find you,
Just try to smile, and dry your eyes,
I will bring back the moon into your skies.
And ever you will, remember darling, I’ll be there to:

Say to you
I’ll promise you
I’ll promise to
Comfort you and say to you
Darling, I’ll be there just for you.

There’s so much to learn,
and when you want me
Then I’ll show you,
And through the years,
You’ll always be
The lullaby in the heart of the child in me.

Whenever you will, remember darling
I’ll be there to

Say to you
I’ll promise you
I’ll promise to
Comfort you and say to you
Darling, I’ll be there just for you.

Hold it, feel it,
Music is in your heart.
When you need it,
Just keep listening,
Let it sing, let it sing.

Though you’ve grown away
No matter how you’ll change
I’ll know you.
And when you tire of life alone,
There will always be one sure way back home

Just turn on the quiet,
and you close your eyes
and listen inside
(unconditional)
(unconditional)
(unconditional)

I’ll be there to sing to you,
I promise you
I promise to
Comfort you
and sing to you.

And darling, I’ll be there,
Anytime, and anywhere,
Cody I’ll be there just for you.

Kenny Loggins did this song to his second child, Cody. How nice… How loved…

Well, we don’t need to know how to pluck a guitar or hit the right notes. Love itself can already set your music straight and besides, no other voice can ever be as angelic as ever for your kids. You will always be the best singer for them. So go ahead and express your love every night with a song of love as you put them to sleep.

Toddlers are really creative! They are so full of ideas and imaginations. These unique ideas need avenues for them to release and express them. As you give opportunities for our young artists to express their talents in different media, you don’t only allow them to have fun, but you are also helping them stimulate their creative minds as well, thus helping them develop and improve in this area. For instance, if you see your child starts to piling up or setting up some books on the floor and starts to hitting them with a stick, perhaps they are into playing drums, so go and buy or set up real ones for him. Or if you see markings of crayons, pencils or paint on your walls, perhaps you need to get your child easels or coloring books for them to use. Children need an outlet to express themselves in different ways.

By the time my husband and I bought them a doodling pad called the Tomy Megasketcher, my son Keith started to doodle somelines and figures until he came up with various pictures from it. He shows them to me and he’ll tell me, “Mom, take a picture.” From then on , he would sketch especially during his freetime, then i would take a picture of it through my camphone. Then I thought of setting up a blogsite, just to feature them, sort of a museum, I guess… And in the future, I’m going to show it to him, and boy, would he be so proud! Keith’s Doodle Pad

Doodling not only stimulate the mind to think creatively, but it helps children to think beyond pictures and helps them interpret drawings. This will also exercise their hand and muscle control, fine motor skills, and eye-hand coordination. Furthermore, it supports the aim of saving trees by conserving paper since doodle pads such as Megasketcher can be erased after every used. Take a picture of each of their drawing if you really want to treasure each output they make then set up a mini-museum for everyone to see.

Happy doodling..! (I just love to hear and say that word! DOOdles!)

Have you been experiencing those waking up blues in the middle of the night due to your baby’s crying for no reason at all? Have you tried singing a thousand of lullabies, or danced a million waltzes just to calm your baby down?  Your baby must be experiencing what we call colic. Colic is a condition wherein babies cry aloud or scream without any reason at all. This condition is common among bottle-fed infants, usually when they have failed to burp the gas out after feeding, which in turn can cause abdominal pains for the child. This occurs to infants before their third month. When this happens, the infant feels the discomfort, until the pain becomes unbearable, resulting to scream and disturbing cries in the night.

When a baby cries due to colic, parents end up getting frustrated for many reasons. First is, the fact that parents need to supervise and keep an eye on the baby for the whole day, and making sure that the baby is provided with his or her needs. Then parents get tired and exhausted at the end of the day. Second, the pains and the torture of knowing that you can’t make your baby stop crying are frustrating also. Third is the inconvenience of getting up in the middle of the night, causing a major disturbance to your sleep and rest, to make the baby stop crying. Fourth is the unending argument of who’s going to attend to the baby, not to mention, the disturbance it can cause to the neighbors or to other members who apparently lives with you in the same house. Furthermore, the baby is the one who suffers the most and as parents, you tend to wish for the pain to subside right away, or to have it passed on to you instead to spare your baby from the colic’s unbearable pain.

One way of solving this common problem is to have your child lie flat on his/her stomach. This will help to loosen up the gas in his tummy and eventually it will help avoid colic in children. Also, do not forget to help your baby burp after feeding.  A massage with chamomile oil unto his abdomen will help ease the pain and discomfort of the baby. You may also try tapping on your child’s tummy area gently to determine whether the child may have gas or not. Then massage him/her with oil.