OfnRain ... Friends ... Family ... and Pure Happiness ...

Yesterday ...

It rained so hard we didn't have anywhere else to go but inside the cultural hall. 

Lightning and thunder roared loudly outside. A few of the kids found delight in it. Some attempted to get themselves wet in the rain. 

But not Andrie. He hugged his Mama tight. 

So finally we decided to get inside the hall, otherwise we'd get ourselves soaked wet.

The cultural hall was like heaven ... bright lights, clean floors, and it was dry!

So in we went, like cattle finally finding refuge from heavily pouring rain.

Inside the cultural hall, the primary kids were there -


ages ranging from less than 1 year to 11 (they had an activity the whole afternoon);

the RS sisters were there (we had an activity);

the youth were there (they too, had activities);

 the Primary leaders were there (they just finished their leadership meeting);

the men adult leaders were there (some presided over meetings earlier in the afternoon, the others nanglimpyo sila sa chapel with the YM) ...

But here's the catch: we all were talking at the same time!

And to top that, the young children were all shouting.




After a few minutes, someone started to cry ...


It was either Handsome Ecko or Quick Smart Andrei ...

Mikki and Lalai were laughing together with Josh and Alecs and Jay and Ether and Drian and Arjun ...

Children were RUNNING AROUND everywhere... going that way, or this way, or round and round and round...

Then add to that some more the youth playing badminton in the middle of the hall ...

O'neil, Dave, and other young men were practicing dance moves in one corner ...


Zsanine was seated with other young women watching everything ...

On the far end, on the stage, a few young men and a number of leaders were playing table tennis ...

Yes, there was noise ... even too much noise! 

What with all the crying Ecko and Andrei did when they were fighting - first- for the shuttle cock;

and then later on for the ball ... 3rd and fourth and fifth ... for the same reasons, over and over again ... and again hahaha!

WHAT AN AWESOME SATURDAY THAT WAS FOR ALL OF US ! ♥

Silently, as i looked, listened, and took everything in, I came to appreciate what it really meant to belong ... ♥♥♥

to have friends ... ♥♥♥

the challenges, the pains, but most of all - JOY - of having children and Motherhood... ♥♥♥

the beauty of church service ...

The privilege of serving in the church ...

I looked at Dottie, and Goldy, and Jen ...

at Mikmic, and Omega, and Neneng

How grateful I am to have sisters in the church -  friends to talk to and laugh with ♥♥

I looked at all the children present ...

I looked at my own kids: Myco who was having fun taking pictures ...

Ella who was guiding Mikki and the other primary children ...

April who just finished a full day of practice with her church and school friends ...

Sarah who just came in with her Dad ...

Romelson who was with the other young men ...

Then I looked at Joel and Carlo

and Bishop Sacay ...  

and finally, at Romel ...

I smiled and said a silent prayer ...

Grateful that we have a Heavenly Father who really loves us ...

He ... ever so mindful ... forgiving ...

and I thanked Him for good friends to grow with in this life ♥♥♥ 

The Smell of Rain

At  the end of this story, it gives you two options. I think you will figure  out what option I chose.

******************************************************************************

A  cold March wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas as the doctor  walked into the small hospital room of Diana Blessing. She was still  groggy from surgery.

Her  husband, David , held her hand as they braced  themselves  for the latest  news. That afternoon of March 10, 1991, complications had  forced  Diana, only  24-weeks pregnant, to undergo an emergency  Cesarean to  deliver couple's new daughter, Dana  Lu Blessing.

 At 12 inches  long and weighing only one pound nine ounces, they already knew she was  perilously premature..

Still, the  doctor's soft words dropped like bombs.

'I  don't think she's going to make it,' he said, as kindly as he could. 

'There's  only a 10-percent chance she will live through the  night, and even  then, if by some slim chance she does make  it, her future  could be a very cruel one'


Numb  with disbelief, David and Diana listened as the doctor described the  devastating problems Dana would likely face if she  survived.



She would  never walk, she would never talk, she would  probably be  blind, and she would certainly be prone to other catastrophic conditions  from cerebral palsy to  complete mental  retardation, and on and on.

'No! No!'  was all Diana could say.

She and  David , with their 5-year-old son Dustin, had long dreamed of the day they  would have a daughter to become a family of four.

Now, within  a matter of hours, that dream  was slipping  away

But  as those first days passed, a new agony set in for  David and Diana.  Because Dana 's underdeveloped nervous system was  essentially  'raw', the lightest kiss or caress only  intensified her  discomfort, so they couldn't even cradle their tiny baby girl against  their chests to offer the strength of their love. All they could do, as  Dana  struggled  alone beneath the ultraviolet light in the tangle of tubes and wires, was  to pray that God would stay close to their precious little girl.

There was never a moment when Dana suddenly grew  stronger.

But  as the weeks went by, she did slowly gain an ounce  of  weight  here and an ounce of strength there.
  At  last, when Dana turned two months old. her parents were able to hold her  in their arms for the very first time. 
 And  two  months later, though doctors continued to gently  but  grimly  warn that her chances of surviving, much less living any kind of normal  life, were next to zero, Dana went home from the hospital, just as her  mother had predicted.
Five  years later, when Dana was a petite but feisty young girl with glittering  gray eyes and an unquenchable zest for life.

She  showed no signs whatsoever of any mental or  physical  impairment. Simply, she was everything a little  girl  can be and more. But that happy ending is far from the end of her  story.

One  blistering afternoon in the summer of 1996 near  her  home  in Irving , Texas , Dana was sitting in her mother's  lap  in  the bleachers of a local ball park where her brother Dustin's baseball  team was practicing.

As always, Dana was chattering nonstop  with her mother and several other   adults  sitting nearby, when she suddenly fell  silent . Hugging  her arms across her chest, little Dana asked,  'Do  you smell that?'  Smelling  the air and detecting the approach of a  thunderstorm,  Diana replied, 'Yes, it smells like rain.'

Dana closed her  eyes and again asked, 'Do you smell that?'

Once  again, her mother replied,  'Yes,  I think we're about to get wet. It smells like rain.'

Still  caught in the moment, Dana shook her head, patted her thin shoulders with  her small hands and loudly announced,

'No, it smells like  Him.   It  smells like God when you lay your head on His chest.'

Tears  blurred Diana's eyes as Dana happily hopped down to play with the other  children.

Before the rains came, her daughter's words  confirmed what Diana and all the members of the extended Blessing family  had known, at least in their hearts, all along.

During  those long days and nights of her first two  months  of  her life, when her nerves were too sensitive for them  to  touch  her, God was holding Dana on His chest and it is His loving scent that she  remembers so well.

Mama's Lullabys ...

Looking back and remembering every word and every melody, I can not help but feel gratitude for this wonderful gift my Mama has given me. 

I have sang these melodies to all my five children, to my nephews and nieces, to my friends' children when I was taking care of them, and now, absurd as it may seem, even to our pet dog Nessie ♥

Here's one simple song that I will forever remember and treasure.

A word though ... I do not really know where my Mama got these songs, or the other lullaby's she sang to us, but surely, whenever she sang or hummed them to my sisters Charry and Carla then, my eyes would close because of the feeling it brought to my heart.

"Ang Batang Buotan"

Ang batang buotan,

Garbo sa ginikanan

Sa sugo sila motuman

sa walay langan langan.

Dili maghilak

og dili magmanya

ang batang buotan

palangga sa ginikanan.

The words can be replaced ... to make it more fitting,  i guess.

For instance, way back then I would, at times, change "ginikanan" with "Mommy" (because that's what my children call me) ...

When the kids were young, Romel also sang the lullaby ... he changed 'Ginikanan" with "Daddy" ...

Funny because I didn't really realize that he knew the song. I now realize that by hearing me sing it then, he became familiar with the songs.

Here's another one:

"Rosas sa Hardin"

May rosas sa hardin,

gitanum ni Quintin;

makawagtang sa kalaay,

sa dughan maglipay.

Ang iyang katahum,

wala nay makatupong;

maanindot, maanindot

sa kanunay.

Of all the lullaby's though, the one I remember the most is Dandansoy.

I remember very vividly, every time Mama would sing it to my younger sister Charry, Charry would cry ...

Maybe because the song is about leaving someone behind. Maybe in Charry's mind then, Mama was literally saying goodbye, hence the tears (would you believe as I am writing this and recalling the words/lyrics, I too am crying?).

"Dandansoy"

Dandansoy, biyaan ko ikaw.

Pauli ako sa Payaw.

Kun galing, ikaw hidlawon,

ang Payaw, imo lang lantawon.

(I am not really sure if the lyrics are correct, but that is how I remember the song ...)

Last but not the least of Mama's lullabys is the song composed by Tito Vic Barreto entitled Kudyapi.
Mama used to sing this when she was still with PANAMIN.
The words may not be perfect, but still, it's how I remember it.

"Kudyapi"

Give me my kudyapi,

for I will sing a song;

for my beloved Bukidnon,

where life begins, and ends for us.

Give me my saluray,

for I will play a tune;

for my beloved Bukidnon,

who cares and lives for us.

Music beats deep within my heart,

the call of birds and falling rains;

the sound of living forest,

becomes a melody.

Come now my dearest one,

rest and forget your fears;

for my beloved Bukidnon,

.... (now I have forgotten the last part ... )

Oh the beauty and blessing of parenthood!

Though it's so unfortunate that there's no formal school for parenthood,

and that we only "learn the ropes" as we go-

Suffice it to say that with all the heartaches and pains and hard work involved;

Bearing and rearing children is still the most rewarding of all the undertaking there is in the world.

To Mama, thank you very much!
We live so close but we seldom see each other. This makes me so sad.
Work and family duties keep me on my toes most of the time, and so mostly, when I miss you, I just think of you and sing your songs ... and of course send you a text message or two.
I love you Ma, and I know no amount of words will be enough to make you feel how much I truly do.
I LOVE YOU ♥♥♥

And so even now, when my children are grown up and they don't really need me to sing to them anymore,
I still sing these lullabys to them ... to remind me of so many wonderful things in my childhood -
the warmth of my Mama's embrace ... the feeling of safety and security .. of being loved ...
My hope is to pass on to them something that is of great worth -
for soon they too will become mothers, and Romelson a father.
I sincerely hope when that time comes, as they hold close their children, they will remember me ... and what I taught them.

More importantly, they will remember how much I love them. ♥