When God calls you to homeschool, He will provide for all your needs.

We are not a high-income family. Like many Filipinos, we struggle to make ends meet and pray daily for God's provision. Though we are not blessed with a combined salary of at least P40,000 or more, we are still blessed. And yes, we ARE blessed more than millions of Filipinos (and people!) all over the world. We are blessed in so many ways, though maybe not materially. (Though I still consider us to be materially blessed!)

When it comes to our homeschool, I do wish that we had more sometimes. However, I know that it is not the curriculum or the books that matter the most, but our faith and our character. I do know, too, that when God calls you to homeschool, He will provide for it.

Source.

This has been proven in our own lives — fellow homeschoolers and even non-homeschoolers have so generously shared their resources with our family and have pointed us in the right direction whenever we look for affordable or free materials. I cannot even begin to thank the Lord for them, these people, some of whom hardly even knew us before, who sent us books and other things for our homeschool. Indeed, God is amazing!

And how true are these words:

Source.

May you and I always rest in the knowledge that God loves us and our spouses and our children very much and that He will always, always provide for us! ;)

P.S. If you need more encouragement on how God provides, read this article on Daily Focus here. :) It's very inspiring! :) (Just to clarify though, we're not AOP homeschoolers, tee hee!)

When God calls you to homeschool, He'll make sure you'll get the message :)

{Warning! Long post ahead! :) It's been over a month in the making though, so I hope you'd take the time to read it! :) Thanks!}


It's been a while since I said anything here on this blog about how God has been working in our lives and family lately. I've been on Truly Rich Mom a lot though, for the 50 Days of Amazing Grace posts, fabulous Amazing Grace giveaways and so much more! (And lest you think otherwise, YES, I have been working, too! LOL!)


I've been thinking about how to write this post for a while now. What pushed me to finally do it is the fact that there have been a number of fellow homeschool moms who have been asking me regarding our latest updates on our discernment. I remember, in my last update about it, I said:

..nevertheless {Lord}, not my will, but Yours, be done.'' 

(Luke 22:42) 

You see, our discernment whether to keep homeschooling also had a lot to do with another major prayer concern in our lives, i.e. whether we would move to Cubao — which is much nearer to my workplace, and hubby's, too — or not. 

Educating for Eternity

"Of course, our most important goal is to educate our children for eternity. How? By living and being what we want our children to be. We must be truthful, brave, forgiving, thoughtful, faithful, virtuous, self-disciplined, kind and cheerful if we want our children to be! Our Faith is caught, not taught... we can't give what we don't have. Overwhelming? Not when we remember that a baby learns to walk by falling! God measures our effort and appreciates every little thing we do for love of Him. He invites us to keep "walking" and grow more in love with Him each day."

- Introductory page, Educating for Eternity: Kindergarten, Catholic Heritage Curricula

This made me cry. I have been unkind, unforgiving, thoughtless, and angry a lot lately, especially to Tim. Lord, thank You for the reminder. We are educating for eternity. And no matter how many times I may fall, You will always be there to help me "walk." Please be with us as we begin our homeschool journey for real very, very soon.  Amen.

Painting shows a baby walking to his father. by Vincent Van Gogh

Catholic Heritage Curricula: Homeschooling is a Gift!

Catholic Heritage Curricula Daily Lesson Plans - FINALLY HERE! Thank You Lord!

I am so overwhelmed by God's amazing grace and provision!

Earlier today, Tim and I were able to get a long-awaited package from the US - it contained the Daily Lesson Plans from Catholic Heritage Curricula and Dr. Seuss and Starfall books - all sent with love, as a gift, from a fellow Catholic Filipina mom whom I had never met in person, but only got to know through, what else, Facebook! I don't remember clearly how we came to be FB friends, but I thank God that we did! Honey (and her family, of course) have been a great blessing to us, and has provided a lot of homeschooling tips for me.

With the package.. so excited!

We LOVE books!

I haven't gotten a chance to read through all of the lesson plans from CHC, but I am so encouraged by its "Welcome" page of sorts, which starts with this at the very top of the page:

+

J.M.J.

I was so delighted to see it, because a fellow HS mom, who is using Kolbe, used "JMJ" with me before in one  of our e-mail correspondences about homeschooling. She said the people behind Kolbe use it all the time, and it stands for Jesus.Mary.Joseph. 

I'm so psyched that CHC uses it too! J.M.J! 

I also like the part in the "Welcome" letter that says:

 "Education is much, much more than the subjects you study in a formal way. It is the sum total of your family life. Everything you do as a family affects the children."

(Reverend John Hardon)

Whew! Time to really pray even harder about how God wants us to mold our kids, esp. through homeschooling. In case you were wondering, yes, we will be using CHC, along with Mater Amabilis, and other free resources  from the Net. Still trying to get organized though, esp. in terms of books. :-) I hope to get some materials from Math-U-See somehow. Plus some books about the Philippines.

I am trying not to be pressured though. I believe in the adage "better late than early," and I don't think starting homeschooling just before Tim turns 5 (we plan to start in September, and his birthday is in October) counts as "late," at least not by most homeschoolers' standards.

But after today, I can really, truly say again with all my heart - "God truly provides! He is good all the time!"

On being PRO-GOD, PRO-FAMILY, PRO-COUNTRY and PRO-LIFE: July 25 State of the Soul of the Nation Address

I have written here before about being Pro-Life. Being a pro-life family, we strive to be up-to-date with all that is happening around us, especially here in the Philippines, where bills that are pro-contraception, sex education for young children, and divorce, are being pushed into legalization. Many people think that it is only the Catholic church that is "waging this war" but actually, many Filipinos of other religions also agree about being pro-life. 


Groups like Pro-Life Philippines are trying their best to gather these Filipinos, and have been able to do so in the past, like in the Filipinos Unite under God for Life Rally last March 25. This Monday, July 25, there is another event aimed at uniting Filipinos who are for life.  


I am sharing this post  below taken from my other blog on faith, family and financial literacy (and everything in between! hehe) here in case there are readers who don't know about it yet. 


Look what I "discovered" on Facebook the other day. Pro-Life Philippines Foundation is organizing a State of the Soul of the Nation address, along with other religious groups (Catholics, Christians and Muslims) on July 25. GMA News actually published a story about it last week. If you aren't doing anything this Monday, I hope you could come and attend this event. For love of God, country and LIFE. God bless (and save!) the Philippines!


A coalition of pro-lifers is organizing a massive delegation of inter-religious groups to release a STATE OF THE SOUL OF THE NATION ADDRESS on Monday, July 25.

This event is dedicated to commemorating the 43rd Anniversary of the Humanae Vitae which re-affirms the traditional teaching of the Catholic Church regarding married love, responsible parenthood, and lawful and unlawful ways of regulating birth.

The said celebration will coincide with the second State of the Nation Address of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III. Thus, it is in these momentous events that we deem it necessary to hold an activity that calls for the restoration of moral integrity in our country especially on issues that largely affect the family and the sanctity of human life.

As an opening salvo, there will be a celebration of the Holy Mass to be officiated by Most Rev. Bishop Broderick Pabillo, DD as main celebrant with renowned healing priest Rev. Fr. Fernando Suarez giving the Homily inside the Sanctuario De San Jose Parish Church in Greenhills, San Juan at 9:00 AM. Simultaneous with the mass will be the worship of different evangelical groups at Club Filipino.

After which, a silent march to Club Filipino will be held by those that attended the Mass culminating with a short program to be led by the various heads of the inter-faith alliance to be held at the Corazon Aquino Kalayaan Hall at the Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan City. A consolidated statement written by the Congress of the Faithful addressing the need to unite Filipinos in rekindling the fading status of morality in governance will be read and will be conveyed to President Aquino himself during the activities.

If you have more questions, kindly contact the Pro-Life Philippines Office at 734-9425 or at 733-7027 or text them at 09192337783.

What is YOUR gift for JESUS?

It's CHRISTmas morning here in the Philippines! Hurray!

I can't sleep as I am still stuffed from our Noche Buena here at my in-laws' house. Hubby and the kids are fast asleep already so I thought I'd share a touching Christmas moment we had earlier.

After our bedtime prayers with Tim and Rysse (though she was asleep already beside us, hehe), we asked one another, especially Tim, what gift we had for Baby Jesus' birthday.

Papa: What is your gift for Jesus, Kuya Tim?


Tim: What's our gift po Mama?


Mama: Let's give Jesus our hearts.


Tim: No, no, Mama. We shouldn't give Jesus our hearts. 


(Pause. I expect him to say something silly. What he says takes us by surprise...)


Tim: Our gift to Jesus is us - me, Papa, you and Baba G (pointing to his sleeping baby sister.)


(Mama and Papa hug Tim and tell him how right his answer is.)


What a timely reminder from one of God's little angels!

That CHRISTmas is not just about the gifts we give to each other or receive from others, but about what we can and should give to CHRIST. After all, He is the Reason for this season! :)

How about YOU? What is your gift to Jesus? :)

Let's take our cue from Santa and pay homage to the King of Kings, not just this CHRISTmas but always.

A HAPPY AND HOLY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! :)