Better days are here!

Wow!

My wife and I met up with the leaders of the Filipino Community today, June 22 at Fresno.  It was nice to meet other leaders from the community around Delano in the Fil-Am.  With Sunday mast with the President today, I was glad to be part of a great community.  Christine and I represented Filipino Community of Delano and had a chance to be with Her Excellency Madam President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.  Well, more PR to happen for sure in the near future.  It was a wonderful Sunday…

Arroyo attends mass in Fresno

By Maila Ager
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 03:10:00 06/23/2008

FRESNO, California–President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo attended a mass here Sunday (Monday in Manila) morning with members of the Filipino community.

Arroyo was with husband, First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, sons Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo and Camarines Sur Rep. Diosdado “Dato” Arroyo, some Cabinet officials, and allies in the House of Representatives.

After the mass held at the Fresno Convention Center, the President will squeeze a meeting with Charles Sichel, chief executive officer and chairman of Abundant Biofuel Corp.

Also present in the business call are Ambassador Marciano Paynor Jr, consul general in San Francisco, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap and Trade Secretary Peter Favila.

Arroyo will return for a short program where she is expected to deliver a speech.

After her speech, she will have a telephone conference with National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) officials. She has been constantly monitoring the situation in Metro Manila and various parts of the country after she left for her 10-day trip to the United States Saturday as typhoon “Frank” (international codename: Fengshen) ravaged the Visayas and Luzon.

Arroyo earlier met with Filipino healthcare workers at Fresno Community Hospital and Medical Center.

It is very comforting to have someone there for you by your side.  My wife, she is my best friend and I can’t thank God enough for bring her into my life and to my children.   We click a lot of things and just motivates me more to be at my best when I know she knows how to take care of her man.  She is my wifey after all and tomorrow is Father’s Day.  My children are in Philippines this month and second year in a row, I didn’t get to spend time with them on Father’s Day.  My son made a card at school for Father’s Day in which he gave it to me on his last day of school.

She is always there for me and the decisions I make in life is part of hers.  I thank for a wife that cares and love for her man.  She is very supportive in everything I do.  Thanks to God.  I love my life!

I found this online.  An interesting read…

What is the infidelity?

The infidelity is that you took something that was supposed to be mine, which is sexual or emotional intimacy, and you gave it to somebody else. I thought that we had a special relationship, and now you have contaminated it; it doesn’t feel special any more, because you shared something that was very precious to us with someone else. There are gender differences. Men feel more betrayed by their wives having sex with someone else; women feel more betrayed by their husbands being emotionally involved with someone else. What really tears men apart is to visualize their partner being sexual with somebody else. Women certainly don’t want their husbands having sex with somebody else, but if it’s an impersonal one-night fling, they may be able to deal with that better than if their husband was involved in a long-term relationship sharing all kinds of loving ways with somebody else.

The affairs so deeply wounding. Because you have certain assumptions about your marriage. That I chose someone, and the other person chose me; we have the same values; we have both decided to have an exclusive relationship, even though we may have some problems. We love each other and therefore I am safe. When you find out your partner has been unfaithful, then everything you believe is totally shattered. And you have to rebuild the world. The fact that you weren’t expecting it, that it wasn’t part of your assumption about how a relationship operates, causes traumatic reactions.

And it is deeply traumatic. It’s terrible—unless you cheated on each other during your engagement, or you or your partner came from a family where everybody cheated on everybody, or you come from certain cultures where the women don’t take it that much to heart, because that’s the way men are thought to be. The wounding results because —and I’ve heard this so many times—I finally thought I met somebody I could trust.

It violates that hope or expectation that you can be who you really are with another person? Yes. Affairs really aren’t about sex; they’re about betrayal. Imagine if you were married to somebody very patriotic and then found out your partner is a Russian spy. Someone having a long-term affair is leading a double life. Then you find out all that was going on in your partner’s life that you knew nothing about: Gifts that were exchanged, poems and letters that were written, trips you thought were taken for a specific reason were actually taken to meet the affair partner. To find out about all the intrigue and deception that occurred while you were operating under a different assumption is totally shattering and disorienting. That’s why people then have to get out their calendars and go back over the dates to put all the missing pieces together: when you were going to the drugstore that night and you said your car broke down and you didn’t come home for three hours, what was really happening?

In order to heal. Because any time somebody suffers from a trauma, part of the recovery is telling the story. The tornado victim will go over and over the story—”when the storm came I was in my room…”—trying to understand what happened, and how it happened. Didn’t we see the black clouds? How come we didn’t know?”

Healing takes time and regardless of what you been through, it will get better.

Today, I accepted to be the next one in charge of Philippine Weekend for 2009-2010.  I’ll be chairing the next two year term and for 2008 will co-chair with Joann and our Ms. President Christine…

It is a big task to fill and a lot of commitment/work.  I am glad my wife supports my decision on this.  I’m excited!

I couldn’t sleep, I woke up at 4:06 this morning and every so often, I been waking up that exact time.  As I laid in bed for an hour to reflect a little bit about my life, to take it all in.  I felt at ease knowing that my family is doing great.  I have the children home where they can run all over the house relaxed.  A wonderful wife who spoils me often with her misses and kisses.  And me, the roots of our family.

This weekend, I can’t get enough of I miss you and I love you dad as my children showers the both of us with kisses and hugs.  Daven would always be mentioning TEAM REYES. He likes the thought of being a team when we do everything together.  We got to get a shirt.

Daven completed Kindergarten with flying colors, though his handwritings needs work.  He can stay focus on his work ’til Destiny starts to bothers him.  The class sangs plenty of songs on Friday and a little certificate ceremony came after their performance.   After, we went to have a father and son lunch where we just hanged out all day after.  I took a day off for him even though it was month end at work where there are plenty of work to do where my work cell was at constant ringing asking for help.  He sang more songs to me and all weekend, he sang some more.

My daughter, she’s growing up to be a tween.  Quiet at times and would just get so close to me when we watched television in the family room.  Daddy’s girl she said and looking into her eyes, I felt her emotions of glad to be home.

My life is better now, even whatever others throws at me.  I can’t complain.  I have my family, my home, a career and a future to look forward to.  I can give the children a better life with no burden to others.  When you come to think of what I been through lately; it all turned out well.

I am finally awake when I knew that it was time to have a better life.  I wish the children were home more often.  Our family is complete.  We miss the children so much and we get them this week, after this week, they’ll go to Philippines in which my daughter complains that she doesn’t want to go.  O well, somethings you just don’t have a handle on.  ISAIAH 41:10.

Ang sarap kasama nang mga bata!  I wish they were home lagi.

We were at Morningside School last night to watch the talents of the schools where a single, duo and a group competition were the highlights of our evening. One of the foursome’s of Team Reyes were part of a competition that is lead by Ms. Julie Arciaga to a victory with a performance that had a shout out of applauses that were heard through out the cafeteria showing their support for a group named Little Steppers.

Ms. Arciaga’s third grade class did an outstanding job and with the sequences of music to the beat of Michael Jackson’s Beat It; I have seen their many practices paid off by placing 1st place in the school competition. I am very proud of their achievement and to my beautiful daughter that dances around in our living room often, my angel that enjoys to show me some steps were all about being serious on the stage of the stars.

Even her classmates were in the rhythm of the beat. It was a sight to remember showing their talent of teamwork can put on a good show for everyone to enjoy.

My daughter is all grown up and each day I think of many moments such as this that I want to remember when I read back to this. I am proud of you Destiny!

Keep it up. Remember that in our team, we always keep it simple. TEAM REYES!

Your brother’s turn today at 10:30 AM as he performs his song with his class… I know you wanted to go, but you have class… Keep your head up and I miss you baby so much. Daven, you know he is all over us. Muahz!

It is believed that young people should not marry before they have completed some kind of educational preparation for a career so that they will be economically self-sufficient. They also should be sufficiently mature to assume the responsibilities of raising a family. The typical age for marriage is thus 20-25 years for Filipino women and 25-30 years for men. Once married, Filipinos are expected to start their families within a year or so. The birth of a child fixes the ties between the married couple’s respective families. The bond of marriage also is considered permanent; Catholicism and Philippine law prohibit divorce except among Muslims and some unassimilated groups.

Although the father may be ostensibly perceived as the main authority figure in the nuclear family, the mother has considerable authority and influence. She generally controls the finances, may work full time (even with many children at home), and earns as much as or more than half the family income. Women enjoy high status in the family and in the society at large. Bilateral lineage attests to this higher status of Filipinas compared with women in more patriarchal Asian countries. The long accepted phenomenon of the “working mother” in the Philippines thus does not pose a drastic role change as it does for other recent Asian immigrant families in the United States.

Egalitarian roles and relationships between men and women are further reflected in family decision making processes. Family authority is based on respect for age, regardless of sex. Family decisions are made only after a consensus has been reached to ensure that the ultimate decision will be representative of and acted on by all family members. Family disagreements are avoided, if possible; when disagreements do occur, they are kept strictly within the family.

Children are the center of the parent’s concerns. They are viewed as an extension of the family and recipients of the family’s good fortune. Many adults may assume responsibility for a child within a family but do not strictly adhere to the Confucian expectation of unquestioning child obedience. Parents are expected to persuade a child to accept their point of view, rather than impose their authority on the child without consideration for the child’s preferences or wishes. The child, in turn, is expected to show proper respect and obedience, to compromise, and to maintain good relationships with all other family members.

I been getting a lot of inquiries to shoot weddings.  I am sorry, I can no longer shoot any photography other than a hobby from now on.  There are a lot of greedy people out there you know….

I’d be too embarrassed to be a blood line to that family.

Well, there are a lot of talented photographers out there.  Thanks!

Get with Michael Urioste.  He shoots well and I highly recommend him.

HANDY LITTLE CHART
God has a positive answer:

YOU SAY
GOD SAYS

You say: ‘It’s impossible’
God says: All things are possible
(Luke 18:27)

You say: ‘I’m too tired’
God says: I will give you rest
(Matthew 11:28-30)

You say: ‘Nobody really loves me’
God says: I love you
(John 3:1 6 & John 3:34 )

You say: ‘I can’t go on’
God says: My grace is sufficient
(II Corinthians 12:9 & Psalm 91:15)

You say: ‘I can’t figure things out’
God says: I will direct your steps
(Proverbs 3:5- 6)

You say: ‘I can’t do it’
God says: You can do all things
(Philippians 4:13)

You say: ‘I’m not able’
God says: I am able
(II Cor inthians 9:8)

You say: ‘It’s not worth it’
God says: It will be worth it
(Roman 8:28 )

You say: ‘I can’t forgive myself’
God says: I Forgive you
(I John 1:9 & Romans 8:1)

You say: ‘I can’t manage’
God says: I will supply all your needs
(Philippians 4:19)

You say: ‘I’m afraid’
God says: I have not given you a spirit of fear
(II Timothy 1:7)

You say: ‘I’m always worried and frustrated’
God says: Cast all your cares on ME
(I Peter 5:7)

You say: ‘I’m not smart enough’
God says: I give you wisdom
(I Corinthians 1:30)

You say: ‘I feel all alone’
God says: I will never leave you or forsake you
(Hebrews 13:5)

YOU NEVER KNOW WHO MAY BE IN NEED

The first sentence is pretty powerful!

God determines who walks into your life…  It’s up to you to decide who you let walk away, who you let stay, and who you refuse to let go.

Father, God bless all my friends in whatever it is that you know they may need this day! And may their life be full of your peace, prosperity and power as they seek to have a closer relationship with you.  Amen.