A fireproof marriage doesn’t mean that fire will never come. It means that when the fire comes, you will be able to withstand it. – One of my favorite quotes int he movie.

A few days ago, my husband bought a DVD of the Christian movie Fireproof. We’ve always wanted to watch this movie together because we knew it would bless our marriage. And true enough, it did! I couldn’t stop crying the whole time as Caleb, the lead male character in this movie, go through The 40-day Love Dare Challenge that will save his marriage.

My husband and I have been married for 6 years now. Our marriage, I believe, has always been stable. But just like any other marriages, I know that ours needs major improvement. And this life-changing movie opened both our eyes to every aspect of our marriage that needs to be worked on. I love my husband and I know he loves me just as much. But we need to learn how to love each other more unconditionally, just like how God loves us even if we don’t deserve it.

After watching Fireproof, my husband has started showing me little acts of kindness and sweetness again. Just like the old times. *wink*. He recently gave me a card and posted “I Love you” notes on my office computer. My friend, Jaq, saw it and said: “Yuck! Feeling teenager?!” Haha.

Anyway, with no further ado, here’s the trailer of the movie.

If you want your marriage to be blessed, I highly encourage you to watch this film with your spouse. Surely, it will hit you big time.

Anyway, allow me to share with you the highlights of my long hiatus.

- Had my much-awaited trip to Caramoan, Camarines Sur with my friends in the office last June 17-19.

- I dropped our precious Nikon D40 camera (DSLR) on the way to church on Father’s Day. It’s only 3 months old! We haven’t had it fixed until now. *sad, sad, sad* We’re back to using our old Samsung S630 digicam temporarily.

- As usual, our workload in the office seemed to double-up. And what’s sad is, the attrition rate went up. Almost every one I talk to wants to resign and find an account or company that would give them the work-life balance they deserve. *sigh*

- Attended the “Raising Godly Kids” seminar conducted by our church for two Saturdays. I learned a lot! I’ll be sharing with you the details of this life-changing seminar on my parenting blog when I have enough time. I look forward to attending more seminars in the future!

- Finally, my husband and I now belong to a small group in church that meets every Tuesday morning after work. Since we both work in a call center (same company), it was very hard for us to join a group that usually meets in the afternoon or evening. Thank God for the countless answered prayers!

- Had the outside of our house re-painted. Guess what the color is? Violet! Hehe. Nice one!

- On July 10, we officially dedicated our baby Ayesha to Jesus Christ. We only had two weeks to prepare for this special event, but I’m so glad it turned out fine. Click here to view the photos.

- I recently attended the 2nd PTA meeting at my son’s new school. For some weird reason, one mother nominated me to be the President. My opponent and I initially had the same number of votes. So to break the tie, I voted for my opponent. Haha! *big grin* I thought I was free from the responsibility, but the same person who nominated me as President nominated me again for the Vice-President post. And this time, I won! Waaaaaaaa!!!!

I think I have more to include in the list, but I can’t remember them all now. (sign of aging?)

Okay, there ‘ya go. It’s time to hit the sack. God bless you!

For those who may not know, EN2010 is an event wherein pastors, missionaries, church planters, members from all around the world gather together for a time of powerful worship and fellowship! And it only happens once every three years.

The package (I deleted my address)

Package contents: Our conference IDs and a folder that contains the SMX map and details of the event.

These three conference IDs are for me, my husband and my mother-in-law

The map

Since we were able to get the ticket on the first Philippine Registration Day on March 1st, we got good seats! Thank God for this wonderful privilege! Darlene Zschech (Hillsong Music, Australia) and Efren Peñaflorida (2009 CNN Hero of the Year) will be our guest speakers on this much-awaited event.

Today marks our 6th Wedding Anniversary. As I am writing this entry, my dear husband is sleeping peacefully on our bed with his arms draped over our little boy’s body. What a blessing to see them that way!

My husband possesses many admirable traits. I’ve seen those traits since we started dating in 2001. I used to call him “Mr. Eligible Bachelor” because of his faith in God, perseverance, intelligence, wisdom and eloquence. He’s the kind of man you would want to bring home and introduce to your family.

When I was single, I told myself that I would never introduce a man to my parents — unless he’s THE ONE. And true enough, he was the only boyfriend I brought to our home and three years later, we got married.

Some friends once asked me why I decided to get married at an early age (23). I told them, “When you’ve found the one that God made for you, why would you want to let him go?”

It didn’t take me a long time to realize that Leo was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. He is the kind of man that every woman would pray for; God-fearing, loving, family-oriented, responsible and faithful. I am not saying that my husband is a perfect man. Of course, no man was created perfect. When you go out every single day looking for a perfect man, then it will be a never ending search. What’s important is that someone, despite his imperfection, was made perfect for you by our Heavenly Father.

My husband may not be a perfect man, but he is MY PERFECT MATCH. It is my prayer that you find your perfect match too. One piece of advice though, marry the man you love talking to and be observant enough as to how he treats his mom. Chances are, he’ll treat you the same way.

P.S: I wish I could share more about us, but it’s almost 5am. I need to get some sleep so I can cook something special for lunch later. Have a blessed Sunday!

Click on the image

This blog has a new title too — Raising My Two Little Angels. Hope you can drop by. Wanna exchange links? Let me know! Thank you!

P.S: I’m still working on the sidebars.

A few days ago, I attended Enzo’s 1st Birthday Party at Shakey’s with my officemates. Too bad I wasn’t able to bring my little boy. I had to go to work early in the morning that day, so I don’t have enough time to go back home and pick him up.

Anyway, who says adults don’t enjoy kiddie parties? LOL. The food was yummy (more mojo potatoes, please!) and guess what we enjoyed the most? You got it right…The photo booth! Hay, we felt like kids all over again. Happy 1st Birthday, Enzo!

Here are some of our crazy pictures at the booth.

P.S: My parenting blog has a new title — Raising My Two Little Angels. Feel free to drop by!

There’s really no place like home…Here are some of our photos.

Good morning, Philippines!

Ayesha’s chasing Greggy…hehe.

This is the overweight version of me after giving birth. LOL

Ayesha can’t get her eyes off the toys

Baby Ayesha @ 3 months and 2 weeks
More photos here.

All proceeds will go to ADOPT a Family Program. Hope to see you there! Mark your calendar — April 20th at Araneta Coliseum. Good morning!

UPDATE: April 21, 2010
Last night’s concert was awesome. People were jumping, dancing, raising their hands up in the air and singing their hearts out to God. Pastor Darlene Zschech and the entire Hillsong Worship Team did a fantastic job! Sana maulit muli. Hehe.

GOOD NEWS: Pastor Darlene Zschech, together with her husband, will be coming back in Manila this July to join the EN2010 World Conference. She’ll be one of our guest speakers, so I’ll be seeing her again. Can’t wait!

With that being said, allow me to share the things I learned that I’d rather not forget for as long as I live. Things that will mold me into becoming the mother that God wants me to be…

1. Love in the family must be kept alive through little acts of kindness and thoughtfulness.
2. Every child has gifts and abilities. Find out where your child excels and encourage him or her without ignoring the fundamentals of education.
3. Give your child your undivided attention.
4. If you want to be the father or mother that God wants you to be, learn to listen to your child.
5. A reward for doing the right thing teaches the wrong thing.
6. There are no second chances with parenting. If you fail, you can’t go back and start over.
7. The wise parent has to balance protecting a child from hard knocks and letting him experience the consequence of his own actions.
8. Parenting is bringing out the best in our children without condemning them for what they cannot do or making them feel inadequate when they fail to meet our expectations.
9. Teach your child to evaluate what he hears and sees and to think of himself.
10. Strive to be the best message you want your child to see and hear.
11. You can’t pass on the baton of faith to your child unless you have it firmly in your grasp.
12. Be there when your child needs your help.
13. Model the value system that you believe is important.
14. Build your child’s character through moral feeding.
15. Teach your child to be his own person.
16. You have to guard the moral and spiritual nature of your child.
17. Knowing the difference between discipline and punishment gives parenting a different perspective.

I highly recommend this book to every parent who wants to make a difference in the life of his/her offspring. Dr. Sala is right when he said that there are no second chances with parenting. That if we fail, we can’t go back and start over…Years from now, I’m pretty sure none of us would want to look back and ask ourselves “What have I done wrong?”.

P.S: I’m getting more parenting books at National Bookstore this weekend. Feel free to recommend good ones. Thank you!