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Posts Tagged ‘family’

If your faith needs a boost, I want you to read this story. It may be a little lengthy but it is such a great testimony of God’s faithfulness and provision.

I called my friend the other day to ask her how she was doing, since her eldest and only daughter just left to study in the US. Her daughter graduated top of her class in highschool and was granted a scholarship in one of the universities in California. Naturally, she was filled with emotion, with a lot of thoughts running through her head, such as “Will she make it without me?” Her only consolation was to hope they could raise enough funds for her daughter to come home next year and spend the summer with the family.

Now she relates this story to me… Her husband was the one who accompanied her daughter on the flight and will help her get settled in her new would be home for the next four years. Before they left, funny as it sounds, they were told to dress up nicely for the flight so that they have a greater chance to be upgraded to business class. But unfortunately, they were stuck in economy class for the first leg of the trip. Once in Japan, the airline personnel announced that the flight to the US was overbooked and they needed volunteers to stay the night in Japan and take the flight the next day instead in exchange for $600 travel voucher per person and free hotel accommodation. Her husband thought, “This is enough to cover one round trip ticket. My daughter can come home next year!” So this father and daughter team happily volunteered. The next step was to get a one day visa to Japan since they had to leave the airport to go to the hotel. And this is the anti-climactic part… they were not granted visas!! And their hearts sank.

With the kind of disappointment that normally comes with the non-fulfillment of one’s hopes and dreams, they walked back to the airline personnel to explain about the visa situation and say that they had to be on the flight after all. And this is where it gets exciting! Even if they were not able to give up their seats, as a token of their goodwill to volunteer, the airline still gave them two $600 travel vouchers!! And not only that, they were both upgraded to business class!! And they got to fly to the US as scheduled! In short, they got the travel vouchers and the upgrade at no cost at all!! Now, how awesome is that?!!

If you are a child of God, your setbacks in life are really divine set-ups for God to step right into your situation and turn things around for your favor!

Psalm 5:12 (NIV)
Surely, LORD, you bless the righteous;
you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

Today our little Joaquin got hold of a marker and started drawing on a small board. After a few minutes, to my shock, I realized that his marker started to wander off the board and onto our floor. Had I not caught him in time, I’m sure his marker would have made it to our walls, and bedsheets, and clothes.

Joaquin drawing on the floor

Good thing he was using a washable marker

I wonder how our house would look like if Paolo and I didn’t have boundaries for our kids. According to my daughter Janina, this place would look like a “dumpster.” Empty bags of chips all over, dirty clothes in the hallway, wet cotton balls stuck on the mirror (yes they’ve done this), drawings on the walls, CD’s on the floor, kids screaming at each other and possibly hurting each other, etc, etc. You get the idea.

We set boundaries for our kids at home for a long-term goal. We want them to be able to know how to live within the boundaries of God’s word. I know a few well-meaning parents who allow their kids to do everything they want and realize that their kids have a hard time adjusting to the rules of their school or behaving in other people’s homes. The worst part is that they will have a hard time living according to the will of God. If kids got used to doing their own way, they will have a hard time being in submission to any kind of authority.

Psalm 119:9
How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.