Yvonne meets Fr. Mario :D

It was a wonderful experience to be present in the healing mass of Fr. Mario Sobrejuanite at the Megamall Megatrade Hall 1.

We always watch his Tv Mass at Studio 23 every 9 o'clock in the morning. Even though we already attended a six o'clock mass in St. Michael's Parish, it seems like my Sunday is not complete without hearing his homily.

We went there last Sunday, August 10, 2008, with Yvonne. The mass celebration was so solemn with the choir singing and dancer dancing. After the mass, Yvonne and I went there in front, near the altar, to be blessed by Fr. Mario. I carried her even though she's sleeping that time. When Fr. Mario saw Yvonne, he prayed over her. As if wanting to show off, Yvonne pulled her back up and lifted her head against me. She was very happy as Jesus touched her through Fr. Mario!

I thank God for this wonderful experience.

P.U.S.H. = Pray Until Something Happens!

I also wanted to share this heart warming story ( from maggie's blog )

----------------------------------------------------------------------
P.U.S.H. = Pray Until Something Happens!
(Author Unknown)

A man was sleeping at night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with bright light and the Savior appeared. The Lord told the man He had work for him to do, and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might. This, the man did, day after day.

For many years he toiled from sun up to sun down with his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all his might. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore, and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain.

Seeing that the man was showing signs of discouragement, the Adversary decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the man’s weary mind: “You’ve been pushing against that rock for a long time, and it hasn’t budged. Why kill yourself over this? You’re never going to move it” —thus, giving the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure. These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man.

“Why kill myself over this?” he thought. “I’ll just put in my time, giving just the minimum effort and that’ll be good enough.” And that’s just what he planned to do— until one day he decided to make it a matter of prayer and take his troubled thoughts to the Lord. “Lord” he said, “I’ve labored long and hard in Your service, putting all my strength to do that which You’ve asked. Yet, after all this time, I haven’t even budged that rock by half a millimeter. What’s wrong? Why am I failing?”

The Lord responded compassionately,

“My friend, when I asked you to serve Me— you accepted. I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all your strength— which you’ve done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to Me— with your strength spent, thinking that you’ve failed. But is that really so?”

“Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscular. Your back sinew is mighty. Your hands are callused from the constant pressure;and your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you’ve grown much and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. Yet you haven’t moved the rock. But your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and trust in My wisdom. This you’ve done. I, my friend, will now move the rock.”

At times, when we hear from God, we tend to use our own intellect to decipher what He wants. What God ACTUALLY wants is just simple OBEDIENCE and FAITH IN HIM. By all means, exercise the faith that moves mountains, but know that it’s still God who moves the mountains.

P.U.S.H. = Pray Until Something Happens! When everything seems to go wrong, just P.U.S.H. … When the job gets you down, P.U.S.H. … When people don’t react the way you think they should, P.U.S.H. … When your money looks funny and the bills are due, P.U.S.H. … When people just don’t understand you, just P.U.S.H.

God's Miracle

Our Faith was again put into a test.


Last October 2006, Yvonne was confined for 72 days for shunt revision-turned-replacement due to infection. This is very traumatic on her part since she lost her speech and vision.

Before that, we thought everything would be according to what we planned. We already scheduled her for a pedia development on November 2006.

We thought we could send her to a special school and for therapy after that because she’s already 4yrs old and doing very well.

But the saying says, “Expect the unexpected.”

We went home, after almost 3 months of confinement, starting all over again.


The doctors said her brain was damaged by the infection and they are not sure if she will recover from it. The brain will heal itself, maybe after 6 months, after a year or maybe not anymore.

She had signs of cerebral palsy; she drools because of her locked jaw (so I prepared blended food supplement for her every morning); she was unable to follow things with her eyes; she can’t talk nor smile nor even cry; she had no muscle control (she bites her lips most of the time, her hands were stiff and she can’t move it on her own.)

There was a long period of silence in our house. Sometimes, we watched her videos and tears keeps falling from our eyes. We missed her cry, her laughter, and her voice. We are looking forward to the day she laughs again.



Sometimes, there are many questions running at the back of my mind. What went wrong? Why did it all have to happen? Why her? Should we sue her surgeon and the hospital for medical malpractice? Do we need to do anything legally? Should we send her for a therapy for a faster recovery? I ask the Lord if I need to do anything? HE answered back “No! Just submit to my plan for you. If you will just trust me everything will be just fine.”


“There are things in LIFE that we question a lot, but little do we realize that answers come when we stop asking... and that's what we call FAITH...”


God really know how to send His message to us. That time, I saw some verses from the bible, saying something like we should trust the doctors for God has given them the talent to cure the wounded and the sick. I realized, maybe things must really happen for His plan for others to happen. I also realized, maybe it was just an eye opener for us. We maybe become too proud about ourselves that’s why He makes us kneel before Him and taught us to always be humble.

I once thought that contentment is the key to happiness but I was wrong. If we were so fulfilled with what we have, we might not need any help from Him. But God wanted us to need Him. He doesn’t want us to forget Him. So God gives us trials to remind us of Him, to remind us of His great love for us.


Being positive on everything that happened, I still think of all the good things that have happened during that time. She was alive. Her lungs were ok (the doctor said the lungs may fail as a side effect of anesthesia). We went home with her without NGT. The doctors removed it before we were discharged since she can already swallow her food (a blended milk supplement with boiled vegetables and fresh fruits). We also met so many people, patients, parents, nurses and doctors. Most of all, we felt closer to the Lord.

As days passed by, little by little, we saw some development on her. She can now eat her regular soft diet. She was able to control her hands. She already can point her nose, teeth and tongue when asked. She can now smile. Even her doctors were amazed with her.


But just last May 2007, due to sepsis, she was confined again at pediatric ICU for a week. Her heart rate and BP was dropping. The doctors didn’t know why. All kinds of test were done. She was referred to different medical fields; Pediatrics; Infectious; Pulmonary; Neurologist; Neuro-Surgeon; Ophthalmologist; but they still can’t find the main cause.

For the first few days, I was confident that everything would be fine. I trust the Lord fully. But maybe I was not praying too hard. The doctors admitted that they couldn’t do anything for Yvonne. There’s a possibility that her heart will just stop beating and they can’t do anything about it.

But God really knows how to make us kneel before Him. I cried a lot, thinking of the fact that we might loose her. That’s the time I finally submitted fully to Him. Not just praying for the healing of Yvonne but I finally gave her up to Him. Whatever is His plan for her and for us, I just let HIS will be done in our lives. If He decides to take Yvonne, we will be happy and will accept it. But if he would only give us another chance to prove to Him that we can be better parents to her, we will make the most out of it.

My husband, Mannix, was in New Zealand that time for training and project assignment. He was also worried and decided to go back.

As if God have showed us a miracle, Yvonne’s BP and heart rate have improved. Praise God! For He is really the Best doctor!

The doctors were still puzzled but rather send us home. Even before discharged, they still can’t explain why and what causes her BP to dropped. This is the first time we heard about the DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) Letter as one of her doctor suggested us to sign. He said they might not know what to do when this happen again.

As soon as we got home, as if nothing happened, Yvonne showed us a big smile. She was happy she’s home. And we are too! That day she started to laugh again and even recovered her speech gradually. Amazing isn’t it?? Praise GOD for he is really great!


After 3 months, just last August 2007, she was again confined due to pneumonia at pediatric ICU. She was intubated for 7 days to help her breathe. The doctor said, due to her condition (Spina Bifida & Hydrocephalus & scoliosis), her lungs collapsed as they have little space to expand.


Our hospital stay was extended up to 3 weeks since the doctors can’t wean the oxygen support for Yvonne. Tough she was generally okay, no fever, no cold, no seizure, etc; they still cannot remove it since her oxygen was dropping based on the oximeter. Her lungs were still clogged by the pneumonia and she was having a hard time breathing.

Her doctor again gives us papers to sign, a letter of consent for Euthanasia or Mercy Killing. He explained to us that this is just an option for us and it is still up to us if we wanted to sign it. Since Yvonne was then supported with oxygen and we all know about her condition, this is just to shorten her sufferings. Another option they gave us is that we can go home with oxygen.

It was really hard for us to accept this fact but if it is really HIS will then who are we to disobey?? My husband and I talked about it openly and we cried together.

It has been four years. She gave us so much joy. We know time like this will come sooner or later. We just have to be ready. But only GOD has the right to decide whether to take her life or not. We decided not sign any consent. If we are to bring her home with oxygen, it’s fine with us as long as she is comfortable.


The next day, my husband went to Bambang to look for an oxygen tank. We also met the brother-in-law of my colleague that works in CIGI so we can rent a hassle-free oxygen concentrator. But God depicts another miracle; Yvonne can now breathe on her own and showed her doctor how strong she is. When the doctors saw her, they immediately send us home with two thumbs up!

Also during this time, Yvonne has cried again after ten months. This only means that her brain has improved a lot. And it takes two hospitalizations to bring these all back.

We were drained financially, emotionally and spiritually, but God has provided for us. With the help of all the people around us for support, we have survived.


We really felt how much God loves us. And this only proves that whatever is lost, as long as you trust God and hold on to Him until the end, He will give it back to you, even tripled. I have also learned that we don’t have to question why things happen. Lets just trust Him. His plan is better than ours. These trials make us a stronger person in preparation for His coming. :)

We know this will not be the last. But we don’t have to worry because when God is with us we can endure everything :) May God Bless us all !!!

Thinking 'bout my purpose...

I woke up one day thinking about my purpose. I know everything that happened is well planned. I know that every little thing that is happening today is for the better. I know God has a plan for me. I may not know it right now. I may not understand it right now. But I believe and whole-heartedly trust in Him. Because He knows what’s best for everyone.

Flying colors

After graduating from high school, I made a promise, when I finish college I will make my parents be proud of me. I want them to feel that all their hard works were not wasted. Six semesters had past, I really did my best. But on my last year, I don’t know why, but I lost my focus. (Is it really I? Or my instructor who had the guts of failing the whole class for not passing a one-time oral exam to fill up her absences?) It’s graduation day when I realized, I’ve broken a promise. I could have been marching up that stage with flying colors. Regrets filled up my soul.

What can I do? So I let bygones be bygones. Later I realized landing on a good job earlier than I thought. He may not have given me what I wanted most but He gave me what I will love doing in the long run. Maybe that’s what He wanted me to realize. :)

Destiny

I am one of the so-called “Stupid in Love”. Let’s just say my past relationship was not healthy. My mind tells me to let go but my heart is still holding on. Until my whole being gave up, so I stopped struggling and go with the flow. Then I told Him, “Ok! I know you know better, so let Your Will be done.”

Time passed by. And out of nowhere there pop a message from a stranger. And that stranger changes everything. That stranger heals my broken heart and made me realized that there’s nothing wrong with me and it’s time to move on.

That stranger ends up being my hubby.

God has his own timetable. We just have to wait.

My Angel

I cried the whole night when I learned about the condition of my first-born child. So many questions asked with no answers. Why me? What did I do? Why her? But then I realized that one time I asked God to remind me of him always. May be this is His way of doing that. So I kept that in mind.

Trials were given to make us stronger. It's there for us to learn to appreciate every little thing that was given to us.

I asked God to make my handicapped child whole.

God said, “No, her spirit was whole, her body was only temporary”;

Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, it is the realization of how much you already have.

I may not have an ideal life, but I am contented with what I have. And I am happy.