Category Archives: Insights

These are heartfelt and real stories of our journey in parenthood and in marriage.  We hope that with these stories will bring you to know Jesus and the God we love and serve.  We hope you will find joy in these stories or relate to it.

Kidzania Manila Tips for Parents

Kidzania is a great place to bring your children who are 4 years old and above. I love the whole concept of this Career Themed Amusement Center. It was our second time to go there as a family and here are my tips for parents.

  1. Plan your going to Kidzania by looking at the schedule and also consider your budget too.
The operating hours are:
Monday to Fridays: 9AM to 4 PM
Rate:
P900 (kids 4-17 years old)
P500 ( toddlers 1-3 years old)
P630 (Adults)
Babies below 1 year old are free
Saturdays: 9 AM to 2 PM and 3PM to 8PM
Sundays and holidays : 10 AM to 5PM
Rate:
P1,100 (kids 4-17 years old)
P600( toddlers 1-3 years old)
P700 (Adults)
Babies below 1 year old are free

  1. Book online to cut the line. You may also buy tickets in SM Ticket or at Ticketworld. You may also come 1 hour before opening hours so you can get your tickets. Also note, that if your child is 8 years old or younger, they must be accompanied by parents.

  1. Come to Kidzania with comfortable clothes and shoes. It is suggested to be in pants or leggings with socks. Also food is not allowed inside because you can buy inside, but you can bring your own water jug. Bring a jacket too in case your child feels cold from the air conditioning.

  1. Go to the Information Center and get a map. The entire complex is made of 2 floors. Each activity will be from 20-25 minutes. If you will be coming back to Kidzania in the future, you may get a passport and get some benefits… but that will be P250 additional fee. We went around without a passport, it is not necessary. 

  1. Be strategic. If you see a company that has a short line, and the waiting time is 10-15 minutes, fall in line. If your child is choosy, they would never get to try any of the activities, so force them to try to fall in line.   While your child is in a role-playing activity, look at the next activity your child can get into within the time frame. They will be able to do a lot of activities if you can do this.

  1. By 11:30 am, fix up already your plans for food. We lined up at 12:30 pm and we got food after an hour! The McDonalds was taking soooo long! The line there was about an hour wait. We had such a bad experience because even Yellow Cab was closed until 2pm. Via Mare had an offering such as Arroz Caldo, and other dishes that my kids did not want to eat. I suggest you order food by 11 am and carry it around, or eat early so your kids can enjoy the other activities inside.

  1. If you have a toddler and a kid below 8 years old, you need to be 2 adults. The toddlers have only 2 rooms where they can play.   So it means both children need an adult to help them.

It can be a real enjoyable experience as you see your children’s interest become more evident by the activities they liked best. So far Joshua enjoyed being a pilot, and doing jobs in the field of science and engineering. When you have a visit in Manila with kids, I really would suggest Kidzania as a must-go place.

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God-Centered Province

Today I joined my husband to witness the Thanksgiving Celebration of the SAAD (Special Area for Agriculture Development) project in Maitum. I have been hearing such wonderful feedback about the upland rice development. One of the remarkable news I received was that the IP (Indigenous People) farmers are harvesting an average of 1 ton per hectare without fertilizers and they are planting on non-irrigated lands. In the past they were averaging 800 kilos per hectare. This is a supernatural increase!


Last year, during the Jesus Reigns celebration the churches in Sarangani declared that we will enter into a season of Harvest. Through a helicopter, we anointed Sarangani Province with oil and declared through grain offering that we are dedicating our land for God’s harvest.  True to our declaration, we are in these days of harvest. We see God in agreement with our prayers because of the manifestation of His favor.

The SAAD project is funded by Department of Agriculture and this office is giving P100 Million to Sarangani. They have downloaded P25 Million and the upland rice program started 7 pilot sites. In Alabel farmers have planted on 50 hectares; in Glan they have planted on 94 hectares; in Malapatan they planted on 51 hectares; in Malungon they planted on 20 hectares; in Maitum they planted on 165 hectares; in Maasim they planted in 25 hectares; and Kiamba planted on 20 hectares. With the 25% starting fund about 122 hectares are harvesting this October to December.


With the successful start, Secretary Emmanuel Pinol came to witness the Thanksgiving and Harvest Festival in Upo, Maitum. He gave his full support to Sarangani because of its performance. He wants Sarangani to be out of the list of poorest provinces. So he gave additional 120 Million Pesos interest free loan as capital for the Provincial Government to purchase the upland rice and white corn harvested by the farmers. This way we allow the farmers to fully enjoy the fruit of their labor and harvests and not be at the mercy of traders.


In addition to these, Secretary Pinol committed to add 7 rice mills and 7 packaging machines for these pilot sites. He will also add multilayer farming by providing breeder of native hogs and goats to add to the economic enterprise of the communities. He will also assist us with Brazilian milking cows (if after validation of communities that are capable to manage dairy operations). Another offer is P30 Million loan for IP farmers on microfinance method. The Secretary is happy with the program implementation of Sarangani that he completed the 75 Million Pesos remaining fund of the SAAD project by releasing the cheque during the Thanksgiving event! It was an overwhelming support from Secretary Manny Pinol and the Department of Agriculture.

Steve meanwhile reminded the people to make God the center of everything for it is God giving us these blessings. Steve wants the IPs to practice biblical agriculture where the people tithe their harvest, God promises to bless the land and it’s people. In Malachi 3:10-12 says:

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes, ” says the Lord of hosts. “All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land,” says the Lord of hosts.


Steve as governor has been declaring Sarangani as a God-centered province. He wants the people to understand when God is at the center, blessings and true prosperity will come. Steve also encouraged the people to give to the church, then to allocate for their family, for replanting, and for commerce.

Secretary Manny gave me a special mention to be blessed to have a hard-working and dedicated husband who is willing to take full control of these projects. I sat there, a proud wife with full amazement of what God is doing. I’m also happy to see first hand how God is using Steve to be a channel of blessing to the people of Sarangani.


We continue to believe that Sarangani is no longer poor but a God-centered province that will experience God-centered prosperity.

Puffy paint is fun!

After using water color for some time, I needed to do something different for our art class at home. Homeschooling can make a mother smarter because she has to find ideas to do at home with the kids. I bumped into the puffy paint idea in Pinterest and it’s pretty simple.

Ingredients are:

Elmers glue, shaving cream, food coloring, paint brushes, plastic containers and paper.

We mix the glue and the shaving cream in similar proportions in a plastic container. Then move into smaller containers to make different colours with the food coloring.

Once the colours are mixed, it’s time to do some imaginative works! I’m teaching my kids to have some fun by putting texture on their painting.  Joshua decided to do a butterfly, while Anna and I did some flowers!

Butterfly by Joshua

Flower by Anna

Flower by Mommy Mit

To dry this puffy painting will take 24 hours. So don’t be in a rush!  We had so much fun in painting and in cleaning up the containers and brushes! 

This activity is worth trying at home. Both my 4 year old and 2 year old had a blast!

Nothing wrong with being a millenial

The other day, I met a young gentleman who was graduating from college. I asked him if he has been around Sarangani and he says his friends have gone with him to see the beaches here. I was happy to hear that. I had to blurt out, “you are our market!”.

Over dinner I asked this young man what he was going to do after college for he was finishing political science. He answered with confidence that he had 3 options. There is the entrepreneurship route, the employment route, and proceeding to law route. I am glad he had his head above his shoulders. Then he says, ” I actually hate the way they describe us millennials. It makes us sound bad.”

Then, I shared with him how many young millennial friends I have who are doing really well. However, I do have to agree that brick and mortar companies are coping with this generation that no longer wants to remain loyal to a company but remain loyal to their dreams. Human Resources have made major adjustments on their hiring procedures and keeping their millenial staff happy. Millennials need that sense of fulfilment where they make an impact in the world and finding their space under the sun. This is often mistaken as “entitlement.” They also need to travel because they can’t stay still. I told him, “your generation is not bad.  It is different but not bad”. 

Among millennials going the entrepreneurial route… Imagine being a millennial hiring a millenial?  These young bosses must know they need to go beyond just work. There’s a pre-requisite to inspire their young staff. They also should give perks of travel and motivate them with their passions. 

He nodded in agreement. He says that Procter and Gamble offers travel perks to his friend, and that keeps them happy.    

I encourage a lot of millennials with this advise – “Don’t get discouraged or impatient. Do what you enjoy and are passionate with and do it well… and prove everyone that millennial can succeed. Don’t be stereotyped… stand out.”

I really enjoyed talking to him and I look forward to him and his friends visiting the different adventures found in Sarangani. It is definitely a millennial travellers paradise.

Advise to Teenagers

My 12 year old God- daughter has opened up herself to me and shared her excitement and also her anxiety about turning 13. She asks what it would be like to be a teen. I answered, “nothing much will change until puberty. But really nothing much changes.”

She then continued to ask, “why is it important to be a teen?” I did not quite know what to answer, but I felt God giving me wisdom to answer her. It’s important to be a teen because you are growing up to take more responsibility.

This is now what I feel would be my message to teens:

1. Remain Obedient – Something happens when we are in our teens, something in our mind may challenge us to disobey rules. We try and test our parents and will want to be accepted by our friends. It means that teens should have a constant reminder to remain obedient to their parents. The best thing to do is to keep close to God, read the bible, pray, and to continue to obey even when it is hard.

2. Choose your friends – It is in the teenage years that your peers will determine the influences in your life. If your friends drink alcohol and smoke, you will most likely try it. If your friends like sports or theaters, you will spend more time in those. It’s important to choose friends that influence you positively and not bend to peer pressure.

3. Don’t rush getting into relationships – These days some teenagers are in a rush to be affirmed and feel loved so they get into relationships early.  Many of them will get physical and even reach a point of sex. Young girls give up their virginity to young boys who do not understand true responsibility and respect. Many get depressed at a young age after hurts and break ups. Also many do not also know about safe sex and will contract STDs or worse, HIV.  Guard your heart, there will be so much time for love with the right person and the right time.

4. Listen to your parents and guardians advise – God placed these very people in your life to guard you, to guide you, and to protect you. These are God’s gifts to you so you can experience the best life. Listen to them and do not neglect their advise. Listening to your parents is honoring them. According to the Bible honoring your mother and father gives you a promise – long life. 

This generation has more temptation than our generation. With all the available information out there, their struggles increase. This is why more intentional parenting is needed. There is a rise on teenage pregnancies, teen age suicides, teenage depression and bullying than past generations. 

However there is hope. If parents, relatives, God parents, teachers  will share similar values to the young, we can help our teenagers overcome these challenges. As they say it takes a village to raise a child. So each of us should play a part in that village.

In full circle

After 3 months since we planted Joshua’s monggo seed, we finally see it bear it’s first bean sprout. It is quite a surprise because we kept waiting from the surviving plants if any of them would bloom. 

A week later, we kept watching that sprout to see what would happen. The sprout dried out and we plucked it out of its mother plant. It was hairy and hard and we could not wait to open it’s green cover.

As we split open the bean cover, we were so delighted to see the new monggo seeds produced by our monggo plant. We have gone full circle on our plant project.

Joshua kept asking how God was able to do it. I told him, it really is God who creates all things and who causes the growth. This is Joshua’s very first harvest and also understanding of agriculture. 

What I pointed out was how God’s economy works. With one seed, a plant will grow and give you seeds that are more than the first. In our plant experiment we had this one seed produce 5 more seeds! Now we will start a new plot with this precious 5.

When we started this monggo plant project we had so many seeds. Some grew and some died. The ones that lived were those planted in cups. We learned that sunlight and enough water was needed to help it grow. We saw also learned that growing takes time and requires patience. But most of all, we learned that God causes the growth and when God makes a plant live it enables it to bear more seeds than what was planted. Its an amazing lesson for my 4 year old and for myself.

Score for Chore!

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Joshua is in the age where it is easy to let him follow some instructions. I want him to be more independent and give him a sense of responsibility, so I thought of doing a weekly chore chart!

We both agreed that he has to complete a set of chores everyday and when the week is over, if he does all his responsibilities he gets a reward from the grocery.

So for the first week, we agreed on 4 chores he has to complete everyday.  His chores included washing his plate and utensils, bathing himself, putting his clothes in the bin, and cleaning up his toys. As his Mom, I have to remind him if he did his chores. If he forgot, I would remind him to complete his task. If he completed it, he gets to put a smiley face on his chart.

His chart is also reported to his dad at the end of the day. He feels really accomplished that he got to complete his work. Together with my help, Joshua designed his chore chart folder by putting family cut outs of which some of them he painted.

At the end of the week, he completed it and he did great! It’s a fun and good way to do chores at home.

Letter brain practice

When Joshua saw the wooden cut out letters I bought, he was so thrilled! He was excited because it came in many colors and looked like fun! So I used it to make him look for the right letter to spell words.

Then we tried a different approach. He had to find all the right letters to all 26 letters of the alphabet. He worked hard on it! After A-G, he was already breaking a sweat.

The reason I believe he was challenged because he had to complete 26 letters. Well I encouraged him to go on and he probably finished this activity in 12 minutes! 

When he was done it felt like an accomplishment. But he was also so tired looking for the right letter to match his chart.

I’m so happy he never gave up and was able to succeed in this task. This is a good activity to do at home.

Another Angel

You surprised me when I got back from Hawaii. I thought I was jet lagged. I was feeling strange… Always hungry, body warming up, and feeling tired. Then a couple of days of feeling that way, I decided to check. Just maybe, who knows I may be pregnant.

True enough you were alive. I saw you on your 5th week. Yes you were tucked in a sac, with a heartbeat. I had mixed emotions… Could not believe that at 39, I would be going through pregnancy again. But I did get excited that you have come, my love. 


I settled in my heart, that I would slow down to have you. I chuckled how since 2012, I have not stopped breastfeeding. I am sure I will commit to breastfeed you like Josh and Anna. I wondered if you were a girl or a boy.  I am happy that my pregnancy symptoms were not as overwhelming as the last one. You were going to be someone great because I prayed that God would use you and make you beautiful.

Then, I started to bleed. I never bled in any of my pregnancies. Doc says just to take progesterone and isoxilan and you should be fine. I checked on you and you were there showing off your heart to me. It was beating but not at optimum. Doc says there is blood above the sac. I should stay still and relax. So mommy did. 

Two weeks later, I brought your older brother  Josh to my check-up. He was excited to see you. He has been kissing mom’s tummy and praying for you. Then Doc said, you no longer have a heartbeat. Joshua blurted “Baby died?” I had to tell him, you returned to Jesus.  Joshua could not believe that baby is dead and is in heaven. He says he wants to go to heaven too.

I was crushed inside because I will not have the opportunity to meet you here. I will have to wait for heaven to know you. Baby, know this… I love you even when you were mine for a little while. Oh Daddy was more sad because he wanted you so much!

I now have to wait for when you will come out of me. It’s a very strange thing knowing you are still in my uterus but no longer alive. 

I thank the Lord for the opportunity to be pregnant again. I thank Him for the weeks I held you,  baby. But in everything, I will still choose to say… The Lord gives, the Lord takes away… And yet,  Blessed be the name of my Good and Faithful Lord.

Words as sweet as Honey

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The night before my flight, Daddy Steve watched Joshua go through the mobile bible app and really engaged on the stories of the bible. Joshua talked about Jesus being nailed on the cross because of our sins. He also spoke openly how he asked sorry from the Lord for his disobedience. Then Joshua said, “I told Jesus I’m sorry for not obeying. I fight mommy, I fight daddy, I fight Anna, I fight Yaya. And then, Jesus said, “it’s okay Joshua”.


I had to drive down that truth. Jesus has paid on the cross all our sins. So when we confess to Jesus, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins (1John1:9). It’s the humility to confess that is most important. Steve was looking at his 3 year old little preacher Joshua explaining further that because Jesus is in his heart, he has power. I honestly enjoy listening and discussing about Jesus and the bible to Joshua because he loves the stories and he does practical applications from it.

 That Sunday, Steve and I were in church and the message was about LOVE and about being intentional about forgiveness and being intentional in mentoring and discipling our children. Then my husband told me, “You do that well babe. You disciple our children. Thank you. I’m not sure how to do it, but you do it really well.”  I looked at my husband a little surprised that he said that. But that encouraged me so much as a wife and as a mother. Those sweet words were so sweet.

Before I left we were all on the bed, and my husband, my son Josh and daughter Anna all laid hands and prayed for me and for the success of my study mission in Hawaii.  All their words and prayers were sweet honey to my soul. It is such an encouragement for me to have the love and support of my family. 

Now, I will  be gone for about 9 days. I’m missing every one of them so much. But with my family backing me up, I am  a mommy ready and inspired!