Pro 11:24 One gives freely
Today
1. I give of what I have
2. I give to others to share with them what the Lord has given me.
3. I give to other people
4. I give; I can only give what I have. Else
5. I give
6. I give
7. I give; there is no guarantee that if I withhold
8. I give; I may only have one chance to be of help to a particular person – and I won’t miss it.
9. I give; someday I will be in need myself. Surely God will remember
10. I give
11. I give; God guarantees a full and flowing barn – always full and always flowing
12. I give – I follow the example of the Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father of selfless giving.
As I open my hands in giving
Soli Deo Gloria!
Persistence - object lesson
Today
will be coming
I got the reply call from the lady who was very patient in handling the store’s seemingly
unreasonable incompetence. I’d call it that
She was starting to mutter like “These people!” when she learned that I didn’t get
any call from the store
on the status of my orders.
Anyway
sending down to the store my 3 items
the other day
It simply is missing the important date
And besides
I just told her that in the first two weeks that the store found some problem
they should have called me to let me know right away. I told the lady that if
there is really nothing that can be done
I’d go down to the store next door
Finally
fruition. The promoter for that brand down at the store will call me tomorrow or the
next day
My object lesson to remain patient and presistent.
Reminds me of the story of the widow and the judge… Luke 18
Persistence is its own virtue…
Word comparison erratum
Chabakano is actually a creole coming from the marriage of Spanish and the vernacular in Zamboanga.
Its origin is neither from Malay or Chinese language.
Word comparison - Pinoy dialects and others
It is a noteworthy thing to compare Pinoy words with words from other countries/languages.
This will tell how much influence there is
our primary school days…
Here goes:
SEA origins
Pinoy word: Other word
Kawali kwali (Malay)
Pinto pintu (Malay)
Balakang belakang (Malay
Gulis garisan (Malay)
Utang otang (Malay
Bayad bayar (Mayar
Mahal mahal (expensive; Malay)
Tulong tolong; help
Tulak tolak; push
Puti puteh; white
And many others!
Chinese origins
Ate
Sungka cong kak (chong kak)
And many others!
Spanish origins
Lolo from root word abuelo
Lola from root word abuela
Isara cerrar; to close
Sarado cerrado; closed
Cordero cordero; same word used
Araro
Diretso derecho; straight
Bulsa bolsa; bag
Kerida querida; beloved – meaning changed
Casa casa; house (same word)
Poblacion poblacion; small town (same word)
Labi labio; edge
Mayor mayor; bigger
Menor menor; smaller
Bueno bueno; well
Konsehal consejal; councilor
Kambyo cambio; change (root word cambiar
Karo carro; carriage
And a lot
The most words would be coming from the Spanish language
The words from the Malay and Chinese are categorized either as pidgin
Interesting
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Being specific - asking specific
I am reminded of a story about a mother and her 2 daughters.
Having grown and left the house for their studies
called in one fine day.
After the usual exchange of words
the first daughter asked the mother if she has an orange.
The mother said yes.
An hour or so
greetings and salutations
she needed an orange
The mother thought for a while
She actually has only one orange.
With no more time to go to the grocery
the orange
When each one got her half-piece orange
“Oh
“Mom
If only the mother was more specific with what her daughters needed…
And if only the daughters were better specific with their requests…
I wanted to buy an induction hob
have gone around and visited some stores
the same store where I bought my multi-purpose kitchen machine.
My wife and I checked on the induction cooktops on display
a few questions
The promoter for that brand knows the item
They guy said they’d give us a call.
2 weeks gone; no call. I thought
So I did.
The store customer service told me something like this:
“We can’t bring in your items
We can’t bring it in (to our store). That decision is up to the distributor.
And they’ve not decided to let us sell that unit.”
I can’t believe what I heard
So I called up the distributor.
They asked me which store I was going
“We wanted them to sell that unit
space first
“Let me talk to them and see what I can do…”
A week went by. I called now the store to see if there is any progress.
The promoter seems to be blur
of a pleasant progress or outcome.
I called again the distributor
was on a week-long leave! Nobody else knew of her discussion
with the store! I told the lady who picked up my call
the lady on leave don’t come back after the week is over
dealings are gone for good!
She then asked what was it about that I called. I told again my story.
The phone was passed to another lady
I could tell that she is a bit elderly
with her position. She checked on some more details with me
she took over
status. Like something is happening
the store was worrying about the space for them to be able to
display the unit; like they are already worrying about the next phase
when in fact they are not past the first one. Or maybe
or selling first even before having the item displayed is going out
of the usual process of how items are sold
to the customer. But that is the essence of service
step
common and ordinary process. And I was actually told
I will get the items from the other store. Driving away the customer?
A day passed. Since I was told that she’d call me again
When she didn’t call me
To my surprise
“clearing up some space” so that they can bring in the unit;
Presumably they wanted to have the item on display – for sale.
I’d have to admit to the lady from the distributor group that
I don’t find this situation a bit pleasant. I told her
the store sell me the items that I ordered first
worry about the extra space later on?” This the lady communicated
over to the store. So they finally got to the point of the store
raising the
That is today. I was told that I would get the units down at the store
in 3 days time
This has been since about a month ago
unreasonable
that it would be the customer chasing for the store to sell the items!
Well
Right now
After all
Monday, June 25, 2007
A Man's Measure?
Once I read in a newspaper, of an incident about a lady and a government official.
Exactly who, I can’t recall, but it goes this way:
“I always see you on TV when I’m watching the news.”
“I thought you were much taller than in person.”
To which the official said,
“Lady, in my place, we don’t measure a man from the neck down, but from the neck up.”
Although is many sense that is true, like in the case of Carlos Romulo who was belittled,
“ You are small like your country,” by some braggart from the West, to which he retorted back
with the same sense, there is another measure to which I would subject a person, male or female.
The measure of the heart.
Intelligence can drive you nuts.
Wealth can drive you wicked and greedy.
Influence can make you oppressive and tyrannical.
Poverty can cause you to steal.
Hatred can turn you into an inconsiderate legalist.
Position gives you an opportunity to step on others.
The list is endless.
Even the apostle Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, made it very clear, what makes sense.
None of the above. What makes sense is love. Self-sacrificing love.
You do something bad, naturally that is devoid of love.
You do something good, and it is with some hidden motive, it amounts to nothing.
You do something good, and it is to be noticed, you’ve had your reward.
Paul would have summed it all up, when he said, “…if I give my body to be burned…
and have not love, it is nothing.”
It is very easy to fall into the trap of anything that seems fulfilling and satisfying,
meeting all the human needs of pride, position, glory and fame. Only to realize sooner or later,
that you are alone at your throne, with none to share with your achievements – if that is what
you can call them. So beware.
Which is why Christ hit the nail right at the head when he told the rich young ruler:
“Sell all you have, and give to the poor, take up your cross, and come, follow Me.”
Actually, we may say that we have a grip on riches, but it is riches that has gripped us.
Usually, we hold on to something for survival, only to realize, in the end,
that we are the one gripped and choked.
It can’t be over-emphasized. We can’t bring with us our riches when we die.
Our achievements will be easily forgotten. Monuments we erect can be easily replaced.
Structures we build can be ravaged by fire.
But not when it is written on men’s hearts. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow may have
put it together in a way so simple, yet profound:
The Arrow and the Song
I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For so swiftly it flew, the sight,
Could not follow it in its flight.
I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong,
That it can follow the flight of song?
Long, long afterwards, in an oak,
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.
Grace at the Dining Table
Having been born to a large family, more or less, I know what it is to be noisy and loud.
We are 6 kids, and only 1 girl proved to be a tough lot to handle. And yet, despite the
seemingly impossible feat, my mother was able to discipline all of us, to what we are now.
And yes, the times have changed. My sister, who now have 2 girls and 2 boys, would ask
my mom, “How did you handle us back then?”, meaning 5 boys and 1 girl? Once call,
and comes the lad. You hear your name, and you come near. That’s not altogether true now.
And when it comes to food, you know the appetite of boys. Not to mention that we have
other laborers who stay with us, and dine with us. Roughly, that would be about 12 knights
around the circular table. Yap, literally, it is a round table. A huge one.
Growing in the provinces is in itself a blessing far beyond what growing in the cities can be.
I don’t despise those families and kids who have only the cities as their root and origin.
But I find that you naturally have a big park to stroll along; you own the rivers and the seas.
The fishponds and the rice fields are your playgrounds. The moon and the stars light the dark.
The crickets and frogs are your minstrels at night. The rain brings you the coolness and dampness
that welcomes the fog and dew, and aids in the growing of flora and flourishing of fauna –
mainly for the consumption of the village folks, whose main staple consists of fresh fish
and vegetables. Meat is served now and then. Chicken is usually aplenty. Which is why a fridge
is not needed; if you have one, it is considered a luxury. You’d have to wake up as early as
2am to be able to avail of these fresh produce from the sea or rivers, when fishermen haul in
their catch during the night into the shore, sort them out, before driving them to the market.
You usually have the advantage of buying at the cheapest price and getting the freshest lot.
So you have food at the table day in and day out.
Fresh food in abundance.
Nature’s fresh produce daily.
Well, that is not always the case. There are times when there is not much produce,
or that it can’t be got, as in typhoons, and the plantation is ravaged by strong winds and flood.
We have our memories of times when food is scarce. Or even when it is abundant, money isn’t.
And yet, this our parents have driven deep and hard into our heads. They’ve hammered this
into our way of life, into our very being.
Eat at the dining table.
Eat together.
And when you swallow that morsel of food, think not only of yourself – think of others!
What does this tell us? What has this taught us?
- We share the food with those who ate with us at the table, family member or not.
- In abundance or scarcity, you have equal share of food.
- We eat only at the table – no other place.
This, in itself, is already a form of discipline. And as I bring this into remembrance, to be honest,
not all of which are pleasant, I bring honor to my parents. They’ve done a great job. I’ll do as they did.
I already am. Hopefully, one day, my kids will appreciate what I’m doing now, especially when they,
in turn, raise their own families.
Parents at fault?
I remember the times when my mother would castigate me for the many things that I do wrong.
As a child, I’m usually stubborn, and do things on my own and my way. More often than not,
those are things that mo father or my mother won’t be agreeing to. What to do?
I’d remember what my mother would always say, and this, now, I understand better;
I’m already a father myself. In one of our sessions, she would remark,
that if ever we would go out, and meet up with other people,
and they would note our behaviour,and observe our attitudes,
the stark and direct remarks will be on the parents, specifically the mother.
“Poor boy, the mother didn’t teach well.” Or “A lousy mother you have.”
To this, my mom would rebut, that we children would bring them either honor, or shame.
She would present her case, that either way, (1) parents don’t teach their children well, or
(2) children never listen to their parents, it would be the parents who will reap the repercussions
of their offsprings’ offences and misdemeanors.
And for both honor and shame, I do find it to be true. Parenting really is a heavy responsibility.
Faced with such challenge, to which some shun and run away.
Solomon did warn us all, “spare the rod and spoil the child.”
And yes, we now know that it is not only the rod that we can use as the means to teach our children.
We can temporarily revoke privileges. We can ground our kids. We can take out their TV time.
We can let them stay in one corner. We can take away their play time. We can put them on house arrest.
A number of things. Many, many things.
And yet, in the multitude of our options, when we don’t exert authority and inflict punishments,
it is the children who will be disadvantaged. A child who doesn’t know his limits will tend to grow up
able and capable of breaking rules – simply because this factor was not learned during childhood.
I always pray that I will be a firm and loving father, not giving in when it is time to be firm,
and being flexible when it is time to be considerate.
Who says that this is easy? By grace we can…