The Goodness of God

Many times, we say “God is good” when something good happens to us or a blessing (usually financial) comes our way. But God’s goodness is part of His character, who HE is, His Being. Therefore we should say “God is good” in good and bad times, in happiness and tragedy, in plenty and in want. Because in the difficult, tragic, terrible times, God is still good because that is part of  His character. 

Drop the “bad habit” of saying “God is good” in good times only. Because He is always good, whether you receive a blessing or not, whether your wallet has lots of cash or is empty, whether someone gets healed or dies. In good times, just say “thank You, Lord”!

Merry Christmas to All! Jesus is the Reason for the Season!

Merry Christmas to all from the Poblete Family!

As we celebrate Christmas eve, I invite you to think deeply about the lyrics of the Christmas carol "What Child is This" (by William Chatterton Dix). Jesus is the Reason for the Season, because we celebrate His birth. Yet He was born to be our Savior, the Ransom for our sins.

"Nails, spear shall pierce Him through. the Cross be borne for me, for you." He is the Ransom paid for the sin that kidnapped us in its deathly grip. That is also why Jesus is called our Redeemer, He redeems us from the pawnshop of sin and death where we have pawned our souls.

"The King of Kings salvation brings; let loving hearts enthrone Him!" This Christmas, may you know Christ as your Savior and Redeemer! May you enthrone Him in your hearts!

Merry Christmas!!

What child is this, who, laid to rest,
On Mary’s lap is sleeping,
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet
While shepherds watch are keeping?
This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
Haste, haste to bring Him laud,
The babe, the son of Mary!

Why lies He in such mean estate
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christian, fear: for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.
Nails, spear shall pierce him through,
The Cross be borne for me, for you;
Hail, hail the Word Made Flesh,
The babe, the son of Mary!

So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh;
Come, peasant, king, to own Him!
The King of Kings salvation brings;
Let loving hearts enthrone Him!
Raise, raise the song on high!
The virgin sings her lullaby.
Joy! joy! for Christ is born,
The babe, the son of Mary!

–from the Lutheran Service Book (hymnal)

(lyrics from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Child_Is_This%3F )
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P.S. Watch this video! :-)
View the YouTube video of "What Child is This" as performed by Andrea Bocelli and Mary J. Blige, with David Foster on the piano, on The Oprah Winfrey Show - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHOHM3kHPRk

The Day Our Lives Changed Forever

Last March 10, 2010, my husband and I were called to the administrator’s office at our children’s school about our older son. I was filled with a sense of fear, like it was a foreboding of bad news. That day, the administrator told us, compassionately and kindly, that they had noticed that my older son, who had just turned thirteen, seemed to be “different” because of behaviour during the National Achievement Test the day before. He asked a question from the exam proctor when they were clearly instructed to not ask any questions. Aside from that, my son had been having difficulty in math and had a few other non-disruptive but unusual behaviours that they noticed. They thought it may be a learning disability and that it is possible that he may be a “special” child. They suggested that we have a psychological assessment done for our son to determine what disability he may have. After hearing this news, though it was not a diagnosis, I felt like the sky fell on me and the earth opened up to swallow me, at the same time. I was so devastated. My son, my “panganay”(Tagalog for oldest child), the one I carried in my womb for nine long months, seven months of that on bed rest, was “special”. It was so difficult to receive such news. As a mother, I took it worse than my husband did. I felt like I had failed to see that there was something wrong, and I could have known earlier. Why did we we find out only now? Why my son? What hurt all the more is that my son had been bullied and teased by certain classmates last school year, though in a “mild” way. “Mild” in a sense that it was not relentless and not continuous, and not violent. But the bullying still happened and it still affected my son no matter how mild it was. And now that I learned that my son was different, I was so angry that these kids took advantage of my son’s being different by teasing him. In grappling with the bad news, I went through the entire range of emotions: anger, depression, grief, sadness, frustration, bitterness. I asked God why. There was a purpose to all of this, but it eluded me at that time. As a friend of mine said, we may not “question” God, but we sometimes just ask Him why. One thing I did- I said to myself that whatever happens, my heart is the Lord’s. I would not get angry or become bitter at the Lord. Whatever happens, God is faithful and good.

We set an appointment with the psychologists who conducted the assessment soon after the administrator talked to us. They conducted IQ tests and other behavioural assessments. In about four weeks all the interviews and tests were finished. They said that the results would be out by 3 weeks. During the time we waited for the results, we researched online, we emailed doctor-friends to consult, we emailed doctor-relatives. It was torture to wait. Unfortunately, it took the psychologists almost 3 months to release the results. While waiting for the results, a friend of mine encouraged me with these words: “whatever it is, just remember that it is nothing compared to unwritten possibilities of love and patience.” I still treasure these words in my heart to this day.

The psychological assessment results showed what fields my son had difficulties in. The results made me sad because I didn’t know that my son was so handicapped in certain areas. He also had severe social skill problems. No diagnosis was given, only a clinical impression. They said we needed to see a developmental paediatrician or a psychiatrist for the diagnosis. We then decided to see a developmental paediatrician. A friend of mine suggested a certain doctor. He was such a blessing because he had been a friend during my college days. He is a good Christian doctor and a wonderful developmental paediatrician. We went to see him August 12, 2010. That day we got my son’s official diagnosis : High Functioning Autism. It wasn’t Asperger’s syndrome because my son lacked the very high IQ scores, the savant ability (a special “gift” or talent or “obsession”) and the normal language development usually seen in Asperger’s Syndrome. (He only spoke in monosyllables around age 2 and learned to speak complete sentences at age two and a half.) The paediatrician assured us that he has a good prognosis and that he was mildly affected. He also said that my son had been able to cope for 7 years of elementary education, and he will be able to cope. The doctor also said that my son also qualifies for a “person with disability” status from our city. Surprisingly, after hearing the final diagnosis, we didn’t feel as devastated as we did before. Maybe the Lord was answering the prayers of our friends who had been praying for us for months since that “day” we found out about our son’s being “special”. We felt like God’s grace was holding us up. We felt like we were strong beyond our own capacity to be strong.

We got a list of specialists to visit from the developmental pediatrician : occupational therapist, and speech therapist, a genetics laboratory. We needed to have high-resolution chromosome analysis done to rule out any chromosomal causes of autism. We have now seen two occupational therapists and a speech therapist. As more tests and evaluations are done on my son, the more we are understanding his autism and how deeply affected he is. As part of his autism, he has fine motor skill difficulty, sensory processing and sensory integration problems (he is hyper-sensitive to certain sensory inputs, like smells and sounds, and hypo-sensitive to others, like pain), social skill deficits, and practical math difficulty. We are still awaiting the results of the chromosome analysis.

Now, we are taking one day at a time. We are not sure what my son will reach, but we will guide him to reach his God-given potential. We will continue to pray that he will be able to function, cope and overcome his limitations and disabilities. Whether a person is highly intelligent with a PhD, or a person is autistic with language, math and social disabilities, they must still honor the Lord. Honoring the Lord with one’s life is necessary, and possible, no matter what one’s level of education is. I have also learned to forgive and understand the “bullies” who teased my son, though I honestly wanted to wring their little necks at first. I have learned to accept my son’s diagnosis. We will do whatever it takes (except anything sinful or illegal, of course) to help our son. We will trust God everyday for the grace and strength to be parents of a child with autism. As my friend encouraged me, “know that he is still the same child you cradled and loved and nurtured. Your dreams for him may change, as they often do, but nothing in this life is certain except that which God has planned for us.” We don’t know what the future is, but we know God is there. We don’t know my son’s future, but I know he will be taught by the Lord, because God promised it.

And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
(Isaiah 54:13)

Lyrics of How He Loves Us by David Crowder Band

He is jealous for me,
Love's like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us so

Yeah, He loves us,
Oh, how He loves us!
Oh! how He loves us!
Oh! how He loves!


And we are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If His grace is an ocean, we're all sinking.
And Heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don't have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way...


Yeah, He loves us,
Oh, how He loves us!
Oh! how He loves us!
Oh! how He loves!

Grocery Clerk with Special Needs: "What Would You Do?" TV show

The ABC show "What Would You Do?" films for 3 days at a supermarket in Brooklyn with different actors posing as customers who were insulting a grocery bagger/clerk with Down Syndrome(he was also an actor). Some people (real customers) stood up for the clerk, some kept quiet. the video is 8mins. please watch til the end. May people be more compassionate toward those with special needs.

"Q & A"- a beautiful video that tugs at the heart

watch this beautiful2 video from National Public Radio

I pray more people will understand that special children need love and acceptance, not ostracizing. their parents need support, not judgment. This boy with Asperger's syndrome, a diagnosis under autism spectrum disorders, interviewed his mom on radio, and this animation was produced from the interview.

"Stool and Sputum- 120 pesos only" -wha?!?!?!

This  is what happens when the sign maker (or the lab owner) decides to omit two very important words: exam and test. It's supposed to be "stool exam" and "sputum test", peeps! I took this picture myself. It was in front of a diagnostic laboratory in Quezon City.