The famous smile that will be missed along Taft and Vito Cruz.

Who was Jenny? Why was he popular? Why was he loved? Why was his life celebrated and his death received an out-pouring sadness from the students and alumni of the two prestigious academic institutions (DLSU and CSB) in the Philippines? Why was he given respect that he has a Facebook Fan Page? What did he do to deserve such treatment even in death?

Was he a student or an alumnus of DLSU or CSB? No! Was he a professor? No! Was he a staff member of any of the two institutions? No! Who was he, then?

Jenny was a gay personality in the vicinity of DLSU and Vito Cruz corner Taft Avenue. Where the De La Salle and College of St. Benilde students were he was there! He was an errand boy, a help and say any job similar to those he was the answer!

He was featured in the university’s paper. And when one of the first online social networks (Friendster) started to be known he was given an account. He lived by the generosity of the students of these two famous campuses. I heard that some students were able to open for him a bank account for his savings (though I wasn’t able to confirm).

What did he do to deserve such respect and love? He was there for the students, he helped them and he cared for them!

Those were the three things he did so the students also loved him, helped him, and cared for him, when he was still alive and now that he passed away many are willing to help and attend to his wake and interment, just to give honor and respect for the person who was there for them!

One big lesson anyone can learn from the example of Jenny’s life is: to be there for the people, help them in their needs and care for them.

Thank you Jenny for your life’s example! See you in the life-after-here!

This carinderia has no name only “Bulaluhan” - which they serve more than bulalo but all sorts of ‘totoong’ lutong bahay dish. They have seafood, vegetable & the best cooked rice for a carinderia!

Nothing can entice you with an authentic offer of dish - like a Bulalo!

What made it exceptional from all the other carinderias I mentioned in parts 1 and 2 of this blog title?

1. Their service is very personal. Sometimes it goes beyond the usual business relationship. But come to think of it, when it comes to food it is always personal. Joel, the cook, is more often ready to welcome me with a very provincial smile & stories. Jasmine, the server, welcomes me with the recent neighborhood scoop!

2. They knew my gastronomic preferences already. Even before I give my order, they are ready with what I wanted for the day. If there is ginatang langka or fish, I don’t have to say my order, it will be ready in an instant.

3. For a carinderia they are particular with cleanliness. Their place is not fancy but I know that they know sanitation.

4. Their location is accessible – on the corner of 2 busy streets (Vito Cruz & Taft). It can be located easily. Even if their place is very small they are with other carinderias so they can really be a 2nd choice if all the others are busy with customers, which eventually if you will experience their service, they will be your 1st choice. They started as one of my alternatives only!

5. Lastly, they are sticking for what they are – they are expert in their name as ‘Bulaluhan’ and add on the best lutong bahay dishes, that can compete with a mother’s preparation!

Insights: To be well accepted & authentically preferred by other people be it in your neighborhood, workplace or other communities be…

• …also authentically personal in your dealing with other people.
• …be the person that is pleasing both in your body and personality.
• …be available to people.
• …stick to what God would like you to become and develop it to be the best you can be!

Masarap na Maanghang!!!

Today here are the carinderias that I like but still place as my third and second choice…

Carinderia 3: The food of this store is really lutong bahay. The friendly lady-owner told me that her mom is the one who do the marketing and prepares all the food also, in fact it really tasted cooked by a Nanay.  Yet, I noticed one time that this owner was trying to lure me to buy additional food, which I don’t like, so that I will pay more. I know she needs sales but I don’t want to be tricked – specially when it is very evident!

Insight: Be very honest in your relationship with people.  They notice when you are not genuine with what you offer. Ayaw natin ng niloloko tayo di ba?

Carinderia 4: This carinderia has well attractive presentation of their food, which are in fancy Kawalis with banana leaves decoration. The lightings bring more attraction. Their combo meals includes a soup, 2 cups of rice and the main ulam. Yet, their rice smells old no matter how I advise their servers.  So this carinderia is my 2nd choice.

Insight: Be sensitive to the feed back of people on who you are. It helps you to improve.

On the next blog I will share with you the one I find the best of all the carinderias!

Filipino Food are definitely palatable!

Carinderia 1: This place is very clean! The Sanitary Division of Manila City Hall will give them a very good mark! The lady on the counter is extremely friendly, she calls all her customers by endearments.  I’m called ‘masanting na binata’ (handsome bachelor), definitely I love it. But their food choices are very regular, they  never explore on other menu with adventurous tastes. I also noticed that their servers are very stiff and seldom smile on the customers.

Insight: Be explorative with what you offer to people. We love new and exciting things, we don’t want to get bored with the conventional and traditional. Be genuinely warm also.

Carinderia 2: They have a lot of food choices. Those serve fit Filipino taste! The owner knows me seemingly personally and her assistants serves well. Yet, these assistants are distant and not connecting with their clientele.  So thus their location in our vicinity is a little distant too.

Insight: 3 essential rules to attract people – Location! Location! Location! Be where the people are!

On part two of this blog title, I’ll share with you my third and second choice carinderia.

You may ask, “Why after blogging about initiate new relationships, nurture existing relationships and restore broken relationships you now post about ending a relationship?”

Guys, I’m not saying sever one if you just wanted to end one! I neither talk about a marriage relationship, it has to be preserved! Save, fight and exhaust all things possible to keep your marriage!

Prayerfully consider cutting the connecting ribbon of friendship!

My point here is: Severe a relationship that makes you a sinner! Cut off a relationship that messes your life! End a relationship that makes you a worst person than before! Stop a relationship that leads you to do bad things!

You may say again, ‘Shouldn’t we love everybody for God?’

There are times that God’s love is tough too. He knows that we are weak and that when we associate with “bad” people it will pull us down because it is easier to influence a good guy to become bad, than influencing a bad guy to become good.

St. Paul said, “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’” (1 Corinthians 15: 33)

Let me mention some situations that you should prayerfully consider ending a relationship:

• Your friend is putting you to several very tempting situations.
• He/she is introducing you to try destructive vices.
• Your business partner or a colleague in the office or workplace is involving you to illegal transactions and unethical work practices.
• A friend is suggesting you to illicitly flirt with someone.
• This friend of yours is happy bad-mouthing about someone else.
• Your friend is starting to poison your mind to think evil about somebody.
• You notice that a friend is making you stop having personal devotion, stop going to church or practicing generosity and discouraging you to serve others.

Again a passage in the Good Book said, “…you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler.  With such a man do not even eat” (1 Corinthians 5: 11)

May you prayerfully consider to severe a relationship when you sense that the friendship you have is corrupting you!

We are the Apple of God's Eyes!

The very first Bible reading schedule I had for January 1 was Matthew Chapter 1, verses 1-17, the genealogy of Jesus.

I took note that in Jesus’ lineage there were 3 women’s names mentioned. It was a surprise because very seldom a woman’s name was included in a traditional Hebrew (the race of Jesus) family records, because this people had a very strong patriarchal society.  Women were second rate citizens.

It was also noted that the mentioned women were very unpopular and in fact considered least in their extremely conservative ancient community, these women were:

1. Rahab, a non-Hebrew, from Jericho and was a prostitute.
2. Ruth, also a non-Hebrew, a Moabite and was a widow.
3. Bathsheba, an adulteress.

BUT they were included in the record which means they were important and valued!

As I reflected on Jesus’ family record great lessons were impressed on me:

• God doesn’t look at you the way present societies and communities look at you.  You may have done something very wrong last year but God doesn’t label you according to your performance, on the other hand, He regard you based on what you can become! God values you even if… You can have a fresh new start this year!
• By that you can definitely say, no matter what you did in the past, what ever sin you may have committed He is always ready to FORGIVE you. Your parents may have disowned you, but He will not disown you. Your boss may have fired you because of bad evaluation, but He doesn’t keep a bad record. Your closest friends may have abandoned you because you hurt them, but He doesn’t leave you nor forsake you though you offend Him many many times.
• And because He doesn’t keep a bad record and never label you negatively, on the other hand He sees the best you can do and will allow you to be that.  He will use you to produce the best thing for yourself and for others!

Have a great 2010 with the way how God looks at you – You are the Apple of His Eyes! It will set this year right!

Now I’d like to say, BE LINKED TO HIM & HE’LL IMPROVE YOUR RELATIONSHIPS!  Relationships not only in your family but in your work places, neighborhood & your church as well.

Reasons for awful relationships are attitudes of big-headedness, self-centeredness & pride.  People with these attitudes are pain in the *** & are irritants.  Nobody would like to be with them.  They are miserable and they would like other people, specially those whom they love, to become miserable also (that’s terrible isn’t it?).  They easily get hurt, wreck their own relationships & the relationships of people around them.

Think of someone like that…if you can’t think of anyone it is YOU!

A promise of a good relationship this 2010!

If it is you and you would like this year to have better relationships be connected to God & He will create in you a new person with a humble heart! He will transform you to become a person who is genuinely interested & concern with other people.  He will make you a person who doesn’t try to impress others to be accepted.  He will make you give up the thought that you are always right & not insist with others what you want.

The Bible said you will become a person who is ‘quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry…’ Or you will become a person who ‘Seek first to understand, than to be understood’  (as Stephen Covey worded it).

If you become a humble person before God, He will make you a person who accepts your faults & accepts your dependency to Him & to other people.  You will be come a person who will learn to say the two most important lines in the world: “I was wrong” and “I need help.”

Then people will be attracted to you and as a result your relationships will become better if not the best!

May your 2010 be filled with great relationships!

The question is how do we have a good relationship in every segment of our life, in our communities and in our workplaces.

I would like to share with you today four things on how to have a GOOD relationship:

1. Initiate new relationships, you need it for a better life!
2.  Nurture your existing relationships, those are difficult to regain when lost!
3.  Restore broken relationships, it is godly to forgive those who hurt you and to ask for forgiveness to those whom you’ve hurt!
4.  Severe a relationship that leads you to sin, preserve your character!

I will post the details on these four in the next coming blogs.  For the moment pray that you will be blessed with great relationships!

It makes us feel abandoned, poor, devastated, insecure, useless, empty, broken & helpless.  the list can continue but just these mentioned effects of self-pity are enough for a person to be destroyed.

It is a fact that while on earth, even if we are already in Christ, life will be very hard, if not hard.  It is a fact that problems will always be there and in our struggles with hardships & problems there will be times that our battles will be defeated.  During those times the enemy will impress that God has abandoned us, that He doesn’t care and that we are helpless, unworthy and a persona non grata.

But that is not the case!  God said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you!  I am your God & you are my children!  I will be with you to the ends of the earth!  A mother can forget her breast-feeding child but I won’t!  I have created you after my wonderful image!  I care for you more than the sparrows & the flowers of the field!  You hairs have I counted!  I will cover you like a hen protects her chicks!  I died for you so that you may live!  I have given you not a spirit of fear & timidity but of power, love & of sound mind!”

If you are experiencing self-pity, the promises of God can cover these awful impressions of the enemy!  And mind you, God’s love & care spread more than enough!  Pity not yourself & your condition because you are covered by God who is greater than anyone or anything else!

Kuya Ef & his children. We can learn a lot from him & from them!

We saw yesterday afternoon and last night the awarding to another Filipino an international recognition! Efren Penaflorida was named CNN 2009 Hero of the Year!

He never harmed anyone to receive such title. You cannot hear any bad issues about his character and no scandal was attached to his name! A friend of mine commented in the You Tube video of his awarding, “I don’t think when he began his community service he was thinking of getting any award and CNN for that matter.’  I likewise think He never thought of gaining thousands of dollars for an award.

He is, I think, our time’s real FILIPINO HERO!  HE IS THE ONE I REALLY THINK DESERVES THE LAKANDULA TITLE!

He was still a very young man when he started the Dream Teen Company. It was the vehicle that made him a hero by helping alleviate the  condition of the out of school children in the slums of his home province!  At his very young age he showed true leadership by mobilizing thousands of volunteers without a promise of financial returns.

I think he was still a child then, so he loved and was concerned with his fellow children.  I think he was still very young then, so he was brave and courageous.  I think he has the youth impetuousness then, that he did things even if his ideas and the process of doing those were difficult.  I think he has that youthful restlessness then, so he focused on his passion.  I think he was at the prime of his health and prowess then, so he didn’t mind the risks of doing what he thought God called him to do!  He gave and still giving his life for the love of children and if you will notice he has retained the youthfulness now at his age!  He changed the lives of many children!  He received worldwide recognition and was rewarded for his great effort!

There are many things we can learn from those who are younger than us, there are many admirable traits we can learn from the children!

Kadalasan mas malinis ang puso ng mga bata at mas maganda ang mga adhikain ng mga mas nakababata kesa atin! Maganda na ating hiramin at ating angkinin ang kanilang mga kabutihan!  Masarap maging bata sa puso at sa gawa!