Chicharon & Japanese Mamon

A reward system is something I believe in. I used to implement this with my children when they were young. I also do this to myself to motivate me or to mark a special achievement.

Years ago, when I was struggling with my religious gifts business, money was really, really tight. Added to that was the fact that I was financially illiterate. There were times I had to borrow from my children’s savings to pay for their tuition. I was also borrowing from the following month’s budget to get by. When my partners agreed to give me a small salary because I was managing the store full time, the first thing I bought was a bag of chicharon. To others that was something they buy without thought. To me that’s extra expense I have to think twice before buying. So when I got my first salary, I celebrated with a bag of chicharon. It was a delight in simple pleasures that rich people do not have the privilege of enjoying.

In the mall where our store was then located was an upscale bakery, Bread Talk. They sold this Japanese mamon that cost around P300 at the time which my friend said was delicious. I vowed that I will only buy it when I have a steady income that is enough for me to afford this. When my mother learned about this, she told my father to buy it for me but I declined. I will buy it when I reach the right stage.

Fast forward to 2011 – I am now financially literate. I have learned through the years to budget and live within my means. In the beginning of my walk to financial literacy, I made a budget based on a historical record of past months. That put order in my finances but still did not leave enough for savings and tithes after I plugged in all my expenses. It was just a list of sources and uses of funds.

Then I made progress. After reading books and researching on the topic, I learned to prioritize tithes and savings before dividing the rest for my living expenses. Amazingly, I was able to balance my budget even with those two items at the top of the list. Of course, there were a lot of things I still had to do without. I still could not buy the Japanese mamon.

Yesterday, about 6 years from the time I made that vow, I was updating my financial record. I realized there was something new in my notebook. Aside from sources of funds, budget allocation and my daily expense record, I now have entries for my savings and investments. This new section I have added enables me to plan my investments. I have just given my friend/financial consultant a check for additional placement in their mutual fund. I have also just finished reading Bo Sanchez’s “My Maid Invests in the Stock Market” so I’m considering his suggestions too.

I guess it is now time for me to go to Bread Talk to see if they still make the Japanese mamon. And if it still costs P300 after all these years.

Minda’s Joie de Vivre

I will never forget the attire that won for her the Best Costume award at the 2009 Light of Jesus Servants’ Christmas party. She came as a Christmas tree. So did I and a couple of others, but hers was more outrageous. While I only had a small metal tree that I used as a head piece and Christmas ball earrings, she was decked out as the whole tree. She had poinsettias and glittery balls pinned on her shirt, a pointy hat with a big star on top, small wreaths for earrings and a scarf of fairy lights. Come judging time for the finalists, she had her lights plugged into the socket. She blew away the competition.

She was that game. She was lovably kooky. She had such a joy for life. It was fun to be with her during our Music Ministry practices, during our service for the Feast and in the Kerygma Conference. But she also had her serious side. There were times when she shared nuggets of wisdom with us as we waited for performances to start.

Minda Obatay will be dearly remembered as a helpful person. Her Caring Group mates shared that she always helped set up or clean up wherever their meetings were held like it was her own home. She was the same in our practices – making sure we all have something to eat during break times and raiding the kitchen when the food is short.

She helped even if she was not a member of the ministry tasked to do something. When we used to set-up the stage as part of our duties for the Creatives Ministry, she’d be setting up the backdrop even before the members arrived. She didn’t even belong to Creatives but helped out anyway just because she was there.

Last night, we said good-bye to this wonderful person at a community mass. All that time she was serving with us she had cancer. But you wouldn’t have noticed because of the energy she exerted in the things she did.

Cancer may have stricken her body but left her generous heart untouched. To the very end her thoughts were of giving. One of her last instructions to her husband was to find the tithes she had prepared before she was hospitalized and to give it to the community.

At the honoring, one of her sons said she was a good mother who never spanked them. At the back of the room, two of my community sisters and I wondered what our children would say about us. We can only hope they would have glowing praises as Minda’s son had for her.

Minda unabashedly praised the Lord. During worship her voice would ring out above the rest to honor and exalt Him. She must have delighted Jesus so much He wanted her in heaven already so she can sing Him praises before His throne.

Sadly, I only knew Minda for a short time, maybe two or three years. And I only served closely with her in the last year. But the little that I know of her has blessed me and infected me with joy. At a time when I am experiencing service fatigue, her life is a timely reminder for me to serve the Lord with gladness.

Happy Something New Year!

Last Sunday at the Feast Alabang, we greeted the New Year with a bang. Not with firecrackers that blow fingers and other body parts to smithereens. The whole Feast was a blast – from the Showtime-caliber dance presentation, to the rousing worship, to the enlightening talk on “Something New” by Bro Arun Gogna in his shimmery shirt that echoed the festive spirit.

Bro Arun said if you want 2011 to be an amazingly successful year, do something new.

And so I start my year with new things. The dance presentation for one. It was the Events Pillar’s entry for the supposed contest at the Feast Alabang Servants’ Christmas Party. We were asked to present it again to set the celebratory mood and greet the attendees a Happy New Year. Dance at the Feast. That’s new for me. I’ve done many things at the Feast – sing, emcee, write, decorate the stage among them. I got to do another thing I love doing –dancing.

This year ushers in another first for me. Late last year, I was asked to write for Kerygma Magazine. It was something I had been wishing for. The January 2011 issue features an article I wrote about my dreams coming true. And it has a huge picture of me – photo shopped I think, as I requested the photographer. I pray it’s the first of many articles I will write for this magazine. (I’ve submitted another one about the Commanding General of the Philippine Air Force.)

Another new thing I’m trying out is a different method to manage my time. I’ve been frustrated with my old way of micro-managing it. I read somewhere that to be successful, you have to treat each hour like an employee. Assign a task for that hour and gauge your efficiency on the things accomplished by each hour.

So I don’t miss doing something at its assigned time I have been maniacal about setting alarms to my sons’ irritation. Sometimes when they’re in deep slumber, they’d be disturbed by my alarm on snooze. Time to dress up, time to check emails, time to make the grocery list, etc., etc. I even had meals and bath times penciled in. I ended up irritated when people would ask me to do things I hadn’t included in my planner.

Well, that just didn’t work out well. So I’m trying something new. I’ll tell you about it next year if my something new is the success I’m hoping it will be.

Have a Blessed Year ahead and may you see miracles everyday!