Lessons of a Dad

Nearly 90 kids had the best time of their young lives…and learned about God in the process

2012-05-27T21:50:00.000+08:00

DVBS. Many of you may not know these four letters. But to nearly 90 kids, nearly 30 volunteers, and not to mention an exhausted yours truly, they’re four letters that would be treasured for years to come. Below is a video that’ll show you why:

DVBS means Daily Vacation Bible School; and through 5 days of interactive stories, fun games, and action songs, nearly 90 kids had terrific fun…and learned about God in the process. Traditionally, our church holds these every summer, with a different title and theme each go-round. This year, it was called MAIN STREET.

The (sometimes harrowing) experience of recruiting volunteers, advertising MAIN STREET to parents in our church, and nitpicking over everything so that the execution is perfect doesn’t compare to the fulfillment that comes with hearing the kids’ shouts of glee and their taking to heart Christ’s love for them. There’s no greater high than serving God in ministry, and in my case, serving the young people.

Here are my reflections over the last few days:

Lynn and other youth volunteers.

•    The awesome volunteer response was one of my most heartwarming memories of the DVBS experience. All I had to do was go in front of the church one (just one) Sunday and ask the congregation if they were willing to be an instrumental part of a child discovering Jesus as Lord. By the end of the worship service, the volunteer list was filled up…and boy did they deliver! They worked darn hard and long, and I couldn’t ask for a better team.

•    Special mention goes out to JZone youth, who volunteered in droves and showed me what teen power could do when combined with a desire to serve Christ. JZone teens, I was incredibly blessed by your energy, enthusiasm, and love for the kids. I’m sure you were incredibly blessed, too, as you’re at the age where the need to belong and be a part of something is great (hence the cliques and gangs if not done right)…so you used this to volunteer for worthy causes like ministry. Parents of teens, take note.

•    The event was such a smashing hit, especially to those who don’t go to or are new to CCF, so much so that I hear these really funny stories. One such story from a visitor mom is that her daughter would wake up at 6am, immediately and hurriedly dress up, and be ready to go to MAIN STREET right in the wee hours of the morning (DVBS starts at 2:00 in the afternoon). I heard of kids crying because they thought they’d be late. I heard of kids who’d sing, dance, and talk about what happened on MAIN STREET all the way till they’re tucked in bed. Now that’s impact. Oh, and furthermore…

Two awesome dance leaders!

• Never underestimate how God can use DVBS to bless not only the kids, but their families. A friend from another CCF church told me that when they held a DVBS one summer, one of the kids in her care was a girl whose family life was a mess and her parents were about to separate. After the DVBS she liked it so much that she begged her warring parents to go to said church the next Sunday. Long story short, the parents are back together, more in love than ever before, have attended a great couples retreat, regularly attend church there, and are now involved in a couples small group, hungrily learning more about the God that saved their marriage and changed their lives. All this from their little girl’s memorable DVBS experience. I’d love to hear about a story like that from our efforts on MAIN STREET, if there are any. My spirits will soar.

These two ALWAYS had the same shirt

•    DVBS is probably the best example of adapting the Gospel message to the audience. For MAIN STREET, each day revolved around a parable of Jesus, and so each station’s activities centered around that theme. There’s dancing, crafts, snack making, games…all related to the parable of the day. It’s brilliant how cohesive it all is when executed properly.

•    That said, I think I nailed the Gospel message. The kids really paid attention. Happy, my 6 year old, even went up to me afterwards and started asking more questions about Jesus and Heaven. Bingo.

•    It wasn’t just the kids who were blessed, the volunteers were too. Every day, all throughout the trip home, Lynn, couldn’t stop talking about her experiences in serving the children and the camaraderie of the volunteer group. It’s her first time as a volunteer, and she’s having the time of her life. May she truly develop a heart of service.

•    God likes to do things with drama, just to make sure that I know He is in charge, not me. I had lots of trouble getting some of the materials for the event. In ALL the meetings I had with the volunteers, the church was full (2 weddings, counseling sessions, office restructuring, GLC graduation, D Groups galore) and so up until the time of the meetings, we didn’t even have a place to meet. There were more participants than there were shirts. Some key members got sick right from the get go. Whew, is God in control? Yep…and He has a habit of letting me know that, too.

•    Our 90 kid DVBS totally pushed the limits of CCF’s facilities (and it’s one of the reasons I didn’t advertise it much outside of the church). I’m pretty certain that plenty more kids will avail of the DVBS next year, and that’s not going to be feasible anymore (more waiting than participating in the games; rooms filled to the bursting point, etc.). I’m thinking 2 batches of DVBS’s next summer onwards, if the volunteers can persevere. You’re thoughts, team?

The good Samaritan on a donkey...some donkey! Kids roared with laughter

• I was reminded of one time a friend marveled at the exposure and training in God's Word that the Children's ministry kids were getting, saying that if more kids in the Philippines got the same thing, we'd have a much better country. On that note, I somehow wished the kids of our neighborhood and the kids of our friends would enjoy a DVBS like what we did on MAIN STREET. If ever we figure out how we can accommodate more kids than what we had this year, I’ll advertise it more in my neighborhood (and online) for sure.

4-5 y.o.'s: the toughest group...but the cutest, too!

• If you plan to do your own DVBS, you MUST split the 4-5 year old group into 2 smaller, easier to manage groups. You save yourself a lot of pain.

• There’s always the challenge of having something for everyone. There are kids who knew the Bible from cover to cover, yet there were kids who probably had no idea where Genesis is; there were kids who had trouble with English, so it was tough for them to understand the lessons and game instructions; there were kids who had clinically diagnosed hyperactivity and wanted to always move, yet there were kids who we had to encourage to move.

Happy in the red shirt, ready to dodge. He was like, "BRING IT!"

•    Wet sponge dodgeball is gleefully brutal, especially when you see 6-8 year olds play it. There were a lot of “Whoa!!” moments. Man, when 6 year olds wanna win, they wanna win! The game portion was called Firehouse Fitness…and knowing firehouses, water was involved in almost all the games. Our teen volunteers had to mop like crazy to keep up.

•    Some of the songs are guaranteed to give you LSS (Last Song Syndrome). Choruses of “I’ll adjust my attitude (to gratitude)” and “Show me the path” are ringing in my head as I type this blog.

•    I think we gave our Sunday School a problem. All the classrooms are filled to the brim every Sunday as it is. Earlier, the Sunday after DVBS, they’re so “AAAAAAAAHH!” But it’s a good problem, right guys? You’re welcome. ;)

Ready to help kids make delish snacks!

• Parents were already looking forward to next year’s DVBS. Mom asked me if I saw myself doing this again. She humorously told me that the one who GM’s the DVBS often doesn’t want to do it again. My answer? Well, my heart says “yes,” but my aching body and my loaded schedule say “Think about it first.” Plus, I have to be convinced that I did a good enough job in the first place. Truth be told, outside of God’s obvious active role in this project, I feel that MAIN STREET’s success was far more due to the ridiculously outstanding volunteer team than my own leadership. I can’t say this enough: they were awesome.

Well, MAIN STREET has come and gone. Everybody was sad when it was all over. Yet, everyone, especially the parents, were thankful for the event. Therefore, I’d like to thank CCF Cagayan de Oro for allowing all this to happen. Thank you for showing how important the spiritual health of our kids are to you. The support given to us, especially during the week itself, was superb.

Now, the next order of business is to ask God what He wants me to do from here on. You see, in our most recent leadership conference God really created a burden in me to take up the call and play a major, major role in the Children's Ministry. I bargained with Him (and the church leadership who I shared this revelation to) that I'd do the DVBS for the summer and go from there.

Well, the DVBS is now done, and by His grace it was very successful. So now what? I'll use this next few weeks to fast and pray. If God wants me neck deep in Children's Ministry, then who am I to refuse? If His purpose was only to involve myself for the summer and not a week after, then He'd better let me know before I foolishly over-extend myself like so many times in the past. Fast and pray, yup gotta do that...and if you, dear reader, know me personally and want to say something about this, go right ahead. That's what the comments section is for.

Anyway, praise God for an awesome week, indeed. If you were present the past week (participant, parent, volunteer, whatever), please also share your thoughts in the comment section below. I’d like to hear from you.

(Oh, if you wanna see more photos of the festivities, click here)

Should you side with the Philippine Lady Gaga concert protests?

2012-05-22T07:43:00.000+08:00

If I wasn't so loaded with preparations for my church's DVBS (which is happening TODAY, please pray!!), I'd want to make an article about all the hoopla going around about Lady Gaga's upcoming Philippine concert being protested by certain groups.

However, I just read this awesome blog article on the subject, made by excellent Victory Christian Fellowship pastor Joseph Bonifacio (who has earned the love and "I do's" of the stunningly beautiful actress Rica Peralejo, lucky guy), and he said it way better than I ever could.

So, should you side with the Philippine Lady Gaga concert protests? I suggest you read this article before making your stand.

Click here to read Joseph Bonifacio's article.

How do you show PINOY PRIDE?

2012-05-20T04:36:00.001+08:00

With our independence day coming up, I'd like to ask my Filipino readers how you guys celebrate Pinoy Pride. The reason for this is I'd like to make a blog entry on Filipino patriotism, a category I haven't made in quite a while now.

So, Pinoy readers, how do you show how you love your country? Leave comments, please!

(This blog site, Lessons Of A Dad is mostly about parenting, marriage, and other topics aimed to develop the reader’s mind, body, and soul. However, Filipino patriotism is also a passion of mine, and I put these kinds of articles out every once in a while. I’d consider it an honor if you’d follow or subscribe to this site. You can also go to my Facebook page here, and I’m also on Twitter at @lessonsofadad)

25 Things About Me

2012-05-17T15:17:00.000+08:00

I’ve been constantly surprised and blessed how this blog has reached people from all over the world. I get hits from just about everywhere in the globe, from pretty much every continent. Wow.

Therefore, it’s a no brainer that not many of you know me personally, so this next blog entry is a re-post of one of one of those surveys on Facebook notes, way back in the day when Facebook was still young and people were into these things. I just updated the list a bit since it’s been many years since I did the original version.

So, without further ado, here’s 25 Things About Me…2012 edition:

1.    Jesus is the Lord of my life, and it is only Him I will serve.

2.    I truly ADORE my family. I only love #1 more.

3.    When people ask where I’m from, I have a difficult time answering. I was born in Manila, grew up in the US, and my adult life is spent here in Cagayan de Oro City.

4.    I am a true-blue believer in the Montessori Method and I’ll strongly recommend any parent, especially parents of small children, to send their kids to a true Montessori school (here’s a great article about it).

5.    It’s a tremendous privilege to have started the Lessons of a Dad dad blog. It’s therapy for me, and I’m glad I have blessed some people with what I write here (and won an award in the process).

6.    I really LOVE my teaching job and the people that are a part of my life in that area (students and co-faculty). It’s another fantastic privilege to mold the next generation, not only academically, but as a whole person. I don’t like checking papers, though.

7.    I’m a good communicator, both oral and written…or at least I think I am.

8.    I’m blessed to belong in a church that is adamant in equipping its flock. CCF (we go to the one in Cagayan de Oro) through its passionate advocacy for discipleship and strong families has molded me and my family tremendously.

9.    God has been doing tremendous things in my life in the past few years in terms of ministry, but especially this year, so much so that I feel a little overwhelmed and undeserving.

10.    I’m also blessed to have been mentored by, and held accountable to, several older men in said church. Not only has God placed them in my life to hold me accountable, but they’re a gold mine of Godly advice.

11.    Regarding the previous number, I try to pay it forward…and some people say I counsel quite well, and I encourage quite well. I personally think there’s still a lot of room for improvement.

12.    I don’t make friends that fast (and I’m TERRIBLE with names); but when you’re a friend, you’re a friend for life!

13.    I usually (or maybe it’s better to say that I used to) pay attention to what I eat. You’ll probably think I’m more health-conscious than the average person and far more health-conscious than the average Filipino. However, I’ve let myself go in recent years and I need to get back on track.

14.    My unhealthiest habit is sleeping late. I think if I fix this, the rest of my health goals will fall into place.

15.    My wife and I have a blessed marriage, and I have heard that we inspire a lot of young couples like us. However, ours was not a nice start. Because she was pregnant, we rushed into the wedding, or shall I say, we rushed into marriage. I still feel guilty that I robbed her of the dream wedding girls always wanted. I robbed her of the romantic proposal that girls always wanted. Instead, it was “Let’s get this done before your tummy gets too big.” What a pathetic substitute.

16.    Our kids are active in church ministry, and are excellent kids all around. I’m soooo proud of them (I have to tell them so more often). We try to mold them physically, intellectually, spiritually, and socially (Luke 2:52).

17.    My biggest weakness is (drum roll) being disorganized. I’m the messiest guy you can meet. Second worst weakness: procrastinator. I need to remove these from my life, now that I’m holding more important leadership positions at work.

18.    I used to be pretty vain and materialistic. I’ve asked God to remove those sins from my life, and He did. However, sometimes a trickle creeps back.

19.    I’m crazy for Japanese food. Mexican food is a close 2nd. Thai is probably 3rd place.

20.    Favorite dessert of all time: apple pie a la mode. My favorite Pinoy dessert: leche flan.

21.    I used to do a lot of geeky things, like play video games, watch wrestling, and play pencil-and-paper rpg games (hides head in shame).

22.    I miss America (especially the friends I left behind), but I don’t want to live there. When people on these shores ask why I don’t feel the allure of American’s riches, I tell them that here I’m richer where it counts. Most of the people get it.

23.    I find it really strange how Filipinos are so scared of the sun. The sun is really good for you!!

24.    I hate coke (well, soda in general) and beer. Luckily, I’ve never tried cigarettes.

25.    I'm not really fond of traveling. My wife is, though...and because of her I'm starting to warm up to it too.

I hope this 25 Things About Me blog post gives you a bit more info about the guy behind Lessons Of A Dad. Please feel free to leave a comment. I hope you find time to return to this site to see the articles that are posted here. Have a great day, folks!

Mother's Day Tribute

2012-05-13T21:08:00.000+08:00

In honor of our mothers, Lynn and three talented friends sung a beautiful rendition of Yeng Constantino's hit, "Salamat" in church earlier today. View the video below:

Indeed, we all owe a debt of gratitude to our mothers. They've sacrificed so much for us. The Children's Ministry kids coming out to give their moms roses during the song, us asking them to stand and be acknowledged, the preacher praying for them as they stand...they're all just little tributes to the amazing women who raised us (and raise our children).

To the beautiful mothers out there, happy Mother's Day, from Lessons Of A Dad.

How to effectively show love to your kids

2012-05-11T19:43:00.002+08:00

A few months back, I featured Gary Chapman’s 5 Love Languages of Love for advice for couples. I find that book fantastic when it comes to improving relations with your spouse (click here for that article).

Knowing the 5 Love Languages of love is also very beneficial to parenting. If it’s vital to know your spouse’s primary love language, it’s just as vital to know the love language of your children.

In fact, one of the offspring of the best seller is called The 5 Love Languages of Children which is among the books I recommended as parenting books for dads.

(I know I'm supposed to make a mom equivalent for Mother's Day. My apologies, work is still quite intense. However, only a few of those books are dad specific. The rest could be read and used by both parents).

Anyway, back to the topic.

Imagine a teenager running away from home, possessing in his heart great anger and resentment towards his parents. “They don’t love me” he bitterly barks to his friends.

The grief-stricken parents, meanwhile, tearfully cry out, “How could he do this to us? After all we’ve done for him!!”

Do the parents genuinely love the teen? Of course! But, maybe, they didn’t show it very well, or in the love language the teen understands. The problem was not sincerity; it was how this sincerity was displayed.

So let’s review, folks. What are the 5 Languages of Love? Then, how can we figure out what is the best approach with our children? So, he’s the 5 Languages of Love (taken from the book’s website)

•    Words of Affirmation: Actions don’t always speak louder than words.

•    Quality Time: Nothing says, “I love you,” like full, undivided attention.

•    Receiving Gifts: The perfect gift or gesture shows that you are known, you are cared for, and you are prized above whatever was sacrificed to bring the gift to you.

•    Acts of Service: The words he or she most want to hear: “Let me do that for you.”

•    Physical Touch: A person whose primary language is Physical Touch is, not surprisingly, very touchy.

Now, each one of us has a primary love language that supersedes all others. We have to find out what that is. My wife’s primary love language is both physical touch and acts of service (yes, she’s bilingual). In all the ways that I show love to my spouse, but I need to put a premium on these two.

For the kids, we need to figure out their primary language, too. Of all the ways to show love to our kids, one or two stands out the most, and we have to give them primary attention if we want to most effectively show our love to them..

So how do we do that? Three things we should observe.

1. How the child expresses love to you

I suspect my eldest daughter, Lynn, especially during her younger years, is part human/part koala. She’s VERY huggy, and when she slept with us when she was smaller, she’d love to wrap her arms around us in a bear-hug (both over and under). What’s her main love language, do you think? Physical touch.

So every now and then, I’d put my arm around her shoulder when we walk. We’d high-five a lot, too. She loves to touch, it makes her feel special when I touch her.

2. What is my child requesting of me?

I have a practice of “dating” my kids. This means that I spend quality time with only one child at a time, no mommy or siblings around. My kids live for these dates, but the one who asks for it the most is my middle child, Mesoo. She asks for dates with daddy all the time. Furthermore, she’s also the one who most often asks to go to friends’ houses or to have friends over.

I’m getting a pretty good idea that Time is a very big love language for her. We don’t have to do anything expensive or grandiose. Just being together is great for her.

In fact, I remember last school year, we spend a lot of time together because she played little Cosette in the high school play (where I taught). Towards the final leg of the practices, as we were walking towards the car, she said “Dad, you’re the best father. I wish other kids have a dad like you.” (Words of affirmation, another huge Love Language for her)

I was touched, but I was wondering what made her say that. All we did was go to rehearsals. Quality time, just simply being together, meant so much to her.

3. Observe the way they treat other children.

How my kids show love to their peers is a great gauge on what their primary love language is. Again, Mesoo loves going to the other friends’ houses or having them come over ours. I see Lynn and her best friend hold hands often, because Lynn is a touchy person.

It’s important to express your love for your family in all five languages, of course, but I think these three tips would maximize how special you can make your kids feel by hitting the bulls-eye on their primary love language.

Surely, this gem of a book helps us find out the love languages of our children and how to maximize them to their benefit and the benefit of the home. The 5 Love Languages for Children is available on paperback and Kindle. Make sure to check out the other books I recommend for parents.

Oh, since Words of Affirmation is by far my primary love langugage, so me some love by leaving a comment.

Looking for a great school for your child? Here's reasons why you should try Montessori

2012-05-08T00:05:00.001+08:00

There are lots of schools out there: big schools, small schools, affordable schools, expensive schools. There are lots of different teaching programs, too, and they’re mostly good in their own way.

However, please see the video below in its entirety. It excellently explains what I think is the finest educational method out there when it comes to developing the whole child. Please watch the video before scrolling below.

Now, the problem is that there’s no patent to the name “Montessori,” and so any school can put “Montessori” on its name and people will think that it is a Montessori school, when it is actually very far from one in practice.

The video talked about two things that real Montessori schools do to enhance learning. Here’s a few more, which can also help you tell the genuine Montessori schools from the fakes (the two reasons told in the video being 1. and 2. respectively):

3. No uniforms. A uniform can be subconsciously thought of like an apron. When a cook wears an apron, he knows it’s cooking time. When he takes it off, he knows that cooking time’s done. A student can make the same subconscious connection between his uniform and learning, and that’s not a good thing. Learning never stops…and to make sure that students don’t make that mistake, real Montessori schools do not have their students wear uniforms.

4. No grades. As the video said, Montessori schools do not have grades in the first two levels (Casa and Elementary; Erdkinder has grades). You’ll be surprised how doing this makes excellent students. Why? The kids are motivated primarily from the inside, not from carrot-and-stick devices like good grades or awards or ribbons. The results are kids who are very self-motivated, who have strong resistance against cheating (they’re after mastery, not the grade), and who pursue excellence sometimes far beyond “A” material.

Grade school kids manipulating geometry materials

5. Use of materials. You’ll know a Montessori school is the real deal if its curriculum revolves around the use of materials (some with the Montessori names may have the materials, but they don’t use them much). Materials are the Montessori bread and butter, and it’s amazing to see how these colorful things teach you about math, science, English, and so on. I have highlighted some of these materials in the following blog entries:

• Casa (preschool)
• Elementary

So do you want to know of a genuine Montessori school near you? A school that can keep your child’s eyes from dimming, and instead increase his joy for learning?

In Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines (and in Mindanao for that matter) there is but one, as far as I know: The Abba’s Orchard. If you really want to know more about the Montessori method, you can visit the upcoming parent orientations listed below (The school also has other campuses in Manila, Cebu, Davao, each with their own parent orientations).

To get the addresses of the campuses where the parent orientations are to be held, click here. There are already ones happening this Friday and Saturday, so I hope you can visit the schools.

If you want your child to love learning, then give The Abba’s Orchard a try. I did, and I'm very satisfied by the way my kids are turning out.

Mother’s Day is around the corner. Give mom something special!

2012-05-06T22:02:00.002+08:00

Next Sunday is a very special day for the lovely moms in our lives. With Mother’s Day around the corner, it’s just but right that you’d give mom something special. If you're having trouble finding that perfect Mother's Day gift, maybe what I'm going to feature below can help.

Amazon makes finding the perfect gift for mom really easy by gathering all their top gift products that moms would love all in one page. Very handy.

Click here to see Amazon’s Mother’s Day gifts.

What’s cool with what they’ve done is that they listed gifts for all sorts of moms, such as:

•    The Household CEO: home goods for the mom who loves to keep her household well-kept and well-stocked. (This is sooo wifey)

•    The Crafty Mom: for the ladies who love their scrapbooking, sewing, stitching, etc.

•    The Professional Mom: for moms who try their utmost to balance work and parenting.

•    The Luxe Mom: for the mommies who love bling (or for the children who’d like to give moms something pretty this year)

•    The Escape Artist: for the moms who love the entertainment, be it movies, music, or literature.

•    The Fit Mom: for the sporty mommies who love to work out a sweat and stay fit.

Scroll down the Mother’s Day gifts page and you’ll also encounter big discounts for Mother's Day gifts as well. You can save up to 70% on jewelry and 40% off beauty products, for example.

Mother’s Day is around the corner, so give mom something special! Check out Amazon’s great selection on gifts for moms.

In a day or two, I hope to post the mom equivalent to my blog post on parenting books for Christian dads. (Although you can go ahead and go there now. Some of the books are dad-specific, but others are books any parent can use) I suggest you subscribe to my blog so that you'll be the first to find out what these cool books are.

A teacher who made a difference

2012-05-04T23:34:00.000+08:00

One of the greatest joys of my job as a teacher is that I can make a difference in the life of a child. This is especially true in The Abba’s Orchard Erdkinder (high school), a small yet excellent Montessori school, because it gives a chance for teachers like me to really become close to and mentor the child.

One of the most inspiring stories that I often revisit to remind me that I teach for life-change, not just my subject, is the story of the life of Teddy Stallard. Please watch the video below in its entirety, and prepare to be inspired (and it may be wise to have tissues nearby).

This clip is from the video study series of one of my favorite books on teaching, The Seven Laws of the Learner: How to Teach Almost Anything to Practically Anyone. I would strongly recommend this book to all teachers, especially to those who work in a Christian school or Christian ministry setting (that’s the direct audience of the book). It will not only tell us that we all can be Mrs. Thompsons, but it will surely give us great tools on how to be such. Trust me, after reading this book (and, ideally, going through the video series, if you can find it) your teaching life will never be the same again.

The Abba’s Orchard faculty goes through both this study and its sister product, Teaching With Style every so often. Both of these gems were made by one of my favorite authors, Dr. Bruce Wilkinson (Christian readers would probably know him by his most famous work, The Prayer of Jabez)

I’m proud to say that I’ve also had my own Mrs. Thompson moments, and it brings tears to my eyes when I see where they are now and to hear them say that they give me credit for the formation of their person.

But I’d like to have more of those. The longer I teach (this upcoming school year will be my 7th year) the more I realize that my subjects of Literature and Humanities are just covers…the real reason a teacher, especially a Montessori teacher, exists is as an aid to life.

If you’re a teacher, I hope you feel the same way I do. We truly can have a huge impact on the next generation…and what a privilege (and a responsibility) to have in our hands the ability to do so.

May God bless us teachers.

At your service. The Abba's Orchard faculty: La Granja campus.

Oh, here's a question: Who were the Mrs. Thompsons of your life? Did you have any?

Watch out Avengers, the JUSTICE LEAGUE movie is coming out soon!!

2012-04-28T12:39:00.001+08:00

To all the comic book fanboys, you've probably soiled yourselves after reading my title, so I'll give you some time to change your shorts.

You're back now? Ok...I was only fibbing, HAHAHA! Well, actually, not me, but the awesome creator of the Hi I'm a Marvel/DC comic book movie parodies, once of which I featured in my previous blog.post.

Well, I subscribe to his youtube page, and I LOVED his newest output, a Justice League parody of the Avengers trailer. I'm sure you will, too. Yeah, yeah, I said I'd be gone for a while...but I just cannot not share this.

So, watch out Avengers, the JUSTICE LEAGUE movie is coming out soon...in an alternate universe.

(This blog site, Lessons Of A Dad is mostly about parenting, marriage, and other topics aimed to develop the reader’s mind, body, and soul. However, I don’t mind putting out the funnies every once in a while. I’d consider it an honor if you’d follow or subscribe to this site. You can also go to my Facebook page here, and I’m also on Twitter at @lessonsofadad)

Gonna be gone for a while…but I’ll be back

2012-04-24T19:56:00.001+08:00

Once again, work deadlines are killer…and I will also be in Abba’s Orchard’s Teacher’s Summit next week, and so I’ll be internet-less for at least two weeks. I’m gonna have to go on another mini-hiatus until things slow down a bit.

Pray for me everyone, this is a critical week on so many levels. Lots must be done...but I'll be back, I promise.

The Avengers is showing this week...here's a funny parody to celebrate

2012-04-23T22:57:00.003+08:00

The Avengers is finally, finally showing this week here in SM-Cagayan de Oro. To say that I’m excited is the understatement of the year.

To honor this momentous occasion, I would like to show a funny parody of the DC and Marvel comic book movies, Hi, I’m a Marvel…and I’m a DC: The Musical, which pokes fun at our recent fascination for comic book heroes on the silver screen, the upcoming Avengers movie not exempted from the barbs.

The Hi, I’m a Marvel…and I’m a DC videos are a huge hit on Youtube, with over a hundred videos available for your enjoyment. With The Avengers just a few days away, I’d suggest you go over to the Youtube page of the maker of these awesome and hilarious videos and take a look-see.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the funny comic book parody video. See you in the 3-D theaters soon. The Avengers, here I come!!

(This blog site, Lessons Of A Dad is mostly about parenting, marriage, and other topics aimed to develop the reader’s mind, body, and soul. However, I don’t mind putting out the funnies every once in a while. I’d consider it an honor if you’d follow or subscribe to this site. You can also go to my Facebook page here, and I’m also on Twitter at @lessonsofadad)

My daughter, the princess…congrats JZone for another awesome youth camp!

2012-04-21T05:08:00.000+08:00

My daughter is now a bona-fide member of JZone, the youth ministry of CCF…and already she has a nickname among the great young people there: princess. Whaaaat? How did she get that nickname? Read on.

But first of all, congrats to JZone for another awesome youth camp. 150 teens came last year. This year? 220 kids from the 4 CCF churches around the immediate area (CDO, Malaybalay, Manolo, Iligan) came to Bagalangit Ultimate Bivouac to have crazy fun outdoors and to learn and love Christ more. Here’s a thank you video that the good volunteers did for the rest of us, and to God be the glory!!

Awesome, right? Of all the CCF churches, only CDO and Malaybalay are older…the rest are very new, just starting out, really. If that many 13-19 year olds came (220 from 2 established churches and 2 new ones, wow), to me that’s a wonderful indication that there’s a great buy-in among CCF’s youth in that there is a God, and more importantly, He is worthy of our praise and devotion.

The day after the camp was done, a Sunday, two of the campers gave their testimony up in front of the church. If I’m not mistaken, they’re both new to CCF-CDO, and boy did they like JZone’s camp and CCF’s youth culture in general.

Anyway, their testimonies.

Can you imagine if all the kids in this country allow God to transform their hearts and their lives like He did these two? What a generation that would be!

Reunited with Anya, an old friend

So now onto the princess business. Why princess? Well, Lynn is lucky enough that the camp’s venue belongs to the same company (yet different management) that my wife and mom belong to…and if you’ve known us for a while now, you’d know that my wife could be very much the stage mom.

The bus going up that had Lynn in it was owned by Mountain Pines Place, where Jhean works…and so the driver gave Lynn special attention by helping her with her stuff.

Lynn and the girls

Then, since Mountain Pines Place is only walking distance away from the campsite, there was a staff person there who helped Lynn with her tent.

But that’s not all. At night, wifey made sure that some foam was brought to her little girl so that she’d get a better sleep.

And so, the princess nickname. I repeatedly warned Jhean (my wife) not to spoil her, or else Lynn would be embarrassed by all the special treatment. Wifey would have none of it.

Green team, baby! (Lynn on the bottom row)

To be fair, the CCF youth are really nice guys and the “princess” moniker was not out of ridicule or spite. Plus, many of the young people at camp grew up with her in the children’s ministry, so they’re fast friends and therefore they have the permission to give each other said nicknames.

Well, congrats to JZone for their awesome ALL IN camp. Your great and tireless efforts inspired 220 young people to love Jesus with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength. I salute you.

Btw, if you want your young person in on this great ministry. JZone meets every Saturday at CCF (right across the street from Mallberry’s car entrance), 1pm to 4pm. See you there.

More pics of the festivities below:

Making their banner

In case they get the munchies (being teens, that means "always")


Young men studying God's Word

A very beautiPaul picture!

Leap of faith?

Work it!

Britt Nicole's new album is Gold...pun intended

2012-04-18T19:30:00.006+08:00

With my kids growing older and becoming very social, I don’t think I’ll be able to totally prevent them from listening to the songs their friends listen to. Although this is not true for every singer, band, or rapper, artists that my daughters’ classmates rave about often say words in their songs that no parent would like their kids to say, and glorify or even preach a worldview hardly any parent would like their kids to adapt for their own.

So, while I can’t totally prevent their exposure to the music of the youth culture (and I fear that they will resent me if I too strictly put on the restrictions here), what I can do, and do to the best of my time and ability, is to inspire them to like the kind of music that is not only cool, but it inculcates in them a God-honoring attitude. Now, I’d like to share that to you

I want to make it a goal that every Wednesday I would regularly write a post about music. Not just any type of music, but CCM…the genre of music that not a lot of people here in this country know much about, yet it’s a music genre that could be cool, yet free from cuss words, negative worldviews, and sexual innuendo.

I thought of this because while many Christians in the US listen to CCM, only a handful of Christians in the Philippines know about Christian artists beyond what’s sung in worship services (Hillsong, Lakewood, Chris Tomlin, etc.). This is partly because radio stations that play Christian music all day are almost nonexistent in this country (Cagayan de Oro’s 103.3 FM is one of the very few that do, and we’re soooo blessed to have that).

Being the start of the weekly music-based blog entries, I’d like to start with one of my daughter’s favorite CCM artists, Britt Nicole.

Britt Nicole has just released her new album, Gold, last month, and she was gracious enough to do a live acoustic version of All This Time, the album’s first single, on the Wally Show (while giving a great interview to boot). Wally, as you may know, is my favorite Christian radio personality and I introduced him to my blog readers in a previous article.

Check out Wally’s golden interview with Britt Nicole, who beautifully sings All This Time.

Britt Nicole sure is a beautiful young woman that every teenage Christian girl can look up to. Fyi, All This Time has been ranked #1 in The Weekend 22 (the Christian version of a top radio hits countdown show) for, what, about three weeks in a row now?

Funny that Lecrae is mentioned in the interview, because he’s my favorite rapper on the Christian hip hop scene. My kids also love the guy, and they share his songs with their Eminem-crazed classmates at school...and now their friends are getting into Christian hip hop too.

This is our favorite Lecrae song, Don’t Waste your life, from his album Rebel. It’s probably our favorite Christian hip hop song, period.

Of the many songs that we like from Britt Nicole, our favorite is undoubtedly Set The World On Fire, which is featured in the Soul Surfer soundtrack.

I’m looking forward to more blog posts on CCM (which means Contemporary Christian Music), and I hope I can be faithful in making a music-based blog post every Wednesday. The youth need artists who can indeed be role models as well.

God bless you guys, and don't forget to buy Britt Nicole's new album, because it's...Gold (pun intended).

Teaching your child to share

2012-04-17T20:49:00.002+08:00

Today's blog entry is a very nice guest post from Michelle Jensen. If you have kids who have trouble sharing, then this article is something you should be interested in.

Teaching your Child to Share

Sharing is a great quality every parent wants their child to have. A child who can share gets into fewer fights and is able to make friends more easily. Children who can share find themselves more at ease in school and look forward to play-dates. Sharing is not a quality a child is born with. In fact, it is a skill that children have to be taught from an early age. Toddlers and preschoolers both tend to have a problem with sharing, and often parents and teachers find themselves in the middle of a shouting struggle over a toy or a book. Here are some great tips to ensure that you (and your child) can avoid these pitfalls.

1. Model Sharing

Children learn from their parents. They tend to model their behavior and learn most of their life skills from home. If you do not share with your spouse, friends or extended family, then the chances are that your child will pick up on this. Share within your house and encourage other members to do the same. When eating, cut up a piece of your food and share it with your child and partner, just to make a point. When working in the kitchen, share the experience with your child. Let them ice the cake or have a go with the cookie cutter. Ask your child if (s)he would like to “share” your favorite hat, scarf, books, anything really.

2. Take Turns

Teach your child the benefits of sharing. Explain that if (s)he shares his favorite book, then others will share their favorite toys too. One of the best ways to do this is to teach them to take turns playing with the same toy, so that everyone can have some time with it. Then, make sure they do so. You may have to literally pry a toy from their hands, but it’s worth it in the long run. Do this once a day or once a play-session, and eventually, your child will start taking turns without your monitoring them.

3. Rewards

Always appreciate your child, so they can understand what behavior is right. Keep gold sticker stars, apples, hugs and kisses in stock so you can reward your child when he or she shares. This will make the child want to repeat the rewarded behavior. Always thank your child in a manner he or she can easily understand, “Thank you for sharing your toy!” Children like making their parents happy and repeat behavior that gets positive reactions.

4. Pause the Punishments

Never yell at a child if (s)he refuses to share. Yelling never helps and does not teach a child anything but to yell when something doesn’t go their way. Since sharing is a skill and a slightly complicated habit to develop, it is very important to be patient. Each child learns at a different pace and being harsh will not yield any results. Give your toddler or preschooler time, sit down with him or her and talk it out. Find out how he or she feels about sharing. Sometimes, children throw tantrums because something else is bothering them, so give your child time to explain, instead of punishing them.

While these tips are sure to teach your child to share, remember that some children take longer than others. At the end of the day, how much effort you put in may prove to be very vital. Just remember that he or she is still learning and growing, and does not always make rational choices like an adult. Be patient and share stories of kindness and sharing with your little one, so he or she can understand it better!

Michelle Jennison spends her free time writing, traveling & visiting www.healthinsurancequotes.org.

Jon Acuff is awesome…and even more so when he’s with Wally

2012-04-12T19:12:00.003+08:00

Easily one of my favorite Christian bloggers is Jon Acuff, owner of the website Stuff Christians Like, author of the book with the same name…both of which hilariously talk about (and mildly satirize) Christian culture.

Jon’s work is a great mix of hilarity and deep theological thought (about a 60%-40% mix, or even more towards humor in many cases).

I will get to some of his articles later on in this post, as well as making a list of his books.

What I’d like to show you right now is a video sample of how cool this guy is. Yes, Jon Acuff is awesome…and even more so when he’s with Wally, my favorite Christian radio personality and another dude who has a similar mix of funny/depth as Jon. As you can see, they feed off each other here, and what you get is a great, banter-filled video post.

For those of you who live in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, you are blessed because you get to listen to Wally on The Wally Show every 6pm-10pm on weekdays (Mon-Fri) at 103.3 FM. As far as I know, that’s the only radio station in the whole country that features The Wally Show on air…so yay to us!

If you live in the USA, then The Wally Show is being broadcasted on many Christian stations. You can check out what stations he’s in by clicking here.

But if you there are no stations close to you that carry the show, then you can go to the free podcast section of the show’s website and you can listen in from there. While you’re at it, feel free to look around said website and enjoy the zaniness that is Wally and crew (he throws some pretty mean, and hilarious, pranks at his co-workers...especially Betty Rock).

Jon Acuff’s blog, Stuff Christians Like, is one of the most popular Christian blogs out there (among the younger set, that is). I personally find him hilarious, and I also find myself nodding in agreement when he digs into serious matters. Here’s a favorite post I’ve recently read, called…Signature Sins. It's one of his heavier hitters, but the humor that we all know and love is still in there.

Another article from Stuff Christians Like that stood out to me was Dangerous Youth Group Games, mainly because I used to be a youth leader, and that Lynn is now living it up in her youth group’s ALL IN summer camp this whole week.

As one of the comments says, “If there’s no chance of injury, it’s not a real youth group.” Gulp. I can relate…and I hope she’s not maimed yet.

Anyway, Jon Acuff has at least two books out:

Stuff Christians Like

Quitter

I’d strongly suggest you’d buy these books for some great Christian laughs…with a dash of God-given wisdom.

Wally and Jon Acuff are two guys that make the Christian culture cool. Get your fill of them through my links, yeah? I’ll also make more cool-Christian-related articles every now and then. Stay tuned.

Reality Discipline -- an easy way to improve your parent life

2012-04-10T22:55:00.000+08:00

I came across a wonderful article called “The Wonders of Reality Discipline” from the website of one of my favorite parenting sources, Focus on the Family.

Coined by noted child psychologist Dr. Kevin Leman, author of Have a New Kid by Friday, Reality Discipline could make your parent life much easier if your current parenting style often involves ranting, raving, shouting, begging, etc.

Basically, it’s like this (using Dr. Leman’s words), “there are times when you have to pull the rug out and let the little buzzards tumble. I mean disciplining your children in such a way that he/she accepts responsibility and learns accountability for his actions.”

My boss, a parenting authority in my circles, often uses this example: “If your child goes to school and forgets his lunch box, don’t bail him out by bringing it to him later in the day. Let him starve. The next day, your son will be a different boy and will never forget his lunch box again.”

Hey Timmy! You forgot your...d'oh

If you think that it's a mean way to discipline your child, it's not...far from it.

If your motive is to love your child by teaching him to grow into a responsible young man, then this is a very loving thing to do. What is unloving is to give harsh, demeaning punishment out of anger and spite. What is also unloving is that you have everything done for your little kid, having nannies/yayas left and right. What kind of an adult will that boy grow up into? That would ruin him, a very unloving thing to do, indeed.

So you should check out the article on Reality Discipline. You should also check out Dr. Leman’s book, Have a New Kid by Friday (there's also a "Have a new teen..." version and, LOL, a "Have a new husband..." version). But before you click on the link below here’s another quote I love from Dr. Leman:

“The goal of parenting is not to create happy kids; rather, it’s to create responsible kids.”

So do your parent life a favor, discipline your child using reality discipline. Go to the Focus on the Family article, here.

You're someone worth dying for

2012-04-07T22:04:00.000+08:00

This Easter, celebrate it knowing that in God's eyes, you (yes, you) are someone worth dying for.

Have a blessed Easter, everyone! From: Lessons Of A Dad

Reflections on two of my children graduating this school year

2012-04-07T15:56:00.002+08:00

Well, the school year has ended, and so ends one of the busiest trimesters I’ve ever had. I’m going to write about my thoughts as a teacher on another post, because this one is about another milestone: two of my three children moved up this year; and so, this blog entry is a reflection on my children’s graduations.

My lovely family

Lynn, my eldest, graduated from the Level 2 Elementary program of The Abba’s Orchard School, and so she will now be part of the program that I teach in, the Erdkinder (high school). Since The Abba’s Orchard is a smaller school, all the graduating students delivered a speech.

Here’s Lynn’s. I may be (very) biased, but I loved her poise and her well-measured delivery. She’s a natural.

Seriously, where has the time gone? Wasn’t it just yesterday when she moved up from the same school’s Casa (preschool) program?

My gosh, she’s now gonna be in high school? (Well, grade 7, since this school year will be the first K+12 school year in the Philippines. I dunno if we’re still gonna call it grade 7 or it’s officially 1st year high school)

Many of you have probably read my blog about her topping the entrance exam among the CDO graduates, and I hope her success continues as she tackles the very tough Erdkinder program.

Speaking of moving up from the Casa program, my youngest son, Happy, did just that. Now I really feel old, my little baby boy will now be in Elementary!

Every casa moving up student also did a speech (and they were adorable speeches!) Here’s Happy’s, and may I add that he’s so chill when he did his speech, even putting his hands in his pockets halfway through. What was that??

Some of my former students in attendance said, “That was sooooo Mr. Carlo!” Really? Well, I guess it’s another example of Children See, Children Do.

Casa moving up students sing, "1st grade, 1st grade" to the tune of "New York, New York."

As I often do on this site, I put in my reflections towards the end of the blog…and for this post, that part is right now. Here goes.

•    The kiddos grow up so fast! A mentor of mine, who is a great parenting speaker, often says that our window to influence them is so limited. Graduation ceremonies have a knack of making me realize how small that window really is. Lynn is rapidly becoming more woman than girl, a woman with a mind of her own and a psyche already formed. Was I able to sufficiently mentor her and, through my own behavior, model what is right? Time is running out.

•    The Montessori method has a knack of developing all-around excellent children. My kids, many of their classmates, and a great percentage of the teenagers that we graduate from the high school seem to “have it all” so to speak. They speak well, have great social skills, excel in academics, excel in sports, have higher-order thinking skills, are good masters of their time, and show great self-confidence. I remember more than one transferee being a bit anxious because “all my classmates are so good.”

•    Although Abba’s kids are not known to experiment with early relationships, I’m rapidly approaching the phase that every father dreads. It doesn’t help that she’s also quite pretty, and she already is getting attention from some of the boys (Grrrrr!). I’m glad the school has made it a point to give boy-girl relationship wisdom to students, but I know the next several years (like, until she’s around 40) will not be good ones for this overprotective dad.

•    Happy is quite impulsive, which is something his older sisters were not. It’s the dark side of being the off-the-charts sanguine that he is.    I know, of the three, he’s the one I have to put the brakes on the most, and I know that I’m gonna have to be quite firm at times. Yet another thing I’m looking forward to as a parent. *sigh*

Anyway, it’s now summer vacation here in the Philippines. I hope you like my reflections on two of my children graduating in the school year that has just ended. Check out my blog entry on the summer being a great time to teach your kids to do chores. Till my next post, God bless you all. (Oh, and comments are welcome)

Teen incredibly blessed from reading a book

2012-04-01T17:31:00.002+08:00

Sometimes God blesses me, and this blog, in mysterious ways.

I’m a Literature teacher, and at the end of each book, students write a reflection paper/essay about how the book has impacted them.

Many of you have read my previous post about the assignments my teen students made about romantic relationships. When they turned in their end-of-the-book reflection papers, they were also so good that I wanted to share them on the blog as well. However, I was so swamped with work and schedules were so tight that I didn’t get a chance to copy them here.

However, there was this one student who has a habit for turning in his assignments late…as in REALLY late. Among the submitted backlogs was a reflection paper of Boy Meets Girl which I feature below, as it was submitted when the frantic schedule was dying down and I was able to have some time to post this here.

It serves as not only a great testimony of what reading some of the “grow books” of The Abba’s Orchard Erdkinder high school program has done for him, but what makes this so beautiful is it serves as a testimony of what kind of a young man he has become, compared to the type of person he was when he first stepped into our halls.

So, here’s his reflection paper on Boy Meets Girl, entitled…

“More than just a grow book”

I feel that all of Joshua Harris’ books should be the standard of how romance should be. The world today has forgotten what romance should be about and how it should happen. In a world where morals and good old fashioned common sense has dwindled to the point of extinction, clouded by perversion and hunger for…well, self-satisfaction; again I would like to voice out how his books affected me. I really appreciate Joshua’s books, considering that his books talk about a topic that most people try to handle themselves…and more often than not, fail at it.

What I’m driving at here is this: this book, Boy Meets Girl, is here to remind us that God is present at every part of our lives, and yes, including romance, definitely including romance. It’s an assurance that God indeed has a plan for us, and that we would trust in Him that someday he’ll make us meet that person we’re destined to end up with someday and get hitched (haha!). That, and it somehow guides us, or rather, prepares us for that stage in our lives. It’s funny that we ask God for salvation and pray to Him to bless the food, but we forget to invite him into our love lives.

On a personal level, Josh Harris has been a great impact on me when it comes to viewing women, how to behave around women, and how to go about when time will come when I intend to ask someone to allow me to court her. It also guided me in knowing when the time is right and, most importantly, keeping in mind that I have to keep God at the center of it all. This is amazing for someone like me, considering that I grew up watching TV and this is exactly the opposite of what they preach…not to mention the fact that during a time in my life when I needed these books, they were not available to me. But I see now that after all that has happened to me, I still ended up reading these books, and now I can help those who are troubled in these areas.

Well, God-willing, I become someone like Gideon or Job, who really go out of their way to minister to the lost. Considering I’ve been troubled in these areas, I think it’s only fair that I minister to those who have suffered like me. This book truly inspired me to teach others what I know, I felt the urge to help those people who need Christ like I did; and learn to need Him more like I do now. So, this book’s impact (well, all Joshua Harris’ books’ impact, actually) on me is pretty big, because I have changed on how I should view and prepare for romance. Now, I just have to serve Him and trust that He has a plan for me, someone for me…oh, and it’d be awesome though if she was a great cook. Just sayin’.

This is coming from a guy who came into the school a troubled Catholic-turned-agnostic teen (there’s lots of those, I noticed. He’s not the only one among my students) who, after two years under our care, now has such a love for the Lord and strongly desires to serve Him in the music team of LifeBox, the youth ministry where Gideon and Job lead. Wow, what a difference. HUGE difference.

I’m so proud of this submitted paper of his (and maybe God made it late for this purpose). I’m so proud of his turnaround, grateful for all the fantastic peers and youth leaders (and teachers, ahem, ahem), and most grateful to God from orchestrating all of this to happen.

He has now moved on, having marched on the school stage last week wearing a black toga with green sash. I will miss him…in fact, I already do. Shine bright for the Lord, brother; and thanks for the memories.

PS: Check out a good list of books by clicking here to see all my articles that recommend good reads. If you wanna find out more about LifeBox, you can visit their facebook page here. Also, you can check out more of my articles on youth ministry and the Abba’s Orchard Erdkinder.

Why Children's Ministry is important

2012-03-31T21:10:00.000+08:00

Well, starting tomorrow my young couples group and I will take over the Sunday School for the month of April. In honor of this, I would like to post a video I found in youtube, stating why Children's Ministry is so important.

It's oh, so true.

JZone + Bivouac = an AWESOME summer camp

2012-03-27T19:21:00.004+08:00

Question: what do you get when you combine one of the most vibrant, God-honoring youth ministries in Cagayan de Oro city…

My eldest daughter, Lynn, with two amazing role-models that she greatly admires: Charissa and Julia Angelica

….with one of the coolest venues of outdoor fun and adventure, located in the cool mountains nearby?

Answer: ONE CRAZY AWESOME SUMMER CAMP!!...and allow me to explain both below.

Firstly, the awesome group. JZone, the high school and college ministry of the church I go to is proud to bring you ALL IN, this year’s youth summer camp. It’s open to anyone, as long as you’re 13-19 years old, that is. See the image below for fees, dates, and prices.

Each one of these CCF youth camps are really popular. Last year, they had 120 teens from the CCF churches around the area (three of them, if I’m not mistaken: CDO, Malaybalay, & Manolo) and they had a blast. I’m sure there’s gonna be a larger number this time around.

Expect more of the same this time summer: excellent, dynamic speakers; huge fun; and, most importantly, changed lives for the glory of God. Lynn, my eldest daughter, is so, so, so excited to once again join (last year she was able to squeeze in even if she was not yet youth age; this time she’s an official J-Zoner).

Now for the second part of the awesomeness equation: the venue.

Located just 10 minutes away from the popular Zipzone, Bagalangit Ultimate Bivouac offers the ultimate in outdoor adventure! It’s the ideal venue not just for youth summer camps, but weekend getaways, office team buildings, and the like, as well.

For camping, there’s lots of land to pitch your tents on, or, and this is my personal preference, you can try their very cool tipi hut-like structures. I wanna try me one of those!

You can also sleep in their barracks, as if you’re really in the military.

For me, the coolest thing about Ultimate Bivouac are the airsoft structures. While most airsoft structures in these parts are made of flimsy material, the structures there are permanent and really huge. They’re complete with bridges, tunnels, and even a helicopter at the center.

Now that’s fun, and I hope the JZone youth will be able to enjoy some of that during their stay (I’d find it a bit funny, though: first they learn about Godly principles and then the next thing we know they’re hunting each other down with airsoft rifle in hand).

They also a whole bunch of other amenities that could spell big fun for visitors. Visit their Facebook page to find out more.

Oh, important announcement: THE LAST DAY TO REGISTER IS APRIL 1, which is next Sunday. If you're interested, then call CCF at 857-3000 or visit their Facebook page.

If you're still not decided, here's photos of last year's summer camp, SOLD OUT.

On becoming a BETTER LOVER...a blog I made for Definitely Filipino

2012-03-25T10:26:00.001+08:00

It's very cool that another one of my blogs made it to Definitely Filipino, one of the most popular Philippine Blog sites.

The title of my piece is "On becoming a BETTER LOVER." I think you'll like it.

Don't let the title fool you. It's not one of those raunchy blog entries (I just made that title to interest readers who would otherwise skip the type of articles that I do).

Click here to see it, and please do leave a comment. :)

The juniors...I love them and I miss them already

2012-03-20T23:40:00.001+08:00

The Juniors of The Abba's Orchard Erdkinder...of which I was their homeroom adviser for this school year.

It's approaching midnight of the last day of school (still doing last minute stuff) and yet I already miss you. Thanks for making my job a bit easier. You guys are an awesome group!

For my past posts that feature some of their work, see:

Funny church bulletin FAILS. Very humorous stuff.

2012-03-16T09:37:00.000+08:00

In the other blog I contribute to, I posted a very funny article about church bulletin FAILS. I got it from an email sent to me by a friend, and I couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Here’s some of the funnies in that article, which totally shows the need for proofreaders:

•    Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands.

•    Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help.

•    Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.

•    Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM .. Please use the back door.

•    A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall. Music will follow

•    Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.

There a lot more where that came from. My article has over 20 of these church bulletin fails, and what’s so hilarious is that all of them, bloopers and all, were actually used/announced. You can see them by clicking here.

(This blog site, Lessons Of A Dad is mostly about parenting, marriage, and other topics aimed to develop the reader’s mind, body, and soul. However, I don’t mind putting out the funnies every once in a while. I’d consider it an honor if you’d follow or subscribe to this site. You can also go to my Facebook page here, and I’m also on Twitter at @lessonsofadad)