Honoring Our Parents

Yesterday's preaching at the 4pm worship service in our local church was just very timely. Pastor Dennis Sy preached about Storing Up Mercy for the Next Generation. I really had a lot of great things to blog in response to all that he shared. But what I want to share in this post is something that God has been strongly impressing in my heart-to honor the NOW GENERATION specially my parents even in this blogsite.

Meet my parents-Fernando and Milagros

Both of them grew up in the province. My father was born and raised in a religious Catholic culture in Atimonan, Quezon. God's grace caught him when he heard the gospel for the first time through a Christian radio broadcast. It eventually led him to a Christian local church in Quezon that teaches the truth about Jesus where he was followed up and mentored by a pastor he heard over that radio broadcast. He eventually felt called to be a pastor, went to Metro Manila for theological training and first served in a Free Methodist church as a pastor.

My mother on the other side of the story was born in Manila but raised in Occidental Mindoro. Her father was from Ilocos but they had to move in this island because of my grand father's work. My mother was a persecutor of Christians as she would tell us. It was her mother (our grand mother) who first came to know Jesus and whenever some people would go to their house and do Bible study, she would make distractive noises or throw up some tantrums just to discourage my her mother's mentors from coming into their home. But God's love truly never fails! One summer, she came to her senses and felt that true need for a Savior through a Vacation Bible School. She was in her early teens then. She too eventually grew up strong in God's grace and in the faith.

God led them to e

ach other as they were busy serving God's purposes in their season. They met each other while working at the Back to the Bible Philippines when my father was working at the Broadcasting Department and my mother at the Management Office Department. To cut this cute story short they got married and God blessed them with three children named Harvest (our ate), Joash (ehem ) and Joshua.

Joshua is graduating this year and its just a matter of time until they will finally have all kids who are now grown up working in the professional world. Just looking back at God's story in our parents' lives that still continues down to us just makes me humble and grateful for the goodness of God. This is all by God's grace!

And to our parents this is my message…

Papa and Mama, we love you and thank God so much for your love for God and for each other! Pa, I love it how you would always bring mama to movie dates etc. I laughed out loud the last time I learned where you brought her-to watch Hunger Games! Haha! Ma, I love it how you would always be there for papa, just to always cover him in prayers and just be with him wherever he goes in the world! We look up to you and even though you are not perfect as no others parent would be, we will always love you and honor you even for all the prayers, tears, hard work, patience, the mercy and grace you showed and demonstrated to us just to raise us up in the knowledge, reverence, grace and in the love of God in Christ. We Praise God for your lives! We'll live out this heritage of faith to our own families and generations to come! And it's only because of Jesus and His grace that we can pass this on even live out loud in the grace of God:

“But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children— with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.”

-Psalm 103:17-18

Our family story for God's glory continues! All is Grace!!! )

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(Disclaimer: this is not a eulogy ) our parents are still alive hehe! )