live like we’re dying

” We only got
86 400 seconds in a day to… Turn it all around or throw it all away
We gotta tell ‘em that we love ‘em
While we got the chance to say…
Gotta live like we’re dying”

Here is a question you can ponder on. If you knew, for some reason, that the Lord will demand your life tonight, will you live and do things differently in the next 24 hours?

Would you be a little more giving, a little more forgiving? A little more understanding, a little more patient? A little more nice, a little more prayerful?

Would you go places you’ve never been to? Would you say things you’ve never said? Would you do things you’ve only imagined for the longest time?

Would you spend a little more time with your kids? Would you talk a little more with your parents? Would you hug your spouse a little more tighter?

Would you live differently if you knew you were dying?

The next big question is: why? Why do you need to know you’re dying before you do all these things?

Just an announcement, for all of those who have forgotten or probably still are unaware; ALL OF US ARE DYING. It may come sooner, or it may come later. It may be in 30 years, it may be in 30 minutes. That’s just it. We don’t know when. So why do we live differently now? Why not make each second count NOW.

Life here on earth is too short compared to what is in store for us in eternity. Gotta live the life God called us to NOW. We don’t have a second chance. Make it count TODAY!

the 10 conyo-mmandments

Friday, November 27, 2009

1. Thou shall make gamit “make+pandiwa”.
ex. “Let’s make pasok na to our class!”
“Wait lang! I’m making kain pa!”
“Come on na, we can’t make hintay anymore! It’s in Andrew pa, you know?”

2. Thou shall make kalat “noh”, “diba” and “eh” in your pangungusap.
ex. “I don’t like to make lakad in the baha nga, no? Eh diba it’s like, so eew, diba?”
“What ba: stop nga being maarte noh?”
“Eh as if you want naman also, diba?”

3. When making describe a whatever, always say “It’s SO pang-uri!”
ex. “It’s so malaki, you know, and so mainit!”
“I know right? So sarap nga, eh!”
“You’re making me so inggit naman.. I’ll make bili nga my own burger.”

4. When you are lalaki, make parang punctuation “dude”, ‘tsong” or “pare”
ex. “Dude, ENGANAL is so hirap, pare.”
“I know, tsong, I got bagsak nga in quiz one, eh”

5. Thou shall know you know? I know right!
ex. “My bag is so bigat today, you know”
“I know, right! We have to make dala pa kasi the jumbo Physics book eh!”

6. Make gawa the plural of pangngalans like in English or Spanish.
ex. “I have so many tigyawats, oh!”

7. Like, when you can make kaya, always use like. Like, I know right?
ex. “Like, it’s so init naman!”

8. Make yourself feel so galing by translating the last word of your sentence, you know, your pangungusap?
ex. “Kakainis naman in the LRT! How plenty tao, you know, people?”
“It’s so tight nga there, eh, you know, masikip?”

9. Make gamit of plenty abbreviations, you know, daglat?”
ex. “Like, OMG! It’s like traffic sa LRT”
“I know right? It’s so kaka!”
“Kaka?”
“Kakaasar!”

10. Make gamit the pinakamaarte voice and pronunciation you have para full effect!
ex. “I’m, like, making aral at the Arrhneo!”
“Me naman, I’m from Lazzahl!”

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this is  like, you know, yun i made kopya lang this sa facebook eh, …nice di bah?

bargaining for your health

“Doc, magkano po ba yun operasyon? Ang mahal naman po! Pwede po ba discount? Baka pwede pa po bawasan? Pwede po ba kalahati muna? Doc, mag-iwan na lang muna ako promisory note.”

Filipinos are so fond of asking for discounts. In Divisoria, you’ll often hear bargaining for items…

Buyer: Magkano yun blouse?

Seller: 200 pesos. Tapat na.

Buyer: Bawasan mo naman, 120 na lang.

Seller: Di kaya sa puhunan. Lugi. Hanggang 170 lang.

Buyer: Bawasan mo pa konti. 140 na lang.

Seller: Hay naku, sige 150 na lang, Ilan ba kukunin mo?

Buyer: Ok 150! Paki balot yan isa.

In the medical field, you’ll also hear patients asking for “tawad” from doctor’s professional fees. I read an article a few years back written by an anesthesiologist. She and her partner surgeon did an operation on a patient for about 6 hours. It was a life-saving operation the patient couldn’t have lived without. When the patient was about to go home and was billed Php 60,000 PACKAGE price for the surgeon, anesthesiologist, cardiologist and endocrinologist, the patient said, “ang mahal naman doc. Baka pwede 30 thou na lang?” The surgeon, being a dutiful and charitable physician, said ok and agreed to the amount. However, the patient only paid half, 15 thousand, in cash, and the remaining 15 thousand as promisory note.

Why is it when doctors charge big, it is always taken against them? Do you know the cost of being a doctor nowadays? A medical student (i mean their parents) would have to shell out 160-180 thousand pesos PER YEAR for tuition fees alone. Medical books would set you back around 20-30 thousand PER YEAR. If the medical student would live in an apartment or dorm, that’s another 10 thousand per month. Before a medical student would have finished the 4 years in med school, he would’ve spent almost a whopping 1 million pesos. And at this point, the med grad isn’t even licensed yet.

So after 4 years of pre-med, and 4 years of med school, the new med grad has to under go 1 year of post-grad internship in a hospital WITHOUT ANY COMPENSATION. This is a requirement before the med grad can take the medical board exams given by the PRC. After internship, board exams follow, and if passed, one is considered a fully fledged GENERAL PRACTITIONER. If he wants to specialize, say, internal medicine, that’ll take another 3 years of training, then the “specialty” board exams. Then subspecialize into cardiology, that’s another 3 years of training, and another “sub-specialty” board exams. That’s a good 15 years (and 3 major board exams) from college to finally being a cardiologist. Then, now, he gets paid 20-50 pesos for every ECG tracing he reads.

So when a doctor charges a patient, say, 50 thousand pesos, for a life-saving medical intervention, it really isn’t “expensive.” But filipinos will always ask for “discounts,” not because they can’t afford, but it’s just filipino nature. So it will really drive the doctor crazy if the patient asks for 50% discount but the doctor sees the patient and his wife and children all with cellphones all worth more than 15 thousand. And this, the doctor charges for a LIFE SAVING PROCEDURE.

Why is it when a mid-ranged actor or model, doing just a 1-hour photoshoot, charges 100 thousand, it’s acceptable. But when a team of doctors operate on a patient for 6 hours and charges 60 thousand PACKAGE, it’s considered “inhumane” to put a hefty price on medical services. Do you know for every patient a doctor charges, the doctor also sees a patient he doesn’t charge? There may be more patients a doctor won’t charge in his/her entire career.

But as doctors, we do understand our patients plight. And we do give “discounts” and even free medical services. And as a christian i know God has blessed us a special position to help. But i posted this just to show that there is much more than just money a doctor gives when he gives a discount or totally free services. He gives a part of himself. So is it ok to bargain for your health? Yes, to a certain extent. Huwag lang sobrang “barat.” Or your doctors might end up looking like this…

Harassing Doctors

As doctors, we never expected to be “harassed” by anyone, most specially “political harassment”. We bloody toiled for decades studying and training to be what we are today, with grace and mercy of our Lord. So when we are subjected to certain situations we are not accustomed to, it brings us great pressure to decide “is it really worth it…”

A doctor, duly licensed by the PRC, finished specialty training, certified by the specialty board, has a lot of career options. Private practice, plus/or affiliation with a private company/hospital; teaching (yes, we can teach…) at med school, or go into government service as health provider. In government, one md can go into DOH-md’s to the barrios, be DOH-reps, other DOH positions, or government hospital specialist. And also, one can go into local government unit health care as a provincial or city health officer or municipal health officer. In the LGU’s, “political harassment” is often times seen.

A “health officer” (P.H.O., C.H.O. or M.H.O.) is appointed by the local chief executive (governor or mayor) and holds a “key” position as the health officer is in control of all health centers (rural health units). There is no problem if the local chief executive and the health officer are “mag-kakampi”. But if there is a change in leadership, as is seen every 3 years during elections, and a “kalaban” wins, the health officer is often subject to harassment. WHY??? The “kalaban” will want to put his own “health officer” but since the health officer plantilla item is PERMANENT and not co-terminus with the elective official, he cannot simply terminate the current health officer. So instead, he will make life difficult for the health officer to force the poor md to resign then position.

We know of a MHO, in a city just in the outskirts of metro manila. She was doing a fine job, managing over more than 30 health centers thru out her city. After the recent elections, a new mayor took office and started harassing her. They tried to dig up dirt against her, made false accusations and threatened to slap her with admin suits in court. For want of peace of mind, she simply resigned, even though she didn’t do anything wrong. Another MHO, doing great work with her more than 20 health centers, often cited for outstanding accomplishments. The incumbent mayor was suspended, and the vice-mayor took office. The (over) acting mayor appointed his own “executive assistant for health” and this exec assistant started throwing her weight around against the MHO. In the local government code, the mayor is the chairman of the local health board, and the MHO is the vice-chairman. So technically, the exec assistant is out of line in ordering the MHO around.

Nakakalungkot lang isispin na ang propesyon ng isang manggagamot, na itinuturing na isa sa pinaka dakilang propesyon, ay hahaluan ng maduming politika ng mga taong walang inisip kundi ang sariling kapakanan. Lord, kayo na po ang bahala sa kanila. Patamaan nyo na lang po ng kidlat…

Why do BAD things happen to GOOD people?

“Is it good unto Thee that Thou should oppress, that Thou should despise, the work of Thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?” – Job 10:3

Do good things come to good people only? And do bad things come to bad people only? If something “bad” happens to you, does it mean you are living in “sin”? Does it mean we deserve what we get in life? What happens when bad things happen to good people? Does it mean they are really not good people to start with?

One of the most impactful books in bible is the book of Job. It tells of Job, a righteous man, a wealthy man. Satan went up to God and placed a bet, that if Job loses his wealth, his family, his health…Job would turn away from God. God “allowed” satan to put Job through the ordeal. Job, however, stood firm in his trust in God and was fully restored by God.

But before his restoration, Job cried out his anguish and despair to God. “Why are You letting these things happen to me? You made me, but now you destroy me. You made me out of clay, will you bring me to the dust again?” Job really let it all out. What made worse his plight, is that his 3 friends condemned Job that all this was a result of his sin, that he deserved all his misfortunes.

Did something bad ever happen to you? You got terribly sick, or you had an accident, or lost a job, or something similar. And instead of comforting you, the first thing your family or your friends tell you is, “hey, you gotta go back to God. You have to live a clean life. You need to do this or do that.” As if its all your fault why it happened in the first place.

Imagine, walking up to the relatives of those mercilessly killed in Maguindanao and telling them, “God has a purpose for this. You have to repent and turn back to God.” How do you think they’ll react? We have to be a little slower in condemning, and a little better in showing people that we care.

Why can’t we just accept that bad things happen to good people. Period. Can God teach us something from the experience? Definitely. But is there a reason why it happened? Probably yes, but we can’t “presume” that there is all the time. We can’t “presume” that this guy is a sinner cause he isn’t active in church, and so bad things will happen to him. Or that this guy is “holy” because he is visible in church always and that only good things will happen to him. Only God knows that. All things work out for the good of those who love God. It doesn’t mean that only good things will happen, it means ALL THINGS, whether good or bad, WILL WORK OUT for the good of those who love God.

In all Job’s questions to God, God didn’t give him an explanation. Instead, he asked Job a series of questions, “Where were You when I laid the earth’s foundation? Do you give the horse its strength? I control nature. Do you know how?” God didn’t explain to Job, He showed him who He is.

We can cry out our sentiments to God. We can even ask Him why such things happen to us. But before we do, we have to know WHO we are questioning.

So, why do bad things happen to good people? I don’t know and I can’t answer this question. All I know is that God is good, all good things come from him. All bad things DON’T come from God, but that God can take a “bad” thing and USE it and TURN IT AROUND  and make it into something great. All I know is that when something bad happens, that is an opportunity for the glory of God to be made known.

King David for President in 2010!!!

So who is it gonna be for you?

The 2010 Presidential elections is just around the corner, and you can “practice” voting for your bet in this mock poll I created. Please do vote. Thanks!

Just a few months to go and we’ll elect a new President of the Philippines! My wife and I barely made the deadline for comelec registration by a couple of weeks. Now it’s time to decide who to vote for…hmmm…may mapagpilian kaya?

Honestly, it’s hard to pick who we’ll vote for. The more popular option nowadays is to go for Noynoy. No doubt about his sincerity and honesty, but is he cut for the job?  I mean, if the late President Cory hadn’t passed away, Noynoy wasn’t even considered in the running. Don’t get me wrong, I love Ninoy and Cory. I believe Ninoy would have been a great President, and I’m still awed by his speeches when I watch them in youtube. But Noynoy is not Ninoy, and isn’t Cory either.

Erap, well, although he shows decent marks in the surveys, he’s no longer an option, for me. Period.

Manny Villar, wow, the “mahirap” advocate. But I strongly disagree with his battlecry, “ang laki sa hirap lang ang mag-aahon sa atin mahihirap.” As if only those who lived in the slums have the golden heart to help. And coming from someone who had expensive aesthetic “procedures” at the same time carrying ducks, fish etc. Just doesn’t jive.

Gibo, in paper, seems to be the most “intelligent” choice. But then again, plagued by his alliance with the administration, how different would Gibo then be from GMA?

And there are the “other” aspirants…Gordon, Villanueva, and even BF, whose motivations and intent to lead the country may be admirable, but seem to lack enough “machinery” and “support” and thus their “win-ability” is in question.

How I wish there is someone in the running with the brilliance of Ferdinand Marcos, the passion, zeal and charisma of Ninoy, the simplicity and honesty of Cory, the idealism and faith of a true Christian on fire. Sad to say, among the hopefuls, there is no one who posses all traits. Some wannabees have some of the traits but lack the rest.

The Presidency is a position ordained by God. Who ever wins, by deduction, is ordained by God. We need to pray as a nation that God will ordain and raise up the President who is fully submitted and devoted to Him. We need a President who can unify the Philippines and take us to the promised land. We need a President who can slay down giants and at the same time can take care of the people like a shepherd. We need a President who can inspire the people into a frenzy. We need a President willing to accept his mistakes and make amends for such. We need a President after God’s own heart. We need a King David.

my son’s engaged???!!!

This is our eldest son, David. He’s now 7 yrs old and a grade 2 student. And he just told me and my wife that he’s “engaged” to one of his classmates.

When David was born, he truly brought immense joy to me and my wife. As 1st time parents then, we really enjoyed every bit of his cuteness. But time goes by so fast. After a couple of years, David was a “kuya”. And then, he began to go to school. And now he’s in the 2nd grade, he looks so big already.

As you can see, there’s no dispute he’s really good looking, just like his siblings…good trees produce good fruit…hehehe. So it’s no wonder that he gets a lot of “fans” from his girl classmates. When he was in grade 1, he had a classmates that called him up on the phone every afternoon. This year, he got elected class president by majority of his girl classmates, hehehe.

The other night, my wife and I were teasing our 2nd son, Daniel, with one of his girl classmates. David interrupted us by saying “mama, papa, ako talaga meron nang crush at meron din sya crush sa akin. Feeling nga namin mag-boyfriend-girlfriend na kami. Feeling talaga namin engaged na kami at magpapakasal…”

I looked at my wife, she looked back, our jaws dropped and eyes wide at amazement. WHERE IN THE WORLD DID DAVID EVER GET THESE THINGS!!!

Haaaaayayayay! The power of television. The effect of watching stairway to heaven. It was kind of amusing to hear David say these, much so that we know it wasn’t something serious. We wanted David to feel that we were open enough that he can tell us these things, so we couldn’t totally shut the topic down. Still we had to remind him to study well and that he was still too young to be thinking about this.

David is now young. But there will be a day, as time flies by too fast,  that he will be old enough to truly bring before us his wife-to-be. It may be 15, 20, 25 years from now, but that day will come.

We pray now that we cherish every single moment of childhood we have with our kids. It shall only pass us once. They can never be kids again. Once they hit adolescence, there’s no turning back, they are adults for the rest of their lives.

That’s why sometimes, we just allow them to roam around, jump around, scream, play and do what kids do, even though it tears the house down. And as much as we can, my wife and I engage them in pillow fights, wrestling, etc. etc. So to David’s “fiancee”, we have to call off the engagement. It’s not yet time for this. Now is the time to play, to enjoy, to study, to build up the love and security we have for our kids. Now is the time for them to be kids and to be treated as such. Now is the time to create the memories we’ll have in the future.

New Moon for the Believer…which Team are you?

so for my second post, i choose a controversial topic…the second in the twilight series, what is NEW MOON for the BELIEVER???

Let’s lay down some “disclaimers” for those who don’t know me…

1. I believe in the Almighty God and in His written word, the bible. I believe there  is a heaven and a hell as well.

2. I don’t believe creatures like vampires, werewolves or any such “monsters” exist. I do believe however, that the devil does, as stated in the bible.

3. I am not promoting that you watch the movie. But yes, I have watched twilight and new moon…

4. If you haven’t watched the movie, this may contain some spoilers…

5. I am neither team Edward or team Jacob; i am definitely team JESUS!

This is probably the hottest movie in the planet now, and in the secular world, a love story between a girl and a vampire may be appealing. But in the Kingdom of Christ, we know that this story is just that, a story.

Yes, i was curious enough to watch the first 2 movies, and probably curious still to watch the whole series.  But it is not for the faint of heart, nor for the wobbly faith. I am not saying that i am a mature christian, that i can handle such plots. In fact, it is best to stay away form these things altogether. For there is something “dangerous” about being an avid fan of the story line, both of the books and the movies. Have you heard of those edward-fanatics who cut themselves and show their bleeding wrists and necks to the movie star? Really weird. But that is not the dangerous stuff. What is dangerous, as promoted also in some other movies, is that “bad” is portrayed as “good”; that there is really no “absolute right” and “absolute wrong.”

In New Moon, it is “implied” that it is ok to be a vampire (as long as you don’t bite?); that it is ok to disregard the feelings of your parents for the one you love; that it is “ok” to lose your “soul” just to be with the one your heart desires. For fans, this may be the most “romantic” things, but in reality, this is all a lie.

The big lie of the story is (and there are other blockbuster book/movie series that promote this lie) practically the non-existence of God. No, it is not vehemently said in the movie that God does not exist. But to talk about immortality, eternal life and damnation in the terms of vamps is like saying “there can be a happy life with out need for God.” Other movies have portrayed this such as the one showing “witchcraft” as good if used for good. A movie that promotes “non-absolutes”; no true good, and no true evil, is definitely promoting the non-existence of God.

God is good. God is holy. God created all things good. God never created evil. His good creation fell and sinned, and that resulted in the evil in the world. God is absolutely good and holy. Things, principles and principalities against God is absolute evil. It’s that simple. There are only two (2) teams in reality, Jesus’ Team and the devil’s team. Which team do you think edward and jacob belong to? More importantly, which team do YOU belong to? You have to take a side, there is no neutral ground.

So why did i watch the movie? For curiosity? For entertainment? For research? It’s like watching starwars, superman, and even dora the explorer; it’s all fiction, but it’s amusing. It’s like bible students studying apologetics, how to defend the faith, by studying what the other religions believe in and practice. This is not to justify watching the movie. But before you watch this, and any other movie for that matter, ask yourself: What is your heart’s content? What is the condition of your faith? What is your purpose in watching this film? Unless you can glorify God in what you’ll do, then just don’t.

AVANAR’S VISION IS BORN!

i just dove into the world of blogging…i don’t know why but i guess i want to send my thoughts out into the world…

first off,  my blog’s name, AVANAR’S VISION is taken from the first syllable of my three (3) sons names minus the first letter…dAVid, dANiel, dARyl, hence AVANAR. This blog is supposed to be how i, my wife, and my children see the world through our eyes… how we would like it to be…and how God is moving in our lives!

“Where there is no vision, the people perish…” – Proverbs 29:18

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