6 Steps to Enjoying Your True Wealth by Bo Sanchez

We were going to Hong Kong that day. I was going to preach for three days but had two extra days to be with my family. Picture us at the airport: My wife carrying our baby in her arms, my eldest son bouncing about like a rabbit and announcing to the whole world, "I'm going to Hong Kong Disneyland!" And the poor skinny father? Straining to push eight massive bags on a wobbly cart with a stubborn right wheel. (I've noticed that these deranged carts supernaturally end up with me wherever I go.)

That was when we heard the crying.

Correction. Not crying. But spine-chilling, lung-busting screaming. Two kids were holding onto their mother. They were separated by four-foot tall steel bars. But to those distraught children, those steel bars represented two years of being without their mother - the contract of a domestic helper in Hong Kong.

Four small arms clutching, grabbing, not letting go.

The whole world heard their pleading scream, "Mommy, please don't go! Please don't go!" I'll never forget the mother's pained, tortured face - as though a knife was ripping through her body. My wife cried openly. I wept inside and held onto my kids more closely.

That was two days ago. Yesterday, the story continued...

Those Small Arms Continue to Reach Out Yesterday was Sunday.

And I walked around Central.

If you don't know Hong Kong, Central is where thousands upon thousands of Filipina Domestic Helpers congregate. They sit on sidewalks. They sit on overpasses. They sit by storefronts.

I walked passed one woman who was reading a handwritten letter.

The handwriting was obviously a child's penmanship.

I walked passed another listening to a little cassette player - not to listen to music - but to a voice of a kid telling stories.

But what broke my heart was the news given to me by Shirley, the head of one organization that tries to help them get financial education. I was shocked by what she said. "Brother Bo, out of our 700 members who are married, 80% is already separated from their husbands."

Families aren't designed for prolonged separation.

They're not just made for that.

We're supposed to spend time together.

6 Steps to Spending More Time with Your Family
No Matter How Busy You Are


"Bo, why are you telling me this? I'm not in Hong Kong. I'm living with my family under one roof."

Listen. Yes, you're not in Hong Kong.

But if you don't have time for your family - and your heart is not focused on them - you might as well be in another country.

You could be physically present - but are you emotionally present as well?

Let me share with you five important steps you could take to become more emotionally present with them...



Step #1: Be Close.

I'm still in Hong Kong as I write this piece.

It's five in the morning as I type this article in bed. And my little family is literally around me because we're all sleeping on one bed. Yes, we've become one mass jumble of intertwined humanity - our limbs, legs and arms crisscrossing each other. And that's when I realize - gosh, I don't know how blessed I am.

Why?

Here I am with my family. I feel their skin. I smell their scents. We're so close, I feel their breath.

And yet I'm surrounded by 148,000 domestic helpers here in Hong Kong that have been away from their families for months, for years, for decades.

And for those who've separated - forever.


Let me say it again: We don't know how blessed we are.

We complain that our families are nutty. But we don't understanding how blessed we are to have them close enough to experience their nuttiness. We complain about our petty quarrels, our cold wars, our dysfunctionality.

But whose family isn't dysfunctional?

I've talked to some people here in Hong Kong who would give anything to be with their families again - even for just one day of nuttiness. The first step is to be more emotionally present to your family is to actually be physically present to them. Be close!

You need to know how precious your family is - and treat them that way. You need to see them as your true wealth - that nothing is more precious than your relationships.


Step #2: Be Deliberate.
Because you need to protect this treasure or they get stolen from you.
No matter how busy I am, I schedule a weekly romantic date with my spouse.

Yes, I actually write it down in my appointment book and treat it like a meeting with the President of the Philippines. These weekly nights are blocked off for the entire year. Nothing can touch it, except some dire emergency.

Why? Because if my marriage fails, everything else stands to fail as well: My ministry, my businesses, my soul... So it is an emergency that I bring her out every week.

I also schedule a weekly date with my kids.

I believe parents need to do these one-on-one dates with each of their kids. Unless of course you've got 18 children and may need to bring them out by two's or three's.

Sometimes my son and I just walk around the village and talk.

It doesn't have to be big. But swapping stories and opening our hearts to one another on a consistent basis is already very big to them. It means they matter to you - that you value them - and you'll see their self-esteem grow.



Step #3: Be Expressive.

I tell my wife "I love you" seven times a day.

I hug my kids countless of times a day.

At night, I tell my kids, "I'm so proud you're my son. I'm so proud I'm your Daddy. You're a genius. You're a loving boy. You're an incredibly gifted young man..."

This is true. I have met 40-year olds who long to hear these words from their parents - "I'm proud of you," and feel an empty space - like a gaping wound in their souls because their parents have never told them this.

Don't do that to your kids.

And before I forget: Praise your kids seven times a day.

And praise your spouse seven times a day.

I'm not kidding. It will revolutionize your marriage.

If I say, "Criticize your spouse seven times a day," I bet you'd say, "Kaunti naman. I do that already." But that's the problem. We don't realize that when we criticize our spouses, we actually destroy our marriage bit by bit - not just our spouses.

But when you praise and honor your spouse - you build up your marriage.

It can be very simple stuff:
Ang sarap ng luto mo ngayon, Hon.
I thank God He gave you to me.
You're so hardworking.
I love it when I see you play with the kids.
You know how to make me happy.
Ganda mo ngayon.

Keep on doing this and you'll see changes in your life and your marriage you thought were not possible.

Let me say it again: Praise your spouse - and your children - seven times a day.

Step #4: Be Deep.

Your weekly dates shouldn't just be watching movies, eating out and going home.

Talk deep.

Talk about your feelings.

Enter into each other's worlds. Dive into each other's dreams, hurts, desires, worries, hopes and burdens.

When you open yourself up to your spouse or your child, there are more chances for the other person to open up to you.

Step #5: Be Simple

Yesterday afternoon, I preached to 700 people in Hong Kong.

I usually give my talks for 45 minutes. That's been my trademark. But yesterday, I gave a solid two-hour talk. Vein-popping, heart-pounding, passion-driven talk - because I had a burden in my heart.

Because I preached on Financial Literacy.

I challenged them, "Raise your financial I.Q.!"

I scolded them, "When you left the Philippines, you told your kids, 'Anak, two years of separation lang 'to. After two years, Mommy will have saved enough and will go home and we'll be together again.' But after two years, you go home and you haven't saved. Because you repainted the house. Because there's a new TV set in the living room and a new gas range in the kitchen. Because the kids have new designer rubber shoes.

I taught them how to live simply and ruthlessly save 20% of their income.

Because unless they do this, they will be forever trapped in Hong Kong.

Look at your life.

Are you living simply?

Are you saving 20% of your income?

Step #6: Be Financially Intelligent

I also taught them where to invest.

I told them, "It's not enough to just save. You need to know where to put your money. Because savings accounts at 1% and time deposits at 5% won't do. Inflation - which is at 7% - will simply eat them up."

So I taught them about mutual funds and other investment vehicles, including the ability to sell something and get into business.

Here's the truth: The more you know about money, the less time you need to make money. So the more time you have for your family.

Actually, a time should come when you don't need to make money. Instead, you let money make money. And that requires financial intelligence.

Read. Attend seminars. Look for mentors.


Go Home.


After giving my talk, I took a deep breath and told my audience in Hong Kong, "When you follow these principles and have saved enough - please go home. Please go home to your children."

I made a lot of people cry that day.
I
I'm telling you the same thing.

Oh yes, you may be living with your family in one house, but it's possible that your heart is so far away from your spouse and kids - and they are far away from you as well.

You need to let your heart go home.



Go home my friend.

Cory's Legacy

 

  Cory was one of the few if not the only Philippine President who was not driven by ambition but by a vision of restoring the freedom of Filipinos. A freedom that was taken away for some 14 years under a regime of her exact opposite: lust for power, greed beyond imagination, machinations to stay on and build a family

political dynasty.

 

 

  She was thrust upon the Philippine landscape not by design but by circumstances that many believe were Divine in nature. A Heavenly response to prayers for an end to tyranny from a people unorganized and afraid.

 

From the assassination of Ninoy to the snap election of 1986 and the protests and failed coup d'état that led to the People Power Revolt or EDSA 1, events unfolded almost as if on cue to hand over the highest executive post to Cory.

 

  

  Cory was not driven by ambition. She had a vision of restoring democratic institutions destroyed by Marcos and she did it well even in courageous defiance of many attempts by

  military officers to unseat her and re-install anon-democratic order.

 

  

  23 years later she is gone. But she leaves a legacy of a President who had a vision and

  worked for it tirelessly, courageously, and successfully. She did this not through the usual

  Machiavellian guile that most past Presidents (and most especially the present

  one) used with the argument that the ends justifies the means, but no, by her faithfulness, her steadfastness, her truthfulness, her charity.

 

  

  This , for me is Cory's

  Legacy: Vision, not Ambition!

 

  

  And as we approach the2010Presidential election will we be so guided by Cory's

  Legacy? Who are coming forward to offer themselves to the country to fill the job

  of Philippine President? From the traditional political parties we see nothing but ambition; what with their self-declared nominations as candidates. There are many on-traditional politicians and non-politicians also

  offering themselves tofill the job.

 

  

  As Cory was anon-traditional candidate without experience who proved to be the best

  President we ever had, will the Filipino People again need Divine interference to

  have another on-traditional candidate fill the post OR have we as a

  People learned from her Legacy and start the search while there is still time for a

  non-traditional candidate to end Traditional Political rule in

  2010?

 

  

  What is the Vision that a new President, hopefully a non-traditional one.

 

 Will serve aside from strengthening of greatly weakened democratic institutions? Where can we harness again real People Power not in one dramatic event of a few days, but in the next 278 days before the elections to concede to the spirit of national aspirations for the

  Country by 2020 and select a slate of non-traditional candidates to bring it to

  Fruition.

   

  The People's Primaries National Screening Council (composed of Sixto K. Roxas,Bishop Deogracias Iniguez, Bishop Rey Cristobal of the NSCPII, Nina Galang ofthe Green

  Convergence, Milwida Guevara of the Movement for GoodGovernment, Tony Roldan

  of Transparency International and Bro. Roly Dizon of De LaSalle) is one body

  of the People's Primaries system that seeks to implementa District-based

  (local) process to elicit the national aspirations and thebest team to carry

  it forward.

 

  

  We humbly submit that we can best honor Cory's Legacy by ensuring the next President

  is truly a People'sPresident.

 

God' True Love Endures

You can learn a lot about a person by what his or her T-shirt says.
Recently, one of these messages caught my attention as I walked through a
local shopping mall. A young woman who wore a bright red T-shirtthat said,
"Love is for Losers." Maybe she thought that it was clever or provocative,
even funny. Or perhaps she has been hurt by a relationship and had pulled
away from others rather than risk being hurt again. Either way, the T-shirt
got me thinking.

Is love for losers? The fact is, when we love, we take risks. People could
very well hurt us, disappoint us, or even leave us. Love can lead to loss.

The Bible though, challenges us to higher ground in loving others. In 1
Corinthians 13. Paul describes what it means to live out God's kind of love.
The person who exercises Godly love doesn't do so for personal gain or
benefit but rather "bears all things," (13:7). Why? Because godly love
endures beyond life's hurts by pulling us relentlessly toward the
never-diminishing care of the Father.

So perhaps love is for losers - for it is in times of loss and
disappointment that we need to know God the most. Even in our struggles, we
know that "love never fails" - Bill Crowder

Unfailing is God's matchless love,

so kind so pure, so true;
And those who draw upon that love
Show love in what they do.
God's love never fails
-- D. De Haan

An inspirational for everyone!

Joane Corbe

"Be careful. Strive to be happy."

12 Little Things every Filipino can do to HELP our Country"

1. Follow traffic rules. Follow the law -- The simplest of our laws. If we learn to follow them, it could be the lowest form of national discipline we can develop, totally without monetary cost, easy for us to do, it should be a good start...

2. Whenever you buy or pay for anything, always ask for an official receipt -- By simply asking for ORs for all our purchases, you and I can actually help the government in increasing our tax collections every year, in solving our nation's budget deficit, in reducing our foreign debt, in improving our international credit standing, in strengthening the value of the peso.

3. Do not buy smuggled goods. Buy local, Buy Filipino -- It may not be good economics to ask our people to buy 100% local products. Instead, what I suggest is for us to take a "50-50 buying attitude." We must develop the attitude of using at least 50% of our budget to buy locally-made products and allocating the other 50% for our favorite imported choices... it could be another big push for our economy and our people. It will retain capital in our country, build our local industries, build Filipino brands, create more employment for our people, send more Filipino children to school. it will give a brighter future to our nation.

4. When you talk to others, especially foreigners, speak positively of our race and our country -- We should make a conscious effort to stop this self-bashing and self-flagellation. We should stop telling "horror stories' about ourselves to foreigners, including business associates, friends and relatives abroad. Instead, we should start focusing on the positive aspects of our national being. ther are so many good things we can talk about ourselves as a people and as a nation.

It only requires a change in attitude...a change in the way we look at things...

5. Respect your traffic officer, policemen, soldier & other public servants -- It is the power of respect. Respect honors. It empowers. It dignifies. It makes a person proud. It makes one feel honorable. At the same time, courtesy to others is good manners. It is etiquette. It is class and elegance. It is also kindness. It is seeng the value and dignity in the other man. It is, in fact, a mark of most profound education...

They are what they are because of what we are. They are who they are because of who we are...

6. Do not Litter. Dispose your Garbage Properly. Segregate. Recycle. Conserve. -- We are part of the environment. The environment is part of us. Whichever way we look at it, the environment and we, human beings, are linked to each other in a powerful sense... Throwing our garbage properly is another simple form of national discipline for us as a people. all it needs is just a conscious effort from each one of us. Segregation allows the recycling of solid waste possible and a lot easier. Recycle and reuse instead of buying new things.

The more we buy, the more garbage we make. The more we buy, the more natural resources we consume.

7. Support your Church. -- donate 1% of our monthly net earnings. doing so will empower our churches, so our churches will have more resources to help the poor and neglected members of our society. Don't you think we will be truer to our claim of being Christians or Muslims when we support our churches or mosque?

8. During elections, do your solemn duty. -- If we have bad leaders today and in the past, it is not the fault of the many who know less, but the fault of the few who know more but who do nothing or who don't do enough... If we want to see progress in our country, we must start with the way we perform our duties as citizens. '

As a people, we must BE involved. We must GET involved.

9. Pay your employees well. -- The bounty must always be shared... Paying our employees is one such way. A good salary can go along way. It will pay for your employee's children's good education... pay for vitamins and medication to make our youth healthy... pay for the reading materials to make our youth intelligent. .. Pay for the low-cost apartment and house and lot to provide our youth a good living environment. ..

A good salary to our employees will mean a good future for their children, our youth, our nation's future...

10. Pay your taxes -- Taxes are the lifeblood of our government, of our nation... We have to pay our taxes properly, because we all live in the same country. Because this Government, whether we like it or not, it is our government. Its cost is a burden we must all share. The task of building this nation is a task that we all must share.

We all must contribute to build the kind of nation we dream for ourselves. Each one of us has a role in it. Each one of us has a responsibility to it...

11. Adopt a Scholar, or Adopt a poor child -- Imagine if 2M families in our country would adopt 2M poor children, either as scholars or as members of our families? That's 2 M young filipinos who will be given access to a better future. In return that's 2M filipinos who in the future, can give us a better nation. No doubt too, this is one of the fastest ways to close the gap between the rich and poor in this country. It is one ogf the best paths to national progress.

It is very christian, an act of people power in its purest form...

12. Be a good parent. Teach your kids to follow the law & to love our country. -- Given the present state of our nation, with so many to problems that we don't even know where to begin to solve them, our children are always a good starting point.

They are the future. Their minds and their hearts will shape and color the future...

I guess building a nation towards progress and greatness is like that too. we have to attend to the many little things on our national life, and start setting them right. And our family, our children, is the STARTING point for this. Each child is a potential good Filipino. Each child is a potential patriot of our country...

.

Marriage Humour

 

 Wife: 'What are you doing?'

 Husband:   Nothing.

 Wife: 'Nothing...?  You've been reading our marriage certificate for an hour.'

 Husband:  'I was looking for the expiration date.'

 

 ------------ --------- --------- -

 

 Wife :    'Do you want dinner?'

 Husband:    'Sure!

 What are my choices?'

 Wife: 'Yes or No.'

---------------------------------------

Wife:  'You always carry my photo in your wallet... Why?

  Hubby: 'When there is a problem, no matter how great, I look at  your picture and the problem disappears.'

 Wife: 'You see how miraculous and powerful I am for you?'

  Hubby: 'Yes! I see your picture and ask myself what other problem can there be greater than this one?'

 ------------ --------- --------- --------- ---------

 

 Stress Reliever:

 Girl:  'When we get married, I want to share all your worries, troubles and lighten your burden.'

 Boy:  'It's very kind of you, darling, but I don't have any worries or troubles.'

  Girl:   'Well.. that's because we aren't married yet.'

 

 ------------ --------- ---------

 

 Son:   'Mum, when I was on the bus with Dad this morning, he told me to give up my seat to a lady.'

 Mom:    'Well, you have done the right thing.'

 Son:    'But mum, I was sitting on daddy's lap.'

 ____________ _________ _________ __

 

 A newly married man asked his wife, 'Would you have married me if my father hadn't left me a

 fortune?'

 'Honey,' the woman replied sweetly, 'I'd

 have married you, NO MATTER WHO LEFT YOU A FORTUNE!'

 ------------ --------- --------- --------- ---------

 

 Girl to her boyfriend: One kiss and I'll be yours

 forever.

 The guy replies: 'Thanks for the early warning.'

 ------------ --------- --------- -

 

 A wife asked her husband: 'What do you like most in me,  my pretty face or my sexy body?'

 He looked at her from head to toe and replied: 'I like your sense of humor!'

---------------------------------------------

 

 Husbands are husbands.....

 A man was sitting reading his papers when his wife hit him round the head with a frying pan.

 'What was that for?' the man asked.

 The wife replied 'That was for the piece of paper with

 the name Jenny on it that I found in your pants pocket'.

 The man then said 'When I was at the races last week

 Jenny was the name of the horse I bet on'

 The wife apologized and went on with the housework. 

 Three days later the man is watching TV when his wife bashes him on the  head with an even bigger frying pan, knocking him  unconscious.

 Upon re-gaining consciousness the man asked why she had hit again.

 Wife replied. 'Your horse phoned'

Funny Movie Quotes from "Mean Girls"

From the Movie "Mean Girls"
Janis: That one there, that's Karen Smith. She is one of the dumbest girls you will ever meet. Damien sat next to her in English last year.
Damian: She asked me how to spell orange.

Karen: If you're from Africa, why are you white?
Gretchen: Oh my God, Karen, you can't just ask people why they're white.


Cady: You're not stupid, Karen.
Karen: No, I am actually. I'm failing almost everything!
Cady: Well... there must be something you're good at.
Karen: I can stick my whole fist in my mouth! Wanna see?
Cady: No no no... Anything else?
Karen: Well... I'm kinda psychic. I have a fifth sense.
Cady: What do you mean?
Karen: It's like I have ESPN or something. My breasts can always tell when it's going to rain.
Cady: Really? That's amazing.
Karen: Well... they can tell when it's raining.

Jason: Is your muffin buttered?
Cady: What?
Jason: Would you like us to assign someone to butter your muffin?
Cady: My what?
Regina: Is he bothering you? Jason, why are you such a skeeze?
Jason: I'm just being friendly.
Gretchen: [whispers] You were supposed to call me last night!
Regina: Jason, you do not come to a party at my house with Gretchen and then scam on some poor innocent girl right in front of us three days later. She's not interested. Do you want to have sex with him?
Cady: No, thank you.
Regina: Good. So it's settled. So you can go shave your back now. Bye, Jason.
Jason: [whispers] Bitch...

Bethany Byrd: [to Mr. Duvall] Most people think I'm lying about being a virgin because I prefer jumbo tampons, but I can't help it if I have a heavy flow and a wide-set vagina!

Student: Nice wig, Janis. What's it made of?
Janis: Your mom's chest hair!

Crying Girl: [reading from paper] I wish we could all get along like we used to in middle school... I wish I could bake a cake filled with rainbows and smiles and everyone would eat and be happy...
[about to cry]
Damian: [shouting from back] She doesn't even go here!
Ms. Norbury: Do you even go to this school?
Crying Girl: No... I just have a lot of feelings...
Ms. Norbury: Ok go home...
[girl walks off stage]
Ms. Norbury: Next!


Regina: We do not have a clique problem at this school.
Gretchen: But you do have to watch out for "frenemies".
Regina: What are "frenemies"?
Gretchen: Frenemies are enemies who act like friends. We call them "frenemies".
Karen: Or "enemends".
Gretchen: Or friends who secretly hate you, we call them "fraitors".
Regina: [rolls eyes] That is so gay.
Karen: [gasps] What if we called them "mean-em-aitors"?
Regina: [scoffs]
Gretchen: No, honey, it has to have the word "friend" in it.
Karen: Oh...