The image of the week was captured when my daughter Mia was five years old while I was working in my office one summer. It all of a sudden got quiet and when I turned to see what my daughter was doing, I saw her in front of a mirror kissing herself. I had just enough time to grab my camera to shoot that wonderful moment. Thank God I captured it since that was the only time she did it, never got to see her do it again.

You see, my daughter Mia was born with Down Syndrome, which made her more special to our family and we thank God for giving her to us and for making her an important part of our lives. Her loving nature and qualities that a lot of people does not have are truly God sent. We learn from her as much as she learns from us. There are many challenges still lay ahead with education and in learning and how to become independent, but she truly is in the right path with God leading her path.

In general, all of our children are special blessings in our lives. God assigned each of them to us with good purpose. God assigned us parents to these fragile creations so that we could be "the" role model to them, building a solid ground for them to stand on through God's wisdom and knowledge, which will serve as an anchor for the future storms life will bring to their path.

"Anyone who comes to me and listens to my word and obey them - I will show you what He is like. He is like a man who, in building his house, dug deep and laid the foundation on rock. The river flooded over and hit that house but could not shake it, because it's well built. But anyone who hears my word and does not obey them is like a man who built his house without laying a foundation; when the flood hit that house it fell at once - and what a terrible fall that was!"
Luke 6:47-49

I know many are great providers to their children and I congratulate you for giving your best everyday to see to it they are well taken care of financially. On the other hand, we also must be aware of balance in life for we could also get in a trap in which relationships with our children may suffer. Let's see to it that our children grow with us as their "main role model", if not, there are many who wants to be, most especially for our teenagers. These teen idols and role models we have available out there, some legit most are not, in which our children will trade us for in a heart beat if we're not careful. Are they necessarily the one we want to shape the future of our beloved children? Of course not but be aware. We maybe working like there's no tomorrow for the welfare of family but if we don't pay attention to balance in life, we may be disappointed later on in life when your precious ones doesn't recognize the meaning of all our blood, sweat, and tears. It's a tough topic but true, the world's culture is changing at a great pace and we must stay ahead of the curve.

This Lent, let's pay a close attention on not only providing for the family with monetary needs but also how we can balance and provide the needed communications between our children, most especially our teenagers, who most of the time long for that special attention from those who would listen. Who would they talk to? Well, if they are uncomfortable with us, as discussed at a meeting I attended this weekend, the people in our information super highway are ready to listen and the stats are very scary...that will be the last place we want them to go...Think about it. We don't want our children falling in the hands of our nightmare...please get involved!

May the good Lord keep you safe this week, may He grant you and your loved ones peace with each other full of God's love that builds a future full of hope and great success.