FOR SALE PURE TABLEA OR CACAO

Most Filipinos love to serve native food this Christmas and these are usually paired with hot cacao drink (sikwate) instead of hot coffee or tea. For those who are looking for pure tablea you may order it from us

we are distributors of pure cacao based from Lilo-an Cebu.

one piece of tablea cost 3.60 pesos
we accept orders outside cebu
order now! contact us through email at
testingsc@gmail.com or through mobile # 639174709071

costumers are encourage to make payments via ML Kwarta Padala for client outside Cebu
courier fee is charge to the buyer ( we usually send the product through AIR 21 or JRS Express)

thank you.

GENEROSITY

I went home to our hometown last Friday to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I was excited and hoped many good things to happen. I was honestly expecting a simple, smooth and organized festivity. However, I was shocked to see a lot of people who came to our house, people who were strangers to us. Mothers bringing three to five small kids from different barangays and sitios. Morefully, I was shocked to see that I can't almost get inside our house since the floor area was occupied by many kids with thier parents who were squating down and eating with their plates placed on the floor. I have to walk with my toes up to avoid stepping on rice particles scattered around. I also saw people opening the refregerator getting stuffs like soft drinks or desserts without having to wait for the servers to do that for them, drunkards asking for hard liquor even if wine was not included in our preparation, distant relatives knocking very late at night bringing along family members even if they had been in the house since breakfast till dinner and even if they were given bring home food and those people who elbows others just to be the first to get the food.

Fifteen years ago the feast celebration at home wasn't that way worst. It was smooth , systematic and non-chaotic. Only invited guests and relatives come to our house and join the celebration. Shall i label those people who came to our party and showed indescent demeanor as "greedy" , "gluttons" or "beast". Or are people now adays experiencing too much hunger that expecting them to eat like they have not eaten a month is normal?. I really do not know the answer. How i wish i did not go home last friday and just had attended holy mass here in the city in honor of Mama Mary because I feel that I was committing a sin trying to criticize the situation and the people involved. Fiesta is not really about eating its about honoring the saint through participating the celebration in the spirit of love, respect and deep faith. It is very difficult to say that those actions were normal for non professional people because there were oridnary people who behave decently and who have good manners during that party.

Feed the hungry but feed those who are really human beings. I just hope that I am not the stingy host who complains without valid justifications. Despite such I am opening my heart for more understanding and more answers as I know I might have misunderstood the situation and could not emphatize with them. Perhaps I was just tested on the virture of generosity. They say that real generosity is when you already experienced pain upon giving but the pain I experienced wasn't really about the food that the people consumed but rather on thier attitude they showed that i could hardly take.

ANGER

" There are many things beyond your control that can be perfectly legitimate reasons for anger. Yet the amount of time you maintain that anger is completely up to you. "
-anonymous-

Last night i facilitated a class of third year psychology students. When i entered the room i saw a note on the table with the above quote. I tried reflecting on the note and remembered many people. I remembered those who hurt me, those who persecuted, victimized and pinned me down. I remembered my sufferings that agonized me for long long years. I also remembered a colleauge who was so troubled last week that made her very angry at those people who hurt her.

I remember most of the people who hurt me but I cannot anymore feel the pain and burden it has cause me. I had myself free from the weight of the agony I was carrying in the past. I say yes to forgiveness and peace. I am not anymore angry.

THE GIFT OF FORGIVENESS

Are you familiar with this expression "Merry Christmas Gift"? I guess you are.This expression is usually used by someone trying to convey a reminder message to another person whom she/he wants to receive a gift. I often use that expression at present and although its just a form of joke or humor I did not realize that few conservative people do not find it good to hear. I remember a former colleague replying to me "It's better to give than to receive". Ouch.... that hurts! was insulted heheheheheh
There are really people who only longs to receive but do not love to give. However, asking for a Christmas gift could mean asking for a very specific one. But that thing could not merely mean material things. I will not anymore touch the topic on the benefits of giving. Let me shift to the benefits of asking and receiving.
Have we thought of those people who had hurt, victimized, deceived or persecuted us? They might at one point in our lives connect to us and genuinely ask for forgiveness. The question is, are we ready to forgive them? Are we ready to give the gift of forgiveness this Christmas? Maybe some of us do not know the answer, or some may say yes but if it does happen it would be very difficult to give, or some will say straight "NO". If our hearts are still aching remembering the worst things people did to us, it is best to just lift them up to God and let Him instead forgive those who hurt us.
This Christmas we are reminded that its not only about giving but also asking. May we humble ourselves and ask the gift and grace of forgiveness especially to those people we hurt. The moment we realize our faults it is also also the beginning of the search for inner peace,joy and love. In order to succeed we have to act. Peace, joy, love and healthy life are the benefits of having to receive the grace of forgiveness and by doing so we have to ask for it, if we do not receive them from people we hurt we are still assured that we will receive it from God.

VISIT THOSE WHO ARE IN PRISON

HOW TO WIN OVER DAILY TEMPTATIONS

November 17, 2008
Kerygma Feast
St. Joseph Parish
Mabolo Cebu City
8:00 PM
Preacher: Br. Bo Sanchez

1. Focus on GOd's Love
(remember: Sin will make you focus on your sin and on your guilt.)

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. PSALMS 103:11-12

2. Focus on Your Inner Greatness
(remember: Sin will make you focus on your weaknesses and addictions)

It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the height. He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great. PSALMS 18:32-35

3. Focus on Your Future
(remember: Sin will make you focus on your past.)

Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O Lord. PSALMS 25:5-7

4. Focus on Loving Others
(remember: Sin will make you focus on your self)

A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away. leaving him half dead, a priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritanm as he traveled, came where the mas was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an in and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him, 'he said, 'and when i return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have. LUKE 10: 30-35

Warning: Schools may be abetting culture of bullying

By Cathy S. Babao-Guballa
Inquirer
First Posted 00:42am (Mla time) 04/15/2007


MANILA, Philippines - Perhaps there is nothing more painful for a parent to witness than the bullying of her own child.

My family and I found ourselves in such a predicament during our youngest son’s fencing tournament a few months ago. Emilio was participating in his first-ever fencing tourney and he was very excited.

A beginner, he was at the bottom-rung in his pool, but in spite of this, he kept on smiling and trying to do his best. We had drilled into his head the adage “It’s not whether you win or lose but how you play the game,” and our young man was trying his best to live up to it.

Much to our disgust we overheard another boy, the leading player in Emilio’s pool, continually taunting him with “You’re so easy beat!” We let it go the first few times, but when he kept harassing our son, to the point of placing him in the middle of a circle and asking his fencing-mates—“So who among you has beaten Emilio?”—we had to intervene.

My husband went up to the bully’s father and asked him gently to speak to his son about sportsmanship. The boy’s mother was clearly displeased with my husband’s request, but the father immediately obliged and gave his son a dressing-down.

My husband then went on to speak to the coach about the bully’s unsportsmanlike behavior. Fencing, being a gentleman’s sport, places high regard for behavior on and off the fencing arena. Because of his behavior, the bully got a few points shaved off his lead. At the end of the competition, instead of bagging the gold, he received a bronze medal instead.

And though Emilio did not win any medal that day, he came home with a more important lesson—to be sportsmanlike in the face of defeat and see that bullies are checked.

How bullies are made

Are bullies born? Psychologist Dr. Honey Carandang says role-modeling plays a very important role in the shaping of a bully.

“Often, they see the behavior at home with one parent bullying another, so it is normal for them and they act this way in school” she says. “The bully is usually a person, a child who has very low self-worth and who finds power by putting down another person. The mindset is “I am no one, so I have to be someone. The bully is someone who wants to have power over another person.”

Carandang says bullying seems on the rise in many exclusive schools in the country. “Sadly, the problem is not being addressed by school authorities and there lies the great danger.”

Carandang relates the tragic story of the infamous 1999 Columbine shooting in Littleton, Colorado, in which youngsters Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris massacred several of their high-school classmates.

“Klebold and Harris were the victims of bullying for many, many years—taunted and subjected to humiliation and abuse. That does not excuse their actions, but it certainly shows you what great tragedy can result from not paying attention to the culture of bullying that exists in many schools today.

The American Psychological Association (APA) Monitor says: “Developmental studies show that in elementary school, bullies and their victims are disliked by other children. Janna Juvonen’s research at the University of California in Los Angeles indicates that by middle school, however, victims are still disliked, but bullies have achieved social status. Indeed, Harris and Klebold noted with anger that some of the high-status jock bullies, convicted of burglary, received an especially lenient sentence.”

APA also says parents are an important factor in the total equation. “Research has shown a strong link between high-risk behavior in teens and parents who basically do not know what their children are doing. In other words, nosier, more intrusive parenting seems to be a protective factor against risky, dangerous teen behavior. It appears from all accounts that this protective factor was lacking in the parenting environment of Harris and Klebold.”

Unlike in the West, bully victims in the Philippines, rather than hit back, commit suicide, Carandang says.

“I’ve had several cases of young boys who come to my clinic on the verge of killing themselves because they could no longer stand the bullying that was taking place in school,” she says.

In Japan, Carandang adds, there have been cases of children as young as 7 years old who have tried to kill themselves because of bullying.

She also says that bullying does not exist in boys’ schools alone but in exclusive girls’ schools as well. “Here the bullying takes place in the form of verbal abuse or ostracizing a particular girl, leaving her out of the group or the barkada and making her feel worthless.”

Children pick up a lot of signals from their parents as well.

“Children see this at home and absorb the dynamics between parents and parent and child,” Carandang says. She advises parents: “If your child is a bully, before getting angry, I would suggest that if you are the parent, you look into yourself first.”

Carandang says unloving parents are often viewed by the child as “I am unlovable.” In reality, it is the parent who has the problem and issues to deal with.

What schools can do

Schools, though, are the arena where the bullying takes place, and Carandang expresses frustration about the way school officials in the Philippines have addressed the culture of bullying in schools.

“Usually, bullies act in groups of three or four versus the siga-siga type of bully whom everyone is afraid of,” she notes.

She cites the particular case of a senior high school student from an exclusive boys’ school in Quezon City who had been harassed by a group of bullies since he was a freshman. “It was terrible, they would call him gay, gang up on him and one of them would strip off their shirt and say to this boy “See, see you’re blushing. You’re really gay!”

This young man came to see Carandang because he had become terribly depressed and was on the verge of killing himself.

Carandang says the problem is that schools can’t seem to address the issue. “Normally, there will be a bystander—someone who sees that the bullying that is taking place—but he doesn’t do anything to remedy the situation. This kind of scenario can be changed if you empower the bystander and also address the needs of the bullies.”

The problem lies often in school authorities who think bullying is the norm. They turn a blind eye on the bullying and even blame the bullied for not asserting himself.

“Some school authorities have zero empathy,” Carandang says. “I remember once at another boys’ school, one of my clients, a young boy on the heavy side, was constantly taunted by is classmates because of his weight. One afternoon while waiting for their ride home, the bullying group threw mud on the boy who was on the sidewalk waiting for his car... When I spoke with the school administrator about it, she acted like there was nothing wrong and even said the boy should instead learn to fend for himself. I was terribly, terribly disappointed.”

Researchers in the United States have developed school-wide anti-bullying programs. When introduced and supported by school authorities, these programs have proven to be very effective preventive measures.

Schools, Carandang explains, must moderate their obsession with academic standards and achievement and be given resources to adopt preventive programs.

“There’s too much competition and it has become a challenge of one upmanship where bullying tactics are employed by usually the slower but stronger ones,” Carandang says. “The formula is too much demand academically but too little outlets physically, emotionally and creatively so there is no balance or release.

“The sad part of the schools that I have talked to is they do not see the value in the nonacademic activities that can help change the tide of the bullying culture. Many schools no longer see the need for a child to play, to have art, for music—these are essentials.

“What we need to do is to have a reorientation of the whole school system so that there will be a balance. Otherwise, the cases of bullying in schools will continue to escalate.”

Carandang says the key is to educate the bystander and, in general, the school population, to reorient them to speak up if they see an incident of bullying.

Carandang urges schools to check the culture of bullying. She says the alternative is a Columbine happening here. Or bullies growing up into irresponsible, ill-adjusted adults.

“These bullies today will grow up into the bullies of tomorrow—heads of corporations, heads of countries who delight in the suffering of other people. It has to stop while the child or youth is still in school. Nobody deserves to be bullied.”