As I face the end of my days with trepidation and uncertainty, I am also experiencing deep joy and happiness being part of the early days of Jane and Jonathan. Anabelle and I had superabundant fun raising our three boys. But things were so busy then, everything went by like a blur. I just looked around and the boys were grown into men. Now, as the pace of life slows down for me and Anabelle, I can leisurely enjoy every moment I spend with Jane and Jonathan. I can truly reflect on and enjoy our time with them.
For good or for bad, but I hope for the better, we are leaving imprints in Jane and Jonathan that they will carry with them the rest of their lives. I can see my playfulness playing out in Jane and my mood swings now taking hold in Jonathan. I can see the fashion sense of Anabelle blooming in Jane and her study discipline taking roots in Jonathan. They have a taste for some Filipino foods and they are picking up smatterings of Filipino words to add to their vocabulary. They are developing feelings and emotions that are distinctively Filipino like sungit, buwisit, gigil, gagad, galak, baliw. They enjoy chichuyan and kilitian. Jane knows what kuya means and Jonathan takes his being a kuya pretty seriously. They have learned along with their prayers how to make mano, a Filipino gesture and sign of respect for elders.
At the same time, we are learning a lot from them, lessons which hopefully are not too late for the learning. They greet each morning as another blessing, full of promises like the sunlight that heralds the new day. They live each moment to the fullest, filling every minute with things they love to do. Sometimes, they get bored but not for long as they are able to move on to others things they love to do. They fight and they bicker but again not for long for the love and care they have for each other are deeper and stronger than any fight or bickering they might have. They trust and believe us on our word and the worst thing we can do to them is not to keep our word. Yet, they harbor no resentments for long. Life is too exciting to be bogged down in resentments and disappointments.
Come to think of it, we are already living our heaven on earth taking care of Jane and Jonathan – for such is the Kingdom of God! Life is like a circle. It is coming full circle for me.
People were bringing children to Jesus that he might touch them,
but the disciples rebuked them.
When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them,
“Let the children come to me; do not prevent them,
for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept
the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.”
Then he embraced the children and blessed them,
placing his hands on them.
Mark 10:13-16