#1 Compliment three people every day!

To my daughters,

I have been listening to Mr. Dan Miller a life coach and an online mentor for me anak. He recommended that I start reading “Life’s Little Instruction Book”. In this blog, I will try to explain on how to be a better person. Always remember, that you can have everything you want and need in life, if you will just help other people get what they want.

#1 Compliment three people every day!

When I wake up in the morning, I always make it a point to say good morning and I love you to your mom. Please make sure to say one good thing to yourself, talk to yourself that you are going to be awesome, going to be great and that you are going to have a blessed day. The second person you can give compliment to is your sister. When you wake up, please say good morning to your sisters. Lastly, you can compliment me or your mom. Better yet, compliment the first ten people you see in your school, compliment them regardless of their position in your school, whether they are the principal, janitor, cafeteria lady or your classmate. What you sow is what you reap. If you sow a compliment, you will get a compliment in return. If you sow a smile, you will get a smile back. So your assignment for today anak, give compliments generously…

Love,

Dad

Greatness in YOU!

There is actually a greatness within you. As a Christian, we all have the authority to declare increase or decrease in our lives. In other words, are you expecting God to bless you or to curse you?

I was just chatting with a facebook friend of mine and he said that he wants to change his career in order for him to take care of his family. Another friend of mine, posted a picture of his possible new car. Both of them have not gotten it, but they are now declaring what they want to be and what they want to have.

If we go around telling other people, “Well, I will not meet my quota or sales this year,” or “I don’t think I will get promoted.” Or “I will never get better, I will always be sick.” At the hospital that I work, there are always two patients that I see, the one that wants to get better and one that wants to just get sick all the time.  I am not saying they want to be sick, but they choose to be sick and not to take care of themselves.

God said, why don’t you take your limitations off? Why don’t you believe in Him and go out each day with an expectation of increase, promotion and blessing. Expect and choose joy instead of sadness, peace instead of conflicts, and praise instead of despair… Keep the faith my friends!

Stop Thinking and Start Fishing!

If you have seen the movie the Son of God, there was this scene that Jesus was on the beach and talked to Peter while putting away his empty fishing net. Jesus walked over to him and asked if He could join him to fish. Peter told him, I have been out all night and I haven’t catch any fish. I am a fisherman and there are no fish out there right now!

Sometimes in life, we know too much! Sometimes, we tend to know a lot and be a so called expert! Sometimes our own intellect can keep us from God’s best. If you will listen to the so called experts in life, they will talk you down. They will try to give you a defeated life. My mother, when she consults her doctor, the doctor will say she is sick, when in fact she was not. When you watch the news, it will say that USA is a struggling country, when in fact, it is still the land of milk and honey and that everybody has equal opportunity to grow and succeed. I know it is always to have good information, but you don’t have to dwell on the negative report. Look at what and how God can change the situation.

Going back to Jesus and Peter story. Jesus was able to convince Peter to go out again and fish. It may not make sense to Peter, he may have not understand it. But he believed Jesus and went out again. It looked like it was a waste of time, but sometimes we have to realize that God is in control of everything, even the fishes! I think that is the attitude we need to have. Stop believing the negative report and start believing God’s report and start going out there and fish!

Dream Another Dream

I still believe that God has plans for you. His plans for you is to bless you and keep you. He has placed greatness inside of YOU! I’ve been reading a book titled “Put Your Dream To Test” by John Maxwell and it says there that you have to keep dreaming. I have this friend, who just can’t get out of his comfort zone. I encouraged him and told him he can do it, all he has to do is take a leap of faith and take one step at a time. He started as a waiter of a small town restaurant, then he moved to another restaurant to be a supervisor. Guess what, he is now a store manager, he didn’t even finished college. What am I saying here my friend, we all have dreams and desires we want to accomplish. But so many times, life has a way of stealing it. We will go to disappointments and adversity. But never stop dreaming.

I want to encourage you today to keep dreaming and get the fire back! Start speaking victory over your life. Be positive, start going to church, and get around with people who believes in you. Keep the faith my friend!

Lead or Follow?

Have you been in a group where everybody wanted to be a leader? Everybody wanted to lead? Everybody wanted to be the boss, the big man, the one who calls the shot? If not, congratulations! You are in a perfect world! Lol…

Anyway, I attended a church last Sunday and the pastor explained how leadership is such an overrated word nowadays. In school, they teach you how to be a leader. At work, they encourage everybody to have a leader in each team. In sports, somebody has to be the team captain or the leader. And even at church, they teach you how to be a leader. I have read books about leadership and I believe this is also the reason why I am in my position right now. But I also believe that being a Christian, we don’t need to be a leader. We just need to be a follower. 1 Corinthians 11:1 and Matthew 16:24 states that we need to be follower of Christ. It didn’t say we need to be a leader for Christ. It just clearly states to follow Him. The ultimate leader, boss, manager, team captain in our lives should be Jesus Christ and we need to follow him.

In order for a basketball team to win, there is a coach, team captain and several different positions such as center, forward and point guards. Not everybody can be a coach and a player at the same time (except for Jaworski or Pacquiao), nobody can play all the positions. Guess what, somebody has to learn how to follow the coach or team captain. What is the key word there? Follow…

Don’t get me wrong here, being a leader is good. But when it comes to the church, I believe we need to be followers. I myself have been a leader at church and at work. But most of the time, I have lead the people in the wrong direction. Jesus didn’t recruit leaders in His ministry, He recruited followers. This culture that we have right now has created too much leadership obsession. Everybody just wants to be the leader and the voice of their team.

So if you are a leader right now, I suggest that you throw away all your leadership manuals, books and titles. The day has come for us to be a better followers.

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ – 1 Corinthians 11:1

Then Jesus told his disciples, “if any would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me – Matthew 16:24

The Bridge @ Rockwood REHAB Team

We know that God did not send his son into the world to be its judge, but to be its savior. Christ was born on Christmas day to give us life and to set us free!

So in line with that, The Bridge at Rockwood REHAB Team have decided to give this Christmas season. Yes, the Rehab Team gives out all year long by giving the best rehabilitation services they can give to our residents, but this year is different. The REHAB Team decided to help the Typhoon Haiyan Victims in the Philippines.  Instead of celebrating it with a fancy celebration, they decided to help and donate.

With the leadership of the Rehab Manager Ms. Tessa Perkinson, OTR, the REHAB Team collected a total of $540.00 equivalent to approximately Php 20,000.00. The Team will donate the said amount to a certain Filipino Family and will make their Christmas a better one. 

This Christmas season, decide to be like this team. Decide to be a blessing, decide to give, and decide to be the hands and feet of God. 

Merry Christmas!!!

And in behalf of the Filipino people. Thank you very much The Bridge at Rockwood REHAB Team for your help!

Help!!!

My conversation with Jett

I got a message from my friend from Leyte City, Philippines about what happened to them during the super typhoon Hayain. He told me about his ordeal. He lost his house, personal possession and two aunts. The good news is that both his children are safe and is now recovering from that horrific event.

2 Corinthians 8:7 says ⁷  in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you^[a]—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

Jett's House

Photo (AP David Guttenfelder)

Paul said in that verse that “excel in giving!” Because it is in giving that we receive more! Every time we give something out, we have extra hands to receive blessings. God has blessed you not to keep that blessing for yourselves. He has blessed you to be also a blessing to others. I am now asking your good heart to bless this friend of mine. I know some of you have already donated to institutions, organizations and even went home to donate their time. But I am asking you now my friend to excel in giving. I am asking you to be the hands and feet of God to bless this friend of mine.

Let your heart’s desire to be a blessing, to leave other people better. I don’t care if you donate a $1.00, $10, $100 or $1,000 all I ask for is for you to bless other people in order for you to be blessed too!

Education

My daughter was asking me yesterday why I am still studying. I told her that learning is never ending. The moment we stop learning, we are dead. I saw a post at our work and it says “Education is not preparation for life, education is life itself. –John Dewey.” And a lot of people suffer from refusing to learn. I have encountered a lot of people who are envious of my position at work and I tell them to go back to school and earn it! A lot of people have reached a certain level in life that they just cruise after high school graduation. They will stop reading a book, stop learning and start complaining about life. They think, I’m done with school and I have a job and just start complaining about my life. But God never created us to reach at a certain position and then stop reaching higher? Whether you are 8 years old or 80 years old, God has a plan for you. That is the reason why I am actually back in school and finishing my doctorate degree. That is the reason why I push my wife to go back to school and finish her nursing degree and that is also the reason why I push my children to learn more every day, learn music instruments and read books for life is a never ending lesson. The key here is to take responsibility for your own personal growth, attend conferences, go online and get continuing education courses, attend church activities, listen to good audio and read books! So what are you waiting for? Go back to school!

I CAN'T!

A lot of people’s mindset are programmed by the people who are around them. Their parents, friends, co-workers, boss and love ones. They can be either good people or bad people. But some of their words are very limiting. And as long as you believe what they say about you, their words will be limiting you. In our house, me and my wife makes it a point to remove the word “I can’t,” because the more you say you CAN’T, the more you will never be able to do it. I like how their piano teacher supports our beliefs. She would always encourage my children to be the best they can be in playing the piano. As long as you keep believing what other people say about you, they will be limiting you. One of the secret to break those limitation is to change your mindset, change what you are saying and start meditating on what God says about your life. God said He will bless you, God said He will take care of you, God said He will get you out of that situation. As you meditate on His word, you will eventually get past of those limitation set by others. People may have spoken bad words over you, but the good news is that they don’t determine your destiny. You are not what other people say who you are. You are who God says you are!

Asking and Seeking.

 I have a confession to make, I haven’t been praying lately to God. I’ve been working so hard that I tend to forget to have a quiet time. Most of the time, the only prayer I get to have is when I go to my kids room and tell them to pray. Often times, I will hear them asking for something like toys or clothes that I can do something about. But just recently, my kids Alyssa and Akeisha started asking God to let Zeyah the youngest of them all to be able to attend their school. Here in this area, pre-kindergarten is only for the less fortunate. People who have higher incomes (yeah yeah, I earn so much!!! Lol) are endorsed to Day Cares who can afford to pay them. One of the reason why we wanted Zeyah to be in that Pre-K school is that it is the same school were her siblings go to. When we visited for the registration day, they said she cannot attend due to certain income brackets, they said we shouldn’t expect and we are on the waiting list etcetera etcetera. Well guess what, last minute they called and said that Zeyah was accepted and she should come and go to school this week. My children told me that their prayers were just answered and that God is just so awesome.  The situation has touched me and my wife that we realized how prayers are so important.

A lot of times, it is easy to think we are not supposed to ask from God, a lot of times we just go along with what is happening and forget the importance and meaning of a good and sincere prayer especially from a child. The Bible tells that God longs to give the desires of our hearts and give His blessings to you. Actually, God has said “You don’t have because you do not ask!” Every time we ask God for favor, blessings or provisions, you are training your faith. When you pray, make sure you ask it sincerely and with faith. It is very important to have an attitude of faith and expectancy. If you want to move God into your lives, you need to believe in Him! He has given you everything you need to be successful in life. Your Faith!

It is easier for a father to have children than for children to have a real father. -Pope John XXIII

Daddy,

I love you very much. You are the best dad in the world. I am happy and thankful to Jesus for giving me a dad like you. I will forever be grateful being your daughter.

Love,

Alyssa

Daddy,

I love you! You will always be my prince and I am your princess. You are my hero and you are the best daddy.

Love,

Kishi

Daddy,

I Love You!

Zeyah

Patuloy Ang Pangarap!

PATULOY ANG PANGARAP

by: Angeline Quinto

Isang pangarap, ako'y naniniwala

Ako ay lilipad at ang lahat makakakita

Sa isang pangarap ako'y naniniwala

Hindi ako titigil hangga't di makakaya

Unti-unting mararating, tagumpay na makikita

Patuloy ang pangarap

Di pa makakapaniwala sa aking makikita

Lahat ng panalangin ko, ngayon may kasagutan

Lahat ng pinagdaanan at pinaghirapan

Nagbigay ng kalakasan  upang marating ang...

Kahit saan, kahit kailan 

Alam kong ako'y patuloy

Sa marami pang tagumpay

Patuloy ang Pangarap!

Jelly Bean Prayer

Red is for the blood HE gave.

Green is for the grass HE made.

Yellow is for the sun so bright.

Orange is for the edge of night.

Black is for the sin that were made.

White is for the grace HE gave.

Purple is for the hour of sorrow.

Pink is for the new tomorrow.

I love you Aly, Kishi and Zeya!

DENIED!

My family and I have been watching the Bible series in the History Channel every Sunday. And one thing I have learned while watching is that God is the same YESTERDAY, TODAY and TOMORROW. When He says something, He really means it. When He says that He will curse a place or a person, He will fulfil it, however, when He says, He will bless you and prosper you, He will fulfil it too! And just recently, I was a little worried about my Green Card application. I was denied of my green card. According to USCIS, my education is not equivalent to the first professional degree for physical therapist which is a Master’s or Doctorate. Nevertheless, I believe God is working behind the scene and has been guiding me on how to be a better physical therapist. And guess what, God has been preparing me to be not just a good one, but to be the best by letting me enrol and be accepted to a doctorate program here in the US last year. One of the reasons why I applied to a doctorate program is for me to learn more about the US practice, to learn the latest trend in evidence based practice and to be the best clinician I can be for my patient and the company. Hopefully I will be finishing it next year and will have the title of Doctor of Physical Therapy. Yes, you can call me Dr. Michael Chua next year. Lol...  Having said that, I will have the degree that is equivalent to a US PT degree and hopefully will get my green card next year too! Is that a coincidence? Or is it God who is actually working behind the scene?

Maybe you are like me, who have been denied of a green card, a visa, or a job. Don’t be discouraged, because God is working behind the scene. We will all have challenges in life. During those times, it is very easy to talk about your problems. I myself am like that, I would call other people, friends and co-workers about my situation, I would complain to them about my issues in life. I would actually talk to my wife about my problem. Maybe you received a bad report; maybe you are facing financial problems. But one thing I realized is that, the more you talk about something, the bigger it becomes in our mind. I have this friend who keeps on complaining about his car, he actually has a pretty decent new car, but he keeps on complaining about it. Well guess what, it finally broke down on him. It’s because of the power of attraction. He kept on nagging and complaining about it and he got what he wanted.

Remember that, even if you don’t see how things would work out. God does. You have to speak positivity in your life. You’ve got to speak goodness instead of mediocrity in your life. Instead of talking to God how big your problems are, talk to your problems about how big your GOD is! So Dr. Michael Chua, here I come! GreenCard here I come! Blessings here I come!

SNOW much FUN!

Hello friends, I haven’t been blogging for quite a while, I've been very busy with everything. My family (wife and kids) got here in the US (finally!). I've been working extra and helping out other facilities and been very busy with school finishing my doctorate degree. So I guess I have all the excuses not to blog. I have been out and about in the cyber world and it’s nice. Lol…

Well, just today, we had winter weather. I was supposed to do some errands first thing in the morning such as buy meds for my wife who is sick, do taxes and work out. Unfortunately the snow stopped me from getting outside. I was a little upset and frustrated. First, I haven’t been working out for more than a month and would really love to get back in shape again and I also need to buy medicine for my wife. Unfortunately, the snow stopped me and frustrated me. Our neighbors were also a little irritated because of the snow. But one thing I noticed about my wife, she was happy and just enjoyed the snow, she even played outside with the kids in the snow and had a positive attitude about it. Saying “Just enjoy daddy.”

You know what my friend, every day; we will have opportunities to get upset, frustrated or get offended. You will have plans that will not work out, or someone at work or a family member that is rude to you (not new to me).Maybe you are supposed to do something that should have taken an hour and it ended up taking six hours! Guess what my friend, reality is that, life is full of inconveniences. We cannot control our circumstances, situation, weather and the people around us, but we can definitely control our reaction. Life is all about how you respond to it.

My wife would always say that I should have a more positive attitude and expect God’s favor  We should always remember that most days will not go exactly as we plan. But always remember that God created us to live in peace. If we get upset or frustrated because you were late, or somebody at work offended you, you are just giving away your power. So this is a warning to the people around me at work or my family. I will no longer give away my power and will live at peace and enjoy life! :-)

Keeping an Attitude of Faith

Are you praying to God for something that is taking so much longer than you expected? No matter how long it is, never ever give up. I like my wife’s attitude, her prayer to God is that she will go to USA, and have a good house, a nice car and debt free. I loved her attitude on not giving up. She made up her mind that she will have all of those promises coming soon. Every morning, she wakes up with an attitude of faith; I even remember her posting a picture of a car in our bedroom, saying she will have that car someday. She didn’t have it immediately, but with God’s time, she believed she will have all those promises someday.

So no matter how long you may have been waiting on God’s promises, never ever give up. Your time is coming, your blessing is on its way, it may be today, it maybe tomorrow, it maybe next week, maybe next month or next year. Always keep in mind that with God’s time, you will receive those blessings. All you have to do is just keep believing and trusting God that He will push you through the challenges you have in your life.  I like how my wife Puppen insisted her faith; she kept doing good and declaring God’s promises over her life. She decided to surround herself with encouraging church people; she kept a song of praise on her mouth. She kept the faith and attitude of Victory. What am I saying here my friend, be like my wife, surround yourself with good encouraging people, keep an attitude of faith and keep believing and trusting God that your blessing is about to come.

Focus

In our life, we will encounter many challenges, many distractions, many pessimistic people, people who will try to pull you down to their miseries, people who will keep you from being happy. And most of these people are around you, maybe someone in your work place, your office, your friend, a neighbor, your boss, your co-worker or maybe even your closest relative. To tell you the truth, they are really frustrating, but the reality is that they have little significance when you look at the big picture. Do not allow the negativity of strife to keep you from being successful.

In the Bible, Jesus encountered several negative people who tried to pull Him down and doubted Him. Those people are His friends during His childhood, His neighbors who didn’t believe in Him when He came back to His hometown, His very own relatives, well actually, His very own disciple also doubted Him. Same with David who fought Goliath, his brothers and even the king doubted David if he could kill the giant.

What am I saying here my friends? In order for us to succeed in life and enjoy the blessings that God has prepared for us, we need to ignore the people who doubts us, the people who are negatives, the people who will not celebrate our success. We should learn to separate ourselves from those people.  Let us learn the example of David and Jesus and keep our focus on what is really important in our lives. Instead of being led away by those frustrations, focus on the bigger picture.

Snow Storm

As a physical therapist travelling to other facilities, I usually encounter several challenges along the way, like road block, big trucks and heavy rains. And just recently, I had a new challenge, it snowed really bad. The snow was so bad I can’t even see the road I am going through. It was so bad, that even the lines along the interstate are cover by approximately an inch of snow. All I did was drive carefully and slowly. I thought I couldn’t make it home due to the heavy snow storm. But all of a sudden, here comes two big trucks pouring out salts on the road to make the highway safe, it made a way for me and the rest of the travelers. In the end, I am safe in the warmth of my house.

You know what my friend, life is like that, and we will encounter bad snows in life. We will encounter difficulties and challenges in life. Sometimes we will encounter heavy rains, road blocks and accidents. Something will happen that your plan will move you out of your course. But be encouraged that God is working behind the scene. He is pouring out salt on the road to make your path safe. He is preparing a way for you to make it straight and your road safe. We will encounter difficult times my friend, but it is not the end. It is only the start of your journey in life.

Complaining.

I’ve been working approximately 70 hours a week and as a physical therapist that travels to some facility, it will wear you out. And one of my co-worker asked me where do I get that energy, enthusiasm and desire to work. I told her, I don’t go to work because I have to. I go to work because I like to. I go to work because I get the chance to change and touch lives. And since we will probably spend more time and energy in our work than any other area of our life, I think it would be better to come at peace with this part of our lives.

Instead of complaining that I need to go to work today, I think about the people who don’t have a job. Instead of me complaining that I need to wake up early, I think about the people who can’t get out of their bed without help. Instead of me complaining how far my other facilities are, I think about the people who don’t have a car and walk instead. Instead of me complaining, when my family will be with me here in the US, I think about the people who can’t even talk to their family because they are gone. Instead of me complaining I have a lot of paperwork/computer work to finish at work, I think about the people who don’t even have a computer. Instead of me complaining about my daughter at the hospital and the bills, I think about that I am able to send money to pay bills and that she is safe and healed. Instead of me complaining about how hard to treat Alzheimer’s and Dementia patients, I think about the patient who don’t have therapist, nurse or doctor.

Here’s the thing my friend, it is all a matter of perspective. Yes, we all have limitations, we all have a ceiling, and our body can only work a certain number of hours. But if we keep a right perspective in our lives. I believe we can enjoy His blessings.

Today, let me encourage you my friend, God is a good God. He has good things in store for you. Don’t talk about your defeat, problems and mountains. Talk about how big your God is. Talk about how you can overcome that situation. Just keep believing, keep pressing forward, keep the faith. God created us not to be an average person, He created us all to be an above average person and you are made to excel. Here’s the thing, when you complain, you remain. But when you praise, you get raised.

Wealth gained by dishonesty will be diminished, but he who gathers by labor will increase. –Proverbs 13:11

The Story of Ruth

The story of Ruth in the Bible is very interesting. She had been through a lot of crisis; she lost her husband and has to live with her mother in law. Just imagine you living with your mother in law? Whoa!?!?!?  And she has to move away to a different city with her mother in law Naomi. Ruth decided to go with her and take care of her. And during those times, they had a hard time looking for food. And every morning, Ruth would go out to the field and look for left over wheat that had fallen behind the ground. Ruth and her mother in law Naomi will have to share that.

Then one day, the rich owner where Ruth picks up her left over wheat came into the field and saw Ruth. Boaz the owner asked his farmers who is that young girl? They said, “that is Ruth, she is a widow and is new here, she comes in here every day and pick left over wheat.” Boaz the owner of the field instructed his farmers to leave more wheat for Ruth.”

Look at Ruth’s situation, there she is, just minding her own business, doing what she think is best, being faithful to her mother in law, being at her best and focusing on their needs and all of a sudden, she was blessed by an unknown owner of the wheat field.

What am I saying here my friends? If we just mind our own business, do our best in what we are doing, taking care of our own needs, being the best that we can be for other people, I believe God can do that also in our lives like what He did for Ruth. I believe God has so much in store for us such as favor, promotion, blessings, healing, wisdom and provisions which are just there waiting to be picked up.