Category: Out of the Kitchen

My Parents Asked Me Out on a Date

Early this year, Dad and Mom expressed their desire to spend more time with us, kids. One of their action steps was to schedule a “Date Night” with each of us. Alright! Free food! Hahaha. I’m just kidding. But anyway, I recently told them how much I appreciate it because making time for family really is a blessing, especially since we only get to see each other early in the morning, late in the evening, and on weekends. Not much time is spent on getting to know each other and building each other up. But, thankfully, my parents initiated this family project and last Thursday night, they asked me out on a date. Woohoo!

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We had dinner at Lee Hak Korean restaurant, along Pioneer St., Mandaluyong city. The place was huge compared to the other restaurants nearby and the food was really good. Every time we eat at a Korean restaurant, I always enjoy a bowl of hot and spicy noodle soup and a lot of meat and vegetables for grilling. Yum!

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My parents and I spent the rest of the night talking about random things like how I was at home, at work, at church; any struggles I’ve dealt with and am currently dealing with; dreams I have been praying for; goals; my relationships; guy friends; and other family matters. It was a privilege for me to hear insights and encouraging words from my parents and at the same time, share with them what God has been teaching me lately. There were also times when I cried while I was sharing to them what was in my heart. But, I saw them listen attentively and it really blessed my heart and encouraged me to be more open to them.

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I praise God for the heartwarming date night that I had with my folks. They weren’t stingy with kind and sincere words and I saw how they truly wanted to honor God by spending time with and mentoring me (and my siblings on their date nights with them).

My dad and mom aren’t perfect, but I am humbled to see them walk closely with God and am truly blessed to witness them lead us closer to Jesus too.

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Proverbs 22:6 says “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.”

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Thank you, Dad and Mom! ‘Til our next date! :)

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They treated me with a Banana Mango Frapp from Starbucks too!

Encourage yourself one treat at a time. :)

Overtime at Work

I left the office around 10 pm today and saw an old man pushing his tricycle outside our showroom. I wanted to go home because I was tired and hungry, but instead of going straight to the car, I stopped and watched him move his tricycle down the road (in the midst of fast moving vehicles).

After a while, I noticed that he had a flat and wobbly tire, and in an instant, God spoke to my heart and prompted me to give a few hundred pesos to the driver. By that time, he was already 8-10 meters away from me. But, by God’s grace, I walked towards his direction, crossed the street, and met him in the middle of the road.

I gave him the money and said that I hope that it would somehow help him with his flat tire. At first, he gave me a puzzled look, but after a few seconds, he looked at me, smiled, got the money, and said “maraming salamat po.”

I smiled and walked back towards the car with my heart humbled and blessed as I told God “Lord, kayo na po bahala sa kanya”.

It was a humbling experience for me because, earlier that night, I was tempted to dwell on how tiring it was to do overtime at work. But, God allowed me to stay that late so I could encounter the random tricycle driver and extend God’s blessings to him.

Romans 8:28 says “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Thank You, Lord, for a heartwarming moment with You tonight. :)

 

“Blessed to Bless” Video by Christ’s Commission Fellowship.

 

Encourage yourself one treat at a time.

When Parents Encourage

While mom was doing her hair and make-up for a wedding this morning, I heard dad say this to her…

“Darl, yung ibang mga babae nagpapa-parlor, pero ikaw hindi. Ang galing, galing mo. You can survive by doing it on your own and you always look very, very nice.” :)

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I was in the other room when I heard what he said and it made me smile because I knew that dad wanted to sincerely appreciate mom by saying those words. Actually, they were running late for their 10 am wedding, but by God’s grace, instead of pressuring each other, I saw how dad and mom enjoyed their time together before they left the house.

“Raise your thoughts a little higher,
Use your words to inspire,
Joy will fall like rain,
When you speak life with the things you say.”

[TobyMac “Speak Life”]

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What they say is true: What we, children, see and hear from our parents affect us greatly. When we see them encourage each other and those around them, we get encouraged too because it inspires us to love others in spite of our weaknesses and differences. In the same way, I know that parents deeply appreciate it too when children choose to respect, honor, and love them through their words, obedience, and the time spent with them.

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But, what if we don’t always have encouraging parents? What if, sometimes, we ourselves don’t feel like encouraging them and others too? No worries! We just need to pray about it more, do our best to take one step at a time, and grow more in our walk with our only source of encouragement and joy — God. :)

By God’s grace, I pray that I can improve more in this aspect. Sometimes, I don’t intentionally appreciate the people around me. But because I am reminded of how much God loves me, I am motivated to love and encourage others too.

1 John 4:19 says: “We love because he first loved us.”

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Keep it up, dad and mom! :)

Encourage yourself one treat at a time.

Way Better than Pizza

A few minutes before I left the office today, I looked at my phone and saw the time. It was 5:55 pm. For some reason, every time I see 5:55 pm, I sing the song Greenwich used in one of their commercials. “5-55-55…” When I sang this line out loud a while ago, my officemate sang with me and said: “…Greenwich delivery!” It was so random. Haha. We ended up laughing with and at each other.

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I then told my officemate how much I missed the free goodies from Greenwich. To give you a short background, I, along with three other ladies, won a pizza-eating contest when Greenwich sponsored an event in our office last October 2012. We were competing against a group of guys who were as hungry and eager as we were. All we needed to do was to finish a whole pizza (8 thick and huge slices) within 5-7 minutes. When you think about it, it seems pretty easy. But, when you’re standing in front of the whole company and you’re trying to chew and swallow slices of pizza without drinking water in less than a few minutes, it’s really tough!

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But, by God’s grace, we won the contest and received two prizes each! Yay!

1)      Free Ultimate Green Card – Whenever we would order a box of Greenwich pizza before, we would use this card to get an additional box of pizza for free.

2)      One year supply of pizza! – Greenwich gave each of us one free pizza per month for a whole year.

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Out of the 12 free boxes of pizza, I was only able to avail five boxes within the promo period. Sadly, I guess it just wasn’t my priority. I would have enjoyed and shared more pizza to others if I had only set aside time to get it every month last year. However, what’s done is done and I know that God allowed it to happen so that I could learn from it.

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Through this experience, He has reminded me of the value of time and the importance of what we do with this limited resource. Last week, I blogged about being a good steward of God’s resources by doing my best to save and handle money wisely, and I know that the same principle applies to making good use of our time too.

Ptr. Peter Tan-Chi once said: “Life is about competing priorities. What you give time to shows what you think is important.”

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I have this habit at night. When I go to bed, I usually think about what happened during the day and I tell God about it. Most of the time, I tell him how interesting it is to know that there will never be another ‘today’ in the future. There will never be another January 27, 2014. And whenever we have this moment together, I am humbled and encouraged to prioritize and spend time with Him more.

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I may have missed out on enjoying more boxes of free pizza last year, but as long as there is today, I know that I still have the privilege of enjoying something way better than pizza – quality time spent with the Lord. :)

 

Matthew 6:33
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

 

Encourage yourself one treat at a time. :)

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About Me

My name is Nicole Obligacion and I started this blog because I was inspired by Hebrews 10:24 and Hebrews 3:13. I love to eat, cook, bake, read the Bible, and encourage. :)

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