18-month baby joining a preschool?!

our new gastro advised us to enroll our little girl to a preschool just to expose her to other kids. she said that it is typical for preschools to set aside time for meryenda and that they will eat their snacks together… bea will then be exposed to kids happily eating… and maybe, just maybe, she may get over her food aversion issues. the question is, where do i find a preschool that accepts 18 month old students who are there only for recess? hmmm? and how much are we supposed to pay for this? (where we are going to get the money is another issue!)

just thinkin’ out loud =)

joy vs. happiness

We have been taught in the past that joy can be used as a synonym of happiness. No argument here. But as I attended modules for my charismatic community, we were told that joy and happiness are two entirely different words having a world of difference. Sure, anyone can be happy. Seeing your crush on the way to school can make you happy. Having the latest cell phone can make you happy. Driving the fastest car can make you happy. But what happens when you see your crush courting someone else? What if your cell phone is stolen? What if you just parked your brand new car and suddenly a big hollow block from the roof of a 22-floor building falls right on your hood? Would you still be happy then? Hmmm… makes you think…

What makes an old beggar give alms to the church and walk away smiling? What makes a man, who has lost his wife to cancer and his kids to drugs still go to church every Sunday, thanking God for his blessings? What makes a wife, beaten and cheated on for years, still accept her husband every night, feed him, take care of his needs, and still pray for him before she goes to sleep?  What makes a person, who has failed every endeavor in his life, still get up each morning, glorifying and thanking the good Lord for the opportunities he is sure God will send his way today? Simply joy.  Joy of being in God’s embrace. Joy in knowing that God will never let anything he can’t handle happen to him. Joy in knowing that everything happens according to His divine plan. Joy in living in trust and abandon in God’s Words.

Happiness, depends on something, and when that something is taken away, bye bye happiness. Joy is deeply rooted. Joy is a feeling of gratitude and assuredness, even when faced with adversity. Joy is feeling the calm of Jesus’ love in the middle of the everyday storms we experience. Joy is being happy, even when the world says that we have nothing left to be happy about. 

That makes the world of difference.

Lord, grant that I may find joy in my heart everyday as I wake, so that I may serve You and Your people with a smile in my face and a spring in my step.

Thank You father!