She Day '10

“She Day ‘10”

Sun.Star Davao, June 19, 2010

There was estrogen overload one hot summer day when Davao City’s first ever “She Day ‘10” affair gathered over 600 women at the Apo View Hotel.

“She Day” is a laudable project of OMF Literature, Inc. which started in Cebu five years ago. Its noble mission is to “inspire, empower and nurture women to be the person God wants them to be”.

“This event was done primarily to bless and say thank you to the women of Davao who are our most loyal customers”, revealed Aileen May Ocariza, OMFLit’s operations supervisor for Mindanao. Aileen organized the well-attended activity together with “She Day’s” dynamic core women composed of different women leaders from 12 mega churches in Davao as well as the core women from Cebu.

The theme verse of “She Day ‘10” was taken from the book of Romans 12:2, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will".

"She Day ‘10” was envisioned to bring a different kind of change in the hearts of women. This year’s talk aimed to transform women by “giving insights on how to set new priorities; helping them cultivate good habits and conquer bad ones; furthering God’s plan for them”; and many more.

Talented singer and actress Timmy Cruz was the affair’s engaging host. She also serenaded the participants with catchy original compositions from her newly-launched album during the occasion.

The successful event featured two outstanding and most sought after resource speakers, award-wining children’s book author Grace Dacanay-Chong and seasoned marriage counselor and motivational speaker Vic Garcia.

In her talk, the Don Carlos Palanca Awardee Chong shared that “writing a book is like living one page at a time”. She viewed writing as her ministry in which God is an essential part. “My career and Christianity are one”, she added.

She reminded Christian women to be faithful. “Have faith today; when you wake up tomorrow, have faith again. Refresh it every single day”.

For his part, speaker Vic Garcia focused on the importance of making one’s marriage work.

He cited that one of the reasons why couples are having marital problems is that “they enter marriage without proper preparation and understanding of the purpose of marriage”. Thus, their needs as husband and wife are not met.

Garcia quoted Ephesians 5: 22-23, “The greatest need of a husband is respect and the greatest need of a wife is love”, and thoroughly discussed with much energy and humor how couples can meet their respective needs.

After the enlightening talk and exciting raffle, participants trooped to OMFLit’s book sale held at the hotel where among the bestsellers were Chong’s heartwarming children’s books.

"She Day ‘10” was made possible through the support of Pearl Farm Beach Resort, Cherifer Premium, Microdata, Sofamore, Premium AC Corp., Microtel Inns and Suites, Light Talk and Kangaroo Coffee Company.

E-mail mom.about.town.dvo@gmail.com. Visit www.momabouttowndavao.blogspot.com.

Dare to love in 40 days

"Dare to love in 40 days"

Sun.Star Davao, Feb. 13, 2010

“Has it really been ten years?”

When I was still single, I used to get so ‘kilig’ every time I watch this De Beers Diamond TV ad where the wife uttered this memorable line to her hubby who surprised her with a stunning ‘girl’s best friend’ during their tenth year wedding anniversary.

I, myself, couldn’t believe that this April, my husband Gary and I will be celebrating a similar milestone.

“Has it really been ten years?”....As a couple, we are still both growing and open to making our marriage work even better. We are involved in Couples for Christ and occasionally join marriage enrichment retreats.

Last Sunday, upon the invitation of my good friend Lafayette Lim, Gary and I attended the special movie screening of “Fireproof” at NCCC Cinema. The fundraising event was for the benefit of the Family Ministry of the Chinese-Filipino Apostolate in Davao.

“Fireproof” is an American Christian drama film which became the highest grossing independent film of 2008, with movie ticket sales of over $33,000,000. It is a story of Capt. Caleb Holt (Kirk Cameron) and Catherine Holt (Erin Bethea) who have been married for seven years.

Overworked and burdened by the demands of their respective jobs, Caleb, a firefighter, and Catherine, a public relations director of a hospital, constantly fought. These fights were on many issues such as their jobs, money matters, sharing of housework, etc.

Their continuous bickering and lack of respect for each other so much affected their marriage that Catherine decided to file for divorce and leave Caleb.

When Caleb’s parents learned about this, Caleb’s dad had a serious and engaging talk with his son. He challenged Caleb to a 40-day experiment called “The Love Dare”.

Unaware of this experiment, Catherine began to notice the changes in Caleb and was surprised when Caleb began to treat her differently. He would suddenly surprise her with flowers, call at work to check on her, help around the house, and prepare a romantic candlelight dinner.

But, unfortunately, these all went to waste when Catherine doubted his real intentions and pushed through with the divorce. She suspected that he was just trying to save himself from an ugly and costly divorce.

Despite this uphill journey to save his marriage, Caleb still persisted and as a result, allowed Christ to get into his life and, most importantly, into his relationship with his wife.

With this renewed faith, Caleb went on further through the challenge and pushed himself to even exceed 40 days. Despite insurmountable odds and a crumbling marriage, Caleb’s faith in Christ shone through. Catherine eventually realized that he was truly sincere to become a better husband and person.

For Caleb, he lives by his firefighter’s motto to “Never leave your partner behind”.

One of my favorite lines from the movie was when Caleb and Michael, his fellow firefighter, compared marriage to fighting fire. Caleb said that “Marriages aren’t fireproof. Sometimes you get burned”. But, Michael corrected him and explained that “Fireproof doesn’t mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it”.

So inspired was I from watching the movie that I bought “The Love Dare” book which was being offered at the cinema entrance.

“The Love Dare” is a #1 New York Times bestseller with over 3 million copies sold worldwide. It contains an inspiring 40-day challenge for husbands and wives to understand and practice unconditional love. The book “personally leads you through daily devotionals, records your thoughts and experiences, and ends each day daring you to perform a simple act of love for your spouse”.

Here’s an excerpt from Day 10: Love is Unconditional. “Today’s Dare: Do something out of the ordinary today for your spouse—something that proves (to you and to them) that your love is based on your choice and nothing else. Wash her car. Clean the kitchen. Buy his favorite dessert. Fold the laundry. Demonstrate love to them for the sheer joy of being their partner in marriage”.

Whether you’re celebrating your 1^st or 60^th wedding anniversary, let’s strive to make our marriages “fireproof”.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

E-mail mom.about.town.dvo@gmail.com. Visit www.momabouttowndavao.blogspot.com.