SpinSut The Great!!!: November 2007

Friday, November 30, 2007

Where is Teresa Lau....??

Teresa's Farewell Gathering at my House

With all the Friends at St. Anthony Church

Last Kiss for Mayr..

Teresa & Monica during student Seminar

Teresa making a Farewell Speech

the Happy Teresa..

Teresa as usual very kind in giving present..

Bye-bye friend and till we meet again...

Last Wednesday in fact is the last day for Teresa working in Bintulu. She will be transfered back to her home town in Sibu. Getting to know Teresa is a true gift from God which she always enlighted our FIAT group in many ways. Through her laughter, Joke and even flat tuned voice during our choir practise. Now that she is no more here in Bintulu with us, we pray that she will always success in what ever task undertaken and especially with grow more in faith for our Lord JESUS....

Bye-bye Teresa, for sure we will miss you....

Elders Faces

Giving Your Child the Excellence Edge

We can give our children an edge in life by teaching them ten basic skills or strategies.
These strategies will help them grow into productive adults who live fulfilling lives and form lasting relationships.

The best place for children to learn these principles is at home, where we adults are practicing them to enhance our own lives.

Here are the ten strategies that can help prepare our children for their future.

1. Produce Quality Work.
Quality means doing more than was expected—above and beyond the call of duty.
2. Work Independently.
Learning to work independently doesn't happen at school.
3. Think Creatively.
Creative thinkers know how to consider possible effects and outcomes.
4. Think Critically.
Teach a child how to tell the difference between the truth and a lie and he will be more successful in life.
5. Manage Information Efficiently.
Obtaining useful information is an important skill. Organizing information is equally vital.
6. Work Cooperatively.
In a family, we must work with the needs of others in mind.
7. Communicate Effectively.
Everyone suffers when the communication is faulty.
8. Lead with Confidence.
Anyone with more than one child knows that some are natural leaders and some are decided followers.
9. Manage Time.
How children learn to spend their time now influences how they spend their time in school and later as adults.
10.Assess Yourself.
What children believe is true about themselves is largely determined by what others think of them.

Most parents already possess and use many of these strategies, but there is always room for improvement. The best way to teach these values to your children is to model them.

Begin by targeting one or two areas of concern at a time and have fun watching your child grow.

Produce Quality Work
It’s never too soon to teach your children to produce quality work. In a nutshell, quality means doing more than is expected—going above and beyond the call of duty.

If our children are going to grow into adults who produce quality work, we help them by cultivating that ability now while they’re in school, the ideal training ground for practicing quality work.

Before leading your child in the quest for quality, it’s important to consider whether you produce quality work. Do you pursue quality in your work, at home, and in your relationships with others?

A quality worker …

: is aware of his strengths and weaknesses.
: is aware of something in his life that could use improvement and takes steps to make it happen.
: accepts constructive criticism without getting defensive.
: is confident enough about his job performance to sign his name to it.
: can be trusted to keep his promises.
: is aware of when others produce quality and lets them know he has noticed.

Considering the quality we pursue develops a new self-awareness. Then we can encourage this awareness in our children. That lays their foundation for personal improvement in the future

Spend Time in Prayer

Tell God all your hopes and fears for the coming year. Ask for insight into, and direction for, each child you plan on teaching. He knows your child intimately and knows the plans He has for him or her.

Ask God to supply all that you need in order to home educate: books, patience, creativity, lab equipment, and wisdom. God will work on you to be the parent and teacher He wants you to be.

Beware of succumbing to adult peer pressure. You do not have to do what other families are doing. Your family is unique, so your style and methods of home schooling will also be unique! Do not let your knees buckle when you hear about another family studying Latin and you are having difficulty with the multiplication tables. If Latin is not working for you and you feel God telling you to focus on multiplication tables, then listen to and follow God.

And don't forget to thank Him for going before you every step of the way!

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Prayer to St. Micheal the Archangel

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle; be our defence against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God thrust into Hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world for the ruin of souls. Amen.

Sancte Michael Archangele, defende nos in proelio, contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium. Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur: tuque, Princeps militiae coelestis, Satanam aliosque spiritus malignos, qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo,divina virtute, in infernum detrude. Amen.

Mother Theresa's Advice to Young People; Mother Theresa (1910-1997)

You are the future of family life.

You are the future of the joy of loving.

You are the future of making your life something beautiful for God...a pure love.

That you love a girlor that you love a boyis beautiful,but don't spoil it,don't destroy it.

Keep it pure.

Keep your heart virgin.

Keep your love virgin,so that on the day of your marriage you can give something beautiful to each other... the joy of a pure love

What is Divine Mercy?

The Divine Mercy Message and Devotion

The message of The Divine Mercy is simple. It is that God loves us — all of us. And, he wants us to recognize that His mercy is greater than our sins, so that we will call upon Him with trust, receive His mercy, and let it flow through us to others. Thus, all will come to share His joy.
The Divine Mercy message is one we can call to mind simply by remembering ABC:

A - Ask for His Mercy. God wants us to approach Him in prayer constantly, repenting of our sins and asking Him to pour His mercy out upon us and upon the whole world.

B - Be merciful. God wants us to receive His mercy and let it flow through us to others. He wants us to extend love and forgiveness to others just as He does to us.

C - Completely trust in Jesus. God wants us to know that the graces of His mercy are dependent upon our trust. The more we trust in Jesus, the more we will receive.

This message and devotion to Jesus as The Divine Mercy is based on the writings of Saint Faustina Kowalska, an uneducated Polish nun who, in obedience to her spiritual director, wrote a diary of about 600 pages recording the revelations she received about God's mercy. Even before her death in 1938, the devotion to The Divine Mercy had begun to spread.

The message and devotional practices proposed in the Diary of Saint Faustina and set forth in this web site and other publications of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception are completely in accordance with the teachings of Church and are firmly rooted in the Gospel message of our Merciful Savior. Properly understood and implemented, they will help us grow as genuine followers of Christ.

Spend time to learn more about the mercy of God, learn to trust in Jesus, and live your life as merciful to others, as Christ is merciful to you.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

‘Let’s tell the truth about contraceptives’- Dr. Ligaya Acosta

AS a Catholic, she believes it is her moral obligation to tell the truth. That, explains Dr. Ligaya Acosta, is why she bolted from the Department of Health (DOH) where she worked for almost 29 years. Acosta, 45, decided to leave the job she loved for more than half her life after realizing that her work has been deviating from her moral principles. She worked for the Department of Health in Region 8 in 1976, where she started as the regional information officer. Acosta, who holds a doctorate in management, was designated program manager of the Natural Family Planning program last year. But with the inception of the Ligtas Buntis campaign of the DOH late January this year, she decided to resign in late February and started an advocacy against the program. A mother of four, Acosta now travels around the country to expose what she views as the negative aspects of the project, amid threats to her and her family.

What was your initial rection when you first heard about the Ligtas Buntis campaign of the DOH?
I was stunned. I was very quiet since that morning of our orientation on the program. My heart was really pounding, as if it was going to burst, because I already saw the deception in the program.

What deception?
The program includes distribution of contraceptives to people, and the DOH is not exactly telling the truth about contraceptives: that contraceptives have side effects on women. These cause hypertension or high blood pressure. Plus, some of these contraceptives are actually abortifacients (abortive agents), like IUD (intra-uterine devices) and Depo-Provera (birth control shots).

You have been working for DOH for 29 years, but why did you decide to come out and speak against it only this year?
Because DOH never told us about the side effects of contraceptives. I used to think that contraceptives were really for family welfare. But it was only last year, when I joined a seminar organized by the Family of the Americas Foundation, that I saw the real effects of contraceptives. They had research materials and videos documenting the ill effects of contraceptives. A video titled “Natural vs. Artificial” changed my paradigm. Using an electron microscope, the video showed a comparison of a uterus that had been exposed to contraceptives and one that wasn’t. The one exposed to contraceptives like Depo-Provera was really dry and barren while the other one looks so beautiful and healthy. From then on, when I conducted seminars for DOH, I included in my talk what I learned from the Americas Foundation.

And this didn’t sit well with the DOH?
Yes. After being exposed to the side effects of contraceptives, I conducted my own research on the matter. While digging and learning more about contraceptives, I became very unhappy with my job at DOH. In the same manner, DOH was also becoming unhappy with the way I conducted my seminars. The “contraceptives people” hated me a lot because they said na nakakasira ako sa contraceptives.

So that was when you decided to resign from DOH?
Actually, I was willing to compromise. I told them I will continue to work for them just as long as we include in our materials the side effects of contraceptives. We couldn’t agree on that. And then they introduced the Ligtas Buntis program, and that was the last straw for me.

What was their reaction?
They hated me a lot, especially now that I am exposing their deception. Also, it’s only Region 8 that was very noisy. There was no one else from the other regions that was going against Ligtas Buntis. And now, they want to destroy my person, my credibility. They say I’m a liar and mentally ill. Just recently, they came out with an open letter attacking me, and they sent it to all government agencies. Every now and then I also receive death threats.

How did your family take this?
They are supporting me fully. In the beginning, they were affected by the attacks of the DOH, but they support me all the way. We are closer now than we’ve ever been before. What do you suggest to those health workers who also want to oppose the program? There are already a number of health workers who want to come with me in opposing Ligtas Buntis. I told them not to worry since I talked to some lawyers in Manila who assured us of their support. You can never be imprisoned for following your conscience.

How do you view the church’s pronouncement that health workers advocating Ligtas Buntis should refrain from taking communion? I agree. Because supporting Ligtas Buntis makes them anti-life and is an indirect way of promoting abortion, and that is a mortal sin.

Any message to your detractors?
I’ll just pray for them.

Contraception: The root cause of the Anti-Life culture

"Contraceptive ethic is predictably a suicide pact. Any group that refuses to reproduce itself will disappear."

NO CONTRACEPTION. Some couples choose not to use any contraception. This is because some families see the obviously better, proven, long term, multi-generational benefits of using NO CONTRACEPTION. This is not necessarily because they want to get pregnant, but for a variety of reasons including personal convictions, religious beliefs, or even medical considerations. Couples who thoughtfully choose not to contracept are open to the possibility of children. This does not mean that they will have dozens of children; many non-contracepting women end up with only two or three children by the time they reach menopause, though some may have more and some may have none. A woman's choice not to use birth control should be respected. Usually she has given the matter much consideration and is trusting that she and her husband will be able to provide for however many children are given to them.

Natural Family Planning (NFP). Fertility awareness, or natural family planning, has been used successfully since the 1930's to predict a woman's fertile days. These methods are based on the fact that fertilization is most likely to occur around the time of ovulation. Intercourse is avoided during those times when a woman is fertile, thus preventing conception. Fertility awareness methods are the only methods of birth control which require the cooperation of both partners. Advantages of NFP methods are that they are very inexpensive, do not require the use of artificial devices or drugs, and have no harmful side-effects. In addition, many people prefer a natural, mutual method of preventing pregnancy. Even if fertility awareness isn't used as contraception, every couple can benefit from understanding the workings of the woman's body.

Users of NFP tend to be very loyal, continuing to practice NFP longer than users of any other non-surgical, non-prescription method, which indicates high satisfaction among couples.

Human Growth and Development

Journey of Life

Life begins at conception and ends at death. In between, life does not develop - it is simply there. "What does develop," says Sir William Liley, the New Zealand scientist who is internationally recognized as the "father" of the science of fetology, "is the morphological structure, the earthly home of life, the physiological performance of that structure, behavioral traits and personality." These are some of the milestones of the first nine months of life: Conception: Father's sperm penetrates mother's egg cell. Within the hour, genetic instructions from both parents interact to establish the design and inheritance of a new and unique individual - at this stage no bigger than a grain of sugar.

Thirty Hours :A few hours after the nuclei has fused, the fertilized ovum divides for the first time, with a powerful force.

Two Days :The division continue; four visible cells and perharps eight all together are on their way through the Fallopian Tube's thicket of cilia to uterus.

Four Days :Surrounded by its transparent wall, the zona pellucida , the blastocyst now glides in the uterus.

Eight Days :The blastocyst has landed! Like a raspberry on a cake, it sinks slightly into its foundation.

Three Weeks :The human embryo is barely 2 mm. (.08 inch) long. The genes have begun to concentrate development in the three germ (cell) layers from which all the body's organs are to merge.

Four Weeks :The basic human design is beginning to merge. The embryo shows the clear rudiments of brain and backbone.

Five Weeks :The embryo is five weeks old and appears like a bright dot in its membrane sac. The yolk sac, visible in the foreground , is the embryo's blood cell factory.

Six Weeks :The cells are seething with life, the heart is beating, blood is being pumped through the umbilical cord and the whole embryo is in constant motion.

Eight Weeks :Weightless, the embryo lies suspended in the amniotic fluid. This fluid with the salinity of the primeval sea protect the embryo's delicate organs and tissues against impacts and pressures

Four Months :Now the facial features are being modeled : the forehead is growing with the thread like blood vessel fully visible under the transparent skin.

Four and a Half Months :The body system are being tested. It moves and waves its arms. A finger touching its lips precipitates a slight sucking reflex.

Five Months :The fetus stretches, grasps and turns. All these movements are necessary for the development of fine motor ability.

7 months:Permanent eye teeth are present. Eyelids open and close, and eyes look around. Hands grip strongly. Mother's voice can be heard and recognized. The baby begins to accumulate some fat.

Thirty Five Weeks :Weight increases by 1kg (just over 2 lb) and the baby's quarters begin to get cramped

9 months:Labour begins (triggered by the child) and birth occurs, usually 255-275 days after conception. Of the 45 generations of cell divisions between conception and adulthood, 41 have taken place. The remaining four will occur during the rest of childhood and adolescence. The milestones listed above have been documented by scientific research. Slight variations of hours or days, may exist and future research using more sensitive methods may show that some of these milestones occur earlier than is now realized.

Parents: The Most Important Educators on Sexuality

The task of forming healthy sexual attitudes and understanding in children is one of the most important role of parents. In providing an education on love and sexuality to their children, parents must begin by refuting the propaganda that outside "experts" can do the job better than they can.

It is imperative for parents today to investigate what is being taught in the name of sex education. Parents have a right to examine curricular materials and textbooks. They can and must talk to the teachers and principals about what they hope to communicate. And to look carefully for a hidden agenda such as pro-homosexual and lesbian behavior, the safe sex distortion, the belief that premarital sex is a freedom of choice, and any suggestions that pits teenagers against their parents.

In a recently held conference on family life, parent-speakers stressed on the following points on why the home is the best place to convey sex information to children.

Parents know their children better than anyone else, they know their maturity level as well as what language they understand. Also, parents are more likely to inject the moral aspects of sexuality that are so important to the development of a wholesome view of sex. This does not been that information about sex should not be taught at church and at school. But sex education at church an d school should be complementary to what the child receives at home, not given in place of it.

School sex education classes ignore individual differences among children and break down the natural modesty of boys and girls. When children are taught academics, such as Math and Reading, they are given materials suitable to their level of readiness for these subjects. Yet, when it comes to the extremely sensitive area of sexuality, all children in the same grade level are given the same material, even if some are not yet physically or psychologically ready for the material. This is insensitive and harmful. Forcing boys and girls to listen to, view and openly discuss the sexual functioning of the opposite sex's anatomy while in their presence is embarrassing and contributes to the breakdown of the modesty that is natural and appropriate in human beings.

What is taught and how it is taught -- in sex education classes are not immediately known in detail by parents. This means that there is absolutely no way parents can control, or even find out what their children are being taught about sex unless they sit in the classroom or when their teenage child asks them to buy condom or IUD to be brought to class as part of their homework.

School sex education has never been shown to reduce the growing problem of teen pregnancy or abortion. In fact, in the United States, data shows the opposite: as federal funding for sex education programs increases, so do the rates of teen pregnancies and abortions. This proves that the contraceptive mentality encourages the youth to become promiscuous.

Children do not need Sex Education, they need Chastity Education. Kids need to learn how to say no and why saying no is in their best interest -- physically, emotionally and spiritually. Sexuality involves more than birth control pills. The school sends the wrong message to students when their sex education courses are mere "how to do it and how not to get caught" lessons. If schools spend more time on chastity education, the number of chaste teens would rise dramatically.

There is no such thing as" value-free" sex ed. When anything more than the biology is taught, someone's values are going to be presented. Telling students to "make up your own mind" tells them there are no standards to go by. Telling students it's "best to say 'no,' but if you're going to be sexually active, be protected" send them the message that the teacher doesn't really expect them to control themselves. Presenting birth control without saying it's wrong for them to use it tells the students the teacher doesn't think it's wrong.

The best lesson in sex parents can provide their children is the love and respect they show for each other. Parents convey attitudes and values about life and sexuality as they interact with their children each day. They are always available to their children for support, questions and direction and have much wisdom to share that comes from the faithful living out of their commitment as husband and wife and as parents.