Red

Red at Lingkod Alabang's MTV party.

Erik

Erik fishing in Batangas.

Dan

Dan at the Unity Games in Subic.

Kicks

Tulog si Kicks sa lake Danao.

Yel

Ariel during our outing in Ormoc.

Dom

Lapag Brothers

Latest picture of Lapag brothers at M'Blessed as we celebrate Kick's birthday! Red completes the original Lapag members.

We Recommend

As we are discussing the book of John Maxwell on the 17 Essential Qualities of a Teamplayer we higly recommend that you buy this book as it helps you build up your quality of leading a group and in being a good team member. This is available in Powerbooks and National Bookstore.

17 Qualities of a Teamplayer (from John Maxwell)

Notes:

Competent

The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.

Highly competent people have some things in common:

They are committed to excellence.
They never settle for average.
They pay attention to detail.
They perform with consistency.

Notes:
“Excellence is available to all living beings but is accepted by the few”
“Competent people focus their energy and efforts on what they do well, giving all they’ve got”



Enthusiastic

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.

People who are enthusiastic:

Take responsibility for their own enthusiasm.
Act their way into feeling.
Believe in what they do.
Spend time with other enthusiastic people.

One way to demonstrate enthusiasm with your teammates is to go the extra mile with others.

Notes:
“People can succeed at almost anything for which they have enthusiasm”
“Positive people are positive because they choose to be”
“Enthusiasm is contagious”


Prepared

It is better to prepare than to repair.

To be prepared, you need to think about the following:

Assessment
Alignment
Attitude
Action

Notes:
“You can’t just work hard, You have to do the right work”
“Courage has no greater ally than preparation, and fear has no greater enemy than this”
“The man who is prepared has his battle half fought”

- We highly recommend that you buy this book.

17 Qualities of a Teamplayer (from John Maxwell)

Qualities of a Teamplayer Notes
(from John Maxwell's book)

These are some of my notes in our discussion last action group with Erik disccussing to us the qualities of a team leader by John Maxwell.

Communicative

- Don't isolate or be inclusive
- settle problems or issues within 24 hours
- be quick- if there is an issue. fix it in a proper way
- follow up important communication in writing
- be candid. speak tactfully

Dependable

- pure motives
- check your motives: is it only for your personal good or for the good of others as well.
- responsibility
- do it. fulfill it.
- sound thinking
- good judgment for the team. do what is right
- consistent contribution
- rain or shine. stay as you are.
- discover what your word's worth
- find someone to hold you accountable

Enlarging

- value your team mates
- your respect makes them feel important.
- know their dreams and nourish it.
- find ways to help others improve their talents and attitudes
- make themselves more valuable.
- you need to be a person of value. You cannot give what you don't have.

- Yel

Dealing with Difficult People

Dealing with Difficult People

Last night, our speaker Bros Flores in Lingkod ng Panginoon- Alabang made a powerful talk tackling the challenge of how to deal with difficult people.

It is easy to love people who are nice to us but how about people who causes us pain. It is easy to feel happy when we see the people whom we love to see. But it is different whenever the person or individual who we irritates us.

Tips:

1. Know the person. Practice empathy. Know where she or he is coming from. From knowing comes understanding. We cannot simply expect everyone to behave the way we want them to act or behave. We cannot change them but we can change the way we resppond to them.

2. Love them. Do not just depend on your capacity to love but from the love that comes from God. Love because it is God who first loved us. How can we also say that we love God if don't know how to love the brothers and sisters whom we can see.

3. Be God's medium to them. We are not Napocor, but we are only Meralco's. The napocor is the source of energy while the Meralco is the transmitter or medium for that energy to light up our homes. Allow God to use you as a vehicle for his love to touch the person who you hate.

4. Be a stepping stone. If you think that you don't have the resources that you need to help the brother or the sister, then let others do the job. Allow them to have an opprotunity to grow in maturity as well. Let those who have the skills needed to do it do the job for you. in other words delegate. Delegate in a loving way

5. Pray. Often than not, we forget to pray. Prayers work!. Let God's grace change the heart of the person whom you are praying. Allow also God's grace to teach you how to forgive and give you the wisdom how to handle this situation.

6. What if you are the difficult person?Then pray to be changed by God. Pray for feedback and ask help from brothers or sisters. Pray for God's love to transform your heart and the humility to accept your being difficult. Then change.

Bros was a former branch leader of Lingkod Alabang. At present, he is a seminarian in the Society of Jesus.

-Yel

Experiencing God in Ormoc

Travelogue

Traveling to a far and new place had always been a source of joy and pleasant surprises to me. What more in the last NLTC where kind and warm smiles greeted us as soon as we stepped down from the plane. By the way I was with Jun V, the former BL of Greenhills who is now married with Mau of Lingkod Makati and Norman from Lingkod San Pablo. We immediately met Father Ramil who fetched us from the airport and drove us to the seminary where we rested a day before we went to Ormoc. The seminary had been our temporary home. It is also here where we first met the bishop, the seminarians and some residents of Tacloban who warmly welcomed us. Finally we went to Ormoc. The trip is itself an adventure as we traversed the zigzag road en route to Ormoc.

Warm smiles greeted us as familiar faces appeared from Ormoc and other Lingkod branches. I was relaxed and immediately felt at home. Soon, after delegates from other provinces started arriving. The service team was very willing to help. They seemed not at all affected nor pressured in assisting the delegates. Truly this is where I found service with a smile in action. There was a system in placed that allowed things to work as smoothly as it should. More than the logistics or the system in placed; I believe that it is their big heart that really made it possible for them to perform the way they did. Truly God is in their hearts and their actions made it even more evident.

The whole NLTC event had been a relaxing and transforming event. It also gave us more time to connect and relate with other brothers and sisters from other branches. I had a great time relating with my buzz group with Macky from Lingkod Mactan and Mike Dayrit of Lingkod Makati.

I also had a chance to have an inter buzz group with other branches. It is a transforming event because it allowed me to have an honest peek of who I am. The meditations, the teachings in the plenary (thanks Jake), the track, the retreat, the masses of the different priests especially of Father Ramil : ) hehehehe , the worship and even the outing, e-night as well as the closing events are hard to forget. Sayang tapos na ang NLTC.

The event had been an awesome experience not only for me and to all of us who were apart of this great event. I will miss the friends I made from different branches. I will definitely miss you guys. Until we meet again.

Yel

CLP 5th Session

Sombrero Island Weekend

To open the ber-months, some of the brothers of Lingkod Alabang went to Sombrero island last September 1. Dom and Erik of Lapag joined by Orlan, Ronnie, Cis and Myx.



pictures courtesy of Orlan.

Who was Pontius Pilate?

Pontius Pilate's family name, Pontius, indicates that he was of the tribe of Pontii. It was one of the most famous of the ancient Samnite names. The surname or cognomen Pilatus indicates the familia, or branch of the gens Pontius. The name is uncertain, though some think it may have meant "armed with the pilum" (a spear or javelin). One interesting note is about another man in Roman history bearing the name. Lucius Pontius Aquila was a friend of Cicero and one of the assassins of Julius Caesar on the Ides of March (44 BC) when the would-be king was murdered.

The Roman Procurator

Tiberius Caesar, who succeeded Augustus in AD 14, appointed Pontius Pilate as governor of Judea in 26 AD. Pilate arrived and made his official residence in Caesarea Maritima, the Roman capital of Judea. Pilate was the 5th procurator of Judea. The province of Judea, formerly the kingdom of Archelaus, was formed in 6 AD when Archelaus was exiled and his territory transformed into a Roman province. Although it included Samaria and Idumaea, the new province was known simply as Judea or Judaea. It generally covered the S. half of Palestine, including Samaria. Judea was an imperial province (i.e. under the direct control of the emperor), and was governed by a procurator.

Usually a procurator had to be of equestrian rank and experienced in military affairs.

The Trial of Jesus and Pontius Pilate

Pilate had traveled to Jerusalem in order to maintain order during the huge festival of Passover. This festival was always a problem time for the Romans, especially since Jewish resentment had always run especially high during national or religious holidays.

According to the Scriptures the Jewish authorities brought Jesus to Pontius Pilate and began prosecution by saying,

"Luke 23:1-2 Then the whole multitude of them arose and led Him to Pilate. And they began to accuse Him, saying, "We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, saying that He Himself is Christ, a King."

The main charges brought before Pilate about Jesus were political and not religious. Jesus was accused of being a political threat to Rome and to Caesar's authority.

Pilate spoke with Jesus (see John 18:33-19:12) and considered the charges being brought against Jesus.

1. He subverts the nation

2. He opposes payment of taxes

3. He claims to be a King

These were, of course, false accusations because Jesus refused the title of king in a political sense, and did not oppose paying taxes. He criticized the leaders on religious issues, not political.

Pilate's verdict on all three counts were "I find no case against Him." For whatever reason Pilate tried to avoid judging Jesus. He wanted to give the responsibility to the Jewish authorities, then he tried to detour the responsibility to Herod. He also tried to invoke the custom of releasing a prisoner in honor of the Jewish Passover and let the multitudes decide, but they chose a murderous criminal named Barabbas. Finally he had Jesus scourged in hope that the Jewish Sanhedrin would feel pity.

Titles and duties

Pontius Pilate's title was traditionally thought to have been procurator. Tacitus speaks of him as such. However, an inscription on a limestone block — apparently a dedication to Tiberius Caesar Augustus — that was discovered in 1961 in the ruins of an amphitheater called Caesarea Maritima refers to Pilate as "Prefect of Judea". Archaeologists believe it to be genuine and settles the argument about the historicity of Pontius Pilate.

Pilate in the canonical Gospel accounts

Christ before Pilate, Mihály Munkácsy, 1881

According to the canonical Christian Gospels, Pilate presided at the trial of Jesus and, despite stating that he personally found him not guilty of a crime meriting death, handed him over to crucifixion. Pilate is thus a pivotal character in the New Testament accounts of Jesus.

Responsibility for Jesus' death

In all New Testament accounts, Pilate hesitates to condemn Jesus until the crowd insists. Some have suggested that this may have been an effort by Early Christian polemicists to curry favor with Rome by placing the blame for Jesus' execution on the Jews. Yet Pilate's ability to be swayed by the crowd and his subsequent unjust decision to execute the innocent man hardly seem complimentary of Rome. So perhaps to save face, he "washed his hands", said that his death was not on his hands, and let the crowd decide.

Gospel of Peter

Main article: Gospel of Peter

The fragmentary apocryphal Gospel of Peter exonerates Pilate of responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus, placing it instead on Herod and the Jews, who unlike Pilate refuse to "wash their hands". After the soldiers see three men and a cross miraculously walking out of the tomb they report to Pilate who reiterates his innocence: "I am pure from the blood of the Son of God". He then commands the soldiers not to tell anyone what they have seen so that they would not "fall into the hands of the people of the Jews and be stoned".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontius_pilate#Acts_of_Pilate

http://www.bible-history.com/empires/pilate.html

Conclusions/Realizations

· Things happened as to what God has planned

Pilate was a man of honor, he was escalated to that position for he deserved it. He was sort of a RIGHTful man... It is because of that TRIAL in which we perceive him as a bad guy...

· You can’t really judge Pilate’s actions, he almost tried everything to spare Jesus’ life, because He was not guilty of a political crime

· There is no answer to the question that is -whether Pilate is in heaven or in hell, for it is not rightful for us to do so…

BY kiko, kicks, kobrakumander, francis

Island Weekend on September 1 to 2

Lingkod Alabang brothers goes out for an island weekend - September 1 -2.

CLP Third Session

CLP Second Session

Get Connected!

Ang Lingkod ng Panginoon - Alabang starts its Christian Life Program August 3 Friday. This is a series of talk on God and life. Join now and get connected...

Visit www.lingkodclp.blogspot.com now online.

Change versus Transformation

Change versus Transformation
(Grow Up!)

Have you ever observed how a caterpillar transforms into becoming a beautiful butterfly?

During my childhood days, a time came when our santol (tropical fruit) tree inside our backyard was infested with caterpillars. On my part, I tried killing some of it, thinking that they are just worms crawling and trying to eat and kill my favorite tree. But it was a completely futile effort. I stopped when I felt a certain feeling of pity whenever I kill and see green blood oozing from their bodies. That image crept into my mind and haunted me for I am guilty of taking their lives mercilessly. I noticed day after day, that the leaves of our tree slowly disappear until it is completely barren. Now there is nothing for them to eat. One day, I was surprised to see cocoons hanging on its branches. I tried to open one but there was nothing. I asked my mom about it and she told me to just leave them alone. I was curious as to what will happen to them and for the first time; I saw life slowly leaving the little cocoons. Beautiful butterflies filled our backyard and set a marvelous explosion of colors.

I thought at first that change is the same with transformation. The caterpillar changed into a butterfly, but it is a change of complete transformation. The old is no longer the same with the new. When we cut the grasses, it will still grow. You only changed its outward appearance but its roots are still the same. Changing our bad ways can also be the same with this because it can be only on the surface. The old ways can still appear. But when we change within, or a complete change of heart and mind, the old is replaced with the new, therefore a radical change sets in. The word radical came from the latin word “radic” which means roots. When one came to know Christ and applies His teaching into his or her life, a new person is revealed. It is the death of the old and the birth of the new. As the lyrics of the song goes, “yea my life is hidden in Christ, death no longer rules over me.” The real measure of change is not just on the surface level but a change within, a complete transformation of the heart and mind. When that happens, others will just notice it automatically and may inspire them to transform as well.

When the transformers transformed from cars into real life living robots with the ability to speak and think on their own, their old selves were no longer the same with the new. Likewise, when we transformed from toddlers to young children with the ability to understand and reason out, we are no longer the same as our old self. And as we grow older when we begin to think that we do not let circumstances to become masters of our life and instead allow God to help us control and do something with our situation, then we are no longer the same with the old. Change is difficult because it allows us to get hurt and even become disappointed. But it is also an opportunity for us to know a different person within. Being satisfied within our comfort zones have the tendency of limiting our progress. We can only discover our new self if we allow it to be tested and face new challenges. Transformation is an act of moving out of our cocoons; either self-imposed or imposed by others. But we cannot simply get out from that cocoon without knowing that he or she has to get out. The caterpillar knew itself very well. It knew that it has to undergo a certain procedure for it to become something new. Otherwise it would have just remained a caterpillar all the rest of its life. A toddler knew that at a certain point it has to get out of his crib, otherwise he may find himself uncomfortable by staying within the limited size of his crib. He needs to expand his universe and he can’t do it by just being satisfied staying within his comfort zone.

The first step of transformation is knowing oneself. Who are you?
It is an honest assessment of who we really are.
Sometimes we may not know ourselves to the point that we may think that we, ourselves personally are strangers. How can we change if we don’t know what to change or why we need to change? It is the act of questioning that will reveal the answer.

Finally, allowing God and the Holy Spirit to give us the courage and wisdom to know and enable us to act and implement this transformation.

Knowing God’s word is great and greatest when applied to reality.

Grow up! : )

God bless,

Yel
Alnp-alabang

Litte Lulu

Little Lulu


I am sharing to you a story about my favorite pamangkin (neice). It all started when she was a baby, the first time I saw her, my whole world started to change. She is the daughter of my cousin, Ate Ailene. She is my cousin on my mom’s side. I don’t know how or why but little lulu simply captured my heart, the first time I saw her. She was a few hours old then, when she reached out and gently held tight my hand. My stone cold heart started to crash that very moment. Being a frat man during my law student days, I was trained to become cold and somewhat violent. Ready to fight anyone, anytime, anywhere. I disciplined my nephews somewhat strictly. With my hands always ready to spunk their little hands at an instant when they did something wrong.
Little Lulu’s hands simply melted my heart and freed me from my inner shackles with her sincere love. God sent lulu or her complete name luisa which means light in Spanish to enlighten and straighten my path and my family as well. She will be turning 8 this August and I am just glad that I met her. By the way her dad left them when she was still in her mother’s womb. Their dad abandoned them. Lulu had been our sweet little baby since then. Until now, I still wonder why her real dad can afford not to even see her or enjoy spending time with her. I know and that God will support and protect her family. Her mom was able to send all the three of them to school and provide a decent house and meal for them. On my family’s part, we are doing our best to assist them in ways that we could.
Problems may come our way but God will strengthen us and help us conquer this challenge. The bible says “ I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Which also means, “you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.”

God bless,

Yel
Alnp-alabang

Dying to Live

Dying to Live


I went to mass at Greenbelt chapel in Makati last Monday and was inspired by the homily of the priest. He shared a story about dying to accomplish something before we can finally enjoy our life. Dying to finish studies and then dying to get married - dying to have a child - dying to enjoy our life when our child or children grow up - dying to retire from our present work and then finally dying….

The homily is simple but striking. When will you finally live? Is it when we are able to accomplish our goals or now, wherever we are, whatever our present status is. Choosing to live is a decision, yet we sometimes forget and finally become sorry when we get old and do not have the opportunity to accomplish the things that we want to because it has already passed by. This is so because we choose of dying for something and forget to live in the present. Let each day count and thank God for each new day.

Savor today as if it is one of the most special day of our lives.

Have a nice day.

God bless,

Yel
Alnp-alabang

Lapag Brothers on "Hobbies, Toys and Games"

Favorite cartoon series:
Ariel: Ritchie Rich
Dan: Super Friends, Flying House and Voltes V
Dom: X-Men, Ninja Turtles
Eric: X-Men
Kicks: Transformers, G.I. Joe
Red: Transformers, Voltron, Justice League Unlimited
Favorite cartoon character/s:
Ariel: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Dan: Spiderman
Dom: Spiderman, Spawn
Eric: Spawn
Kicks: Spiderman
Red: Justice League
Favorite toy/s:
Ariel: Mechanical tools
Dan: Game and Watch
Dom: Ninja Turtle and Lego
Eric: RC Tamiya
Kicks: G.I. Joe Cobra Commander aircraft
Red: Lego
Favorite childhood game:
Ariel: Patintero
Dan: Patintero
Dom: Syato
Eric: Taya taya
Kicks: Sipa
Red: Syato
Favorite "Family Computer" game/s:
Ariel: Pacman
Dan: Mario Brothers
Dom: Contra, Mario Brothers and Battle City
Eric: Iceberg
Kicks: Contra, Battle Toads
Red: Bomber Man and Battle City
Favorite childhood book:
Ariel: David and Goliath
Dan: Dog of Flanders
Dom: Three Investigators
Eric: Flying House
Kicks: Jack and The Beanstalk
Red: Choose your own Adventure, Animal Farm
Collection during childhood:
Ariel: coins and rocks
Dan: Game and Watch
Dom: Marvel and Image comics, stamps and NBA cards
Eric: NBA cards
Kicks: Marvel comics and NBA cards
Red: Key Chains and Wine Strirrers
Childhood hobbies:
Ariel: skateboarding
Dan: playing
Dom: drawing
Eric: cycling
Kicks: biking
Red: drawing

Lapag Brothers on "TRAVELLING"

Kami to. Para lang may idea kayo. how we look like. This is our usual AG meeting. Sayang wala si Red sa pic na to (our ka-lapag also). This was taken last week at M' Blessed, the restaurant owned by Red.

Get to know more the LAPAG members on
“Travelling”
> Where and when was your best summer trip?
Ariel: Singapore 2005
Dan: Ilocos Sur 2003
Dom: Cebu 2001
Eric: Pagsanjan and Morong 2007
Kicks: Davao 2001
Red: Vanuatu 1992
> Beach or swimming pool?
Ariel: Beach
Dan: Beach
Dom: Beach
Eric: Swimming pool
Kicks: Beach
Red: Beach
> Longest road trip?
Ariel: Baguio
Dan: Ilocos Norte and Cagayan Valley
Dom: Bicol
Eric: Baguio
Kicks: Bicol
Red: Bicol
> If a foreigner would ask you to tour him the Philippines, where will you bring him first?
Ariel: Amanpulo
Dan: Batanes
Dom: Amanpulo
Eric: Marinduque
Kicks: Anywhere with greens, beaches…
Red: Palawan but first to any Provincial Fiesta...
> What country in Asia would you like to visit?
Ariel: Thailand
Dan: Thailand
Dom: Maldives
Eric: Hong Kong
Kicks: Singapore
Red: China
> How about outside Asia?
Ariel: United States of America
Dan: Vatican City
Dom: French Polynesia
Eric: Australia
Kicks: United Sates of America (New York)
Red: Spain

Watch out for more Q&As with the LAPAGs.

Cash Flow 101

Ano nga ba ang cash flow? Sabi nila ang cash flow daw ay ang flow ng pera papasok o palabas ng bulsa mo. Oo nga, bakit pa natin kailangang gawing kumplekado ang dapat ay simpleng diskusyon lang. Cash flow, ganun lang pala yun, eh ano ngayon sa akin?Ganito na lang marami sa `ting pinoy ngayon ang nagtratrabaho. Marami ang nasa abroad at nagbibigay ng limpak limpak na dollars sa kabang yaman ng bansa. Pero kung tutuusin, gumaganda ba ang buhay nila? Gumaganda ba ang buhay natin? Oo nga, gumaganda sa ibang aspeto dahil sa pera na nabibili natin ang mga bagay-bagay na dati ay hanggang ilusyon lang. Pero bakit parang may kulang? Bakit masaya lang ba tayo tuwing kinsenas at katapusan o may padalang remittance si nanay o tatay galing Jeddah o Tate? Sa wakas may pang tuition na, sa wakas may baon na sa eskwela, sa wakas may pambili na rin ng bagong model ng cellphone. Pero kung minsan ang pera ay napupunta lang sa mga bagay-bagay na pwede namang saka na lang. Bakit mo pa ba kailangang bumili ng bagong model ng cellphone kung buo at functional pa naman ang luma? Bakit mo pa ba kailangan bumili ng bagong sapatos o damit kung okay pa naman ang mga luma mo? Bakit mo pa ba kailangan magpunta sa mga gimikan na sa isang gabi lang ay ubos na agad ang kalahati ng kinita mong sweldo?Tama sa madaling salita, parang mali yata ang pag prioritize ng paggastos. Oo, ako din naman kung minsan ganun din. Ang pera na pinambili ng assets, bumabalik at meron pang kita pero ang perang pinambili ng liability, di na. Parang cellphone na luma, unless ibenta mo di na magiging pera ulit at kung ibebenta mo sigurado sa mas murang presyo ng pagkakabili mo. Gets?Pero ang perang pinambili ng asset, babalik say o at may dagdag pa. Ang edukasyon ay asset kasi gagastos ka nga pero magdagdagan naman ang kaalaman mo na mgagamit mo sa ibang bagay. Parang business, mag gastos ka man sa capital, babalik naman sya sa yo na may tubo. Pero kailangan yung business na okay in terms of market o dami ng pagbebentahan at profitable o may malaking chance na kikita. Kasi bakit ka pa magbubusiness kung break even lang o walang kita, para ka lang nagtrabaho sa wala. Eh ganun pala, mahirap pala mag negosyo ay bakit pa? Sa totoo lang mahirap lalo na kung di mo alam kung anong ginagawa mo o ibinebenta mo? Pero kung may sipag, tyaga, talino at lakas ng loob ay bakit naman hindi. Sa negosyo marami kang matutunan, nandyan ng malugi kahit na ginawa mo ang home work mo. Kahit na graduate ka ng magaling na eskwelahan ay di iyon kasiguraduhan na successful ka agad sa business mo. Maraming matutunan at dapat pang matutunan. Kaya dapat ingat at wag mahiyang magtanong kung kailangan. Kasi kung minsan puro advantages o positibong bagay lang ang naitatanong natin at wala ng disdavantages at threats o mga negatibong pwedeng mangyari o makakaapekto sa papasukang negosyo.Isiping mabuti kung ano ang gusto mong gawin o ipagbenta at tingnan mo rin kung ano ang gusto ng market o posibleng mong pagbentahan ng serbisyo o produkto mo. Tingnang mabuti rin ang mga possible mong kakumpetensya. At higit sa lahat pasukin mo ang negosyo na malapit sa puso mo. Yung pwede mong gawin kahit wala kang sweldo. Ibig sabihin gusto mo talaga ang ginagawa mo.Eh ganun pala ay bakit pa ako magnenegosyo? Oo nga mahirap magnegosyo, pero kung tutuusin, dapat nating tanungin ang sarili natin kung ano ang kakaharapin natin 10 o 20 years mula ngayon. Dahil sigurado ka ba na dyan ka na sa pinagtratrabahuhan mo hanggang ganung katagal? What if suddenly, kailangan mo mag resign, what will you do?Ang gusto ko lang naman sabihin na you can already go into business even while you are working. What business? Diskarte mo na yun? Let your mind work. Kasi when you already realize na mas malaki ang kikitahin mo sa pagbubusiness ay bakit ka pa mag stay sa work mo ngayon? Think of doable things, mga pwede mong gawin ngayon at kahit maliit sa umpisa.At higit sa lahat prioritize your spendings. Isiping mabuti, isa, dalawa, tatlo o higit pang beses bakit ka kailangang bumili o gumastos sa isang bagay. Asset ba to o liability?Learn also to tap other good long term investments gaya ng insurance at plans. Pero dapat mag-ingat din. Kailangan mong alamin ang background ng insurance company. Alaming mabuti ang financial background o track record ng company.There are also other investment tools kagaya ng stocks, mutual funds at iba pang investment vehicle na mas malaki ang posibleng kitahin kaysa sa savings interest ng bangko. Pero dapat alamin mo munang mabuti ang lahat ng ito before you enter into these. Learn from the experiences of others. Sa lahat ng bagay, importanteng alamin mo munang mabuti kung ano ang gusto mong pasukan. Mahirap ng maloko at mawala ang perang mong pinagpaguran.Give and you shall receive. Learn also to give to the poor or the church or sa community mo. Learn to give with your heart. Kasi di lang naman tayo nabubuhay para sa sarili natin. Sabi nga sa kanta, "Walang sinuman ang nabubuhay para sa sarili lamang …"God bless,Yel

The Staircase

I recall when I was still a kid, my favorite place in the house, aside from the living room where the television set was in place, was the staircase. Strange isn't it? For me the staircase in our house way back in my childhood days was my playground. It is a place where my childhood fantasies were created. It is also where I learned to slide myself down on the staircase panel with joy and excitement that makes me happy. The staircase, especially sliding down myself on it taught me to be adventurous. The staircase is a place where I play my toys and if I'm not playing, I always see myself sitting on one of the steps with my two hands holding the steel bars as I watched my mom cooks food for us or when visitors come to our house way back then.
Sadly though, we live now in a bongalow house in San Pedro,Laguna but everytime I visit our old home in Ilocos Sur or have a chance to visit a friend who lives in an up and down house, I always find myself comfortable sitting on one of the steps of the staircase.
Here in Letran Calamba where our office is on the second floor, everytime I need to rest I just simply sit on one of the steps of our staircase seeing below our student volunteers in the Campus Ministry mingle, singing religious songs, studying their lessons or reviweing their immenent quizzes to be given by their so called "terror professors".
One student noticed this strange posture of mine and he asked, "Sir, why are you sitting on the stairs?" I replied with humor, "I feel like a child again everytime I sit on the stairs."
In our frenzied hurly-burly of our life as single professionals, its nice to stop and sit on a stair once in a while and to be a child at heart. Its is our connection to the One who is above us. Then you will see the difference.

- Dan

"Then he had a dream: a stairway rested on the ground, with its top reaching to the heavens; and God's messangers were going up and down on it. And there was the Lord standing beside him..." (Gen 28:12-13)

Breaking Things

During our last Action Group, we did a small activity about the gift of prophesy. We discussed about its meaning, means to acquire it and strengthening it if we already have it.

Doms, Eric and I created a personal evaluation and shared it with each other.We have agreed that the gift of prophecy is a fruit of our prayer time and scriptural readings. But sometimes if not most of the time we fall into not doing it.

Doms suggested that we create a schedule like TTHS (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday) or MWF (Mondays, Wednesday and Friday) instead of having to do it on a daily basis if we really experience difficulty doing it.

He also told us, that it is important still to pray everyday because it is as if telling God to take the back seat and us to take over the driver seat for that particular day.From habit comes our attitude and from our attitude comes our character.

Habits such as these create our attitude and from our attitude we build our character.On the contrary, small negative habits also have an effect to our character for from these small flaws emanates the bigger problems in life that we may find our self difficult to get away from.From this activity I realized that I am still trap within my attitude of all or nothing thinking. Whether I will accomplish everything or I will not do it at all. It is a question of choice after all.

Choosing to do what is not good even if I know of the danger of falling into a bigger problem just because I was not able to completely accomplish it. Or choosing to do it still and be kind to forgive and forget those moments when I fail to accomplish it.A giant leap in life is a by product of small preparations - small leaps to the unknown which builds our courage to face the giant leap ahead of us.

Breaking things down and being able to live my talk is all that matters now. It is doing not because I am forced but a product of love to what I am doing. This brings forth commitment which comes naturally from my free will.

- Yel

15 Minutes

How many hours will you invest in order to be a productive individual? Guess what!!! …..15 minutes. Yes 15 minutes. A 15-minute investment of your time to keep your things in order is a small investment that can reap big rewards. That's it, just by investing a small portion of your time each day can make you a systematic person, well-organized and in control of your life.

Looking for something is a waste of time. If we can allot just 15 minutes to put things into its right place can help us prevent from being stressed looking for things. Maybe it is about time to remove some of unnecessary files, papers and so on.

An organized way of storing our things before, during and after we end our day can be a wise way of saving our precious time for more productive activities.

You can also use a 15-minute break to jog, bike, do some sit-ups. It doesn't have to be done in a meticulous strict time format. Small chunks of good things is better than doing nothing at all.

For 15 minutes you can also meditate and pray. Read a bible passage and reflect. It can be the gospel reading of the day and the commentary of the priest or the author.

Just for 15 minutes you can call a friend or loved one and say a simple hi or hello. You can also use your 15 minutes to spend some quality time with your nephew or niece.

Also for just 15 minutes you can create a plan for the week, the day and as the day ends evaluate if you achieved your goals.

Yes there are indeed many things that you can do positively with your 15 minutes. You can read a good book (a chapter will do), write a poem, take a nap and other great things.

Yes even writing this sharing took me 15-minutes to finish….and some more minutes for editing.

- Yel

lapag profile

Ariel - stock broker and business man. He believes that few were born pogi but many were simply born.

Dan - theologian by heart and a traveller by feet. Also known as miracle boy and popularized his personalized pasta called "Pasta ala Dan".

Dom - a certified boockroach (not a bookworm). Comic enthusiast, activist in nature. Enjoys trekking and snorkling.

Eric - the groups tech siren. Software development is his arena and dentist assistant is his sideline. Nihongo is his second language.

Kicks - culinary arts master in the making but his middle name is sports. Also known as kobra kumander.

Red - a living jukebox and guitar in one. He is a cake guru and manages his own bake shop. Art is also his specialty.

hugaspaa

hugaspaa.blogspot.com is the official blogsite of Lingkod Alabang's Lapag brothers action group. members profile, activities and articles will be posted in this blogsite. watch out for techshare, announcements, open activities and other informations from the lapag.