Forgive and Forget

    Forgive and forget, that's what they always say. But based on my experience, we can forgive but we cannot truly "forget" what happened and I often wondered why this is so.

     As I read Genesis 31 today, the answer dawned on me. The Lord commanded Jacob to leave Haran and head back to Canaan.  Jacob secretly left his father-in-law in obedience to the Lord but to do so would mean facing his brother Esau who he did not see for 20 years.  Placing myself in his shoes, I would already be thinking of a lot of things --- Lord, is my brother still angry at me? Will he still plot to kill me?  Is there another way, Lord, maybe a detour where I won't meet my brother?  How can I ask forgiveness, Lord, that would be very difficult. Will he forgive me?

     I realized that the Lord will allow us to confront our past so that we can be right with Him. There were times that scenes from my past would suddenly play in my mind and I would often ask the Lord why He wanted to remind me of them.  Today, he gave me the answer ... so that I can truly know that I have forgiven and recognize God's grace in being able to do so and  in the process remember the miracle He did in me.

     Dr. Ray Pritchard said that we can find that courage to forgive if we will remember that when Jesus said, "Father, forgive them,", he was talking about us.  In life, we have fought many battles and in the process we got scars that would mark us forever.  These scars do not hurt us anymore but they would be a reminder of the battles fought and of God's victory. I could never  have the strength to forgive if it was not for Him.

Thank you Jesus!

Avilon Zoo

     We celebrated Aethan's 7th birthday in Avilon Zoo. This 7.5-hectare  facility in Rodriguez, Rizal is  currently the largest zoological institution in the Philippines. The kids were excited to see the animals which they just see in our zoology books come to life.   We spent 5 hours there and yet we felt we needed more time.  They said that by this year, they would be adding big mammals like elephants - so we will definitely be back!

     There was no party, no balloons, no guests... just the four of us - Dad, me, Riel and Aethan.  At the end of the day, Aethan said, "Mom, this is my best birthday ever!"

     Our children really don't need all those expensive gifts...all they need is undivided attention and time (both quantity and quality time) with mom and dad.

with the Philippine eagle owl and Green Wing macaw
andrea gold template 817,wild web designs, WA World, Mandy King

with the Philippine Sea eagle, Philppine eagle owl and Philippine Hawk eagle
andrea gold template 696, BonnieBlou designs, Delicious scraps, Linda Renee, Jolly kIds, Snips and Snails

Bethie, Brenda of Millstream

Andrea Gold template 617, Amanda and Millie designdorible digital,Jaimeedesigns

credits: Noreimerreason template 48, Amanda Sok, Brandy Murry

credits: WyldWebDesigns, Wishing Well creations, Puffy Alpha

The caniforms  (credits:Aida Scrap template, Mye De Leon Pet lover kit

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Order Rodentia credits: monkeying around kit by mandy king andpixels by Jane, Kristmess