For parents, one of the toughest thing is when a child gets sick — their child that is, gets sick. Regardless of whether the child is still a baby or already a teenager, it is always a difficult time for parents. My wife and I have been through this many, many times with both our 2 kids but each time, we worry as parents. I guess that’s how normal parents react when their kids get sick. Thankfully, my daughter seems to be getting well now and hopefully she gets better and better so she can go back to school and enjoy the normal life.

In this photo of my wife, I was able to capture that moment in the face of a caring and worried mother as we waited in line for the doctor to check our daughter at the outpatient department of a nearby hospital.

Back in November 2003 (if I remember the date correctly), I was invited to be one of the facilitators of a missions training program organized by the Asian Center for Missions (ACM) in partnership with the Living Springs International (LSI). It was held high up in the mountains in Baracatan, Toril, Davao City. It was actually at the foot of Mt. Apo, the highest mountain (or stratovolcano) in the Philippines.

In this first photo above, there were two local boys playing in the stream water flowing down from high up in the mountain. The atmosphere was cold out there. A nice place for solitude and contemplation. For this shot, I was using a point-and-shoot camera with unknown brand called Mercury. But it took good shots nonetheless!

In this second photo, this was the retreat house and training center and the fog shows how cold it can be out there! Brrr….

And oh by the way, your car has to be in top shape and you have to be a good driver to be able to climb quite a steep slope on an uphill drive as you approach the camp. Quite an experience.

Although there was no typhoon, the heavy rains which poured in Mindanao these past few days caused some flooding in some parts of Mindanao. It also caused many flight cancellations. My mom was one of those affected. Last Saturday morning her flight from Butuan to Manila was cancelled. She came back the following day, Sunday, only to be told the flight was cancelled again. Thankfully on the third day, Monday, after all the stress that she went through, she was relieved to be able to fly from Butuan to Manila. She would have missed her international flight which was scheduled on a Tuesday, early morning.

In the photo above is my mom greatly relieved to see me at the airport. She was finally able to take her international flight the following day. In the other photo, my two mothers — that is, my mother-in-law and my own mom spend some time together after not having seen each other for a good number of years. They had a great time and were glad to see each other again.