your Great-Grandfather, Justino Lacanilao, would have been 90 today!!

here's what i posted on Facebook today:

before this day ends, i just wanted to say how much i miss my father-in-law, Justino Lacanilao. he was a truly lovely man! so kind, so calm, so helpful, so Godly...

today would have been his 90th birthday.

our son Justin who was named after him loves to tell of his fondest memory of his grandpa--that of finding him sitting at the kitchen table every morning having his devotions. it made a significant impact on Justin's life. his grandpa would be so proud to see what a fine man Justin has become. my father-in-law had a big part in who Justin is today.

if i have any regrets, it's that my father-in-law never got to meet any of his great-grandchildren. josiah was born 5 years after the Lord took him home. if he had been alive, he would have absolutely doted on his first great-grandchild! 

well, Dad, this is to let you know that your grandkids turned out just fine! your great-grandkids are wonderful individuals and you would also be very proud of them!

we miss you desperately and really wish you were here so we could just hang out with you, seek your advice and just have the chance again to tell you how much we love you!! but, we have the assurance that we WILL see you again in glory and we're looking forward to that grand reunion in heaven someday!!

it's best to ALWAYS remember this!!!

NEVER FORGET!!

Romans 8:31

this is such a powerful verse that it bears repeating 4 times!!!

as you go through life, my magnificent 9, don't ever forget that GOD IS FOR YOU!!! whatever challenges you might find along the way, God will always be there -- by your side, at your back, walking in front of you to guide you. The only requirement is that you have made Him your personal Lord and Savior. I know the 6 older ones have made this important decision already and it is my prayer that the 3 younger ones will soon understand the importance of surrendering their life to Jesus and having a personal relationship with Him!! 

3...

i know that you know your Oma's nuts sometimes...

A few weeks before your A'po and I left for Palawan, I was running around to all the Goodwill and Thrift stores in the area hoping to find at least ONE paper towel holder. i didn't want to buy one because i thought i could find one for a dollar or two at one of the stores where your A'po loves to shop.

Unfortunately, i could not find even ONE anywhere and i was really disappointed that i was leaving the States without a paper towel holder...

Imagine my surprise, however, when we started opening the boxes we had shipped to Palawan from Cebu back in 2014 when i found NOT one, but TWO paper towel holders!! and, both of them are from my Princess House collection!!!

i could almost imagine God saying, "You silly, silly child!! You forgot about these two paper towel holders, but I hadn't!!"

this might seem minor in the whole scheme of life, but this just goes to show that God cares about the tiny little details of our lives!! even paper towel holders...

so.... the same thing happened with BATH TOWELS!!!

when we left for Cebu and Palawan, i had packed one towel each for your A'po and me to use while we were traveling. there were 2 other sets of towels being shipped over from San Dimas, but they were not scheduled to arrive in Brooke's Point until October.

SO.... i started worrying about TOWELS!!! i couldn't imagine having only 1 towel for each of us to use until the other ones arrived!! i even went out and bought myself a cheap towel from Unitop, the local store here in Brooke's, even though the quality was really not up to par with the towels we're used to in the States...

But, God surprised me with SO MANY BATH TOWELS once we started opening up our boxes!!! we now have more than enough between your A'po and me and, even better, they're BATH SHEETS so they're really big!!! i had totally forgotten that, 10 years ago, i had brought all these towels with me to Cebu and then used them as padding for my crystal when we were packing up our lives in 2014.

i'm sure God had a nice laugh when He saw me pulling out all these towels. He was probably shaking his head and saying, "Silly Sharon! you worried for nothing!!!"

So, when you guys come to visit us, you can be confident that we will NOT run out of towels!!!

this is so clever...