HOPE

WELCOME, 2023

 

Every year is different, and we can always find something better in the new year. 

I feel that 2023 will be a landmark year, a real new beginning for me and my family. This new beginning started in 2022 with my kidney transplant. Wow! Life really changed.

So many good things in 2022, and more in 2023. I am very excited!!!

GOD'S GUIDANCE

 

WISDOM FROM MISTAKES

 

THE SERENITY PRAYER

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference,
living one day at a time;
enjoying one moment at a time;
taking this world as it is and not as I would have it;
trusting that You will make all things right
if I surrender to Your will;
so that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.

− Reinhold Niebuhr

IF YOU'RE NOT DEAD, GOD'S NOT DONE (March 2, 2022)

 

Diary entry: March 2, 2022

"If you're not dead, God's not done."

I first heard this quote from John Ortberg in his message and the book "All the Places to Go ... How Will You Know?" It's one of those thoughts that have stayed with me since the first reading, and it keeps repeating in times like these.

MEMORIES OF VISITS TO MY GRANDMOTHER'S HOME

In this family photo, we see my mom, Dr. Estelita Ramos-Olivas, standing behind her mother Adelaida Tanjutco Ramos whom we fondly called "Inang".

Mommy had eight siblings. Her father Jose Cojuangco Ramos was a graduate of agriculture from the University of the Philippines.

THE DAY WE SIGNED THE KIDNEY DONATION DOCUMENTS, JUNE 13, 2022

We just signed the kidney donation papers at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute. I'll say goodbye to dialysis and have a young kidney soon! Praise God.

With donor son Jeremiah Joenard Olivas Gallo and youngest son Raphael Prospero Olivas Gallo who signed as a witness to our donation documents.

ONE DAY AFTER MY KIDNEY TRANSPLANT (ON JULY 29, 2022)

Successful kidney transplant!

We feel your prayers. God bless you all a hundredfold for your love, prayers and support.

Vital signs all good. Kidney working very well.

God is in control of everything - the medical team, healing process, finances, and the future.

Abba Father, the God of many chances, we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to you, as our spiritual service of worship. Romans 12:1

7 DAYS BEFORE MY KIDNEY TRANSPLANT

Countdown: 7 days to go before my kidney transplant.

We've been waiting for this and each day, I thank God for my son Jeremiah Joenard Olivas Gallo who decided to share a kidney with me.

SCAPEGOAT - MEMORIES OF AUGUST 21, 1983: The assassination of Senator Ninoy Aquino

Scapegoat.

That was the word that came to mind when I heard my dad's voice over the radio saying that Senator Ninoy Aquino was shot upon arrival at the airport. It was a slow sad voice. And it was the start of a difficult seven-year journey for our family.

Scapegoat. That is what happened. My Papa, Major General Prospero A. Olivas, was eventually charged as an accessory in a double-murder case, dubbed as Trial of the Century.

STONES OF REMEMBRANCE

This morning I listened to Saddleback Church's preaching delivered by Teaching Pastor Stacie Wood, and she spoke about the stones of remembrance in Joshua 3-4.

After the people successfully crossed the Jordan River on dry ground, Joshua directed each of the 12 tribes to set up a stone that will serve as a memorial of God's mighty power.