mikesantiago's posterous

Anong Body Part Ka?

Sa Body of Christ, Ikaw ba ay isang appendix, na okay lang kapag wala ka?

Ikaw ba ay isang kulugo na pag nawala ka sa gawain ay mas gumaganda pa?

Ikaw ba ay isang hinliliit na kaliit-liit mong bahagi ay kaya mong magdulot ng sakit sa buong katawan?O ikaw ba ay ang body part na magiging kulang ang buhay kapag wala ka?

Fork in The Road

I am in the middle of a valley of decision. I’ve been gone through the bottom of the hill and on top of the mountain. I’ve stayed long enough in a plateau.  These are some of my days wherein your stuck in the fork on the road and I don’t know which path to take. This is the time of more God seeking than self-seeking.

 

The Bible answers a lot of man’s questions but apparently, the Bible is silent in some of life’s personal and critical decisions. For example: The Bible will not tell you, who among the fair lady in your circle is the one you ought to marry or after finishing high school, what course you ought to take so you can succeed in your profession.

 

If you will look closely to these questions, these are so critical to one’s own future that they can either make you or break you. But the good thing is, though the Bible does not tell you the name of the girl destined for you to marry, it will show you the qualities of a woman you ought to marry (Proverbs 31:10-31). Though the Bible is silent what career to choose, it will teach you how to work (Colossians 22:24)

 

Now, since the Bible does not tell me what to do with my situation, at least it told me something in this verse found in Ecclesiastes 8:5-7:

 

6 Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm,

       and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.

7 For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter,

       though a man's misery weighs heavily upon him.

8  Since no man knows the future,
       who can tell him what is to come?

 

The Wise in Heart will know the Proper Time and Procedure.  We became wise because of God’s word and we shall know the proper time and procedure by applying wisdom, experience, advise from godly men, courage and integrity and filtering them altogether using God’s standard, the Bible.

 

There is a Proper Time and Procedure for Every Matter. Farmers wait for the perfect time to plant and to harvest. Children needs time to grow & mature. You need to prepare before venturing into a business or a trip. It follows the same with life. You have to wait for the perfect time. Be patient until it comes. Keep on praying. But let your hands not be idle as you wait. Do what you need to do.

 

No Man Knows the Future. Since we do not know the future, then we will never know if one action will lead to success and another action will lead to failure. This is where faith comes in. You step into the water with both feet and let God make you float above the water. I will not be afraid to take risks as long as it is done according to his Word accompanied by faith, I know God will never leave me nor forsake me. 

 

 

 

 

Heavy Rains & Floodings in Riyadh (03/05/2010)

I got caught in traffic yesterday due to the heavy rains and flooding on the streets of Riyadh. 

It took me more than three hours just to get home aside from my car being partially submerged in the flood. 

Good thing the car was able to go through it. 

Below are some pictures showing the devastation. 

This is just a few of the effects of global warming. Could you imagine, ice raining and heavy flooding in Saudi Arabia right in the middle of Summer?

At the bottom you shall see ice as big as a marble that fell from the sky. 

Our Body is Our Limit

The spirit is willing but the body is weak. (Matthew 26:41)

That verse struck me while in the middle of prayer. I just realized that our body is our limit. The Spirit may want us to do something but if our body is not fit to do it, we may just end up frustrated in not being able to do it or at least have no strength to do it.

The context of the verse may imply that the flesh resists any spiritual activity, but this verse may also imply that though the spirit yearns to follow God, yet if the body is physically weak or sick, we may not be able to fulfill His will at all.

It is very important to be healthy and strong. Even youths grow tired and weary but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength (Isaiah 40:30-31). I believe it is a supernatural strength but it could also be a strength that comes from a life that is lived right. Those who live right, do right, think right, sleep right, eat right and definitely exercises right.

The young Israelites in were found to be more healthy because they only eat vegetables than those other young men who fared at the king's sumptuous table probably composed of high carbohydrate, fatty and oily foods. (Daniel 1:11-16)

Even John was happy that everything is going well with the believers both in spirit and in health. (3 John 2)

Stay fit and healthy so you can live a stronger and longer life and be able to love and serve God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength! (Mark 12:30)

Life is not a Series of Events but is your Every Moment, Every Second Spent.

To obey is better than sacrifice. And to heed is better than the fat of rams. (1 Samuel 15:22)

This verse struck me while praying. 
The context of the verse is that God ordered King Saul to exterminate the all Ammonites, including men & women, old and young, including animals. God meant to destroy ALL. However, Saul spared the fat and healthy animals to be offered as a sacrifice to God. This broke God's  heart because it showed that Saul is not obedient to God's voice.
Similarly, most of us are like Saul, we are more into our Sunday Best, Special Numbers, Massive Evangelism and Big Church Gatherings but we oftentimes miss obeying God in those little moments of our life. Truly God is more concerned that we are constantly obeying Him than serving him grandly but obedient occassionally.

5 Realities All Parents Should Know About

We all know that doctors treat us for our health and wellbeing, right? But what If your doctor not only help heal your physical sickness but also help correct wrong mindsets you have about life? Wouldn't you want to have a doctor like that?

The following is a post about a life-changing conversation I had with a cardiologist in St. Lukes Hospital in Quezon City, Philippines. He was supposed to just give me a routine checkup but instead taught me, during our medical session, rock-solid realities that made an indellible mark on how I see life as a young parent.

These are 5 solid Realities All Parents need to realize and act upon if they wish to have a fulfuilling life for their children and for themselves as well. You may notice that the realities I will enumerate gravitate towards a Filipino Family context but there are some transferrable principles I wish you can still learn from. Also, I will be making this into a 3 part series for reasons of brevity.

Reality# 1 - Parental support does not end after giving your children good education. As a parent, ask yourself this question, "Why am I working?". Our usual response is, "To give my children good education". Most parents, if not all, tend to think that it is their ultimate goal in life. But in reality, parental support, whether financial or emotional, does not stop there.

As soon as your child graduates from college, it would still take weeks, months, and to some, years before they can even land into a decent paying job. You cannot just ask your children to move out of the house as soon as they graduate from school. All the more, it will be foolish if we, parents, stop working and earning the moment our children finishes school. Obviously, we still need to work. For example, my son is now 2 years old as of this writing. If he finishes college by the time he is 20 years old, I'll be 48 years old by then. It could simply mean there is no retiring for me soon. He still needs my support until he gets a stable job.

About this time, my child would stilll look up to me for support but it will be a different ballgame now that he is working. Still, it does not end there. How about if my child, after some time, falls in love and decides to marry the woman she loves. It would be nice if they have prepared financially for it but how about if they didn't? Then would it mean that the cow or the house or the dog will be sold just so you can give your child a decent wedding ceremony? How about If you don't have anything to sell? Will you borrow from a friend or a bank or from "Bumbay"? Still, after the wedding jitters and expenses have subsided, you have to prepare for the possibility of having your first grandchild in the next nine months. Its impossible for any parent to deny support to their children especially if they are asking help for their cute grandchild. I think I am hearing some "yes" and "uh-huh". It all boils down to one simple fact: Our parental support is a lifetime commitment to our child regardless of how stable or broke they turn out in the future.

And I am just talking about a single child as an example. If you see all the possible hassles you can face in the future for 1 child, how much more for those who have 2 or 3 kids or more. You may react against what I am saying that things will be ok in the future. But all your your wishful thinking will come crashing down if by the time comes that complications arises and you failed to prepare your future today. As the saying goes, "Failing to prepare is a preparation for Failure".

So If you have a mindset that the reason you are working is because you are doing it for your childrens education and future, think again. You may be setting yourself up for a dead-end. A future that may spell numerous debts and hassles if you do not prepare as early as today. You may think it is irresponsible to raise a family where kids are dependent on their parents their whole life but thinking otherwise is also foolish because we know that our children may still come back to us for help, one way or another. I am not espousing the idea that parents are to be thier children's lifetime crutch. All I am saying is that there is more to giving education to our children. It does not stop there. I am sure that there are no parent who will cast away any child in need of their support. If I was able to convince you of the reality that giving your kids good education is not an end to itself, then I have done my job. 

But wait, my post also does not stop there. If you wish to know how you can prepare yourself in the future, then please watch out for Part 2 of 3 of this series called "5 Realities All Parents Should Know About".

Also if you feel that you learned from what I have discussed above or if you have an otherwise comment, feel free to comment. Thanks and I'll keep you posted.

5 Reasons Proving that I am in Love.. with Blogging

I had a funny dream a couple of days ago. I was dreaming that I was in front of my computer typing while watching a video clip. A closer zoom to my screen reveals that I was writing to my blog and was watching a Youtube clip about how to make a hyperlink. When I woke up, I realized one thing. I am in love with blogging and I feel that we will have a great future together.

1. Aside from dreaming about blogging, there are 4 other things I do that prove I love blogging.

2. I am Learning from Professional Bloggers. If I am to be marooned in an island but I will still have the facility to blog, I will make sure I will have Yaro Starak’s "Blog Profits Blueprints" andJohn Cow's "Building a Business Not a Blog". These two 100% FREE e-books combined makes a great foundation for any newbie blogger like me.

3. I am researching for ways to pimp my blog. Deatabs ofICreateIdeas gave me an Arte y Pico Award. The instructions are simple. Make a link about it in your blog. But sadly, I failed to do it because I don't know how to make a hyperlink. Thanks to Youtube and I was able to get a crash-course on basic HTML scripting. So there Deatabs, even if I did not mention about the Pico Award in my blog, remember that because of you aI was forced to research about HTML's. Now If you also want to see how to make a hyperlink, see this Youtube clip:

4. I always bring a Notebook with me. I don't know with you but I usually get great ideas practically everywhere. From TV ads, to billboards, to movie lines, to books & blogs I read, and to reagular conversations I have. So when I stumble upon a great idea, a catchy line, an inspiring quote or just a funny story or joke, I just scribble them down to my trusty notebook of ideas for future review. By the way, I also use Google's Notebook for easy referenece whenever I am online.

5. I am willing to invest. They say that love is not love without giving so giving I shall. Yes, I am plannning to invest money, time and effort to setup my own niche (pronounced as neesh) blog. That entails buying a domain, tools and resources for my blog. Then I would need to commit some time making articles so I can post on a more consistent basis. Finally, I will be giving more effort to market my blog so I can get enough traffic which hopefully will make my blog profitable.

So there. I think I am in Love with Blogging but I need to stop writing now because I need to sleep already. I am hoping this time that my dream will be about me earning thousands of dollars from my blog. 

So goodnight for now. See you soon. *Turns off the Light*

ZZzzz..

What's up Mike?

Dear Mike,
Long time no see. Great to see you posting again. I am so happy that, at last, there is activity in your blog. You know that my day is not complete without reading your personal take in life. I miss your humor and how your posts seem so genuine that it contains real emotions. I hope you don’t stop what you’re doing because you really are one great writer that speaks from his heart. Millions of your fans wait in eager anticipation for your daily post about life, career, family and what not. So for Pete’s sake, get your lazy a$# off the couch and start posting! Grrr!!!
Kind Regards,
Your No.1 Fan

This was an email from an avid reader of my blog. She was so ecstatic like crazy that she threatened that I'll get a beating if I don't post so, now I am now posting again.

How I wish!

Nobody really emailed me. I just made it up. I wished that someone did and have awakened me from my blogging drought. After 1 month and 5 posts since I started blogging, I could say that the only people I knew who checks out my blog is me and my wife. Unfortunately, my wife also stopped checking it out since there is nothing fresh to read. Just the same old boring squid dish. So there goes the million dollar question, what have you done lately, Mike?

Ok. Aside from my usual 9-hour weekday job, I am so happy to say that I spent my hibernation time wisely. I happened to stumble upon some great sites that actually teach regular Joe’s like me how they can earn $$$ through blogging. The following sites not only share step-by-step instruction but some of them also gives out freebies so If you are a problogger wannabe who wants to earn some bucks from your post, better check them out.

I consider Copyblogger.comlike a “Daily Bread” to me as it is to most religious believers. This site is packed with inspiring contents and instructional articles that will really get your writing mojo running. Their site has a very professional feel in it and most of the authors who post articles either have Masters Degree for their profession or are authorities in their certain internet marketing niche. I tell you, once get started reading their post, you'll get hooked. If you want to subscribe to their daily dose, clickhere.

Yaro Starak, the author of BlogMastermind.com, has created such an amazing blog where he takes a regular blogger in a journey of discovering the profits one can get from a having great blog. Not only does he shares his experience and insights but he is also offering a free download of his popular e-book, Blog Profits Blueprint. The strongest point I got in his e-book is the importance of having great content in your blog so readers keep on coming back for more. Once you read the book, you will easily notice that this guy is training the reader to have a good foundation as a professional blogger so one don't become just like a flash in the pan. Click here
if you wish to download your copy. All I can say is that this e-book is Priceless! And oh, did I say it's free?

Last but definitely not the least,
The author of this blog does not leave anyone guessing about what his website is all about. From the cartoony logo of that guy enjoying his milk in a cow-skin-colored-car farm, to the tag "Milking the Internet since 2007", down to the famous keyword "Money Making Online", one would easily know that he is looking at a site that will tell you how to be rich online. And the author does not disappoint. Daily, this site is loaded with great tips, interview (podcasts) and tools geared to equip a newbie blogger like me into becoming the next big name in Making Money Online (MMO) business. And boy was I in for a surprise, this site is offering a 100% FREE 130+ paged ebook!. If you are looking for a no nonsense guide to making money online then I recommend you grab a copy of his Building a Business not a Blog e-book now. This e-book is packed not with theories but with success-proven tweaks, tools and tips that will definitely put your webbie from obscurity to somebody. 

Click the image below or click here to get your copy now! You're just an email away from, downloading this precious material for FREE! 

Now with all these resources available at my fingertips, expect me to provide consistent and fresh updates from this blog or else I get a beating from my No. 1 fan.

Ba-Tsam

Canned Squid. Sautéed with garlic and onion. Next, add the squid juice and a little water plus a dash of salt and pepper. Finally when it is almost to a boil, top it off with beaten egg and stir it like there is no tomorrow. Voila! Just the way I like my dinner. Disgusting!

Haha. That’s what you expect from someone who lives alone in a foreign land who cooks whatever his hand finds from his fridge. After 11 hours of office work daily, the only thing he has in his mind is to come home and sit in his comfy chair and watch TV but he can’t. He still needs to cook his own food. After he eats, he cleans up. He rests a little while and then afterwards irons his own clothes he’ll be wearing for tomorrow’s work. Then the evil cycle repeats itself. Yeah, it sucks to be me.

Back home, I really don’t cook for myself and wash or iron my own clothes all the time. I very seldom do them. It’s usually done by my mom and most recently my wife. But now it’s different. Either I do it, or I go hungry and look like crap.

Too bad for me, I only consume and not produce that is why I never got familiar in cooking. Sure I know how to sauté, to cook rice, to boil water, to fry but I never really saw myself great as a cook. I just cook them as I see fit.

I recently discovered that Quaker® oats goes well in almost anything. Its not just breakfast for me because I’ve tried mixing it with my fried egg, or my corned beef or as breading for fried fish and I even put it in my mushroom soup. I tell you, it made all of them taste good (and healthy, I think).

Funny thing is I don’t even know the names of what I cook. See if you can tell me the names of the following I recently cooked. Please do tell me the name of each of them by the comment box below this blog:

1. Tulingan Fish with vinegar, ginger, garlic, coconut milk, malungay and chili.
2. Chicken with carrots, potatos, chili and tomato sauce.
3. Shrimp boiled in Sprite then sauted plus string beans, squash and coconut milk
4. Chicken with coconut milk and mixed with corn, peas, carrots and quail eggs.
5. Sardines with lettuce, a little soy sauce and lots of hot sauce.

Now there is one dish that I am sure I am doing just fine. My adobo. The only thing is, I see the beef and the dark sauce but it’s under an inch thick of oil. Now is that normal?

Man, I even imagine sometimes that my life is being taped like a reality show. My cooking looks so desperate it’s like an episode in Survivor – Riyadh. Or someone will suddenly come over and take away my dish and make some Fear Factor contestants eat them.

Honestly, as weird as they may look or sound, the dishes I cook actually taste good. At least, for me. You may want to drop by sometime and lets have dinner at my house. I’m cooking.

Hey wait, is that quaker oats inside the fridge? Let me just try mixing it with my leftover adobo and lets see what happens.

Bon Appétit for me.

Ciao. 

5 Reasons to be Happy When You're Thirty

I still can't believe I am 30 years old.

I slept without qualms the night of July 2 and when I woke up the next morning, I was flooded with birthday greetings via texts, emails, friendster and multiply comments etc from friends and family. Reality check: I am now thirty years old.

Is that it? I have lived for 3 decades already? How time flies. I still remember myself watching Lotlot & Friends when I was little. Now "Trenta Anyos na ko"? Suddenly a flood of mixed emotions came all over me. I was happy one minute and sad the second. (Nahawa na ata ako ke Bondat a?)

Alright, alright, all of you thinks that I should be happy that another year has been added to my life. Yeah, I agree. But you also have to consider the other side of the coin. If the average Filipino male lives up to 60 years, then should I be excited that I already took up half of my lifetime?

Anyhow, being a thirty year old is not that bad. Ok lets see the reasons. Hmm.. Hmm.. I can't even think of one! Dang!

Ok I got it! Here are some reasons to be happy when your thirty.

1. It mellows you down. I am now more conscious of what I eat, for one. My body is now telling me I can't be stuffing myself with fatty, salty & sweet foods because it takes longer to metabolise it. Kung ano pa naman yung bawal yun ang masarap. Bawal ang pork, bawal ang beans.. (Memory Gap)

2. It gives you a chance to look back. Whatever my status in life right now, being 30 years old gives me the chance to examine the life I have lived so far. I can regret all I want or rave about what I have achieved already but the most important thing is I learned a thing or two that made me more wiser and better as a person. Ang hindi lumingon sa pinanggalinan, kung matinik ay malalim. O di ba? Go figure.

3. It gives you a heads up. Being 30 tells me I am not getting younger. It tells me, though, that its not too late to plan how will I live the next half of my life. Personally, gusto ko sana magretire from being an employee when I reach 40. Simple lang naman yung pangarap ko pag 40 na ko. yun bang maging kabarkada sina Lucio Tan, Henry Sy, John Gokongwei, atsaka yung magutol na Zobel. Yung ganun ba. O kaya magpagawa ko ng man-made na island sa Manila Bay na hugis
ng pangalan ko tapos kitang-kita mo pag nag-Google Earth ka. Yung ganun kasimpleng buhay ba?

4. You want to regroup with past friends. I don't know but, its usually during these times that humans feels a sense of re-connecting with old pals. That is why we plan reunions, we join Jashs.com forum, we search them via freindster, etc and a lot of other means. There is this unquestionable urge to know how things turned out for our friends back in our schooldays. We just need to avoid comparing because either we feel good when our life is better than others or we pity ourselves if their's seems oh, so envious. Ok lang din alamin yung yung present status ng life ng mga friends natin as long we're not stalking our ex's. Mahanap nga sa friendster yung crush ko dati.

5. You feel a need to belong in a family. Maybe its just Filipino culture but, its during this stage in life that we feel a need to belong. Single people are perhaps the most anxious to be with someone. I've heard that some even lower their standards just to make sure they catch the last train ride. I have noticed also that some people have a silent promise to themselves that they will not repeat the same mistakes their parents did when they have a family of their own. I bet my ass that there is no one in this planet who will say he never felt a need to have a partner upon reaching this age. Mahirap maging matandang binata at dalaga. If you don't believe me ask Ma'am Jarangote.

I guess this list gives me a reason to be happy that I am thirty years old now. This may not be the case for everyone and I know there are those that are still in denial but heck its fine, whatever works for you. After all, we all, are like wine. The older we get, the better we become.

Oh shoot! But I still can't believe I'm thirty.