Location, location, location! Ahhh...the realtor's mantra that is embedded in me and becomes a second nature whenever I am searching for the perfect home for my real estate buyers, but which eluded me personally in the past 7 years, before settling down with my wife Gie in Las Vegas.
In 2005, at the peak of the real estate boom, our home market value, assets and savings in America, and just after our son Osbert's graduation from Georgetown and acceptance of his job offer to run the baseball Academy of St. Louis Cardinals, I told my wife and kids that we're selling our house, and Gie and I could finally afford to retire early and live comfortably in the Philippines because of the astronomical foreign exchange rate of 1 US dollar to 56 Philippine pesos during that time, compared to today's 1 to 45 ratio, and 1 to 27 in 1989. It's not like this announcement was something new to them because they knew about my plans when I took filmmaking at NYU a few years back, in order to finish my master's thesis and start my 8th and final career as a filmmaker in Manila, when they were already both in college. Alas, our daughter Claire-Voe objected because she couldn't leave her friends during semester breaks in our hometown of Bergenfield, New Jersey, where she and her brother grew up, even though she was in Boston most of the time, as a college sophomore at Northeastern.
In 2008, the real estate market had continuously lost its steam within the last two years, which later triggered an economic meltdown in the US. That year, we were still doing fine financially, and Claire-Voe graduated cum laude. And so, just like with our son Osbert, we threw a beautiful graduation party for her, while Gie and I put our house back on the market, without our children's objection. I found a serious buyer in a young couple with twins who loved the large property with 6 bedrooms, 4 baths and all its amenities, and were seriously considering making an offer when Gie said, "No!" She does not want to retire in the Philippines because all of her brothers and sisters and their children live in the US; she's not used to living there anymore; and she's afraid for our lives if we returned to and lived permanently in the old country. I kind of sensed that this would happen when we were in Florida to visit some relatives, and also in North Carolina when we went there with friends who bought a second home, and ended up making ridiculously low and unsuccessful bids for vacation homes in both places. So, we took our house off the market until we're both decided on what to do. But then, the market and our real state business took a severe beating and we lost a quarter of our home's worth. We had no choice but to refinance our home, put the house back on the market again, agree to downsize to a residential condo along the Hudson River overlooking the Manhattan skyline, but preferably in Edgewater because it was close to our office in Tenafly, and a vacation studio down the Jersey shore after we sell the house, and abandon a possible film career waiting for me in our native land.
Finally, in the last quarter of 2011, after losing one third of its market value, we accepted an offer on our home quietly from a prominent family in town who were both lawyers, the husband of which had seen and loved the house for its irresistible curb appeal and its prestigious and one of a kind New Orleans plantation Colonial style home in Bergenfield, ever since he was a classmate to the previous owner's son. But before all the contingencies were met in our transaction, the buyers decided to back out and cancelled the contract because of personal reasons.
We were very disappointed; but relieved, when Hurricane Sandy struck in October of 2012 and destroyed the Jersey shore where we almost bought a weekend getaway condo in NJ's famed idyllic Long Beach Island, if the deal on our home went through. We agreed to stay on higher grounds for our next move, crossed out Edgewater and any property near the water at that point, and narrowed down our home search to condos in Bergenfield, our friendly town for 30 years, or Fort Lee where my brother lives, and which is across George Washington Bridge from the New York City's new condo apartment of our son Osbert and his wife Adri, and future residence of our daughter Claire-Voe who decided to seek a job transfer from Boston as a Corporate Event Planner to their NYC branch office. Gie, our children and I were in synched on where to live at that juncture, but the problem was that we haven't sold our house yet. Time was running out, as we're still losing equity on our house every month, while our taxes kept going up every year to more than 16 grand (which didn't really matter when your real estate business was doing well, but not when it had soured and you're paying 50 grand annually because you now had a monthly mortgage payment on top of your runaway property taxes and insurance, just to keep the house, that had lost one third of its market value from its zenith in 2005!)
That following December, Gie and I took a breather to see the Grand Canyon, and left for Las Vegas to celebrate my birthday. We stayed at my brother and sister-in-laws' home outside of Las Vegas in Henderson, saw some foreclosed homes on the side for prospective investments, but came up with nothing. When we got back, I reduced the price of our home drastically and marketed it more aggressively, because unbeknownst to the majority of real estate professionals and regular home sellers, the New Jersey market was starting to come back, with plenty of short sales pending in the Garden State, which unfortunately had assumed the nation's 2nd spot for the highest number of short sale and foreclosed properties that were on the market, which became our greatest stumbling block, kept home prices flat, and begged tough competition, in the marketing of our home.
The New Year of 2013 brought some relief and good luck for all of us in our family. Real estate market values stabilized, and I started getting new listings and sales, once again. The good news was that I found the right buyers, price and terms of sale for our home, with a 60-day closing by the end of February. Gie got a salary boost also on her part time job that she took when her real estate clientele dried up two years ago, while both of our children received their promotions as well. God was not only good but had perfect timing as well, because we found our prospective 2 bedroom 2 bath penthouse coop home and future investment that was in the process of being converted into a condo in Fort Lee, while we were so busy as servant leaders and overall coordinators in preparing for both our prayer group's 20th anniversary, and our Charismatic group's spiritual director and pastor, Monsignor Rich's 40th anniversary celebrations, which would take place after our anticipated closing date.
Everything went perfectly well with both celebrations, but not our closing. Not only did we not close on our home by the end of February, March or April, but we also could not get approved for the coop in Fort Lee for insufficient income in the past two years, even though we were paying all cash.
The deal on our home should have been simple, fast and easy, if not for the unexpected, irrational and nerve wracking drawn out delays from the buyers' mortgage company, which I had no control of, because I was not the buyers' agent, and that had never happened to me before, in my 28 years of selling real estate. Anyway, we finally closed and sold our home by the end of May, gave away three quarters of our material possessions to our children, brothers and sisters on both sides, relatives and friends, a priest/friend, former high school classmates and cousins in the Philippines, our parish school and Spanish moving crew, our next door neighbors and the Salvation Army, put whatever was left in storage, and became homeless. Fortunately, instead of going into a hotel or short term rental apartment in Bergen County, my sister-in-law and her husband graciously offered to take us into their home in Colonia, New Jersey, which was 45 to 60 minute drive to our jobs in Bergenfield. But, thank Heaven, it was only 7 minutes away from our favorite Sunday preacher and Bible teacher and scholar, Fr. Bill Halbing, who was also in the Charismatic Renewal like us, and got assigned recently as pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Church, in nearby Scotch Plains.
The everyday commute, except on Sundays, from 10 am to 10 pm, took a toll on me and Gie. It drained us physically, was time-consuming and costly on gas, tolls and food. Gie and I ended up praying the Rosary and Chaplets of Divine Mercy and Santo Nino all the time, during our trips back and forth, and interspersed by our silent and vocal pleading to the Child Jesus, Mary and Joseph to find us our new and affordable home in Fort Lee, or even Bergenfield. One day, out of desperation, it just dawned on me the prophetic question that Fr. Ho Lung of the Missionaries of the Poor asked himself, before making a life-altering decision that consequently brought him joy, peace and deeper love for Christ, when the beloved priest gave a Lenten Mission Retreat at Fr. Halbing's parish in Scotch Plains. The question was-- What is holding you back?
After so much soul searching and discussion between Gie and me, I realized that what was holding me back from moving outside of Bergenfield and its adjacent towns was fear, namely: the fear of losing my successful, easy and 28 long years of real estate sales business, and my vast network of cultivated, familiar and friendly clients (because I had to keep selling real estate properties wherever we went, until I reached my full retirement age at 66) instead of starting the same business all over again some place else, while looking back wishfully with constant regret at our aborted prospect of retiring in the Philippines in 2005, when we had enough money to support ourselves until we expired; and, the fear of going back to my old days and self-destructive ways of losing God--Who had been my healing and security blanket for the past several years, through our Santo Nino Healing Prayer Ministry and monthly Holy Hour and Overnight Eucharistic Adoration, Charismatic Prayer Group, St. Michael Men's Group, Santo Nino Choir, Bible Study Group, Our Lady of Fatima Blue Army Shrine annual pilgrimages, intercessions and apparitions, the support of all my brothers and sisters in the prayer group, and all the priests, deacons, lay preachers and healing ministers in our parish of St. John's and in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, who supported, nurtured and guided me, while walking with the Lord, and bringing other people closer to Him.
Of course, what was holding Gie back, even at the very start when I wanted us to retire early and enjoy shooting independent films in the Philippines, were Osbert and Claire-Voe. As a typical loving, devoted and spoiling Filipino Mom, who wouldn't let them lift a finger and still did their laundry when they're home, she couldn't bear to be far away from them, even though they're grown up, independent, responsible and filled with faith in the Lord. (I knew this because whenever I had the chance and asked them, they always told me that they prayed to and believed in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, although they were not very religious, and looked forward to going to Church with us, for Sunday Mass, when they're home; and I believed them!)
But, that wasn't the only question we had to ask ourselves when making this major decision in our life. According to Fr. Ho Lung, you must also ask yourself: Am I moving forward or backward in my walk with the Lord? And, am I getting closer to Jesus every day?
Gie and I asked the Holy Spirit to give us the gift discernment and guide us in answering these questions and concluded afterwards, with honesty and certainty--that the Lord was telling us to conquer all our fears and trust in Jesus completely; to move somewhere outside of our present comfort zone, job security and lifestyle conveniences; to go past our children, spiritual brothers and sisters, priests, family members, relatives and friends, prayer and healing community, parish and hometown; and to get out of the rut, unforgiveness, gossip, competition, hypocrisy, jealousy and stagnation surrounding us, so that we can take a leap of faith, move forward in our walk with Jesus, and get closer to Him!
But where? I told Gie to pack her bags because we were going back to Las Vegas, after five months! Sure enough, we found our dream home in an exclusive adult community for 55+ year old's after two days, and put a bid on it before our broker left for San Diego to his niece's graduation that Friday, while we waited for five more days to find out if our offer was accepted. In the meantime, the following day, my brother and sister-in-law took us to their friends' party at their home in the Rhodes Ranch Golf Community of Las Vegas, and our jaws dropped when we entered the security gate. To make the long story short, the Lord, through the intercession of St. Joseph who is the patron saint of realtors and homeowners, sent us our new agent named Jose, who sold us our new home at the gated golf community, after cancelling our original offer with the other broker.
Today, Gie and I am very blessed living in Las Vegas, because the Lord restored whatever we thought that we had lost when we made the move, such as, family and friends, our wonderful Charismatic brothers and sisters, priests, deacons and lay ministers, prayer, healing and Filipino communities, and parish ministries and activities. Our children and us communicated regularly; and we celebrated Christmas together as a family. And, after only six months, and unlike the millions of tourists and strangers who come to town every year, we know better, as bona fide locals now, that Las Vegas is not the Strip along the boulevard! This is home, where every day, we gain new and more friends and fellow parishioners, people of different faiths and background, as well as relatives, former Filipino classmates, and clients who migrated in Vegas ahead of us, and American acquiantances and other nationalities, by touching just a bit of the cityscape of Greater Las Vegas which has 2 million local population, 800 thousand of whom are Catholics and 110,000 of them are Filipino-Americans. But, it's more than that, because our Lord Jesus Christ straightened also our finances, with no more debts, extremely high taxes and monthly mortgage payment to contend with, and the fact that the cost of living in Las Vegas is so much cheaper and there is no state income tax and tolls, compared to New Jersey and New York. Also, the Lord got us healthier, with no annual flu shots, winter depression, allergies and snow shoveling anymore, but plenty of exciting activities, leisure time and contagious smiles around us, and sunshine, parks, walking trails, picnic grounds, golf courses and nature reserves for children to retirees, less stress and traffic, lots of public and private fitness centers for workout and exercise, and excellent but inexpensive array of food, entertainment, medical and dental insurance .
After living in Las Vegas since July, I praise and thank God for everything that He did for us, because He was the One Who put everything into place during the sale of our house and the whole moving process, including the delays and aggravations, which, after hindsight, turned out to be scheduling blessings in disguise. In fact, we could not have done it if He didn't send us here. However, Gie and I am still wondering as to the mission He want us to do . It cannot be the exact same work that we did for Him in St. John's, which we are actually doing now, but on a smaller scale. Neither can it be just all rosy and pussy willows for us, because Jesus Himself has said that, "If you want to be my disciple, deny your self, take up your cross and follow me." People say, " Be careful what you ask for," because you may actually get it. But Lord, what exactly do you want us to do in Vegas, aside from enjoying all Your blessings?
Anyway, I had no intention of blogging this because I lost this website five months ago, until our son Osbert came home for Christmas and retrieved it. The truth is that I did not even write my New Year's resolution this year. And, I was too lazy to even think, type and update this blog, until 2014 began, when little by little, our Lord gave me three signs and crystallized them in my thoughts, in order that I could put them down after Gie had confirmed them, namely:
First, I had been deeply moved by a fellow Christian and a true follower of Christ, Pope Francis, whose consistent preaching, deep compassion and acts of love for the poor had been exemplary and extraordinary.
Second, I dreamed of Fr. Ho Lung, the founder of the Missionaries of the Poor the other night, which reminded me of his prophetic questions that lead us to follow the Lord's call in Vegas, and inspired me to update this blog, which totally confirmed Jesus' task for us, when I saw him again yesterday on EWTN.
Lastly, I always kept liking on Facebook the pictures of smiling children every time I saw them, which was not unusual because our Ministry involved the prevention of child abuse and abortion, and avoided pictures of poor and hungry street children because I couldn't bear to see them, but I didn't know why?
Well, I know now. After praying over these signs and talking about them with Gie, we have decided to go out into the world and use our hands, time, talent and the fruits of our labor in feeding street children, by forming the Divine Mercy Ministry that will compliment our Santo Nino Healing Ministry, which is a sacramental, prayer-based, spiritual and advocacy type of ministry. But, how do we go about doing this?
Gie has decided to take early retirement this year, which gives her more time to pray and plan on this; while I have the hot month of July to take time off from selling real estate; and together, we can start helping shelters in feeding the homeless and runaway children in Las Vegas; and eventually, both of us may travel and form Children's Feeding Centers, initially in the Philippines, where there are so many impoverished children. You can also help us, by feeding hungry children in your areas or when you visit your native countries or provinces, and by praying for us consistently and asking the Lord to give us enough strength, courage and discernment in fulfilling our joint mission in the Santo Nino Healing Prayer Ministry, for the prevention of child abuse and abortion, and Divine Mercy Ministry, for the feeding of poor children in our midst.
Praise the Lord!
In 2005, at the peak of the real estate boom, our home market value, assets and savings in America, and just after our son Osbert's graduation from Georgetown and acceptance of his job offer to run the baseball Academy of St. Louis Cardinals, I told my wife and kids that we're selling our house, and Gie and I could finally afford to retire early and live comfortably in the Philippines because of the astronomical foreign exchange rate of 1 US dollar to 56 Philippine pesos during that time, compared to today's 1 to 45 ratio, and 1 to 27 in 1989. It's not like this announcement was something new to them because they knew about my plans when I took filmmaking at NYU a few years back, in order to finish my master's thesis and start my 8th and final career as a filmmaker in Manila, when they were already both in college. Alas, our daughter Claire-Voe objected because she couldn't leave her friends during semester breaks in our hometown of Bergenfield, New Jersey, where she and her brother grew up, even though she was in Boston most of the time, as a college sophomore at Northeastern.
In 2008, the real estate market had continuously lost its steam within the last two years, which later triggered an economic meltdown in the US. That year, we were still doing fine financially, and Claire-Voe graduated cum laude. And so, just like with our son Osbert, we threw a beautiful graduation party for her, while Gie and I put our house back on the market, without our children's objection. I found a serious buyer in a young couple with twins who loved the large property with 6 bedrooms, 4 baths and all its amenities, and were seriously considering making an offer when Gie said, "No!" She does not want to retire in the Philippines because all of her brothers and sisters and their children live in the US; she's not used to living there anymore; and she's afraid for our lives if we returned to and lived permanently in the old country. I kind of sensed that this would happen when we were in Florida to visit some relatives, and also in North Carolina when we went there with friends who bought a second home, and ended up making ridiculously low and unsuccessful bids for vacation homes in both places. So, we took our house off the market until we're both decided on what to do. But then, the market and our real state business took a severe beating and we lost a quarter of our home's worth. We had no choice but to refinance our home, put the house back on the market again, agree to downsize to a residential condo along the Hudson River overlooking the Manhattan skyline, but preferably in Edgewater because it was close to our office in Tenafly, and a vacation studio down the Jersey shore after we sell the house, and abandon a possible film career waiting for me in our native land.
Finally, in the last quarter of 2011, after losing one third of its market value, we accepted an offer on our home quietly from a prominent family in town who were both lawyers, the husband of which had seen and loved the house for its irresistible curb appeal and its prestigious and one of a kind New Orleans plantation Colonial style home in Bergenfield, ever since he was a classmate to the previous owner's son. But before all the contingencies were met in our transaction, the buyers decided to back out and cancelled the contract because of personal reasons.
We were very disappointed; but relieved, when Hurricane Sandy struck in October of 2012 and destroyed the Jersey shore where we almost bought a weekend getaway condo in NJ's famed idyllic Long Beach Island, if the deal on our home went through. We agreed to stay on higher grounds for our next move, crossed out Edgewater and any property near the water at that point, and narrowed down our home search to condos in Bergenfield, our friendly town for 30 years, or Fort Lee where my brother lives, and which is across George Washington Bridge from the New York City's new condo apartment of our son Osbert and his wife Adri, and future residence of our daughter Claire-Voe who decided to seek a job transfer from Boston as a Corporate Event Planner to their NYC branch office. Gie, our children and I were in synched on where to live at that juncture, but the problem was that we haven't sold our house yet. Time was running out, as we're still losing equity on our house every month, while our taxes kept going up every year to more than 16 grand (which didn't really matter when your real estate business was doing well, but not when it had soured and you're paying 50 grand annually because you now had a monthly mortgage payment on top of your runaway property taxes and insurance, just to keep the house, that had lost one third of its market value from its zenith in 2005!)
That following December, Gie and I took a breather to see the Grand Canyon, and left for Las Vegas to celebrate my birthday. We stayed at my brother and sister-in-laws' home outside of Las Vegas in Henderson, saw some foreclosed homes on the side for prospective investments, but came up with nothing. When we got back, I reduced the price of our home drastically and marketed it more aggressively, because unbeknownst to the majority of real estate professionals and regular home sellers, the New Jersey market was starting to come back, with plenty of short sales pending in the Garden State, which unfortunately had assumed the nation's 2nd spot for the highest number of short sale and foreclosed properties that were on the market, which became our greatest stumbling block, kept home prices flat, and begged tough competition, in the marketing of our home.
The New Year of 2013 brought some relief and good luck for all of us in our family. Real estate market values stabilized, and I started getting new listings and sales, once again. The good news was that I found the right buyers, price and terms of sale for our home, with a 60-day closing by the end of February. Gie got a salary boost also on her part time job that she took when her real estate clientele dried up two years ago, while both of our children received their promotions as well. God was not only good but had perfect timing as well, because we found our prospective 2 bedroom 2 bath penthouse coop home and future investment that was in the process of being converted into a condo in Fort Lee, while we were so busy as servant leaders and overall coordinators in preparing for both our prayer group's 20th anniversary, and our Charismatic group's spiritual director and pastor, Monsignor Rich's 40th anniversary celebrations, which would take place after our anticipated closing date.
Everything went perfectly well with both celebrations, but not our closing. Not only did we not close on our home by the end of February, March or April, but we also could not get approved for the coop in Fort Lee for insufficient income in the past two years, even though we were paying all cash.
The deal on our home should have been simple, fast and easy, if not for the unexpected, irrational and nerve wracking drawn out delays from the buyers' mortgage company, which I had no control of, because I was not the buyers' agent, and that had never happened to me before, in my 28 years of selling real estate. Anyway, we finally closed and sold our home by the end of May, gave away three quarters of our material possessions to our children, brothers and sisters on both sides, relatives and friends, a priest/friend, former high school classmates and cousins in the Philippines, our parish school and Spanish moving crew, our next door neighbors and the Salvation Army, put whatever was left in storage, and became homeless. Fortunately, instead of going into a hotel or short term rental apartment in Bergen County, my sister-in-law and her husband graciously offered to take us into their home in Colonia, New Jersey, which was 45 to 60 minute drive to our jobs in Bergenfield. But, thank Heaven, it was only 7 minutes away from our favorite Sunday preacher and Bible teacher and scholar, Fr. Bill Halbing, who was also in the Charismatic Renewal like us, and got assigned recently as pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Church, in nearby Scotch Plains.
The everyday commute, except on Sundays, from 10 am to 10 pm, took a toll on me and Gie. It drained us physically, was time-consuming and costly on gas, tolls and food. Gie and I ended up praying the Rosary and Chaplets of Divine Mercy and Santo Nino all the time, during our trips back and forth, and interspersed by our silent and vocal pleading to the Child Jesus, Mary and Joseph to find us our new and affordable home in Fort Lee, or even Bergenfield. One day, out of desperation, it just dawned on me the prophetic question that Fr. Ho Lung of the Missionaries of the Poor asked himself, before making a life-altering decision that consequently brought him joy, peace and deeper love for Christ, when the beloved priest gave a Lenten Mission Retreat at Fr. Halbing's parish in Scotch Plains. The question was-- What is holding you back?
After so much soul searching and discussion between Gie and me, I realized that what was holding me back from moving outside of Bergenfield and its adjacent towns was fear, namely: the fear of losing my successful, easy and 28 long years of real estate sales business, and my vast network of cultivated, familiar and friendly clients (because I had to keep selling real estate properties wherever we went, until I reached my full retirement age at 66) instead of starting the same business all over again some place else, while looking back wishfully with constant regret at our aborted prospect of retiring in the Philippines in 2005, when we had enough money to support ourselves until we expired; and, the fear of going back to my old days and self-destructive ways of losing God--Who had been my healing and security blanket for the past several years, through our Santo Nino Healing Prayer Ministry and monthly Holy Hour and Overnight Eucharistic Adoration, Charismatic Prayer Group, St. Michael Men's Group, Santo Nino Choir, Bible Study Group, Our Lady of Fatima Blue Army Shrine annual pilgrimages, intercessions and apparitions, the support of all my brothers and sisters in the prayer group, and all the priests, deacons, lay preachers and healing ministers in our parish of St. John's and in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, who supported, nurtured and guided me, while walking with the Lord, and bringing other people closer to Him.
Of course, what was holding Gie back, even at the very start when I wanted us to retire early and enjoy shooting independent films in the Philippines, were Osbert and Claire-Voe. As a typical loving, devoted and spoiling Filipino Mom, who wouldn't let them lift a finger and still did their laundry when they're home, she couldn't bear to be far away from them, even though they're grown up, independent, responsible and filled with faith in the Lord. (I knew this because whenever I had the chance and asked them, they always told me that they prayed to and believed in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, although they were not very religious, and looked forward to going to Church with us, for Sunday Mass, when they're home; and I believed them!)
But, that wasn't the only question we had to ask ourselves when making this major decision in our life. According to Fr. Ho Lung, you must also ask yourself: Am I moving forward or backward in my walk with the Lord? And, am I getting closer to Jesus every day?
Gie and I asked the Holy Spirit to give us the gift discernment and guide us in answering these questions and concluded afterwards, with honesty and certainty--that the Lord was telling us to conquer all our fears and trust in Jesus completely; to move somewhere outside of our present comfort zone, job security and lifestyle conveniences; to go past our children, spiritual brothers and sisters, priests, family members, relatives and friends, prayer and healing community, parish and hometown; and to get out of the rut, unforgiveness, gossip, competition, hypocrisy, jealousy and stagnation surrounding us, so that we can take a leap of faith, move forward in our walk with Jesus, and get closer to Him!
But where? I told Gie to pack her bags because we were going back to Las Vegas, after five months! Sure enough, we found our dream home in an exclusive adult community for 55+ year old's after two days, and put a bid on it before our broker left for San Diego to his niece's graduation that Friday, while we waited for five more days to find out if our offer was accepted. In the meantime, the following day, my brother and sister-in-law took us to their friends' party at their home in the Rhodes Ranch Golf Community of Las Vegas, and our jaws dropped when we entered the security gate. To make the long story short, the Lord, through the intercession of St. Joseph who is the patron saint of realtors and homeowners, sent us our new agent named Jose, who sold us our new home at the gated golf community, after cancelling our original offer with the other broker.
Today, Gie and I am very blessed living in Las Vegas, because the Lord restored whatever we thought that we had lost when we made the move, such as, family and friends, our wonderful Charismatic brothers and sisters, priests, deacons and lay ministers, prayer, healing and Filipino communities, and parish ministries and activities. Our children and us communicated regularly; and we celebrated Christmas together as a family. And, after only six months, and unlike the millions of tourists and strangers who come to town every year, we know better, as bona fide locals now, that Las Vegas is not the Strip along the boulevard! This is home, where every day, we gain new and more friends and fellow parishioners, people of different faiths and background, as well as relatives, former Filipino classmates, and clients who migrated in Vegas ahead of us, and American acquiantances and other nationalities, by touching just a bit of the cityscape of Greater Las Vegas which has 2 million local population, 800 thousand of whom are Catholics and 110,000 of them are Filipino-Americans. But, it's more than that, because our Lord Jesus Christ straightened also our finances, with no more debts, extremely high taxes and monthly mortgage payment to contend with, and the fact that the cost of living in Las Vegas is so much cheaper and there is no state income tax and tolls, compared to New Jersey and New York. Also, the Lord got us healthier, with no annual flu shots, winter depression, allergies and snow shoveling anymore, but plenty of exciting activities, leisure time and contagious smiles around us, and sunshine, parks, walking trails, picnic grounds, golf courses and nature reserves for children to retirees, less stress and traffic, lots of public and private fitness centers for workout and exercise, and excellent but inexpensive array of food, entertainment, medical and dental insurance .
After living in Las Vegas since July, I praise and thank God for everything that He did for us, because He was the One Who put everything into place during the sale of our house and the whole moving process, including the delays and aggravations, which, after hindsight, turned out to be scheduling blessings in disguise. In fact, we could not have done it if He didn't send us here. However, Gie and I am still wondering as to the mission He want us to do . It cannot be the exact same work that we did for Him in St. John's, which we are actually doing now, but on a smaller scale. Neither can it be just all rosy and pussy willows for us, because Jesus Himself has said that, "If you want to be my disciple, deny your self, take up your cross and follow me." People say, " Be careful what you ask for," because you may actually get it. But Lord, what exactly do you want us to do in Vegas, aside from enjoying all Your blessings?
Anyway, I had no intention of blogging this because I lost this website five months ago, until our son Osbert came home for Christmas and retrieved it. The truth is that I did not even write my New Year's resolution this year. And, I was too lazy to even think, type and update this blog, until 2014 began, when little by little, our Lord gave me three signs and crystallized them in my thoughts, in order that I could put them down after Gie had confirmed them, namely:
First, I had been deeply moved by a fellow Christian and a true follower of Christ, Pope Francis, whose consistent preaching, deep compassion and acts of love for the poor had been exemplary and extraordinary.
Second, I dreamed of Fr. Ho Lung, the founder of the Missionaries of the Poor the other night, which reminded me of his prophetic questions that lead us to follow the Lord's call in Vegas, and inspired me to update this blog, which totally confirmed Jesus' task for us, when I saw him again yesterday on EWTN.
Lastly, I always kept liking on Facebook the pictures of smiling children every time I saw them, which was not unusual because our Ministry involved the prevention of child abuse and abortion, and avoided pictures of poor and hungry street children because I couldn't bear to see them, but I didn't know why?
Well, I know now. After praying over these signs and talking about them with Gie, we have decided to go out into the world and use our hands, time, talent and the fruits of our labor in feeding street children, by forming the Divine Mercy Ministry that will compliment our Santo Nino Healing Ministry, which is a sacramental, prayer-based, spiritual and advocacy type of ministry. But, how do we go about doing this?
Gie has decided to take early retirement this year, which gives her more time to pray and plan on this; while I have the hot month of July to take time off from selling real estate; and together, we can start helping shelters in feeding the homeless and runaway children in Las Vegas; and eventually, both of us may travel and form Children's Feeding Centers, initially in the Philippines, where there are so many impoverished children. You can also help us, by feeding hungry children in your areas or when you visit your native countries or provinces, and by praying for us consistently and asking the Lord to give us enough strength, courage and discernment in fulfilling our joint mission in the Santo Nino Healing Prayer Ministry, for the prevention of child abuse and abortion, and Divine Mercy Ministry, for the feeding of poor children in our midst.
Praise the Lord!
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