The joy of giving.

This is my first Christmas in the Philippines after being overseas for almost a decade. Quite ironically, I'm still spending it away from very important people in my life. A bit of a long shot as to why but in the end, this was a decision I made so now I have to face the consequences i.e spending one of the most celebrated occassion in the Christian world with a bunch of strangers in the resort. I know that comes Christmas eve tonight, it will be difficult to hold back the tears when I see families having their dinner together, enjoying each others company.

Christmas is the time of giving as the cliche goes. Last week, I organised a small project to visit Maricaban Elementary school, a small school in the village next to the resort where I am currently working, to give away presents, mostly school supplies. i.e pens, pencils and writing paper plus some goodies. Thanks to a friend of mine, Ichay, who donated cash so I was able to augment the budget I had for this project. The village school consists of 33 lovely kids, ages ranging from 7-10 years old. the pupils from Grades 1-3 share the one small room fitting in the rest of their learning materials which consists of only a few books and other educational paraphernalias. Of course, I can't just turn up in the village school with gifts to give away to the kids so I was in touch with the school teacher Christine the day before my planned visit to advise her of my intention, just to be sure it was ok come in to their school. I was quite aware that in the Western world, doing something like this might even implicate a criminal offense on me as they might think I'm a lunatic paedophile running after school kids. So I really want to clear myself from that. I don't have anything but only good intentions so when I read news of mad men walking in a school and gunning down a room full of innocent children, I can never understand what goes into those people's minds. Makes me realise what a crazy world we live in, how scary it is to know that there are people out there who can hurt us and our loved ones. I'm glad to be given the opportunity and the means to do something like this. Seeing how happy the children were as they were receiving their presents were priceless. It makes me appreciate my life more. I can see why they say "It is better to give than receive." The happiness I feel will last a long time and this feeling is a great gift I can give to myself this Christmas. There is definitely joy in giving. Merry Christmas everyone! 

Losing my Dads.



My Dad who died in his missionary boots in Southern Africa.



Mum and Dad Woodyatt during a visit in Dubai last 2008.

There are two other special occasions for me every December apart from Christmas. First is Huw’s birthday and second is our wedding anniversary. However, this year, my month of December won’t see these happy occasions as happily celebrated like the last few years. I lost my father-in-law just over a week ago. He was a great man whom I had a lot of respect. He was very adamant with his beliefs and firm with his principles in life. He will be sorely missed. I realized that I had lost 2 Dads on this same year. My Dad passed away last February 14 who lost his battle with cancer. My father-in-law died of bone cancer. I’ve never had this feeling of great loss before, I guess maybe because this is the first time I’ve lost a parent then shortly followed by another one. The sad feeling of loss even intensifies as Christmas approaches knowing they are gone. The super typhoon "Pablo" that recently hit the country which caused great casualties does not help make me feel any better. My heart goes for the families who have lost their loved ones. I know the feeling. Apologies for sounding depressed, but I hope you all understand. At the moment, for me, it feels like there is nothing to feel joyous about this Christmas. I know that life must go on and we all have to move on eventually after going through sad passages in our life. Time heals all wounds so they say but this one won't heal very soon. We only have one set of parents, when they go, it’s not like we could replace them with new ones. They will always cross your mind when you say or do something, see a familiar place - they live in us so how can we easily forget? When they go, they're gone forever but with strong memories left behind. Dad and Dad, thank you for everything. RIP. I love you.