Father and Son: SMALL TOUCHING STORY

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.

SON : 'Daddy, may I ask you a question?'

DAD : 'Yeah sure, what it is?' replied the man.

SON : 'Daddy, how much do you make an hour?'

DAD : 'That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?' the man said angrily.

SON : 'I just want to know.. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?'

DAD : 'If you must know, I make $20.00 an hour.'

SON : 'Oh,' the little boy replied, with his head down.

SON: 'Daddy, may I please borrow $10.00 ?'

The father was furious, 'If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such this childish behavior.'

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think:

Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10..00 and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.

'Are you asleep, son?' He asked..

'No daddy, I'm awake,' replied the boy.

'I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier' said the man.

'It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you.

Here's the $10.00 you asked for..'

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. 'Oh, thank you daddy!' He yelled.

Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.

'Why do you want more money if you already have some?' the father grumbled.

'Because I didn't have enough, but now I do,' the little boy replied.

'Daddy, I have $20.00 now. Can I buy an hour of your time?

Please come home early tomorrow.. I would like to have dinner with you.'

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness.

It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts..

Do remember to share that $20.00 worth of your time with someone you love.

If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days....

But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.

And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than to our family.

BASILIA- IN MEMORIAM

Basilia Nonong, our comrade in the Christian service, was just buried recently. But her life and commitment to the Lord Jesus will always leave a mark in the lives of those whom she had touched. It is a legacy etched in their hearts that will continue to live on and become a model worthy of their emulation. This is because hers was a life willingly spent for the cause of the old rugged cross.

Now, for those who don’t know or have just a faint recollection about her, here is the story of her life in a nutshell.When she was still small almost 70 years ago, an uncle brought her from Iloilo to Mindanao, particularly in Parang, Maguindanao. That was the last time she saw her parents; she had never returned to Iloilo since then nor had she been visited by her relatives after she left her birthplace. Her life in Mindanao, during her childhood years, was full of burdens, gloom, and distress. Instead of giving her a chance to go to school, her aunt took advantage of her naivety and frailty by giving her heavy household tasks. One of that was to cook rice every meal, with the instruction that she dare not put off the fire from the dirty kitchen, so that it could be used for the next cooking.

But, one day, she dozed off and fell asleep, and therefore forgot to ensure that the fire would keep burning. That was the scene when her aunt arrived. When her aunt noticed that the embers got nearly snuffed out, she became irritated and accused her of not being vigilant in her assignment. Too angry, her aunt took one of the firewood with embers still flickering and mercilessly shoved it on Basilia’s neck. The scar had remained for a lifetime.

Another time, she was rammed with a knife at her back by her aunt, which resulted into another scar for Basilia. A neighbor took notice of that cruelty and offered for Basilia to migrate to Midsayap in North Cotabato, which used to be more than two hour’s ride from Parang back then. She readily agreed in order to put decency back into her feeble life.

When in Midsayap already, a couple took care of her. She still nursed a desire to go to school at that time. But then she later deemed it proper not to push through with her dream feeling that she was already past her prime as a grown up girl. She soon got married and had children of her own. Somehow, because her husband was a poor farmer with lots of vices, she endeavored to work hard in the farm by planting vegetables to help eke a decent living for the family. To further make both ends meet, Basilia also became a “mananabtan” or a shaman offering prayers for the dead.

One afternoon, I (Babes) saw her in the neighborhood and started to share the Gospel to her. She was angry because she thought that her being a dedicated “mananabtan” is assurance enough for salvation. But God’s words worked wonders in her life. One day, by faith, she surrendered her life to Jesus Christ and received Him as her personal Lord and Savior. Thenceforth, she hungered for the word, like a babe desiring for milk. But since she did not know how to read, she asked her neighbor to teach her how to read. Because of a passionate heart to learn, she was able to read gradually. And her excitement was displayed in her manner of loudly and religiously reading her Bible at an early morn and the whole family could not help but simply listen to her.

After many years, because of her demonstrated Christianity and her determined prayers, her husband became born again, and so with her children. After many years too, she was able to memorize many scriptural verses by heart as a practicing Christian. She can quote the same with ease and dispense a particular verse or passage to a needy or grieving person, just like a doctor jotting down a prescription to cure an illness – but only in the spiritual context. It was no wonder why our neighbors flocked to her – an “unschooled” elderly – for advice to help soothe their nerves and solve their numerous concerns and worries in life. It was no wonder also why she became bold in sharing the Gospel and started following up many women in the neighborhood.

Early this year 2010, she became sick, and later on was diagnosed to have tumors in her intestine. The doctors advised that she better not be operated due to her age and other complications in her body. Lately, in her quiet time, the Lord led her to Isaiah 38. That passage was about the Lord telling the king that he would soon die. Basilia took it as a direct message from God. She then told her family that soon she will depart. Sure enough, the following day, she joined our Lord Jesus in heaven.

Her life is indeed a memorial of God’s faithfulness. Her hard past was used by God as one of the sovereign foundations where she eventually met the Savior and served Him wholeheartedly. Today and for eternity to come, Basilia is surely rejoicing in blissful contentment because – together with millions of those who are saved and who have gone ahead in heaven – she fellowships with them and looks at Jesus face to face.

This was written by Dr. Babes Mendoza in memory of her.