Pray, Live and Love (Crafting My Heart in Words): Maria Mikaela Turned One Year Old

As I listened from husband’s simple welcome speech to our guests at our daughter’s simple birthday party (July 28, 2013 at the Dynasty Hotel and Restaurant) before our family members and very close friends, I realized how time has gone fast. My husband was tracing how one year ago we struggled with my unexpected delivery “…and now she is in front of us healthy, big and strong”.

While my husband did that, I had such mixed emotions. I was also filled with pride looking at our cute daughter sitting in front of my husband playfully clapping her hands as if cheering her dad. I was so overwhelmed by that site. I love them both so much. I knew then that I would do everything by God’s grace to keep my family intact, alive and truly in service to God.

I would like also to honor God’s for His bounty at the same time such that, celebrating Maria Mikaela’s birthday at the hotel was unexpected. We had it all planned and to just hold it home. Yet, I was sick for days and I was so tired when I got home from work ( I am now back with my full time job teaching and counselling). Realizing the little difference in the expense if we hold it at the hotel made us hop into such decision.

It was only a 1 and a half day preparation. We did not even prepare invitation. The good thing with technology was that, we just sent txt messages to our relatives in Bukidnon and some close friends and sponsors of Mikaela during her christening. I and our house assistant Welma landed on a Saturday at a one-stop shop where we would all stuffs for kids and had the tarpaulin done before I joined my Saturday class at the Graduate school.

I thought that if I pursued having it at home, I would have been absent in class and sleep really late at night. But then we were so relaxed. My sister Gay was the usual errand bringing all the ordered stuffs like cake and lechon and bringing us all to the hotel with all our stuffs (including Mikaela’s crib…hahah it’s a folded crib so it just looked like one of those travelling bags we brought to the hotel).

Welma with her friend Cassandra decorated the place with balloon together with one of the hotel staffs. Food was served buffet. There was really no prepared formal program . I just hopped into the microphone to be the automatic emcee of the party. I bravely thought that I have done it with other people’s birthdays and wedding, so I could not resist my very own daughter’s very special and memorable first birthday.

It went well as I ran though my handwritten flow of the program with those hastily prepared list of the games that I thought might bring in fun to the party. My daughter was a little agitated in the earlier part of the program since she was not really used to loud voice around her plus my very loud voice when I used the microphone. So we decided to “ship” her at the back of the room in my husband’s arms. It was a fun fun time.

Then came the blowing of her candle which I did myself since its obvious that Mikaela did not have that capacity yet. But we made it sure that she would be able to witness everything. As I brought the cake in front of her, I saw how her eyes lit with excitement and curiously she surveyed it.

From there she had to be brought up to our room to rest since she was obviously tired after such a "long" and tiring celebration. She was not used to big celebrations yet she patiently stayed and had fun aside from being transferred from one guest's arm to the other for pictorial from time to time.

I was very tired …yes…and having been sick for 3 days. I thank God for the grace to be able to stand firm in that moment joyful moment that we had as a family. We love our daughter so much that we wanted her (despite not being able to understand our initiative) when she grow up to look back through photos how her first birthday was memorably celebrated by our family together with our relatives and friends.

Thank you dear God for blessing us with a wonderful and beautiful little girl by the name of MARIA MIKAELA:-)