Witnessing God’s Faithfulness in our Family

I come from a big family of nine. My siblings and I were raised by my father and mother who respectively are an ordinary employee and a housewife. But in year 1987, one of my elder brothers passed away at the age of three (3) months old due to Congenital Heart Disease. Supposedly, he’s the second child of my parents. The loss and grief felt by my parents in their early marriage led them to a moment of conversion which prepared and equipped them for the greater things ahead. In the year 1991, three years after my brother passed away, my parents had a unique encounter God. We had no idea that their calling and response would later bring our whole family closer to Jesus and Mary.

Growing up and being raised in a Catholic family was challenging for me. I did not understand why we needed to attend mass together and go to confession, why we needed to pray before and after meals, why we needed to eat together as a family even without occasion, why we needed to pray the rosary every day, why my parents needed to leave home sometimes just to attend a household or assembly. Many times, I thought that my life looked different from others. I always felt that I did not belong and accepted by other people. I was laughed at because I grew up wearing accessories and shirts with images of saints and bible verses. Some people questioned me about my Catholic faith and tradition. Throughout my journey, I witnessed and deeply understood how the Lord worked in every member of our family to become the persons that we are right now. My faith has become deeper and stronger. I found my purpose and I was reminded to be humble at all times. I learned to surrender everything to the Lord.

The Lord became the strong foundation of our family. Serving Him has become our bonding, praying together has become our habit, attending mass and having confession sustains our spiritual journey despite trials, difficulties and problems. These things makes us stronger as a family. I have always wished that my elder brother who has gone before us, my Kuya Julius was still with us experiencing the faithfulness of the Lord in our family.

 

These experiences made me realize that while you’re still on earth, do not look for perfect parents. Do not look for perfect children. Do not look for a perfect sibling. Do not look for a perfect family. Because no matter what we do, we will not find a perfect person. Every family member has shortcomings and flaws but let’s just give each other the unconditional love, understanding and appreciation. Let us allow our own families to become channels of God’s grace and love so that we can continue to give grace to our neighbors as much as we can.

My Dream for My Future Children

I am Terrence Untalan, a missionary for the Live Christ Share Christ since early this year and a married man for more than 6 months. My wife right now is on the third trimester of her pregnancy. God’s timing of calling me to missionary life, married life, and life of being a father happened in a span of 6 months. I believe this is not a coincidence. All these significant changes in my life are with a purpose.

In my few months of being a missionary, I have seen the need to instill appreciation for the beauty of life, true love, identity, family, and faith among the young. Whether we admit it or not, there is a thirst for these valuable things. Having been able to witness this reality made me see what could be the kind of world my child will be born into if I do not do anything.

This is the purpose why God called me to be a missionary as I become a family man. He wants me to dream for a better future for my future children. And every time there is a mission, that dream of making a difference even in my own little ways just grows stronger. I hope and pray that my children feel true love in our family as we center our lives in God; that they feel special because they are beautifully and wonderfully made by God; and that life is sacred, hence, should be cherished, lived, and protected. If our future children will be able to read this in the future, I hope they know their mother and I love them and will do everything and anything for their welfare. But most importantly, may they feel that God loves them more.

#ProofofLife #ProLifeGen

When God Revealed our Personal Mission to Spread the Gospel of Life

Catholic Couple

 

This year, God called me as a Pro-life missionary in Live Life. I know that it will be an opportunity to grow and an avenue to be closer to the Lord even more. Early this year as I prepared myself for the task of defending life, my wife and I encountered the Lord in a very personal way.

On January 26, we found out that my wife, Ten, was pregnant. God finally answered our prayers and blessed us with the gift of life! Truly, He is our promise keeper! Our families and some of our closest friends were the only ones who knew about the pregnancy. We were so happy and excited to be first time parents!

 

However, the pregnancy didn’t go as smoothly as we expected it to be. During our first pre-natal check-up, no sac was found in my wife’s uterus but the uterine wall was thickened. We had to waitfor another 2 weeks to see if the sac will be visible by then. During that times, we were anxious but were still really very hopeful that the baby would develop in the weeks that followed. My wife and I attended mass and prayed the rosary for this special intention. We even asked the intercession of St. Gerard Majella and Our Lady of Guadalupe.

On February 8, we had our follow-up check-up and we found out that the gestational sac was already implanted inside my wife’s uterus and it was 5W2D. We were very happy to hear this news! Though, my wife had to be on bed rest for another 2 weeks until the next ultrasound to check the heartbeat of the baby. On February 14, my wife had spotting, which was accompanied with pelvic and abdominal pain. Worried, we immediately called our OB and scheduled a check-up. During the TVS, the OB told us that the gestational sac was not growing. It was still the same size as the last ultrasound. The spotting turned into heavy bleeding and my wife was in deep pain. After 3 days, TVS was done again. The OB told us that we were having a spontaneous miscarriage in progress, as the sac was moving while the doctor was examining her.

On February 21, we lost our Baby Dominic. It was a roller coaster ride of emotions and until now we are still in pain because of what happened to our small family. Indeed the Lord gives and takes away, but still, blessed be His name. (Job 1:21)

 

Moving on in our married life, God revealed to us our calling as a couple to spread the Gospel of life. As a couple we will strive to be intentional in proclaiming the true beauty of life especially to those who are treating life as less important, to those who are having difficulties in conceiving and to those who are hopeless in life. We thank God for the gift of LCSC, for this will help us to bring other people back to Christ. We will make use of this personal mission to be holy and eventually reach heaven to meet our baby Dominic. Amen.

#CultureofLife #Prolife #ProLifeGen #FightforLife