Dana's home!

Dana's home after being confined at the hospital for three days. She had pneumonia. But now she's home and it's a good way to start 2011.

We've had a whirlwind of a vacation. First, on December 27, I took my family out to Rockpoint Hotel in Pansol, Laguna. It was our wedding anniversary. While in Rockpoint, we swam and had dinners and explored a bit of Laguna. We even had spa massages, courtesy of the Hotel. While we were on the massage tables, Dana did her antics making the masseuses laugh. Dana enjoyed the stay the most, wanting to stay in the pools far longer than we would allow.

That evening though, Veck's cough grew from bad to worse. When we arrived back home on December 28, we were all too tired. I was a bit worried about Veck's health. I went to work on December 29 and 30. Veck stayed home as the nanny is on a holiday vacation.

On December 29 we saw Splendide! The Grand China National Acrobatic Circus! If Dana enjoyed Rockpoint the most, I must certainly say at this show Veck and I enjoyed it more than she did. Ever since I saw the Philippine Acrobatic Troupe I have always wanted to be an acrobat. (Yes! Turns out fate called me to be a writer-actor, but I can dream!) So it's such a treat when we saw this show at the Araneta Coliseum. Even Veck commented while we were queued up to buy tickets, "You should see the look on your face. You're like a little kid."

When we got home, though, Dana got a bad case of cough. Then her temperature got so high it went through the roof. So early on the morning of December 30, we brought her to National Children's Hospital. Veck stayed with her as I needed to go to work. We stayed in the hospital all through January 1. I would like to thank everyone who prayed for Dana and visited us during this time. Veck went up to the roof deck to watch fireworks but Dana and I were fast asleep on New Year's Eve. I was getting really homesick being couped up in the hospital, and I could tell Dana was too.

On the eve of December 30 Dana looked healthy enough to go home. In fact, she was already playful and Veck and I were enjoying playing with her. Suddenly she hugged me tight and she began to tremble. "She's having chills," I told Veck.

Veck took her temperature while I tried to wrap her in blankets. She was still clinging to me so I rubbed my hands together and placed it on her back to give her body warmth. The thermometer registered 41 degrees! Veck said Dana's lips and fingertips were turning black, and her ears and feet were turning ashen pale. I knew that ordinarily Veck would panic at this, but she didn't. She gave Dana her needed medicines. After about 15 minutes, Dana's temperature went back to normal and she was fast asleep on my chest.

Veck asked, "Were you scared for Dana?"

I said, "No. I knew God can heal her." This is me riding on the shoulders of giants of faith. I read Hebrews 11 while in the hospital and that's what helped me. I particularly enjoyed riding atop Abraham's shoulders. "Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing... Abraham never wavered in believing God's promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises" (Romans 4).

I looked back on the times when Veck and I had our quarrels and we would fight over Dana. We would say things like separation and who gets to keep Dana and which one of us can ensure a good future for her. Those fights turned really ugly. When we were rushing Dana to the hospital I turned my anger towards God, "Are You now joining the tug-of-war for Dana, too? Are You now going to take her from us?" I was so different from Abraham, who willingly obeyed God when he was asked to sacrifice Isaac, his one and only son.

Suffering from terrible boredom I asked Veck to buy me a book from a bargain bookstore so I've something to read when Dana's asleep. She bought me a collection of Christmas stories. The editor wrote in the introduction for one of the stories, "We ought to read 1 Corinthians 13 every day." I opened my notebook and copied the passage word for word. So yes, faith carried us through this time, but it was love that healed Veck and me. Let me share with you a few verses from 1 Corinthians 13:

But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn't love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing.

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Love will last forever!

Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

I gotta run now because Veck says we must go to the hypermart for groceries before it closes. See you soon!

May your 2011 be filled with faith, hope, and love!