Why I Want To Be A Millionaire Missionary Mom

(October 1. Feast Day of St. Therese of the Child Jesus)

I have been wanting to post about a lot of things lately, a lot has happened this past week since hubby's birthday (my last post) but I haven't been able to decide on WHAT to write. There have been lots of ideas, some of them unrelated and writing about each of them would have taken up a lot of my time, of which I have been lacking lately.

I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again. Being a mother is not an easy-breezy thing. Especially being a stay at home mom (SAHM) or work at home mom (WAHM). (Although being a working mom outside the home has a lot of challenges on its own too!). Especially if you don't have househelp. (A lot of times I wonder how the moms in the US and other countries where yayas are not the norm do it! Wow!)

I'm not what you could call a fulltime WAHM since I (and hubby) need to report to our Mission Center/Office every day, just like other working moms. However, there are times when I have to ask permission to work from home when there is no one to watch the kids, because it's difficult to bring BOTH to the Center, because I usually end up not getting much work done anyway! (Ssssshhh...this is OUR secret! :) hehehe) Between you and me, a lot of times I get MORE work done at home rather than in the office when the kids are around. Especially since Rysse is in the toddler stage now. She just keeps wanting to walk and walk and walk!

The past two weeks have been especially challenging for me. I was tasked to be in charge of Marketing for the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines Episcopal Commission on Mission Events (CBCP ECM) for Lay Missionaries, composed of a Fun Run and a Missionaries Ball. The assignment was given to me about a month before the events. (You can see some pictures of the Fun Run here and the Missionaries Ball here and here)

To make a long story short, we ended up having only ONE corporate sponsor, who generously provided us with free potato chips for the Ball. But we needed CASH more (we still do, hahaha). With the events getting nearer and nearer and the potential sponsors still being unresponsive, I resorted to getting pledges from friends, acquaintances, family members and people from our Catholic community. "Pakapalan na lang ng mukha"  (Just be "thick-faced") I told myself.

And although a surprising number of generous souls were able to pledge for our events, we are still looking for more people to pledge.

Which brings me to the title of my post. And the reason for the name of my blog.

This is one of the reasons why I want to be a millionaire missionary mom. Why I want to be Truly Rich Mom in EVERY sense of the word, not just spiritually or emotionally.

So that when worthy events like those stated above need sponsors or pledges, I can just write out a check or count out as many peso bills as needed to help out (just like those kind-hearted individuals who shared their financial blessings for the CBCP ECM events. God bless you for your generosity).

So that when babies like Chino Nebrao (http://championsforchino.com), or my cousin's baby Lysander Cabrera (http://welovelysander.blogspot.com), need money for open heart surgery and their medications, I would be able to assure their families that their financial needs will be taken care of.

So that when there is a need for missionaries to be sent out to different parts of the Philippines or the world, there would be no hesitation at all because all the expenses could be shouldered by millionaires like me.

So that my family and extended families' needs (up to the third and fourth degrees and down to the third and fourth generations!!!) would not be something that my parents would need to worry about. Until now, even with all four kids grown, three of whom have our own families, my parents are STILL looking for ways to earn extra income so that in the future, (1) they would not be a financial "burden" on us and (2) they could help provide for our respective families' needs. My dearest Papa is already what we consider a senior citizen by Philippine standards, and Mama is also nearing that golden age, yet they are still very much concerned for us and their grandkids. God bless them for that, but I want to be able to give them the financial freedom they so deserve too! (Love you po, Papa and Mama! As in! Thank you for everything!)

My beloved, selfless, hardworking parents

And so on and so forth... (I could go on and on listing the ways I would use my millions to bless the world!). Because after all, just like our great and humble brother Bo Sanchez said "The ultimate purpose of wealth is to love others."

On this feast day of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, whom we named our little Rysse after, I am reminded again of what it means to be "missionary". I must love God in my own little way. To shower Him with roses means to shower others with love, gentleness, patience (Oh I am SO guilty of not being gentle and patient lately! Especially with Tim! *sighs*), joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control. All the fruits of the Holy Spirit as stated in Galatians 5:22.

I don't need to be a fulltime missionary to shower Jesus with roses. I don't need to be a millionaire to be able to bless and love others. I can (and should!) show the fruits of the Spirit in my life as a wife, mom, daughter, sister, granddaughter, aunt, cousin, niece and friend.

But it wouldn't hurt if I had millions to my name either! That way, I could BLESS more people! I could help the poor in concrete ways! I could build homes for the homeless! I could give deserving kids a good education! Etc etc etc...

This is why I want to be a millionaire missionary mom.

Now all I have to do is figure out HOW to be one. (Actually, God has opened up some opportunities lately. Thank You my Beloved! More on this later!)

In the meantime, dear friend, maybe it's time to ask yourself the same questions I did:
WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE RICH? What is your emotional why? What is your primary purpose?

This weekend, especially during Sunday's Holy Mass, take the time to be still and listen. God could be whispering His answers to you right now but you're too busy and distracted by the noise of this world to hear Him. Turn off your IPod, laptop, cellphone, TV. And LISTEN.

A blessed weekend for us all! And may God make our dreams come true according to His plans and purposes!

(By the way, please say a special prayer for Baby Chino too. He will be operated on this Monday, Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis Assisi, at 8am Manila time to lessen his severe mitral regurgitation. However, this is still NOT the complete actual surgery he needs. Please help us storm the heavens for a miracle for Baby Chino, Baby Lysander and all other babies with congential heart disease and other illnesses! St. Therese of Lisieux, pray for us!)

(Oh, and if you're interested in attending financial education seminars FOR FREE (at no charge to you whatsoever, all you need to invest is your time and transportation expenses!), please send me an e-mail at teachermamatina@gmail.com)