Last week I shared about my family's super easy banana bread recipe. Today I will share about an ordeal that my family, the Arago side, experienced on bankruptcy more than two decades ago. Can you see the connection between this two subjects? Actually, there's no connection :) But I do hope you take the time reading it, browse over some old old pics, and by God's grace, picking up something of value along the way :)
In 1993, our small - scale family marble manufacturing business collapsed which changed our lives forever. For the better. And for our best. This year saw our family's spiritual birth when we came to know Jesus as our Savior and Lord. We learned to trust Him and His promises even if He didn't say 'yes' to our prayers that time; for tatay to miraculously get well again after he suffered from multiple strokes; for our family business to pick up again from bankruptcy; and for us to keep our cozy two-storey home and never having to move out because of eviction order from the bank. But all of these, our Good Good Father said 'no' as we realized His agenda was totally different from what we had in mind. We learned to trust Him and His ways as we navigated through those humbling years of transition from a lifestyle of plenty to a lifestyle of complete reliance in God's hands to provide on a daily basis. We never lacked anything. He has always provided. It was humbling and yet, those years that followed were the beginning of glorious ones because that's when we learned to speak to our Father in heaven in the most personal way; when we learned singing the most beautiful songs of worship and praise; when we learned to play the sweetest music of all; when we uttered the deepest and heartfelt prayers of all, as tatay led our prayers at our morning devotions; always hoping and always trusting.
A Little Family Background
First, we dealt with angry neighbors that demanded the closure of our manufacturing plant. We were forced to temporarily shut-down the plant and lay-off our workers as my parents did all they can to relocate the plant to a new site. All the heavy machineries that were being used to make marble tiles and novelties like decorative lampshades and vases which were then exported to Europe had to be moved out of my parents' own lot property. They have tried relocating to a new factory site, but our business never picked up again due to the huge losses that the company endured during the planned momentary shut-down.
This marble business had been my father's brainchild. From the design of the plant, the machineries that ran with diamond blade cutters, those huge and spinning ones, the buffing machine that's been designed like a moving robot arm that polished marbles which he himself fabricated. He employed about 20 full-time skilled craftsmen, most of whom were our relatives, and including my two older siblings who were already college grads that time. And as for us, the other five younger siblings, we knew we were being groomed to be part of my tatay's dream family enterprise someday. For a few good years, it had been our source of bread and butter as Mindoro marble started gaining recognition in the world market in the 90's.
My family lived a very simple life. We never went to the movies or concerts for entertainment or recreation. But we were content with the simple color TV we had at home which we shared with our neighbors. And by sharing, it meant that our friendly neighbors were free to walk in and out of our door to watch TV with us. Those days. We also had a lot of reading books and encyclopedias that were bought on amortized payments because those books costed a fortune. We all loved reading them!
We never went shopping except during Christmas time where we had a limit of just two pieces of clothings each child. We went to ukays and considered it a treat going there! We grew up contented for a few personal belongings each of us had and managed to put them away, collectively by all seven of us, in a shared, super-sized closet we called aparador. Our house wasn't fancy, but we were safe and comfortable there during the rainy season. We raised pigs and chickens and sold them, and we managed a quaint little souvenir shop that my inay owned, while tatay ran a busy machine shop, all of these under one roof!
Photo below:
My tatay ( right ) with long-time friend and business partner William "Bill" Tinsley by a port in Olongapo City. Bill, as we fondly call him was the first American Christian missionary that shared the gospel to my family in the 70's. Before he came to Puerto Galera, Bill had led hundreds of evangelistic crusades in Luzon already reaching out to thousands of campus students for Jesus. We received our first bible from him. In 1981, with a group of missionaries, Bill captained a boat and a barge and delivered 1 million bibles to China in the middle of the night.
The Lord has sent him home to be with Him in heaven just this year 2016.
( 'Stolen' shot photo from kuya Opet's social media account uh - oh )
'M / Y Friendship' on the shores of Olongapo City in the mid 70's on her early voyages. Later, tatay acquired ownership of her and changed her name to 'M / Y Friendship Lugin' in the mid 80's.
'Windsong 5,' one of a series of Windsong RO - RO barges that tatay refurbished and sold during the 80's. Here, we went on a picnic at Bulabod Beach in Puerto Galera together with our barge crew, our 'manongs' from Sabang Beach. Tatay is on the far left, the one in yellow shirt is inay, myself in blue shorts, ate Imelda in yellow shorts. Little Henri is seated on the shoulders of 'manong,' far right.
View of Muelle Bay
Tatay on one of our dinghies at Muelle Bay, 1980's.
The date tree where we hung out in Muelle many many decades ago.
View of Muelle Bay from Boquete.
We never went on vacation trips because it wasn't necessary. Why, you may want to ask? Because we were already situated at the heart of a piece of paradise. Every morning, we woke up to the view of Muelle Bay, the most pristine and idyllic bay in the world which up to this day serves as a mooring haven for yachts and other sea vessels. As for our family, tatay had built several sea vessels here like ro - ro ( roll - on, roll - off ) barges, catamarans, trimarans, dinghies, pump-boats which he sold through time. But my favorite, the most memorable of all was the yacht that he salvaged from the then US military base in Olongapo City in the 70's and refurbished it into a new beauty. My parents named her "M / Y Friendship Lugin" ( M / Y stands for motor yacht in the boating world; pronounced ( loo-jeen ) which was a combination of their names, Lucy and Higino ( pronounced eh-hee-no ).
Although I can't consider our family poor, as we've always had plenty of food on our table 3x a day, plenty of invited and uninvited guests having coffee or eating at our house, I can't say we' re well - off, or perhaps I didn't see it that way those days because we lived simply and glamor was a foreign word for us. My parents were both frugal, may walet sa balat, hence, in the late '70's, they were able to send us to reputable schools to the then booming city of Batangas which is 14 nautical miles northeast of Puerto Galera. We literally went to school "overseas" because the only means of transportation to get to other towns and cities from the province of Mindoro island, and up to this day, is via ferry boats.
Unfolding Our Story Anew
Bankruptcy, eviction from our own home, the reproach, the word laughing stock a commonplace, the death of tatay after over a decade of battling his paralysis caused by a series of heart failures; sometimes, these words would still make me cringe, but not much any longer as I recollect these events from a jumpy memory. Our story did not end there. Our story has just unfolded here, anew. Going through an ordeal of bankruptcy, your perspective of temporal things changes, all seemed meaningless, knowing that everything on earth is transitory and has an expiry date, and you let your anchor down to what truly matter the most; yours would be a story of long-lasting and enduring love; a story of brokenness and being made whole again; a story of hope and redemption. A story that is pointing towards the direction of a loving Abba Father God Who knows exactly what He's doing.
He assures you by saying, " I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out- plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for." Jeremiah 29:11 ( The Message ) These very words had been the source of comfort during those dark days for me. And while it ripped my heart apart seeing him in that condition, I have found assurance in His words. His words are real. Buhay ang salita ng Diyos, dahil ito ay nagbibigay buhay. Yes, giving life to a dead person that I was. Dead when I lost all my hope to see my tatay well again. Then, He came just at the right time. My new Tatay. My Real Tatay. Just when I felt like losing my earthly tatay too early too soon, making me an orphan- except that, he was still physically there, and you see his body ebbing away for the next decade; my real heavenly Father came in to the rescue. What a wonderful thing to have finally gotten to know my real Father after losing my own earthly father. My Father Who had been there all along watching to see that things transpire as planned. My Father Who loves me for who I am. Period. And while I was blessed to have my tatay for an earthly father, it pales in comparison to the fact that I have a Real Heavenly Father and He has finally found me! I wasn't an orphan after all.
We have our own story of success. Success that is not measured through the value of your accumulated wealth and the grand scheme of things; success that is not appraised through the number of your accolades hanging on the wall or in the glass display cabinets at the office; success that is not based on the number of your cars parked to your garage and the number of your fancy homes that we see on social media; success that is 'none of the above.' Let me quickly add that I am not totally against the view of measuring success based on one's accumulation of wealth because I believe it also has a special purpose on earth as God's provision to those in need, when shared by those who have plenty. But what I do hope to convey is to celebrate a kind of success that puts a premium on things that are intangible, on character which is hewed amidst a tragedy, on knowing the Giver and the Source of these characters, on knowing that all of these will bleed in to one greater and higher purpose which is to give glory to the Sovereign God. Success apart from the purposes of God is meaningless.
Bankruptcy, eviction from our own home, the reproach, the word laughing stock a commonplace, the death of tatay after over a decade of battling his paralysis caused by a series of heart failures; sometimes, these words would still make me cringe, but not much any longer as I recollect these events from a jumpy memory. Our story did not end there. Our story has just unfolded here, anew. Going through an ordeal of bankruptcy, your perspective of temporal things changes, all seemed meaningless, knowing that everything on earth is transitory and has an expiry date, and you let your anchor down to what truly matter the most; yours would be a story of long-lasting and enduring love; a story of brokenness and being made whole again; a story of hope and redemption. A story that is pointing towards the direction of a loving Abba Father God Who knows exactly what He's doing.
He assures you by saying, " I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out- plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for." Jeremiah 29:11 ( The Message ) These very words had been the source of comfort during those dark days for me. And while it ripped my heart apart seeing him in that condition, I have found assurance in His words. His words are real. Buhay ang salita ng Diyos, dahil ito ay nagbibigay buhay. Yes, giving life to a dead person that I was. Dead when I lost all my hope to see my tatay well again. Then, He came just at the right time. My new Tatay. My Real Tatay. Just when I felt like losing my earthly tatay too early too soon, making me an orphan- except that, he was still physically there, and you see his body ebbing away for the next decade; my real heavenly Father came in to the rescue. What a wonderful thing to have finally gotten to know my real Father after losing my own earthly father. My Father Who had been there all along watching to see that things transpire as planned. My Father Who loves me for who I am. Period. And while I was blessed to have my tatay for an earthly father, it pales in comparison to the fact that I have a Real Heavenly Father and He has finally found me! I wasn't an orphan after all.
We have our own story of success. Success that is not measured through the value of your accumulated wealth and the grand scheme of things; success that is not appraised through the number of your accolades hanging on the wall or in the glass display cabinets at the office; success that is not based on the number of your cars parked to your garage and the number of your fancy homes that we see on social media; success that is 'none of the above.' Let me quickly add that I am not totally against the view of measuring success based on one's accumulation of wealth because I believe it also has a special purpose on earth as God's provision to those in need, when shared by those who have plenty. But what I do hope to convey is to celebrate a kind of success that puts a premium on things that are intangible, on character which is hewed amidst a tragedy, on knowing the Giver and the Source of these characters, on knowing that all of these will bleed in to one greater and higher purpose which is to give glory to the Sovereign God. Success apart from the purposes of God is meaningless.
I have asked my siblings from across the miles to collaborate with me and help me connect the dots between bankruptcy and success, and our learnings from them. I am excited to share them in my future posts. We went squirmishing for photos from the lumang baul! I am honored that they have entrusted me with their precious thoughts knowing how private their lives are. Well, not anymore:) Let's consider this our workshop collaboration in progress as more learnings will be added each time. So, help us God.
Our recent family picture, Arago side, with all my siblings and inay when we celebrated her 73rd birthday at kuya Joey's home in Batangas last April 2016, a month before my own family moved to Moscow City.
