Child Abuse Prevention Month

A report of child abuse is made every 10 seconds in the United States. The Indiana Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline received over 151,000 reports of child abuse just last year. The Agency responded to almost 95,000 of these reports to assess the allegations.

The sheer number of these reports is staggering. But the real tragedy is that each of these reports represents an Indiana child in harm’s way.

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. The first official recognition of Prevent Child Abuse Month was in 1983 as Congress and other advocates looked for ways to increase public awareness of the need to protect children from abuse and neglect. Since that time blue ribbons and pinwheels have become symbols of the national movement to end child abuse.

The statistics are alarming. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that five children die every day as a consequence of child abuse. In Indiana, 198 innocent children died from abuse or neglect during State Fiscal Years 2006 through 2010. The vast majority of those cases involved children under the age of five.

While child maltreatment is a complex problem, there are often contributing factors that play a role in abusive behavior: poverty, divorce, drug abuse, stress, and job loss, to name a few. While not all parents who face these challenges are child abuses, it is important for someone—a family member, friend, co-worker—to be there for that parent to offer support and get involved if there is a concern children may be in danger.

April is also a time to recognize that everyone in the community should play a part in promoting the well-being of children. As community members, we all play a big role in the positive development of our children. We have a tremendous influence on them, even when we think they’re not watching. An involved, caring adult can prevent harm to a child caused by an abusing or neglectful parent.

We as a community can’t sit silently and allow child abuse to continue. There are countless ways we can all get involved. Whether by becoming a foster or adoptive family, volunteering at or making financial contributions to local agencies, or simply spreading the word about awareness and prevention campaigns, everyone has a responsibility to prevent child abuse.

Local DCS offices and other entities have scheduled events throughout the state to coincide with National Child Abuse Prevention Month. Some will offer tips on how to recognize signs of abuse or neglect or how to report it. Others are featuring seminars or walk-a-thons and other fund-raisers. I encourage you to call your local Department of Child Services office to find out about events in your local area and then join us as we all work together to help keep Hoosier children safe. You can find the phone number to your local office by going to this website:   http://www.in.gov/dcs/2372.htm .

Preventing child abuse begins when everyone takes responsibility for making the community safe for all children. Children are the future of Indiana and deserve the best communities can offer. We all have a part to play in protecting them. Please, let’s all get involved. Not only is it the right thing to do, we absolutely owe it to them.

Sentimental

The warm(ish) weather today has me feeling rather sentimental. I'm sure if I just ignored this feeling it would go away, but alas I chose to blog about it instead.

Reflecting on the past 9 months of living in New York has made me realize how much I'm going to miss when I move to the Philippines. I've only got 2 more months here before going back to Indiana, for an uncertain length of time before moving to the Philippines.

First and foremost, I'm going to miss people. Lots and lots of people. I can't even begin to mention specifics otherwise I'd never stop. (So don't have hurt feelings, because if you're reading this I'm probably gonna miss you too!)

I'm going to miss Reed family reunions in my backyard and Reed family Christmas Eves.

I'm going to miss Thanksgivings with the Ache family and Ford reunions in the summer.

I'm going to miss family game nights.

I'm going to miss K Love Radio.

I'm going to miss my independence of driving wherever and whenever I want.

I'm going to miss playing board games all night long at the Henry's on New Years eve.

I'm going to miss the smell of Spring rain.

I'm going to miss Brookhaven Wesleyan Church and Epicenter youth group.

I'm going to miss English church services, Bible studies, and prayer meetings.

I'm going to miss Mississinewa Valley Band concerts (did I really say that???)

I'm going to miss riding my bike around town.

I'm going to miss family dinners on Sunday with grandma.

I'm going to miss hearing my family yell at the TV when it's on Game Show network.

I'm going to miss my favorite restaurants - Bob Evans and Ivanhoes.

I'm going to miss having a pet cat.

I'm going to miss meat not on a bone.

I'm going to miss girl nights at Janna's.

I'm going to miss watching my Henry and Vinluan kids grow up.

I'm going to miss watching my family grow with more nephews and nieces.

I'm going to miss American pizza. I'm going to miss frozen pizza.

I'm going to miss corndogs and tenderloins.

I'm going to miss James Dean Days and the 4H fair.

I'm going to miss Junior Bible Camp, Jr & Sr High Camp, & Family Camp at Fairmount campgrounds. I may never get to experience a "Married Couples Retreat" there either.

I'm going to miss carry-in dinners at church... They have them in the Philippines, but it won't be the same.

I'm going to miss Pastors appreciation month, kids programs, and the Easter pageant (still not the same)

I'm going to miss microwave and toaster ovens (do they have those in the Philippines? I don't think so...)

I'm going to miss family birthday parties, Mothers Day with my mom, and Fathers Day with my dad

I'm going to miss ice-cream cake with my twin on our birthday.

I'm going to miss sleeping without fear of cockroaches.

I'm going to miss watching fireworks at the Wolfe's and at RJ Basket for the 4th of July.

I'm going to miss Starbucks dates with Andrea.

I'm going to miss understanding everyone and everyone understanding me.

I'm going to miss texting or calling my friends and family.

I'm going to miss breadsticks at Circle K.

I'm going to miss Missions Month at my church.

I'm going to miss leaves changing color in the fall.

I'm going to miss wearing "hoodies".

I'm going to miss playing games in Walmart.

I'm going to miss my home and my neighborhood, where I've lived nearly my whole life.

There have been two family weddings and one family funeral since I've moved here. I already missed my youngest niece's first birthday and I'm going to miss her second birthday because I'll still be in New York. I'm going to miss many birthdays after that. I'm going to miss graduations. I'm going to miss weddings.

The only thing I probably won't miss is snow and winter.

I know I'll make new traditions. I know I'll love my life there. I know I'll make great friends. I know I'll enjoy time with my Filipino family. I know I'll make new hobbies. I know I'll have a great man on my side who loves me very much. ....

Lord, grant me the strength to do your will and to go where you want me to go. Help me to be brave like Ruth, Esther, and Abraham! Who as foreigners in the land were used in mighty ways. Help me to be supportive of my fiance/husband when he goes through the same things I'll go through in the Philippines.

Back from Break

Here in New York they celebrate "spring break" in February. Odd, but still very enjoyable.
I went HOME to INDIANA :) I braved the train again, but this time Margie gave me company! We left Friday night and got home Saturday morning (takes about 9 hours and 15 minutes but is way cheaper than flying). Whenever I hear the train going through time here I always get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, yuck. Margie took the train one stop past me to go home to Michigan. I went home with plans to be productive and accomplish a lot of homework and wedding planning. I didn't check much off my to-do list, but I don't really regret anything.

I had lots of quality time with family and friends. I got to go to my church on Sunday morning and Sunday night. It was sooo good to see everyone! I went to Indy to hang with my favorite oldest sister and her baby girls for awhile before going WEDDING DRESS SHOPPING. I said YES to the most beautiful dress ever - Sorry Wayne, you can't see it yet ;) Three of my six bridesmaids were there and tried on many many bridesmaids dresses, but a decision still hasn't been made about that yet... *sigh*. I had a couple lunch dates with some dear lady friends. I realized Baldwin (IWU cafeteria) tastes much better now that I don't get tired of it e.v.e.r.y.d.a.y. I chatted with a friend at McConn (IWU coffee shop) and hung around there for awhile doing homework, and got a free coffee - yay! I went to youth group and got to share a little testimony about missions (because my Church celebrates February as Missions Month). I also had a great chat with the youth pastor (who will be doing marriage counseling and then officiate Aldean and my wedding). Jewel, Titus and I went to Kokomo to go to two Asian markets which were both closed, lame. At least we had fun at the mall! My family also played tons and tons and tons of games. In case you don't already know this, we are big gamers - card games, board games, whatever, just not videogames! (Titus, Joni, and dad also love Game Show Network on TV, ugggh!!).

In other big news, I had a job interview that went really really well. Hopefully I'll hear word soon and then update all you loyal blog-readers :)

GRADUATION is May 5th, 2012. Yes, 2012. I will OFFICIALLY be DONE in like 10 weeks. Eek, I'm so excited. But, I'm gonna need to take a ride on the motivation bus to get movin' on all this work that has to be done between now-and-then. Yikes! Until then, my blog posts probably won't be super regular (it's not like they are all that regular anyways, haha). Anyways. I should probably get off and pretend like I'm going to go to bed.

Much love <3

A Week From Hell

So, basically this week has been that - a week from hell. Nothing has gone right. Not much has been enjoyable. There have been many disappointments and setbacks, frustrations, and failures. WAY more lows than highs. Family life isn't so great right now. The weather is crap. My internship this week was bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. Some of the kids I work with lives really suck, and there's absolutely nothing they can do about it. I've realized how evil people can be. I've realized how dark souls can be are without Christ. Definitely a challenge to see the positives, though I'm forcing myself to think ahrd and find them.


I've also realized I'm terrible at taking care of myself. The whole hot topic social work words of "self care" have been the lowest priority on my list. I have not been able to process my terrible week, I just vent, which either makes me more mad or turns people of. I'm emotional, short on sleep, eating terribly, physically weak, spiritually exhausted, and loosing sight of my vision. I hurt someone very very very dear to me, and I'm scared of the consequences. *I do not want to lose you. I cannot lose you!*


One of the assignments for my "Integration of Christian Theology and Social Work" class is to read through a spiritual disciplines handbook and practice a different discipline each week. This week's theme is "Open Self To God" and one of the categories in it is Rest. Like whoa I need that. The challenge is to discipline myself by taking opportunities to Rest my Body and opportunities to Rest my Soul. The author said "we're human beings not human doings", which was like a 2x4 slap in my face. Maybe once I learn how to just be I'll be a more enjoyable person (enjoying life and opening up to let other's enjoy me). Eek, this is going to be a hard hard hard lesson to learn.

Engagement Pictures

"This is my fiance"

December 26, 2011 was a wonderful, life-changing, forever memorable day =D A great great great day. In fact, one of the best days of my life! That day Aldean Wayne Arciaga Pablo asked me to marry him! I absolutely said yes. So, I am the soon-to-be Mrs. Aldean Wayne Pablo. Ahh I love it! After that day, Aldean began introducing me to his friends as "this is my fiance". That new phrase became one of my favorite things to hear :) When he was in a funny mood (which is almost always), he would sometimes introduce me as his ex-girlfriend. When he got odd looks he would say "she's my fiance so she's no longer my girlfriend" and I would just giggle.

So, for all who are interested, here's the story <3

Wayne woke me up at 6:30am before breakfast to music outside my window. (I love it when he came to my room to wake me up!) Actually I woke up a few seconds before he came in, but was confused by the music. Two of his friends were playing romantic music outside my window - a classical guitar and a violin. They played one of "our" songs - La Via En Rose by Louis Armstrong. The funny thing is I joked and told them "tawad" which is what you say to Christmas carolers to go away. Haha, I only said it loud enough for Wayne to hear :)


After lunch we went to Luneta Park (zero kilometer). It's a historical park and a common dating place. I knew something was up because he was pretty tense. The funny thing is that he got pulled over (which happened the last time we went to that part of town) for something he didn't really do, and the traffic enforcer was a jerk :/ Which made Aldean more tense so then we got lost, haha. We took one lap around the park and then relaxed at the flag pole for a minute before the Magsaysay choir came up to us one-by-one. (Aldean's brother works at Magsaysay and Aldean' has worked with the choir through leadership camps and devotions for four years. We both attended their leadership camp last June. This is also the same choir wherein a taught a few members things about the US before they came and toured here last summer). There were probably 10-12 members and they sang around 10-12 songs. It was a lot of fun and a joy to see them (so talented) again. They sang some romantic songs (You by the Carpenters), some classic love songs, and some funny songs (Mahal Kita Kasi by Nicole Hyala) in both English and Filipino.

Then we went to dinner at a really romantic restaurant - Vieuz Chalet, a swiss restaurant. We had pasta and pizza and a delicious lemon-grass tea. The view was beautiful, the table was candle-lit, and the server was really hospitable. I just loved the quality time sitting with my boy and soaking up the special moment.

After dinner we went to our favorite dating place  - Cloud 9! It's a restaurant and resort at the top of the city. At night the view is gorgeous because you can look down the mountain and see the city lights as far as you can see. We sat on the viewing deck of the resort for over and hour and just talked. Then Aldean had the band from the restaurant come sing to us, which was serenade #3 :) It was funny because they weren't technically allowed to come to where we were, but they did anyways. They were out of breath from carrying their big instruments up the hill to us, but after taking a couple minutes to catch their breath they sang two more wonderful love songs to us. I loved it. It was romantic and its our place.

I was getting tired so it was time to leave. Aldean had other plans, but changed them to accommodate me, aww how sweet ;) On the way to his brother's (where we were spending the night) we came to one of the trees with my favorite Christmas lights. (They are white & blue LED lights in the shape of ice-cycles, and the lights fall down like it's dripping). He pulled over and suggested we go under the tree. So, we parked and walked around it once then he told me I had one more present to open. I said "what" (fully knowing by then what it was), and he pulled out the box and said "Will you marry me?". I was speechless at first, so he said "does that mean yes?". I said "Yes! Of course! Absolutely!" The ring was gorgeous, everything was perfect. I could not have even dreamed he would come up with a plan that was so special! He made makes me the happiest girl in the world! My smile was so big, and still is as I write this blog post :D

A week later we had our engagement pictures taken by a dear friend and fellow district pastor - Stanley Rabago. First we went to Paco Park. Then, we went to MOA (Mall of Asia), which was one of the places where 'it all started' as a group date.

Update on Life

Wow, so much has happened since my last post!

I have one semester of grad school behind me and only one more to go! I finished last semester with awesome grades, if I do say so myself ;) and an overall GPA of 3.92. For those who don't remember/ didn't know, I'm going to Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, New York for my Masters of Social Work with a Child & Family concentration. I'm only taking five classes this semester (instead of six last semester). So, that's 14 credit hours and a 19 hour/week (unpaid) internship. I'm interning at an elementary school 3 days/week. My caseload is heavy but the staff is supportive. Everything is hectic, but I'm really enjoying it and learning so much!

I went to the Philippines for Christmas, which deserves its own blog post (hopefully coming soon!). I spent 20 days with my sweet fiance Aldean Wayne and his family. Surprise, we were engaged on December 26! It was a wonderful day full of memories. Though the 20 days were short, my heart was warm and I left full of joy. It was just what I needed to 'finish strong' and be patient in looking forward to my future with Wayne. However, I already miss him terribly! Time to begin the visa process. Hopefully Jewel & Titus (my sister and her husband) can help with the process, since they just finished it themselves before getting married in October :)

I was able to spend a few days with my family in Indiana over break (before and after the Philippines). I missed them so much. We played lots of card games, board games, and Dominos. If you like funny board games and you've never heard of Quelf you are missing out. Hilarious game. I think everyone in my family took a dashing run to the bathroom at least once so we didn't pee of pants of hysteria. It's great, haha :) My nieces are growing more and more adorable. I miss them already, but I bought my train ticket to go home for winter break, which is in the middle of February... 5 weeks away (we don't have spring break, lame).

I didn't make New Year's "resolutions" per se, but my goals for 2012 are to:
Graduate with my Masters
Get Married
Grow more Mature in Christ

Because posts are always more fun with pictures:

Titus with Mallory (20 months) at Christmas in Indiana

Christmas Eve with my Pablo family <3

Merry Christmas! (Christmas eve)

Merry Christmas! Christmas morning at church

With the Magsaysay choir. Part of our big Engagement day :)

Picking strawberries in Baguio with JB & Edard (nephews)

Happy New Year *2012*

One of our engagement pictures :)

How to pray for me:
* Pray that I can be a LIGHT FOR CHRIST at my internship, where the kids stories, situations, and struggles break my heart. The teachers also need loving.
* Pray for DISCIPLINE in my studies and that I would continue to LEARN and soak everything up
* Pray for WISDOM, GUIDANCE & PATIENCE for Wayne and I as we put our future in God's hands
* Pray for my FAMILY... my dad needs work and Jesus