Super Hero Dad

To the next generation of dads, “Be a hero to your kiddo.” Be there to cheer your kiddos as they finish their goals in the race of life.

This past year, I have prayed & watched other dads grow with their kiddos. My brother taking his only daughter to her dance class & watching her grow. 

Also, I had watched my boyfriend’s son graduate high school & receiving Eagle Scout award. We are very proud of his son.

My dad never thought of himself as hero to us kiddos. 

He always put us first. An example: Dad would order a pizza for us kids on a Friday night. When the pizza arrived dad would let us eat first before he ate. Dad always made sure we were fed, safe, loved & happy.

Bulletproof by JD Rodriguez (my Dad). 06.30.1999

2 Corinthians 13:9

“We are glad whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is for your perfection.”

I have always enjoyed watching the old movies of Superman where George Reeves (later Christopher Reeves) portrays the man with the big S on the chest just waiting for the bad guys to shoot at him. I always knew that those bullets would bounce off in every situation but nonetheless I watched intently.

Superman was expected to defend the fears of all men by using his natural powers for the cause of good. Even the bad guys knew that their bullets were just being wasted when they shot at the man of the steel, yet then shot him for our entertainment. I often thought when I was very young that if I just wore the right uniform or the right cape, I would be just like Superman. Up to this day, I still have not found anything that I can wear to help me against the bullets of life except for Word of God.

Paul tells us that when we are weak God is strong in us. Many times we forget that God is right there the whole times we are so low because of comments made towards us. Paul wrote from experience of so many lows in his life when he rejected, neglected, abused, and refused. He came to his Christian walk to the point to where he depended on God’s word more than he did on man words. No matter what he was told negatively to him, he held God’s word much higher than any words from man. In other words, whatever bad things he was told, he let those words directed to him just bounce off of him. He bulletproof himself with word of God for the bad days when the enemy would come against him through individual not in line with God. I feel so good knowing Gods hold me up so much higher than any man on this earth. Paul speaks for us to continue to be strong in God striving for perfection just like Christ.

Yesterday, I visited a friend who’s thyroid glad was removed because of cancer in his throat area. He told me that while he was in intensive care room recovering from the operation, he spoke the word of God to his nurse. 

He quoted Philippians 4:19, “But my God shall supply your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Tears ran down her eyes because here was a man laid wounded from surgery, but yet he was quoting encouraging uplifting words to her. 

Through his misery of surgery he was very weak but became strong when he focuses God’s word. When are weak, and ye are strong. God will make us bulletproof to our pain to our misery to our weakest areas when we remember and lift up the word God to over selves and those around us.

Isn’t God just wonderful to have words that go far beyond what our frail vulnerable bodies that can only tolerate so much, yet the word of God can lift our hearts and minds to where eagles, Boeings and space shuttle fly no matter how much our emotions shakes.

Be Ready! 

Valentine's Day in America, China & Israel

As a woman Valentine's Day is important to be recognized from her husband or boyfriend on this special day. The day of love to me is not celebrating with my boyfriend only but with my family, my friends, the people I love in my life. If you hate Valentine's Day, I was once like you. I hated roses and loving couples on this day but I have learned to accept and show my love to my friends, family and my two young nieces. I am woman who is loved by her family. My family is number one in my life and this year I will celebrate with my mom (who lost her husband to cancer last year), my sister ( A single mom), my guy and my two nieces.

This summer, I got to see Valentine's Day in China and I had experienced Valentine's day in Israel 2001. The holidays are no different from other countries because it celebrating the day of love. What is the difference from American Valentine's Day compare to others countries? China & Israel is the focus in this blog. Get ready for history lesson because it will be interesting. Forgive me if my blog is long but I had to do some research online. So, Enjoy! :)

Chinese Valentine's Day

“中国情人节(Zhōngguó qíngrénjié) Chinese Valentine’s Day" will be on the 6th of August. Nowadays, Chinese people celebrate this special day in various ways.

Many young lovers in China go for a special Chinese Valentine's Day candlelit dinner. People often float red, pink, and white helium-filled balloons or hang fresh flowers above their dining table. In addition, they like to create a romantic atmosphere with music wafting through the room.

"情人节电影(qíngrénjié diànyǐng) Valentine's Day movies" are also very popular in China. Lovers go to cinema together to see a moving love story. Moreover, a lot of young Chinese people like to go to Karaoke to enjoy a romantic "情人节(qíngrénjié) Valentine's Day."

Most young people in China are also keen of Chinese Valentine's Day. Actually, in China we have a similar holiday dedicated for love, as in the west. In Chinese, it's called "七夕节(qīxī jié) The Seventh Eve."It is also known as "中国情人节(zhōngguó qíngrén jié) Chinese Valentine's Day"and "女儿节(nǚér jié) The Daughter's Day." It occurs on the seventh day of the seventh month on the Chinese lunar calendar. This day was originated from a beautiful love story. The seventh daughter of the Goddess of Heaven, 织女(zhīnǚ) Zhi Nv, fell in love with a cowherd called 牛郎(niúláng) Niu Lang. Regardless of the taboo that an immortal could not marry a mortal, she decided to marry Niu Lang. They lived happily for several years. Eventually, however, the Goddess of Heaven became fed up with her daughter's absence, and ordered her to return to heaven. However, the mother took pity on the couple and allowed them to reunite once a year. Legend has it that on the seventh night of the seventh moon, magpies form a bridge with their wings for Zhi Nv to cross to meet her husband.

In ancient times, various activities were held to celebrate the festival in different places, but young people nowadays like to release the "孔明灯(kŏngmíngdēng) Hung Ming lanterns"on the Chinese Valentine's Day, which was invented by Zhuge Kongming at the time of Three Kingdoms. In the evening, lovers make good wishes together and light Hung Ming lanterns with full blessings of faithful love between them, just like the love between Niu Lang and Zhi Nv.

In Chinese Valentine's Day, you can hear all kinds of Valentine's Day greetings, such as "情人节快乐(Qíngrénjié kuàilè) Happy Valentine's Day!" "情(qíng)"represents all kinds of emotion such as "爱情(àiqíng) love," "亲情(qīnqíng) the feelings between family members," but here, it means love. "人(rén)" means person or people. So "情人(qíngrén)" means lovers and is the same as another Chinese word "情侣(qínglǚ)." The character "节(jié)" means festival, which comes from the Chinese word "节日(jiérì)." So "情人节(qíngrénjié)" means the lovers' festival, namely, Valentine's Day. "快(kuài)" means fast and "乐(lè)" means happiness.
At such a romantic festival, it is a great chance to express yourself to your loved one.

Here we offer you some classic Chinese expressions on this special day:

好希望陪着你一直到老，让你做我手心里的宝。我爱你！ 
Hăo xīwàng péizhe nǐ yìzhí dào lăo, ràng nǐ zuò wŏ shŏuxīn lǐ de băo. Wŏ ài nǐ!
I hope to accompany you until we are old, and let you become a treasure in my palm. I love you!

每一天都为你心跳，每一刻都被你感动，每一秒都为你担心。有你的感觉真好！ 
Měi yì tiān dōu wèi nǐ xīntiào, měi yí kè dōu bèi nǐ găndòng, měi yì miăo dōu wèi nǐ dānxīn. Yŏu nǐ de gănjué zhēn hăo!
 Every day my heart beats for you; every moment I am moved by you; every second I am concerned about you. I feel so good to be with you! ( Read more about Chinese Valentine's Day Here)

Israel Valentine's Day

(August 15^th) I was told the holiday occurs by looking at the moon during summertime. Tu B'Av, the 15th Day of Av, is both an ancient and modern holiday. Originally a post-biblical day of joy, it served as a matchmaking day for unmarried women in the second Temple period (before the fall of Jerusalem in 70 C.E.). Tu B'Av was almost unnoticed in the Jewish calendar for many centuries but it has been rejuvenated in recent decades, especially in the modern state of Israel. In its modern incarnation it is gradually becoming a Hebrew-Jewish Day of Love, slightly resembling Valentine's Day in English-speaking countries.

There is no way to know exactly how early Tu B'Av began. The first mention of this date is in the Mishnah (compiled and edited in the end of the second century), where Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel is quoted saying, "There were no better (i.e. happier) days for the people of Israel than the Fifteenth of Av and Yom Kippur, since on these days the daughters of Israel/Jerusalem go out dressed in white and dance in the vineyards. What were they saying: Young man, consider whom you choose (to be your wife)?"(Ta'anit, Chapter 4).

Origins of the Date

The Gemara (the later, interpretive layer of the Talmud) attempts to find the origin of this date as a special joyous day, and offers several explanations. One of them is that on this day the Biblical "tribes of Israel were permitted to mingle with each other," namely: to marry women from other tribes (Talmud, Ta'anit 30b). This explanation is somewhat surprising, since nowhere in the Bible is there a prohibition on "intermarriage" among the 12 tribes of Israel. This Talmudic source probably is alluding to a story in the book of Judges (chapter 21): After a civil war between the tribe of Benjamin and other Israelite tribes, the tribes vowed not to intermarry with men of the tribe of Benjamin.

It should be noted that Tu B'Av, like several Jewish holidays (Passover, Sukkot, Tu Bishvat) begins on the night between the 14th and 15th day of the Hebrew month, since this is the night of a full moon in our lunar calendar. Linking the night of a full moon with romance, love, and fertility is not uncommon in ancient cultures.

For almost 19 centuries--between the destruction of Jerusalem and the re-establishment of Jewish independence in the state of Israel in 1948--the only commemoration of Tu B'Av was that the morning prayer service did not include the penitence prayer (Tahanun).

In recent decades Israeli civil culture promotes festivals of singing and dancing on the night of Tu B'Av. The entertainment and beauty industries work overtime on this date. It has no formal legal status as a holiday-- it is a regular workday--nor has the Israeli rabbinate initiated any addition to the liturgy or called for the introduction of any ancient religious practices. The cultural gap between Israeli secular society and the Orthodox rabbinate makes it unlikely that these two will find a common denominator in the celebration of this ancient/modern holiday in the foreseeable future.”

(See more information about Israel Valentine's Day Here)

Isleen