I was supposed to write this early in 2026; but, I experienced a health challenge two days before entering the new year. That challenge lasted for over a month. Since I’ve decided to make my health a priority since 2024, I delayed updating my blog with my reflections and spent more time resting and relaxing as part of my self-care.

I had actually listed my biggest blessings for 2025 in my notebook on December 30, 2025, as part of my year-end tradition and retreat with Brother Bo Sanchez. I just did not have the time then to turn that list into a blog post.

Today, I’m grateful that I have the energy, good health and time to write this blog post.

Being grateful is one of the practices I have kept since I was a teenager. It has brought many benefits to my life. On days or even during seasons when I face many challenges, remembering and listing my blessings and answered prayers gives me hope, strength, and courage to keep going.

Let me now share my Top 25 Blessings in 2025.

1. My biggest blessing in 2025 is the gift of life. I’m so grateful to God that I reached 50 years old. Some people do not even reach this age. So, I’m grateful and proud that I continue to be alive at 50! I don’t intend to hide my age. I’m also thankful that I was alive for the entire 365 days of 2025.
2. My second biggest blessing in 2025 is that my blood pressure was normal almost all 365 days of the year. There were only 4-5 times when my blood pressure fluctuated and I had a medicine that I got to take during those times. I’m thankful that I didn’t need to be on maintenance medicine to regulate my blood pressure. I’m grateful that I found doctors (cardiologists, internal medicine doctors and holistic doctors) who supported me in my health challenges and told me that my BP fluctuation was not because I was hypertensive, but because I was stressed or anxious during those times. Thus, they see taking a BP medicine as a band-aid solution. What they recommended was that I find ways to lessen stress in my life, slow down even more, and learn to better handle unavoidable stress. All the tests done on me also related to BP fluctuations showed normal results. Thanks be to God! It’s a big blessing that at this age, I do not have any maintenance medicine yet. I hope it stays this way until I am much older.
3. My third biggest blessing for 2025 was that my eldest son whom I have homeschooled since birth graduated from Junior High School. I wrote about it in this blog post.
4. My fourth biggest blessing is that he (my eldest child) continued continued homeschooling for Senior High School (SHS) and he was able to get a voucher for SHS through Frames of Mind School and we were also able to enroll him at HLA (Home Life Academy). Thus, he has dual accreditation for Senior High School. He has accreditation from both the Philippines’ Department of Education and from the US Department of Education. By the time he graduates from K to 12, he will have two diplomas.
5. My fifth biggest blessing is that, despite my irregular menstruation, my latest ultrasound was normal. Thanks be to God again! This further confirms that the irregularities are due to perimenopause.
6. My sixth biggest blessing is that I was able to join and win in the Cardinal Sin Catholic Book Awards again. It was my fourth time to win. Glory, praise and thanks be to God who made that possible! Click here to read about it.
7. My seventh biggest blessing is that, finally, after a long time of looking for a buyer, we were able to sell one of our real estate properties. We have received inquiries from different buyers in the past. However, we could not agree on the selling price. I’m thankful that this sale pushed through.
8. I got to celebrate my 50th birthday with my immediate family in a restaurant with good food and ambiance. They even made it extra special by setting up decorations and having a program. You can read the details of that special event here. We also had a family vacation in a lovely resort with a swimming pool and beach. We enjoyed that vacation very much. The kids considered it the most memorable and enjoyable family vacation so far.
9. My dream and goal of organizing a series of outreaches to celebrate my jubilee year was realized. I had a series of outreaches wherein we were able to donate copies of my children’s books to elementary students including children in Cebu who were affected by flooding. You may read about these here, here and here. You may also watch some videos on our YouTube channel, H.O.P.E. Network. I actually had 7 outreaches during my jubilee year!
10. I was able to go to Mass and receive Holy Communion almost every day, together with my children. The only times I was not able to go to Mass in church was when I was really very unwell. On a few occasions, our priest friend brought me Holy Communion at home. In some Masses, my family members and I received the Anointing of the Sick also, which I believe healed us and made us stronger. We also got to go to Confession at least once a month. There were months even when I got to go to Confession every 2 weeks. The icing on the cake is that my kids and I were able to serve as choir members also in almost all of these Masses that we attended.
11. My immediate family and I were able to celebrate birthdays, Christmas, and New Year together. It is always my joy to celebrate special occasions with my family. These are sacred to me. I also want my kids to have these celebrations as part of their core memories. I believe that this is a big blessing because not all families are able to do this.
12. I got to homeschool all 3 of my children and submit their school requirements on time. We got to pay for their tuition and we even got discounts due to my referrals. Being able to continuously homeschool our 3 children is a miracle from God, especially now that I am in perimenopause. Homeschooling has so many advantages not only to the children but to the whole family.
13. My family and I were also able to attend the Feast Conference (formerly Kerygma Conference). The kids enjoyed attending this year’s conference again. They also met new friends.
14. My family and I were able to go on pilgrimage to Jubilee Churches during the Jubilee year of Hope. We have been blessed that there were nearby Jubilee Churches to us. We were able to attend Masses and receive the indulgences repeatedly in the past year.
15. I got to date all 3 of my children consistently once a month at least in the past year. My boys are growing fast and while they are still living with me and still not dating other girls, I want to make the most of this time to strengthen our mother-and-son bond and to make as many happy memories as we can.
16. I was able to buy natural supplements and eat more organic and natural food. Having the means to purchase these natural supplements, particularly the more expensive ones, was a big blessing from God.
17. I believe that my better diet, sleep and more movement or exercise contributed to the good result of my laboratory tests. This is an answered prayer.
18. Our family was given the opportunity to serve as choir in another parish. I believe that God orders our steps and that the Holy Spirit guides us. This paved the way for us to attend Masses in a nearby parish where there was an opportunity to serve also. We noticed that they didn’t have a pianist and that there weren’t many choir members. I asked and volunteered our family, especially my eldest son who is a pianist. I learned that they had been praying for this. It feels so good to know that we became the answer to other people’s prayers. It confirmed the leading I received from God to attend Masses in that parish.
19. My husband and I were able to pay our Real Property Tax for our 2 properties and avail of the condonation. Now, we are updated with our taxes and even paid in advance for the new year. This is also a big favor from God and an answered prayer. There was a time when my husband lost his job and we had a financial crisis. Paying for our RPTs took a backseat. I just prayed that we’d be able to avail of the condonation when we have a budget again.
20. I was able to finish, by the grace of God, the Pre-Cana Modules of the Archdiocese of Paranaque despite my health challenges. I had been working on these modules for over a year and during teh time that I was working on these modules, I experienced a lot of health challenges. I thought and sensed that these were also enemy attacks because what I was working on will help many families. The enemy was not happy with what I was accomplishing and wanted to hinder me from completing my assignment from God. I am so grateful for the grace to persevere and the courage to keep on working on this project despite the enemy attacks and suffering I went through just to finish it. I kept reminding myself that I will be victorious because Christ has already won the victory for me.
21. Our family got to attend The Feast more frequently and consistently. Our eldest child even started serving in the Worship Ministry by playing the piano at The Feast Bay City. I’m so happy for him because he was able to serve as pianist on his birthday month.
22. I got to make over our terrace or balcony already. This has been my goal and dream for a long time. But, I didn’t want to rush. I also didn’t have the budget and time in the past. Last year felt just the right time to embark on this home improvement project. After the make-over, our terrace has become my sanctuary, my happy place. Even my children liked hanging out there. We also had some of our mother-and-son dates in our terrace in the past months.
23. I found a nearby tutorial center (Kumon) where my older kids, especially the eldest, can have Math lessons in preparation for college entrance tests. Again, this is an answered prayer. Traffic is so bad these days. So much time is wasted in traffic. Therefore, finding a tutorial center nearby saved us a lot of time, energy and resources. My kids can just walk to the center and they get to exercise by walking also. My husband and I do not need to drive them or bring them to the tutorial center.
24. I found piano teachers for my eldest son. We got to afford his piano lessons again and enable him to have a piano recital before the year ended. During the pandemic, he had some online piano, guitar and voice lessons. But music lessons are best done in person. Recitals are best held onsite.
25. I was able to close a consulting project with a new client before the year ended. I was so busy prioritizing my health, homeschooling our kids and serving in ministry the whole year. Getting a client for my consulting business was not a priority. But God, in His goodness, gave me one through the referral of a new friend.

These are just some of my big blessings last year. There is so much more that I did not list here. I cannot help but sing the worship song Goodness of God because of the many blessings and answered prayers God has bestowed upon my family and me.

I feel like even though the enemy worked extra hard in attacking and discouraging me, God worked so much more by blessing me tremendously. I cannot be defeated by the enemy or my enemies because my God is the One fighting for me and who has already won the victory for me.