I have been to a few places within the Philippines and outside the Philippines. I love to travel! 🛫

Traveling gives us opportunities to not only learn about different cultures, but also to gain a good outlook in life and to appreciate GOD’S wonderful creation. I learned a lot from all of my travels, getting to know more about the people I travel with, I learned a lot about life and also I learned to ALWAYS be thankful for all the blessings God has given. I sometimes travel alone, mostly I travel with my family and rarely with my friends (I’m working on this, currently planning a trip with my college besties, woohooo!🎎).

But my ultimate travel buddy is… Nanay!

Traveling with Nanay is unlike any other. It might be a test of patience for both of us most of the time (HAHA! 😂) but it sure is priceless!

There was a point in my life where I thought generational gaps exist. I can read and see it everywhere, moms and daughters having difficulties getting along because of different views, beliefs, values and experiences. From what I understand, generational gaps somehow tells us that moms and daughters (and sons for that matter) are of different species. 😳 It seems like the world is telling us that there are slim chances for moms (or dads) and children getting along because they are just TOO different. 🙊

In Ephesians 6:1 it says, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise),”

Nanay and I also had our moments where I thought, yeah, maybe we are having a generational gap. We have misunderstandings and then I’d blame it on generational gap, again. 😶 But, praise God for messages, mentors and Godly videos, I learned that there shouldn’t be any generational gaps between parents and children. We shouldn’t allow having a great relationship with our parents be hindered because of the so called generational gaps. Maybe we are just having a communication gap, that I think could be possible, but it isn’t impossible to remedy! 🤗🤗

In Ephesians 6:1 it says, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise),”. When we were little kids, we were called to obey our parents, as adults, we are now called to honor our parents. We can now make our own decisions, but it is also our choice to honor our parents in our decisions (as God has commanded) or not. We must always remember to honor them in every decision that we make, because that is what God wants us to do. Our parents’ roles doesn’t end when we grow up or when we graduate College, so their influence in our lives shouldn’t end there either. Now, this was where I needed to grow a looot (I still need some growing on this until now, teehee 🙂), and God knows this, so He gave me lots of opportunities to exercise honoring Nanay, through all the trips that we had together! 😏😏😏

Although each of the trips I had with Nanay and my family were unique, the trip we had to Kuwait to visit and my brother, my sister-in-law and Liam (Thank you for our visas Kuya Champy and Ate Eden! Woohoo! 💕) was the most challenging yet! From planning the trip, buying the tickets, planning on which clothes to bring, handling the finances- preparing everything was not a walk in the park. 🙊 Nanay and I had misunderstandings even in the smallest of details! The biggest challenge for me while preparing for the trip was thinking that, I was better than Nanay in doing things, like the planning and everything. I was being a know-it-all. I thought I had it all figured out and that was not honoring Nanay at all. 😔😔😔

Job tells us in Job 12:12; “Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days.”.

Even though our parents are not as techie as we are (but Nanay has been learning a lot! She’s been using emojis lately HAHA!) or as updated with all the new stuff going on as we are, that does not mean they are not wiser.

Job tells us in Job 12:12; “Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days.”. We should listen to our parents because they have been through a lot in life and has gained a lot of wisdom in the process. They might not be right all the time, but still we should listen and consider whatever lessons they impart to us. If they make a mistake, then we should also correct them, but politely, and with love. Not with sarcasm, or in a disrespectful tone, that is the exact opposite of honoring. 😶

Another challenge I faced in my trips with Nanay is having unmet expectations. She had expectations that I was not able to meet and I had expectations that weren’t met too. In relationships, unmet expectations are common causes of conflicts. And unmet expectations as I have noticed are sometimes caused by lack of communication or past hurts from past experiences. 🙊

“I’m not doing that, you didn’t even do this for me.”

“Do this first then I’ll do that for you.”

We always want the other person to do THEIR part first before we do ours, but that is not how Love works. The Love that Jesus shows is unconditional, it does not insist on its own way (1 Cor. 13:4), Love that thinks of others first before thinking of self. ❣️

I know Nanay loves me very much, she and Tatay led me to Christ and discipled me to be a committed follower of Jesus, (which I believe is the best thing parents can give to their children) she takes care of me (she gives me smoothies while I’m working. awwwee😍) and she tries to be there every time I need her. A lot of times, she’s kind of harsh when she talks, (Para naai impact. haha Hi Nay. ahihi.) but I know she is doing all of these because she loves me. And I love Nanay too! And I want to show her my love by honoring her. Honoring her through the way I talk to her, honoring her by giving her time, and also honoring her by considering her views in every decision I am going to make in life. 👯

Even after all the experiences and the trips we have gone through, we still aren’t perfect, there are still a lot of areas in our relationship that can be improved. But by God’s grace, our relationship has taken up a notch! I can say that I am more open to Nanay now with “chikkas” about my dreams, my thoughts and even about guys that I like! (HAHA! I used to be very picky when telling Nanay about guys I like because, well, we all know how mother’s are when it comes to their daughters liking guys. HAHA. Mother’s are awesome!! I love you nay! 😆)

Long flights are the best when traveling with Nanay. Long flights mean long hours of internet deprivation🤣, which gives us opportunities to have undisturbed conversations (except when the FA comes over to serve food. HAHA) or just have a great card game!

Nanay is already 62 years old but she doesn’t look 60 at all, right? 😉

God has given us relationships and these relationships are to be nurtured. Let’s start by nurturing our relationship with our parents. Try traveling! It might help, or maybe it won’t, try to discover what activities should you and your mom (or dad) do to bond! The important thing is, YOU did some effort in your relationship with your parents. Waiting for someone else to do it will be like waiting in vain (OUCH). 🙊 (haha!)

Find what fits for you and your mom (or dad teehee)! But for me, traveling with Nanay truly is one of the best things in the world!

 

Toodles!
Love,

Nenen. 💃

“Not all those who wander are lost.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring