2023!

On the first day of 2023, we were in Forest Park in Dahilayan, Bukidnon. Whenever our family is there, we never skip doing The Luge. I think the first time we ever got to try it in Dahilayan, none of our kids could drive on their own yet, but did so on our next visits as they grew older. This time, it was Gianna’s turn to conquer!

We weren’t sure at first if she would be allowed to drive solo, but when she learned that 8-yr olds are allowed, I think she shifted from being excited to being scared quite a few times in a span of 2 days. But we already agreed that she would drive on her own, so we stuck to that even though at the last minute, on the day of, she said she wanted to ride with me. 😂

There were some changes with the cars so I had to understand it first and then teach it to my girl. But everybody knows that you never really know until, quite literally, the rubber meets the road. And it was scary hahaha. Gianna pretty much learned on the fly. Thank God she was cautious enough to drive slowly, but there were times she would speed up and hit the brakes hard. King and I drove close to her of course, while our two other girls left us, didn’t even look back haha.

I needed to constantly remind Gianna to look forward, not to worry because I was right behind her, and that she should brake slowly. There was actually one point when she hit the brake so hard, I had to hit my brake hard too, and I still bumped into her! It was a gentle bump though. No one got injured haha. Did I mention there were other people on the track? Yeah, we had to manage that too. 😅

But you know, after the first round, she was excited to do the second. A tad nervous maybe, but more excited than scared. And though she still had to be reminded a lot, she did fairly well! Not bad for a first timer. We made sure we encouraged her as well of course. She was so proud of herself!

I was just thinking, maybe that’s what 2023 is going to be like for us. Some exciting firsts. Some setbacks. Some managing of situations. Some adjustments especially with 3 girls who are growing up fast. But with a lot of LISTENING and OBEYING, there will be a lot of LEARNING, and a lot of VICTORIES!

Listening to the voice of God and obeying His Word. Listening to the right people and applying the knowledge and wisdom to our lives. And also listening to encouragement and life-giving words! So much to learn and so much to conquer! Here’s to an awesome 2023!