Ash Wednesday
Posted by admin on Feb 23, 2012 in Uncategorized1 Corinthians 13:9-10 “For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.”
This Lent Lord, allow what is in part in my heart and mind and soul…to disappear…so that You alone may complete me with your Truth.
Lord Jesus, YOU complete me ♥
Christmas Letter 2010
Posted by Mary Grace on Dec 26, 2010 in Happiness, That's Life
Sending our Christmas greetings from our family to yours with our first official “Pingoy Christmas Letter!” This year we’re writing from the Philippines, spending Christmas and New Year’s with both Ray’s and my families respectively and having family reunions in Iloilo (my side) and Ozamiz (Ray’s side). So far we’re having a great time, eating a lot, making many trips to the malls, experiencing Las Misas de Aguinaldos and Simbang Gabi and cherishing every moment with relatives and family! We have a lot to be thankful for as this year soon comes to an end. 2010 began with us making way for the newest edition to Ray’s and my life…our first born baby boy, Gabriel who was born on November 27, 2009, the day after Thanksgiving last year…also the feast of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. It’s been an amazing ride having this little one with us this past year. God has taught us more through him than we ever could have dreamed. Being first-time parents, we’ve discovered the beautiful way Gabriel teaches us about how immense and unconditional God the Father’s love could be towards us, his own precious children. Everyday we are literally learning something new, and it’s amazing to think it’s all from this little baby!
Another big answered prayer for this year was a great affirmation of God’s providence and calling for us. This past June, Ray got a new job in the Archdiocese of Chicago as the Coordinator of Youth Outreach for the Respect Life Office. For all of Chicago and its neighboring cities he represents the Church on the Pro-life mission in regards to young people. Anyone who knows us knows that 1) Ray and I LOVE working with young people, and 2) Ray and I have felt a special calling to share with the world what God placed in our hearts at a young age, in essence our love story, which is really God’s love story with us. Considering that Ray’s job now appoints him to work under the most Reverend Cardinal George (President of the USCCB) through the Respect Life Office, and that the Chastity Education Initiative in Chicago is the leading one of the whole nation, words could not express just how humbled and honored we are for this privilege and undertaking. God intimately knows the deepest longings of our hearts, and we still cannot understand how specific He has been in answering our prayers. It brings us to tears to think about how God never ceases to give us beyond our wants and dreams, He truly fulfills every need and more as long as we always give it all back to Him!
As for me, it is also a really exciting time, as I am blessed to continue doing missionary work for CFC-FFL, my focus has now shifted from Hispanic Missions (as I once was based in Latin America) to being the LivePURE Coordinator for the US. LivePURE is the Pro-life movement for the young ministries: youth, singles, and young married couples. And in God’s great design, this is a way for Ray and I still to work hand in hand as a “missionary couple” that we always dreamt of being together, as we support each other in work for the Church, side by side spreading message of Chastity and God’s love. God has revealed to us that living a life of purity actually is possible and achievable, and that this Truth needs to be shared to all the world. A world that is suffering with lies of what true freedom really is. True joy and freedom comes from a life living in the fullness of God’s greater purpose for you. If the youth just discover that, there is no end to the greatness to be revealed to them! God has a great plan for each of us, it is up to us to just realize it and allow Him to show us! Jeremiah 29:11
This Christmas as we celebrate the birth of baby Jesus, I can’t help but imagine Mother Mary during her pregnant months, when the tiny baby was developing every day in her womb. How precious the child, who no one could see…so innocent and pure. How safe and full of love was that womb where he rested. Who knew the beauty that would come forth from that little one? Love manifested into flesh. LOVE! Love itself! Love – that thing that cannot be seen or touched…was made VISIBLE, was made tangible, was made present for all to see and feel and experience. All through that tiny baby. Through that little boy…who is our Lord and Savior. If we all only realized the immensity of God’s love in that regard. If we all just believed and valued every human being in that regard. If only we believed that each person is deserving of that love, and even more importantly, that each person is capable of manifesting that very love themselves. This Christmas and New Year’s would be all the more brighter and meaningful. May all our lives be moved to cherish the Child Jesus resting in our own hearts. He wants to be manifested in a tangible way again and again through us… for all the world to see. We pray for a very Spirit-filled Christmas and New Year’s to all of you, our loved ones. God bless you — Ray, Mary Grace and Gabriel Pingoy
“Before I formed you in the womb…I knew you.”
Posted by Mary Grace on Jun 18, 2010 in Inspiration, That's Life, TruthWe were honored to be asked to give a pro-life talk to Vicariate IV of the Archdiocese of Chicago last month. This was the video we showed to help aid in our personal testimony of the beautiful gift of life that Gabriel is to us. Our baby is teaching us more about life than we ever were ready for! And to think, God had him on His mind even before He tenderly placed him in my womb. Before we were all formed in our own mother’s womb, HE knew us…He created us, He treasured us, and He loved us. We are all awesomely made, each a unique and beautiful child created in ways beyond human understanding. That is why each LIFE is to be cherished, protected, defended and held sacred!
Picture Time!
Posted by Mary Grace on Jan 22, 2010 in Photos
From our family to yours!
Posted by Mary Grace on Jan 07, 2010 in Fun, Photos
Just in time for Christmas!
Posted by Mary Grace on Jan 03, 2010 in Inspiration, Photos, That's Life
Whew! It’s been a lonnng time! Nine months have come and gone, and with each day even more blessings. We want to thank you all for your love and prayers throughout my whole pregnancy and birth of our first born son, Gabriel Ángel Hermano Pingoy!
Our little angel was born November 27, 2009, which happens to be the feast day of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. My water broke at around 3 o’clock in the morning the day after Thanksgiving, and Gabriel was not delivered until 4:28pm by emergency c-section. Turns out baby was having a hard time fitting through mommy’s birth canal! Though the c-section was unexpected, we were at peace through it all. God knows me all too well, and the whole thing worked out exactly as God planned it. Ray was with me in the operating room, we prayed, we waited and before we knew it we heard a loud cry…the most beautiful sound I ever heard in my life. In that instant my eyes welled up and I started crying a cry of joy I’ve never experienced before – my baby boy who lived in my womb for 9 months was now out into this world! It is truly the greatest miracle of my life.
We named him Gabriel Ángel (Spanish word for angel) after the Archangel Gabriel. My birthday lies on March 25th, the feast day of the Annunciation of Mary when the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mama Mary and told her that she would be the Mother of God. It was the day Jesus’ life began on this earth in Mama Mary’s womb, the beginning of Mother Mary’s journey of 9 months of pregnancy. On that day, I believe Mary came to understand her calling and purpose in life. And though she may have not understood it, she accepted it with full faith, humility and sacrifice. It was the Angel Gabriel that reminded her that “With God all things are possible!” And Mary would respond, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” - Luke 1:26-38
I’ve come to realize our baby Gabriel was sent to me to remind me of the same thing. I just hope I could respond in the same way as Mother Mary did. God gave me this baby, my little angel, to reveal to me a deeper purpose, a deeper calling, and my very reason for existence…and that is to honor and do the will of God. And these past few days of being a mother to Gabriel has already shown me that in ways I never knew it could.
I still can’t believe that we now have in our lives a perfect beautiful baby boy…with perfect little arms and hands and feet, and eyes…oh those eyes! Eyes that speak more than I can understand, when I look at them, I see God’s handiwork. Eyes that see me, eyes that shoot straight to my soul from his own. My little baby, flesh of my flesh, heart of my heart – literally a part of me, yet a whole new and separate life from my own. What a miracle! What a privilege to have this happen to me and Ray…to bear a child through the love we have for each other, to be part of God’s mind-boggling procreative process through the love He has for us.
Holding Gabriel in my arms, suddenly the whole world means nothing to me…none of my own wants or desires hold any more weight. All I want now is for my son to be safe in my arms, for him to not have any hurt, for him to always feel my love, for him to have everything that is good and holy and beautiful. I automatically know I would give up of my very own life for the sake of his, never before have I known I could love someone so much.
And then it hit me…through this I see more of how much my God loves me, how HIS LOVE ITSELF had created me in my own mother’s womb. I now to an extent can actually see through the Father’s eyes. As I am God’s own child, flesh of His flesh, heart of His heart. I see His extreme love in why He pains when I’m in pain, why he delights in my joys, is the first one to catch me when I fall or respond to me when I’m in need. I now can imagine the ache in His heart if I were to ever stray away from Him, His deep longing for my safety and protection…why He sacrificed His life and died for me, and why He will always remain the one and only true and unfailing constant in my life.
And then all at once, not only did I understand more of God as my Father, but also I realized more of Mary as the Mother of baby Jesus, making this the most meaningful Christmas of my life to date. At a mass soon after Gabriel was born, I heard these words sung to Mary in a song: “Jesus, formed by your faith…AveMari-alleluia… Jesus, born by your love…AveMari-alleluia!”
Jesus…our Lord…was a cute little baby boy, born to Mama Mary. Through Mary’s life, this baby’s faith was formed. Through Mama Mary’s love, she bore Jesus…in full labor, in a farm stable no less. It was through Mary’s deep love for God that Jesus was raised to be the man He was.
As we continue to celebrate the Christmas season and the New Year, let us remember the Christ Child who as born of the Virgin Mary. A cute little baby boy, perfect and pure and holy. Sent on this earth to change our lives forever. Let us count our blessings, and see why they are sent to us. For isn’t it amazing how it’s littlest things that change our lives the most?
We are pleased to announce!
Posted by Mary Grace on Dec 27, 2009 in Happiness, That's Life
LOVE can do crazy things
Posted by admin on May 04, 2009 in 1st Trimester, Inspiration, Photos, Truth, UncategorizedCan these two crazy people…
create this beautiful little one…?
Wow…it’s crazy, but the answer is YES! ”Love begets love.” That is why God who is LOVE Himself has created each one of us 
What a miracle…we exist today because of God’s love? This baby exists today because of my and Ray’s love? What a parallel…that God allows us to share in His divinity by creating life itself!
Ahh!! LOVE!!!