Family Story Snapshots

ERNIE E. MAIPID, JR.

Recently, an inspiration came that paved the way for me to write about something close to my heart. This is something I love to do – ‘roots-digging.’

This story, orally handed down, was a source of great pride for my family. In the early 1860s, my maternal great-grandfather was a Governor of Tayabas during the First Philippine Republic. He raised a family of educators who established a school in their hometown of Lucban. They also opened schools in Pangasinan, Leyte, and South Cotabato. Several years later, my maternal grandfather in his youth became a director of a boy’s reformatory school, popularly known as Boys Town in Manila.

Family roots

My parents got married when my mother was preparing to become a teacher. My father was by then a medical doctor. Together, they raised six children and brought all of us into the Catholic faith and love for God and others. They instilled in us the value of human relationships, truth, and integrity – equipping us to be of service to the community.

These brief “snapshots” have made me understand why I am drawn to serving the youth and the poor in my country. I have this burning desire and passion for preparing the youth to become respected leaders.

I see God’s hands and influence even before I was born. He had already formed my roots. He used my ancestry to shape the direction I would take in the future as if to pass on my family’s legacy of doing God’s work in and for the community.

Connections

Upon deeper reflection, these connections came to my mind.

First, it made me more confident to pursue the good God had set for me to do.

Second, I became more grateful to God for guiding me to a value-laden path.

Finally, it gave me hope for the future. It made me trust in God’s promises and in following the example of my forefathers.

God’s design and imprint

Some 30 years ago, a Jesuit priest said in his homily. “We were all there in Paradise when God called our first parents in Creation.” Perplexed by the priest’s story and challenged by the priest to look it up, I read Genesis back-to-back. I attended this priest’s mass a week later to report that I had found none of his assertions on the Genesis account. But this was his reply: “WE WERE  IN THE MIND OF GOD, ERNIE!” I never forgot his reply to this day!

God had me in his mind long before I was born. In His PERFECT, BEAUTIFUL TIME, I was born to pursue His purpose.