A Happy Father’s Story

Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads, Tatay, Papa, Amáy, Papang, Ama, Tatang in ICM and around the world! We appreciate your love and all the forms that you communicate it with: by loving our moms, working hard to earn money for our family’s needs, building and fixing things around the house, supporting us in all our endeavors, playing with us, and for being there when we need you or not. Thank you so much. To celebrate this Father’s Day, we’d like to share Glen’s story. Glen is one of our hardworking metrics coordinators in Bohol. He and his wife, Chyrel, had their second child, Zach Laurence, on November 10, last year. The circumstances before Zach’s birth were less than ideal. It was the pandemic, after all. Glen confessed that even in the midst of their joy, there was a shadow of worry because of the pandemic. With the COVID-positive cases rising in their community, Glen just did everything he could to ensure the health of his wife, but even some things are out of his hands. Five days before his wife gave birth, Glenn was in home quarantine because he had close contact with a staff member who tested positive for COVID-19. He had already sent Chyrel and their son to stay with his in-laws to keep them safe. He couldn’t be there when his wife gave birth at a lying-in maternity clinic.  Glen was overwhelmed by a mix of excitement, helplessness, stress, and anxiety because he wouldn’t be able to do anything in case there was an emergency. So he did what he could do from his isolation: pray, and called people to assist his wife in his stead. “It was not easy being in that situation. It was a hard feeling not being able to accompany my wife during that time that she needed me the most,” said Glen. As soon as Glen got out of quarantine, he headed straight to his wife and new son at the lying-in clinic. Although they had to observe strict pandemic protocols, he was relieved to see his family and that there were no complications during and after the delivery. They went home together with a new healthy baby boy. Despite the challenges of having a new baby during a difficult time, Glenn is grateful for the provision to pay for the medical bills, and for people like their parents who took care of his wife when he couldn’t be there and their friends helping them out financially for everything they needed. Most of all, Glen is grateful to God for the wisdom and peace in their situations. He shared, “I did not need to worry because I know that God will answer my prayers.” Happy Father’s Day, indeed!