Celebrate joy!

Before we got married, Dennis and I attended a marriage prep seminar in church wherein we got to learn about the foundation of marriage and the practical ways to not only make a marriage work but to make it work for God's purposes. I remember we were running late to the seminar that day and so I was thinking of booking a grab in advanced, but then he suggested that there were many taxis so let’s just hail one instead. I agreed but in my mind, I knew that my suggestion was better. So later on, when he realized that too, I told him "sabi ko sayo eh..." So imagine when the the topic that day was about wives submitting to their husbands. God really does go before us, huh! :P And one speaker said that when wives and husbands agree on something, walang sisihan dapat and dapat walang "sabi ko na nga ba eh..." with matching iling pa and tsk tsk tsk in the end... #tamangtamaakobes

Hello everyone! It's been awhile and so many things happened already waaah! Sorry for not updating you sooner (waw. kala mo naman daming following haha!)... but here goes the first one... Last November 9, I got married to this awesome guy (nukkkks!).

Hello! It's been more than a month since we got engaged, and the month that followed the engagement was a "suyurin-mo-ang-lahat-ng-venue-baybeh" escapade that got us going around Tagaytay, then Antipolo then back to Tagaytay...just because I was looking for that "wow Lord, this is it" feeling upon setting foot on the God-appointed place. Whahaha! Daig ko pa si Moses! :P Our 125th venue, charot! Mga 25th lang naman! :P I guess for most bride-to-bes at this day and age, the choices can be very overwhelming.  What started as a simple celebration decades ago has now became a million-peso industry and has  spiraled into an extravagant affair. It only takes a scroll on our IG feeds for us to keep pointing at this and this detail at Coleen and Billy's wedding at Balesin for us to get into a whirlwind of confusion between needs and wants.  Well, of course, they are celebrities so they have the money and the connections, so go lang sila, but what bro...

So this happened last Saturday night! :) Thankful to everyone who made it possible, to God for giving us good weather and a starlit sky as our backdrop and of course, to my fiancee (naaaks!) who managed to pull off a beautiful proposal that caught me by surprise.

Here comes the blessed conclusion to our courtship season... Salamat sa pagsubaybay! :P So this is the part where our courtship season is already coming into an end and we're about to enter a new season of officially becoming a couple... It was actually a series of affirmations but one affirmation we received was through God's creation. Kilig from the Lord! Both Dennis and I are nature lovers so we love these scenes and could not help but thank God for these moments. God is so sweet to us because He makes our dates that are usually so common peppered with His love and grace. There was one time when we were jogging and it was starting to drizzle but the sun shone eventually and you know what rain and sun creates right? We had a beautiful arched rainbow while we were running around the oval! There was also a time when we would just talk and we will have the lit fountain all to ourselves because it poured really hard that night and everyone went home and took cover....

Do you still love me? You asked I blinked Opened my mouth to say, of course But my heart stopped me. Do you still love me? You repeated I swallowed the lump in my throat And asked myself Have I forgotten You my King? Have I replaced You with other things? I closed my eyes Held back the tears And imagined myself sitting at Your feet I miss you, my Lord I miss the place where I met you The place where it was just me and You The place where I can answer you without a doubt  That yes, I still love You As guilt and shame flood my heart I took a step back But before I can even take another step You say You're forgiven, my child. Then You held my hand Lifted my face And showed me the cross. The cross made me pour out the tears  I was trying to hold back Then You held my face Wiped away my tears Then You said with the gentlest voice As if to silence the doubt that has been filling my mind Yes, my child, I s...

Ligawan Stage So this is the part where Dennis already laid down his intentions, and I said yes to courtship.  I’ll share here the things we learned and what God taught us during this season. Hope this encourages you! Dennis told me to share his insecurities in this blog because he thought that it would encourage the men out there. Some of his insecurities were:

HE SAYS In January 2017, Dennis started praying for qualities he is looking for in a girl: Christ-centered, adventurous, maputi, mahaba buhok, chinita, sweet, caring. Come February, he felt that God was calling him back to kids ministry so he signed up. It was during the Volunteer orientation that he first saw me. So he didn't sign up because he saw me, but he signed up THEN he saw me :P (Pag nagobey ka talaga, may blessing… charaught :P) He said that it was the time that he first noticed me and had a crush on me since. Spot us on the opposite ends!

In this season, God has revealed to me His wisdom and His ways which are always higher than ours... God really is full of surprises.  Would you believe that last June, wala talagang ganap mga bes, so I was already asking God,  "Lord meron po ba talaga?"  It was the kind of prayer that honestly makes me a little bit shy to admit. Anyways, wasn't I supposed to be secured and complete already in Jesus? So why should I even be asking and making these requests? But apparently, and as is always the case,  God was already working behind the scenes, weaving a story  when all the while I felt like the lead in a rerun series called, " Kala mo lang meron… Pero wala, wala, wala" haha! They say that every story has two sides, so I'll tell you mine and I'll tell you Dennis’… Hopefully you will see how God moved and made our story to what it is today... Ready? Mahaba to… you have been warned.

Sharing this memoir/prose (is there such a thing) that I wrote years ago... What do you think this one's about? The title should give it away... :) Enjoy!

There are days when I just really feel tired. Sundays are our busiest at church and last Sunday, while I was figuring out what's wrong with our ID system, and I was eyeing the laptop and asking it what's wrong with you in my mind -- a woman approached me. She asked me what type of Christian church is our church. I smiled with whatever smile I could muster and said that it's born again. This is me that day.

My dad is finally out of the hospital! He was discharged 2 weeks ago and we couldn't be happier because he has been praying and praising God since. It's a picture that I couldn't describe apart from it is only by God's grace that THAT happened. We have been praying for the assurance of my dad's salvation for years and this was the year that I just knew it would happen. I remember telling friends and prayer partners, "feeling ko talaga this year na yun." And God really does make the impossible possible and His ways will always be higher than our ways.

How's this for a read fave tag? Haha! Well you read a marriage vow naman diba ? :) So here it is, one of the most beautiful marriage vows I have heard... and I don't even know these 2 personally. #medyostalker  Belated Happy Valentines Day dear readers!

Hello there! Got back from Pulag last night and yes, we reached the peak 3! It was the best our bodies could do! 4 hours going and 4 hours heading back... there were moments when we did ask ourselves, bakit ba natin to gnagawa ?? But it was such a relief when our group was able to make it! I haven't had exercise for months, I jogged last week but that was it... So you can just imagine how my prayers were going days before we left. I seriously didn't know if I can make it (hindi naman patay level pero hingal and give up!) but God, with His grace and  mercy, pulled us through! Praise God!

Happy Valentines Day everyone! Hope you're all enjoying this lovey-dovey time of the year! Here's one of my favorite love quotes -- so to all couples out there, I admire your courage and audacity! And to all singles, there's a reason for this time of waiting --- I also wish you the courage and patience to wait for the one person He is molding into His likeness until you meet :) Photo credits: violetvelveteen.tumblr.com

Isn't this song just the sweetest? :) So many girls have been sharing this on Facebook, that here I am doing the same thing when I heard the lyrics of the song. Perfect for  a wedding march, eh? haha! Where did that come from??? I've just attended yet another bridal shower last night, so my days lately are so much peppered with love, couples and the ringing of wedding bells, so pardon me for being such a cheese ball :) Here you go guys! Enjoy this song!

Just sneaking in a post to share how God has been good to me all my life :) Somehow, no matter how much I try or anyone tries, I haven't felt loved and I couldn't love the way God loves me. When I talk to people and I try to describe God's love, every analogy falls short... simply because His love is just so much more intense and it's unconditional. For this post, I want to share the role that love plays in allowing God to be the Lord of my life. :) When we talk about Lordship, it usually entails a sharp intake of breath and begrudgingly opening our hands to release something that we have held on for too long... but Lordship can also be a natural response to what is already made complete in us. Lordship, at its best, is an expression of love. :)

Watching wedding videos is one of my guilty pleasures. That's why when someone makes them with so much artistry and skill, I am floored to the point that I have to share them. <3

"You just have to be brave enough to be patient enough to wait for it." - Fulltime Girl https://thefulltimegirl.com/ Have you met...? A few months back, I get at least one date referral a week from friends and office mates, and that is no exaggerated fact. I don't really express that I want a guy. In fact, I usually just smile and laugh off their offers when they go all-wing woman on me. (I would like to take this moment to applaud the concern and efforts of these people with huge initiatives in life that they have appointed themselves as my unofficial wing women! You know who you are! :P) Although as much as I enjoy being on my own, I also won't deny that there are definitely moments when I wish I had someone. Let us call these the single hood moments: