one blessing after another

We were sent a gift... We weren't able to get over from yesterday, and here's another one! To God be the glory!

#grace

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gospel-bearer

Micah called just now for a good great news. Can't help but put up a super-gratitude post... Makalaag gyud mi taman! Sigh............ Thank you, Micah-yla! #superfriends #friendssincebirth #disciple sauna #coPastorkarun #futurebusinesspartners? #whoknows

farewell

Spent all day editing our invitation and photobook... Plus break times to play with instagram stuff... i still have a life! Haha.

...

And, today, my Nanay Susing went back to the Lord at ninety-two. I only learned it when our youth pastors' meeting was about to start. I left the room and I was overtaken. She is so dear to me. Really, I miss her now.

Nanay Susing is truly an inspiration. She had been among the early Christians here in the south. She was saved when she had her third baby, that was in the 1950's I guess (to do the math: Papaps was born in 1957, he's the youngest of six). Since then, Nanay Susing became a passionate believer: evangelizing everyone she knows. And as a young Christian, she brought a radio with her when she could not share so others could listen. Imagine her doing that from house to house with six munchkins tagging along. She was an inspiration.

I feel so blessed to be a third generation believer. She didn't backslide in 60 years of faith. Nanay fought in faith & finished the race. #tears

...

I actually desired that she could grace the wedding. With that, we moved the venue from Villa de Mercedes to Palos Verdes (although we paid the downpayment already) so tht she would not find it hard to walk on stairs. The last time we saw each other (and another moment when Ate Grace wed), she promised me she would be there when I walk the aisle.

#tears

I miss her. I miss her singing. I miss her long prayers. I miss asking her questions on long drives during reunion. And I miss blushing when I couldn't answer hers (she asked if I had a boyfriend). And so do I miss her excited look when she asked me to sing at my cousin's wedding--the first and only time--si Nanay ang nakadiscover sa ako!

Sigh.

But I delight, however, that she now sits with Jesus and the Father. I will one day see her again--and tell her about my wedding and kids.

...

This grieving moment, too, shall pass.

...

ps: pls pray for our papaps, too. thanku.

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I delight greatly in the LORD;
   my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
   and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, 

as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,

   and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

For as the soil makes the sprout come up

   and a garden causes seeds to grow,

so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness

   and praise spring up before all nations.

-Isaiah 61:10-11

The Bride and the Groom are among the rare creatures
that are pleasing to the eyes. Almost incomparable.
And Isaiah compares that to slavation.
Salvation makes us beautiful.
(if not for God's saving grace,
we will not be here in this season together.
God has saved us from ourselves, our past and our tendencies.
We now understand how important
for two people to have a personal encounter with God,
before entering marriage.
Apart from that, there is no glory.)
Salvation is our glory. And this is only done by Jesus' blood on the cross.
It is like the beauty in a wedding.
Amazing noh?
Conscious sad diay si Isaiah sa mga weddings before noh?
Weddings are head-turners.
It is powerful enough to take us out of our busyness
to chance at two lives beautifully remade to
walk love's journey, for God's will and praise.
...
If the groom takes the lead spiritually (other areas follow),
it is a beauty to behold.
If the bride is bedecked with jewels (grabeh diay sauna noh?),
it is beauty, royalty, and grandness.
It keeps everyone breathless. And God delights at that.
...
God ordains things and events
to show forth His praise and glory!
He causes things!
...
And here we stand proclaiming
"Jesus is our Reason!"
-Gen and Rej

perfection defined

[link from ate rhea annie tulio]

God desires a blameless, spotless bride for His Son. Somebody who is practically perfect. As I walk through this bridal season, I am humbled by the many realizations (revelations in Christianese! =D) God graciously unveils. 


He knew that the Church, the Body of Christ as the Bride of Christ, walks in compromise many times, faltering even in the least details so He unconditionally gave His Son (Romans 5:8---while we were yet singles sinners, Christ died for us!) to wash us clean. It was the Father who paid for the ransom, it was the Son who paid for the beautiful white dress of the Bride, it is for her to keep it untainted until the time her Bridegroom returns. Then she can walk the aisle of grace, everyone amazed at her beauty, mesmerized by her perfection.


But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 1Corinthians 15:10 NIV

the ninong/ninang agenda

We agreed to have seven pairs (3 from me, 3 from her, 1 common) ... but right now we still have ten on our list... wanna help doing the pick? #there-is-a-requirement-though =D

Rej and I were very careful about this one. Our first criteria in picking a ninong/ninang is the testimony of the marriage. Who wouldn't want to witness and be modeled by a God-ordained and God-blessed marriage?! Of course we're aware that we're incapable of finding perfections in marriages. But we do honor couples who have stood firm in their faithfulness to God with their vows of sanctifying their marriage to give glory to the Lord as they minister the Gospel and make God's love known through their genuine love and intentional fidelity to their only spouse. #plusablessedparenting

We also wanna be strict at picking those who can really attend the wedding ceremony--we never want them to miss witnessing our sacred vows being sealed in the Lord's presence. Bu have you ever thought of cheap presence wrapped in a cheap signature? Well, this happens when you invite your principal sponsors, they show up on the wedding day... they sign their best signatures... but will miss the way you live your marriage and raise your family for the rest of their lives! The Principal Sponsors should never be counted as decorations of a wedding because they weren't meant for the event but for the marriage and family life of the couple. #notethiswell

At the end of the decision-string, it really brings persistent delight being sure that we can go to them (selected Ninong and Ninang) and be accommodated genuinely as if we really are a son and a daughter to them. #anytime #anywhere #anyhow =)


And to note, right now, we already feel blessed at the list we have. Woohoo!

at the realm of willingness

Nine days is swift. Gen’s leaving tonight. =(

Nonetheless, we have to maximize the time left for us to [prepare] for the
big day
start-of-the-big-days! =)

We got the venue booked and we checked out the rings. But the best part of today is praying for  seven random students at USEP since the Eagerlz scheduled a campus invasion. That was our utter worship to the Love of our lives. Praying for people and speaking blessing as we wanted them blessed is one of the cores of our calling. While we were waiting for the other girls to finish, we were musing about our excitement to start the ministry at a certain place God has put in our hearts. #Godwearewilling

I feel compelled about posting a pic of us on today’s looong day:

All right, enough for the cheesy part (I’m a new convert!–Pwede man maging cheesy diba basta gikan kay Lord ang love story?!).

And so the day ends with the fact that he has to leave Davao [alone] *for the last time*…

Nothing is better than a family sending off in prayer.

God remains great! His love endures forever!

going legal

Although marriage is God’s design before man thought of formalizing it, we need to comply what the government requires. So, today, we made it early at th City Registrar’s Office to have ourselves enlisted. We were there beaming with delight at the thought that God has brought us this far since the first day we’ve met (December 12, 2008) and the first day we’ve prayed (much earlier than that). The Lord has been faithful. Really faithful.

To Gen and I, marriage is a covenant we make before the Lord. Without Him, our marriage is just vanity. And WITH HIM, our marriage can never, ever be broken. For as a pastor who represents Him at the wedding signs the marriage contract (that’s another paper), he needs to sign the separation, annulment or divorce papers should a married couple want out. But people do not ask the pastor anymore when they decide to do so, they forgot there are three people in a marriage. Knowing that God will never break a covenant He makes, a marriage can never be broken. What peace do we have knowing that choosing to obey God through the covenant of marriage pleases Him. It is a form of worship we will each day and forever keep.

=)

Notes:

Marriage License is at Php 400

Requirements: Photocopies of NSO-furnished birth certificates of both parties, photocopies of 1 valid ID each, photocopy of each’s CENOMAR (Certificate of No Marriage)

mother-in-(law)love

A musing: Before the evening ended at the pamamanhikan, I was very elated when Tita Nars (Gen’s mom) asked me for a hug because I was the one she was praying for a long time and that I would finally be her daughter-in-law. I was tearful. Not many girls are blessed to have a very sweet and prayerful mother-in-law (soon). I said a secret prayer to the Lord, “God, You are so faithful in Your ways. I have only desired that someday, I would get in-laws that I could get along with (Well, in-laws *should* get along–it’s more of an effort, right?). Now, You are giving me those who share the same heart and passion of seeing people saved and prosper in You.”

If I may tell you, during the time Gen and I were so clueless about our upcoming journey, Tita Nars was already praying for us. Knowing that, there was a high intensity of peace that transcended my cloudy thoughts. I could not explain it, but one thing for sure was–I love being prayed for–and I love it sooooo much that the mother of the man I have been considering is praying for me! I knew that we are having a stronger foundation (more than having prayed ourselves) and this would take us to a surer road. Our parents were praying with us! In fact, they were praying for us and our future spouses even before we did (My parents did so even when we were infants–surely there were other infants somewhere on the other spots of the world who are set to walk in the fear of the Lord and those who are called to be servants of God–and they are going to be our future mates)!

I call myself blessed. And I know, you can also walk the same road of favor as you continue to uphold God’s promises for your life. Yes, keep guarding your heart, there’s so much blessing that accompany waiting (which is also defined as obedience and worship)!

Yes, I call myself very blessed–aside from the fact that I am going to be Gen’s wife, I am going to have two amazing, women-of-God-kind of mothers soon! =) =)

ang pamamanhikan

Ours was different in a way that the groom’s father (Pastor Ric) and Genesis need not asked my father (Pastor Ruffy) for my hand. Well, charge that to the trust we all made that God has appointed a time for us to be together and that Genesis and I have decided (and chose–choice is big factor) to obey fully and be [here]. So, to get things a little more formal, we setup a meeting of families at Eden Nature Park in Toril, Davao City.

HOW THE JEWISH DOES IT

Last March, Gen and I have been reading on how Jewish people setup nuptials. Aside from the fact that they also do arranged marriages,
their custom is much closer to how we do it in the Philippines.
our custom as Filipinos is very much similar to how they do it. The groom travels far to meet with the bride’s family. At dinner, he pours our wine and if the prospect bride drinks of the cup, the betrothal is sealed. The two are pledged to be married in a year (at most, two). And while waiting for the day, the bride concerns herself of beautifying and preparing herself all the more in purity. The groom on the other hand goes back to his father’s house. They prepare the marriage tent while only the groom’s father know about the exact date of the wedding.

IN THE SPIRIT

Spiritually speaking, Jesus as the Bridegroom came to offer his lifeblood–dying on the Cross to save us all from our sins. From the conviction of guilt, we are made pure by the shedding of His blood. Hallelujah! And as we partake of that blood, we share in His sufferings, joy and mission. From then on, the believers as Christ’s Body and Church, is betrothed to Him who poured His Blood.–yes, we became Christ’s Bride.

WHAT HAPPENED

Conventionally, Genesis’ fam had to fly over from Pangasinan to meet with us for the said pamamanhikan, but it turned out that we had a  family getaway–yes, a rather good sway from the traditional–and it was something that both families actually needed. We had food, games, hikes, photos, swimming and singing. The presence of God was evident. Of course, we had discussions regarding the technicalities of the wedding and with joined faith, we are certain that God will set things in place.

Later that night, we had the Kingdom Meal–the communion led by Pastor Ruffy and commenced in prayer by Pastor Ric. It was binding. It was joyful. It took us all into a deeper level of faith. Truly, God has His own ways of exalting Himself even in seasons as intimate as this. I thank God for all His interventions for only with His works are these things perfected and given more substance. Praises!

 If you wonder why Gen and I do not have a photo together? Well, I wondered first! No one remembered, I guess. We’re set to have our e-sessions this weekend, anyway!

cake-free

As I am getting more and more particular with the details of the wedding, the cake would be the last concern. As Gen and I did a study on how the Bible-time people did their weddings, there was no mention of the cake. So, that confirms it.

Nonetheless, when I saw this, I thought twice:

Printing 1 Corinthians 13 (one of the chapters we intentionally memorized–and try to live) would be nice as ‘eating the Word of God” is Biblical. One layer would be enough, right? We can’t splurge on a piece of sweetness that people can never taste. But Gen digressed, “One layer? Parang birthday lang noh?!” 

Hehe.

Two?! =D

My parents had one layer. Would it be nice to keep that as a tradition? Naks. Palusot.

But really, after having visited cake studios here in Davao City, I am tempted to having three or five.
This event
Our event is a testimony to God’s faithfulness after all. It’s worth celebrating, yes! With how it will be financed? God has His ways.

And sure, He does. A classmate from college called to get the cake for us! Amazing! Ang sarap mag-obey! So, right now, I’m relieved of the cake stress. I’m feeling freedom right now! Wahehe!

Praises!

sweeter and stronger in time

It gets sweeter with time. I remember preaching about the wine at Reload. It symbolizes these three:

☞ the Blood of Jesus, covenant and joy.

☞ Covenant

☞ Joy

It’s a really nice idea to give away wine bottles as remembrance to these truths, right? I’m excited already. =D