My prince, my love.

Dear Girlfriend,

While I can tell you to find a man who is handsome, extravagant, good with words, and romantic, I tell you now that you can have everything when you choose to be with a man of God. For the day will come when you are no longer in the honeymoon stage,  good looks will eventually fade and the weight keeps kicking in. The sweet words will be overused, and the luxuries will pass by. The man of God knows perfectly that you are a precious gift from God. And so he will take care of you like how God wants you to be treated. That man will know that the a love triangle is necessary: you, him, and your Creator. And if both of you will delight Him first, He will shower you with the desires of your hearts. Nothing can beat the storms of blessings in store for you.

I prayed for a man like that some years ago and God answered my prayers.

***

To my prince,

Thank you for treating me like the Princess God said that I am since day 1. Thank you for always reminding me that I am precious.

Thank you for always being the calm sea.

Thank you for making me smile, even if it's difficult. For telling me to "turn my frown upside down." And for stretching my curled eyebrows all the time.

For being my mission and service partner. For rising up to the challenge of  "walking the talk especially in Singles for Christ." For restoring my faith in the brothers of SFC.

For loving me in all of my shapes and forms.

May 2008

August 2008

December 2008

May 2010

June 2011

February 2012

For being a man of action and prayer.

For always replying "Let's pray" when I initiate a fight. :P

For simply being my frog Prince!

For believing that our relationship will be perfected in God's love.

Thank you for reminding me to just love my neighbors without expectations. For reminding me to "kill everyone with kindness." Thank you for being a living example of SFC-CLP talk 6, a walking proof of 1st Cor. 13

And hang on sweetie, God is still not done with me. I'm working on it. :)

Happy four years! I'm so blessed to have you. Thank God for you.

***

Sister, keep on praying because God answers prayers.Wait patiently and remain faithful as you wait. :)

May we all be continuously blessed.

Date a girl who reads by Rosemary Urquico

“Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.

She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilightseries.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes.”

I pray thrice.

St. Agustine said, "He who sings well prays twice."

Pero sabi nga ng choir teacher ko nung bata pa ko, "He who sings not so well, prays thrice."

So pano pa ko? Hehe.

Pero sabi nga, when you give it your all for God, He knows it, for nothing can be hidden from God.

Here's my relaunch during last May's SFC Heat.

F na F lang! :) Pero for God naman yan. Go Music Min! :)

Never look back.

"Remember Lot's wife!" Luke 17:32


"But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt." Genesis 19:26







Today I am reminded of the story of Lot's wife who turned to salt after defying the most important survival instruction: Never look back. Hers was a chance of a lifetime. She and her family will be saved from her sinful city's destruction, if only they run fast and do not look back. Obviously, she did not pass the marshmallow test.


When I went through my writings from years ago, I knew that I have come a long way already from being a drama girl that I was. I have learned to count my blessings and have gained wisdom to know what I should consider the treasures in my life. In my darkest hour, God has redeemed me and gave me countless of chances. And through the years, I am convicted to use my story in however God wants me. 


I was able to run away from the fire. But today, I confess that I haven't really stop looking back when I get the chance. 


I am Lot's wife in many occasions.


It's always tempting to look back, let alone dangerous. A sister always tell me that the devil is scheming. He wants me to look back. He wants me to go through the mental pain of "What ifs, and wasn't it more fun then?" It brings me back to the days when I used to have those things, used to do those things. He wants me to be weak again. 


Today, when I remembered a specific memory, it just didn't bring me to a happy place. I relived the pain. And then I remembered Mother Theresa saying, "You are exactly where you are supposed to be." I am already a new creation. He said, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" 2 Cor 5: 17


I have come a long way because Jesus Christ made it possible. And yes, there is still things ahead of me but I know better now to face my giants head on. The urge to look back will always be strong. But this is what I have to say, " I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13. 


No more looking back. 

Rainy season kick off

Sometimes I wonder if kids are old souls trapped in tiny frames.