♥ Love Stories ♥

21st Month ♥

For the past two months, we've been spending our monthsaries in service. Last month, we were in Navotas for the San Roque Unit CLP Orientation. This month (today), we had our sector service meeting in the morning and went to Padilla in the afternoon for SFC Far East's Covenant Orientation. As I've shared with my household, service in the community, particularly in SFC, can do two things: It can either strengthen or break relationships. In our case, I admit that there are still misunderstandings, may mga tampuhan din minsan, but at the end of the day, we always find ourselves growing in faith and in love. Who we are and what we have now, we owe to the many opportunities God is giving us, opportunities to serve, to journey, to witness, and to love. Ours is not a perfect relationship. But it's solid. And it only gets stronger and sweeter with every trial we overcome by the grace of the Lord. :)

It's our 21st month, and there's no better way to spend it than giving back to God what He has abundantly blessed us with - time, talent, and treasure (yes, marami ako niyan! treasured memories, treasured people). :) And of course, hindi dapat mawala ang quality time. Before going to Padilla, we had a quick date at St. Therese and SM Masinag. :) Inikot lang namin ang simbahan, nagnilay saglit, nilanghap ang hangin, at nilibot ang bawat palapag ng SM Masinag. :D We even saw one of his grade school classmates. He was with his wife who is pregnant with their second child. :) Happy lang. At mas happy pa dahil sa super cute gifts ng aking Love. :) Gifts which he won from the dart game at Prizes! Prizes! :D To follow na lang photos because we were not able to bring Blue kanina.

And that's how we celebrated our 21st month. Simple. Fun. Full of love. :)

21 months na pala. Parang kailan lang. :)

First International Trip Together - Global Leaders Summit, Bangkok :)

His first time in Iloilo. :)


Tagaytay. Just because he wanted to eat bulalo and tawilis. :)

Thank you, for the past 21 months of love, friendship, fun, and service. God knows how grateful I am to have you in my life. You are my best friend, my travel buddy, my mission partner, my shield from the lightning, my clown, my editor, my counselor, my brother, my love. You are my God's greatest gift. I love you so very much. And I know you love me more. :D ♥

*************

Kwento ng Pag-ibig ♥

After our monthsary date, we went home to spend time with our respective families, especially with our mothers. :) I went home a little late dahil napahaba ang homily ni Father Mark. Pero gaya nga ng sinabi niya, sinadya niyang pahabain ang homily dahil ang tunay raw na nagmamahal, hindi binibilang ang oras na inilalagi niya sa piling ng kanyang minamahal. :) Thus, if one truly loves the Lord, he won't mind spending more than an hour with Him in His very temple, the church. :) So there, around 10pm na ako nakauwi. And it was only then when I had dinner. I never liked dinuguan. But tonight, I feasted on dinuguan for dinner. Guess who cooked it. Not Mama (she's a very good cook, though) but Papa. :)

And this is the story behind the dinuguan.

Yesterday, nagpaparinig daw si Mama about Mothers' Day. She was asking Papa to treat us to Mang Inasal or Chicboy. Sabi niya ang tagal na raw niyang hindi nakakain ng dinuguan at puto. Napa-compute naman si Papa kung magkano ang magagastos namin sa Chicboy o sa Mang Inasal sakaling mag-order nga kami ng dinuguan at puto. So Mama was expecting that he will treat us for dinner.

This morning, Papa woke up earlier than usual (he wakes up late during Sundays because it's his rest day) and went to the market to buy the ingredients for dinuguan. He didn't treat us at Mang Inasal or Chicboy, but he made this day even more special for Mama because he cooked dinuguan for her! :) And I find it really sweet and cool. Love doesn't need to be expensive. :) And it's better expressed with concrete actions done with effort and passion. Because love can never be equated with any amount of money. :)

*************

And that ends my Sunday. Such a LOVELY day! :)

Thank You, God! Thank You, Love! ♥

Comments

Understanding Lupang Hinirang

Every Filipino knows Lupang Hinirang (though some know it better as " Bayang Magiliw "). How can you not know it when it is the national anthem of the Philippines? But do we really mean the lyrics that we sing? Do we understand it in the first place? Photo Credit: http://diazi.ism-online.org This video has gone viral weeks ago. This afternoon, I shared it to my teammates, and one commented, "Yun pala yun . Ngayon ko lang naintindihan." He immediately downloaded it and converted to MP3. So for those who have not seen it, once again, here is Joey Ayala's version of Lupang Hinirang. And I agree, you would never want to sing it in another way. (But that's just me. :D) This rendition is simply beautiful. Truly Filipino. :) Of course that doesn't mean we need to revise our national anthem but maybe we can consider about correcting the way we sing it (read: proper pronunciation). Read more about the Philippine National Anthem here . ...

Jesus Week 2015: A Time To HEAL ♥

I had the best, most meaningful HOLY WEEK ever, so far (the best is yet to come!). :) Thanks to Joy who shared the Jesus Week poster on Facebook. It was God's personal invitation, and I couldn't thank Him enough for the grace that He also gave me to respond. Everything is grace. It was not just my personal decision to join. It was God's grace that allowed me to. So how did it go? Well, as what I have told my friends, it was amazingly beautiful! The experience was priceless! On Holy Monday, I posted Fr. Jerry Orbos' acronym for HOLY WEEK . I experienced all of that and more! :) I won't be able to share everything as there is just a lot of personal, intimate encounters with the Lord. But if I were to summarize, it was a time for me to HEAL. :) H alt . Indeed, I was able to stop and just rest in the Lord. Before leaving Manila, I have already told myself that this retreat will be all about Jesus ( Jesus Week nga e :D ). No emails, no texts, no calls. I...

Thank You, Lord! :)

It has been a long and stressful day (the past three days have been lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng and stressssssssssssssssssssssssssssssful), but You are just so amazing, Lord that I couldn't sleep without telling You how grateful I am. :) Thank You, Lord for the miracle that You did yesterday. Break even and more. :) Thank You, Lord for the laughter and stories shared during the post-mission meeting with Team Thailand. :) Team Thailand - Princesses from SFC Metro Manila :) Thank You, Lord for Lawrence. He is just the (almost) perfect man. He has his flaws, but they are acceptable; he makes mistakes, but they are all forgivable. There are a lot of men but there can never be anyone else. He's really the one. And You know it very well. :) ♥ Nemo. Love. ♥ Thank You, Lord for giving me strength and endurance each day. :) Thank You, Lord for the short but restful sleeps. :) Thank You, Lord for every waking moment and every opportunity that You give ...

The Holy Spirit*

*Cluster 4 Household Topic Reflections from John 15:26-16:4 True friendship is strengthened in adversity. Jesus offers His disciples the best and truest of friends. Who is this promised friend? Jesus calls the Holy Spirit our Counselor and Advocate (also translated Paraclete or Helper). Counselor is a legal term for the one who will defend someone against an adversary and who guides that person during the ordeal of trial. The Holy Spirit is our Advocate and Helper who brings us safely through the challenges and adversities we must face in this life. As Jesus approaches the hour that He was to be glorified - through His death on the cross and His resurrection - He revealed more fully to His disciples the person and the role of the Holy Spirit. What does Jesus tell us about the Holy Spirit? First, the Holy Spirit is inseparably one with the Father and the Son. It is the Holy Spirit who gives life - the very life of God - and who kindles faith in hearts r...

Interesting Facts Courtesy of Celebrity Bluff :)

I was writing a different post, but Celebrity Bluff is just so fun and informative, I had to stop from blogging to list down the fun facts that I learn from each round. :) Thought it would be nice to share them here as well. For future reference. :D Q: In 2012, what kind of animal was named after Beyonce? A: Horse Fly Q: What rare job in China will pay you US$50,000 a year? A: Fart Smeller Q: What alcoholic drink literally means "water of life"? A: Whisky Q: In which part of the body can you find the tragus? A: Ear Q: According to Merriam-Webster, what is the female equivalent of dude? A: Dudine Q: What is longer in the male turtles than in the females? A: Nails And the final question is... Q: According to Box Office Mojo what are the top four (4) movies of 2013 according to global profit? A: (1) Iron Man 3, (2) Despicable Me 2, (3) Fast and the Furious 6 (4) The Hunger Games: Cat...

These Little Wonders

Search This Blog