Chasing Dreams

It’s my husband’s birthday today/yesterday (today in New York, yesterday in Manila). I intend to post a longer blog with lots of photos as soon as I find time, but for now, a quick post before I retreat to bed.

As his birthday was about to end, my husband and I reflected upon the past year and how much has happened in such a short period of time. It wasn’t long ago when we would celebrate birthdays and monthsaries in front of Skype, opening our Fedex-ed gifts and finding creative ways to bridge the distance. Don’t get me wrong, we treasure those good ol’ days, we learned so much from them. But we cannot deny the fact that deep within our hearts we incessantly prayed for the day we would get to spend these special occasions together.

And now we’re here.

We had quite a lengthy prayer to cap the night, thanking God for blessing my husband 28 awesome years, most especially for the past year which was exceptionally beautiful. You bet there were tears of joy all over the place.

Chuck Swindoll wrote something that pretty much describes how it feels like, being in the center of God’s grand scheme of things:

Life is not based on blind fate or random chance. Everything that happens, including the things you cannot explain or justify, is being woven together like an enormous, beautiful piece of tapestry. From this earthly side it seems blurred and knotted, strange and twisted. But from heaven’s perspective it forms an incredible picture. Best of all, it is for His greater glory. Right now, it seems so confusing, but someday the details will come together and make good sense.

There it is—part of God’s perfect plan unfolding.

Those years spent apart were difficult, and there were a gazillion things we couldn’t understand (even until now). But as we witness God’s master plan unfold, it becomes clearer each day why God allows things to happen the way they do.

It’s not my birthday today, but it’s like I’m the one who was given such a beautiful gift.

Last week, Ate Vilma, our Sunday School teacher/mentor/discipler/friend (and to add to her growing list of titles, our Ninang), came back glowing from the Holy Land. I had the privilege of spending an entire Saturday afternoon with her, listening to stories about her trip, of those places in the Bible that she used to just teach us in Sunday School—the same dusty roads that Jesus walked on, synagogues where Jesus taught, bodies of water that were witnesses to His miracles.

It was awesome listening to her, I can just imagine how much more mind-blowing it would be if I get to experience it myself! I’m stealing some photographs off her Facebook wall, praying that I’ll get to take truckloads of photos and see Israel through my own lens someday.

1) View of the Dome of the Rock (what used to be Solomon’s temple) from the Mount of Olives; 2 & 3) The Sea of Galilee; 4) The Western Wall and the Temple Mount in Jerusalem; 5) Ate Vilma pinning a paper to the Western Wall with our names in it! 6) And that’s her, Ate Vi, sitting by the Sea of Galilee

I’m still a bit stoked at the thought that MY name (and my husband’s) is listed somewhere on the Western Wall of Jerusalem. Thanks to our dear Ate/Ninang Vi, whose passion never fails to inspire, to give hope, and to encourage.

I’m officially adding a new item in my bucket list!

Also, blogging this now so when the time comes, I get to trackback on this post. ;)

Israel, I shall see you someday.

*All photos taken from Ate Vi’s Facebook wall, post-processed by Riz.

1. Photographs from Boracay, part 2. I was saving these photos for a separate post, just ’cause this is my favorite set. These photos were taken on the morning of our last day in Boracay, before I got horribly sick. Still, I love that I got to preserve the best parts of our Boracay trip in photographs; and how Boracay seemed to never run out of blue skies and white sand.

That morning, unlike any other mornings, my husband and I walked to the beach, found a spot, sat on our sarong (picnic blanket), opened our Bible, reflected on Psalm 92 & 93, and prayed together. We don’t always get to walk to a nearby beach anytime we want, so even though we’re not exactly morning people, we woke up beyond our usual that day, making sure we didn’t miss the sunrise. It was definitely worth the pain of getting up at 5:30am! Now, whether we’re in the beach, or in bed, or in church, or in our dining table, whether in the morning or at night, I love that we can freely clasp our hands together to talk to God 3-way. It’s amazing how I was just praying for moments like this a year ago, and how beautifully God answered that prayer.

2. I love answered prayers, whatever they may be—yes, no, wait. In my life I had an abundance of them—including ones that were answered with a resounding “no” (which ultimately led to one “yes” after another.) Lately I’m beginning to appreciate how everyday is an answered prayer in and of itself. We have roof above our heads, food on our table, warm bed at night. God knows exactly what we need, what to say, what to take away.. every single time! Never fails.

3. And then there are random strangers who leave messages on twitter with 140 characters worth of love and encouragement. It’s a great feeling to be prayed for by a stranger, it inspires me to be a blessing by praying for others too.

What can I pray for you today? (:

1. Polaroid prints. We got a Polaroid Pogo Printer more than a month ago, but my excitement died down with each passing day as I realized how difficult it is to find Polaroid Pogo films in Manila. Why, surprise, surprise. A pack of 100 Zink photo sheets came in the mail last Friday, and I was left wondering again how my husband manages to cook up surprises like this from under my nose!

He ordered the Zink sheets from ebay, the package was shipped to the Philippines from California, and just like that, my love for instant photography is back. Mind reels that there’s a separate blog about this sometime soon. You bet. (:

2. Habakkuk 3:17-19. Last Sunday, David preached in church for the first time and the experience was awesome. I know, that last sentence was pretty biased, coming from his wife and #1 fan by default. But what’s truly awesome to me is how God prepared him for this. Sure, he didn’t have a degree in Theology, but his message felt so real to me because I’ve seen Habakkuk 3:17-19 happen in his life more times than my fingers can count and my mind can recall. I sat there front and center, listening to him preach God’s Word, feeling like I was getting to know him a little bit more, and feeling blessed and inspired of the message that God placed in his heart. So okay, I may be biased, but come to think of it, if there’s anyone who sees this man for who he really is now—ups and downs, good days and bad days—it’s got to be me. And I’m soo thankful to be a witness to how God is continuously working in his life, and our life together. (:

3. Link love. And now I send some link love to these people whose blogs/videos inspired me this week. After the jump.

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Day 28/30: Black & White. Behold, the Sanchez ladies, busy applying make-up on my back. LOL. Sooo serious! I was wearing a backless gown, people, this is serious business!

I’m having some sort of writer’s block right now, staring at this blank space for the past hour without any progress. I feel like I’ve said so much the past days, there’s nothing much for me to say now. So while I try to put my thoughts in one place, allow me to copy-paste Chuck Swindoll‘s words..

God is God, and He will have His way when He pleases and for His glory. What could be better than that? In all the mystery of His waiting and working, and in the wrong of our doing and undoing, He can still be trusted. The main thing is that you and I remain sensitive to those moments when He finally breaks the silence and suddenly intervenes on our behalf. At least to us it seems sudden. To Him, it happened exactly as He had planned it all along.

just ’cause I thought, perhaps, you need it too. (:

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