He was thin, dark and shy.
She was slender, petite and friendly.
He was nursing a rejected heart.
She was a nursing student with an open heart.
He caught a glimpse of her gorgeous smile.
She pretended he was far by a mile (at least that's how
he felt then).
He found himself visiting her in the days that followed.
She cordially accepted his friendship, meek and mellow.
Their friendship and love, as the years went by,
blossomed and grew.
Finally after eight years, they were married as they
exchanged "I do".
Yes, that pretty much sums up how I met my one and only
ex-girlfriend and now the mother of my beautiful and wonderful kids.
Those eight years of getting to know each other's best and promising sides
while deepening and enriching our spiritual lives has become our strong marital
foundation.
Now that we are on our 15th year as husband and wife,
what a colorful and memorable journey it has been so far! We have been through
a lot of mostly grace-filled ups as well as a couple of challenging downs that
included one life-changing and heart-breaking loss. We have lived mostly
overseas and met great friends with similar interests in life, love and living.
But now that we are back in our motherland, we are now making some adjustments
after our long hiatus. Our eldest who was home-schooled ever since, has to bear
the brunt of my at-times impatient teacher-parenting, while my wife undertakes
the daily grinds of the house up-keeping and the delicate and stressful art of
home-making.
Once I asked myself what would I be now if I haven't met
my wife.
By God's grace and mercy, I do believe that I'd still be
a striving-to-be-a-good person mainly due to the consequential upbringing of
our parents. And just like most of everyone, I would still be in pursuit of a
meaningful life in whatever direction I would feel the Lord is leading me into.
I would be fine, I guess.
But God has no plans for a "fine" life for me.
He is not interested with me just getting on with my life. He meant for me to be able to reach my full potential. He
has planned great things for me ever since.
Indeed, with my wife by my side and our ever-growing
kids, I am becoming a better person, a better husband and a better father as
time goes on. I am far from being perfect but the journey with her makes it all
worthwhile and worth remembering. She always give me her understanding and
support when I am struggling. She constantly prays for our family's safety and
well being. She is my best friend and a true confidant of my innermost fears
and frailties and my co-conspirator in my achievements and successes.
In my lifetime, immeasurable and profound joy will always
be with me because my ever-loving wife is with me.
Happy anniversary, honey!
Cheers for more, much more, forevermore years!
I love you!
Yes, it's you ...
You're the one in my life I've known
From the start that it's you I'd spend forever with
So please hold on with me...
You know so well that we can't last a day
Without each other
You're all I have and you're all that's there
To keep me goin'.*
-Side A band (with a slight lyric revision from my side)
