Ibyang
Ibyang

Couples Reflections

Celebrating Marriage Everyday

9 September 2011 3 Comments Category: Couples Reflections

Our wedding happened four years ago…but my Husband and I celebrate our MARRIAGE everyday.
 
I received a very nice tweet from one of our closest friends in Manila and it said,  “Just saw your photo on your blog. You look lovely. Your Husband must be pleased everyday of his life.“

To which I replied, “We’re blessed to be together.  Everyday is a gift.“

It’s nice receiving compliments period. However, receiving compliments from friends mean a lot to us because they are the people who know us and know what we go thru as a couple.  Thru their compliments, we get to see how we grow together as a couple.


Our married life is far from ideal. We face challenges once in a while and there are frustrations that needs to be managed. But amidst some not-so-good times, we honour our marriage more and we respect each other more than to let the challenging times get the best of us.  Tempers sometimes get way out of hand but thank God, we have not made bad tempers a habit inside the home–and we have no plans of doing so. We are both peace-loving and fun-loving persons that we’d rather kiss and make-up than let pride get in the way of having fun.

One thing I love about our Marriage is that we never take the small things for granted. We actually believe the opposite–that it’s always the small things that matter. Small things such as the way we greet each other when we arrive at home, how we never seem to get tired of saying “love you, love you!” (Yes, we say it twice), how after all these years of being so familiar with each other we say “please” when asking favours from each other,  how we still like holding hands, how we respect each other’s personal space, how until now we still get surprised when we discover some things about each other and how we always say “thank you” for being there for each other.

Everyday is a gift and everyday we celebrate our marriage and togetherness by finding joy in the smallest of small things.

 

This is also my entry for this month’s It’s a Wife’s Life Blog Carnival

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Affirmation: Wear Your Blessings Well

Affirmation:
I will wear my blessings well



Wearing your blessings well doesn’t mean you have to brag about what you have.  Sharing your achievements in life doesn’t mean you lack humility or you are a show-off.  When done sincerely, basking in the blessings given to you is a way of honouring God’s presence in your life and embracing the abundance God has blessed you with.  


I’ve been inspired by Joel Osteen’s thoughts on Wear Your Blessings Well and I thought this is worth sharing.  

Deuteronomy 28:2 says, “All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God.” God is a rewarder of those that seek Him. When you keep God first place and do your best to honor Him, blessings always follow obedience. That means you will come into increase, promotion and good breaks you didn’t necessarily deserve. When blessings come, God desires that you wear His blessings well so you can be an example of His goodness and display His greatness to others. This means you are quick to give God the credit when credit is due. This means instead of feeling guilty for being blessed, you are thankful for His blessings and receive them with gratitude.

 Let God make an example of what it means to live a blessed, prosperous, abundant life through your life. We are His great representatives here on earth! Don’t hide what God has blessed you with from the world. Learn to let God’s goodness shine brightly in your life each and every day and wear His blessings well.

{source} 

Here’s another worthy read: some key points from Joel Osteen’s talk on Wear Your Blessings Well: 

When you’re blessed, the haters come out. When you step up to a new level, the backbiters show up. When you wear God’s blessings well, don’t be surprised if it draws jealousy out on people . But we got to get to a point where we say not arrogantly but in all HUMILITY, “I’m gonna wear God’s blessings well in spite of who doesn’t like it. I’m gonna take this promotion in spite of who gets jealous. I’m gonna wear this beautiful material blessings in spite of who gets envious. I’m gonna drive this brand new car in spite of who criticizes. I’m gonna move in to this nicer neighborhood in spite of who judges me.

Life is way too short to worry about what everybody things.  If friends get jealous and judge you and are critical, you need some new friends.  Because true friends celebrate you.  True friends encourage and cheer you on.  True friends are happy when you succeed.

People may criticize. They may judge you, they may find fault.. but they don’t know what it took to get to where you are. Some people come in at the end of the movie and they see you blessed, and prosperous and healthy, and sober and free and happy and they want to judge you and criticize. But the problem is, they missed the 1st part. They didn’t see the sacrifices you’ve made. They didn’t see the struggles that you endure. They didn’t see the battles that you’ve fought. The times you felt like giving up but you kept pressing forward. The nights that you stayed up and prayed and believed and gave and served. They didn’t see the price that was paid to get you to where you are. And that blessing may look free, but the truth is it cost you something.

Don’t let anyone make you feel guilty for the favor, the honor, the peace, the victory that God has given you. Somebody paid the price. Seeds were sown. That is God honouring your past, faith, your sacrifices, your faithfulness. Don’t hide your gifts and blessings God gave it to you. People are always gonna talk. That’s their problem not yours. If you will always wear your blessings well.. BEING QUICK TO ALWAYS GIVE GOD THE CREDIT, then there’s no limit to where God could take you. He’ll make you an example of what it means to LIVE A BLESSED, PROSPEROUS, ABUNDANT LIFE.

If you want to watch the video, please click this link.

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Reflection and Quiet Time

Most true happiness comes from one’s inner life, from the disposition of the mind and soul. Admittedly, a good inner life is difficult to achieve, especially in these trying times. It takes reflection and contemplation and self-discipline. 

– William L. Shirer

 
image by Chris Sanchez

In celebration of Holy Week, I have decided to spend a lot of quiet time until Easter. My Husband and I will mostly spend a peaceful time at home and will only see relatives if need be.

I will also make myself scarce online for now. I will resume blogging and other online activities I participate in after the Easter festivities.

I wish everyone a safe and spiritually productive Holy Week. Keep happy, kind thoughts!


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He Can’t Live Without Me

One thing about me and my Husband is that we are not much into words. Yes, we have the occassional letters, notes and we always express simple affection towards each other. However, we never liked talking about promises or saying grand statements like “You complete me!” hahaha. When it comes to our relationship as a couple, we believe that love is not love unless manifested in actions. We are a “less talk, more action” kind of couple. We both don’t make promises to each other and we both don’t mind NOT hearing them.


While writing this, I remember the moment we got engaged. His unique way of saying that he wanted to marry me was to show me a family (parents pushing their baby on a stroller) walking past us in a mall and said “I want something like that”. And he was able to convince me to marry him because he never told me promises, instead, he showed me a clear example of what he wanted our life to be in a few years.

No matter how much I share some cheesy stuff we do or say to each other online, that is just that. Mind you, the surprises and our times together are never intended for romance (we are not romantics) but we do those cheesy stuff only for fun and we just like amusing each other. We just like making each other laugh.

And so if you’ll ask me before if my Husband can’t live without me, I’d reply to you, “I don’t know.” Because I really don’t know…because he never said so…and I had never asked. Thinking about it now, that might be kinda weird ‘no? We’ve been together for seven years now (bf-gf for 4 years and married for 3 years) and I never knew the answer to that question.

Until two weeks ago. We were talking about going home to Manila and we had a couple of “what if?” questions one of which was this:

Me: What if you need to vacation in the Philippines without me? Will you still go?
Him: It depends how long my vacation is
Me: What do you mean?
Him: Kung sandali lang pwede
Me: Eh ano naman kung matagal
Him: It wouldn’t be the same without you vacationing with me
Me: How can it not be the same, eh it’s the Philippines? That’s home! If you vaycay without me, you can go wherever you want and see whomever you like…sky’s the limit coz I won’t be sagabal to your gimiks.
Him: I can’t vacation alone for long without you
Me: Aha! Are you saying you can’t live without me now???? (trying not to laugh)
Him: (looking like an embarrassed school boy) *pauses a bit* Yes
**Laughter**

So that’s how I learned that he can’t live without me. 🙂

To my dearest husband, happy 38th wedding monthsary. Thanks for taking me out today and thank you for days that turn out extraordinary just because I learn about things I never knew before. Our marriage is indeed one big adventure 🙂

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Celebrating Marriage Everyday

Our wedding was three years ago…but my Husband and I celebrate our MARRIAGE everyday.

Yesterday I received a very nice tweet from one of our closest friends in Manila and it said “Just saw your photo on your blog. You look lovely. Chris must be pleased everyday of his life : – )“

To which I replied, “We’re blessed to be together 🙂 Everyday is a gift. 🙂“

It’s nice receving compliments period. However, receiving compliments from friends mean a lot to us because they see the two of us grow together as a couple.

Our married life is far from ideal. We face challenges once in a while and there are frustrations that needed to be managed. But amidst some not-so-good times, we honour our marriage more and we respect each other more than to let the challenging times get the best of us. Yes, tempers (especially mine) sometimes get way out of hand but thank God, we have not made bad tempers a habit inside the home–and we have no plans of doing so. We are both lovers of peace (we are not a fan of fighting) that we’d rather kiss and make-up than let pride get in the way of having fun.

One thing I love about our Marriage is that we never take the small things for granted. We actually believe the opposite–that it’s always the small things that matter. Small things such as the way we greet each other when we arrive at home, how we never seem to get tired of saying “love you, love you!” (yes, we say it twice), how after all these years of being so familiar with each other we say “please” when asking favors from each ther, how we still like holding hands, how we respect each other’s personal space, how until now we still get surprised when we discover some things about each other and how we always say “thank you” for being there for each other.

Everyday is a gift and everyday we celebrate our marriage and togetherness by finding joy in the smallest of small things.

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