Time is not of the essence / Dear God, these are the traits I would like for my future husband to have.

My one and only Ninong, Tito Raemond, made a remark earlier this day that kinda stuck with me.

He said that, given the amount of time Joey and I spend together, para na rin daw kaming ten years na magkakilala. Binawi daw namin. I just smiled at him, and with a playful flick of my head, said in a maarte voice: “I’m fun to be with e.”

Joey and I marked our first year of being officially together last month. We were nearly nine months when he proposed, and we became official a month and five days after the first date. A whirlwind romance? I’d say there are others with shorter engagements than ours. I might not have known him that long, but I sure knew long before he proposed that he was “the one”.

How? For us, it was quite easy. I asked for him… and he also asked for me.

Some of you have probably read or come across with that YahooPH article that came out a few weeks back. In that writeup, I was so comfortable with Ms. Maridol (the writer, and whom I also consider a friend) that I told her how my relationship with Joey came about.

My best friend Marj and I are fond of going on spur-of-the-moment trips to Tagaytay. In one such trip on late February last year, I suddenly had the idea of writing all the characteristics we wanted in a husband into a letter to God. Sinakyan ni Marj yung idea ko, and on scraps of paper we got from the waiter at Balinsasayaw restaurant, we started enumerating. (When the right time comes, I will share with you guys a picture of my letter). 

Here’s some of what I wrote: 

I wanted someone smart and kind, someone who would love me and accept me for who I am and where I come from;

I wanted someone who was adventurous too - I asked for a surfer and a mountaineer, haha; 

I asked for someone who was “matulungin sa kapwa, malalim ang pananampalataya, mapagmahal sa pamilya at sa Inyo”, among other personality traits; 

I listed down physical attributes as well: I asked for someone taller than me, hindi masyadong balbon, “yung kakulay ko po”;

I asked the Lord, “hanggang ten years po yung agwat, if ever”.              

And on the second to the last request, for some reason, I wrote “gusto ko pobusinessman/entrepreneur”, which was honestly very weird, because for some months or even a year already, I was crushing on a public figure who was to my knowledge, neither a businessman nor an entrepreneur. I was just writing freely then - but on that crucial moment, I knew I could have asked for my crush, but I didn’t, and instead I created in that letter a man whom I knew, if God would answer my letter, I have not ever met yet.

Marj and I prayed to God together when we finished writing our letters. That was the first time I ever seriously prayed for a guy so specific and detailed, though I must have been throwing in a random “Lord, sana po magka-lovelife na ako” wish in my long list of prayers. Perhaps in that prayer I fully entrusted and committed my love life to God… and so when I came home, I inserted my letter to God in my Bible, and I forgot about it - meaning that was when I stopped asking God for a lovelife.

Six months later, Marj’s cousin Kuya Tantan who bikes with Joey, randomly thought of pairing us up. In that first week of knowing each other, I saw Joey five times. Yes, halos inaraw-araw niya ako. Yes, ang haba ng hair ko. And yes, ang saya-saya ko. 

(Hanggang ngayon!! Yihee!! Hehehe)

One of the things that I really really liked about us when we were dating, was how often and deeply and openly we would pray together. I have never shared a similar experience with anyone else… and every time we prayed it just really felt so good and peaceful, that everything is just right. 

We would always pray every time he brought me home, before he would leave. One night, he rendered me speechless when, holding my hand, our eyes closed in prayer, he uttered the following words:

“Lord, I would like to ask for Sitti’s hand to be my girlfriend… with the possibility of becoming my wife.”

My eyes popped open. I was shocked, I couldn’t believe my ears - never before, has someone directly asked God for my hand. Never before, has someone outrightly asked for God’s blessing to be my boyfriend. It was surreal, he wasn’t like anyone I’ve ever met before. I mean, this was God! He was asking God directly for me!

Of course my heart melted. Of course I shed a few, silent tears. Of course I loved him even more for what he said.

And i love him so much more now. And with God at our centre, with His love flowing through us, I believe there is nothing we can’t accomplish together - him, me, God.

That is the story of how we asked God for each other.

Some months into the relationship, my daily reading fell on the exact page where I inserted my letter. I’ve forgotten all about it! And as I reread all that I wrote, the same thought kept repeating itself over and over in my head: “Si Joey ‘to! Si Joey ‘to! Si Joey ‘to!”

And if I, and some family members thought Joey and I were growing too close too fast, I shouldn’t have been surprised because apparently, in the tiny upper left space of my letter, I wrote a P.S.:

“Lord, sana po by age 30 ikasal na po kami ni Marj. =)”

I’m turning 30 next month, and on May next year, I will be Joey’s wife. <3

Our God, who hears and answers all our prayers, is a God of wonder and great, great love. My dearest friends, I encourage you - never stop praying, never stop trusting, never stop submitting your all to God. It is the only way for Him to truly work His wonders and His plans for us.

God bless everyone! Have a wonderful week. Bossa love and kisses from L.A. :)