NO ORDINARY LETTER

I have been into many weddings for the past years with different roles such as wedding emcee, bride's maid, maid of honor, singer (char lang) and flower girl (joke lang...it never happened:-) hahahahha). And would you believe, i was gotten as ninang (Godmother) to a beggar that constantly on post at a particular Church... during college days heheheh... I and my friend Luisa were being ambushed by this friend beggar. Well we were not able to say no (ambush nga).

Well most of those weddings I joined were so lavish. My sister's was one of those and she was so anxious with the preparation and the nitty - gritty of things. Me? I was so relaxed during her wedding. But looking at her was like "I don't want to experience that..." - thinking running in my mind. Huh...hehe but still it was such a b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l wedding.

Years passed and that thought did not really matter at all. I and Mike wanted to make it big too. We hired a wedding coordinator, gave more than half of the budget and voila the money was gone. I don't want to tell you further what the coordinator did. But one thing I learned. Our values were challenged.

When something...anything so precious is gone...to get to look back and focus on the most essential thing was our best recourse. We have the strength of our love for each other, family's support, friends' listening ears and that even without that partial amount(in the hands of that coordinator) we managed to work out and push through with the plan to get married.

Life is very challenging. Mike and I were able to see some invisible forces trying to throw challenges at us. Perhaps attempting to separate us but BIG NO...cannot be...LOVE IS STRONGER THAN ANY STORM ha ....

Well...we thought of simpler plan. Though the big wedding can still be pursued if we would want to but i guess...the lesson is to stick with the "essentials". We want to proceed with our vows before God without being limited to the pressures outside of us. We will go for it while we haunt the culprit hahahhahahaha.

And so the original desire i put forth during my 19th annotation retreat which was poured out from prayer and discernment is now thrown in the air with stars and flickers ...In this regard I wrote a letter to the archbishop to flash the green light of the preparation (with Mike's approval).

The following letter was written with tears dropped on paper (joke lang) este on my supple cheeks (hahahahha)...and I should say a desperate move to get a "special" space for our very intimate wedding ceremony.

_________________________________________


Dear MOST REV.________:(sorry I can't disclose his name without his permission)

I am writing on behalf of my soon-to-be husband (wrote Mike's full name) to ask for your permission that we would be allowed to hold our simple and private wedding at the Bishop’s house chapel. This shall only be attended by our immediate family members and very close friends.

It has been a long and joyful journey of friendship and love combined for both of us who have been in the relationship for almost 12 years. A growth that we would want to share someday to our future children.

We opted for a simple and intimate encounter with God. We want to get the feel of such moment with Him and make it a very meaningful vow to live as good “caretakers” of each other and His children. Starting it simple would also send a beautiful message to our children and us becoming good models to them in values.

We hope we would be given such chance and would gladly meet you for an appointment at your convenience.

God bless you always!


Sincerely,

Dang...(i wrote my full name here)
_________________________________________

While I was bracing my heart putting every piece of the desire i had and Mike's, i found the revelation. The long buried silence and cry was liberated from its deepest source. This is what i badly want for years. This is what I badly want to be realized. Mike and I share the same vision of the kind wedding for both of us...

And...it was such a wonderful brief encounter with the archbishop (we were like poodles in front of him hahahhaah cutie poodles ...so so glad with life's biggest surprise and question why God brought us in front of him). Thanks to my friend micmic for such initiative (actually the archbishop's assistant is my friend wahahhahahah ang galing ni Lord). And so with the archbishop's statement "You have my blessings..."...it was like God blessing us and protecting us even before the ceremony....God sent us angels...through micmic and the archbishop. They were like our warriors as we move forward to the new challenges of married life...:-)

There is no such thing as accident ha!!!!!! hehehheheheh Praise God...Thank you God...!



Note : I eliminated a paragraph of the letter for confidentiality's sake (hahahha char lang).