ACHIEVE – tinamats.com

My Best Friends’ Weddings

January 13, 2014January 13, 2014 Tina 5 Comments

Two of my closest friends got married in the past two weeks.

No, they didn’t get married to each other. They were two separate wedding ceremonies that we attended, the first two weddings in our little group and we were all excited to witness them get married to the loves of their lives. It was the perfect way to end 2013 and start 2014. â™¥

I really like weddings. I can’t not like them, I guess, especially since my brother is a wedding videographer, and I’m always around wedding stuff when I’m with him. I like weddings not just because I’m a romantic sap, but because I think weddings are a solid proof of God’s faithfulness to His people.

All wedding stories I’ve heard from friends, and from people my brother worked with always had a story behind it, one that involved a lot of struggles and tears and heart break. It all seems lovely on the day itself, but can you imagine how the two of them got there? What did they go through, not just in preparing for the day itself, but you know, before the proposal, before they got together and all that?

Take one of my friends who got married, for example. I’ve known her since elementary, and she’s one of the nicest persons I know. She’s pretty and popular in school, and from the outside, I always thought she seemed so lucky with love, because boys always noticed her first and went for her. But I was also privy to some of her greatest heartaches, especially before she met her now husband. I can still remember those days when we’d all sit together and talk and keep her company, because the one relationship that we all thought would be forever ended like that. And then she met the next guy, and I can still remember that long discussion we had about commitment and what she wanted and what he wanted, and I saw how it was such a big decision for her and for him. It wasn’t easy, and I know I just saw a fraction of her struggles. But I saw how faithful God was to her and how He took care of her heart, and when we watched her walk down the aisle, all I could think of was: This is what we have been praying for for her. This long journey really battered her heart at some point, but it made her a different person. It made her even more beautiful, and now she’s with someone who will take care of her heart the way she deserves it, and we’re all just very happy for her.

Then our other friend, who I had the privilege of talking to about love and life for a long time as we ruminated over our own struggles. It’s funny how I was a witness to how God transformed this guy through some of these love struggles, and sometimes I still laugh when I remember how he was before to how he is now. His story with his now-wife took years in the making, and he tripped so many times in the journey, but the road led back to her again. This amazes me so much, because it almost seemed like a dead end story when he first told me about it. After a rejection, and some pizza time (because I can’t forget about that, haha), my friend started building his relationship with God, and then found his way back to his girl. I don’t mean to make it sound so simple because there was a lot of work in the background of their story, but the point is — and I’d like to borrow my friend’s term for this — it’s all God’s favor. And His faithfulness to the the people faithful to Him.

It’s not an if-else thing (because if it is, then I should have been married by now, too :P). The thing I realized over these two weddings is that God really is writing our love stories, and it’s almost always not in the way we thought they would go. If anything, the story God writes for us is way, way better for us, and something we never really thought would be possible until we get to a certain point and look back. It takes action on our part, of course, but most of it is a trust thing — trusting that wherever we are now, God is always working on us, and He always sees, and He always loves us even in our most difficult times.

It gives me hope, you know. Not just in the romantic aspect, but in all other aspects of my life. I really believe that God makes all things good and He gives what is good, and He works for the good of all the people who love Him. My idea of what is good may be different now to what He has in mind, of course, and I’m learning that bit by bit. That’s why I’m also learning take delight in Him, be it in good times or success or failures or heartache, because I trust that He knows and sees more than I do.

And He is faithful, always and forever. My closest friends are proof of this. :)

â™¥

Long Weekends

August 30, 2012August 30, 2012 Tina 3 Comments

Also known as: Two long weekends deserve a post

I’ve long moved on from writing diary-type entries on my personal blog because I figure no one else really cares about it except for me. I mean, even I don’t read a lot of blogs that write their days in detail, so I figure who would bother to read that on mine, right? (Unless you’re a stalker. Or you have a crush on me. Or both. Erm.)

But anyway, since we just went throughtwo long weekends in the country, I realized I had reasons to blog about them. In an almost diary-like entry because..well, how else can I remember them? Normally long weekends just pass by like a blur. For other people, long weekends are a time to go out of town, but because I’ve never been lucky with booking cheap flights during long weekends, I never did that. I did have two full long weekends, actually, so instead of going out of town, I filled them with all sorts of activities (other than reading and sleeping). So let’s start.

Filipino ReaderCon 2012

I wrote about the event in detail in my book blog, so this will be more on my reflections on the event. I think I can sum it up in a sentence?

I loved every bit of it.

I knew taking on bigger responsibilities for the ReaderCon this year was a bit daunting, and I was kind of scared that I wouldn’t be able to do it, but I was surprised at how it wasn’t that stressful at all. Sure, there were many times I was scrambling to write blog entries for the site and I feel like I wasn’t able to do all the things I should do, but overall, it was really my kind of thing for my kind of event. I loved it, and it made me realize yet again how much I love words and anything related to it. I had another one of those “I was made for this” moments while I was roaming around the venue during the event.

Don’t you love it when you get those moments?

WYD 2011 Team Reunion

It’s been a year, as I posted a few weeks back, but our reunion almost didn’t push through because of so many conflicting schedules.But we had to, seeing as it was our anniversary and all. Thank goodness we pushed through, because it totally sealed my weekend.

It’s hard to describe why and how I became good friends with these people, especially since I only knew one of them when I joined them for WYD 2011. Of course, being with them for 2 straight weeks is enough to tie me to them. But I don’t know, I feel like our friendship is deeper than normal, and it’s not like I know these people that well.

wydreunion — WYD 2011 reunion! (Photo c/o En)

Perhaps it’s because our friendship does lie deeper, because we’re all anchored on that experience that is anchored on, well, God. I’m no stranger to friendships that were formed in church communities and while I haven’t been in touch with other old friends I met during my YFC days, I knew that the friendships I had with them were the real ones and they were the ones that made me grow in so many ways. And I guess my WYD friends count as that kind of friends, too — but I do hope I keep them for life. :)

I loved our how night ended with a prayer and how each and every one of us were prayed for. What was prayed for me, you ask? No, don’t bother asking. ;) But I really, really appreciate it, and it’s nice to know that I’ve got these people praying for that aspect of my life. :)

People With History

May 24, 2012May 24, 2012 Tina 17 Comments

Also known as: This was meant for the book blog, but I realized a post on friendship has a better place here :)
Also, a note: Look, I’m blogging two days in a row!
Photo credit: Ella — Thank you, thank you! :)

Sometimes, I’d like to believe that I have been lucky with my friends.

When I was a kid, I used to dream of writing a book. Not the kind of book I want to write now, but you know a non-fiction book based on friendship. I was big on finding true friends, in keeping friendships, and you know, just having these set of people you can count on whether you need them or not. I don’t know why I was so fascinated with that — maybe it’s because I don’t have a sister (but don’t get me wrong, my brother is awesome)? Maybe I read too many books and watched too many shows about friendship? I don’t really know, but I was in the search for true friends, and once I find them, I intended to keep them.

(On a sidenote, this is also probably why I can be slightly possessive with my friends sometimes. But that’s for another post.)

Anyway, last weekend, I met up with some book club friends to discuss one of my favorite contemporary young adult books ever, On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta. I was excited for this because one, this is my one of my favorite books, and two, my adopted little brother was moderating the discussion. Oh, fine, I was also excited for this because book discussions have been a highlight of my month ever since this year started, but that’s already a given, so there’s really no need to stress that. However, the days leading to the discussion weren’t really my best, with a vacation that didn’t end so well, and having my iPhone sent for repair because of an accident. I wasn’t sure if I could stay for so long there, but I was determined to at least show up and see how it goes — little time is better than no time, yes?