Fresh Start Daily

My husband and I have a very unique love story. It’s not an isolated case but at the same time, it’s not what Christian communities expect for people to meet or maintain a relationship. Some say it’s not normal.

We’re not like other couples who had known each other for years before getting married. We’re not like those Christian couples who met in church while serving God. We’re not like those who were introduced by a common friend. Nothing like that.

Lelan and I didn’t have a long history before we got married. We had no friends in common. We are from opposite sides of the world. We are from different races. We speak different languages. We have different cultures and traditions.

When people ask me about how we met, there is slight hesitation on my part to share our story because of people’s judgments. We didn’t meet organically. I tend to be very careful with my words so they will understand how Lelan and I happened.

The story of our meeting was like a whirlwind. However, remembering my prayers to God for a husband when I was still single, I can say that Lelan is an answered prayer. When I was still single, I would always tell God that when I meet the right one for me, that we marry soon.

Although everything went fast for us, Lelan was gentle and respectful the whole time. I had said and done some things that could change his mind about me but he didn’t. I would always ask God for a husband that is patient, kind, and gentle, and Lelan is all that. He has the qualities that I prayed to God for.

We live in different parts of the world, and people wonder how we make it work. I remembered asking God for someone who would cross oceans for me because that would mean (at least for me) that he is intentional and serious about pursuing me.

He travels back and forth the U.S. and the Philippines just to be with me. I mean, who am I? I’m not that special. 😅 However, because I am his wife, he takes the responsibility of a husband seriously. He overlooks the cost and the exhaustion from traveling halfway around the world several times a year for our marriage. I respect him for that.

God gave me a partner in the ministry. He gladly helps me in doing outreaches. He tries his best to be pleasing to the Lord. I don’t deserve my husband, but I am grateful. God knows what kind of man I need in marriage. Lelan is not perfect (like me) but he is right for me, and I love him. When I look at him, I still can’t believe that God gave me a husband. He is an answered prayer.

I love him but I don’t idolize him. He is the Lord’s. Sometimes when I worry about him, I just lift him up to God because, really, he is HIS. If I love him, God loves him more. If I want him safe, God wants him safe more. I can only pray for him from a distance when we’re not together, but it is only the LORD who can really protect him from all kinds of harm.

He is a gift that I don’t deserve but the Lord gave because GOD is good. HE is the God who answers the prayers of HIS children–in HIS time. HE is the GOD who does not withhold the longings of HIS children’s heart. HE is the GOD who delivers HIS promises to those who trust in HIM.

My husband does not and will not replace God in my heart, and I know it’s the same for my husband. I don’t want us to be each other’s idol. God is a jealous God and HE doesn’t want anyone taking HIS place in our heart. I was listening to a sermon this morning while doing the laundry. The pastor said, if your spouse dies, it’s okay. He quoted Alfred Lord Tennyson:

“‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”

My prayer is for my husband to live long but no matter what happens, my hope is in the Lord. God will take care of me as He has done for many years. We may not be together all the time for now but I am waiting on the LORD for HIS decision. I am trusting that when the time is right, my husband and I will never part anymore.

When I miss Lelan and long to be with him, I just think that I was able to wait for a long time to meet my husband. Waiting for us to be together eventually is nothing compared to waiting for God to send me a husband. I am glad and content that GOD gave me a husband at all. We just keep praying for us to be together sooner.

People have different love stories and just because our story is not conventional, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t genuine. It’s amazing to me how God brought us together. He’s caucasian, I’m Asian. He lives in the U.S., I live in the Philippines. We are from opposite sides of the world, yet God orchestrated our paths to meet.

I am grateful that GOD allowed me to experience marriage. It is very humbling. I am learning that the purpose of marriage is to glorify God. Yes, we are together because we love each other but it’s not only about the two of us. It’s also, and it is ultimately, about the One who brought (and keep bringing) us together.

My prayer when I was still single was for my future marriage to give glory to the LORD, and my prayer remains the same today. I pray that our individual lives and our marriage will give glory to the ONE who deserves all the glory, honor, and praise.

My husband already left for the U.S. this evening. Before we parted at the airport, he said that he has a letter for me and he put it in (yes, inside) the fridge. He said he also wrote in my Bible (the Bible he gave me for our first wedding anniversary).

He first gave me the Morning and Evening devotional by Charles H. Spurgeon. He reads from four different devotionals and I told him that I like Morning and Evening. I didn’t know that he took note of that comment of mine.

Also, last month, I asked him if the journaling Bible (single column journaling Bible with a leather cover) that I showed him is available in the U.S. and he said that most of them are in ESV. I didn’t ask him to buy one for me but he remembered it. I was ecstatic when he gave me a journaling Bible in the New King James version. I could not contain my happiness. I was like a kid with her favorite toy when I received it. He said, “Look at you getting so excited over a gift.”

I really want to buy a journaling Bible but the ones available here in the Philippines are in ESV. I like writing and drawing in my Bible. I like highlighting, too. I write commentaries, prayers, notes, etc. I still love my old NKJV Bible but there’s no more space to write and draw. Haha. Anyway, now I don’t have to buy anymore. ❤️ I can already start my 3rd round of Bible reading. I know some people read the entire Bible once a year but I like to savor the Word.

Lelan is sweet. He remembers things that are important to me. I feel like my gifts for him are blah compared to his gifts for me. He doesn’t mind the cost of and the exhaustion from traveling from the U.S. to the Philippines and vice versa several times a year just for us to be together.

When I was still single, I asked God for someone who would cross the oceans for me and Lelan is exactly that person. He doesn’t mind the distance and the stress that comes with our temporary long-distance relationship. I asked that from God because for me, if a guy will travel far for me, it means that his intention is pure. It means that he believes I’m worth the distance and effort.

He is a gift from the Lord. He is an answered prayer. He is not perfect but he is trying his best to be pleasing to the Lord. (I’m not perfect either.) Lelan loves the Lord and he likes to obey His Word (the Holy Bible) and I respect him for that.

God gave him to me not because I deserve a good and godly man but because God is good. We serve a wonderful, awesome God! I miss my husband already… Airport goodbyes are the hardest.

I don’t mind sharing my husband’s first official letter for me.