Welcome 2008! It's a new year with the offering of a new life in more ways than one. One major change in my life now is that I am now the wife of (hopefully) a very happy man :D We've been keeping a separate blog for all that is wedding-related but since I don't have the time to upload all the nice pictures that were taken during the wedding, I'm posting here the links to some of sites that do have pictures :) Hope you have time to visit them. If not, a murmured prayer for me and my husband, Leonides Saguisag Jr would be most appreciated. Here are some links:
http://junbyandmitzi.blogspot.com/
http://mtfr.multiply.com/photos/album/8/A_Day_to_Remember
Getting married, being a major undertaking, both in terms of preparation and the actual event I have been unable to post any of my thoughts and opinions. I hope to have more time to do that once I finish up the stack of work that piled up when I went off to our honeymoon in Palawan and the subsequent holiday disorders. Suffice it to say that now that we are back in Bacolod and starting to settle down to some sort of 'normal' living, I will have more time to ruminate on the past and to plan and aim for dreams with my husband this time. :)
Time to get back to work. Hehehe. Just couldn't resist posting one tiny thought before tackling this webpage I'm working on. I look forward to the coming days as Junby and I start to settle down to a routine and to the exciting world of Marriage. :D
Showing posts with label wedding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wedding. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Getting rid of tunnel vision
When I become caught up in my little world -- with its seemingly BIG concerns, get weighed down by the things that are not going the way I want them to go, when my world seems to have shrunk to me being the center of it -- I need a way to rid myself of, what I call, 'tunnel vision'.
In medical terms, tunnel vision is the loss of peripheral vision with retention of central vision, resulting in a constricted circular tunnel-like field of vision
In layman's terms, it seems as if all that one can see is focused only on one thing, everything else beside it fades away. Well with the wedding day moving closer, I seem to be experiencing a slight tunneling of my vision. I find myself unable to think of the big picture as readily as I used to. Well tonight, while taking a break from wedding-related stuff, I stumbled upon this website with a very inspiring video . . . It's of a professor who was giving his last lecture. The highlights of his lecture helped me get rid of my temporary tunnel vision and restore to me a sense of what this is all for :)
The wedding isn't the end all and be all of everything (though at times I admit it feels like that :P). The whole world will not cease to exist if the invitations are not sent when I planned them to be sent nor will World War III take place if I forget one logistical detail. What is important is the marriage -- the new life I am entering into. Now that is something I need to keep touching base with. All these wedding preparations are actually showing me how I would most likely deal with the stressors that are part and parcel of married life. LIFE -- that is the operative word I have to remember. That was what Professor Randy's lecture was all about.
Thank you to Sara of Healthbolt, the site I found the video at. Thank you to Professor Randy. That was one great Last Lecture!
*Click on the video or the logo WSJ to start the video if pressing on play doesn't work :P
In medical terms, tunnel vision is the loss of peripheral vision with retention of central vision, resulting in a constricted circular tunnel-like field of vision
In layman's terms, it seems as if all that one can see is focused only on one thing, everything else beside it fades away. Well with the wedding day moving closer, I seem to be experiencing a slight tunneling of my vision. I find myself unable to think of the big picture as readily as I used to. Well tonight, while taking a break from wedding-related stuff, I stumbled upon this website with a very inspiring video . . . It's of a professor who was giving his last lecture. The highlights of his lecture helped me get rid of my temporary tunnel vision and restore to me a sense of what this is all for :)
The wedding isn't the end all and be all of everything (though at times I admit it feels like that :P). The whole world will not cease to exist if the invitations are not sent when I planned them to be sent nor will World War III take place if I forget one logistical detail. What is important is the marriage -- the new life I am entering into. Now that is something I need to keep touching base with. All these wedding preparations are actually showing me how I would most likely deal with the stressors that are part and parcel of married life. LIFE -- that is the operative word I have to remember. That was what Professor Randy's lecture was all about.
Thank you to Sara of Healthbolt, the site I found the video at. Thank you to Professor Randy. That was one great Last Lecture!
*Click on the video or the logo WSJ to start the video if pressing on play doesn't work :P
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Deep thoughts on a Windy October morning...
I was going through our forum at www.misyononline.com and saw an old post by my boss. It had a link to an article entitled, 'A Glint of Sapphire' and it was a reflection of sorts by the author and his wife as they celebrated 45 years of marriage. Wow! In this day and age, such longevity in marriages is to be celebrated indeed.
I'd like to share some lines from the article which struck a chord in me and got me thinking about certain things. They quoted the old marriage rite (Pre-Vatican II pa ata) :
“You begin your married life, by the voluntary surrender of your individual lives, in the interest of the deeper and wider life you are to have in common. That future, with its hopes and disappointments, its pleasures and pains, its joys and sorrows, its successes and failures, is hidden from your eyes now. Yet, these elements are mingled in every life. They are to be expected in your own.”
An iron-clad commitment follows: “And so, not knowing what is before you, you take each other for better or for worse; for richer or for poorer; in sickness and in health, until death do you part.”
I hadn't realized until reading this quote that the Church has a very balanced view of life and what it entails. The quoted portions of the rite acknowledged the elements that would be needed for a fulfilled marriage. One element that I found significant is found in the line... "the voluntary surrender of your individual lives, in the interest of the deeper and wider life you are to have in common". Voluntary surrender is an act of the will. You choose to give up your preferences and wants. What for? I know nowadays, there is a strong advocacy for individual rights but then marriage according to these lines is not about individual rights but about a communal life. I used to see surrender as synonymous to defeat but I have been learning that isn't always the case. Surrendering, especially in the context of giving up for something better makes one a victor and not the vanquished. What for are we called to surrender in marriage? We are called to surrender in the interest of a deeper and wider life that is to be lived in common.
No one can quite say, they weren't fairly warned :P I like the line "voluntary surrender of your individual lives" -- yup it is indeed a choice and a choice made everyday I think... :)
And what reassures me is the line that says despite not knowing what is ahead, the couple takes each other as is in all circumstances. No ifs and buts about it. Now that is commitment. I used to want to be 100% sure of my choice of a mate. But then I cannot see a 100% into the future and how things will be but as the article stated,
“And if the unselfish spirit of sacrifice guide your every action, you can expect the greatest measure of earthly happiness that may be allotted to a person in this life,” it pledged. “The rest is in the hands of God.”
And I think that's the safest place for my marriage to be at. :)
I'd like to share some lines from the article which struck a chord in me and got me thinking about certain things. They quoted the old marriage rite (Pre-Vatican II pa ata) :
“You begin your married life, by the voluntary surrender of your individual lives, in the interest of the deeper and wider life you are to have in common. That future, with its hopes and disappointments, its pleasures and pains, its joys and sorrows, its successes and failures, is hidden from your eyes now. Yet, these elements are mingled in every life. They are to be expected in your own.”
An iron-clad commitment follows: “And so, not knowing what is before you, you take each other for better or for worse; for richer or for poorer; in sickness and in health, until death do you part.”
I hadn't realized until reading this quote that the Church has a very balanced view of life and what it entails. The quoted portions of the rite acknowledged the elements that would be needed for a fulfilled marriage. One element that I found significant is found in the line... "the voluntary surrender of your individual lives, in the interest of the deeper and wider life you are to have in common". Voluntary surrender is an act of the will. You choose to give up your preferences and wants. What for? I know nowadays, there is a strong advocacy for individual rights but then marriage according to these lines is not about individual rights but about a communal life. I used to see surrender as synonymous to defeat but I have been learning that isn't always the case. Surrendering, especially in the context of giving up for something better makes one a victor and not the vanquished. What for are we called to surrender in marriage? We are called to surrender in the interest of a deeper and wider life that is to be lived in common.
No one can quite say, they weren't fairly warned :P I like the line "voluntary surrender of your individual lives" -- yup it is indeed a choice and a choice made everyday I think... :)
And what reassures me is the line that says despite not knowing what is ahead, the couple takes each other as is in all circumstances. No ifs and buts about it. Now that is commitment. I used to want to be 100% sure of my choice of a mate. But then I cannot see a 100% into the future and how things will be but as the article stated,
“And if the unselfish spirit of sacrifice guide your every action, you can expect the greatest measure of earthly happiness that may be allotted to a person in this life,” it pledged. “The rest is in the hands of God.”
And I think that's the safest place for my marriage to be at. :)
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Eye of the Storm
September is drawing to a close. Right around the corner is October. That leaves me with less than three months before the wedding. I'm trying not to panic and to stay on top of things but I do get this feeling of time slipping through my fingers before I can adequately maximize all that it has to offer. I admit I swing in either two directions when that happens. First, I either procrastinate -- an infantile desire to have things fix themselves so I let things slide. Second, I may become almost like a headless chicken rushing to and fro trying to get everything done in one day. Sigh.
On this yet again rainy day, I pause and try to regroup myself and have a better battle plan than staying within the realm of Stephen Covey's 'Urgent/Important' quadrant. I can do this, I tell myself. I have to do this :) No one to pass the buck to nor anyone dogging me to get this or that done. It will get done, by hook or by crook (I say that now with a determined nod of my head, my eye on the calendar, my mind racing with a million and one 'to do' things).
Despite the urgency though, I am glad that I have not yet lost that joyful spirit, thanks to my times of prayer everyday and my fiance's strong support, felt even from a distance. When things are done gladly and with joy it indeed ceases to become a burden. Today is the eye of the storm. I use this time to regroup and to assess how best to tackle the days ahead that I may not lose sight of the goal -- the day God's promises are proven true.
So enough blogging for now. Time to tackle that calendar that has been calling my name the past hour or so. Time to make a battle plan and to carry it through. May God keep me always at the center of His peace. Amen.
As I tackle the list in front of me...this music is playing in the background, soothing me...
So enough blogging for now. Time to tackle that calendar that has been calling my name the past hour or so. Time to make a battle plan and to carry it through. May God keep me always at the center of His peace. Amen.
As I tackle the list in front of me...this music is playing in the background, soothing me...
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Prayer from the Heart
It's been a while since I blogged...obviously :P I was busy living instead of blogging about living... :)
Anyway, my fiance was in town since September 5 until the 24th so it was more interesting hanging out with him than being in front of the computer. Besides, the only reason I stay in front of the computer most days (other than work-related) is to keep in touch with him and since he's here in the flesh -- best to focus my attention on the real thing. Now that he's back to being on the other side of the world, the computer becomes once again my friend. :P
Since I'm taking a break from doing another sideline, I read this prayer from Chicken Soup of the Soul's website. I found it quite apt for what I pray for Junby and myself. I'd like to share it with you here:
Please make of our relationship a great and holy
adventure.
May our joining be a sacred space.
May the two of us find rest here,
a haven for our souls.
Remove from us any temptation to judge one another
or to direct one another.
We surrender to You our conflicts and our burdens.
We know You are our Answer and our rock.
Help us to not forget.
Bring us together in heart and mind as well as body.
Remove from us the temptation to criticize or be cruel.
May we not be tempted by fantasies and projections,
but guide us in the ways of holiness.
Save us from darkness.
May this relationship be a burst of light.
May it be a fount of love and wisdom for us,
for our family, for our community, for our world.
May this bond be a channel for Your love and healing,
a vehicle of Your grace and power.
As lessons come and challenges grow,
let us not be tempted to forsake each other.
Let us always remember that in each other we have
the most beautiful woman, the most beautiful man,
the strongest one, the sacred one in whose arms we
are repaired.
May we remain young in this relationship.
May we grow wise in this relationship.
Bring us what You desire for us,
and show us how You would have us be.
Thank you, dear God,
You who are the cement between us.
Thank You for this love.
Amen.
Anyway, my fiance was in town since September 5 until the 24th so it was more interesting hanging out with him than being in front of the computer. Besides, the only reason I stay in front of the computer most days (other than work-related) is to keep in touch with him and since he's here in the flesh -- best to focus my attention on the real thing. Now that he's back to being on the other side of the world, the computer becomes once again my friend. :P
Since I'm taking a break from doing another sideline, I read this prayer from Chicken Soup of the Soul's website. I found it quite apt for what I pray for Junby and myself. I'd like to share it with you here:
A Prayer for Couples
By Marianne Williamson
Dear God,Please make of our relationship a great and holy
adventure.
May our joining be a sacred space.
May the two of us find rest here,
a haven for our souls.
Remove from us any temptation to judge one another
or to direct one another.
We surrender to You our conflicts and our burdens.
We know You are our Answer and our rock.
Help us to not forget.
Bring us together in heart and mind as well as body.
Remove from us the temptation to criticize or be cruel.
May we not be tempted by fantasies and projections,
but guide us in the ways of holiness.
Save us from darkness.
May this relationship be a burst of light.
May it be a fount of love and wisdom for us,
for our family, for our community, for our world.
May this bond be a channel for Your love and healing,
a vehicle of Your grace and power.
As lessons come and challenges grow,
let us not be tempted to forsake each other.
Let us always remember that in each other we have
the most beautiful woman, the most beautiful man,
the strongest one, the sacred one in whose arms we
are repaired.
May we remain young in this relationship.
May we grow wise in this relationship.
Bring us what You desire for us,
and show us how You would have us be.
Thank you, dear God,
You who are the cement between us.
Thank You for this love.
Amen.
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Sweetness personified
Today was an ordinary day except for the love and care I felt from my fiance who is a thousand miles away. How was he able to do that? Well, this good man has his ways of making me smile. First, he was quite understanding that I couldn't chat with him since I had work this morning. That might not mean a lot to others but its a very big step for my sweetie. He likes having me around (I must have quite a fascinating personality, naks -- nagbuhat ng sariling bangko :P).
Next, though he must have wanted to have me stay and vidchat with him after lunch (we haven't 'seen' much of each other the past weeks due to his work load and my service in CYA) he instead told me I needed to sleep (I must have looked quite haggard ;P). Isn't he thoughtful?
I didn't really feel like getting up after my nap but since I needed to visit my best friend's dressmaker to have myself measured for her wedding, I stumbled out of bed. What greeted me were two boxes. One was a long rectangular box that I have become quite familiar with the past months and one square box which was quite new to me. As I suspected, it came from my thoughtful, sweet and romantic fiance -- deep red rose buds (three dozen to be exact!) and a box of Belgian sweets! Will post the pics later since I prefer to take photos in natural light (naks, feeling marunong). :)
Such extravagance is something I had to get used to. I'm a simple girl with simple joys and to be lavished with such attention and gifts was quite overwhelming at first. I would be hypocritical though if I said I didn't feel flattered by it either. I thank God for such loving coming from a good, generous and thoughtful man. I am indeed blessed. Knowing him, he isn't going to stop doing this after we are married and somehow I have come to look forward to such sweetness from him. I pray I can love him well in return.
Next, though he must have wanted to have me stay and vidchat with him after lunch (we haven't 'seen' much of each other the past weeks due to his work load and my service in CYA) he instead told me I needed to sleep (I must have looked quite haggard ;P). Isn't he thoughtful?
I didn't really feel like getting up after my nap but since I needed to visit my best friend's dressmaker to have myself measured for her wedding, I stumbled out of bed. What greeted me were two boxes. One was a long rectangular box that I have become quite familiar with the past months and one square box which was quite new to me. As I suspected, it came from my thoughtful, sweet and romantic fiance -- deep red rose buds (three dozen to be exact!) and a box of Belgian sweets! Will post the pics later since I prefer to take photos in natural light (naks, feeling marunong). :)
Such extravagance is something I had to get used to. I'm a simple girl with simple joys and to be lavished with such attention and gifts was quite overwhelming at first. I would be hypocritical though if I said I didn't feel flattered by it either. I thank God for such loving coming from a good, generous and thoughtful man. I am indeed blessed. Knowing him, he isn't going to stop doing this after we are married and somehow I have come to look forward to such sweetness from him. I pray I can love him well in return.
Monday, June 04, 2007
Fun Countdown...
I chose the beach and the moon for these are but two of what I love in nature. Spending time at the beach this past week during the STC (Summer Training Course) of CYA was such a blessing. The beach and the moon help me to de-stress and to recover my equilibrium. I'll write about that more next time.
Anyway, I came across the countdown in a friend's blog (thanks, Kate!). I thought it would be fun to post one myself. With 6 months to go, I still have a lot of things to get in order. O well, how does one eat an elephant? A bite at a time so . . . time to start biting :)
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