Big Changes! [2014 UPDATES]

We're already more than halfway through the year and much has happened since my last post.

A happy occasion: the day we became
man & wife!

At the start of the year (January 2nd to be exact), I married Nio! I introduced him a few posts earlier as my boyfriend. We were engaged on May 5, 2013, but I didn't get the chance to write about that special event because we've been so busy with the wedding plans & preparations. It is all a distant memory now because we are reaching 8 months into our married life this coming September. 

For the both of us, we are constantly finding ourselves in awe of God's goodness and His perfect plans. We're learning a lot through this marriage--about ourselves and about each other. I'll be honest, it was tough at the beginning because we're not used to living with each other and having to deal with the different temperments (Nio, the extrovert, and I, the introvert). There were moments of frustrations, disappointments, and misunderstandings, but by the grace of God, He has kept us together by reminding us of the gospel. So that we're not placing unnecessary and unrealistic expectations on each other, we rest on Christ alone for all our needs because He satisfies them perfectly. We're left to love each other faithfully, as husband and wife, just as it is a beautiful reflection of the gospel and where the church submits to Christ and where Christ loved the church unconditionally and sacrificially (Ephesians 5:22-33). 

Road trip from Miami to Virginia!

Another big life event was the move into our first apartment in Arlington, VA. Upon returning from our honeymoon, we made the long drive from Florida bringing some of our wedding gifts along with my personal stuff.  It's definitely a big change for me because I've never lived outside of Miami. To live in a place close to the equator and to move to a state with four seasons...that took some getting used to, but I think I've embraced it a lot. I've never seen snow and apparently this year was the most snowfall it had in years. I loved it. Couldn't get enough of it. Even as people were tired of it, I secretly wished it could continue snowing for another month longer. Haha! Then Spring happened and it was equally as beautiful. I never knew trees and plants could bloom so gracefully. To see them from looking dead to sprouting green leaves was a sight to behold! Amazing. God is truly Amazing!

The 1st night at our little apt. Yay!

Additionally, the big move comes with new surroundings and new people. Many of my friends and I like to joke that leaving Miami (particularly within the US) is like leaving a country. It was definitely a culture shock. Even as a Filipino, I'm finding that Filipinos in the Northeast are slightly different from the Filipinos in the Southeast (as I'm sure it is the same with Filipinos across the country)--Northeastern Filipinos, to me, appear to be more "American"...if that makes any sense. There are comparably more Filipinos married to an American than there are in the Southeast. I just thought that was interesting.

Lastly, one more thing to add to our big adventure for the year...Nio and I are also planning to have a baby! That may come as a shock to some because I've been told that I should wait a year or two before considering getting pregnant. They say to enjoy the time with my husband while it's just the two of us because adding children would add more cost & responsibility. Prior to marrying my husband, I've already considered waiting a while before having children, but since the start of this year, I've heard sermons from John MacArthur, Voddie Baucham, and Paul Washer and was convicted about the plan and purposes of having children. I've definitely been reading Scripture and what God has to say about that. Children are truly a gift from the Lord (Psalm 127:3). What a blessing it would be to raise up children as disciples of Christ and to see them live their lives in obedience to the Word. That is the desire for Nio and myself. I don't think we'd allow culture to dictate to us how or when we should build up our family...only according to what God says in Scripture, by grace through His Spirit.

I will say, though, that a hindrance or obstacle of our plans for pregnancy is my health. I've been

1st Picnic at the Cherry Blossom Festival
in Washington, D.C.

meeting with my specialists making sure that my physical body is prepared to carry & birth a tiny baby. I've stopped taking the medications I was on previously (as they may harm the development of the baby) and then was given a different kind of medication that was found to be safer. However, I feel as though I'm in more physical pain at times which makes it hard to walk straight. I praise God for my husband because I lean on him for physical support. As strange as it may seem, that was actually something I wasn't used to before. I've never really had to depend on someone else for physical support as much as Nio has been for me since we were married. In previous posts I've mentioned how JRA has affected the way I wanted people to perceive me. Most of my life as been limited because of my joints, but I wanted to prove that I was fully capable of doing things on my own...which was good in many instances. Nonetheless, being dependent on someone else (for myself) is to admit that I'm weak and that was one thing I did not want. With Nio, I've had to learn to surrender that stubborn attitude and just allow him to help me. I appreciate his selflessness, his compassion, and his love for me more and more each time.

In the final analysis of our current situation (in our marriage, in our living situation), I'd have to say that I am still content with where we are. I don't think I'd change anything about it because it's only through these times that I've been able to stand amazed at how great and powerful God really works! He has taught me so much about Himself, through His Word, His Spirit, and through His faithful teachers/preachers (e.g. John MacArthur, Todd Friel, Tim Challies, Justin Peters, and many others). I have grown so much in my faith and in my understanding of the gospel to where I see a depthness and richness to the message of hope through God's Son, Jesus Christ! And by His Spirit, I've become more aware of my own sinfulness, my own depravity, apart from Christ. Truly, our lives are so fragile and so reliant on God's grace that whenever I am reminded of that truth, it brings me to my knees and causes me to declare that all that I am and all that I have is because of Him who lives forever and ever!

"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me." (1 Corinthians 15:10, ESV)