Josh.Reah@YearOne
Sunday, January 18th, 2009
(Written for the ICS Power Up Newsletter Vol 3. No. 1)
A few days from now Josh and I will celebrate our first anniversary as a married couple. Honestly, I still can’t believe that we’ve already been married for a year!
So how would I describe our first year? Well, it was a magnificent adventure worth writing about, a year of many firsts: first home, first trip abroad together, first surprise birthday party, first major fight, first Christmas, first New Year, etc. I could go on and on making a list of what we did, what we ate, and where we went but I’m afraid that a page is not enough. Perhaps next time…
We had a beautiful wedding last January 20, 2008. I could still remember how it was raining that day but the sun shone brightly just when I was about to walk the down aisle. It rained during the ceremony but it was all good because the rains only made us feel more blessed – blessed to have the people we love surround us and symbolically stick it out with us through the rain. The next day, we went to Boracay for our honeymoon which was pure bliss!
Life as husband and wife started the moment we entered our new home. It was a one-bedroom apartment near the homes of both our parents. We had to make do with what little we had then. Decorating the house was such fun! I didn’t have a hard time keeping the home because my mom trained me well. I taught Josh how to clean the bathroom because we decided that this would be his chore, alongside washing the dishes everyday. He’s gotten pretty good at these now that he’s used to doing the chores. He is as strong as a domesticated ox.
I learned, and am still learning, how to cook. I can proudly say that I can now cook tinolang manok, adobo, sinigang, menudo, aftrida, and Bistek Tagalog aside from the usual fried stuff. My husband always looked forward to the time I was done in the kitchen so he could taste what I just prepared. He said the food was good. Perhaps he was just being polite. And who could forget the famous “Itim na Manok” (Black Chicken) episode when I burned what was supposed to be chicken barbecue?
We found out (the hard way!) that money was really no problem. It’s really amazing how God prepared us for marriage and provided more than just jobs for us. A few months after our wedding, he found a better employer and resigned from his hair-reducing job, although it would be two months before he began working again. During that time, he was helping me with my work. Amazingly, in spite of our limited resources, we got to rediscover the Walls of Intramuros, go to Subic, hike up the Mt. Pinatubo , travel to Zambales, Pagsanjan, and to Bangkok for a week to visit the Viscas. What blessings! God had truly provided for us.
Our first year of marriage taught me not just about managing the household and the finances but it also taught me a lot about how LOVE between a man and woman should be. It’s much more than the “kilig moments” because our love and marriage has made us better individuals together as one. I now have a better understanding of how “two become one” because I am more than whole when I’m with my handsome husband.
It is said that when you’ve been together for years, the fun will eventually fade away. I think it would be decades before this happens – when Josh is too frail to even spray Mr. Muscle on the toilet and I’m too old to take on the fierce streets of Divisoria. We believe that what we have is a life-long adventure from God. And we’re just starting. Besides, God has blessed us with our youth so that we can enjoy our marriage fully even before a little Joshua or little Reah is brought forth into the world. Who knows? God-willing, He may bless us with our own bundle of joy in the coming months. No, there’s no baby on the way yet… but we are both looking forward to the time when God will bless us with one in His own perfect time.
Having said all of these things, I would say that marriage is more than just having someone to share the bed, chores, and bills to pay. It’s a way of life that requires more than what you can offer. It requires unwavering trust in each other and, most importantly, faith in God.