A wedding celebration to honor our parents and celebrate with friends and loved ones here in the Philippines

RAY'S PERSPECTIVE I was introduced to Jessica through our mutual friends, Josh and Irish. I had just had my 34th birthday, and being at the stage in my life where I wanted to get married and start a family. And my friends from church knew that too, Josh and Irish included. Josh sent me a text message about introducing me to Jessica, I thought, why not give it a try, and be open to a long distance relationship. And I’m glad I was. I started messaging Jessica on March 17, 2019 shortly after my birthday. And our relationship progressed naturally. As we got to know each other more and more, our messages became more and more frequent and we started to have video calls 3-5 times a week. I soon decided that in order for our relationship to progress, I needed to meet her and her family in person. So, I took some time off from work in August and purchased my airplane ticket to the Philippines. Throughout the progression of Jessica and I’s relationship, I have been getting counseled by my Pastor, Roger Chen. He shared his story with me about how he met his wife as a way to encourage me. And that has been exactly the same experience I had when meeting Jessica in person and observing how she behaved around her family. I have witnessed that she is very selfless in how she treats her family and loved ones. For example, she is very giving, paying for all of the tile flooring to remodel her parents’ house. She also had a showerhead installed in her parent’s bathroom before I arrived, just to make showering more convenient and easier for me. And she planned and paid for her dad’s 50th birthday celebration, inviting 60 plus of his closest friends and relatives. Those examples just being a couple of the things she has done for other people. In seeing that, in addition to all the time I have spent getting to know her, she has shown herself to be a very loving and selfless person. Being loving and selfless is really what characterizes who she is, and I love her. After meeting Jessica in person, it just affirmed everything I have learned about her since getting to know her in March. And after meeting her in person, and observing her behavior, I can tell that she truly is a God-fearing woman (Proverbs 31). A woman that I love and want to spend the rest of my life with. Knowing that my love for her will only continue to grow more and more over time. After returning home in, September, I decided that I wanted to marry her sooner rather than later, since the ultimate goal of our relationship has always been marriage.

JESSICA'S PERSPECTIVE We knew each other thru our common friends from church Josh and Irish. Josh is Ray’s friend since 2013 and Irish is my friend from a long time since we grew up together in the same church in the Philippines since we were a child. And since Irish goes home to the Philippines for a vacation every year with Josh, his husband, I also met Josh and we become friends too. As I was working in China last year of March, Irish sent me a message on WeChat that she will introduce Josh’s friend to me. And at the same time, Josh was telling Ray about me. I usually don’t easily say yes if someone will introduce me with someone I totally don’t know. But when Irish said he is a godly man. I said yes. And knowing Josh and Irish, I trust them haha. And during that time, after many years of waiting and praying, I was in the point in my life that I am willing to open my heart for a lifetime commitment. And so is he. So we started chatting and knowing each other more. I never had a boyfriend, he never had a girlfriend. And a lot of things that we discovered about each other but the most important and non-negotiable quality is we both fear and obey God. We have the same faith. Same God. Same source of truth and standard which is the Bible. Then he took the initiative to have video call. Then he took the lead to start having Bible study during our video call. So from then on, I see to him that he can lead me more to God and our family in the future. And that’s one of the important qualities I am looking for my future husband. Also, he is a man who keeps his word. I learned a lot from him. From his point of view, I was his Proverbs 31 woman. I was deeply moved when he said that to me. So from then on, our intentions for each other became clear. And we both want to pursue marriage. But we kept our relationship for each other only to us and to our families and a very few close friends. Though I really wanted to tell it to everyone, I didn’t because he gave me a very heart-warming explanation which is for me a very gentleman act. He said that he wanted to meet my parents and family first before we make it official. And that’s how we met (finally) in person. When he told me that he will visit me August of 2019, I was so happy. But before we met, let me tell you how hard it is for us to be apart from each other. Every day we were longing for each other to be together. But those longing turned into excitement as the day of his coming was approaching. I remember that’s one of the good sides of long distance relationship that I told him--- that distance will make us excited to see each other. Then, he had to go back. I thought I will not cry. But I did. I never see it coming haha. When it’s time to say goodbye, it broke my heart. We hugged. And I told him “Thank you for coming even it’s far. Thank you for everything.....” And he said, “ Thank you for having me.” Then when I turned my back to him, I started crying. Those words of him really strike me until now. While we were in the Philippines together and after being with him in person, I realized and told to myself and prayed to God that this is the man I want to marry and to spend my life with. I want to be his Eve (Gen.2:18) -- a helper fit for him. It's been the desire of my heart and my prayer since then -- to be his Eve. I also want to be his Rebekah (Genesis 24:67) who can give him comfort every time he is sad or down. And I hope and pray, that he’ll be my Adam (Gen.2:23-24) who will really cherish me, protect me and provide for me and our future family. And my Isaac (Gen.24:67) who will truly love me.

Ray made a reservation at a fancy Italian restaurant and invited Jessica to their first date night, and after that, they watched Spider-Man. Ray drove home and opened the TV so they could watch the New Year's Eve countdown. While waiting, Ray asked Jessica what she was thankful for in the Lord that year. Jessica was moved because she loved serious conversations like that. Little did she know that Ray was trying to buy time. Then, when the New Year's countdown started to 10, 9, 8, 7,... Ray suddenly grabbed something behind the TV, a small black box, and knelt before Jessica and asked her the question, "Will you marry me?" Jessica was so surprised; she wasn't expecting that since they were already planning the wedding for February. And of course, with overflowing love and joy, she said, "Yes!"

We got married on February 12, 2022, in a private Swedish community in Morgan Hill, California, where Ray's family is a member. It was a wonderful day full of love and joy. Jessica's parents were not able to come because of COVID restrictions. That's why the newlyweds planned to have a wedding reception in the Philippines as soon as they could visit, to honor Jessica's parents.

Ray has never had a girlfriend since birth, and I've never had a boyfriend since birth. We are each other's first and last. And it is just amazing how God brought us together from two different countries with different languages and different cultures among others, but it's our God-given love that make us conquer all our differences from the very beginning of our relationship and from this day forward.