In a few short days, will mark my first anniversary of submitting fully unto the Lord.
On September 1, will be my first anniversary of submitting fully to my husband, Dong, too.
Suffice to say, it's been a year of BIG sacrifices and even GREATER blessings!
Biblical submission is so beautiful when done for the right reasons and when done for Jesus.
In a year's time, I have been blessed to have mentored some sisters in Christ who needed somebody to walk with them in their own submission journeys.
In a year's time, I have been blessed to have made some great (and Godwilling lasting) friendships with women from all over the globe, who desire to make God the center of their marriages and their lives.
I especially thank my dear sister in Christ and godly mentor, the original
Peaceful Wife, April Cassidy, for being so gracious and loving towards me. April, you have been such an inspiration!:)
In a year's time, I have been able to get to know the Lord more through His Word - The Bible, and now through my continuing studies in theology, at Saint Vincent's School of Theology.
In a year's time, Dong and I have become closer and more loving towards one another as I continue to learn the value of respecting him and his God-ordained leadership in our family, and as he continues to love me unconditionally.
It was my husband's idea that I blog about my submission and respect journey.
I obliged.
I obeyed.
I believed it was God's Way of letting me get His Message across, through my husband's prodding.
But, these past few days, I have been experiencing a DEEP DESIRE to again be OBSCURE.
To be HIDDEN in Christ, and to be unseen through the world's eyes.
I discerned.
I prayed.
I sought the Spirit's Help in leading me to the right path.
And, after a week or so, the Lord has spoken...
I am to END this blog,
and this is to be my last post.
My mission here is done.
At least, my "public life" on the internet, is.
But my hidden and obscure life with Christ is still going to continue. :)
The Lord showed me these past weeks as I continued to pray for His Conviction, what it was that He still wanted me to do.
There was only one thing that kept on appearing in my thoughts, and recurring in my heart...
The Lord told me that I was still
SO LACKING in LOVE,
and that He wants me to learn how to
LOVE MORE.
He also showed to me that I still had a LOT to learn in so far as being
less judgmental and more compassionate.
The Lord wants to prune me once more, away from anybody's and everybody's eyes.
I want to be like my dear friend in heaven,
Saint Therese, whose life was so FULL of LOVE. I pray that the Lord will show me how it is to really LOVE Him, love my husband, love my family, love my enemies, etc. just like Saint Therese LOVED God with all her heart and soul...
"I know well that it is not my great desires that please God in my little soul, what He likes to see is the way I love my littleness and my poverty; it is my blind hope in His mercy, this is my only treasure.... The weaker one is, without desires or virtues, the more ready one is for the operations of this consuming and transforming love.... God rejoices more in what He can do in a soul humbly resigned to its poverty than in the creation of millions of suns and the vast stretch of the heavens."
"Merit is not to be found in doing much or in giving much, but rather in receiving and in loving much. It is said that it is far sweeter to give than to receive, and this is true. But when Jesus wants for Himself the sweetness of giving, it would not be gracious to refuse. Let Him take and give whatever He wants."
"Our love for Jesus is truly great when we do not feel its sweetness. It then becomes a martyrdom... When, on the contrary, we begin to seek ourselves, true love dies away. Unfortunately, many serve Jesus when He consoles them, but few are willing to keep Him company when He is asleep."
"True love is found only in complete self-forgetfulness, and it is only after we have detached ourselves from every creature that we find Jesus."
"I tell you that it is enough to recognize one's nothingness and to abandon one's self like a child in the arms of God.
- Therese of Liseux
* * * * * * * *
And so with this short and final blog entry, I would like to thank everybody who has been one with me in my own journey as a biblically submissive wife and child of God.
You may still email me at peacefulwifephilippines@gmail.com.
Though I will no longer blog (for the meantime -- don't know what the future holds!), I will still be continuing in my journey and walk with our Lord, albeit hidden and obscure.
I will continue to pray too for all the wives in the Philippines and around the world, in order that God be glorified through everybody's "gentle and quiet spirit" and love for one's husband and children.
In the beginning of writing this blog, I have quoted this Bible verse, and I will quote it again paraphrased and personalized for me...
Luke 17:10
In the same way, when you obey Me you should say,
'I am an unworthy servant who has
simply done
my duty.'"
I have done my duty, Lord.
Continue to use me in propagating Your Kingdom, outside of this tiny blog.
Pardon me for all errors and inconsistencies, dear readers. Those are mine! :P
Praise God for all enlightenment, inspiration, and nuggets of wisdom. Those are His!!! :)
I LOVE you, my sisters in Christ. :)
Thank you for walking with me in this journey. :)
It's been a great honor and blessing! :)
May we all be richly blessed! :)
"It is necessary to consent to remain poor and weak; this is hard... I have always longed to be unknown, I am resigned to being forgotten. It is necessary to count on nothing."
"I understand that love includes all vocations. I realize that all my desires are fulfilled. I have found my vocation. In the heart of the Church, my mother, I will be love." - Saint Therese
“What good will it do you to be able to talk profoundly about the Trinity, if you be wanting in humility and so displease the Trinity? It is certain that learned speeches do not make a man holy and just; it is a virtuous life that makes him pleasing to God.”
- Thomas Kempis, The Imitation of Christ; Book 1, Chapter I,
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