So Cute!!!

A Christian-filled Saturday

"Submitting to one another in the fear of God. Wives, submit to you own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the saviour of the body. Therefore, just as the church is the subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her. That He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word. That He might present her to Himslef a glorious wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." (Ephisians 5:21-31)

No, I am not engaged, yet... :)

Horacio signed us up with Redeemer Presbyterian Church for a seminar "Prepering for Marriage". The first time that he mentioned this to me, I felt unease with the idea. I asked him why he wants us to attend that seminar, we aren't even engaged yet. He told me that the seminar isn't just for couples who are engaged, but also for those planning. Basically, it was open for all couples.

So, Saturday, we both woke up early to attend to this seminar around 36th Street and Broadway. The Pastor opened with the verse above, Horacio and I looked at each other when the Pastor started to read the verse. Horacio and I have discussed this versed before... After the Pastor read the verse and prayed over... he stated the purpose of the seminar -- to break up couples. Weird, right? He went on to explain that the seminar was meant as to let the couple see where they are at the moment and to test them.

People get married for a reaason, most of their reasons are because of love. Which is in part right, but mostly wrong. We don't have to get married just because we love each other. Love fades with time. Marriage is something that we promise to each other that we would be there for that person not today but in the coming days. It is not a promise for the present time.

For most part of the seminar, the Pastor discussed the purpose of marriage, communication, finances... He also had us do some activities..

The first activity was to list ten things about our partner that attracts and leads us to why we want to marry that person. We were to discuss this with each other....

My ten things about Horacio are (in no particular order):

1. He's always there for me.

2. He makes me feel secure.

3. He pushes me to be a better person.

4. He understands me and listens to my thoughts whether it makes sense or not.

5. I feel most comfortable with him.

6. He tells me the truth, whether it will hurt my ego, he doesn't take sides.

7. I could talk to him about anything and not feel like I'm being judged.

8. He makes me feel loved.

9. He appreciates and notices the things that I do for him.

10. He has this great relationship with God, and his love for God just shines through him.

After discussing and telling the ten things... I just broke down to tears... Although, I knew about all the things he wrote on his list... I just got too emotional. We were laughing through it.

When that activity was up, the Pastor mentioned that there was a couple that couldn't come up with ten things, so instead of starting a spat, she just made things up. Horacio and I also noticed that the couple sitting next to him where having a little argument.. the guy got a little defensive. Also, two couples sitting in front of us said that they were having a hard time coming up with ten. These couples are already engaged!!

Anyways, as the day went by, and more activites were done. Horacio and I summed up that we have a great relationship. Although we didn't need the seminar to tell us this, it was a nice thing. We both know that which things we need to work on and which things we need to continue doing.

The seminar, just made me realize how Horacio and I are with each other. We both are not hesistant to give and receive affections. Our relationship may have it's down moments, but we both knew how to work it through.

The Pastor then reinforced to us that pre-marital seminar is good, but the best seminar for couples would be after six months into the marriage... Since that would also be the time where the couple is starting to get to know each other more.

The seminar ended around 3:30.... we decided to just hang around 34th street and wait until 5 pm to go to the David Crowder Band Concert. Horacio loves this band so much, I tried to listen to their music, just to familiarize myself with their songs, I didn't enjoy it as much. But when the concert started... man, that was a great band. They did sound way better live than they do on the cd. We were screaming at the top of our lungs... singing with the band. Since I was wearing heels, we sat at the balcony, you could see the crowd down below jumping and enjoying the band. It was great! I told Horacio that I have decided that our kids would be allowed to watch a concert as early as the age of 10.... as long as it's a Christian band!! I think as a parent, I would be assured that there won't be any drugs or booze on the premise and that there would be a lot of parents in the crowd. I have never felt this great.... it's just a different way of glorifying God. Everyone was singing, you could really feel that He is there... it was weird.. a feeling that I could not express...

When the concert ended, Horacio and I went to Tad's Steakhouse. Talked about how the day went for us... the things that we have learned. We discussed about our faith... where we are right now. It was a great, perfect day, with only one person to thank for....

My Five Days Off Work...

Let me digress...

After a doctor's visit that transpired on Wednesday, I was told to stay home and not work until Monday. It was totally unexpected from the doctor who preached Horacio about calling in sick from work. I was experiencing back pains that couldn't be relieved by any massage or Tylenol since the previous Friday. Plus, I also was experiencing this pinching pain that radiates from my buttocks down to my thigh. The pinching pains happened a couple months ago but went away as soon as it started. I just ignored it, although I had a feeling that it was a nerve. At first, I really wanted to call in sick Wednesday, to go to a friend's (from work) house and have some good Indian food (cutlets!!). I then decided to just go see the doctor, since the back pains wasn't really helping me with work and it's so annoying for it won't go away with any kind of remedy. He told me that the upper back pain was muscle pain and it was (probably) cause by my spinal column pinching around the L1 and L2 area (lower part of the spine), which also causes the pinching pain that I felt around my butt and leg. Anyways, after giving me a note to take five days off and four different prescriptions for pain, the doctor noticed that Horacio was sneezing non-stop. Horacio was off that day, so he just came with me, and although he was not feeling so great, he didn't intend to be seen by the doctor. Knowing the doctor that we have, he checked Horacio's throat, and auscultated his lungs... and wrote a note to take off work until today and a prescription for antibiotics. It turned out Horacio was having Strept Throat.

After the (weird) visit, we went to have our prescriptions filled and off we went to Kew Gardens to my friend's place. When they picked us up from the train station (thank God I listened to them and took the train instead of a cab!), I told Bency and Ashma of what happened. They both told me to really stay home and rest... since the three of us worked in the same unit, they knew that me coming to work with that prognosis will really just complicate things for me (we work in a geriatric floor -- a lot of total care patients!). So, off we went to Bency's and enjoyed great Indian food.

When we got home Wednesday, I took the pills that the doctor prescribed, and was knocked out (by the muscle relaxant pill). Thursday was spent inside the house the whole day with Horacio waking me up for the next dose. I took three doses of that pill hence, sleeping the whole day. Horacio has been the greatest, most patient of all... he was giving my medications, heating up food for me, making sure I am comfortable... all I did was sleep, take medications, go to bathroom and sleep.

Friday came, I decided to stop taking the muscle relaxant pill and just the pain killer (Naproxene). We did the laundry and I did some ironing. The back pain became more bearable but it was still there...

Saturday came, we had to wake up early morning for a seminar that Horacio signed us up for (more on that later...) which was from 9 o'clock in the morning until 3 in the afternoon. Then we hang around Borders on 34th Street, waiting for time until the David Crowder Band concert (more on that later too...).

So, now, Sunday, Horacio went back to work, and I am still here at home. The back pain is at it's minimum, I still took my pain killer med... I am still debating whether to call back my doctor and report to him how I am feeling or wait until I get back to work and see how it goes. I probably would wait.. since I am off on Wednesday, and will be reporting back to work on tomorrow... so, until then.. :)