God’s Treasure: Reformed and to be Recreated

March 18, 2012 has spectacularly opened my eyes, mind and heart yet again to another beautiful truth about life, faith and love. 

This last weekend was intended for me and my fiancé, LA, to go to Tutuban and Divisoria to canvass for all the wedding stuff we need and buy those that can fit in our budget and expected cost. We perfectly got to buy almost everything we need, with no hassle at all, as if God was somehow leading our day towards those specific places where He wanted us to be in the first place. We almost got everything, except for wedding giveaways and wedding bands/rings. We were tired to walk to Binondo and canvass for wedding rings so we just decided to call it a day, a very fulfilling one though (☺), and go home.

The next day, Sunday, we planned to go to Market Market in Fort Bonifacio Global City, to check on this specific store recommended by our hot mom friend, Eunice, where we can check for fairly priced wedding rings or have old gold jewelries melted and used as materials for our wedding rings so we can save a lot more and only pay for the labor fee. At the same time, we planned to go to Market Market so we can also check for giveaway items.

A few days ago, knowing who to ask, LA was able to check with his mom, Mama Au, if she has old pieces of gold jewelries that she might not be using at all and would be willing to give to LA as a gift for the wedding. LA informed her of the whole plan so she wouldn’t feel surprised. Since we were not able to go to Binondo last Saturday and check on wedding bands, the gold pieces were still with Mama Au when we went home.

So, that Sunday, upon arriving at Market Market, LA and I went straight to the store recommended by Eunice, “Marry Me The Bridal Jewelry” at the 4th floor. When we got there, we first checked on the rings displayed for sale and see if the prices would be good enough for us. Then, one of the store representatives named Ann came to us and asked what it was she could help us with. We directly asked her if they’re melting old gold jewelries and are making customized wedding rings based on our design. She wasn’t saying any word at that point but a continuous nodding up and down of her head with a smirk was giving light to my face and joy in my heart. ☺ (LA immediately called up Mama Au, who was just in the area with Ate Mai and Alessa, LA’s elder sister and niece, celebrating Alessa’s 7th birthday)

It was around 7:30-7:45pm when we got back to “Marry Me” store, together with the whole gang (Mama Au, Ate Mai & Alessa), to have the old gold pieces of Mama checked and analyzed if they would be enough to create our wedding rings based on our specified surfing design.

Our Wedding Ring Design Peg

Requirement: 11.25 grams of gold to create our wedding rings

Mama Au initially gave her old 18-karat gold necklace that weighs 8.3 grams of gold. Based on Ann’s calculations, they will need at least 11.25 grams of gold to meet the requirements: White Gold, 5mm wide and 1.5mm thick, with finger sizes 5 (Eesai) & 7.5 (LA). So Mama Au gave another item, a 24-karat gold ring which weighs 5.0 grams of gold.There was a significant amount of time being spent on analyzing what “Marry Me” can do to make sure the quality of the gold will be retained or at least will still be of great value after combining the two (2) items: 18k necklace & 24k ring. Based on experts, if you combine both items, there’s a possibility for the lower karat item to pull down the quality of the higher karat item. So, what they did was, melt first the 18-karat necklace, then the 24-karat gold ring combining it already with alloy (which turns gold into white) and finally combine the two.

This gold item used to be an old 18-karat gold necklace (taken with Alessa’s index finger ☺)

The store was built with viewing pleasure for customers who would be interested to watch while their gold is being melted into its original form. Mama Au somehow felt assured that what we’re putting ourselves into is legitimate and genuine. She was kind of hesitant at first not because of losing a few old gold pieces but because we might not get value for our wedding bands which are meant to last forever. She was already suggesting and volunteering to pay for our wedding rings if we’re only concerned about budget. So when we were given the chance to experience and watch how they melt the gold, we were all feeling excited, amused and blessed. Mama Au was surprised enough that she never expected it’s really possible. Ate Mai was excited enough to ask for future requirements like having her one-piece gold earring melted (the other piece got lost) to make a new pair. Alessa was amused enough to be standing on a chair the whole time so she could see how it’s being done. LA was blessed and happy enough to be smiling and giggling the whole time, and I was also blessed and excited enough to have spent time taking pictures, video and relating what I was watching to how God loves us and blesses us with opportunities to make ourselves and lives better. ☺

Some people appreciate or love wearing gold jewelries, but the likes of Mama Au, Ate Mai, LA and I, do not. Mama Au and Ate Mai are acidic while LA and I appreciate a simpler and laid back style or fashion. Papa Ding (LA’s dad) just used to work in Saudi and of course just considered buying a few gold jewelries for his family. Being prudent and a good saver, Mama Au kept everything and still is a good keeper of anything that she thinks will still be of great value later on while being a good giver of everything else she thinks will still be useful for others than just be of waste on her hand. In my case, I am not a fan at all of gold jewelries. I see gold differently then. I see it as something valuable, yes, but oftentimes being used greedily by others. I see some people before who wear a lot of gold jewelries to establish a high socio-economic status among others while their food on the table isn’t enough for the rest of the family. So these experiences kind of turned me off and made me not to even desire to own or wear one.

Gold Melting at "Marry Me The Bridal Jewelry" Store

Watching the actual melting of gold last Sunday somehow gave me a new perspective though. Instead of seeing gold the way I used to, I saw it as a spiritual breakthrough. 

I saw a tarnished and imperfect person in that old piece of 18-karat gold necklace, being molded by God or raging fire for that matter. Although painful and dangerous, the actual process only means to restore and transform an old creation into a new being giving it a new purpose to provide more value and meaning to its existence. That old piece of gold necklace was being transformed to be made as wedding bands/rings for me and LA and will symbolize our endless love and commitment for each other and for God. Like a lost person being molded into a new person having another chance to start anew and live his life in a more meaningful way. Isn’t it great? ☺

One definite thing is, somehow, while watching the whole process, I was able to see that while we consider or treat gold as an expensive treasure, God’s only treasure is US... and He wouldn’t trade our souls and our lives for any expensive gold or even for His own son’s life. We are His most valued creation.

The end product after melting the two old gold pieces of Mama Au was a 16-karat white gold weighing 15.5 grams, more than enough to produce our desired surfing wedding rings that needed only 11.25 grams of gold. This actually gave LA more than a smile and instructed the store to finish off the 15.5 grams of white gold and just make our rings thicker than 1.5mm. This sounded exactly like how God blesses us in our lives and answers our prayers. God always gives us more than what we ask and pray for. He gives us exactly what we NEED because He knows our hearts... and these blessings are always in perfect timing. ♥

But wait... there’s more. ☺

Do you want to know how much we’re going to pay for our wedding rings? ☺ Since the raw materials came from Mama Au, we only need to pay for the labor fee and the alloy used to produce white gold. The labor fee of “Marry Me” for wedding rings is Php 4,500.00 and the amount of alloy used is around Php 210.00. You do the math. ☺

This basically summed up our overly blessed weekend and we could never thank God enough for everything, literally, E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. His love is overflowing in our lives and I hope somehow by sharing this, His love and blessings overflow in yours and your family. ♥

Credits:
“Marry Me The Bridal Jewelry” Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/marrymeshop

Our actual footage of Gold Melting (Mama Au's old 18-karat gold necklace) 

or

watch from YouTube:

http://youtu.be/WePSWIOzkEE

VISIT LA & EESAI'S OFFICIAL WEDDING WEBSITE!

What Really Matters

I'm really starting to wonder how different God made me to be in this world. In a good way though. ☺ You see, I am getting married on May 12, 2012, 63 days from now, and yes, I am very excited, without the stress and pressure though ☺

My fiancé, LA, and I got engaged last year, March 9, 2011. Our journey was not smooth from then on, in fact, more difficult challenges came our way. Challenges that can only either make or break a relationship, or an engagement for that matter. Though there were a lot of times that we already gave up on each other, or at least we thought we did, God never gave up on us and made His way a lot of times and differently to correct us, teach us the kind of love that married people should entail and direct us into understanding the main reason why He has put us together in love in the first place.

Our parents met for the first time in November last year to formalize the engagement and give their blessing for our desire to get married. Come December 30, 2011, 2 days before the new year 2012, LA and I were able to set a date for our wedding while driving from La Union to Manila coming home from a 2-week holiday vacation and surf trip. It was set then on May 12, 2012. ☺ The moment we agreed I sent a text message to Jinky (my bonfire-surf sister friend and a hot mom that's why I call her "Ate Witwiw" who owns our home resort in La Union, Normi2's Beachfront Resort, together with her husband Junie and daughter Sophie) and told her our plans for getting married on the said date and our desire to hold it in their resort. ☺ Right then and there she gave me a really good package that completely turned our plans into actions and made me so enthusiastic about getting married. ☺

You see, God's timing is always the best. He's never early nor late, just perfect. ♥ I knew that God will carefully unfold everything we just need in our lives, and in this matter, everything we just need for the wedding, nothing more and nothing less. ☺

And so, new year has passed, days, weeks, months, and we're just taking everything one step at a time. God has just been so generous and was just literally providing the things we need for our wedding. ☺

Here comes one thing, probably the very first thing that every girl/woman asks of me whenever they hear about the news. My wedding gown. I respect the fact that this is probably something most women would spend more time, effort and money on but to me, this is actually just something I would prioritize the least. So far, I have only shared this with LA and my best friend Hannah, who is also my maid of honor and make-up artist for the wedding, that I actually wouldn't care if I end up wearing a regular beach dress or even a regular "bestida". What really matters and the most important thing to me really is the fact that I am getting married to LA, my best friend, the one I unconditionally love and the purpose God gave for my life, and were both committing our lives for service to God to be partners and build a God-centered family for His glory. We just made sure that the significant things and elements in our lives will be part of our wedding day as we say our vows to each other and to God. The fact that our loved ones, closest friends and families, will also be with us on our wedding day, already marked a perfect smile in my heart that any regular dress would make me look like the most beautiful, happiest and most blessed bride of the year. ♥ Well of course that's not true since God loves to bless all of His children, I wouldn't be just the one. ☺

So, moving closer to our wedding day, we both prioritized CCF's pre-marital counseling sessions where we clearly learned a lot of things and opened our hearts and minds so we can prepare ourselves for a Christian marriage life. We are also taking care of the documents needed to comply with our worldly law. How about all the other things needed for the wedding event itself? Oh yeah, I'm doing it. ☺ There was a time when LA wanted me to get a wedding organizer for all of this. I told him that I truly appreciate his concern that he doesn't want me to get stressed and feel helpless with the things we have to do, but I also asked him if he may allow me to plan and do everything for our wedding and that I hope he won't take that opportunity away from me to personally put things altogether for OUR wedding, with God's help and grace. The truth is I love doing things for him, for US. And if this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and my only chance to serve my partner and God in a wedding, I would take everything in me to do it, without any pressure, complaints and doubts, just love. ♥

People ask us about the wedding details, how ready we are, and tend to feel the pressure more than us. We can only smile and appreciate with so much love everything that God is doing for us. Though we will never be worthy, we can also never thank God enough for bringing us these people in our lives who painstakingly give their time and effort to support us. ☺

I am honestly loving everything that God is unfolding for us. I am so blessed to feel not even a bit of stress or pressure about our wedding planning and preparations but pure enthusiasm with all of my faith. ☺

So tell me, who could still bother to give importance to gowns, shoes, flowers, and other irrelevant things to God's kingdom when everything else more important have already been laid in front of you? ☺

God bless all of you with so much love. ♥

VISIT OUR OFFICIAL WEDDING WEBSITE AT http://www.mywedding.com/laeesai/ ♥