A new life

Yesterday, my wife and I got baptized in the name of our LORD Jesus Christ. Below is the short speech I gave in front of the church:

I would like to thank everyone responsible for us being here today. My dear sister Charo and her husband Rex who reached out to us long before we were ready. Hindi naman sila makulit, persistent lang.

And to our disciplers, Merwyn and Mitch, Ken and Mau, Ferdie and Meanne, Dex and Jen, Paulo and Tina, Raffy and Luisa, Jed and Karen, and Arnel, who have all been very patient with sinners like us, thank you very much.

We are by no means now perfect Christians, having gone through the bible studies all this time – we are still, admittedly, rough around the edges. So please forgive us if we sometimes slip. We are not asking for tolerance, only that you please be gentle with your rebuke. We are sinners still, sadly, but we are here, submitting ourselves to the will of the Lord.

It was a very hard journey for me. Naging matigas ang puso ko. Because for the longest time, I could not understand why God loves me. There was no reason to. It makes no sense.

But four years ago, I caught a glimpse of that reason why. God made me realize that I was just too naive, I was only capable of love when there was reason to, and of course, returned. The very definition of romantic love – shallow, juvenile, superficial, reciprocal.

But roughly four years ago God gave me a gift that I now realize is His way of softening my heart – my now wife tested positive, I was going to be a father. It was only then that I understood how love, even when unreturned was possible. I loved my daughter, Sea, even before she was born, even before we knew her gender, even before we gave her a name. I loved her long before she was capable of loving me in return.

It was only then that I understood what true love is. Our father loves us even when we are too self-centered and just incapable of loving him back. He always has his eye on us even if we think we can away with things, and always has our best interests in his heart, even if we are too arrogant and too stupid to understand this to be so.

I now understand how it is possible to love someone to the point of loving them enough that you'd be willing to die for that someone. This is not theoretical, it is not even figurative, this is literal.

And so today, I take one more step towards fulfilling the sacred task my Father has given me, to raise my child as his child. My daughter Sea is God's proof of his love for me. And I, in return, will raise her in a way that proves my love for him.

Today, the house of the Lord rejoices, for the prodigal son and daughter have returned.