HandTheTragedyGod of in

ife on earth is a mixture of pain and pleasure, triumph and defeat, success and failure.

When we face challenges and disappointments, pain and sadness, frustration and exhaustion, we usually ask God, “Where is Your hand to protect us?”

My wife and I have faced a seemingly impossible situation together and proved that amid the stormy seasons of life, God’s hand is always there to tide us through.

Love blooms

Blessie and I met when we were both starting in our respective professions. I was a young pastor in San Fernando City, La Union, while she was a new teacher at a school run by our church.

My church members and her fellow teachers were only too eager to play matchmaking as we often found ourselves hosting church and school activities together. It took two years of teasing before I finally realized how beautiful she was—physically and spiritually.

Coming from a devoted Christian family, she was gifted in telling children’s stories and befriending parents and church members. Everybody loved her—including me. I decided to court her, and after two years and despite many other suitors, she finally said yes to me in 2011.

From honeymoon to heartbreak

We got married on December 16, 2012. By January, I was assigned to pastor another city in Pangasinan. By March, I had to start my chaplaincy training at the Manila Adventist Medical Center (MAMC, now Adventist Medical Center Manila) in Pasay City.

I felt sad to leave her behind, but she could not abandon her students and her responsibilities as a head teacher in Ilocos Sur.

April 14, 2013, came. It was my birthday, but it would be much more than that.