I held a two-year-long devotional prayer for that special someone in my life.
God answered my prayers.
As of today, I’ve been married to Raquel for 25 years, seven months, eight days,
63 minu—but who’s counting?
[APPLAUSE]
She has those special God-given qualities.
She’s God-fearing, she maintains our home, she’s loving, caring, well-organized…but!
[LAUGHTER]
She’s a little picky.
[LAUGHTER]
I would come home from work
and she’s not home.
I get a call
“Wash your hands!”
[LAUGHTER]
I can’t get a break.
But life is good.
We had our first son and we named him Zack.
After three years, we were looking forward to our next child.
We went to the hospital because Raquel was complaining of a pain that she had
in her left breast.
When we went to the doctor, they did a biopsy and the test came back
positive.
It was stage-four cancer.
We were supposed to grow old together.
We were supposed to see our sons play and graduate.
But as I have learned in the Church Of Christ (Iglesia Ni Cristo), faith is very important.
It was our faith that kept us strong.
There were times when Raquel would look at me.
She was downhearted, troubled, she lost her appetite, and most importantly,
she lost her hair.
She asked me this question:
“Do you love me?”
I replied, “In sickness and in health, I will always love you.”
Now, as we have learned in the Church Of Christ, this is biblical: the anointing of oil.
We had deaconesses who were so willing to perform the anointing of oil for us.
They came to our homes and if they weren’t available to come to our house,
we would drive to their home.
The brethren were so willing to take care of our sons when I was performing as a choir leader.
This is the true love of the brotherhood.
There were verses that inspired us.
This verse is written in Psalms 30:5,
“Weeping may endure in the night but joy comes
in the morning.”
We held tightly to verses like these.
This was our faith.
The following day after the worship service, we went to the doctor and the doctor uttered
these three words that would ring in our hearts forever.
“You’re cancer-free!”
We were overjoyed.
We felt as this experience that we went through was validated.
We’re now able to see our sons play and to grow, to graduate, and for my wife and I
to grow old together.
20 years have passed and my wife is cancer-free.
Tomorrow is her birthday.
Imagine that.
My wife is here today.
Do you remember what you asked me many years ago?
“Do you love me?”
The joy of my life is sitting right there.
In sickness and in health, I will always love you.
[APPLAUSE]
I am so very thankful to be a member of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ).
Miracles speak for themselves but in my case, faith speaks from the heart.
Thank you.