We had a blast last Sunday! Woohoo!!
Imagine, we celebrated CORNERSTONE CHRISTIAN CHURCH’S 4th Anniversary (Main Church) and also REV. PTR. ALFRED ABAD’s (insert a double digit here)th Birthday. Whew!
Thank God! Our main church (Cornerstone Christian Church) celebrated its 4th Anniversary simultaneous with our Senior Pastor, Rev. Ptr. Alfred Abad (“Tatay” as we usually call him). We rushed to drop by to our main church to give our surprise gift to him. We gave him a super delicious cake from Max’s (Which is now one of my favorite cakes. Thanks to Mama Elena for introducing that cake to us.). And also, we brought JANINA SAN MIGUEL (Binibining Pilipinas-World 2008) and JENNIFER BARRIENTOS (Binibining Pilipinas-Universe 2008) as our surprise gift(s) to him. After Jennifer won the crown, Tatay immediately informed me that he wanted to have an interview with Jennifer. After the interview, he mentioned that he also wanted to meet and talk to Janina San Miguel. Janina at that time was at the peak of her controversial victory. So while we were on our way home, we thought of inviting Janina on Tatay’s birthday in order for his dream to meet her would come true. Lo and behold, we brought Janina and Jennifer to our main church to grace the Anniversary and also his birthday. As usual, the whole Robinsons Novaliches was surprised and star struck at the two ladies’ arrival. However, we still managed to fulfill our purpose for coming there.
Furthermore, Tatay acknowledged the two ladies and even asked to stand beside him on the stage. Then, Ptr. Fred started to introduce Jennifer and Janina to the congregation. What highlighted the event was when they were both prayed for by Ptr. Fred together with the whole congregation. Surprisingly, Janina wept while being prayed for by Ptr. Fred. Her tears overflowed so I offered my handkerchief to her. My hanky is still with her right now. She just told me,
“Kuya, akin muna yung panyo mo. Lalabahan ko na lang bago ko ibalik sa’yo. Nakakahiya naman po sa inyo. Hehehe..”
I just quickly nodded and told her,
“Okay lang. Sige lang. Don’t worry.”
While I watched her using my hanky, I realized something. (Wow! My things are becoming legendary. Bwahaha... The first time was when we met Anna Theresa Licaros (Binibining Pilipinas-Universe 2007) at Starbucks on our way home from Tagaytay. She used my cellphone to talk to Jennifer (her successor) who was then in Bohol. Then last Sunday, Janina used my hanky to wipe those overflowing tears in her eyes.) Anyway, the pleasure and privilege will always be mine. They are all beautiful ladies, and they deserve only the best. After the service, people started for their photo opportunities with the two beauties. I saw familiar faces and I missed them all. Ate Faye (the “Multiply ang Facebook goddess”) approached me and I introduced her to Jen and Janina for some rubbing elbows. While on our way back to our church, I asked Janina what she felt while being prayed for by our Senior Pastor, she said to me,
“Grabe! Na-feel ko yung presence ni God. Na-feel ko yung prayer ni Pastor. Bihira lang kasi ako ipinagpray-over. Yung una nung victory party ko with my family. Tapos pangalawa yung kanina. Ang sarap ng feeling.”
Then, we continued eating the sweet pica-pica that was served to us. (They even let us have some “take-home” pica-pica delights.) I asked her if she enjoyed the whole event, and she affirmed quickly. While were eating on our way back to our church, I heard her singing some lines from Christina Aguilera’s song, “Beautiful”. She repeatedly sang the chorus:
You are beautiful no matter what they say Words can't bring you down You are beautiful in every single way Yes, words can't bring you down Don't you bring me down today...
It’s so nice to know that she has this positive attitude about everything in life. I wonder where she got that inner stamina to even face all those issues and controversies that are being thrown at her.
By the time we arrived at our church, I told them what happened there. Thank God! Everything went well. So we thanked Janina and her father for dropping by our church and gracing the event in our main church. I was surprised when Mama Elena informed me that Janina's father was my schoolmate. Janina's father finished his elementary studies at Claret School of Quezon City. (Janina's family were rich then, not until there were some mismanagement of their wealth that made them suffer the consequences now.) I had the privilege of talking to her Dad and surprisingly, despite the age gap we have, we had teachers and other school personalities back in gradeschool that we both know like Dr. Corralejo, Mrs. Potenciano, etc..
Subsequently, the night ended having our version of the photo opportunity with Janina and her father.
Here are some of our pictures:
Janina with some COLOURS Core Team
Janina with some COLOURS Core Team (Wacky)
Janina and her father (back) with Pastor and church elders
Janina and Jen with My Dad and Mom
Janina with Jen's family
Janina with COLOURS again
Janina with me and Maan (Jen's sister)
Janina, Jen and Jen's Dad
Janina with Joshua (my younger brother) , Ate and Me
Janina with Ate
Maan (Jen's sister), Janina, Ate and Jen
Janina, Joshua (my young brother) and Jen
I learned so many things that night. I discovered that the real Janina San Miguel is far from what the whole controversy dictated. She is so young yet her innocence is one of her charms. She’s very tall and very beautiful even with or without make-up. She came with a very casual get-up straight from a spa at Tagaytay but still managed to look great. She’s so sweet and spontaneous while telling different stories. She’s very honest in everything. She’s naïve in many things. (C’mon, let’s excuse her for that, she’s very young. She’ll learn those things in due time.) She has a positive outlook about life despite the criticisms being thrown at her. She’s very cheerful and will easily laugh even at simple things. Most of all, she’s willing to learn, try everything and she never fails to give her best shot in everything that she does.
I’ve always believed Jen for being the simplest girl I’ve ever known. She loves sweeping the floor and cleaning the rooms in their house and in our church. She is a self-confessed “clean-freak”. She loves to have everything clean and organized. She’s very kind that she even took the initiative to put those ‘make-up thingy’ on Janina before fixing herself. She’s like Janina’s older sister. She takes care of others first before herself. She’s very beautiful inside and out, with or without make-up. She’s a woman of few words. She’s very introvert but that is one of charms I believe. She’s very inspiring and worth emulating by the young people. She’s also willing to learn everything, and she never fails to give her best in everything that she does. When you get to know her deeper, her personality is great and you’ll be more convinced why God gave her the top crown.
Jen and Nina (her nickname) are both very humble and simple. (I didn’t expect that these two beautiful ladies are both very “cowgirl”, in short, parehas silang walang kaartehan sa katawan.) Both of them are really deserving of the title and crown that was given to them. The judges made the right decision. They both exemplified the real meaning of beauty and simplicity. It is only now that I’ve proven that God really blesses those people who are humble and not those who are haughty; those who are simple and not conceited; those who can really sustain and handle victories in life; those who know how to stand-up from every rejection, criticism and failures; those who always give their best shot in everything; and those who are willing to give God all the glory for every victory that they have in their life.
As 2 Corinthians 4:18 says,
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
You may see them beautiful outside, but I tell you they are even more beautiful inside. It may sound like a cliché, but I will firmly testify that both of them are really more than the crown.
Thank God! Woohoo!!
