Being married to a Filipina is great - Part 2

A pic of us on our honeymoon going to the underground river

Working hard together for our future

Greeting my mom when she arrived in the Philippines

On the road in remote Southern Palawan

A family fishing trip in a tropical paradise

This is part two of "Being married to a Filipina is Great".  I was quite surprised at the warm response we got from the first post on this. It quickly moved to be one of the most popular blog posts we have. I guess many of us are just "helpless romantics" lol

Is it really great?

Being married to a Filipina is truly great. I mean that. I am not promoting some ebook making a profit from that statement or running a FilAm dating site. I am just being honest that in my experience of getting to know the women culture of the Philippines I have found amazing ingredients that make them some of the most beautiful, well balanced and lovable women in the world. Here are a few things I discovered.

The culture of industriousness and productivity (Masipag)

These women are incredibly productive if you really look at them well. When many western husbands marry a Filipina they will wonder why in the world is she up sweeping the house with one arm behind her back at very early hours of the morning. What is all this for? And why does it have to be in the morning? This is instinctive to the Filipina's industrious nature. In the Philippines they call it "masipag". This means "productive" or "industrious". It is not just in sweeping but in everything she does. She does it with zest and power.

My wife is amazing how many balls she can juggle at one time. She can be cooking, cleaning, taking care of me and our children all at the same time. And with no frown, no complaints. It is her cultural instinct to be masipag. A wonderful trait that most Filipina's have. Even at this moment she is at the kitchen sink in front of me, but a second ago she was nursing our son and folding clothes. It takes all my power just to focus on typing this blog, heaven forbid if I had to do two things at once!

This masipag nature of the Filipina is a result of how they are raised. Their mothers in particular teach them how to work hard and be productive. This is second nature to the Filipina. And they love it. It gives them meaning to be able to be busy. What a wonderful trait to have in a partner.

Focus on the family

There is nothing more important to a Filipina than her family.  This is the center of her heart and cultural universe. If I was going to list my wife's priorities as I see them they would be.
God, family, family, family, family and family! This is not joke. I have been totally blown away by the love and commitment I see in my wife for our family. Every word or deed she does seems to support our family unit. I love my family in the states so much, but I had never known the depth of love that one could have for their family until I saw it in action with my wife. How many OFW's (overseas Filipino workers) have I met who give their entire paychecks to support their families to the fourth generation. Incredible for a westerner to see!

The way I see her teach our daughter to love and respect me as her father and how I see her guide her about how important nannie and grandpa are. This is a new level of family appreciation for me. She is prepping them to have the mindset to take care of us when we are older. And they will do the same to their children. This is wonderful, truly truly wonderful. I never knew about it.  

This close bond and affection is not limited to our immediate family but to her brothers, cousins, nieces and nephews. They all have priority and importance in her life. Now a Filipino reading this will say "of course for it is as natural as the blood in our veins to do this". But for a westerner who is new at it, it can actually be a bit overwhelming. Who me, get close to my cousin? No way! Or who me, work hard to support my parents?  No way! lol

Hindi mapapantayan ng anumang ginto at salapi ang pagbubuklod-buklod at pagmamahalan ng pamilya, PAMILYA parin ang mahalaga.  
Basically this says that nothing comes before the love for family. This is a great trait of the Filipina.

God is in everything and I mean EVERYTHING! 

When I first met my wife who was working as a sales lady in a store, I never realized how important her faith was to her until I observed her for several months. The first hint I got was that in every single text I received from her, I mean 100% of them, she had a quote of God's word in it. Then when I found out she was also texting God's word to nearly 200 people a day, including the current President, then I knew how important her faith was. Good thing I took her to a Don Moen concert on our first date. lol

This is a trait I have seen in the majority of Filipina's and one to be understood by the western man who may not have been exposed to that much faith. God is not some abstract character or a once a year Easter visit but He is a daily importance to the Filipina. If you glance at any Filipina dating site or "I'm looking for a husband" publication the number one and first thing they list of what they are looking for in a man is "God fearing".   For those of you new to this word, it does not mean she is looking for a man running around scared of God. She is basically saying she desires a man who is of good moral character, kind, loving and one who together with her will believe in God.

We can thank the Malay's, Chinese, American's and Spaniards for the Filipina

These cultures contributed the most to the cultural "cocktail" that makes up today's Filipina. If we look at it closely we can see very distinct traits that come from each of these cultures. And through many generations of influence this mix has made one of the most loving, industrious and socially adaptable women on the planet. Of course I am referring to my wife!

Next week will be our wedding anniversary and I have a lot of reason to be happy about it. My wife continues to amaze me as I get to know her more each year. We are currently going through what most would describe as "hell" but the incredible thing is we are growing closer and not farther apart because of it.  I am discovering more each day that passes by and I can truly say...

Being married to a Filipina is great!

Our most recent pic taken on Christmas Day 2011