“He has made everything beautiful in its time.”

 — Ecclesiastes 3:11

Kenneth and Shariz’s story was written quietly by God in 2009. In the middle of their first year of high school, amidst the cheers of a campus pageant, a divine spark was lit. While the world saw a young girl in the spotlight, Kenneth saw a masterpiece he would come to cherish in his heart for a lifetime.

Among the many who openly admired Shariz as a campus crush, Kenneth stood apart as a true secret admirer. For years, he was content to cherish her from afar, never once rushing to introduce himself.

One day, a friend invited Kenneth and their group to walk past a classroom, eager to catch a glimpse of a girl he liked. As they passed by the door, the classmate pointed inside and whispered, “That’s my crush… Shariz.” In that brief, heartbeat moment, Kenneth saw her once more. From then on, he knew her name and section. But Kenneth kept his feelings to himself.

By their fourth year, God opened a small window for their paths to cross. Through mutual friends, Kenneth finally had the chance to be known by the girl he had admired for years. It was a brief, simple introduction, but for him, it was a whisper of hope that meant everything.

After graduation, life took them in different directions. Shariz focused on her studies and stayed true to her well-known golden rule: studies first before love. Recognizing the beauty of her heart, Kenneth chose to respect her season. He stepped back, choosing to quietly support her from afar, trusting that if their story was truly written by God, distance would only be a bridge, not a barrier.

During college, life moved on, but Kenneth’s heart remained anchored. He would occasionally message Shariz or react to her posts, hoping to start a conversation. Sometimes she replied briefly, but many of their chats ended with a simple “seen.” Still, Kenneth never stopped hoping.

Years later, in 2017, Shariz posted her graduation photos online. Kenneth congratulated her, and their conversation lasted longer than usual. For him, even that small moment felt special that fueled his spirit.

While their worlds moved at a different pace, Kenneth and Shariz were both privately blooming in their own seasons. They were chasing separate dreams and building individual futures, unaware that every step taken alone was actually a step toward one another. As Kenneth pursued his own ambitions, the uncertainties of life gave him a new, clearer perspective. That quiet admiration he had carried since high school finally transformed into a deep, steady courage.

Then, unexpectedly, in 2019, through their mutual friends, Kenneth and Shariz met again. Seeing her felt surreal. The girl he had admired since high school was now standing right in front of him.

That one night was more than just a reunion, it was a divine appointment. It gave Kenneth the courage he had been waiting for all those years and reopened a connection that had quietly existed in his heart for so long.

But once again, their story entered another season of distance, waiting and faith. Kenneth was assigned to serve in Mindanao. But before leaving he prepared gifts filled with meaning, a music box that played “La Vie En Rose” so Shariz would remember him whenever she heard the melody, a promise ring with her name engraved on it, and a love letter sealed with his own blood as a sign that he would return. Knowing she might not accept them, he still chose to give them, asking a friend to deliver everything because he could no longer see her. For years, miles and responsibilities kept them apart, yet even from afar, Shariz remained a quiet inspiration in Kenneth’s life. He held on to the hope that maybe, someday, their paths would meet again, anchored by the promise of Isaiah 60:22: “When the time is right, I, the Lord, will make it happen.”

And so Kenneth waited. He waited with faith. He waited with patience. He waited with a prayer that if Shariz was truly meant for him, God would one day lead their paths back together.

Shariz continued to entrust her heart to God. She prayed for the man who would one day love her fully, sincerely, and with pure intentions. Patiently, she waited for the man whom God had prepared for her.

They prayed. Not just once… Not just when it was convenient but in the quiet, uncertain moments. They hoped, they waited. And this is the kind of love people don’t talk about enough. The kind that doesn’t rush. The kind that doesn’t demand. The kind that stays even when staying is the hardest thing to do. Because anyone can love when it’s easy. But to wait? To choose someone over and over again, even when they’re far away, even when nothing is certain...that is something else entirely.

And then, as if heaven itself had been quietly listening to every prayer they whispered, something changed. The distance that once stood between them… disappeared.

Kenneth was reassigned. Back home. Back to where she was. Back to where he had always hoped to be. And this time he didn’t wait. Not anymore. Because he had waited long enough. The first thing he did was go to her. This time, with intention. He courted her. Not just her - but her family. With patience. With respect. With a heart that had already proven how long it could endure.

And Shariz…she saw it. Not just the boy from before but the man he had become. The one who stayed. The one who grew. The one who waited. And when the moment finally came when everything they had prayed for stood right in front of them. She said “YES.”

But maybe the most beautiful part of their story…wasn’t just that they found their way back to each other. It was how they did. Because from the very beginning, God was never outside their story. He was at the center of it. In every prayer. In every moment of waiting. In every quiet decision to choose what was right, even when it was hard.

They didn’t just fall in love. They built it on faith, on respect, on something deeper than fleeting feelings. Even now, they choose to wait. As their relationship grew, they made a promise to honor God in their love. Together, they committed to wait until marriage, choosing to build their relationship on faith, respect, and purity.

Months after they officially became a couple, Shariz shared something deeply personal with Kenneth. She told him about a prayer she had made long before they were together.

Shariz had kept a lifelong promise to herself: she would have no boyfriend until the right one. Many men expressed their desire to court her, but she never allowed any of them to pursue her. 

She did not want to give her heart lightly. She believed that love was something she should not rush, and she chose to wait.

She shared that in her prayers, she asked God for a love that was sincere, faithful, and pure. She prayed that when the time came for her to fall in love, it would be with the man who would one day become her partner for life. In her heart, she hoped for something rare and beautiful, a first and last love.

She knew that such a love might be difficult to find, so she placed it entirely in God’s hands. Shariz prayed that God Himself would lead her to the man meant for her, that He would guide their paths to meet at the right moment.

And in that prayer, she asked for a sign. Her prayer was simple but sincere: that somewhere out there, there might be a man who had quietly been waiting for her all along.

Someone who had admired her from afar.

Someone who had secretly cared for her.

Someone whose path would one day cross hers, and only then would she realize that he had been there all along.

Little did she know that while she was praying that prayer, God had already been writing Kenneth into her story.

The boy who had admired her silently since high school…

The one who had waited patiently through the years…

The one whose love never faded, even from afar.

He was the very answer to the prayer she had once whispered to God.

As if her life had always been the greatest gift he could ever receive, Kenneth chose her birthday, their 8th month, to ask her to be his forever with an engagement ring in his hand.

And with the blessing of those who love them, they step forward, ready to stand before God and vow a lifetime together.

Truly, theirs is proof that the love worth having is the love worth waiting, and that everything falls into place in God’s perfect timing.

God was the author, 

and what He writes is everlasting.

Pinagdasal, hinintay, at sa wakas, ibinigay.

#MyLoveStoryWithSHAnowKENtinuesBeforeGod