Pursuit Manila: Music, Stories & Photographs

Last month I talked about how I met Julianne through Pursuit Community. You see, the amazing thing about pursuing your God-given dreams is that, you are never alone. When you step out in faith to pursue your dream, the Lord brings His people together to accomplish something that’s even bigger than all of your dreams combined.

This couldn’t be more true in my life right now, and year 2015 has been an eye-opener for me as far chasing dreams and pursuing passions is concerned.

Ashes to Beauty x Pursuit Manila

And so on May 16, that’s exactly what happened. About 50 of us gathered at Heima Brixton, listened to Julie’s music and story, and found that our stories are all connected in this beautiful, God-orchestrated master piece. God brought us together to realize things we wouldn’t have realized on our own; and His message to us that day was crystal clear: No mess is too great, no hearts too broken, and no failures too big for Him to turn our ashes to beauty. 

Abby Asistio’s opening song, “You’re Beautiful” was when the tears started to fall. It’s funny how much we, women, need to hear that assurance once in a while—hey, you’re beautiful. You have a purpose. You are Mine. To be reminded to see ourselves in God’s eyes and appreciate our beauty . What a fitting way to begin an afternoon of reflection and inspiration.

Julie took the stage and we were captive audience to her gift of music and story telling. Now I know we all have different stories, but Julie’s story is very similar to mine in a few ways:

• Pastor’s kid who grew up in the church, all eyes on her—check.
• A daughter who grew up with so much love around her that she became too confident about herself, her skills, and her gifts—check.
• A teenager who became “one of the boys” and experienced heart break way too early in her life—check.
• Someone who’s seen as a leader and role model in church, but struggled with living a worldly life—check.
• Someone who “abused” God’s grace and strayed too far away, finding love and validation in the wrong places and in relationships that didn’t glorify Him—check.
• Broken and insecure, she built walls around her and found it hard to let anyone come in—check.
• Nowhere to go, she found herself back in God’s embrace, and realized, once and for all, that there’s no place better than in the center of His will—check.

So maybe that’s not exactly Julie’s story. Maybe it’s my own. I sat there listening to her tell my story, and as if her songs were all written just for me.

And I know everyone in that room that afternoon can also relate in more ways than one.

The details

Everyone came and went home with full tummies, full hearts, and lots of stories to tell. And in keeping with the Pursuit Community’s activity for the month (head shots!), we all had our portraits taken by our resident photographers Sheila and Krissy.

I may be a little biased here but come on, I’m blown away by how beautiful and talented Pursuit Manila women are, don’t you think so too? :)

It wouldn’t be a Pursuit Manila gathering without these pretty and yummy little things.

First of all, a big shout out to our Pursuit Manila sponsors and friends: 1. Heima Store, 2. Signetura, 3. Hodge Podge, 4. Very Personally Yours, 5. Mabby Makes, 6. Craftsmith Living, 7. Ashes to Beauty, 8. Eeniminnicupcakes, 9. Cuki Confections, 10. Sweetness Overload,11. Merry Macarons, 12. Cafe France, 13. Barista Box, 14. Juice Hut

Special thanks to Cheeky Bunas, our beloved and most favorite floral stylist, and Fujifilm’s Team Instax for the instax films we used during the event.

..and of course, an exclusive Ashes to Beauty edition of the Passion Cards.

Every time I make these Pursuit Manila recaps, I just can’t stop saying THANK YOU. Because really, I don’t know how any of these is possible without the outpouring of love and support both from the Pursuit Manila team and our kind and generous sponsors and friends. Scroll up to the beginning of this post to see this gathering’s sponsors! :)

What a blessing, to be surrounded by gifted and beautiful women of God! And what a privilege for us at Pursuit Manila to have an exclusive listening party, even before the Ashes to Beauty album was launched to the public.

Now. Here’s what’s happening.

Ashes to Beauty Album Launch

On Tuesday, June 23, Julie Tarroja is having her official Ashes to Beauty launch, and in behalf of the Pursuit Manila team, we invite you to come and listen to the music and story of our dear sister and friend. The details are here:

We’ll see you there, yeah? :)

[button url=”https://www.facebook.com/events/765992023522248/”]Check out the Ashes to Beauty Events Page HERE.[/button]

Who’s coming? :)

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Come Join the Pursuit Community!

To know more about Pursuit Community, here are some helpful links:

• The official site is HERE.
• The low down of who we are and what we believe in.
• The official Pursuit Manila page is HERE.
• The story about how Pursuit Community reached our side of the world.
• The online repository of Pursuit Manila gatherings.

Subscribe to Pursuit Community to get Updates!

To know more about the global community we’re part of, SUBSCRIBE TO PURSUIT COMMUNITY HERE. You’ll know about what’s happening, not just here at Pursuit Manila, but the local communities and gatherings happening simultaneously around the world. ;)

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Photos used in this post are grabbed from the following Instagram accounts. Thanks, ladies! @sheilacatilo, @littlemspicasso, @_loveocampo, @madzsablada, @jikaylaborte