"What did I do? What did I say / To turn your angel eyes my way?" - Jeff Healey
Actually, I've never mustered the courage to ask Rowena ("Weng" is the Filipino short form of the name and her preference for address) that question. I'm not sure I really want to know. It might be more humbling than flattering!
What I like about her is a lot more obvious. She's kind and generous and willing to serve, but also has a stubborn (I call it "spunky") streak, speaks her mind and doesn't put up with unfairness (or bad driving, apparently) when she sees it. While she speaks and sings wonderfully, she is more often the organizer and arranger than the face up front. She is gentle with the young and courteous with the old. When a church member wound up in the hospital for a long time, she arranged for her family to visit despite her own bad memories of hospitals from her late brother's final illness.
We're good together, too. She inspires me to get out of my apartment and go hiking or biking or visiting the lakeshore with her. She encourages me into ministries that stretch me a bit and rescues me from others that are not such a good fit.... She also has a vision for a shared ministry of hospitality like the one she has seen for years in her parents.
Beats me what she gets out of it ... but I'm not going to ask too loudly, in case she starts wondering the same thing herself!
P.S. For those with even less command of Tagalog (the main language of the Philippines) than I have, "ganda" means "beautiful" (for a girl). "Pinaka" means "most." The "ma-" particle attaches to the word to which "pinaka" refers. Next lesson: Why I frequently say to her mother, "Masarap po ito, Nana."
