People close to me know how hard it is for me to form deep bonding relationships with girls.

When I was a little kid, my idea of fun was running around the school grounds with boys. Now that I’m older, I still choose to run around and kick football with men. I think having two older brothers and a tribe of male cousins have affected my ability to easily understand and relate to the female species.

Then DITRI happened.

When I was in University, going through a lot of life-changing dilemmas, God led me to a support group of young women. At first I was hesitant,  scared that I might die of female hormone overdose or suffocate in the embrace of girly giggles.

It didn’t take long before I realized that having an all-girls circle of care is having life-long friends who you can share your innermost secrets and desires without having to explain yourself.

They become extensions of you, your hopes and dreams. They stay when you make the wrong choices and they stay more when it’s time to lick your wounds.

They become your live personal Pinterest board on fashion, your Oprah on relationships, your Groupon on bargains, your Youtube on make-up,  your Wikipedia on intellectual queries and your Google on girly stuff men wouldn’t and couldn’t understand.

Their lives become your inspiration to keep calm and let God take control.

They become your prayer partners for all the seemingly mundane choices and all the heavy drama in your life. They become testimonies of God’s heart and his unconditional love for His daughters.

DITRI reminds me that I can run all day in the world of Mars, but at the end of the day I long to come home to the gentle graceful arms of Venus.

Behold, you are beautiful, my love, behold, you are beautiful! Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats leaping down the slopes of Gilead. – Song of Solomon 4:1 

Photos by Hazel Castro