Archive for January, 2008
Live by your values
January 17th, 2008 by Doris
Let the process go on until…you have…mature character. – James 1:4PHPlife is a direct result of the values that have fashioned it. And those values are critical, because they function as:
(1) Your anchor. Without values you’re adrift. Any storm can take you under, any current can carry you places you don’t want to go. But with Godly values, you’ve an anchor that holds you steady, even when the weather gets nasty.
(2) Your faithful friend. Your core values are your life-long companions. Abraham Lincoln said, “When I lay down the reins of this administration I want to have one friend left, and that friend is inside myself.”
(3) Your compass. Seasons change. Relationships change.Circumstances change. Goals change. But values don’t! Like a compass,they always point toward the magnetic north. Is living this way easy? No!
Doubters will discount you as foolish when you “walk by faith.” People without family values won’t understand your devotion to your family. The carnally minded won’t understand your dedication to Christ. Those whose values are different from yours will try to convince you to follow them or lower your standards. Your values will be tested daily!Speaking about the mid-life crisis that many people experience between the ages of 35-50, Dr. James Dobson says, “I believe mid-life crisis is more of a phenomenon of the wrong value system, than the age of the group in which it occurs. All of a sudden you realise that the ladder you’ve been climbing is leaning against the wrong wall.” Centering your life on Christ will keep that from happening to you!
Words of Thanks – Part I
January 15th, 2008 by Doris
I always feel uncomfortable to prepare a speech. I tend to just say what come into my mind and yet I always regretted that I didn’t prepare a better one. It was a fantastic wedding for me and Leo. Many couples tend to be very stress and busy in preparing for the their wedding. However, I think it is the most enjoyable thing to do, at least it is much easier than doing a PhD :p. It is absolutely true of what Reverend Chan said, it is good to have a year to prepare for a wedding, not just doing what it is needed to be done physically e.g. organizing venue, invitation card etc but also to prepare the mind and heart for the big day. Also, I think it is important to spend quality time with the family while we still can. I enjoyed every single moment of the preparation throughout the year. The time that I spent with mum shopping for fabric and accessories was memorable. There were so many nice fabric to choose from and we have trouble to decide which one and how many to buy. My mum is incredible, she is very good at cooking, baking, sewing and of course the houseworks. Only she is good at being a housewife, she was also a good helper in dad’s business. In addition, she is tough and strong minded. Language is always a problem for Asian immigrants. However, mum upgraded herself by taking night courses to learn English, computers etc. Once she was joking:” I can speak English, I don’t need to follow you guys anymore” Mum is just incredible! Mother is always the centre of a family. She always work much harder than everyone else to keep the family together. She is the one who worried the most when the children go out. She would not able to sleep until knowing her children are home safely. Mum never really set any rules for us but it is interesting everyone in the family has a clear understanding that we should be home by 12am the latest. And it is also interesting that we would remind each other of that even though mum never say a thing. I think it is a good and fair thing to do as we wouldn’t want mum to worry too much for us and it is not a good habit anyway to stay out for too late for many reasons.
Mum was very happy when I introduced Leo to her. Leo is a great man as he respects others in particular the elders. He didn’t pretend to be someone else so that he would be liked. Well, that would probably make thing worse as we ain’t stupid and we can tell who is the fake one, haha! To be honest, mum was more nervous and excited about the wedding than myself. She made me 4 gorgeous dresses for the wedding and I am so proud to wear them! These dresses are like the treasure for me as it represent mum’s love and cares and remind me of how much efford and time mum has put into. Not just 4 gorgeous dresses, she also made the dresses for my bridemaids, my sisters and herself, in total she made 9 dresses!
I know it is not only an important day for me and Leo but also for my family. So, I think it is very important to keep them updated with the progress. Mum and dad didn’t have any request upon the wedding. Dad just trusted me fully and let me do it the way I like it. However, I know it is important to respect them so I always updated them with the plan and have their OK before I moved on. Occasionally, they would give me better suggestions.
My brother and sisters are great! Well, my brother has moved to Hong Kong to work but was told by mum that he has to come back to attend my wedding haha! It is rather interesting and strange that although I always argue with my brother when I was little, I always kept his words in my heart. I guess because he is the big brother and naturally I respect and look up to him. It was funny that none of my sisters wanted to be the bridemaids. Two of them want to take part in the choir and the other was an usher and intepreter/announcer. They enjoyed singing in the choir and it was very fun when all of us were practicing at home and trying to reach the high note. They didn’t complain about having more practices or where to have it. In fact, they were the one who suggested to have more so that the choir could sing better; and to practice once in the church where the wedding would be held so that the choir could have a better feel and performance on the day. They simply wanted to make things better for our wedding, no complaints! Another sister was busy and stress with her thesis, but yet she was happy to do what she was asked with no complaints. I think everyone in the family enjoyed the day and night. It was such as pleasant feeling to see big smiles on their face and that I would never forget.
I could never ask for anything better…