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Tuesday, September 02, 2008

  • The Not-Get-away Getaway Weekend

    Mr Brett, my teddy-bear husband, decided to take me on a weekend getaway. It would take my mind off matters (see "affliction" in last blog entry) and give us a change of scenery. He picked Santa Cruz, a seaside resort with a busy boardwalk and amusement park, but on short notice on a hot summer weekend, we couldn't get a hotel room within a reasonable price. I hit on the idea to stay in San Jose, which is only 1/2 hour from Santa Cruz. Most of the hotels there cater to business clients who stay Monday to Friday; the weekend prices are cheap, even at the high end luxury hotels. So off we went to San Jose.

    When we told people we were going to San Jose they were incredulous. "San Jose??" they said. "Nobody 'goes away' to San Jose." In case you aren't familiar with the Bay Area, San Jose is in Silicon Valley, full of high rises and businesses. It's not scenic, although it does have some pretty good museums. Still, it's not exactly honeymoon-central.

    But off we went to San Jose, and we had a great time! The hotel was luxurious and we felt completely pampered. We swam in the pool and ate room service for breakfast, wearing our cushy white hotel robes. When we got to Santa Cruz I was somewhat disappointed by the kitchy-ness of it (how to do spell that word?). San Jose, of all places, was more fun.

    So this weekend we decided to "get-away" again, this time to San Francisco, which is only 3 subway stops from our house. We checked into another luxury hotel (on another cheap weekend special). We had afternoon tea at the Palace Hotel, in a room with an astonishing glass ceiling, chandeliers and marble pillars. We checked out City Church and had lunch with friends in Japantown. We walked around Chinatown like tourists, stood in line for an hour at Golden Gate Bakery for dan tat and moon cakes, and yes, ate breakfast in our rooms wearing the cushy white hotel robes. We could get used to this very easily.

    We didn't have to go far, but we felt we were away. Vacation, after all, is a state of mind. We didn't have to fly (very expensive and tiring), we didn't have to drive (did you check out gas prices in CA?). We came back rested, refreshed, having polluted the environment not at all, and definitely happy.

    We highly recommend not-get-away getaways!


Tuesday, August 26, 2008

  • How I Learned to Love My Husband

    It is said that familiarity breeds contempt. When I was dating Mr Brett, I could only see his good traits, through rose-coloured glasses.

    Then I got married.

    Each morning I would wake up, roll over, look at Mr Brett, and see something that I wanted to FIX. I first decided to fix his weight, by putting him on a diet. Then I wanted to fix his spending habits, by putting him on a budget. I wanted to fix his habit of throwing his socks on the floor, his habit of always ordering more food than he could eat, and even what he was allowed to drink (no soda). He was my fixer-upper husband. The funniest thing about fixing him was that the more I tried to fix him the less he changed and the more I changed... into a nagging wife.

    Then adversity hit.

    Overnight I changed from the self-confident wife with great plans to fix her husband into a little crying puddle on the floor, unable to fix herself. The trials of life caught me blindsided, and it hit hard, and there was nothing I could do but reel and fall.

    And my husband caught me.

    He put his big teddy bear arms around me (and if you've ever met Mr Brett you will know I don't mean this figuratively) and held me as I cried and shook and cried some more. He sat with me in doctor's offices, he sat with me at home and held my hand as I crumbled into little pieces. He took me away on weekends to cheer me up, he called home from work every hour to check in on me, and he kissed me and cuddled me to sleep at the end of the day.

    The fact that I am back on xanga means that I have recovered somewhat.

    And do you know what? I no longer want to fix my husband. Yes, he could stand improvements on some areas, but his good points are much more obvious to me when I look at him in the mornings. He was there for me when I needed help, and that is more important than how he spends his money (to a point, OK, I'm not a saint).

    I wouldn't wish what I went through on anyone, but I think every couple will benefit from adversity. Through going through adversity together, I learned to respect my husband, to admire him, and to appreciate him.

    So that's how I learned to love my husband.

Friday, August 08, 2008

Monday, August 04, 2008

  • The Lord's Prayer

    Dr. Abe Kuruvilla from Dallas Theological Seminary came to our church on Sunday and taught a class on the Lord's Prayer. I thought it was so helpful that I decided to post it on xanga. Hope you find it similarly helpful.

    Our Father in Heaven
    We seek God's person, as He is our Father in Heaven, who loves us. Therefore we can pray with confidence, knowing that He hears our prayers.

    Hallowed be your name
    We seek God's priority. God is above all things and all things exist to glorify His name. Therefore we pray with purity, in order to give glory to Him. (Glory is how God looks to me. Holiness is how much I look like God.)

    Your kingdom come
    We seek God's program. God's Kingdom is coming, and when Jesus returns He will create a new Heavens and a new earth. Therefore we pray with hope, knowing that even if we are losing here, we are winning there. If we face oppression here, we will receive compensation there.

    Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven
    We seek God's purpose, not our own agenda. If you accept everything the Lord gives you, the bitter and the sweet, unadulterated happiness will come. Therefore we pray with submission. Even if what we want does not happen, we still submit to God's will. We run after God's will, not our own.

    Give us this day our daily bread
    We seek God's provisions. God promises our basic necessities (daily bread, not daily cake). In this life, we depend on God for our basics and we will be content. Payday will come, but not now. Therefore we pray with responsibility, sharing what we get with others. (Give us our daily bread, not give me my daily bread)

    Forgive us our debts as we have also forgiven our debtors
    We seek God's pardon, therefore we pray with compassion, to forgive others.

    Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one
    We seek God's protection. We are living in a greater battle, but God will win victoriously. Therefore we pray with courage.


    Restraining prayer, we cease to fight;
    Prayer makes the Christian’s armor bright;
    And Satan trembles, when he sees
    The weakest saint upon his knees.
    --William Cowper


Thursday, July 31, 2008

  • Trust

    The other morning Mr Brett and I decided to go around the corner for brunch. As we emerged blinking from our apartment building into the bright Saturday morning sunlight, I realized that I had left my sunglasses in the apartment, and I was recovering from a migraine. Too lazy to go back upstairs, I soldiered on, squinting.

    "I have an idea," said Mr Brett. "Close your eyes and take my hand. You can walk with your eyes shut."

    "No way!" I said. "I am NOT doing that."

    But soon my eyes started to tear and flashing lights appeared at the back of my head. So I closed my eyes and held on to his hand, and together we walked down the street to the restaurant. It was terrifying. With every step I fully expected to trip over a manhole cover, or walk into lamppost. In the beginning I kept peeping to see where we were.

    "Hey, no peeking!" said Mr Brett. "Keep your eyes closed."

    I held on tightly to his hand as he coached me, "There's a half step here," and "We're turning right." Before I knew it, we were at the restaurant, and I had neither tripped nor crashed into anything. He had brought me there safely.

    "See?" said Mr Brett. "You just had to trust me." I sheepishly agreed.

    After brunch, we decided to reverse the experiment. Mr Brett shut his eyes and I led him back home. Whereas I had hung back and shuffled my feet, and snuck quite a few peeps, Mr Brett just shut his eyes and plodded along.

    "This is relaxing!" he said, when we arrived home without incident.

    Why was I so fearful when walking blind, and Mr Brett so relaxed? Was it because I was better in leading than Mr Brett? Probably not. If anything Mr Brett is taller and bigger, and more likely to catch me if I were to stumble and fall. The problem was in myself. I simply did not trust Mr Brett's ability to lead.

    Now here is a spiritual lesson waiting to be tapped. We started talking about how we trust in God. Mr Brett's faith is more of the, "I know God will take care of me" variety. Mine is of the "But what if he doesn't...???" sort. Is Mr Brett's God different than mine? No, our God is one and the same. The problem was in myself. I simply did not trust God, not enough.

    Think of the giants of the faith: Moses, David, Elijah, John the Baptist, Paul. They parted seas, defeated armies, raised the dead. Was their God more powerful than our God? No, we have the one and the same God. The problem is with us. We simply do not trust God, not enough.

    I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matt 17:20

    The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" Luke 17:5


TizzyAlexander

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