Jealousy

James 3:13-18
13 Who among you is wise and understanding ? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. 18 And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. 

My heart was really troubled yesterday since it was filled with jealousy. I was jealous of couple of my friends who get new -better -jobs. It is so easy for greed to creep out from inside of me even though the hour before I was very grateful of my loving husband, supportive friends & family, and having stable income.
Thank God today for reminding me to sow in the Spirit. Be peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.Lord, I am sorry for being so ungrateful. Please restore my joy and my peace in You.

Why 02.18.2012?

We got this question a lot when we announced our wedding date.
Why February 18, 2012?
We got engaged in July 4, 2011 although we kind of been talking about our wedding since May.
We were thinking of getting married at the end of 2011 but then, it feels like we only have short time to plan.
Taking into consideration about family that will be traveling from out of the US as well,
we decided that early 2012 sounds much better.
Especially also that end of the year is the busiest time of the year for my work place.
Being an accountant, January will not be a good year too since it is the time when I have to prepare federal & state filing for closing 2011.
So, that leave us with February being the earlier possible month in 2012. We want to make 2012 a fresh start for both of us.

After talking to our parents and inquire the venue we like, we decided to get married on 02.18.2012!

10 more days.... counting =)

Wedding Surprises.

My first wedding surprises just came in this morning.
Not the pleasant kind.
My wedding photo booth vendor (Click It Photography) just cancelled 2 weeks before my wedding!
A bit stressful, but I try to maintain positive attitude.
Wedding surprises are expected.
I learned that after helping my friends' wedding.
Praying that God will give me another photo booth vendor that is nice and affordable.
and also for Groupon to refund me the money.
*sigh....
no more unpleasant surprises, please..........

I welcome pleasant surprises! like....... when I received big Amazon gift cards for wedding gift from my out of states friend a week ago =P

Narrow gate

Today's devotion by Charles Stanley gives me new meaning to the Narrow Gate passage in the Bible:
"Enter through the narrow gate ; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it." Matthew 7:13-14


I always thought it is just that God's way is always harder, and more strict. But, I have never thought about the passage when people mocked me as "narrow-minded Christian" I used to take it as an offense and challenged to broaden my view. This new revelation gives me assurance that indeed God's way is narrow (like how oxen usually have their eyes blocked on the sides so that they can focus) I will learn to focus more on God's way and less worry about the worldly opinion.

Most part of the Bible is hard to understand by reason, that's when FAITH the essence of Christianity comes in and relationship with God to bring you REVELATION that will keep your love and passion for Christ burning.


Source:
http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/in-touch/in-touch-feb-2-2012.html

There is power in the name of Jesus!

Yesterday was a very hectic day at work.....
Many people came in for their last minute Christmas gifts...
The phone also keeps on ringing, my name keeps on getting called to do this and that....
Until...one time, my boss was a bit frustrated looking for a diamond certificate that he can not find anywhere.
I was on edge as well.
My boss finally said, "We'll just give them the copy, I think it's fine" I was relieved.
But, turns out the copy was blurry!!
He came in to my room and said "Can you make a better copy of this?"
Me: "OH NO!" (I almost cried. I was so scared, since I know I won't be able to make a better copy without the original)
I silently pray.... "There is power in the name of Jesus. Please help me find it, Jesus."
And...I suddenly remember that we have a cabinet in the back to keep all the old files of diamond certificates.
I went there...and there it is!
Voila! Thank you, Jesus :)

Found OUR home!

I am glad we have found our future home together!
The "home" search was quite challenging due to the option of "buying" vs. "renting"
More so because I want to live somewhere convenient busing to Downtown Seattle.

After researching the house market, evaluating the economy, consulting with several people,
we decided to rent, rather than to buy.
We were looking at several apartment complex close to the Overlake Transit Center within our budget of $1000.00 for one bedroom apartment.
We were quite settled with Archstone Redmond Court for $970/month and Jack would drive me every morning to the transit center. However, when we contacted them about a week ago regarding their availability for next month, the rent price went up to $1085/month!
We decided to look some more until we found some units on craigslist within our budget.
Sadly, those units did not include washer & dryer - which was a big turn down for me.

Thank God, last Monday, we found this apartment in downtown Bellevue for $1050/month.
We checked it out and we both like it. I like it more because of the 2 additional storage closets it has.
The only problem is just that the apartment is located down from a very steep hill.
If Seattle has bad winter like two years ago, we can end up getting lock in our apartment for days.

Despite the challenge, and the option of looking into more apartments, we have made our decision.
We pray that God will help us settle down quickly and build our home peacefully =)

Mini Honeymoon: booked! =D

Yayyyyy! I am so excited :)
We just purchased our hotel for our mini honeymoon next year.
It will be in Hyatt Regency Mission Bay
http://www.hautelook.com/getaways/home/show/556

I also purchased an hour long photoshoot just to document our mini honeymoon at the Balboa Park through Living Social with Alon David Photography.

Excited. Can't wait :D