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| One year ago I had a perfect day.
Not every day since then has been perfect, but the first year of marriage has been filled with much laughter, learning about each other and ourselves, eating good food together, serving others together, having an amazing group of friends, and learning to build a life together which is more than about ourselves.
I thank GOD (and Lisa) for my wonderful wife, Melody. I completely adore her and every day I think she is the most beautiful thing in the world.
On our first anniversary I am reminded of the vow I made to her this day a year ago...
'I, Win, take you, Melody, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward. In the presence of GOD, our family and friends, I offer you my vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy and in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to honor and respect you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live.' | | |
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One of my best friends, Tracy, helped direct this 20 minute short film called The Butterfly Circus. It's a story about hope, a man without limbs, and a circus that inspires.
You can watch it full screen here: http://www.thedoorpost.com/hope/The Butterfly Circus/
At the height of the Great Depression, the showman of a renowned circus leads his troupe through the devastated American landscape, lifting the spirits of audiences along the way. During their travels they discover a man without limbs at a carnival sideshow, but after an intriguing encounter with the showman he becomes driven to hope against everything he has ever believed.
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| Nguyen Dat Ha was never my name. It was the name written down by the Saigon hospital official where I was born. The Chinese characters of my name were not going to be written on the Vietnamese birth certificate nor would they translate to English when I came to the United States 11 months later.
Lam is my mother's maiden name. It is the name which on the day of my wedding I told my mother I would carry on with my wife. It is the name my children will carry in honor of my mother who raised three children up on her own after my father left when I was three years old.
I was never called Nguyen by anyone who knew me. Since fifth grade I introduced myself by my middle name or by "Win." A Vietnamese classmate told me I was mispronouncing my name. But I explained to him it was not my name, just the name written for me. Besides, I could never pronounce it the correct way. I could barely pronounce words correctly in my own native language, Cantonese.
Win Dat Lam is now my legal name. It has always been my real name. | | |
| Melody and I have a little apartment in Alhambra that we call home. One feature of our home is that we do not have a television.
In finding an apartment and planning the layout, we tried to envision what we want our home to do for us instead of simply letting Ikea tell us what each room should look like. So instead of having a living room built around a media center, we planned our living room to be conducive to evening conversations over tea. And we wanted a second bedroom to convert to a study room so our master bedroom would be free from our MacBooks. Instead of having separate desks in the study room we share a table so that we can be closer even when we're working on different things.
The space may feel small at times and I surely miss catching Lakers games, but our home feels very intimate and we love it. And maybe not having a television will force us to go out and visit friends more. Hopefully Daisy will let us walk on over to her place to watch The Office on her new TV. :)
Also bumped into an interesting research article with data showing that unhappy people watch more television. Not sure which is the cause and which is the effect.
http://www.newsdesk.umd.edu/sociss/release.cfm?ArticleID=1789
From the General Social Survey, the researchers found that self-described very happy people were more socially active, attended more religious services, voted more and read more newspapers. By contrast, unhappy people watched significantly more television in their spare time.
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| I want to be the father that I never had. My mother slaved away for years to care for the three children that her husband left behind. If GOD blessed me with a family, there is no desire deeper in my heart than to be the husband and father to my wife and children that my mom never had. What man
would not want to provide well for his family? What man would not want
security and comfort for his wife and children?
Then he said to them all: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
I love the job that I currently have. I love organizing and
administration. I have wonderful coworkers and flexible hours. I get
to keep my work at work so I can focus on life after 5 o'clock each
day. I have the best health care found anywhere west of the Mississippi
River. I have upward mobility and great job stability. I have a great
workplace and close proximity to many friends. I love being able to write on Xanga at work.
For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.
The values that a person holds dictates the decisions that a person
makes. But sometimes there are competing values. And it is not a
matter of discerning between good and evil, but discerning what is
best. Indecisiveness often
comes when you are not sure what it is that you
value more. It is at those moments of indecisiveness that you must
choose not just what you will do but what you will value more.
What good is it for you to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit your very self?
I want to be a man who fights for justice and reconciliation. I want to be a man who
serves the least in our society. I want to be a man whose life is a testament to GOD's
love and mercy. Not just in rhetoric but in deed. Not just one day a week but
every day of the week. Not just to those who already know his love but
to those who are desperate for his love but have yet to accept it.
GOD has given me a
heart for the homeless, for the abused, and for the poor. I would love
to have a job where GOD can use this heart he has given me. At the
same time, I have huge debt and little savings. How can I even dream
of providing for a family when I cannot pay off my debt and move out on
my own?
If any of you are ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of you when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
These weigh heavily on my heart of late. I often stress and lose sleep
because of my lack of faith here. Is it true that GOD provides? Is it
true that GOD protects? Is it true that no one who has left home or
brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for Jesus
and for the gospel will not fail to receive a hundred times as much in this
present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and
fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life?
GOD has always proven
true to his word in my life before. Yet I am still not the man of
faith and conviction whom I hope to be. Please, be patient with me
on this journey.
"Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God."
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