Always in the Hands of God

Today Tim and I brought Miriam to the airport to go see her sister in Wisconsin.  We watched her go through security by herself. And as she started to walk away towards Gate A1, slowly we lost sight of her.  Then Tim whispered to me, "There you go.  You transferred your daughter into someone's hand." And I said, "Always in the hands of God."  Yes, always in the hands of God!

And then as we started to drive back home, I remembered that Shannon was also minutes away from her job interview with the Wisconsin State Legislature.  Earlier this morning I texted her a piece of advise of which she was obviously well aware of it - but I had to remind her anyway (Motherly instincts never leave mothers, I guess).  As I prayed for her, there was this realization that I have no control over anything. Not over the flight that Miriam is in, not over the people at Shannon's interview nor her answers at the interview, and not even with Brahms who was at home.  As much as I think that I can make things go in favor of the people I love by doing or merely worrying, I really do not have any control.

Few days later... 

Miriam comes home with a short hair and I did not have anything to do with it.  I was disappointed over the fact that she and her sister did not warn me about it but I figured, it is another indicator for my waning control over the affairs of my children. By now I must start redefining my role from director to adviser to my children.  This role requires that I strengthen my faith muscles - engaging myself in the Holy Spirit's direction :)

Dijon Mustard Chicken

My daughter, who now lives in Wisconsin, reminded me again to write the recipes we make at home. So for this week the recipe from our kitchen is:


Dijon Mustard Chicken

This recipe uses a simple marinade that add great flavor to chicken.  Marinate the chicken during the weekend and you'll have several easy meal options for the week. 

Ingredients:
2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast or chicken tenderloin
2 tablespoon olive oil (application varies with the manner of cooking)

Combine the first four ingredients.  Cut chicken breast diagonally into 1/4-inch strips (if using tenderloins, then skip this step). Coat with the marinade. Let it marinate overnight up to five days. 

To Pan fry: 
Add the oil onto a hot frying pan.  Lay strips into the hot pan.  Partially cover the pan because oil will tend to splatter.  Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until cooked. When the chicken comes off easily then you know it is ready.

To Bake:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line shallow pan with aluminum foil.  Coat the marinated chicken with the olive oil. Lay chicken strips on lined pan.  Bake for 15-20 minutes.  

Serve with rice or pasta with a side of veggies. For a lighter meal serve over salad.

Mirage

Imagine yourself walking on the desert.  You've been walking for days.  Your water has been exhausted and you don't know where you will find the next water because all you can see is a single-color landscape - dry sand dunes and not a sign of vegetation in sight.  You're thirsty and it is unbearably hot where you are.  Soon you begin to see signs of relief - there is a river in sight. And your hope rises once more.  You muster the remaining energy you have to run to the water only to be disappointed because it was only a mirage.

Now come back to real life.  Sometimes we are put in a situation when we are drained and thirsty for a fresh relief.  We are hungry and weak.  It is during this times when we need to harness our desires to get close to God and lean on him.  Keep your eyes open because the Lord will dangle opportunities sometimes as candies in a pinata and sometimes as honey in a beehive.  Still sometimes he dangles something really good in front of something even better.  Just like a nice warm bath in preparation for a sit-down meal. He is the source of all good gifts.  So we grab the gifts. But we need to be mindful.  A defeated-circumstance coupled with nostalgia for something we've been detached from for so long can create a distorted horizon.  Promising opportunities show up and yet we need not forget to maintain our desire for God - Him alone - as we entertain the promise of a breakthrough.  I'm not saying to disregard opportunities, by all means take it, but let not the gift become the obsession.

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”
Jeremiah 17:7-8

Keep your eyes on God because it is easy to paste His picture 

on the things our hearts crave for.

Unpublished -- 2012 Resolution

I found this unpublished draft today and I decided to post it since it is a topic that I need to be reminded over and over again -- to defy the human tendency to be self-centered.  

Every time we put away our Christmas ornaments, it is our family tradition to write down our desired goals for the new year and then keep them in a small red box.  Next Christmas would be the next time that we see these written goals again.  Every year I find out that I failed.  But we do anyway.  The desire to achieve new goals is there but the persistence and perseverance are often lacking.  I heard Rick Warren say that it is not your beginning but your middle performance that brings success. 

What is your New Year's resolution for 2012?  The most common answer to this question on this part of the world would often be focused improving the physical body.  My sister told me she wants to reduce her carbohydrates (rice) intake.  Most people desire to change their physical activities, change eating habits, take on new hobbies to improve their mental or emotional well being.  These are all very good goals.  In fact I plan to set aside some days of the week when I would deliberately skip one meal.  I thought this would be a way to maintain if not reduce my weight a little.  After all, for all of us who believe in Jesus Christ, the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.  It is but proper to keep it in shipshape.  However, our bodies should not be the end of the goals we set for the year.  That would be vain and meaningless. 

Looking Beyond Self.  All the getting-fit-and-healthy goals are self centered if they end there.  Instead, these goals count better when they are used as means to change the world around us.  We do not change the world by providing them a lean and muscular body to look at.  Neither do we change it by providing them the opposite view.  We were commanded to love others as we love ourselves.  If we take care of our own interest and neglect those of the people God put around us then we are going the wrong direction. 

Therefore, I resolve to express my love for God by pushing myself to invest more thoughts and action on the interest of others.  

Lunch Date in Davis

The obligatory selfie and Brahms' self-prescribed facial expression.  

Tim and I went to have lunch with our son today.  Although we have seen him recently when we went to watch a Soccer game in Sacramento, we really did not have time to talk to him in depth.

Thank God is doing fine. One of the things he talked about were those that pertains to his college Christian group - Catalyst.  (Which means that it is one of the things that occupy his thoughts currently).  Just today he was interviewing candidates for the position of Small Group Leaders.  Catalyst is very serious about choosing the right leaders - and so should every organization. Brahms plays a key role in the leadership of this group at this present time.  That is where most of his social life revolve. Being his mother, I like it because he gets to think about life and God with other people.  It is a good exercise for him to be exposed to the emotional pressure of being in leadership.

It is comforting to see a child make plans - not just for the distant unforeseen future but for the next month, next quarter or next year on his own.  Work, housing, summer internship, and even spending time with his sister.  To an outsider there is nothing to glean from such conversations but to a parent it is completely different.  There is hope for this child to be able to run something beyond his own affairs with wisdom!

One of the perks of living close to your folks is that they can bring you some barbecued ribs when they come visit.  :)

Soccer at Sac-Republic

Today we did some things we have not done before:  

1. We have not been to see a live soccer game.  Our local soccer soccer team The Sacramento republic is gaining popularity that we must have to experience this team before they become a national sensation.  And we did!  Thanks to Tim!

2. We have not been on a social date with the Wolframs (Gary and Karen).  Karen and Gary are our church friends.  They are very nice people, very dedicated to the Lord.  Gary plays bass and guitar in the worship team while Karen heads the Welcoming committee.  But even if we work together on a regular basis, we have not done things together outside of the church.  We hope to have more opportunities to get to know them better in the future.

3. We have not been seated among the cheering quad of a totally fanatic team.  We are not soccer followers.  And we knew very little about watching soccer - how much more on knowing about fans.  Well, we got seats next to the cheering squad.  In here drums beat throughout the game; fans sang cheering songs (I didn't understand) throughout the game;  fans waved their Sac-Republic scarves at the right time (we were obviously out of place because we didn't have scarves nor clappers);

4. We have not seen a soccer field being watered just minutes before the game started.  Well there are many things that we do not know about soccer but we unanimously thought that watering the field before the game starts would be a negative.  So we watched the irrigation technician water the whole field in sections.  But in my head, the question reverberated over and over again, "Why water the field just before the game?" Thanks to the Internet, you can find answers to almost any question. So it appears that there are two reasons for this: Firstly, if the field is built on sandy soil, water is used to increase the shear strength of the ground.  We all can imagine that wet beach-sand is always firmer than the dry beach-sand.  The players can have a better footing when the soil underneath the turf if the soil is firmer.  Secondly, they water the field right before the game starts because the moist leaves help the ball glide smoothly on the turf.  We should have known this before - but we didn't.  Now we know. :)

Overall, it was a good day.  Not great because our team did not even score at all.  The opposing team were way better - they scored 1.

The Wife of Noble Character: What Motivates Her?

Proverbs 31:10-31

Wife of Noble Character - The picture of the ideal wife or virtuous woman as described in the book of Proverbs.  It is a familiar part of the bible; some have the whole paragraph memorized. Some (myself included), however, use the same verses to draw a caricature of the proverbial wife because it seems so difficult or even impossible to be like her.  I've read the verses over and over again but today I noticed something new.  A revelation that probably demonstrates the reason for Christ to parallel his relationship to the Church to that of a husband to his wife.

We can draw several lessons from the woman described in these passages. However, I will focus on the logical reasons behind her joyful yet busy lifestyle.  She is hardworking and bold -- someone you might consider avant-garde, humanitarian, entrepreneurial,  but there is no mention of any motive for personal ambitions or exaltation.  So what then makes this mysterious woman the way she is? What motivates her to pursue such noble attributes?

In my attempt to bring this woman's enigmatic life to light, I came up with the following deductions based on what the bible verses mentioned above.  (I strongly recommend to read  Proverbs 31:10-31 before reading the rest of this article)

  

1.  Her driving force is her husband's confidence. 
"Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value." (v. 11)

Everything starts the moment he decides to have her as his wife.  He chooses to love her and commits to spend his life with her.  Once the wedding is over, the wife becomes part of her husband.  and in our society, she carries his name.  From the very beginning her husband values her and believes in her.  This wife has her husband behind her.  She relies on his full confidence as a backbone in her domestic affairs.  

2.  The result she expects is good reputation for her husband.
"Her husband is respected in at the city gate, where he takes the seat among the elders of the land." (v. 23) 
If there is one real motivation in this passage, it is that her husband's reputation, shown here in the way her husband is respected among his colleagues. Through her active role she does shine forth, but the ultimate glory is that her husband gets a better reputation from her active role. through the reflection of the praises that her husband gets at the city gates.  Like the moon gets its glow from the reflected light from the sun, so this wife get the praises only when her husband gets the glory first.

3.  Her reward is the admiration of her family. 
"Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her." (v. 28)

Her best reward does not come from personal gratification or accolade from the outside world but it comes from her own family.  Easy as it may seem, this is a difficult thing to achieve considering the familiarity involved.

4.  Her continued faithfulness builds a good name for her husband.
"Let her works bring her praise at the city gates." (v. 31)
She brings good reputation to her husband and as a result her husband praises her. She isn't doing a good job in order to be praised, but the natural result of her good character and industrious nature is the praise that comes at the city gates.  Her husband will be there to hear about it and at the same time takes pride on the commendable nature of his wife.  She is valuable to him and she believes she has his full confidence.

So there you go.  It's very simple.  Why then can't we all be Mrs. Noble Character?  Maybe it is Mr. Noble Character's fault?  No. The choice and belief is hers and she acts on them.  This is the hard part.  It is hard because the world constantly provides her with numerous reasons to change her priorities away from her true reward - her husband.

It is her husband and his good name that motivates this woman to be the wife that she is.  I doubt that if she devoted her efforts in making name, money, or glory for herself that she would be worth writing about to be an influence to the women beyond her generation.  In my own life as a wife, I admit that there are many occasions when my glory is the only motivation to do or dream certain things.  And surely, those are also the times when the burden is most oppressive and unbearable.  On the contrary when I am doing things for my husband's delight and reputation, it is fun and rewarding.  To make the person the I love look good is truly a joy.  I can't explain how long my memory holds on to the words of approval and appreciation I get from my husband - they are engraved in my memory. :)  And when he is proud of what I do for him, there is more rejoicing in my world than when I do things to get recognition from other people.  This is not to disregard the natural desire for compliments from other people but, ideally, it should come as a bonus and not the goal. For it is such a burden to maintain the good opinion of the world to get a recognition that is short-lived.

I have come to understand that the life of a married woman is different from that of someone living alone. Fun fact!  Marriage presents a new form of accountability.  After the wedding self identity begins to be eclipsed by the new union of two people loving each other. Where once there was a lone star, now there are two stars made brighter than ever before because they are reflecting light on each other.  No longer two individuals but a team.

Now if we parallel this union with that of Jesus Christ and his bride - the church, I would say that the church's significance is tied to her desire to bring honor to Jesus Christ.  The church can do all sorts of initiatives but as long as the Church desires a reward other than Christ then it's all futile and insignificant.