Priorities

With great blessings come much responsibility. And with those responsibilities come important decisions. Funny how as soon as I got the official "ok" for taking time off in December for HK, I find out that there's a whole whack of events that I'll be missing out on. It's a struggle between feeling bad and not letting it get to my head. I felt real special after getting an invitation to the Department Chair's personal Christmas party hosted at his house. But with that came pressure. In a way, I had a great excuse to miss it since I would feel awfully out of place. That and no one else in the office were on the invitation list. In fact, of the few hundred people in the department, there were less than 10 people that were on the recipient list of that invitation. Yikes. I'm also going to miss out on our department Lunch with the Chair. Double whammy. He must think I'm trying to avoid him! So glad he's got a great sense of humour and understanding. Apparently I'm off the hook if I bring back a souvenir. Phew!

But regardless of how excited people get when they hear that I'm going back to HK, I hate to say I don't share that excitement. Honestly, despite all the stuff I'm gonna get done in HK for the wedding, the real reason I'm going back is cos of grandpa. It kind of messes up our plans since we were supposed to go back to see ALL our relatives and friends after the wedding. I'm grateful that my parents offered to pay for my flight back, including the expenses there. It's been really difficult to focus on my real purpose of going back when there's so much hype over the shopping and food.

I guess I can say the same about the wedding. A part of me feels like we have to compete with everyone else just because we're getting married too. It's been so hard for me to sit down and try to write that blurb for our website. The gist of it is there and has been floating around my mind but I just haven't had the chance to actually write it down. As much as I say I will, I really need to do so. Soon. Maybe it'll help ground me through this whole process. What it boils down to is, we're doing it for God. It doesn't help that everyone else is saying, "It's about YOU. It's YOUR wedding. You deserve it." Actually, it's not. So stop telling me that!

It feels like everyone is getting married next year. No joke. I was having lunch with a co-worker yesterday, my new-found lunch buddy. And it turns out she's getting married next year as well! Our conversation soon focused on our upcoming weddings. I have to say, it was very informative because she's getting married in HK and told me all the stuff I can get there and so forth. But soon it developed into a big headache for me. Whatever happened to keeping this whole thing simple? I've realized that the only way we're really going to stand out and make this a real special wedding is for us to really keep God at the center. As I reflect on everything, I'm going to try to peel away as much as I can so that instead of all the prettyness and fairytale-like-romantic elements the wedding will reflect God's love and holiness. Instead of being the center-of-attention, I'm going to try my best to let God have the spot light - as willingly as I possibly can. And that is the greatest challenge a bride could possibily face.