There is a joke saying a woman marries a man thinking she will change him, but she can’t. A man marries a woman thinking she will not change, but she does.

My thought: It’s not really a joke; it’s the truth. We need to expect, acknowledge, and accept that there will be differences and changes in marriage. The sooner we recognize those changes and differences, the better marriage relationship we would have.

Actually, this is not so much a random thought. It was triggerd by Dr. Gary Chapman’s question of the day: “Looking back, what wasn’t discussed at pre-marital counseling that you wish you would have known before you got married?”

Dr. Gary Chapman is the author of the famous The 5 Love Languages book. I highly recommend this book, and sign up for his very insightful weekly newsletter. More information at The 5 Love Languages website

Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.

Just read something interesting from daily devotion.

No wonder the old saying goes “The middle of sIn is a big I!” When “I” become more important than others and what “I” want and that “I” win is more significant than what someone else truly needs, then “I” have lost my way and do not display the love of Christ.

It comes naturally to me that I  prioritize  ”me” first in everything. However, God tells us to humble ourselves;  lower ourselves to last, then He will lift us up higher. His “rules” of doing thing are so backward and awkward to us, don’t they?! Yet they are the right way – the correct way that makes everything works smoothly with less effort. It’s like we are right-handed, yet struggle and try to do things with our left hand. God is telling us: you don’t need to try so hard, just use your right hand! We can either tell Him: a) “mind your own business. I’m doing my own way” and struggle with own failures, or b) try His approach and do things with ease.

I remember seeing this church bulletin a while back:

and with that order, it spells out JOY!

By the way, if you haven’t seen this website I Am Second, http://www.iamsecond.com, you should definitely check it out.

You hunted down and bought a toy that you thought your kid would really like, paid its price, wrapped it, gave it to him or her as present;  then your kid in turn took it to school and gave it away freely to his or her friend. How would you react?

1. Yell at your kid and give a speech about how much you had gone through to get that toy for him or her.
2. Vow you would never buy anything for your kid again (but you probably don’t mean it)
3. Question your kid about that “special” friend, and whether your kid is at the age of dating or admiring at the opposite sex.
4. Wish you would have keep the toy for yourself instead of giving it to your kid.
5. Wish you had told your kid that the toy is not to give away.
6. Be proud that your kid is such a generous person, and will buy something else to reward your kid.
7. Learn the lesson to make sure asking the kid first what he or she actually likes.

OMG. Someone stops me!!  Too many reactions that I think I probably would react.  Breath! breath!…. I guess I need to re-evaluate the joy of giving, tis the season.

So I was in the dentist office to get my tooth fixed. As I was laying down on the chair, looking up to the ceiling,  it caught my eyes with the warning label that sticked onto the steel frame of the dentist light, that said: “Suitable for use in dry place.” I couldn’t help but to think of a reason for such warning label.  Must someone have thought that it’s a good idea to use the light in a wet place before?!  But now I think of it, the warning label didn’t say “dry place only”, and the water is always readily available as they perform the procedure on our mouth. I could think of several death scenes  involve with electrocution that would write up the script for the next Final Destination movie. Man, I need to get out of this execution chair! Oh no, I can’t feel my lips now. It’s numb.

This is another random thought of the day. Now back to work!!

You probably have heard by now the story the 6-year-old kid took off in the hot air balloon. It was all over the news. I was at work and saw the breaking news headline from the local news website. In the short time, the whole world was watching the same news with the live video broadcast of the balloon on its course. Despite there were so many comments, criticisms over the boy’s parents on how they should have watched their kids, and how and why it happened, I was just worrying about the boy. It was about 50 degree outside and wind had picked up. Lots of what-if went on in my head.

I was really concerning for the boy, so I prayed for him.  I don’t know this boy, but I worry for him as if he was my child. God must loves this  kid even more. I lifted him up to the hands of God. Only He could save. I also prayed for the frantic parents.

When the news update showed the balloon crash landed but rescuers did not see the boy inside,  my stomach just had a sad, worry, weird feeling all the same time. You know what I mean?!  Just as anyone else, I was afraid he might had fallen off the balloon during flight.

Until later in the evening, I heard the news that the boy was found at home, hiding in the attic. Boy, I was happy and relief! I thanked God for the safety of this kid. Even the boy wasn’t in the balloon in the first place, I wouldn’t count out that it wasn’t God. If it wasn’t something that God did to prevent the boy to get inside that balloon, there wouldn’t be this happy ending.

It’s great for the parents to have the boy home and safe. Now they have to face all the media attentions, judgement, criticism from everyone. Understanding there is negligence in their part, but kids are very unpredictable as well. I feel sorry for them. It’s going to be a long time for all the dust to settle.

UPDATE (2009/10/19)

Apparently, the whole deal was a hoax. The parents was set up the whole thing as a public stunt for a reality show. They are now facing felony charges and such. What were they thinking? What kind of parents would put their own kids into this mess? I guess my prayer should have been for the parents, instead.

I don’t even know if I have a dream car anymore, because it keeps changing all the time. When new make and model comes out, suddenly I have a “different vision”, a change of heart. It seems that we could never be happy with what we currently have.  We could never satisfy our greed. The more we feed it, the more it will grow.

Many time on the road, and I see people driving their loud, beat-up clunker with missing parts, covered in rust or patches of paint, and leave behind a thick dark trail of smoke. I look at them and feel compassionate for them, but at the same time feeling thankful for realizing how blessed I am, and I am in much better condition that them. Suddenly, my dream car doesn’t matter so much anymore. This old yet running-fine car will do just fine.

See the look on their faces?  I glanced at them. They’re certainly not glaring, not staring at another car and wishing they would have that car instead.  They look content, and happy! I imagine I would ask them “How could you be so happy driving this car? I would feel embarrass driving this.”  Then, I imagine many answers they would give me:

Clunker

Have you ever had a spit in your mouth, and as soon as you about to spit it out, the urge to sneeze came and you sneezed, then you checked and wondered where the heck did the spit go? Well, have you?   … No, you haven’t?? …. Yeah, me neither! That’s just gross!

Achooo!

On my drive to work, one guy appeared to be rushing through traffic, trying to pass all the cars ahead of him. He zoomed past me on my left, cut in to the inner left lane, and…. ended up got caught in the police speed trap up ahead. As I drove by where police stopped him, I wasn’t sure I should feel sorry for the guy and/or laughed at him for a little. I might have done a little of both. Maybe it’s an emergency that he rushed. Maybe I shouldn’t laugh.