Family Tradition #1: Christmas Tree

Passing down family tradition to our next generation is the best way to teach them their family culture and also give them the special moment to remember. One of our family traditions that we would like to pass it down to our daughter, Abigail, is the moment of joy when we all get together and decorate the Christmas Tree.

This is so priceless and unforgettable moment ever for Christmas time this year. It was Abigail’s first time helping us decorating the tree at her great-grandmother’s house. She was TOO EXCITED to help and every ornaments that she liked she put them on the tree (and the rest of them she played with them on the floor).

This one is a keepsake for sure! I took the picture with my iPhone 3GS, use the Best Camera App (you can find the app at Apple Apps Store) and edited it. Then the scrapbook layout, I made with My Memories Suite v.3. All the paper, elements, journaling tag, and frame are from My Memories Collections. The font I used for the journaling is Adler, you can download it here for FREE.

What is your family tradition?

Godly Words

be the guide that our children need through our words everyday

But even as he spoke, a bright cloud came over them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.”

Matthew 17:5 

In his book Raising a Modern-Day Knight (Tyndale House), author Robert Lewis points out that parents can gain some priceless direction from the way God the Father treated God the Son. These insights are particularly powerful in a father’s relationship with his son. Lewis uses as his starting point the several occasions in which God the Father made public pronouncements about his Son. Those statements include three ideas children need to hear from their parents: 1) I love you (“my dearly loved Son”); 2) I’m proud of you (“who brings me great joy”); and 3) you have skills (“listen to him.”) The third one requires extra thought because it is specific to each child, highlighting his or her skills. Read through each of these again and ask yourself when was the last time each of your children heard any or all of these from you.

Some people say, “Do not over praise your kids” but saying these 3 things to our kids are not gonna be an over-praise in their life. They need to know that God loves them much more that we do. They need to know that every single thing in their life is matter to us, even more to God.

Source: NLT Marriage and Family Devotional, A Parenting Devotional

Why is it so hard to find a good time to read a book?

reading is fun

Lately, it is so hard for me and my husband to find a good time to read books. Later in the evening after doing our every day tasks, we feel so exhausted and are ready to go to bed. In the morning, we wake up just in time for my husband to go to work, but it is not enough time for me enjoying a good time to read because my girl is a morning person. So, we have been thinking what we should do to change this habit or why we cannot find a good quality time to read.

We think reading is also a good habit to develop in our girl’s life and we want her to know that reading is fun and a good way to enrich her knowledge, gain wisdom and a window to see the world. But we have to do that first to show her, then she will find out by seeing what we do, then she will do it. Kids are a the best imitator. They will do whatever they see what we do, instead of what we tell them what to do.

Michael Hyatt, a writer, posted this post 5 Ways To Make More Time To Read. In this post, he gives these suggestions that I think might help you and maybe you, too, in improving our reading time. Here’s what he says,

Life is hectic around our house. But I’ve somehow managed to make time to read in the middle of all that. And I say that not to pat myself on the back but to show that, even with a busy life, it is possible (and important) to make time for hobbies you’re passionate about.

Here are a few tips that have helped me:

  1. Sacrifice something. You’ve got 24 hours in a day. You spend 8–10 hours (hopefully not much more) working. You spend 6–8 hours sleeping. You’ve got family and friends to spend time with every day. All of this doesn’t leave much time for other interests, like reading. So your golf game, like mine, might take a hit. You might have to turn off the television after 9:00 p.m. But, if reading is a priority, you’ll make time for it. As Jon Acuff puts it: “Be selfish at 5 a.m.”
  2. Make a routine. If I say I’m just going to “find time to read,” then it will never happen. I have to make time to read. So here’s what I do: I read during my lunch break, and I read at night, beginning around 8:45, after family time, after the wife and little guy are in bed.
  3. Set a goal. You’ve heard this so much that it’s clichéd. But it works. My goal is to read 101 novels. Usually, I would’ve given myself a deadline, but I didn’t want to speed read through the books, so I just chose to read them as they come. At my current pace, I’ll reach my goal in three more years. Maybe you should set a goal to read one book a month. If that seems unlikely, then make it one book every two months. And take it a step further—tell someone about your goal. Or, if you’re crazy like me, start a blog about it. There’s nothing like that extra accountability to keep you moving.
  4. Have fun. You don’t have to read a book simply because a friend suggested it, you know? Think about your hobbies, interests, and passions—then go and read about those subjects. I once spent five months reading nothing but casual, behind-the-scenes books about restaurants and chefs. I’m a chef groupie, I guess. Once you’ve read a few “fun” books, then dabble into the more serious, thought-provoking stuff.
  5. Mix it up. Once you get into the flow of reading, branch out of your comfort zone. If all you’ve read is nonfiction business books, then relax a little and pick up a novel. If you’ve plowed through Stephen King’s entire catalog in a few years, maybe it’s time to give a leadership or inspirational book a try. The point is: If you read the same style of book over and over, you’ll eventually get burned out and go back to watching two hours of Brady Bunch reruns every day…unless you’re reading 101 books for some crazy blog, of course.
The more we read, the more knowledge we gain, the wiser we become.

Woman Who Fears The Lord

First, a woman who fears the Lord is not anxious about the future. Look at verse 25. I love this line, and I praise all you women who are like this: “Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.” Satan dangles in front of her the specter of tomorrow’s troubles, but she glances up at the almighty God at her right hand (her magnificent German Shepherd!) and laughs at Satan’s folly.

Second, the woman who fears the Lord has practical wisdom. Verse 26, “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.” We’ve been taught from grade school on that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10), so it’s no surprise that the woman who fears the Lord “opens her mouth with wisdom.”

Third, the woman who fears the Lord is strong. Verse 25, “Strength and dignity are her clothing.” Verse 17, “She girds her loins with strength and makes her arms strong.” She will be morally strong. Proverbs 23:17 says, “Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day.” The woman who continues in the fear of the Lord will have power to resist all the allurements to envy, to desire what she shouldn’t have.

Fourth, a woman who fears the Lord will live not for herself alone but for others, especially her husband, if she is married. Verses 11, 12, “The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not harm all the days of her life.” A woman who fears the Lord will not squander the family’s livelihood on frivolous purchases, but will have the complete trust of her husband because she is for him and not against him.

(Pastor John, 1981, Excerpted from A Woman Who Fears the Lord Is to Be Praised.)

 That’s what I quote from Desiring God blog, the question of the day:

Are you a woman who fears the Lord?

Cook Out With Andrew & Grace

Dave, Abigail, Grace and Andrew... where's Helen? I was the photographer =)

It was a little bit cloudy in the Saturday morning and we had this plan “Cooking Out Indonesian Food” with our friends, Andrew and Grace. The weather changed. It turned the day to be quite sunny and warmer. Then we started the Satay-palooza! Always there’s a first time for everything, right? So, it was our first time Satay Grilling Day!