"And Jesus answered and said unto them, 'For the hardness of your heart, he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and be joined to his wife; And they two shall be one flesh: so then they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder."
//Mark 10:5-9 (NKJV Version)
By chance, I came across this wonderful article that was posted on FB and it really thought me a lot about some of the things that we've talked about and agonised over before. The article is an excerpt from 'The Meaning of Marriage' by Timothy and Kathy Keller, go read it and be ministered to!
I think the key thing that struck me was the observation they made that marriage is painful and wonderful at the same time, precisely because it is a reflection of the Gospel, which is at turns, both piercing and awe-inspiring. And the reality is that, IMHO, I think that people need to work at love because it does not come naturally to us. Our kind of loveis often self-centred, selfish because that is who we are, people who are living life incurvatus in se. Only one type of love transforms us and teaches us how to love unconditionally.
The past few years have changed my views on dating, marriage and relationships quite deeply. And I have come to realise that marriage is not the end of all things. Instead, it is just the beginning of growing together. And like all types of growing up, it comes with a good deal of bruising, falling down and scrapping by. I know this because I'm now old enough to see my parents for who they are and I'll be the first to admit that being in a Christian marriage doesn't mean that it gets easier from then on. What it means though, is that you gotta stay committed not only to your spouse, but to the covenant that was made before God. And that you don't put your trust in man, you put it in his Creator.
So for all the times that they've quarrelled, apologised and made-up, I used to have this inane fear that, 'if it's going to be like this, I never want to get married' or 'when I get married, I'm never going to allow my husband and I to quarrel like this.' But I know that the day will come when I'm married and I will have these types of arguments with my husband. It will be my turn to experience growing pains. And I will not be afraid because it is He who will make us stronger. But for now, I'll hope, learn and wait until my heart is moved. I will not go around with false illusions of this anymore.
Although the greatest things in life always take the greatest effort, they will always be worth it in the end.
TWO MORE DAYS TO WHAT I HOPE KNOW WILL BE THE TIME OF MY LIFE. I CAN'T WAIT, NO NO AY AY AY, EVEN LOOKING AT MY HALF-PACKED SUITCASE NOW IS TOO MUCH FOR ME. I CANNOT CALM THE GRAD TRIP FEELS THAT I HAVE. IT'S ABSOLUTE PANDEMONIUM IN HERE.
"I've endured so many times; I can't do it anymore;
But you're still persistent; Don't tell me that I'm still in your memories;
Baby, my love, our memories of that day in your memory;
I hope it's fading away, I guess it's another sign of separation."
//Urban Zakapa; 그날에 우리 (There's Us; My Love)
Don't tell me there's nothing good in Korean music. There's tons and tons of good, you just need to open your ears and not be obstinate. This is just perfect for summer and the endless looking forward to grad trip :)
"She seems so cool, so focused, so quiet, yet her eyes remain fixed upon the horizon. You think you know all there is to know about her immediately upon meeting her, but everything you think you know is wrong. Passion flows through her like a river of blood. She only looked away for a moment, and the mask slipped, and you fell. All your tomorrows start here."
//Neil Gaiman; Fragile Things
The past two weeks have been so whirlwind crazy that I didn't really get the time to sit down and sift through all my thoughts. Before I knew it, Washington was over and so was the four years of my life in law school. And now is the time to properly say goodbye to it all.
During his closing remarks for the Jessup 2012, Ian Forrester QC spoke about some things that touched me deeply. He said that everyone in the room was probably facing or had just been climbing over some mountain in their lives. For most, they had to live with and navigate the intricacies of public international law for a good part of the year; for some, they had to go through hell and high water just to be able to afford a ticket to Washington and appear before the judge; still for others, this would be their last Jessup because they would be graduating and facing the prospect of paying off the mountain of student debt they had incurred just to read law. Then he ended with a word of encouragement,
For the last group of students who were graduating, he said that the first part of the journey was now over and that we were nearly able to see over the tops of this mountain to get a glimpse of the long and beautiful road ahead of us. He exhorted us to never lose sight of the lawyer's role, that is, to speak truth and justice into darkness with clarity.
And at the end of my four long years in law school, I couldn't believe that I teared really badly when he said that. At that moment, I was reminded of everything that we have gone through in the past 1277(and counting) days; all the readings, the projects, the presentations, the mugging, the birthdays, the heartaches, the moots, the falling outs and falling back ins, the standing by and standing with, the ending and now the beginning. Through it all, I have learned so much from each of you. We have had all kinds of conversations from the superficial, to the intensely intellectual and even sometimes, to the deeply heartfelt. You all have challenged me, grown me and pushed me to be more than what I was. So from the depths of my heart, to all those who held me, put up with me and gave me second chances, I cannot even begin to express to you how grateful I am for everything.
But I remember also, that in SMU, we call it commencement and not graduation. Because the rest of your life really begins afresh from this point. So even as we are atop this mountain, resting and reflecting on all that we went through to get here, my heart is also ready and excited about the new things that You are going to bring me to.
"And Jesus answered and said unto them, 'For the hardness of your heart, he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and be joined to his wife; And they two shall be one flesh: so then they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder."
//Mark 10:5-9 (NKJV Version)
By chance, I came across this wonderful article that was posted on FB and it really thought me a lot about some of the things that we've talked about and agonised over before. The article is an excerpt from 'The Meaning of Marriage' by Timothy and Kathy Keller, go read it and be ministered to!
I think the key thing that struck me was the observation they made that marriage is painful and wonderful at the same time, precisely because it is a reflection of the Gospel, which is at turns, both piercing and awe-inspiring. And the reality is that, IMHO, I think that people need to work at love because it does not come naturally to us. Our kind of loveis often self-centred, selfish because that is who we are, people who are living life incurvatus in se. Only one type of love transforms us and teaches us how to love unconditionally.
The past few years have changed my views on dating, marriage and relationships quite deeply. And I have come to realise that marriage is not the end of all things. Instead, it is just the beginning of growing together. And like all types of growing up, it comes with a good deal of bruising, falling down and scrapping by. I know this because I'm now old enough to see my parents for who they are and I'll be the first to admit that being in a Christian marriage doesn't mean that it gets easier from then on. What it means though, is that you gotta stay committed not only to your spouse, but to the covenant that was made before God. And that you don't put your trust in man, you put it in his Creator.
So for all the times that they've quarrelled, apologised and made-up, I used to have this inane fear that, 'if it's going to be like this, I never want to get married' or 'when I get married, I'm never going to allow my husband and I to quarrel like this.' But I know that the day will come when I'm married and I will have these types of arguments with my husband. It will be my turn to experience growing pains. And I will not be afraid because it is He who will make us stronger. But for now, I'll hope, learn and wait until my heart is moved. I will not go around with false illusions of this anymore.
Although the greatest things in life always take the greatest effort, they will always be worth it in the end.
TWO MORE DAYS TO WHAT I HOPE KNOW WILL BE THE TIME OF MY LIFE. I CAN'T WAIT, NO NO AY AY AY, EVEN LOOKING AT MY HALF-PACKED SUITCASE NOW IS TOO MUCH FOR ME. I CANNOT CALM THE GRAD TRIP FEELS THAT I HAVE. IT'S ABSOLUTE PANDEMONIUM IN HERE.
"I've endured so many times; I can't do it anymore;
But you're still persistent; Don't tell me that I'm still in your memories;
Baby, my love, our memories of that day in your memory;
I hope it's fading away, I guess it's another sign of separation."
//Urban Zakapa; 그날에 우리 (There's Us; My Love)
Don't tell me there's nothing good in Korean music. There's tons and tons of good, you just need to open your ears and not be obstinate. This is just perfect for summer and the endless looking forward to grad trip :)
"She seems so cool, so focused, so quiet, yet her eyes remain fixed upon the horizon. You think you know all there is to know about her immediately upon meeting her, but everything you think you know is wrong. Passion flows through her like a river of blood. She only looked away for a moment, and the mask slipped, and you fell. All your tomorrows start here."
//Neil Gaiman; Fragile Things
The past two weeks have been so whirlwind crazy that I didn't really get the time to sit down and sift through all my thoughts. Before I knew it, Washington was over and so was the four years of my life in law school. And now is the time to properly say goodbye to it all.
During his closing remarks for the Jessup 2012, Ian Forrester QC spoke about some things that touched me deeply. He said that everyone in the room was probably facing or had just been climbing over some mountain in their lives. For most, they had to live with and navigate the intricacies of public international law for a good part of the year; for some, they had to go through hell and high water just to be able to afford a ticket to Washington and appear before the judge; still for others, this would be their last Jessup because they would be graduating and facing the prospect of paying off the mountain of student debt they had incurred just to read law. Then he ended with a word of encouragement,
For the last group of students who were graduating, he said that the first part of the journey was now over and that we were nearly able to see over the tops of this mountain to get a glimpse of the long and beautiful road ahead of us. He exhorted us to never lose sight of the lawyer's role, that is, to speak truth and justice into darkness with clarity.
And at the end of my four long years in law school, I couldn't believe that I teared really badly when he said that. At that moment, I was reminded of everything that we have gone through in the past 1277(and counting) days; all the readings, the projects, the presentations, the mugging, the birthdays, the heartaches, the moots, the falling outs and falling back ins, the standing by and standing with, the ending and now the beginning. Through it all, I have learned so much from each of you. We have had all kinds of conversations from the superficial, to the intensely intellectual and even sometimes, to the deeply heartfelt. You all have challenged me, grown me and pushed me to be more than what I was. So from the depths of my heart, to all those who held me, put up with me and gave me second chances, I cannot even begin to express to you how grateful I am for everything.
But I remember also, that in SMU, we call it commencement and not graduation. Because the rest of your life really begins afresh from this point. So even as we are atop this mountain, resting and reflecting on all that we went through to get here, my heart is also ready and excited about the new things that You are going to bring me to.
