A Lesson on Humility and Gratitude.

Note: Apologies for the quite blurry pictures - am a novice with phone cameras! :(

This week that has passed was a flurry of things - and it was all good. I can't just put words into it because the feeling is just so overpowering - I'm speechless.

Last Thursday, we got the most precious gift from one friend whose talent and generosity is so big we're just too honoured to have known her. She has helped us in almost all printed materials of our wedding day and we were all gushing at how beautiful her creations were. As if that's not enough, she managed to squeeze in her busy schedule a magnificent project that astounded both B and I. She even sent it via FedEx - this is from someone who we have not met personally but just thru the kindness of one's heart, a real deal of a friendship was born out of it. Sharonel, our dear angel from VA and who has been our great ally throughout the wedding process, has made a beautiful book-type of a journal based on this blog. OMG! How awesome is that!?!?! :) She knew how painstakingly done our small wedding was. And I guess because we're both sentimental - she made sure that all our days of hardwork was immortalized.

The 'book' or journal if you want to call it that way - was named after this blog - after our wedding colours, made from the font we used in our invites. The pages were watermarked with the wedding symbols (bamboo and maple leaves for our East Meets West theme) and it was wire-bound for ease of reading, the pages were made from linen archival type of paper. We're very ecstatic and proud. Surely, there's no amount of generosity can equal that. Not the time, the creativity and the love that went with it. Thank you so much Sharonel for the lovely present. It's treasured and we'll keep it forever. As your gift came as a total surprise, we can't really help but gush and let everyone know how greatly appreciated your wonderful work was. We are overjoyed and greatly humbled. We love you and we value all that you did to help us get the best wedding ever. :)

Another story we'd like to share in line with our title is the story of our dear pastor/priest. I have to preface this by saying that, when he took off for some 'rest', I was of the impression that it was just an excuse to have a holiday. I guess that wasn't bad because we all needed some timeoff. However, my bridezilla tendencies then were on full force and I didn't appreciate that he decided to leave 1 month to the day of our wedding. It was a good thing that his replacement, Father Andrew was sooooo helpful, generous and understanding - he practically let us go thru the motion of the ceremony using our full rein and just him doing his part as the celebrator. I guess he was forced to good because everything we did was approved in principle by the original priest - but anyhow, that's the long winded explanation why I wasn't happy with our 'original' priest leaving us close to our day.

So, last Saturday, we went to the anticipated Mass. He was celebrating it. Before he went to the pulpit, he shook our hands because he knew that the wedding is over and that Fr. Andy did it for us. I was gracious but not thrilled, to say the least.

The 2nd half of the sermon was his little story on why he went on a 3-month hiatus. He was somber as he delivered the sermon and was almost apologetic. He told us that he had to be away because he needed help and that's because he's been afflicted with an addiction. Drinking problems. You can barely hear a pin drop. Everyone was astounded - shocked in disbelief - yet, after he finished his last sentence of the sermon, people clapped and stood in great ovation. I was one of them. How humble can one get?!?!? He asked the people to support him. See, Fr K was always a nice pastor - he's very friendly, very warm - but we never knew that he's 'sick'. I guess one can never tell. He has lost a lot of weight but he looked younger. And he needed prayers from his community that he has served for 6 years. It was a brave move from him - having to tell everyone why he had to go - and now, has come back, looking and feeling different.

I was embarrassed as I felt selfish about him going away. But like Fr. K, I too, felt humbled because there's always something deeper in what we don't see. It takes a lot of courage to stand up to an embarrassing situation but it's also God's grace to be humble and ask for help.

Humility and gratitude - two of the very profound virtues I've always liked but I didn't realize how deeply it can touch me until I've experienced them first hand. :)