ATTITUDE OF GIVING - Tasia

A couple invited us for their wedding. We couldn't attend because it was overseas and we didn't intend to go there specifically for the wedding.

I prayed, "eventhough we don't attend, should we give some "hongbao" (money in Red envelope)?"

I felt in my heart to give. So I communicated with Mark & he agreed.

We gave...

As a sign of courtesy, which is also part of the culture, when someone gives hongbao for a wedding, he/she will get a token of acknowledgment, normally in the form of souvenir/bomboniere. So, eventhough he/she can't attend but gives hongbao, he/she will at least get that acknowledgment.

1 month had passed...I wondered, where that souvenir was. Could it be that they forgot the gift? Or the person that passed the hongbao forgot to get us the souvenir?

Almost 2 months had passed...I thought "It's so annoying...even if there's no souvenir...not even a word "thank you" ever mentioned whenever I met that couple."

It bugged me...it wasn't the souvenir that I expected, but the acknowledgment. I was so curious. What had happened?? Mark also felt the same. I cross-checked with another couple that gave too. The same story went with them.


That morning, God spoke to me. His voice was so tender yet strong. He asked me "Do you want to learn something from this?" Then he opened a simple truth yet it impressed my heart.

When you give, don't expect a reward back. Just like the love of Jesus (Agape: love that doesn't expect something in return). He gave his life for men's sins yet people don't even realise or reject him. He reminded me of this verse.

Matthew 6: 2-4

"(2) So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. (3) But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, (4) so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

Well..not that because that couple was needy. But the point was God would reward us for our giving. It was even better in this case because it seemed that they didn't even realise that we gave.

So now I learn that when we give, we should let it go. Don't even get offended if the person doesn't say thank you to us.

REAL WEDDING DAY

PHEWWW...THAT BIG DAY IS HERE! Mark's family came all the way from Bunbury, Aussie, for this BIG DAY!

18th August 2007...How can we forget that day. The day God united us in Holy Matrimony.

We are now LEGAL husband & wife!!!

Pastor Hengky led the service and he brought message pertaining one verse that we received before. We even wrote that on our Wedding Cards. We didn't know him, neither did he. God again confirmed it through his word.

PSALM 127:1a

Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it;

The ceremony is over now...it's PARTY TIME now...!

This was how the decoration looked like. We had an indoor wedding with about 500 guests. Our wedding theme was Ocean, that was why we picked aqua colour more dominant than others. It was a standing party, which means no seats for the guests. The hall was decorated by Lucky Decoration. Lucky's work was very neat & professional.

Now, it's time for the Bride & the Bridegroom to enter the hall...

We decided to sing when entering the hall. Our Wedding Song was

When I Fall In Love

(Mark sang & walked from a gate)
When I fall in love it will be forever
Or I'll never fall in love
In a restless world like this is
Love is ended before its begun
And too many moonlight kisses
Seem to cool in the warmth of the sun

(Tasia sang & walked from another gate)
When I give my heart it will be completely
Or Ill never give my heart
And the moment I can feel that you feel that way too
Is when I fall in love with you.

Mark was very nervous, Tasia was too. Our voice trembled. To make it more worse, Mark's microphone was switched off when he started singing :D That might be a one & last-time-life experience for him to sing in front of the multitudes. Tasia could feel his hands very shaky when we met in the middle of the hall to walk together. Thank God that song finished...now we would have fun time with "fish"...???



There you go...pouring fish on our wedding party! So unusual huh? Actually it was just a symbolic act signifying that two becomes one. It was Tasia's cousin's idea. Unique, though.

Now...this is how the Indonesians celebrate their wedding. Well...today more & more couples choose simpler Wedding Cake. Ours wasn't that complicated, though. It was about 1.2 metre tall. Tasia's friend, Nathan, designed this cake specially. He did a great job, didn't he?


After we cut the cake, as usual, the next thing was to share the cake. The Master of Ceremony liked this part, she could make us embarrassed before the guests.

She said to Tasia: "After I say 3...you have to share the piece of cake in your mouth with Mark."

Ok, she counted now. "one...two...thr.....thre....three....."
Arghh...please be quick...















Nothing much after that..the guests were enjoying the food...we had group & family pictures. Party was almost over.

Mark's family (left to right): Mum, Luke, Mark & Tasia, Lauren, Arnya, Shaun


Tasia's family (left to right): Samuel, Mum, Mark & Tasia, Dad, Naomi

Finally..party was over. Good bye to you all...

Our real journey started...real marriage, real characters shown up, no more hiding..no more facade.

"Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it;"

WEDDING DAY PREPARATION

Continued from Our History...

After that engagement day, we set a Wedding Date. It was 18th August 2007. Just one day after Indonesian Independence Day.

Since Mark was in Aussie, Tasia had to prepare most of the things...the Wedding Hall, Food, Church, Bridesmaids, Tuxedo, Wedding Dress, Make Up, Wedding Cards, Souvenirs, and the list went on...

It was fun, though, getting ready to be a one-day Queen. In fact, it was better for Tasia to arrange most of the preparation herself (with the help of parents & some acquaintances, off course). Less trouble, less quarrel (like other couples experienced) and both of us were satisfied.


We knew someone by the name of Meri. She was a Wedding Organiser. Thus, she knew many vendors that we could use for our wedding. She was Tasia's cousin's good friend & she was so helpful. Through her, we actually got better deals for our wedding. Thank you sister. Your help was really appreciated.

OUR HISTORY

Our journey started in July 2003. At that time, Mark was in Perth, Australia , & Tasia was in Beijing, China, studying Mandarin.

The journey began through a website called Friendster.

Tasia was about to go back for good to Indonesia & thought of working in Jakarta. It wasn't intended to see Mark as future partner, just a friend (since he wrote on his profile "Jakarta" as his location).

We started to email each other until Tasia arrived in Semarang, her hometown. The relationship continued, as we found it was enjoyable to communicate eventhough we were thousand miles apart. From emailing, we exchanged personal mobile numbers. From mobile numbers, we started to send SMS. From sending SMS, Mark started to call Tasia.

It was beautiful of how God met us through this way. The relationship continued for 3 years until we got married at the end. Every 6 months Mark would make a visit to Indonesia to see Tasia.

It wasn't easy to go though those 3 years. We missed each other so much yet couldn't hold or see each other (apart from when Mark visited Tasia). We could only communicate via telephone, internet, letters & mobile. On top of that, we did quarrel a few times especially in the area of finance. We had different view of how to handle money. It was challenging to be in the long-distance relationship. Many people would be skeptical even Tasia's own father.

But God was indeed faithful. For many times His words again and again confirmed our relationship. Our relationship wasn't based on feeling/emotion. It was a supernatural experience. Beyond our emotion, our thoughts, our plans...

PSALMS 127:1a

Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it;

This was one of the verses we received during that period. Time of waiting...time of preparation...time to be still...

To cut the story short, on January 2007, Mark and Tasia engaged. Ps Agus Gunawan from Bethany, Perth, became Mark's representative (since it wasn't in Western culture to ask for someone's daughter for marriage). Mark gave Tasia a beautiful cross necklace as a token of engagement.


We had a simple celebration. We had a dinner in a Chinese Restaurant called "Pringgading Restaurant" in Tasia's hometown in Semarang. It was attended by family and close relatives.

And the journey continued....