This week we celebrated Celine Gabrielle’s birthday…or as we now like to call it, her “heaven-day.” After all, her name does mean “heavenly.” While it still aches us to think that it has been exactly one year since we’ve held our daughter in our arms, it brings us great joy knowing that she has spent…
Take me back to Tokyo
Tokyo has to be one of the finest destinations in Asia. The rich, refined, culture is so unique that it always makes for an exciting experience. I have been there once in the winter and once in the summer and both times have been equally epic. Regardless of the season, you’ll find that Tokyo is simply unmatched. Perhaps it is because of the amazing mix of tradition and modernity, history and technology, and attention to detail and efficiency.
Here are some of the highlights from our summer 2016 trip.
20 Lessons I Learned in My 20s
This year, I left my twenties behind and happily welcomed my thirties. To be entirely honest, approaching 30 was much less scary than the 21 year old me would have imagined it to be. I look back on the last decade of my life and I see how a combination of adventures, trials, victories, and…
Celine’s Story (Part 3): More Precious Than Gold
This is the third and final part to my blog series entitled “Celine’s Story”. However, it is likely not the last time I will be writing about her or my experience of stillbirth. Although I do not hold Celine in my arms today, God continues to use her to transform my relationship with Him from the…
Celine’s Story (Part 2): Treasure in Heaven
A few weeks ago, I shared about my journey into motherhood. It was something I have been looking forward to my entire life. Today, motherhood does not look the way I expected it to but I know that this is just temporary. One day, I will cradle other beautiful babies in my arms and have the joy…
Our Beloved Bangkok
Bangkok is by-far one our favorite cities in the world. When we get bitten by the travel-bug, my (Chrina) instinctive response is to say, “let’s go to Bangkok!” With the perfect combination of food, shopping and massages, what’s not to love? Here are are a few of our favorite spots in the bright and bustling city…
Celine’s Story (Part 1): Desiring Motherhood
What is your one desire? What is the dream that shapes the very core of what you believe about yourself? What is that one thing for which you would drop everything in life to become? Mine was to be a mother. At 6 years old, my cousins and I would stuff our dresses with pillows…
Pain, Beauty and Love on Father’s Day
So it’s Father’s Day. I’ve always liked the idea of Father’s Day. An entire day dedicated to fathers, no matter what their shortcomings, mistakes, triumphs and achievements may be, we honor them. And I don’t know anything about your experience with your father, but whether you want to or not, you will think of him today….
Grace-full Grief
My biggest revelation while mourning the death of my daughter, Celine, is that the deeper you go into grief, the deeper you encounter grace. Grief is a scary thing. When you experience loss people will tell you the importance of taking the time to grieve but instinctively, you might try to get the grieving process…
We Named Her Celine Gabrielle
Celine is a French name which means “Heaven” or “heavenly”. To be honest, when Jon and I were picking a name for our daughter we absolutely fell in love with the sound of the name Celine. I however, admit struggling with the fact that it meant “heaven.” I refused to entertain the thought of heaven and…
Stopover in Sydney
Oh what a wonderful whirlwind our trip to Sydney was. Jon and I had never been to Australia and had finally found the perfect excuse to go! Our dear friends were pastoring a church in Brisbane and had invited us to come stay with them for a few days. Of course we booked a flight…
10 Hours in Amsterdam
While planning our honeymoon to Paris, we found out that Amsterdam was only a few hours away by train. We knew for sure that it would be worth the journey , even if just for a few hours. So, my gracious parents booked us train tickets to see Holland for the day… 10 hours to be exact….
