Life is...

Today I saw my parents in L.A. They came down for a memorial service that took place in Whittier this afternoon. James Chen, a brother in Christ, who passed away from lung cancer in Taiwan was buried today at Rose Hill Cemetery. My parents knew him from way back when they used to go to seminary together. Later on, he went to Hungary to be a missionary, and last year he even invited my parents to go for a short term mission there. But while my parents were in Hungary, he went back to Taiwan because his condition was very serious. In December of 2006, he passed away to went to be with the Lord.
I just thought that today is a very ironic day because while I was attending a funeral, my roommate was attending a wedding (Paul and Crystal Barber). Life is short. Today as I saw Uncle James' widow Aunty Yahui and their two daughters Judy and Pady sobbing in front of the people who came, I was touched. I understand that Uncle James was a very good husband and a very good father and also a very good pastor. He used his life to impact other people's lives, and that is what really matters. Sometimes I think we get really short-sighted in life and we get caught up in the moment, and we forget to treasure the people we have, the relationships we have, and the blessings we have just to breath the air and live on another day.
I once read a story from a Christian magazine, and it said that there was a wife who likes to yell and complain at her husband. Every morning she would pick something wrong about him and just keep attacking him until he leaves for work. One morning as she was doing that again, the husband also exploded and they got into a huge argument. The wife kicked him out of the house and so he got into a car and stormed away. After a few hours, the wife got a phone call, it was from the police, and the police told her that her husband had gotten into a car accident and passed away on the spot. She broke down and cried. She regretted so much for yelling at him today and everyday. She regretted that she didn't tell him goodbye before he left the house today, and she regretted and regretted, but she couldn't turn back time, and there was no way to fix the damage that has been done.
I have a strong memory of this story because it really struck me when I read it. Life is stressful, and sometimes even painful, but my hope for myself is that I would live a life that makes others feel loved and encouraged. So that when hard times come, they will also have hope that everything is going to be okay in the end. May God help me!