20 YEARS DOWN THE ROAD

What a happy photo of us, the Tan family at our 'holiday' in Majestic Hotel, Melaka in January 2010. Life as husband and wife this year will reach 20 years in the making! Time really has flown by! Blink an eye and we've been Mr & Mrs Tan for 20 years and parents to our daughter for 6 of those 20 years!

Our marriage has withstood many hard knocks and the biggest was when we lost our firstborn, Patricia in 2001. Nay sayers  gave us 6 months to a year when we signed our marriage papers.  However, the good Lord has blessed us with much more love for each other and a deep love for our daughters.

Fast forward to present.....my greatest prayer has been heard! I prayed  for my darling to consider the Rites of Catholic Initiation for Adults (RCIA) course at my local parish some years ago but he was not at all receptive! Then this year he decided to give the Alpha course held at the church a go, just to see what the hype was all about. He loved it and thoroughly enjoyed the talks by Reverend Nicky Gumbel. The next course of action as our dear friends Jerry and Mimi put it was for Ed to go through RCIA and complete the full journey of transforming our family into a Catholic family.  I was not sure if it would come about but praise the Lord and thanks to all our friends, (you know who you are) Ed signed up for RCIA and this is the photo to prove it!

 I am so happy but also know that the journey will be a long one for the whole family with the final culmination on 23rd April 2011 at the Easter Virgil mass. My heart sings with joy for Ed has opened his mind to fully explore and journey towards a baptism into the holy Catholic faith and church. 

We are even prouder of our 6 year old who can recite the main prayers like the Our Father, Hail Mary, the I believe as well as the Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. My heart swells with love and pride when I see hubby and daughter praying with me as a family; going to church is much sweeter as we now go as a family fully participating in the whole Mass. I can't help but smile and sing out even louder when I see my darling hubby singing the hymns as well.

God is great and my hubby is fantastic! I love him and my baby girls and I pray the good Lord and Holy Mother Mary will be with us as we journey towards 23rd April 2011. Please pray for us. Thanks! 

Ed my love and my life, happy 20th anniversary! I find that I love you even more as the years go by. I am sure that the love that beats in this heart of mine will still beat as strong when I am breathing my last. How did I get so blessed to have you as my partner, hubby, lover, friend and everything we do, it's MAGIC. I love you darling 20 years down the road and I will love you still till all eternity. 

Thank you Lord God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit for this wonderful marriage, good hubby and best father as well as my lovely daughters. Praise you Lord Jesus for all the blessings, trials, tribulations that have strengthened us as a couple and as a family. 

Amen.