hi.. Shums... =p dunno if u'll read this one.. warning its long
I was reminded that I didn't add a verse of the day, I actually had one from James but didn't know it off by heart... but here it is James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Lyds wrote this on my birthday card, and its something that I've been meditating on as well.. that trials now are shaping me.. its amazing that my little sister also has been thinking about a similar thing.. (her autobiography below) Tammy and I usually relate by joking around.. and it was a real honor for me to read her autobiography... to better understand of how she sees things around her.. and when I look back at My life I can really see how God has worked... My life story another time.. here is tam's... (its sort of long =p)
“This baby is so cute,” Mommy whispered; she was holding a baby who was sleeping peacefully in her arms.
“Nothing special- it is our fourth baby already,” Daddy responded. Mom paused and stared at Daddy who quickly corrected himself, “Oh….I mean she is really …pretty, she is very special.” That was 6:30 in the morning of November 18, 1987, in the University of Alberta Hospital, Edmonton. Mommy was extremely tired because she used her entire energy to give birth to a little baby girl within four hours, and that girl, called Tammy, and is the main character of this story. She was the unexpected youngest daughter of Michael and Mary Yuen. Meanwhile, Grandma opened the door and three little girls followed her as if three young ducks were lined up and following the leader in the pond. The eldest duck glanced around the room and recognized her Mommy was holding a baby. She said, “Mommy is this Tammy?”
The second one immediately asked, “Will Tammy come home with us tonight?”
The youngest one looked really excited and exclaimed, “Mommy, she is Chinese!”
Everyone laughed at these innocent kids’ question and Daddy finally replied, “Tammy is too small to go home tonight but she will later, you three little monkeys need to cooperate with me and love her because she is your youngest sister.”
“Yes, I promise I will love her.” Three of them nodded their heads when they replied together. The whole family was glad about the good news that Tammy that’s e was born and they believed I would bring more warmth and happiness in the family.
Did I bring my family happiness? I think I bought scariness more because I did not like to talk to any one else except Mommy. I would never let go of my mommy’s hand even when she went to the washroom. I cried if I saw someone that I considered as a stranger, including all my sisters. I knew how to talk but chose not to talk. Mommy and Daddy noticed that but they did not do any actions about it because they had to take care of the other sisters and work at the same time .Or maybe, they thought I had an attitude and was just different. Two years later, Daddy lost his job in Edmonton because of the depression in western Canada. Therefore, my Dad needed to go back to Hong Kong for another job by himself, so my mom took care of the big family by herself. During that Christmas holiday, Mommy and Daddy decided to go to Calgary to meet each other and my mom also brought her four daughters there too. All three older sisters were looking forward for the reunion, when all the family saw their dearest father and hugged him tightly. However, I cried so Daddy was really shocked because I could not recognize my own father. From that time onwards, they knew the importance of having the family sticking together so they decided that the Yuens were moving to Hong Kong in the summer of 1990. At that time, I was only 3 years old.
After sitting still in the plane for more than half a day, they finally landed in Hong Kong. They arrived in a strange place and that was their new home. Lights were turned on in every single building at night and multitudes of taxis were ready to serve you and hot, moist and polluted air rose to your face and stuck there. “It is very different from Edmonton,” they concluded. To get to our apartment from the Ki Tak Airport, it took forever to get out off the traffic. I had no idea where we were they and just followed my dearest mom, not asking anything. My family was squeezing into a small apartment that was the same size as the basement we used to have. I shared a tiny room with my sisters, Jamie. Amy and Connie were sharing another room. We slept in a ghetto double-decker and I slept in the lower bed. However, the bed was so shaky that I was afraid to move around at night because I thought I would fall on the ground during my sweet dreams. We spent our summer getting used to our brand new life style.
As time went on, all four of us needed to go to our new schools and our parents needed to work at the same time. I went to a Kindergarten that was in our neighborhood. I hated that school because I could not see my dearest mom anymore and I did not know how to take care of myself obviously. Also, I never understood anything that the teachers told me because they were speaking Chinese but I wasn’t used to listening to Chinese. By the way, my Daddy had the responsible to take me to school every morning, but he was so careless that he forgot to bring extra diapers for me, he also forgot to help me change into my uniform and my black shoes so I often wore my Winnie the pooh pajamas and Salormoon slippers to school. Maybe because I was wearing my pajamas, I would sleep in class and droll all over my clothes and table. Since I was so quiet and never cooperated with the teachers; they hated this little dummy that caused all kinds of trouble. But that made me not know how to express myself and my psychological problems were getting worse. Although the first year of kindergarten was not a good memory for me, I liked the time after school because my Daddy always took me to market nearby. It was really disgusting and dirty; the floor was wet and you could smell the dead fish. The owners were either swearing or yelling at each other and they would use their pairs of scissors to cut their nails that had dirty black things jammed under them. The market was so horrible but I still liked it because I was going with my father. I held his hand but I would get tired after awhile because his hand was so high that I needed to lift my arm way up high. When I looked up to my father, he was not good looking but he looked so noticeable because he was wearing a suit. I knew my father was smarter than the owners in the market and I was proud of him too. I had a closer relationship with my Daddy and never again cried when I saw him.
After that, my dad worked very hard and became a successful business person. He earned more money than before so he considered to hire a maid to take care of all his daughters especially Tammy. I remember that we went to the airport once again and ready to take our new maid home. My parents were holding a picture of her and we knew her name is Teresa. She was a Philippine and she had fair dark skin. When she saw me, she was very excited because she had a daughter that was same age as me. Therefore, she treated me and my sisters as her daughters. She would take me to the school bus station every morning; everyone thought I was her daughter because I had dark skin too. Sometime after school, she might buy me favorite piece of cake so I love her same as I love my mom.
I grew up and attended to C.C.C Kei Wan Primary School. All students were very snobby because they learnt more than other people. Therefore, I had a hard job to get up their standard; my mom helped me to study every night. I was so unhappy that I prayed God could give me intelligence so I would be as smart as they were. Finally, my dream came true because my mom had decided to give up her career and spent more time to take care of me. We practiced together by playing flash cards and she said if I could memorized my math time table, she could buy candy for me. After months of practicing, my mom finally got candy for me. On the other hand, I got into the junior choir of the school and that shows I have some natural talent for singing. I continued joining different choirs at school and we always were the champion. I was not the best in the choir but I still enjoyed it. For Grade 7, I got into a secondary school called The Ying Wa Girls’ School, my music teacher Miss Chan encouraged me by improving my singing skills. In Grade 10, I was able to be the chair-lady of the junior choir and I also won the competition of the English solo that year.
At that year, I was very happy because I have a group of close friends and I had a really close relationship with my parent. We always played together and I was planning to go to a Christian boarding school the next year. However, on July 1st, 2002, my dad had a sudden heart attack while he was golfing in Mainland China. The technology was not good enough to keep my dad alive; my family was shocked by the news. In that summer, my parents were supposed to celebrate their 25th-anniversary, but we did a funeral for my dad in stead. I needed to share something in the service of the funeral, but I was so sick the night before; I had a high fever that I threw out few times and shaking for the whole night. I was very worried that I couldn’t attend the ceremony and I started praying, I was sorry that I turned away from God. After the prayer, miracle had been come; I felt much better and I could fall asleep afterwards. In that summer, my mom decided our whole family would move to Toronto since all my sisters were going to universities in Toronto. I wanted to live with my mom so we started to find another school for me, and I was accepted by a school called- the Yorkland School.
On August 21, my mom, my uncle and I arrived in Toronto. My uncle helped us to settle down, we also visited different place too. I was living with my mom and my eldest sister, Amy, in an apartment. Amy and I always had conflicts because she was older than me by eight years and she was so annoying that actually sounded like my mom. Maybe because she was living in boarding school since I was young, I almost forgot I had a sister named Amy. Through months of spending time together, I actually treated Amy as my sister and not my mom anymore. Sometimes, I might try my wrestling skills to tackle her or make her to buy me “gifts” if I am a good girl (which was always because I’m always a good girl).
On the first day of school, I was so nervous because I was attending to another school. Everything was different I had never used locker before so I didn’t know how to open my lock. I remembered I needed to ask one of my classmates to open it for me during National anthem. Fortunately, I met some friends so I didn’t have lunch by myself and they are Joyce, Joyce and Amanda. They were very nice to me and we became good friends. We spent every single P.D. day together for sleepover; we had our girls’ talks that included talking about guys obviously. Beside that, they were so nice that they always encouraged me and brought happiness to me. They had made my school life interesting.
Although I didn’t know why God let my Dad passed away when we were have a great time, I still believe God always has a plan for me. As I shared with other people before- I am not happy about the things that happened to me, but I am thankful for how my family has changed and grown closer together. Through my experience, I have learnt to understand people and want to tell them how blessed they are. I would not say I am unlucky either, I know I am blessed because I am able to hear about God. As the Bible verse from 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you.” I know I should trust in the Lord with all my heart even though I know I still have a long way to go in my future.
I was reminded that I didn't add a verse of the day, I actually had one from James but didn't know it off by heart... but here it is James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Lyds wrote this on my birthday card, and its something that I've been meditating on as well.. that trials now are shaping me.. its amazing that my little sister also has been thinking about a similar thing.. (her autobiography below) Tammy and I usually relate by joking around.. and it was a real honor for me to read her autobiography... to better understand of how she sees things around her.. and when I look back at My life I can really see how God has worked... My life story another time.. here is tam's... (its sort of long =p)
“This baby is so cute,” Mommy whispered; she was holding a baby who was sleeping peacefully in her arms.
“Nothing special- it is our fourth baby already,” Daddy responded. Mom paused and stared at Daddy who quickly corrected himself, “Oh….I mean she is really …pretty, she is very special.” That was 6:30 in the morning of November 18, 1987, in the University of Alberta Hospital, Edmonton. Mommy was extremely tired because she used her entire energy to give birth to a little baby girl within four hours, and that girl, called Tammy, and is the main character of this story. She was the unexpected youngest daughter of Michael and Mary Yuen. Meanwhile, Grandma opened the door and three little girls followed her as if three young ducks were lined up and following the leader in the pond. The eldest duck glanced around the room and recognized her Mommy was holding a baby. She said, “Mommy is this Tammy?”
The second one immediately asked, “Will Tammy come home with us tonight?”
The youngest one looked really excited and exclaimed, “Mommy, she is Chinese!”
Everyone laughed at these innocent kids’ question and Daddy finally replied, “Tammy is too small to go home tonight but she will later, you three little monkeys need to cooperate with me and love her because she is your youngest sister.”
“Yes, I promise I will love her.” Three of them nodded their heads when they replied together. The whole family was glad about the good news that Tammy that’s e was born and they believed I would bring more warmth and happiness in the family.
Did I bring my family happiness? I think I bought scariness more because I did not like to talk to any one else except Mommy. I would never let go of my mommy’s hand even when she went to the washroom. I cried if I saw someone that I considered as a stranger, including all my sisters. I knew how to talk but chose not to talk. Mommy and Daddy noticed that but they did not do any actions about it because they had to take care of the other sisters and work at the same time .Or maybe, they thought I had an attitude and was just different. Two years later, Daddy lost his job in Edmonton because of the depression in western Canada. Therefore, my Dad needed to go back to Hong Kong for another job by himself, so my mom took care of the big family by herself. During that Christmas holiday, Mommy and Daddy decided to go to Calgary to meet each other and my mom also brought her four daughters there too. All three older sisters were looking forward for the reunion, when all the family saw their dearest father and hugged him tightly. However, I cried so Daddy was really shocked because I could not recognize my own father. From that time onwards, they knew the importance of having the family sticking together so they decided that the Yuens were moving to Hong Kong in the summer of 1990. At that time, I was only 3 years old.
After sitting still in the plane for more than half a day, they finally landed in Hong Kong. They arrived in a strange place and that was their new home. Lights were turned on in every single building at night and multitudes of taxis were ready to serve you and hot, moist and polluted air rose to your face and stuck there. “It is very different from Edmonton,” they concluded. To get to our apartment from the Ki Tak Airport, it took forever to get out off the traffic. I had no idea where we were they and just followed my dearest mom, not asking anything. My family was squeezing into a small apartment that was the same size as the basement we used to have. I shared a tiny room with my sisters, Jamie. Amy and Connie were sharing another room. We slept in a ghetto double-decker and I slept in the lower bed. However, the bed was so shaky that I was afraid to move around at night because I thought I would fall on the ground during my sweet dreams. We spent our summer getting used to our brand new life style.
As time went on, all four of us needed to go to our new schools and our parents needed to work at the same time. I went to a Kindergarten that was in our neighborhood. I hated that school because I could not see my dearest mom anymore and I did not know how to take care of myself obviously. Also, I never understood anything that the teachers told me because they were speaking Chinese but I wasn’t used to listening to Chinese. By the way, my Daddy had the responsible to take me to school every morning, but he was so careless that he forgot to bring extra diapers for me, he also forgot to help me change into my uniform and my black shoes so I often wore my Winnie the pooh pajamas and Salormoon slippers to school. Maybe because I was wearing my pajamas, I would sleep in class and droll all over my clothes and table. Since I was so quiet and never cooperated with the teachers; they hated this little dummy that caused all kinds of trouble. But that made me not know how to express myself and my psychological problems were getting worse. Although the first year of kindergarten was not a good memory for me, I liked the time after school because my Daddy always took me to market nearby. It was really disgusting and dirty; the floor was wet and you could smell the dead fish. The owners were either swearing or yelling at each other and they would use their pairs of scissors to cut their nails that had dirty black things jammed under them. The market was so horrible but I still liked it because I was going with my father. I held his hand but I would get tired after awhile because his hand was so high that I needed to lift my arm way up high. When I looked up to my father, he was not good looking but he looked so noticeable because he was wearing a suit. I knew my father was smarter than the owners in the market and I was proud of him too. I had a closer relationship with my Daddy and never again cried when I saw him.
After that, my dad worked very hard and became a successful business person. He earned more money than before so he considered to hire a maid to take care of all his daughters especially Tammy. I remember that we went to the airport once again and ready to take our new maid home. My parents were holding a picture of her and we knew her name is Teresa. She was a Philippine and she had fair dark skin. When she saw me, she was very excited because she had a daughter that was same age as me. Therefore, she treated me and my sisters as her daughters. She would take me to the school bus station every morning; everyone thought I was her daughter because I had dark skin too. Sometime after school, she might buy me favorite piece of cake so I love her same as I love my mom.
I grew up and attended to C.C.C Kei Wan Primary School. All students were very snobby because they learnt more than other people. Therefore, I had a hard job to get up their standard; my mom helped me to study every night. I was so unhappy that I prayed God could give me intelligence so I would be as smart as they were. Finally, my dream came true because my mom had decided to give up her career and spent more time to take care of me. We practiced together by playing flash cards and she said if I could memorized my math time table, she could buy candy for me. After months of practicing, my mom finally got candy for me. On the other hand, I got into the junior choir of the school and that shows I have some natural talent for singing. I continued joining different choirs at school and we always were the champion. I was not the best in the choir but I still enjoyed it. For Grade 7, I got into a secondary school called The Ying Wa Girls’ School, my music teacher Miss Chan encouraged me by improving my singing skills. In Grade 10, I was able to be the chair-lady of the junior choir and I also won the competition of the English solo that year.
At that year, I was very happy because I have a group of close friends and I had a really close relationship with my parent. We always played together and I was planning to go to a Christian boarding school the next year. However, on July 1st, 2002, my dad had a sudden heart attack while he was golfing in Mainland China. The technology was not good enough to keep my dad alive; my family was shocked by the news. In that summer, my parents were supposed to celebrate their 25th-anniversary, but we did a funeral for my dad in stead. I needed to share something in the service of the funeral, but I was so sick the night before; I had a high fever that I threw out few times and shaking for the whole night. I was very worried that I couldn’t attend the ceremony and I started praying, I was sorry that I turned away from God. After the prayer, miracle had been come; I felt much better and I could fall asleep afterwards. In that summer, my mom decided our whole family would move to Toronto since all my sisters were going to universities in Toronto. I wanted to live with my mom so we started to find another school for me, and I was accepted by a school called- the Yorkland School.
On August 21, my mom, my uncle and I arrived in Toronto. My uncle helped us to settle down, we also visited different place too. I was living with my mom and my eldest sister, Amy, in an apartment. Amy and I always had conflicts because she was older than me by eight years and she was so annoying that actually sounded like my mom. Maybe because she was living in boarding school since I was young, I almost forgot I had a sister named Amy. Through months of spending time together, I actually treated Amy as my sister and not my mom anymore. Sometimes, I might try my wrestling skills to tackle her or make her to buy me “gifts” if I am a good girl (which was always because I’m always a good girl).
On the first day of school, I was so nervous because I was attending to another school. Everything was different I had never used locker before so I didn’t know how to open my lock. I remembered I needed to ask one of my classmates to open it for me during National anthem. Fortunately, I met some friends so I didn’t have lunch by myself and they are Joyce, Joyce and Amanda. They were very nice to me and we became good friends. We spent every single P.D. day together for sleepover; we had our girls’ talks that included talking about guys obviously. Beside that, they were so nice that they always encouraged me and brought happiness to me. They had made my school life interesting.
Although I didn’t know why God let my Dad passed away when we were have a great time, I still believe God always has a plan for me. As I shared with other people before- I am not happy about the things that happened to me, but I am thankful for how my family has changed and grown closer together. Through my experience, I have learnt to understand people and want to tell them how blessed they are. I would not say I am unlucky either, I know I am blessed because I am able to hear about God. As the Bible verse from 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you.” I know I should trust in the Lord with all my heart even though I know I still have a long way to go in my future.
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