Hello Blogging Family! Welcome to 2026 🙂 On Christmas Day a few weeks ago, Grace and I (and Grace’s parents) flew out to Savannah, GA to visit Grace’s sister’s family as well as extended family. This was my fourth visit to Savannah, and I’m starting to feel more familiar with its roads and freeways, the food and weather, and the surrounding areas. It’s quite different from Silicon Valley! I enjoy the slower pace of life, and the emphasis on community. I have to say, I do indulge a bit on the fried food when I visit, but when in Rome…

Anyway, during this trip Grace and I reached a big milestone in our relationship: our 10th wedding anniversary! I can’t believe it’s been ten years since Grace and I promised God and each other to walk through life together as husband and wife. Looking back, I couldn’t have predicted the direction our lives would have taken; I had assumed (at that time) that we would keep living in Riverside, CA, where we met in college, and that I would continue making a “musician’s living” through teaching lessons and playing for gigs while I pursued a terminal degree in order to teach at the university level.

Instead, Grace and I have now lived in San Jose, CA for almost 9 years, and I am teaching at a K-12 school, which has provided a lot of stability as well as flexibility for our household. If God hadn’t brought Grace’s accident into our lives, we would’ve never moved to San Jose (one of the most expensive areas to live in nationwide), and we would’ve never met the many friends God has blessed us with here.

Over the past decade, I’ve learned that I have so much more to learn! I thought I knew Grace very well when we became friends, and started dating, and got engaged and married; but I’m discovering more and more how precious God’s gift of marriage is – there is no other human relationship like it. I pray that God will help me become a more godly husband, and that He will guide me and Grace in this next decade of marriage so that we can become more like Him and be effective instruments of blessing for others.

Looking back over the past ten years, I’m struck by how faithful God has been. He has taught us so much about who He is, and who we are in Him, often through the crucible of trials and pain. Often it’s when God removes something of value to us – the ability to play violin professionally, or the prospect of having biological children – that we see His infinite value more clearly. He is the source of true satisfaction and fulfillment, our rock and refuge to weather the storms of life. As we enter this new year, may God open the eyes of our hearts so we can behold Him and be transformed by Him. May we treasure Him and worship Him above all else, for He alone is worthy.