The rest of the week was quite entertaining, due to the fact that there were 9 people living in our 2 bedroom house. Our parents had the 2 bedrooms, Vanessa got the computer room to herself, and the 4 of us boys slept in the living room on air mattresses.
Friday morning, I dropped Vanessa off at Tammy’s house since she only lives a few minutes away from my house in Sacramento. Afterwards, we went to the levee by our house to take a walk with both our families. I live about 4 houses away from the river, and the levee is just a raised river wall with a road on top. This area is especially nice in the fall because of all the trees. Our parents walked ahead together, talking about parental stuff, while us guys fooled around in the back taking pictures. Our brothers are quite photogenic...
In the afternoon, we had lunch with my mom’s side at OZ Korean BBQ. OZ is the only Korean BBQ place in Sacramento (I think). Yes, we Sac people are deprived.
Afterwards, my parents wanted to take everyone to the Nimbus Hatchery and Dam. November is Salmon spawning time and there were a bunch a salmon trying to jump upriver, but there was a fence blocking their way because the hatchery workers closed it and went home. Lawrence was quite sad about this.
And to continue in the spirit of shenaniganery, Vanessa made me walk around the hatchery in her Hello Kitty cape...
For the rest of the evening, our parents stayed at home, talking at the dinner table over Taiwanese tea, wine, pistachios, and M&M’s. They shared stories about Vanessa and I, their excitement over the wedding, and old tales from the days they were in Taiwan. We joined in for a bit, but it soon got late and we went to sleep.
The next few days were similar, with a lot of food and family. On Saturday, our two families almost finished a whole smoked turkey and then both my dad’s side and my mom’s side wanted to treat Vanessa’s family out to eat again, so we went out to eat twice on Sunday.
On Monday morning, we left Sacramento to go back to Irvine. We said our goodbyes and then drove away in the fog. I guess we were all reluctant to leave because we forgot things at my house and had to turn back two extra times. My parents joked that if we didn’t want to leave, we could stay even longer!
On our way back, we stopped by Superior Dairy Products in the small town of Hanford. The ice cream here is deeeelicious, even in 50 degree weather. However, this town is literally in the middle of nowhere so I do not suggest you come here for the ice cream.
As we worked through our maple nut and vanilla ice cream, Vanessa and I got to share about what we were thankful for. All the events of this Thanksgiving break have made me very, very thankful for family, both for my own and my family-to-be. Before we started dating, one of the first things that she warned me about was the difficulty of her family. In addition to her parents being divorced and remarried, she told me about the awkwardness of her goofy brothers, her dad’s promise to break the legs of anyone who tried to date her daughter, and her mom’s high expectations. Interacting with her family members seemed daunting, but I liked Vanessa too much to let that deter me.
Looking back, I dont regret that decision one bit. Vanessa's family is a constant reminder to me of how our sovereign God displays His grace in the past, present, and future. I see that Vanessa's dad's life has been revolutionized by the Gospel. I see how God continues to sanctify him, as he grows in grace and patience towards his wife and children. And, all this gives me hope for Vanessa's mom, who is unsaved, yet just as save-able as her ex-husband.
God did not have to save Vanessa's dad. He did not have to save Vanessa, or myself. Nor did God have to save you, if you are a Christian. God's grace is not prompted by any action of man; if it were it would not be grace! Of all the responses to this grace, thankfulness seems the most logical. Paul made that connection between salvation and thankfulness over and over again in his writing:
"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful."
-Colossians 3:15
Thanksgiving might be over, but we have every reason to be thankful because of the grace of God shown to us in Christ Jesus!
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