Living One Day at a Time

I just skyped with my son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter this morning. The baby was sleeping so I got more opportunities to talk with my three-year-old girl. You have heard me said, “She is the cutest baby in the world.” Now her little brother is, but she is definitely the most adorable three-year-old in the world!

I’m saying these not to brag, just to demonstrate that it is okay to feel good about our own family members. You know as their NaiNai (i.e. grandmother), I am biased anyway.

Now I know we are supposed to be humble. But not saying things out loud does not mean our heart is humble. My mom used to tell me not to tell people how well I was doing in school, or people would be jealous. When we visited her friends, they often talked about how their kids were doing. Inevitably someone would ask about our rank order in class. (Do you remember that from your childhood?) Mom always kept quiet until people asked, and I could tell she was very proud of me.

Chatting with my son and his family online, it is hard to believe ten years ago I was worrying about never seeing him again because he went to college a few days after the September 11 terrorist attacks. I am amazed that so often the things we worried about ten, five, or two years ago are so different from our worries last year, last month, yesterday or today.

Knowing that, I remind myself to accept the past as history, trust that the future is all in God’s hands, and focus on living TODAY, one day at a time.

I wrote an article in May 2006 (in English) entitled “Building a House of Grace for Growth." A few months ago, I translated it into Chinese and submitted to the “Fullness In Christ Fellowship” website. The article is about one day in 2006 with the following sections:

[1] An Unexpected Visit

[2] Disconnecting Habits

[3] The Core of Depression

[4] How to Help Children Develop Self-Awareness and Self-Management

[5] Expectations and Family Interactions

And it started like this:

One Friday afternoon few weeks ago, the phone rang. "Hi Mom. What are you doing?"

"Just got home from work. I'm fixing dinner. How about you?"

"I took a friend to the airport, can I come by to eat with you?"

I glanced at the clock, 5:45. "Of course. But Dad and I have to leave at 7:30 to set up for fellowship. How's the traffic on 880? Drive carefully."

What I didn't say is that (just a moment ago) I was tired and wanted to eat a simple meal before catching a nap. Energized by his visit, four main dishes and one pot of soup were on the table within 45 minutes. My husband winked at me, "My compliments to the chef."

I hope you will read the entire article in Chinese or English via the following links. Please tell me how you feel and what you think.

CHINESE

http://winnischiang.blogspot.com/2011/09/blog-post.html

ENGLISH

http://parentingabcnewsletterinenglish.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_archive.html

If you send a brief e-mail to winnis@parentingabc.com by the end of Wednesday, October 12, 2011, you name will be entered into a drawing to win a F*R*E*E* 50-minute face-to-face consultation in my Fremont or Los Altos office. Your identity and information will be kept confidential.

You could write me whatever is on your mind (e.g. a prayer request) to enter the drawing. I believe we have healing, hope and help in Christ. Whatever is going on in your life, remember Jesus said, "Don't be afraid, just believe!"

Living one day at a time!

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Want to reprint this article? No problem! Just make sure you include a complete attribution and, whenever possible, a live link to our website. Please notify Winnis where and when the material will appear. The attribution should include this information:

Winnis Chiang, LMFT and Founder of ParentingABC.com, specializes in helping Mandarin- and Cantonese-speaking high-tech Christian parents to get along with, enjoy, and influence their American-born Chinese children.