On November 21st, 2014, Yap Hooi Ting said “yes” to my marriage proposal. Both of us couldn’t sleep that night, wondering about our future, marriage and the money we would need for our wedding. We desperately needed God’s help and blessings, so we prayed for God to show His ways and guidance.
When we started our relationship back on Dec 31st, 2010, both of us signed up for a 5-year saving plan. This enabled us to save enough for our wedding in 2016. We decided to move it ahead to 2015. We didn’t seek financial help from our parents as we wanted God to be our main provider and we wished to learn to manage our marriage independently.
Throughout the 13 months of wedding preparation, God demonstrated Himself to us in many ways; He showed us that He is the God of Restoration in our family.
I haven’t been in contact with my father’s relatives for the past three years because they blamed me for my parents’ separation. Even for Chinese New Year, I was only able to celebrate it with my wife’s family as I was chased out by my relatives on the first day.
When my relatives heard the news that I was getting married in 2015, they called on New Year’s Eve and invited me to my Grandmother’s house for Reunion Dinner. I was truly surprised they would welcome me back into their homes. We had a very good meal that night and were able to pay our respect to our elders again. I want to praise God that He saw my years of grief and provided a way to restore peace and joy in my life; we just have to be patient as He works in His time.
We also received blessings from my mother’s relatives in Penang when we visited them after our marriage registration on May 20th, 2015. After my parents’ separation, we have continued to visit them every year. Although it was a casual reunion meal, it meant a lot to both of us as we cherished those joyful moments together.
The implementation of GST in 2015 caused a huge slump in oil prices. My father’s company was adversely affected and his business wasn’t moving as smoothly as before. We took out some of our wedding preparation funds to assist him. We hoped to recover the funds by the year end, but that did not happen.
September approached, just 4 months to our wedding. We were short on funds. We prayed and sought God’s help. We were highly nervous and tensed as our plans weren’t going well due to the hike in prices. We prayed for God to intervene; hoping for a miracle.
By December, our wedding budget seemed rather odd as costs kept showing a negative instead of positive: we were receiving more than we were spending. There was enough to cover the costs of church decoration and catering services. We were unable to explain what had happened during the past 3 months. We were truly blessed by God’s goodness and our friends’ too. We were prepared for our wedding and were no longer worried over finances.
On December19th, 2015, we took our vows in the presence of God, our families and friends. A wedding isn’t about how lavish it is. It’s about how joyful. Ours wasn’t just a simple wedding ceremony, but a way of realizing the Goodness of God in our lives and God restoring joy back into our families.
We thank God for being our best Wedding Planner with no charges. We have learned that while the future is uncertain, God has already arranged our tomorrows. We have to trust Him today and be patience. Always believe that He is our provider and He will never fail us, even with GST.
Sean Kok
FGT Sri Damansara
28th March 2016