The proposal:

Engaged on August 5. 2008

After my 2 hour job interview, Anton, who waited patiently for me in the parking lot, took me to Kerry Park. On the way into Seattle, I wanted to go eat, and Anton suggested that we eat in a little bit. Looking back, I should have known that he had something up his sleeve, because Anton never turns down a chance to eat! When we found a place to park the car, he grabbed his guitar and we took it to the park with the plan of spending some time worshipping together. When we got to the park, I was distracted by the breathtaking view of the Seattle skyline. I took in the scenery and then we sat down on a park bench. We spent some time worshipping and then just as it looked like we were wrapping up our time in the park, Anton said he had one more song. He began to sing a song he wrote for me. He was singing about how a year ago, he didn't know (me neither) that God had this is store for him (or me), makes us praise Him together.  I have to admit that the actual proposal didn't make me cry, but the song brought tears to my eyes.  The song worked up to the proposal when he got down on one knee.  So after telling him that I'd think about it, I said yes! Of course he knew I was going to say yes!! He slipped on the most beautiful ring I've ever seen and we hugged one another. Then he said to me that we'd remember this moment forever. Of course I would!  In my heart and mind, this moment will be cherished. What HE meant was that he had accomplices in the park. He told me to look over to the left and there was this stranger videotaping us as he sat on the bench beside ours. This "stranger" turned out to be Anton's good friend, Kien-wei, who drove up with his wife, Janet, from CA to take part in this very special occasion. Unbeknownst to me, Kien-wei had been taking video footage of us for the last hour while Janet took pics of us. So yes, not only has this moment been sealed in my memory and heart, but there's tangible evidence for us to look back on when we're old and gray.
 

As a Christian, I believe that God is sovereign and that everything that happens, and doesn't happen for that matter, are all because of God. It's very humbling for me to look back at the last year and a half and come to the realization that it was hard to remain faithful, and more importantly to continue to trust in God, when things in my life were not going so well.

When I look back at 2007, it is hard to believe that God intended to cause me to scrounge around for work. I worked 8 months out of the year teaching without much consistency in work flow and without much pay. It was less than ideal. I worked like a dog when I did work and worked anywhere from 60-80 hours a week trying to keep on top of teaching 6 college level courses. Not mention that I had other jobs on top of this. God carried me through and gave me enough energy to work on minimal sleep. I thank God for the answered prayer that He would multiply my minutes.

God gave me the opportunity to lead a STM to Kstan and through that opportunity, I was able to write my own  curriculum including a teacher's manual and student workbook. This is probably one of my greatest accomplishments of 2007. The teacher's manual was 143 pages of material enough for 9 days worth of class time. It took me 6 months to write the "textbook", but it was so worth it because 3 different STMs were able to use it over the summer.

Since hindsight is always 20-20, I can see now how all of the events of last year can lead me to today. Today I was offered a full time job working for ETS. This was completely an accident and I'll get into that later.

Within the last 18 months, I've had opportunities to teach beginning, intermediate and advanced ESL courses in listening, phonology, speaking, reading, writing and grammar. All of this coursework, especially the grammar and writing courses helped me pass a rigorous hiring screen test that I had to take during my first interview with ETS. The test had 7 parts and I had 90 minutes to complete. If it weren't for the classes that I taught which helped me to stay on top of rules in grammar and writing, I wouldn't have passed the test.

The curriculum that I wrote came in very handy during my second interview. They wanted to know what kind of writing I've done and this saved me. It was the most significant writing that I've done.  If I didn't go on that STM, I might not have had the chance to write it and I wouldn't have much to say in response to their  questions during the interview.

Lastly, my previous business experience and work at Merck helped me get this job. It gave me an edge during the interviews. ETS is a quasi corporate/academic environment.

Now how did I come across this job? I actually applied for another job and was first called back for an interview for this position. The original position I applied for was a temporary FT position as a test grader. Apparently, my resume was passed to the people in this group, so I got 2 separate phone calls for an interview. It wasn't until the second call that I realized that there were even 2 positions.

So now I give thanks because I see the purpose for the last year. I have to confess that it wasn't the easiest of years and there were so many times when my faith was rocked. Humbling I tell you...me of little faith. Faith is easy to have when things are okay or better than okay. Faith is hard when things are hard. I guess its in these times when we actually need faith or should I say it's in these times when our faith is tested.