#sevendaysoflove Challenge Day 5: A Story About My Spouse AND Best Friend

Here's my entry for Day 5 of #sevendaysoflove challenge by @deadgrlsuppastar :)

So, today's challenge to write a story about my spouse or best friend. What about I write about my spouse AND best friend? Hahaha. It is basically the same person and that is my ex-boyfriend (gasps!) who is now my husband for 4 years and counting. He is known as @danielwong on Steemit and he has been on this platform longer than me, with more people knowing him, hence why I am shy to write about him. Hehe. Very sorry for this cheesy post and yet I may want to brag about him a little! He is currently a husband, father, pastor, restauranteur, food trucks owner and a musician too.

This picture reminds me a lot of who he was when we first met because back then, we played a lot of Jenga as friends.

How We Met

We met each other in church in 2004, but I didn't know him anything more than the fact that he is the church pastor's son till the year 2005. A few of us made a trip up north to visit some church friends, and so happened Daniel and his elder brother were going so my church leader and I hitched a ride with them. Sitting in a seven-seater car, Daniel was at the last row strumming and playing his guitar while I also didn't know how to strike any conversation until.....

Someone started telling jokes and both of us got competitive to want to tell the funniest joke possible. Both of us were 'fighting' to be the person with the best joke! Who would have known something could have started from there, right?

Can you see our friends like to photo bomb behind us? Back in those days, they like to tease us, even when there was nothing on yet.

My First Impression of Him

My first impression of Daniel was he is very cool, good looking, great sense of humour and very talented in music. I would naturally feel intimidated by talented people last time because of my insecurities and I don't have a similar talent. So, naturally I won't go near them too much. However, somehow we exchanged contacts on MSN chat (yeah, it was those days when MSN was still a hit!) and we got to know each other a bit. Haha Daniel has his fans in church and I dare not show my fandom so he remained as a secret crush whom I dare not expect much. Not many people know about this, except maybe two friends in my university and of course, no one in church in case they leaked it out on me! 😱 Though, our church friends super like to tease us whenever they see us take photos together or when we were disturbing each other. Everytime anyone in church asked me, I would deny.

We kept closer contact because he needed my help to write a letter to a youth he was counseling as he can't write in Chinese and the youth couldn't write in English. Fast forward to year 2009, we chatted more and sometimes we did go out. I became the translator for them that time. I talked to my immediate church leader and he too talked with his immediate leaders (who are his parents), prayed and our courtship started in 2010. I remember the days when he would purposely come over to me and it made me blushed with increasing heartbeat too. Hahaha young love!

Daniel is a very brilliant and wise guy. The things he speaks are truly impressive. He has many times lead me into greater values in life and whenever I have something I can't sort out in me, he can guide me and empower me. He is good in almost everything he puts his heart in even though he may not be trained professionally in that particular area. He is also a very funny person. Sometimes I can get upset and mad with him, but he can still make me laugh even in those times. On top of that, he is diligent and focused in the things he wants to do. He gets back up to do things he may not feel comfortable doing and he loves people. Besides that, he is also very good with children, almost every child who meets him loves him, including our boy!

We served together in various church ministries, got to know each other, fought and broke up several times and still, we got married in 2013! There were so many things to sort out between us as we learnt each other because Daniel and I are sooooo different in many ways. Hahaha. We had our wedding reception, witnessed by our family and friends in Kuala Lumpur.

Photo credit to @imchriscjw, who was one of our wedding photographers.

Happily-Ever-After with Him

After we got married, we lived happily ever after.

Gif Source: Giphy I think the guy from Tangled looked like Daniel, haha hence I chose this Gif.

Just kidding, it wasn't happily ever after either.

As much there were many happy awesome days, we still "sharpened" each other with our strengths and weaknesses. However, no matter how bad or good things can be between us, we remember that God covenanted our marriage so we would and can work things out with Him being the center of our relationship. We have sorted our clashes with each other many times, took courage and humility to still reach out to each other when that happens.

Till today, Daniel is my favorite person to talk with. Last time, I always felt our differences is the threat and incompleteness to our relationship. There are so many other prettier girls who may have share same interests and strengths with him but I am not one of them. But now, I realize he complements me to be who I am not and I am to him, who he is not. We are a team, so when one falls, the other can pick him or her up. We have learnt to be the pillar of strength for each other in time of need. We fought and we reconciled, said sorry and forgiven. I think that is the special thing about our relationship that we value each other and we can patch things up even though it hurts. We have grown past the phase to realize we can't be the ones who is responsible to make each other happy but we do want to make effort for each other. We have grown to laugh and cry together, created a space within us that it is also safe to be vulnerable with each other. We have decided again and again to choose each other, not just on our wedding day. All these are the results of the iron sharpening iron.

The real act of marriage takes place in the heart, not in the ballroom or church or synagogue. It's a choice you make - not just on your wedding day, but over and over again - and that choice is reflected in the way you treat your husband or wife. ~Barbara De Angelis
Source

What I Value About Him

Daniel is so wise that he sees things in me that I can't see and he speaks the most assuring words to me. He also doesn't just tag with me when I'm doing stupid things but he would correct me. He leads me and gives me conducive and useful opinions. He would support me in things I'm afraid but determined to do. He is my best friend whom I turn to, always. He is my love and also my life partner, in rich or poor, in sickness or health. Till death do us part.

I love you very much, still @danielwong! You are a good husband and father. I think you have made me a better person too, that the gems in me are polished because of you! 💗 may our love gets better with age, okay? I am always proud of you.

Even though we have now a child, I won't want to forget my young love who is growing old with me too. Honestly, sometimes I may have neglected the love of my life and taken him for granted, but I want to deliberately always lend a listening ear to him to make sure he knows he is valued and appreciated too. I hope our children will see the gems in our relationship to fuel theirs in the future. We may not be perfect but we are just right for each other! 💕 This is my spouse and also my best friend who is very dear to me! He is God-sent to me!

It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages. ~Friedrich Nietzsche Source

Photos are taken from my facebook account and Daniel's. Wedding photos are from our wedding photographer and friend, Catherine Ong.