Cindy Wang Brandt

There are infinite number of scenarios that mark cross cultural marriages in relation to in laws that it seems a daunting task to pull any overarching themes together. You could have parents who supported your marriage, those who grew to support it, those who opposed, those whom you live down the block from, under the…

Culture shock is the pruning process. It’s the Good Friday before Easter Sunday. It’s the dark night before the dawn. It’s the pain before the gain. But let me be clear on one thing: though culture shock is inevitably painful, it is not inevitable. We experience culture shock only if and when we actually desire…

Preconceptions or assumptions of husband/wife roles is an issue even in mono cultural marriages because we are all shaped by the individual families we were raised in. In cross cultural marriages, those role perceptions are even more diverse. Esepecially the joining of two people from such a vastly different culture as Western and Chinese. Let…

I don’t think there’s a magical number of months that is appropriate for an engagement period. I think what matters more is the quality of that time spent preparing for marriage, rather than the quantity of time. For J and I, we dated in our senior year of college. Which meant, we were mentally checking…

When I think of my marriage I can think of very few books that have helped me. There are no lack of marriage books on the market, it’s just that there aren’t many who speak to a bicultural girl married to a white guy who felt called to China. You don’t find tips for my…

According to my Kindle, I am 64% in to Philip Yancey’s book called “Prayer.” But I have to say my satisfaction level is at well over that percentage score – say at 90%. I’m a big fan of Yancey. He opened my eyes to God’s grace (What’s so Amazing about Grace), he gave me an…

My brother Aidan recently said goodbye to some dear friends inspiring this blog post. I am no stranger to saying goodbyes. I had to say goodbye to my family when I went thousands of miles away for college. Then we said goodbye to family/friends to move to China. Then we said goodbye to friends of…

You know how Christians like to find something good in really bad situations? It’s the whole beauty for ashes, redemption dealio that our Bible happens to talk about. Example: if a loved one dies, well PTL because his/her life beautifully displayed at the memorial service will lead many to Christ. Yes, there are moments when…

A while back someone read my blog and made the comment “you have some very thoughtful posts considering you are a Mommy of two!” A very nice compliment I smiled weakly and received but tried hard to find offense. As if the act of birthing automatically destines us to brain shrinkage down to minimal capacity…