Esther Chen

Maid of Honor:  Esther Chen, aka Es or Elseekamus; of the dwarfs, "Sleepy"  --

Occupation:  Lawyer
B.A., English, UCLA; J.D., Southwestern Law School
Childhood friend from church, UCLA roommate

Es is my soul mate, perhaps more than anyone I've ever known.  She's the only person whose mere presence has moved me to tears simply because I was so happy to see her.  God seems to have worked it out so that we learn similar lessons, go through similar experiences, and tread unfamiliar territory at the same time, even though we're thousands of miles apart.  (Es in L.A. or in China, I on the east coast.)  But if there's anything particularly distinctive about Esther, it's her heart for God.  She hungers and thirsts for God, and through the years, I've watched Es strive to live her life in complete submission to Jesus.  Indeed, whenever I've spent time with Esther, whether on the phone or in person, I feel like I've spent time with God because He is so present in our conversation.  (The Bible talks about that in Matthew -- where two or three are gathered in His name, He IS there with us.)

During college at UCLA, I had the privilege of living with Esther my junior year, and then next door to her my senior year.  Because we were not only roommates, but also fellow Christians and English majors, Es and I spent a whole lot of time together -- during meals, at fellowship meetings, in class, praying, singing, sharing...and, believe me, it was always a JOY.  ("Joy" is Esther's middle name, and it certainly fits her!)  We ate dinner together practically every night, and we'd stay in the cafeteria talking and laughing and crying until our cheeks burned and our bellies ached and we were the only ones left in the entire place as the cafeteria workers stacked the chairs on the tables for the night.  I remember how we sat one night crying tears of longing that one day, we would hear our Father say to us, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"  In our dorm room, we would strain to hear Dr. Dobson's "Focus on the Family" radio program from our boom box which got poor reception because the radio station was so far away.  At night, we read Dr. Paul Brand's book "In His Image" to one another to remind ourselves of how God sees us.  This was such a comfort for me because, at the time, I was really struggling with my acne.  God really used that time to teach me compassion for others.

There are so many other stories, so many other memories that I could recount, but I'll stop for now.  I am just grateful that God has provided me such a loving, constant, and faithful friend.  I am truly blessed!