A Busy Saturday -4/22/10

We went on an AWANA outing to Mt. Hamilton Observatory in the morning. The scene was beautiful, but...........

The road was so winding! I am an experienced mom, so when I didn't hear Ha for few minutes, I asked him if he's ok. He said no, so we parked the car on the side, and I found a plastic bag for Ha. As soon as he got the bag, he threw up. Since there's another 30 minutes of  driving before we arrive the observatory, we decided to go home because we didn't think that Ha would make it all the way to the destination. Everything went fine on our way home, and I got off the car first to prepare for the lunch; however, Ha threw up again! And this time, he had given the bag back to me, and he threw up to the mat and to the back of the seat! I guessed that I was not experienced enough yet; otherwise, I would ask him to hold on to the bag until he's 100% ok.

Stephen started to clean up the inside of the car, and I took out all the mats and cleaned them one by one. After the second throwing up, Ha was completely ok finally.

We prepared the picnic for the outing, so we had the lunch in our backyard...to be as close to the nature as possible. I walked and ate in the backyard, and I found some ant eggs on our cherry tree. We took off all the leaves with ant eggs, and Stephen burned them to death with paper and fire. Then, I continued to walk, and I found that there were many other bugs' eggs on our grapefruit tree. The eggs were bigger and were on the branches, it's too big to be burned, so Stephen cut off the branches and put into yard waste bin.

Then, we helped kids to review the Chinese words that they were going to be tested, and at 4pm, kids went to Chinese school. 6pm, we went from Chinese school to my brother-in-law's house directly to celebrate his birthday. 6:35pm, after Ha had few pieces of pizza, I drove him to the church for children's choir practice and to pick him up at 7:40pm and headed to my brother-in-law's house again to have the cake. It's such a busy day!

雜技團新招

上次看了電視上有人表演平衡東西的特技，黃式雜技團團長輸人不輸陣，也推出一系列精彩節目。

一個椅腳撐起整個椅子

平衡羽球拍 （後面的小學徒也在苦練）

一面平衡羽球拍一面搖呼啦圈（還沒完全練到完美）

小學徒自以為厲害，也來秀一腳。

Community Day -5/4/10

Our state government cut a big chunk of education expenses; therefore, many of our school district's teachers received pink slips, and the class size will be increased for the next school year.

"Their Future is Now(TFIN)" is a partnership between the community, the Cupertino Educational Endowment Foundation, and the Cupertino Union School District to raise $3 million by 5/15 to keep all the teachers and keep the same class sizes.

Yesterday (5/4) was community day, and many restaurants, retail or service would donate 5 to 50% of the daily sales to the TFIN, so the school encouraged us to shop and to dine in the participating restaurants yesterday. Stephen got his haircut in one of the particpating store after work, and we went out for dinner. We tried TGI Friday first because many Ha and Hee's classmates would be there. The wait was too long. We saw Hee's teacher there, but according to Stephen, “人實在太多，空氣比高山上還稀薄”， and he started coughing hard when he entered the room, so we tried "Elephant Bar" which would also donate 20% of the sales to TFIN. On the street, we saw many people outside on the lawn waiting for the seats, and we knew that it would be a long wait, too. Then, we tried Fresh Choice, which is also nearby. On the parking lot,when we looked through the restaurant window, we saw a long waiting line as well, but at least, the line was inside the restaurant, so we decided to settle down because we believed that the rest of 30+ participating restaurants would be the same thing, and we were too hungry to go to another restaurant.

By the time we got the table, it's 8pm, and the long line was still forming until about 8:40pm. We left the restaurant at 9pm. On our way home, we drove through few other participating restaurants, and they were all still packed, and some of them still had waiting line. It's really the power of the community!

高牧師，師母

When I first met Pastor Kao and Mrs. Kao, they were not pastors. They were just a lovely couple in HOC5 like you and me. The only difference was that Mrs. Kao cooked the dinner for us (at that time, I was in Tong-Shing Fellowship) on Friday night because many single professionals in Tong-Shing Fellowship didn't have time to eat before going to the fellowship. Every week, we had different dishes, and every week, it was delicious. She cooked every Friday until she and Pastor Kao got the calling from God and went to Taiwan to serve those who were in prison and who were using drugs or having AIDS. They knew that even though most people didn't like those "bad guys", God loves them, so they had to introduce Jesus to them.

Later, Mr. Kao became a pastor, and they shifted some of their time to care for retired old soldiers (榮民) ；and again, this group of people were usually ignored by the society.

When we went to Taiwan this Feb. , we had a wonderful  lunch at their house and got an opportunity to go to one of the 榮民之家 for Sunday worship. Sometimes, people in the U.S. complained that we don't have good coworkers in the church or fellowship, but they have even less coworkers there because most of the people who came to the service are 80 years old or older. The pastor and Mrs. Kao needs to take care of many things by themselves.

Mrs. Kao writes an article and a prayer letter once a week, and the following is the article that I just received this morning. For previous letters, please go to http://www.hoc5.org/mission/letter.asp


值得 高徐志美




值得

我不太願意從大賣場買糕餅類在聚會後當點心給伯伯吃，我喜歡用心做點心，如此伯伯們不但吃到的是點心也是愛心，每週有三個養護堂的聚會，參加的伯伯們身體狀況較差，我就做湯點類給伯伯們享用，另有三堂聚會，參加的伯伯們身體狀況較好，我就常做茶葉蛋給伯伯們享用。

茶葉蛋能入味又保持滑嫩是要點功夫的，然而煮茶葉蛋過程中雞蛋很容易爆裂，所以大眾伙食不易吃到茶葉蛋，感謝主給我一點恩賜，也摸索到一個訣竅，我煮的茶葉蛋並不怎麼費功夫且又好吃，深得伯伯們喜愛，因此常常為伯伯們做茶葉蛋。

復活節時候，煮了一次白水蛋了，伯伯們也欣然接受，相較之下白水蛋輕省許多，所以有時我會有偷懶的念頭，就煮白水蛋吧！不過當我這麼想的時候，聖靈用微小的聲音對我說：「你多花一點功夫，就有三、四十位伯伯吃到有滋有味的茶葉蛋，也能感受到有滋有味的愛心，多麼的值得。」為此，我願意日復一日，不厭其煩的為伯伯們做茶葉蛋，只要能使伯伯們所感受的愛心加分，辛苦一點也是值得。



應份

4/21下午，玉華姊妹陪同我到台北榮總探望住院的伯伯，蕭心靜伯伯肺炎胸口悶，我們與他談話時，注意到鄰床的一位伯伯與家屬，很留心我們的談話，為蕭伯伯禱告後，鄰床的家屬果然向我們打招呼：「師母，我們也是基督徒。」這位伯伯姓劉，因大腸癌轉到了肝臟，進進出出醫院將近十個月之久，相談之下，知道他們信主只有半年的時間，家住龍潭，在龍潭循理會聚會。

這對老夫婦臉上顯出焦慮無助的樣子，劉伯母要求我們為劉伯伯禱告，我心中有個感動，除了禱告還要加強他們對真理的認識，於是我對他們說：「我們都希望向神禱告有求必應，神也的確有能力答應我們所求的，但我們也有應份的事。禱告希望神能垂聽不外乎有四件事要做：第一，當向神向人認罪，要常常思想並回想以前到如今有沒有得罪神得罪人的地方。第二，要常為別人禱告，當我們也顧念別人的難處，為他人禱告時，神就將我們從苦境中轉回。第三，要常常感恩，凡事感恩，每一天的每一件事，因神的愛與大能，我們都可以發出感恩的言語。第四，就是常常讀神的話語，讀完以後，至少存記一句話在心中反覆思想，從那一句話去學習屬靈的功課。」沒有想到這番話說出之後，劉伯伯雙手蒙住臉流著淚說：「師母，聽你這話勝讀萬卷書，你講的這些話我從來沒有聽過，對的，要認罪，這點我沒做到。」禱告後離開病房，我向神呼籲：「主啊！我深信憂傷痛悔的心你必不輕看。」



約束

王厚慈伯伯的名字充滿神的祝福，「厚慈」豈不是蒙神厚賜慈愛的意思嗎？王伯伯小的時候因為得麻疹，在大陸基督教協合醫院被治好，因此認識了耶穌，王伯伯說：「雖然宗教都是勸人為善，但在我心中只認定耶穌是我的神。」我問王伯伯說：「您常去教會嗎。」「我沒有常去教會，但耶穌在我心裡。」「為什麼不常去教會呢？」「我這個人自由慣了，不喜歡被約束，若去了教會，就每個星期天都要去教會，我不願意每個禮拜天被約束。」「王伯伯，你認識我們嗎。」「在八德安養中心有見過妳們。」「今天下午我們已探望了好多位住院的伯伯，不但如此，我每個星期三都來醫院探望，我寧願被約束，不待在家中休息而來醫院，好讓伯伯們得安慰。」我繼續說：「我是美國華僑，美國的交通、空氣、氣候更適合老年人居住，但牧師和我願意被約束到台灣，來關心榮民伯伯。看起來我們好像是被神約束，其實是被約束到神的祝福裡面，王伯伯，出院後來聚會吧。」王伯伯不再拒絕，我們離去時，還堅持送我們出病房，又堅持送我們到電梯口，並堅持等我們入電梯才肯離去。

Walkathon

4/23/10, Ha and Hee's school had their annual walkathon to raise money for the school.

Hee's class started walking and running at 9:30am, and after we helped the kids change the walkathon T-shirt, they got ready on the track. Hee and his good friend Jeffrey were partners, and they held hands from the start to the end. These two were relaxing kids, and most of the time, they were taking slow walks around the track ，感覺很像在逛夜市。Their class walked for an hour, and Hee only walked 8 laps. Each kindergartener got a otterpop and 2 raffle tickets.

Ha's class started walking at 10:30am. Ha was determined to run well in order to  raise more money for the school. My job assignment was to punch the holds on kids' ticket when they finished one lap. I had an opportunity to remind Ha to drink more water and get otterpops and raffle tickets. For 2nd graders, they could get a raffle ticket or an otterpop every five laps. Ha wasn't very interested in getting these, but he drank a lot of water.

At the end, Ha walked/ran 39 laps. He ran faster and faster every year. In Kindergarten, he ran 11 laps; in 1st grade, he ran 25 (20+, I couldn't remember)laps, and this year, 39! Not bad at all. When Ha determined to do something, he would try hard to do it well.

However, the next day (Saturday), Ha's legs were very sore. He could only walk slowly, but he kept comfort himself by saying: "my muscle is getting stronger now, so it sores" (That's what I told him, but I wasn't sure if it's true though.)

倒垃圾

明天垃圾車要來，勤勞的妻子趕在老公下班之前把垃圾打理好，3個垃圾箱推到馬路旁。
勤勞的老公下班回家，以為垃圾已經收了，便把垃圾箱推回家。

S: 我剛剛做了一件烏龍事，把垃圾箱又推回家了。
Y: 你沒有覺得有點重嗎？
S: 我一開始推Recycle的那一個，不重；後來推垃圾的那一個才覺得重。
Y: 你一定以為垃圾車沒來收吧？
S: 對。（知夫莫若妻）
Y: 後來呢？你怎麼發現的？
S: 後來發現鄰居的也都還在外面才想到是明天。

勤勞夫妻常發生不同的烏龍事件，但這也增加了我們生活的趣味。

99歲牧師的來信

前幾天，接到一封我以前教會一位牧師的來信。我們雖不常連絡，但一，兩年總會寫封信問安。這次，他寫："...我因年事已高，在中華民國元年出生，忽已99歲了。近百歲的人，一切都不行了，舉步維艱，行動不便，手不離拐杖。但每週二松柏團契查經，我仍擔當。作神的工才有精神，若不作神的工恐怕就要病倒了！......"

看了他的信，我真的看到什麽叫做"一生被主使用，完全獻上”， 也看到“忠心又良善的僕人”的代表。

他另外又寫了“近來， 戴紹曾院長80多歲去世了，林道亮99歲去世了，鄭果牧師93歲去世了，于力工牧師91歲也去世了。神所重用的僕人一個一個都去世了，但願主興起人來，積極傳福音，歡迎主回來。這是信徒的盼望。您們年輕力壯，願主重用！”

這是老牧師對我們這一代人的託負！他們服事神，直到生命的最後，還是要服事。然而，棒子總是要交下去，可是看看我周圍的基督徒，終日所談的不外乎工作，房子，孩子，股票，一有服事的邀請，卻是互相推託。當然，也有忠心愛主的弟兄姐妹，不過，似乎不佔“大多數”。真是希望我們不辜負老牧師的託負，也不辜負主的託負。

我自己在想，99歲的心情是怎麽樣？每一天都可能是最後的一天，但若確信死後會去哪裡，心中便有平安。可以想像當牧師回想他這一生，能坦然無懼的說：「那美好的仗我已經打過了，當跑的路我已經跑盡了，所信的道我已經守住了。從此之後，有公義的冠冕為我存留。」（提摩太後書4:7-8 上）他就算回天家見主，也是無比美好，因為知道神豐富的獎賞正等待著他，神必親自微笑迎接他。其實，話說回來，99歲是離最後的日子不遠沒錯，但35歲，28歲，45歲，60歲，甚至12歲呢？有誰敢說今天一定不是我們的最後一天？Anything could happen! 可是我們像他一樣的預備好了嗎？一有服事找上門就說No的人見到神該如何自處？十天半個月沒去團契或主日敬拜的人見到神怎麽抬得起頭來？更別說獎賞了，當然是兩手空空！地上有幾億的錢財，幾十棟房子，對於死後的永生來說，只是糞土，神完全不care, 唯有為主所作的工將永遠被紀念，能得冠冕。

地震的消息沒幾天就有一個，以往覺得超大的6，7級地震似乎已不稀奇。火山，淹水，地鐵爆炸...，更是層出不窮。我沒有讀過佛經可蘭經，不知道它們有沒有談到這些，但聖經卻寫得清楚明白：“他們問他說、夫子、甚麼時候有這事（將來日子，末世）呢。這事將到的時候、有甚麼豫兆呢。耶穌說、你們要謹慎、不要受迷惑、因為將來有好些人冒我的名來、說、我是基督、又說時候近了、你們不要跟從他們。你們聽見打仗和擾亂的事、不要驚惶、因為這些事必須先有。只是末期不能立時就到。當時耶穌對他們說、民要攻打民、國要攻打國。地要大大震動、多處必有饑荒瘟疫。又有可怕的異象、和大神蹟從天上顯現。”

我們該怎麼預備呢？ “耶穌又設比喻對他們說、們們看無花果樹、和各樣的樹。他發芽的時候你們一看見自然曉得夏天近了。這樣你們看見這些事漸漸的成就、也該曉得上帝的國近了。我實在告訴你們、這世代還沒有過去、這些事都要成就。天地要廢去、我的話卻不能廢去。你們要謹慎、恐怕因貪食醉酒並今生的思慮、累住你們的心、那日子就如同網羅忽然臨到你們。因為那日子要這樣臨到全地上一切居住的人。你們要時時儆醒、常常祈求、使你們能逃避這一切要來的事、得以站立在人子面前。”

Birthday Party for SF and Le

On 4/15, we celebrated Sophia and Lele's birthday at Jennifer's house. Actually, we had dinner at Jen's house 2 nights in a row because kids liked to play together, and as they grow older, there are less and less opportunities for them to be together because everyone has some different activities on week days or weekends.

We had a nice dinner, opened the gifts, had an ice cream cake, and thought that it's a wonderful party. When we were ready to go back to my parents house to take a bath, Roro asked: "how about the rice crispy treats?" "Rice crispy treats"? Right, we told her the day before that we would make the treats on the party, and she was still waiting for it. Whoever has kids knows that if we don't fulfill our promise, it's not easy to have the peace for the rest of the night, so we all agreed that we should make the treats before we left.

I was glad that we made the treats because kids had a fun time and a beautiful memory of the process. Personally, I thought that it tasted good.

放春假

這星期Ha and Hee放春假,Sophia and Xin也結束了他們的北京之旅回加州一周,前二天天氣不太好,我們也有點感冒,所以大家待在我家.昨天開始,感冒好轉,天氣也好轉,所以我們一起到阿媽家玩.

昨晚去了Jennifer家,孩子們玩在一起很高興,一起看電視也更高興.他們都喜歡QUBO台,最喜歡Rescue Heros.很奇怪,這些小朋友平常住得很遠,可是喜歡的東西居然不謀而合,吃的也是,都差不多.

好了,要帶他們去playground走走了.

Lunch at 順峰

Grandpa helped Ha to do the egg project.

A Happy Week 3/26/10-4/1/10

今天早上作了很多有意義的事，所以現在可以update一下blog，輕鬆一下。

Why was it a happy week? Because Sophia's family and my parents were in my house for about a week long, and we had a great time together.

3/26 Friday night, Stephen and I went to the church for a special program; Ha, Hee and my Mom were at home waiting for the guests; and my Dad went to SFO to pick up Sophia's family.

By the time we came back from the church (around 9:40pm), our living room had turned to the camp ground. Hee fell asleep already, and the other 3 kids and my Dad were still laughing and exciting about camping in the living room. We have 2 Queen size airbeds, and my Mom brought 2 twin size airbeds, so we had plenty of space for each one. We even had an empty bed in one of the bedroom.

Before going to bed, Sophia and I took turns to read them the bedtime stories.

They read together. 他們兩個都是 Sparky, 也都背完了整本AWANA書，所以一起review.

Play together. For some reason,哈哈這次成為了大受弟妹歡迎的人物。愛和信平常喜歡和嘻嘻玩，但到了睡覺或吃飯時間，就喜歡在哈哈旁邊。哈哈也有點“大表哥”的架勢了。

And doing their works together. 這一張真是令人欣慰的畫面。每一個小朋友做著自己的事：有的寫數學，有的寫英文，有的寫中文，有的畫圖 even though 幾分鐘之前大家還打成一團。

這次大家來主要是慶祝爸媽結婚40年。媽媽來了，每天主廚就變成她了，我只是打雜。

Jennifer's family was here for a short while, too. They were watching the photos that we just took on TV.

JF, next time, you may come to join our camping, too.

Ran taught Haha many things about computer and airplane. Haha liked to learn from him.

One afternoon, we went to Chuk E Cheeses to have fun. kids spent little time playing with the machines that needed token, but they spent most of the time playing in the playing structure which was free. They enjoyed it so much, and all of them were sweating like crazy.

Ai's birthday was on 4/6, so we threw her an early birthday party. Ha and I made an e-card and decorated the kitchen with balloons and birthday banners. Sophia and Ran bought a cake, I baked pizza and spring roll, and mom cooked some dish. After cake, kids had ice cream and sorbet. We added some coke to ice cream, not bad.

Let's have another birthday photo because I was in it.

I couldn't believe that 我們居然沒有壽星全家合照，那就星爸星媽代表吧。