2010年8月11日 星期三

HOC Joint Summer Retreat

This year, HOC Joint summer retreat was still held in Sonoma State University. It was from 8/6 to 8/8.  Since Ha's summer camp (Lego Pro Builders: advanced LEGOs and Game Design) wasn't over till 3:30pm , we left our house at 4pm and missed one session of main message and one session of workshop (summer retreat program started at 1:30pm). We took Highways 85,237,880,580, and 101 and experienced some bad traffic. Since we wouldn't arrive in time for dinner at SSU, we had our lunch in Jack in the Box and arrived SSU around 7:30pm.

We lived in the dorm at SSU, and the living condition was very good. Each house has 4 rooms(2 with double beds, and 2 with single bed), a living room and a kitchen. Our family occupied 3 of the 4 rooms and shared the other one with another family which has a husband, a wife and a young son who lived in the small tent that they brought. This is the video clip of our house:




We had group morning devotion at 6:15am on Sat. and Sun., and I attended both of them. We studied book of Joshua, and through the discussion, I learned a lot from other people. Since it's HOC Joint retreat, I met many people from other HOC, and I was glad to talk to them. 約書亞本來只是摩西的副手,摩西死了,他變成主要負責人,所以會懼怕,而神要他剛強壯膽。在人看是人的領袖死了,但在神看只是神的僕人死了,神還會繼續興起其他的僕人來,神自己是領袖。

主題講員是饒孝楫牧師,講得非常精彩又使人得提醒。
@當我們願意為主做我們能做的,就會看到主做我們所不能做的。如果我們不願意為主做我們能做的,主也不做我們所不能做的。不服事就少了很多看到神的大能和祝福的機會。
@看別人比自己強,準確的翻譯是看別人比自己重要。以耶穌的心為心,就比較容易放下自我。
@真正的信心是相信神是至高,有主權決定一切的事,人需要順服。
@神蹟是上帝為了特定的目的,暫時改變自然律,但不是天天要發生的事。不要求看神蹟,挑戰上帝的自然律,否則就是對上帝的自然律不滿意。神蹟也是上帝掌控自然律的結果。
@有愛,事奉就是享受;沒有愛,就是忍受。

We had buffet every meal, and we all enjoyed its food.

Ha and Hee had their own program when we were in the main message or workshop, and both of them loved their classes. The teachers were from CEF, and they led many fun games and crafts.

We brought our bikes, scooter and swimming suits to SSU. We biked from dorm to dinning hall or classrooms, and the 3 boys swam on Sat. afternoon. It was like a family vacation, too.

I asked Ha and Hee if they want to come again next year, and both of their answers were "yes". I will say "yes", too.

2010年8月10日 星期二

注音-漢語拼音 對照表

剛剛在幫哈嘻找注音符號表,發現這個對照表。
這是so far 我看到最棒的注音拼音對照表。想學拼音的台灣人,check it out! 對我來說, 用拼音打中文比用注音快很多。

http://www.csswny.org/www/pdf/7gradePDF/zhuIn-hanIn.pdf

2010年8月9日 星期一

阿媽生日快樂

祝阿媽生日快樂!
獻上我們“最高”的祝福

2010年8月5日 星期四

Bad decision: 推翻加州禁止同性結婚的法律

I am very disappointed about the court's decision, and I firmly believe that the marriage is only between a man and a woman! I hate to live in this kind of world where people can't tell right from wrong but see wrong as right. 更討厭那些煽風點火的政治人物,我就不相信當他們的兒子女兒告訴他們自己是同性戀要結婚時,他們會高呼:“太好了!”這種違反自然的事,他們居然還贊成,真受不了!

From:
http://www.worldjournal.com/view/full_news/9007370/article-%E9%98%BF%E8%AB%BE%E8%AE%9A%E5%B9%B3%E7%AD%89-%E4%BF%9D%E5%AE%88%E6%B4%BE%E6%89%B9%E7%A0%B4%E5%A3%9E%E6%B0%91%E4%B8%BB?instance=m3b

舊金山聯邦法官華克4日推翻加州禁止同性結婚的法律後,州長阿諾史瓦辛格發表聲明說,對於加州數十萬同性戀家庭,這項裁決令他確認每一個人都應有的充分法律保護和保障。


他說,在此同時,這項裁定「為所有加州人提供機會,思考我們領先邁向未來的歷史,以及我們為所有的人和他們的關係賦予同等尊重和尊嚴的聲譽」。

路透報導,阿諾說:「今天的裁決絕非加州對美國為所有人提供平等和自由樹立的第一個里程碑,也不是最後一個。」

正競選州長的加州司法廳長布朗(Jerry Brown)說,他當初就不贊成第八號提案,華克法官推翻第八號提案,與他當初決定不為這項提案辯護達成相同的結論。他指出,這項提案剝奪同性伴侶結婚的權利,違反聯邦憲法第14號修正案為所有人賦予平等保護的保障。

南加州的美國公民自由聯盟主管雷普斯頓(Ramona Ripston)說:「這項裁定確認美國不會因人的性愛取向而給予不同待遇。我們對今天的裁決感到欣喜,不過要為同性伴侶建立真正的婚姻平等還有很漫長的路要走。」

保守派基督教政治行動團體「對美國關切的婦女」組織會長溫蒂.萊特(Wendy Wright)說:「華克法官的裁決遠超過同性戀婚姻,破壞美國的代議制民主核心。」

她說:「婚姻不是政治玩具,不容已經位高權重的人用以獲得希望的地位或接受。一男一女結合的婚姻是構成穩定社會的基石,不能由任何其他生活安排所取代。」

她說:「加州人民投票支持婚姻,因為他們了解婚姻的神聖性質,而同性戀行動分子把同性『婚姻』作為一種政治手法,用以為學校裡的孩子洗腦,使他們拒絕父母的價值,並騷擾、控告和懲罰意見不同的人。」


Read more: 世界新聞網

2010年8月4日 星期三

Reunion Weekend-7/31,8/1(3)

和其中大部分人最後一次見面是在我的婚禮 in 2001.

Reunion with CFC young adult fellowship:

In 2001, they drove almost one hour to HOC5 to attend my wedding and sing the wedding songs for us. In 2010, we met again at Bo&Bo's house, and most people in the photo attended the reunion; amazingly, people didn't change much, but the toddlers became teenagers, and we got a lot more kids around us.大大小小快70個人,幸好Bo & Bo 的房子很大,外面又有playground.

套句Stephen的話,我們的reunion 就是一大堆的擁抱加尖叫。 We were so excited to see each other again and get to know their kids. Ten year didn't seem to be a long distance between us. For some reason, I still felt like we just met last Friday in the fellowship, and I felt so natural to talk to them. We were true brothers and sisters in Christ, and it made us a family.

輔導AR哥HY姐現在在內地和歐洲做培訓的工作,AK姐也曾去與他們同工。其他的弟兄姐妹很多搬到Dublin, San Ramon,也在不同的教會聚會,並熱心服事主。最後,AR哥帶領我們一起唱“願耶和華賜福給你”,是我們以前常唱的,藉此彼此祝福。

In the afternoon, when kids were in the playground, I saw a familiar face: "it's XJ's Dad!" I ran to him right away, and he led us to their house.

XJ and JH were in our fellowship in HOC5, and they moved to Dublin in late June. I was so surprised that we saw each other here. Their house is about 5 houses away from Bo&Bo's house in the same street. Stephen and I went to their new house (突擊檢查), and we talked for a while. They are our good friends in Christ, too, we were so glad to see them. We will 正式拜訪 them again after they settle down. We also introduced Bo & Bo to XJ & JH, and I believe that they will be good friends in the future.

2010年8月3日 星期二

Reunion Weekend-7/31,8/1(2)



On 8/1, since we were going to the CFC Young Adult Fellowship reunion in the afternoon, we were not able to attend the 3rd Service at HOC5; therefore, we decided to go to CFC instead. When we first came to the U.S, we went to Salvation Army in Oakland Chinatown for few months, and in 1990, we started going to CFC(Chinese for Christ). I accepted Jesus as my Savior in July 1990 and got baptised in December 1991. I was there until I got married in January 2001. It's not a big church (about 300 people), but it was solid in teaching the Bible truth, and it had lovely brothers and sisters.

在CFC,不止和同年齡的弟兄姐妹有互動,和其他的弟兄姐妹也有好的交通,是跨團契的彼此相愛。這次回“娘家”,看到許多哥,姐都還是在事奉崗位上忠心,數十年如一日。見了面親切的問安,讓我覺得我就像這個家庭的小妹妹一樣,雖嫁到HOC5,但一回去,就有家的感覺。敬拜完去接上主日學的哈哈嘻嘻,發現哈哈正和一個小朋友和一個大人一起蹲在地下洗煮飯的大電鍋,嘻嘻坐在老師身旁,老師說,剛才嘻嘻也幫忙分餐具。看來,他們對這個教會也沒有陌生的感覺。

其實,這次回來另一個主要原因是探望陳述榮老牧師,他已經將近100歲。我們每年有書信往來,可是已經很久沒看他了。我主日時剛好坐在他前面, 師母傳來一張紙條說:“昨天才讀到妳以前寫給我們的信,今天竟然見到你們,很高興!”It's amazing! 只能說是神的安排。


牧師的精神還好,只是耳朵已經靠助聽器也不行了,我只好和他筆談。雖然耳朵不行,他還是負責松柏團契的查經,真是一生服事主到底,是我們的模範。

2010年8月2日 星期一

Reunion Weekend-7/31,8/1(1)

The past weekend is a "Reunion Weekend".

7/31/10: Family Reunion to celebrate Mom's birthday
14 of us gathered at SF's house on Saturday to celebrate Mom's birthday in advance. In the photo, we all sat in the living room watching "Shrek".





After lunch, my parents, my family and SF's family went to SL Marina. Kids were biking; daddys were jogging after the kids; and mommys were taking a walk.







回到家,SF切白菜,我切韭菜,媽媽切水果,爸爸拌肉餡,然後大家一起包水餃。
小朋友或玩Lego,或到後院,都相處和睦,完全不需要我們操心。小孩大了真好!(享受到小孩大了的樂趣,就不會再想生第三個,自討苦吃)

狼吞虎嚥的哈哈嘻嘻
說實在的,水餃真是好吃,特別是比較Q的厚皮包的那種,太棒了。

當然,祝媽媽生日快樂!

晚上,我們就住在SF家, 因為主日要到我以前的教會CFC聚會,探望陳老牧師。他已經要100歲了,仍然在服事主。我們一年通一兩次信,但是很久沒見面了,所以趁著這次到東灣的機會去看看他。

2010年7月27日 星期二

Last week: 7/18/10 to 7/24/10

7/20/10, San Jose Giants Game:

It was San Jose Giants, not SF Giants. It's a minor league baseball team, and Stephen's company gave away tickets for 7/20 and 7/22 games. It was against Stockton Ports, and this was our first time to watch a baseball game in the stadium. It was ok, a little boring, but Ha and Hee seemed to like it. One good thing about minor league was that the pitchers were not as good as the ones in major league; therefore, it's easier for hitters to hit the ball and easier to score. It made the game more fun.The game started at 7pm, but around 10pm, it's only at 8th inning, so we decided to go home before the game was over. The final result of the game was 6:8, Ports won.

7/21/10-7/23/10, Grandparents' House:

After Sophia's family moved back to the Bay Area, these cousins had more opportunities to get together. On 7/21, I drove to Sophia's house, and we took their van to my parents' house with them. This time, kids had their own table to eat, and we sat on another table either at my parents' house or at the restaurant. They took care of themselves, and we had relaxing eating and chatting moments.
Here is a short video clip when they watched "Tom and Jerry". Ai was not in it because she's taking her nap.

7/24/10 Lightrail
In Taipei, 捷運 is inexpensive and fast, and we took it very often when we were in Taiwan. Ha missed it, and we planned to take the BART to SF on Saturday. After 3 days of fun time at Grandma's house, kids were tired, so they couldn't wake up in the morning until I woke them up at 10am. Also, we were invited to friends' house for dinner, so we wouldn't have plenty of time staying at SF. We went to Fremont BART station and found that the round trip fare to SF was around $13 per person. It was too expensive since we wouldn't spend too much time in SF. We changed our plan from BART to lightrail since to kids, they were about the same. We drove back to Greatmall and had a lunch, and then we bought a day pass to ride on the lightrail. it was a boring ride because all we saw were houses, offices, offices, houses. and maybe one or two small size malls. Well, at least, it satisfied Ha's dream of taking the 捷運in the U.S.

7/24/10 Friend's house for dinner
Victor and Yang are in our fellowship, and they were in the same church as Ran and Sophia in Chicago. They cooked delicious dinner and invite both of our families to come over. We also watched interesting videos and photos. It was a great gathering!

2010年7月26日 星期一

棄狗從蛙

哈哈狗爬式游了好一陣子,今天手開始有點蛙式的架勢了,不過腿還不會,要繼續努力。嘻嘻還在狗爬式,不過不怕水了,繼續學換氣。

2010年7月25日 星期日

Intel Museum

In June, we learned that Intel Museum had a "Sizzling Semiconductor Summer for Grade 3 to 6" program, and they didn't really care about what grades are kids in, so both Ha and Hee went through the whole series of 4 sessions. Basically, it's a self-guided program, and kids got few pages of "homework" to complete by reading the displays and doing the experiments.

The 4 topics were code and conductivity( 0s and 1s; test the conductivity of different materials); sensational circuits(built a circuit; making a music card); keeping it clean(learn about fabrication, dress the bunny suit); and fabulous fabs(learn how sand transformed into silicon; learn about UV light).

It's a great opportunity to learn some new things even though we didn't understand all. Also, each of them got a water bottle as gift for completion of all 4 sessions.