Who Moved My Cheese?

Guy asks me, "How's life?" Two simple words that bled a multitude of ponderance and uncertainty.

"Life is good." I casually answered. Waving off the question, avoiding, not his interrogation or salutation, but realizing that I don't truly have an answer.

Selfishly, I didn't return the universal greeting but instead said, "Life is confusing.... I stand at a fork of the road. Not knowing which one to take." I admittedly was looking for advice. More so, I was looking for sympathy.

"Maybe you should try standing in front of chopsticks," the smart@$$ replies. I look for consolation and I get a sarcastic comment in return. What goes around comes around, I guess.


Guy then says in a very serious tone (as serious Guy can get) "Read 'Who Moved My Cheese'. " Certainly a book I've had on my bookshelf for over 4 years, but never once have I opened it. "You'll finish in an hour," Guy recommends.





Okay...Guy was wrong. It took me three days to get through it. I'm a slow reader I guess. But the question still stands... "Who Moved My Cheese?" And the follow up question... "Which path do I take to find the Cheese?"


Am I Sniff and Scurry? Will I sniff out the change early and scurry into action? Or am I Hem? One who denies change and fears that the future will lead to something worse. Perhaps I'm Haw... learning to adapt, but not quite far enough in my adaption to claim victory. Maybe the book needs to add another character... Hank.


Hank wants to change, but he doesn't talk to God enough and isn't clear of where God wants him to go. Hank gets lost and doesn't like asking for directions. Hank is sick of getting lost but Hank doesn't want to get comfortable either. Hank likes taking matters into his own hands... only to realize it's really not in his hands. Hanks likes to move fast, but lacks patience. Hank stands at a fork in road...

The Return of the Prodigal Son

Quite different from previous Nouwen books, this one was very structured. He begins by describing his initial encounter with Rembrant's painting. Then he paces through the three major characters in this famous parable before culiminating in the final thoughts that we're all called to "Becoming the Father."


Henri Nouwen transcribes himself into these three different characters. He moves beyond a spiritual writer, traverses pass an art critic and submerges deeply into his own happenings of defiance and repentance of the younger son, the jealousy and contempt of the older son and eventually landing as the father figure in L'Arch Daybreak community.

Nouwen challenges the reader to see him/herself as all three personalities. I can easily see myself as the rebellious Younger Son always seeking forgiveness. Indeed, I fulfill the role of the Older Son, unaware of the blessings I have and only being red-eyed about things I don't have. But to love like a father's love and to extend compassionate hands out as the father did to both sons, I don't think I'm quite there yet. This book certainly cries out for and begs for a revisit in the not so far future...

I love my wife...

I asked Joyce to name 5 active Niners yesterday. And she did it!!!!!

She started with Alex Smith and a big smile. Hrm... I better watch that Smith guy...

Then Al Gore -- which is fine. I think I confused her last season by always calling Frank, Al.

Then she said -- the tight end guy, something Davis. I said, "Baron Davis?" She said "No."

Then she said -- Bryant Young with authority!!

Then she finally went with a the Receiver. I gave her hints... "Dwight Clark? Jerry Rice? Terrell Owens?" She didn't fall for it. So I finally said, "Something Lelie?" "YEAH!!! Him!!"

Now that is what I call a soul mate...

Why!?!? WHY!??!?! WHY?!?!??!?!?!

Why does Spare the Air Day have to be on the three hottest days of the year?!?!?!
Why does work have to shut off Air Conditioning?? It was so uncomfortable yesterday, I ended up with a fat headache last night! That is soooo not cool!!!! get it?? not cool == hot

Insecure

Am I insecure about my masculinity? I would think I'm not... but I guess I am. I'm not afraid of asking for directions... but why ask when it's more adventurous to figure it out myself?

Do I feel especially manly when I do some "manly" things?? Of course I do!!! It felt manly to rummage through a junkyard to find a replacement part for my car. It felt manly to have fixed my sprinklers. And last night.... ohhhhhhhhhh.... it felt manly to finally fix that squeaking noise from my toilet!

Am I so insecure about myself that I need these little spurts of glory to refill my frail male ego?

A Manicure

If there's one thing I truly suck at... it's cutting my own nails. When Joyce cuts her nails... she trims out a nice fine moon-crescent shaped piece of nail. When I cut my nails... I cut down to the deepest part where the colors changes. It's like learning how to cut in kindergarten, you cut along the lines. I dig the blade deep underneath the nails well into the skin and snip away and bits and shards fly everywhere. I dig soooo deep, that sometimes, the stinging feeling won't go away for days.

Well, last week, I asked Joyce to cut my nails for me. So she gave me a manicure. And it's no wonder why women pay $10-$50 to get their nails done and beauty salons make so much money. It feels goooooooood. Not only does it feel gooooooooood, it's only been a week, and my nails have grown back. I'm due for another manicure! HA!

Yet another book review...

Recommended by several people to read this book on many occasions and in preparation for the upcoming Missions Conference, I figure it's time to take up this venture.

Chasing the Dragon is an autobiographical account of an English woman who sojourns into the foreign realms of the infamous Walled City in Kowloon (九龍城寨) during the 70's to serve the drug addicts, prostitutes and spiritually lost. Not knowing where God was leading her and having no sense of where her destination was, Jackie Pullinger vividly depicts her struggles with her family, her mentors, local ministries and lastly herself. The author makes it clear she's not specially gifted or talented in anyway and she makes it a point that it's only through God's grace and mercy that an Average Jane like her can accomplish what she chroniclizes. The book, like her ministry, has no clear ending or conclusion, so I got a feeling of being left hanging out to dry at the end. But that's what the author was trying to connote...that her work is neverending. Her legacy lives on in St. Stephen's Society Drug Rehabilitation Center where God's glory continues to shine.

Jackie Pullinger is a music teacher by training and missionary by trade. What she isn't, is she's not a writter. I personally found the book choppy to read and at times, lacked fluidity -- mainly because she was trying to write about a Chinese culture in an English language. The book, originally written in English, has been translated and will most likely be more intimate if read in Chinese.

梁家最近多左位住客...肥妹!!

"得閒過黎陪我玩!"

I laff...

美女廚房

劉,葉,鄧,吳四位美女在梁家的美麗廚房作了美味的晚宴.

756

Jon Miller's radio call of No. 756, with ellipses indicating pauses.

"Everybody standing here at 24 Willie Mays Plaza. An armada of nautical craft gathered in McCovey Cove beyond the right-field wall. Bonds one home run away from history, and he swings and there's a long one. Deep into right-center field. Way back there. It's gone! A home run! ... Into the center-field bleachers to the left of the 421-foot marker. An extraordinary shot to the deepest part of the yard. ... And Barry Bonds with 756 home runs. He has hit more home runs than anyone who has ever played the game.... Henry Aaron, the home run king, 755. He hit his last one 31 years ago. And now tonight in downtown San Francisco, Barry Bonds hits number 756, one more than Aaron."

How I met Hank Aaron

I was in 3rd grade when I first met Henry Aaron in the 1st floor of the San Francisco Chinatown Library. The library has since gone through several rounds of renovations, but the memory remains. I was finding a book to do a book report and I found a book in the sports section with the spine reading "HENRY AARON." I didn't even know how to pronounce his last name. (air-RON as opposed to AIR-rin). Not knowing what this book was about, I checked it out just because the person's name was HENRY -- the book has gotta be good.

As any red-blood American kid growing up in the United States, you know of characters like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison, and Babe Ruth. I had no idea who he was except he was the best, ever in the Baseball World. That was the extent of my baseball knowledge. Bear in mind, Joe Montana and the 49ers owned the city at that time.

The book started talking about a young, black kid growing up in Mobile, Alabama who started his baseball dreams by swinging a stick and trying to hit a toy in his backyard. The book made the case of pointing out that Aaron would swing cross-handed (left hand on top of right hand). I remember the first time I grabbed a bat at my school playground and stepped up to the plate for my very very first at-bat, I purposely held the bat cross-handed to mimic this Aaron guy. The bigger boys quickly told me to put my right hand on top of left, thinking I was an idiot who knew nothing about baseball. Little did they know....

As I got further and further in the book, I realized that this wasn't just any normal baseball book nor was Aaron just any other baseball player. I can still see myself, sitting in a tub of hot water in my tiny San Francisco apartment as I got to the climax of the book. I can still remember how confused I was... that there was this man who was about to surpass Babe Ruth in this hallowed record... yet no one ever mentions his name. I can still vividly see that very page of that very book that read... "715!! 715!!"

That moment forever cemented my love for baseball by the very fact that a man named "HENRY" held the greatest record in baseball. I was on cloud nine for the longest time. I slowly learned to realize that this book wasn't just baseball, but it was also about racism in a free country, it was about a kid chasing his dream, it was about a nobody becoming a somebody through perserverance and hardwork.

Twenty years ago... I witnessed the crowning of a new king through a book. Twenty years later... I witnessed the crowning of a new king live on television. Though I promised myself I wouldn't cheer when it happens, I found myself smiling and clapping in my living room when Bonds' homerun soared into the centerfield bleachers for #756. Like it or not, I will always cherish this moment in time...

755

Home Group Highlights

Two weeks ago our Home Group broke new ground. We ran out of food during dinner so poor Mrs. L. had to fry 14 eggs to feed our appetites. Initial D not only cleaned out all the rice...he even finished the leftover rice in the fridge. Astoundingly... we had plenty of dessert. Two pints of Ben and Jerry's, two pints of Marco Polo and one huge pot of Green Bean Soup.

Yesterday (as expected), we had an overflow of food for dinner. JY brought two entrees. KL made an amazing spicy veggie. We brought over a dozen BBQ pork shoulder. Mrs. L baked another dozen porkchops and cooked 8 cups of rice. But this time, Initial D wasn't hungry!!!
His lack of appetite was because he felt compelled to finish the Green Bean Soup he took home two weeks ago. TWO WEEKS AGO!!!! Ironically...we over-emphasized dinner and neglected dessert so we ended up splitting two Haagen Daas Ice Cream bars among all 9 of us.

And oh btw... in just a little bit over an hour... we meticulously (can't say completely) studied Romans 1:1-2. Two verses ate up an hour. Can't wait till get to verse 3!!!!

By God's grace...