Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Detox 2018

老婆話我近排飲太多酒、不如唞一吓、禁一個月。我順帶禁埋咖啡、兼夾排毒。過去呢兩日淨係食果仁,啤梨同飲水。排毒冇問題。大小都正常。只不過放多了屁,相信是大腸𥚃的好細菌吞食壞細菌和腸牆剩下的脂肪。 打通大道,直搗皇龍!

最麻煩是戒咖啡。戒咖啡有幾難呢?我戒過幾十次啦! 先兩日都不足為奇,以為會平淡地度過。誰知!第三天,排毒真正開始!今日正天不自在, 肌肉酸軟,骨骼疼痛、呼吸困難,心神彷佛。若果今天難受、不知明天會帶來什麼苦楚。
早知今日、何必當初?

最心痛是、我戒咖啡的這一個月、就是Peet’s 賣 egg nog latte 的一個月。 嗚嗚!

Sunday, November 25, 2018

Well...there's a first...

I'm lying in bed...resting from a long day.  NN casually walks in and says, "Bah-B, I think I'm going to need a training bra.  (PAUSES) It's ok.... I'll talk to Mah-mee."  And walks out...

The room got veeeeeeeeeeery quiet all of a sudden.  Did that just happen??

Wednesday, November 21, 2018

活出「生命」之道回顧

兩年一次的退修會又告一段落。蒙主恩、當日下晝、營地突然跟我們聯絡、説附近有山火、為了安全起見,不上山入營為妙。我收到消息后立刻展開古老"電話樹"、要各界團長百分百回應式跟團友聯絡,短訊或電郵我絕不收貨。

第一晚臨開始之前, 眾僕人領袖一齊圍繞禱告。牧師師母因遲到緣故, 竟然由我帶禱告. 聖靈感動我回想起以利亞在加密山從天降火的經驗, 又意味到摩西上何烈山見到焚不燒的火叢,與神見面. 復興就要經過火的熬煉. 神要我們去哪兒, 我們就要去哪兒. 不明白, 不理解,要像亞伯拉罕順服。

第一晚, 活出事奉
陳牧師講及事奉的態度, 在於
1) 身份
2) 感恩
3) 禱告

最難忘的是他用氣球來形容一個人謙卑態度, 謙卑的服侍. 一擊即爆就是我的心態. 可悲可悲。令一樣要緊記的就是"冇摸聖經,唔好摸聖工." 最後, 最重要的身份我們是"基督的僕人". 著眼在"基督"兩字. 當僕人是我們的福份。

第二日, 活出成功之道
引用腓立比書非常出名的一段經文。分為
1) 只有一件事
2) 忘記背後, 努力面前
3) 向著目標, 竭力奔跑

基督教的成功在乎遵行神的旨意, 而成功是一個旅程,從前的成功不要驕傲, 從前的失敗不要氣餒。令我深刻的就是馬太福音12章講到盡心,盡性,盡意,盡力愛主。但真正的譯本,是全心全意全力。例子就是他問女兒做完功課未,女兒說我盡了力。父親問, 你盡了力, 但你有否盡全力? 反覆思量我是否有真心真意, 全心全意, 去愛我的主? 還是用個人的定義說盡了力就算吧? 最後回顧成功秘訣第一項, 就是"只有一件事", 我找到我的一件事未呢?

週六晚上, 活出知足的道
牧師叫我們做了一個簡單的工作,就是列出五樣我們非常想要的事。我的五樣如下:
1) 49ers Super Bowl
2) 家人得救
3) Shelby Cobra 427
4) 子女大學畢業
5) 老婆回歸Worship Team

慢慢,他要我地一個一個淘汰.  神要拿走,我豈能堅持留得住呢?雖然是簡單的遊戲, 但到最後在二和五當中選擇時, 我都愕然地呆了一陣子。

牧師知足的三個秘訣就是:
1) 自及自足
2) 時常滿足
3) 給人補足

活在一個彎曲、扭曲的世代,特別是我們灣區矽谷生活,知道這是一個非常之難說的話題。也是四堂,我覺得最難明白最深奧。他又說、當入了基督教有兩個教他是不會在歸回的。第一是「比較」第二是「計較。」

週日早上, 最後的一天, 活出喜樂之道。
很可惜我沒有抄下筆記、能記得是因為我有榮幸可以上台當翻譯。不單止當翻譯、我兩位兒女也在台下聆聽。當晚我拷問他們聽到牧師說的廣東話能明白多小、囡囡豬竟然隻字不留的回覆我。 可惜的是他回答是用英文。

The Key to Joy is as simple as 1, 2, 3....
1) One principle
2) Two attitudes
3) Three actions

我也不會太失望, 因為陳牧師說的中文真是說得好快. 普通人都難以追得及,何況是小孩呢。盼望神直著我這個卑濺的僕人,將訊息帶給新一代的小孩與年青人。

其實今次退修會變成一個培靈會,都有神的美意。我們每人晚上可以回歸自己家裏瞓自己張床、是一個祝福。我們依然有早餐宵夜供應、是一個祝福。最失望的就是一班小孩子不可以上山紮營。兩年後全教會退修會、廣東部不可自己作退修會。既然今年搞不成、我們就順理成章2019年再搞多一次。

我想整個退修會的總結就是如下:
活出生命之道.  生命之道就是福音. 靠著福音的大能, 『今日比昨日好。明日比今日好。』

2019年見!

Saturday, November 17, 2018

Of all the chores I hate...

(Was suppose to be up in the Santa Cruz Mountains for our bi-annual retreat.  But there was a wild fire that prevented us from going up there.  Nothing near as bad as the Camp Fire up in Chico.  Man... may God's mercy be on all of us.)

Chore - from the 18th century middle English for the word "char" or "charre" which meant an 'odd job'.  We've evolved that word to our modern day vernacular to 'a routine task, unpleasant but necessary.'

There are countless chores in a house.  Whether you grew up doing chores to earn an allowance, or you finally had to embrace it in college... it slowly creeps up onto you.  It's like a plague... or like taxes.. its always there, it won't go away, and like the definition said, it ain't pleasant.  But you make the most of it... or you figure out a way around it.

I found a post I wrote about 6+ years ago... on folding laundry. And though it ranks pretty high up there... It doesn't come close to the one that stands out as the one I hate the most... Ironing.  I hate it.  I HATE IT!!  Nothing can be more pure but this pure HATRED that I have. HATE IT!!!

I just spent 1.5 hours ironing about 10 of my shirts.  1.5 hours!!!  90 minutes!!  (Wow...9 minutes per shirt.  I suck.)  Why do I have 10 shirts to iron... well... I guess it doesn't help that some shirts have laid there for weeks if not months.  Heh...

And my iron is from my college days.  I bet it's not even hot enough to make a good crease. Which is why it takes so long!! But I'm too cheap to go buy another one. Heh-heh...

And unlike folding laundry...or vacuuming... or to some extent doing the dishes... you can do a half-@$$ job and no one knows!!  You can't SEE it.  But with ironing.... it has be to perfect!  From the military, I guess, but men are judged by the sharpness of their shirts and pants.  If it ain't sharp enough to slice cheese.... it ain't sharp enough to please.  (I just made that up)  And it's hot... and steamy.  Like a pile of.... y'know... Heh-heh-heh....

I still remember when I was 4-5.... mom was ironing in the living room while big-bro and I played.  Mom stepped away for a moment and (WHY ON EARTH DID I DO THIS??) I put stuck my two thumbs straight into the hot steamy iron!!  OWWWW!!!!!  Maybe that's the source of my fear or aversion? Heh-heh-heh-heh...





Thursday, November 15, 2018

Father Daughter Date Night

"Nice tie." said the cashier as I was getting a can of Red Bull from Safeway.
"I have a date tonight with my 9 year old," I said, acknowledging the "Super Dad" tie that NN made for me for Father's Day.
She said, "Best Dad Ever."  I smiled.... and left.

Tonight... NN and I went to watch "elf - The Musical" put on the San Jose Children Musics Theater's Rising Stars Ensemble. 



We were stuck in traffic longer than expected and had to miss dinner. =(  Got NN a bag of chips at a local bakery to hold her over until dinner...

The show itself was average.  It was the Rising Stars ensemble, so it wasn't CMT's best team.  But you can easily spot the talent out of the 40-50 children.  And those who are good... were stupendous.  I love [good] live performances...

There was one rendition that actually got me a little teary eyed - the song where the kid and mom stopped believing in Santa, but will start believing in him, if he can make one thing happen.  "If this is something you can do... then I will certainly believe in you...." That one things, was to be able to spend one full day with dad... =*(

Because we got tickets so late... we had literally the worst seat in the house.  Last row, all the way against the wall, equivalent to the last row, window seat on a plane.  And what made it more interesting was we were surrounded by people with special needs.  Your heart goes out to them... these aren't just kids... but adults my age.  What have they gone through over the years? Where are their parents? God bless the hearts of their counselors / teachers.

I wasn't particularly enamored with sitting around "these people."  Shame on me.  But as the show went on... it turns out that NN was very restless.  She couldn't see, so she ended up folding up the seat to gain an extra few inches.  The seat kept on falling and she made a lot of noise.  She'll get up.... walk around...  poke her head here and there.  Had we been surrounded by, shall we say, "normal people", they woulda hushed her.  But as it turns out... our new neighbors didn't really care.  Hrm...

Throughout the night... NN was obviously hungry.  But she didn't want me to worry.  Yet, she kept on asking, what time does Taco Bell close? What time does Taco Bell close? And that's how our date night ended.... through the drive through window of our local Taco Bell.  Something NN's be craving for..... 

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Nicknames

Recently... been in a little contest with a buddy with giving each other nicknames.  Not really a contest if it's 1-sided....(HA!)....

My first encounter with a nickname, other than my own, was "D 叔." I grew up calling him that... and never thought twice what it meant.  It wasn't till years later... did I really his name is nothing like what we call him.  But in fact... "D" stands for "弟弟."  It's a term of endearment that all his older bros and sis called him.  And my dad taught us to continue that legacy...but as a sign of respect, add the word 叔.  My dad even famously said, "個名係我地專用嘅."

What kind of nicknames are there....? What makes up a nickname??

Some general guidelines, if you may...

  1. Nicknames come naturally, it can't be forced
  2. It carries a special meaning - Growing up.... I was given the name 鴨仔.  That hasn't really stuck.... but there was a children story, apparently, where a 狗哥哥 would protect an  鴨仔.   Those names went away aftetr a while... and 鴨仔 sorta made a comeback years later when I met Joyce. 
  3. It's one of a kind - The obvious ones, but really hard to capture, are people's Chinese names.  More often than not.... only your parents or uncles/aunts call you by your Chinese name.  So I purposely stick my nose in and make that special connection.  (e.g. 素芝, 潔鈺).  The other night... when I was debating politics and religion with a friend, it got to a point where I felt we had a moment and I couldn't resist but call her 巧玲.  It took her by surprise... but we had a moment.  This goes for ours kids also. If you're a child of my friend... and I know your Chinese name... that's inevitably what I will call you.  That is, unless of course....#4.... 
  4. It's personal -  like a term of endearment - I've gone through dozens and dozens for my wife and kids.  "BB"  and "豬豬" are the obvious ones.  For the kids.... we have "囡囡" and "小華." Half of our church don't even know 小華's real name is Joshua. And there are different combinations and permutations on those.  Instead of 梁溢曦 and 梁溢泰... I'd even call them 梁溢囡 and 梁溢華. And they'd answer
  5. Some are reserved or 專用 - Like my kids call Chris, "Giants 叔叔" and Joyce "Giants 姨姨."  No one else will call them that.... that's exclusive for us.  Same thing for Roy.... not Roy叔叔, but Roy督督.  The first time I heard someone else try to use these terms, I gave them the stink eye!
  6. It shows honor and respect - I'm not big on calling everyone and anyone Uncle and Auntie. So I make it a point to get their name mixed in there.  Like 潔鈺's dad is 江叔。  And Hody's mom is 卿姨。They're special to me... 
  7. It's something that defines that person - One of the more famous one I came up with is PAL (Pastor Alan Lee).  Acronyms make great nicknames - or can be deviously horrible. Nyuk nyuk nyuk.... 
  8. It's rarely self-invented.  It should be given by someone else - I gave myself the nickname 叉燒 for my volleyball skills.  It sorta stuck.... and people actually carried it on for a few years.  But that slowly died away after I stepped away from the court.
  9. They're short (Unless you purposely make it long) - I almost always call Samantha, Sam. Rachel is Ray.  Veronica went from Vero to just V.  Anita is naturally Nita. But it goes the other way... like Mark is Marcus Aurelius. And Chris is Anderson... (that's an odd one, maybe it belongs in #4)
  10. Nicknames shouldn't be insulting.... like "Cry-baby" or "Mama's Boy."  We're beyond that.

I, for one, love handing out nicknames or petnames or whatever you call it.  

So back to this contest between me and my bud..... I didn't realize how hard it is to properly give someone a nickname, especially if the natural ones are already taken!!  I've been able to come up with half a dozen gruesome, extravagant, somewhat insulting nicknames for her.  And she's held her own.... been able to come up with a few cuter than cute ones that flabbergasts me!  Last night... we finally (sorta kinda) cornered her into accepting one that we both agree upon. Though deep down... we both know I'm gonna keep coming up with new ones to irk her.  And we're still waiting to see what best fits me.

So yeah....a nickname.  Something simple... but yet... requires oh much creative juice.  You stop and think if it's really worth it.  And if you think too much, too long.... then you're overthinking and that's probably not a good nickname. (See Rule #1).

Thursday, November 08, 2018

抑鈪拿鐵


噢! 我深愛的抑鈪拿鐵... 十個月喇。 足足十個月喇! 

我出來迎接妳, 切切尋找妳, 終於找到妳....噢!💕💖


Saturday, November 03, 2018

While under my care....

We recently lost 3 library books and now have to pay our fines.  But instead of simply paying for the book and the processing fee.... San Jose Public Library allows you to buy 3 books of your choice for the coming year's summer program.  They will take those 3 books you buy... and give them to someone in need of a book.  Cool program!!!

So I asked NN and SW... which 3 books will they buy. 

SW picked:
1) Spider-Man
2) Spider-Man
3) Zita the Space Girl....
because those are the books we lost. 
#Average

NN picked:
1) Geronimo Stilton
2) Thea Stilton
3) Who Was Jesus (Biography book)

because...
1) the first two are books I like
2) we get a chance to introduce Jesus to someone
#FlyingColors #TopOfTheClass
3) these three books are pretty cheap.  Daddy will be happy
#BOOM #NufSaid

At that moment in time... I believed I've done my part in imparting to my daughter our 家訓.
繼祖宗一脈相承, 刻謹克儉。 
教兒孫兩行正路, 愛神愛人。

Thursday, November 01, 2018

Hamster Wheel Part III

This picture came to me, actually, last Saturday.  So theoretically, this is Hamster Wheel Part 1.5, not Part 3.  2nd week of Gospel Sunday merely confirmed this revelation.