Looking back at 2018

Looking back at 2018.... I went through CNN, USAToday, APNews, TheRinger... trying to find the 1-2 nuggets that define 2018.  Nothing significant enough to crack my top 10 this year.  So let it be known...that 2018, is the year I am completely selfish, self-centered, self-focused, self-promoting.

As in years past....we'll start off with the countdown..............

10)  Ministry Assistant - 2018.  Not all the following are "MA" related.. but I'll just roll it into one, to make things easier. What a year.  How did Joyce ever put up with me for doing all this.  To a point where my friends (my best friends!!) were saying "You're doing too much."  

• 7 letters to 7 churches -  9 week Adult Sunday School on the just the 1st two chapters of Revelations.  I guess the biggest fruit we bore was PAL taking Revelations and turning it into his sermon series. That's what we get for inviting him to guest lecture.  Hmm....
• CS Directory  - Man that took a lot of work!  Not to mention moving to a new database...updating all of our attendance taking methods... and updating our archaic email alias.  Glad I was the pioneer to plow through it.  BOOM!!
• Friends and Family breakfast / lunch - Body Life, not outreach.  Everyone over-did it.  Everyone complained about it.  Everyone loved it.  Glad we were able to pull it off not once, not twice... but a surprising third time!  All the while raising up new leaders to do the work.  BOOM!!
• CNY2018 – Alliance Got Talent -  Took CNY to a whole new level for the third year in a roll.  Live voting by text?! Who would think of that???  With Joyce being a core part of 3 acts. Me on the other hand... none.  
• Men’s Retreat  - how do you get 100 men up to the Santa Cruz mountains and back?? Let me organize it...that's how.  
• Gospel Sunday - Prompted the Hamster Wheel series.  Praise God for all those who enter His kingdom.  Praise God for STEAM.  Praise God for so many brothers and sisters... who are witnesses surrounding each other like clouds and rainbows.  
• Two Lost Sons Musical - 怎去猜想這夢會變真??  Any other year... this would have been top 5, if not top 3.  Writing my own musical... how about that.  
• ARROWS – Let’s Proclaim - Get a bunch of kids... sit down... critically think about their faith and get up to pronounce it.  They came in as boys...they left as men. 
• Kids Church (Short Term Mission) - Enabled myself to spend 6 weeks serving in Children's Ministry.  It's not about passion... it's about obedience.
• Blue Sky Sunday - No one saw this coming.  My accolades.. next year, there will be an all-church picnic.  Next year... Mandarin Service will also order shirts.  My personal accolade... next year, we kick off church planting. 
• CS Budget - After seeing how the budget gets handled (within CS, mind you), I wanted to submit my resignation to PAL.  But hey... I spent nearly every penny that was budgeted to us in 2018.  BOOM!!
• Prayer Meeting - The week after Ted wants to take me under his wing to one day preach on the pulpit... I get the call to lead Prayer Meeting.  Man... it's hard.  Had some great ones.  Had one horrible one.  I'm not to grade myself...since this is given unto the Lord.  May all our prayers be from His heart.
• Wild Fire Fund Raising - Took all the lessons learned from Gospel Sunday and Friends and Family to create simple fund raising breakfast.  This was after the whole world told me "Stop! You're doing too much."  Ironically... I wasn't even here that Sunday.  
• End of year Party - Requirements were - "Cheap.  Laughter. Tears."  It was cheap.. to a point where PAL chastised me.  There was laughter.. everyone danced, even the 70 year old.  I had tears... swept the room to thank every person who made a difference in my spiritual walk.  I love my church family.  I am so grateful they love me in return.

9. Chinese School - Finally... the kids attend Chinese School.  If there is one thing I must insist on... is my kids grow up in a Christian environment.  There is another thing I insist on.... they must know their culture.  China is rising.  In 20-30 years, they will likely be traveling back overseas to do whatever God calls them to do.  It's my job to equip them and prepare them in every way possible.  After near 5 years of waiting and praying... God finally answers my prayers.  Lo and behold...the kids don't hate it.  If only they can remember... "飲嘅係美國人嘅水， 流嘅係中國人嘅血."
8. 14 years overdue - already blogged about this here.  Will always remember that fateful day when I got one of the biggest surprises of my life - all for a near meaningless gesture (to me).  People don't touch you like that anymore.  Whatever I did 14 years ago to be blessed 14 years later... I will never fully understand. 
7. Family - had to cheat again and roll them all into one.

• Cherie Visits - my one and only 細妹 visits.  Someone who I've never met.  Someone who I spent 2 days with.  There are many things you can pick and choose.  Family is not one of them.
• Divorce - who would've thunk it'll hit home, so close, so hard.  And it was in the midst of this stormy season, that family came together.  And it's not about weathering the storm so much as it's dancing in the rain.  
• Big Bro comes back - after 8 years, that night they land, and I met them at Top Cafe.  I walked in... saw the four of them sitting there, eating 焗豬扒飯, 豉椒排骨炒河, 鹹魚雞笠炒飯, 雲吞麵.  And my little nephew see me in person, point and say, "二叔."  Culminating with Christmas Dinner... where I made a small, but long overdue toast and got choked up, when I officially welcomed my brother and his family back home.  Blood will always be thicker than water.  

6. Time With Abba - I normally go to work early and pick up the kids early.  That's our routine.  But about half way through the year... I suddenly find out that whenever Joyce drops off the kids in the morning, they're listening to the Bible App with her.  So one day, I did the same thing, going through the chronological bible plan.  After we were done listening, the kids automatically each give a response.  Then they say a prayer.  My wife got them to start doing what?????
5. NN needs atropine - 2 years ago... I wrote about how she needed glasses.  Earlier this year, we got a new pair.  And out of curiosity, we went back for a second visit around October.  Just to find out her vision has gotten way worse.  She's 9... and her vision is as bad as mine when I graduated high school.  Much to our dislike... we finally bit the bullet and opted for atropine.  It won't cure her myopia... but maybe it can slow it down? Her words, "I'm so disappointed in myself."  My words, "I failed as a father."
4. Bringing SW fishing - All through life, I've wanted to be an All American dad, something my father was never able to provide for me.  Not his fault, we just weren't that Brady Bunch family.  We weren't even the Simpsons or the Bundy's.  That very moment, when I walked out from the Bait and Tackle store with two fishing rods and a bag of red-worms, I achieved my own personal dream of going fishing with my old man.  We didn't catch anything... but man was it magical. 

3. Joyce Returns to Worship Team - As much as I disagree with what Joyce did and how she was handling this, I had to stand by her.  I have to... she's my wife.  All I could do was pray for her... and continue to be her biggest cheerleader.  God listened to my prayer. And He sent an angel in the form of Samantha to love Joyce unconditionally. I was 99% certain this wasn't going to happen. But that 1% was all it took.... ironically, I didn't even find out from it directly from Joyce.
2. The Big V - any given year... this would top any man's list.  Even before any of the previous 8 happened, I was sure this would be #1.  To go through with this procedure??? Seriously.... seriously!!!  The Trader Joe's frozen peas.  Wearing briefs for the first time in over-a-decade.  Being out of commission for a weekend. Ohhhhhhhhhh weeeeeeeee...... how can it not top the list???

Sigh... in recent weeks... I had an inkling.... #1 was going to be reserved for something else.  It was either heads or tails...  I was hoping, wishing, praying, holding out.... and the results came in.
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1. "Talk to you later, XX." (CLICK) SILENCE.

It's not about how you begin, but it's about how you end. And that....is how 2018 ends. When does recovery start? When will I even be coherent enough to write about this. In due time. I need to capture this moment. These feelings. This anguish. This sorrow. These tears. At this moment in time... I recollect a poem blessed onto me over 20 years ago. That feeling of hurt is vaguely familiar. But nothing like today.

"Pooh, promise you won't forget about me, ever. Not even when I'm a hundred." Pooh thought for a little while. "How old shall I be then?" "Ninety-nine." Pooh nodded. "I promise," he said.

Onto 2019................