Wrestlemania

28 years ago...

March 27, 1987.... was one of the happiest day of my life.  My mom was going to bring my brother and I to go watch Wrestlemania.  Hogan vs. Andre the Giant!  WHOA!!! That's impossible!! She hates wrestling... she hates us watching wrestling... we're poor and we never spend money.  But she automatically shot up to be the best mom in the world!  

So my mom... my 70 yr old grandma... Big Bro and I took the bus from the safe havens of Chinatown alllllll the way to the outskirts, unexplored world of San Francisco... the infamous Cow Palace.  I've heard of this place before.  Only the coolest things in the world take place in Cow Palace.  And now... I'm here.  

I vividly remember being in the lobby.  My heart pulsating cuz I get to see Hulk Hogan... my hero, my idol.  I'm going to see Randy Savage... the guy who broke Steamboats throat - almost killing him.  I am now moving from poor Chinese immigrant... to a regular American boy.  

"Go buy the tickets already!" I remember thinking.

Mom walks over to the box office with grandma.... grandma, who's deaf in one ear and blind in one eye.  Big bro and I look around... hoping to see a superstar.  Then mom comes back. "OK!! Let's go in!!"  Except... that's not how the story ends. 

Mom says, "Ok... let's go home."

No.... she did NOT just say that.  She's suppose to be the best mom.  Why is she doing this??? Why is she being the worst mom??

Mom then says, " And it's not watching real people. You're watching TV"

No... I don't care.  I'm here! I need to go in.  

The next thing I remember.... we were sitting on the bus.  Big bro and I were flipping through a program.  We came all the way from Chinatown... came within two doors of Wrestlemania... and we go home with a program.  We cried on our way home.  This wasn't fair.  This isn't how the story ends. I was suppose to be a regular boy.  I told all my friends I was going to Wrestlemania.  How can this happen??  

Flash Forward.... 28 years later...

Mom did everything right.  She didn't know how much Wrestlemania would cost.  She didn't know it was a simulcast.  She was one woman...who barely spoke English... with a 70 year old blind/deaf woman... and two rambunctious boys.  She laid down the smack down... and did everything by the book.  If I was her... I'd do the same.

Flash Forward... 28 years and 2 days later.... March 29, 2015.

Levi's Stadium - me and my two best friends fulfill this child hood dream.  This void that was left, not just empty, but cold... can finally start to heal.  I can finally be a regular boy. And the first thing Geoff did... he ran and bought me a program.

Wrestlemania... isn't about me, or big bro, or any childhood dreams and ambitions.  In the end... Wrestlemania will be a memory of my mom... I wish I still had that Wrestlemania III program.  So I can give it to my mom and said.... "Thank you for being the best mom."

Great American Homerun

Appropriately named... the Great American Ballpark... the Cincinnati Reds announced today they will have an area for new mothers (and fathers).  A padded room with an area for nursing / changing / babies and toddlers to play.  Long gone are the days of suit and tie for a baseball game... or where the men and their bros hangout for peanuts and beer.  Can't wait for AT&T to have this too...

New Church

Always see new Christian churches being built and planted... But when's the last time there was a Catholic Church being built? With the statues? Marble? Mosaics..?

A bad week...

Had a bad week this week.  This week was one of those weeks where my heroics were not recognized, but my flaws were magnified.  Really humbling... quite belittling.

Times like this... I just want to quit.  Then I remember the message at Deeper Life Conference.  "Eternity."  What does it matter now? What does it matter in eternity?

And with that... I found peace.

Slow down

Ended yet another 21 day fast.  And once again... I fasted "speeding." 

Trying to drive below Speed Limit.  That's excruciating hard!  You're in the Carpool lane with 4 miles of free space.  The car behind you is riding on your bumper.  But I can't go faster than 65.... cuz I'm fasting speeding!

Slowing down... that's the biggest problem we have today.  We can't slow down. Everything is fast fast fast.  If we can all just slow down.... smell the flowers... and reflect on what matters.  Wouldn't life just be a little more wonderful??

Of course... now that the fasting has ended... back to my usual self.

Malware

Spent the whole weekend fixing moms laptop. It's sooo infested with malware and spyware I was on the verge of a reformat or system restore. Spending $30/year on mcafee... Useless!

If anything the malware uses mcafee on itself and just hogs up the CPU.

Will return the laptop to mom... And I bet within 3 months I'll be back here again. Time for a Mac???

Sandy

Rarely do I dedicate a post to anyone but my daughter and son. And even more rare would I venture to talk about another woman. But Sandy isn't just another woman. She's family.

The other day she asked me to help her write a recommendation letter for her new ministry with PCS. She and I both knew this is a formality. Sandy is someone who doesn't really needs recommendation but rather deserves recognition. How honor and privileged I felt!!

Where to begin? How to write this?

Going back into memory lane... Sandy was the first CS person to greet us.  She was the first to follow up with an email inviting us to fellowship.  She was our Wedding Task Force lead.  She taught us how to pray for our home. She never ends any conversation without praying. Her smile can only be equated by the bounce in her step.  For over 10 years... her passion and calling has always been "Bringing prayer to the nations." Aside from YC/Vivienne, she's the only other person that can turn any conversation to "the love of Jesus." 

Where to begin?.... more like Where to end?
How to write this?....more like how can I stop writing.

 

"One Day More"

CNY 2015... I was able to fulfill a long-time dream of bringing a musical on-stage.  And not just any musical... one of my favorite musicals and most powerful musicals of all time.  More on that later. 

CNY 2015... I was able to fulfill something I never even dreamed of happening.  I was able to bring dad to church.  In my mind... I can't count, with one hand, how many times dad has gone to church with us.  1) My first communion.  2) Watching us at one of our SSPP show's. 3) My 8th grade graduation (took place in a church) 4) My wedding... (took place in a church).  And now... CNY2015.  

Back to "One Day More..." and back to the entire musical.  I can honestly say I only give myself a C+.  Last Sunday at rehearsal... I thought this was going to rock the house, bring the house down.  The lyrics are wonderful.  The acting is stupendous. The entire premise is easy to understand, easy to follow. More importantly, it was suppose to be short!!  Not sure what went wrong... but we got zero reaction from the audience. No claps... no laffs.  People weren't really sure what was happening.  Wasn't until C-hing got the crowd going that people started to get into it. 

Then came the finale. I've been picturing this scene for weeks now.  A "One Day More" Flash Mob.  Only.... the flash mob didn't work.  Our mob barely made a sound and took too long to show up.  Portions of the songs were sung completely off pitch, off tempo and out of tune.  The singing was so discombobulated, the final part was messed up cuz we couldn't hear the music. Yet.... in the midst of all that... I think we got the one main part of the song through... we got the climax, we got the purpose, we got the exact message across, as I had intended. 

"這是我們大使命!"

"我在這裡! 我願跟隨!"

If people took away anything from that message.... that was it.  

And tho I walk away from CNY2015 with a little bit to be desired... I think in some ways... it just makes me want to improve CNY 2016!!!

Typical American Family

Time has finally come where Nui nui is asking why she has two (maternal) grandpa's.  Why is the gung-gung that she sees all the time NOT mahmee's dad? Well... he is.  But he isn't.

So I had the distinct pleasure of explaining to her Joyce's family tree.

And her immediate response was, "Oh no!! Grandma is committing a sin!!"

Wait till I tell her about her paternal grandparents.

Parent Teacher Conference

Nui-nui's Kindergarten Parent Teacher Conference. Her teacher came and got us...and before we even sat down, she said, "I have nothing to say.  We're done."

I snap back with, "Ok... have a nice weekend!"

All kidding aside, we really do know what's up with Nui-nui.  Her teacher is always in communications with us and from our own unprofessional evaluation, we basically know where Nui-nui stands.

So instead of hearing her talk, I needed to take a sudden turn.  I had to tell her some of my thoughts.  And when I started tell her what a great job her two Pre-K teachers did...and what she's doing right now... I started welling up in tears.

Then I asked... How can we pray for you?
And her first response was, "We need God's love and protection to be with us."  The tears really started to flow.

It's not about academics.  It's not about math or reading or Montessori Projects.  It's about God's love and His presence with these children.  

A Tale of Two Siblings

Do you compare siblings? Of course not.... not in the open.  But deep down? How can you not?

So the tale is Tortoise and the Hare.  They've both had a chance to listen to it from their loving father at least a dozen times together.  But individually...

Nn will always want to be the tortoise. No matter how cute and cuddly a bunny is... or how slow and ugly a tortoise is, she'll want to win.  But she will also stay straight to the original story.

SW... on the other hand wants to be the cute cuddly bunny.  But he'll make me change the story... so the bunny doesn't eat and sleep.  And he'll also want to win. 

How do you even draw a conclusion...