I will not compromise... except when....

Here I am... the parochial choir boy that says I won't ever compromise and will choose Jesus every day. 

The other day at Legoland... SW wanted to go on this ride.  But the minimum requirement is he has to be 6 years old.  Well... he's about 2 weeks away from being 6.  And as we were in line... the worker actually asked each of the kids how old they were.  Seeing how they were doing that... I told SW to say, "i'm 6."  Even though he's officially still 5 years old.

I taught my son to lie.  Wow....

Yup... we're THAT family...

Ever go through life and encounter that one special family? The one that's just different? Special? Weird??  Well... we're THAT family.

This past week... SW's Kindergarten class said they wanted to have an Easter Egg Hunt.  After a couple days of debating... Joyce and I decided to excuse SW from that activity.  We emailed his teacher.  And we sat down with SW to have "the talk" with him.  His face... was priceless.  He wasn't one to hide his feelings - he was obviously upset and disappointed.  But in the end... he picked Jesus.  (AMEN!!)

His teacher pulled us aside to have talks with us... and it's absolutely NOTHING against her.  We love her.  Adore her.  But there are things we just shouldn't make compromise against.  I even asked her, "Do you know the actual history behind Easter celebration?" She said the right thing... that a lot of modern day Easter originates from paganism.  I hope she does her own research and make her own decision.

The other day.... Joyce was staying after school to let the kids play.  One of the parent came over and said, "Oh...we don't do Easter Bunny.  It's just egg hunting for fun."  The conversation didn't last very long.

On the day of the Easter Egg Hunt at school... I was concerned that SW will be very sad.  Turns out... that he was asked to go to the school admin's office.  And it turns out... NN's teacher heard about it and sent her to the office to be with SW.  The 2nd graders were going to hide the eggs for the kindergarteners to go find.

During these times... I think about Halloween.  I think about Chinese New Year.  I think about visiting the gravesite of our ancestors.  And as much as I struggle... I think of Sandy's testimony and the prayer she taught her daughters.

"I will not compromise.  I will stand in the gap.  And I will choose Jesus, every day of my life."

So powerful.... yet so hard to do.

Lost in New York

Monday afternoon.... I get a call from Mom.  She says she's lost in New York. 

For whatever reason... she was riding a train and got kicked off cuz she didn't have enough fair.  And in the worst case scenario, she only had 10% of battery life left on her phone.  There's no Wi-Fi.  She's waited at that train station for 2 hours without any cars stopping.  And she barely speaks English!! 

In all honesty... she's a grown woman, who's lived in the US for 30+ years.  She'll figure something out.  So I wasn't entirely worried... .but I was still worried.

Finally got a hold of big bro... and told him the situation.  His first reaction was...tell mom to stay put.  He'll go look for her.  Of course... mom did not stay put.  Of course... her phone died and I couldn't reach her.  And of course.... big bro ended up driving aimlessly for hours looking for a short, Asian lady in the state of New York. 

What do you do? Call the police? Panic? Pray?


The kicker here is... once she got to Flushing... she tried calling from a pay phone to let us know the latest status.  Some kind stranger saw her... and wanted to lend her their phone.  But mom was too paranoid and didn't want to give out my phone number, so she ended up not calling me or big bro.  Which left us in the dark for another hour or two. 

Ultimately... she made it back home.  Turns out she boarded a train that went the opposite direction of the ticket she bought.  Turns out she was walking distance to the subway which could've ultimately led her home.  Turns out she walked over an hour (mom pace) to get to Flushing Chinatown to find her way home.

But man...if someone is lost in New York.  How do you go about locating that person??? 

Who's Your Daddy?!?

Tonight's Prayer Meeting was simple... "Lord, teach me how to pray."  No agenda.  No prayer points.  Simply enjoy the presence of our Abba Father.

We started with the Lord's Prayer... "我 們 在 天 上 的 父."  And while meditating, I saw an image of myself playing.  And my dad sitting on the couch behind me, reading his newspaper.  God is revealing to me that He is always there.... He could be doing other things, cuz He's a busy person. But while I'm doing my own thing and He's doing his... He's still watching over me.

We then spent almost an hour worshiping Him... interceding for one another... and towards the end... we asked for the Holy Spirit. 

We read, " 你 們 雖 然 不 好 ， 尚 且 知 道 拿 好 東 西 給 兒 女 ， 何 況 你 們 在 天 上 的 父 ， 豈 不 更 把 好 東 西 給 求 他 的 人 麼 ？" 
The same image popped in my head.  Only this time... my dad asked me to sit on his lap.  So I put down my toys, sat on his lap while he's reading the newspaper.  And then I asked my dad for the favorite part of the newspaper..... the Sports Section.  And my dad gave it to me, knowing that I was going to ask for it.   

Went into Prayer Meeting tonight full of angst and stress.  Walked out of Prayer Meeting filled with peace and joy. 

Perfectly good jeans... or not

Today... Joyce told me to get rid of my jeans.  She's had it.  She can't stand it anymore.

I've had these jeans for years... it's hard to find a pair of jeans that fit you, that don't shrink or get loose wash after wash... and is decent enough for work, church or casual wear.  Well... it turns out.... the jeans in general are in good condition, but the zipper is causing me problems. 

Apparently, the past few months, the zipper has gotten to a point where it creases together and creates a bump -- making it look like... uhm.... I'm having a normal, male physiological reaction.  Hmm....  not to say it hasn't happened in a public place for whatever reason... but according to Joyce... it's happening too often, to a point where someone (don't know who's even looking) will misunderstand the situation. 

Perfectly good jeans... now I have to donate them cuz it creates a bump where it shouldn't.  Great.... now I have to go shopping.  Ugh....

The Secret Garden

When I was in fifth grade.. my teacher Sr. Celine made us buy and read a lot of books.  I hated reading. Just didn't have the attention span or discipline to sit and read.  One of my least favorite... or most hated books... The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.  300+ pages of boredom.  When it come time to write a book report... I read my friends' book reports and used that to write my own.  

Flash forward 20+ years... Nn is in 2nd grade and she plows through that book.  She makes me sit down and read her the final two chapters so we can "enjoy" the book together.  As a full grown adult with a college degree.... I still find the book hard to read.  The diction extremely advanced.  And the story is stronger than Nyquil.  

How is Nn doing this at such a young age?!?

We're the minority - Part 2

OMG.... volunteered at SW's class today.

Was teaching the boys some new terms like "trustworthy" and "thrifty" and "loyal."  When I got to the word "brave", I asked them "Who is brave?!?"

"Donald Trump!?!"  (WTH!?!)

"How's he brave?" I asked.

"If there's a war, he will lead our country!"  (#smh... that's what are kids are growing up learning?!?)

I sooooo wanted to set them straight.  But alas... it wasn't my classroom.  And in reality, another parent was there.  I didn't want him to tattle on me. =)

We're the minority

Driving through the Central Valley on our way to Yosemite the past week, we see sooooo many Pro-Trump signs.  It's amazing.  I guess in the grand scheme of things... the Bay Area is the minority with the way we see politics.  Even in a "blue" state such as California.
 

"You're not demanding?!"

For the 2nd time in about 3 weeks... some close friends said Joyce and I are overly demanding parents with extremely high expectations. My jaw dropped.... twice.

One of the two people making those claims have their kids in school, art class, gymnastics, swimming, piano... so on and so forth.  The other has their kids in tennis, scouts, violin....

The few things I do make a demand on...
1) act with manners - greet others, especially your parents, elders and teachers
2) speak in Chinese
3) simple table manners

People..... people.... people....

Emergency Room

Made another visit to the Emergency Room tonight...and this time, it was Siu Wah's turn.

We've been trying to figure out and overcome SW's food allergies.  We've always suspected him having nuts and dairy allergies.  Last month, we gave him some almonds and that's become his new favorite snack. Tonight, we introduced him to cashews.  And boy did we pay for that act.....

At 6:30PM he ate his 1 and only 1 cashew.  He immediately complained about a sore throat.  Not knowing if he was acting or not, we gave him some Benadryl.

Two hours later, after dinner and playing... he complained of a tummy ache.  Then when he was walking to the bathroom...he started vomiting, and vomiting, and vomiting some more. 

We then put him in a warm bath...and that ignited him breaking out in hives.  At one point, he rolled his eyes and looked like he was passing out.  Scared the living day lights out of us. 

So I took him to urgent care at 830PM (they close at 9PM).  Within second upon arrival... the receptionist called for "triage." The other receptionist ran to get a nurse.  I guess food allergies can't be dealt with lightly.

Praise God.... SW's reaction doesn't swell up his throat or tongue.  So he was able to breathe (and play with his iPhone).  Within minutes of being admitted to Urgent Care, they immediately sent us to the Emergency Room at the big hospital.

SW ended up being quite med'ed up.  And he got an epi shot on his thigh.... some mom was ready to do at any moment if SW's condition worsened.

Ah wel.... I guess we found out for sure one snack he IS allergic to.

Not Oroville.... San Jose

Ohhhhhhhhhhh myyyyyyyy gawwwwwwd......

San Jose is officially flooding. 

A neighborhood, about 0.5 mile from my church is now underwater.  The banks in the nearby creek broke...and water is up to the height of cars, chest high for adults. 

The entire neighborhood is flooded.  Not just water... but sewage and cleaning supplies.  No warning.  No sandbags.  Nothing. 

One minute, you're home for winter break.  Next minute, you're standing on top of any car you can find, hoping and praying for someone to rescue you. 

Last week, the whole world was watching and praying for families living by the Oroville Dam who were evacuated in fear of flooding.

One week later.... without warning, thousands of people lose their home and all their belongings.  Where's the justice in all this?!?!?