Weekend Errands

An extra day off made such a difference that we were ready to run many errands today. After breakfast, David and I went to the Dry Clean place to drop off the clothes. Then we shopped for the grocery at WalMart. After that, we drove to the Sewing Room in Frisco because the class David registered for me was cancelled. The lady there was very enthusiastic about her work. She showed us all the projects they had, different sewing machines, and the future classes. It was fun to watch her demos. Then we went to Macy's to buy the wedding gift for Laura and Jason. Before we knew it, it was lunch time!

After lunch, David began to prepare for his Sunday lesson. This will be the third time for him to teach the International Bible class on Sundays. I read for a while. Later on, we went to the Plano Library to renew the Chinese book. We thought about buying a pepper sauce for dad as Father's day gift. So we drove all the way to the South Fork Ranch to buy it. On the way, David took me to his friend Larkin's house since it was in that area. We were disappointed to know that the pepper sauce was discontinued at South Fork. We came home. David searched for it online and ordered them over Internet. I was glad he was able to find it!

We spent the rest of the day eating and reading. I was captured by the special edition of National Geographic on China. It was so interesting! David listened to the online sermons and read about the Armor of God.

A Day at Home

David woke up with a stiff neck - he pulled the musle around the neck and shoulder. It happened three years ago. Now he couldn't move his head at all. I ran into the computer and searched for the remedy. Many people suggested putting on the ice pack and heating pad alternately. Some people suggested taking a hot shower. One thing to avoid was to try to move the head or the muscle. David lay in bed for two hours, applying the ice pack and heating pad. His mind was on the Bible class he's teaching at UTD campus tonight. He started preparing for the lesson in bed. Several hours later, he managed to get up and take a hot shower. He felt much better. I was glad to see him walking around the house before 10:00am. David jokingly calls Google "Dr. Google" since everytime we had medical or health questions, we always found answers on Google.

Both of us took a day off. I read and rested. David worked on the lesson for tonight. We had dinner at Grandy's and ordered a spicy fish dish from a Chinese restaurant. It didn't feel like a working day at all.

We arrived at the UTD Student Union Galaxy Room by 7:00pm. Only the organizer Renay was there. We helped with the setup. The students showed up gradually. I met a few ladies who volunteer to bring the food. Suddenly I heard my name. It was Peggy! She just came back from Shanghai. I was surprised to see her there. We saw a few people we met last Friday at the New Students Welcome Party. David did a great job. He talked about how to overcome worry and anxiety, which is a topic that lots of students were interested in. Many people came up to thank him for the lesson afterwards. His hard work again was paid off! We also played Pictionary. It was a lot of fun! I wished I took some pictures.

Broken Air Conditioner

Last night, I was hot after having the dinner. I thought it might be the lamb meat. Then I worked in the office room to burn a CD for Gail. It was very hot. Again I thought maybe it was because of the computer ... David came home at 8:30pm. When we hugged, he said:" You are warm. Are you having a fever?" I took out all the thermometers: 99 and 102. But I didn't feel that I had a temperature. Then we realized that our air conditioner stopped working! David checked on the cooling unit and the switches in the attic. We had to endure the heat through the night.

It wasn't so bad with the ceiling fan. Actually it was comfortable in the early morning. I hoped the air conditioner was not completely broken. The energy saving sales just ended this Monday. The technician David used last time was fully booked today. It seemed that when we don't need those coupons, they come in all the time; when we need them, we can't find them any more. Finally, we searched Google and found a company that would come later today to take a look. It has some online coupons too!

When we woke up at 5:30am, David and I both realized that our China team was in Beijing already, soaking in the new environment, settling down in the apartment, having dinner at a local restaurant ... David put on the shirt we bought in China last year to show the support. We pray that they will have a fruitful trip!

Staying and Traveling

It is the day that the majority of our China team leave for China. It is the date that shows up on our tickets too. We would have been in the air across the Pacific ocean if ... We still wish we could be on the plane today. As I was thinking about this, Peggy called. She just came back to school from Shanghai last night. She was so happy to hear the baby news and she affirmed us that we made good decision staying here. She said she was sick for a week after she went home in Shanghai because she's used to American water and food already. I asked about her head injury. She said she is fine now. The only thing she concerns about was the hospital bill. She didn't know how much it will be. I'll pray that the insurance company will take care of that.

David said Bivi said congratulations since she saw the pregnancy announcement in church bulletin last Sunday. We guess it was announced when the church prayed for the China trip because nobody's pregnancy was ever announced in church bulletin before. David told me last week that George went to the hospital to check whether one of the molds was cancerous or not. We prayed that it was not. David got email today from George that it was not!

David went to do Friendspeak with Jerry at 6:00 and Ray at 7:00pm. I planned to do some grocery shopping, burn a CD for Gail, take a walk, and do some reading. I feel much better this month. I thought of the sewing class gift coupon David gave me last Christmas. If I don't use it now, I may never have chance to take the class. But I was disappointed to find out the class that David registered for me was cancelled. I'll have to see whether there is any equivalent classes in July. David also asked me whether there's any place that I wanted to go because we may not have time to go anywhere after August for a long while. I'll think about it ... This is the lamb dish from my hometown. I made it for dinner the first time and it was delicious!

First day after Memorial

Mary asked me to translate some coffee terms for her into Chinese: small, medium, large, non-fat, latte, 2 shorts of espresso, ... I never had coffee back in China. Although I translated for her, I was not sure whether the translation was accurate. But I'm sure Gary and Danita can help her out when she gets there.

Church sent out email that the Stolte's lost their baby at eighth week pregnancy. David called Robert. He said Spencer was a little angry because he prayed twice everyday for the baby. I'm sure God has a better place for him/her. I remembered when Robert called David about the pregnancy, David joked that he hoped our baby was a boy and Robert's was a girl. They would get married and Robert would pay for the wedding ... Our heart went out to them. But the comfort was that they already had three beautiful and healthy kids. They were still blessed.

Hongyu called that he was going to look for a car tomorrow and hopefully to buy one before the end of the week. He asked many questions about how to buy a car and what to look for. David wished he could go to the dealer's with him but he has a two-o'clock meeting tomorrow afternoon. He had to prepare for the meeting.

Our verses for this week are: 2 Timothy 3:16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Hebrews 11: 1Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
6And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

We picked four verses because we were already familiar with these verses. It was not hard for us to memorize them at all.

Memorial Day

Amy and Kendall made delicious breakfast: Kendall made the blueberry pancakes; Amy made the bacon sausage and scrumbled eggs. David and I had a full stomach before we held Chloe and bidded her goodbye. Kendall's parents and grandma were on the way to their place. We left right before they arrived.

The trip back home was a smooth one. David called Leslie to say goodbye since he's leaving for HongKong tomorrow morning and then meets the other teammates in Beijing on Friday. Then David called Renay to confirm that he is going to teach on UTD campus this Friday. I'm glad that David takes on more and more teachings for the Bible study. He'll need to teach the Sunday class too. We made to Dallas in 3 hours and 10 minutes. We dropped by Mary and Ted's place to drop off a package for them to take to the Jackson's. From the emails we knew that both the Jackson's in Beijing and the LST'ers in Dallas were super busy these days to get ready for the project.

David and I bought two big watermelons before we went to Amy and Nathan's place for the Memorial party. Lori and Billy were there. We had ribs and hambergs for lunch. Then we played the game Challeng/ImaginIff. It was fun. And David won the game! We talked and ate until it was dark outside. David and I had planned to visit Sue afterwards. But it was too late and we both were tired. We headed home and got ready for the work tomorrow - the weekend is too short!

Hands-on Learning and Care Group

We thought we were a little bit late for the Sunday class. But after we got there, the class hadn't started yet. We all sat in the front row. It was a big class. The discussion was about each person's individual growth in Christ. David and I enjoyed the discussion. It was the second time for us to attend Westover COC. We were not so impressed by the preaching as much as by the 6 baptisms after the service! Their worship team was awesome too! I liked their custom of surrounding the newly baptized teenagers with their peers singing "Bind Us Together". It was very touching.

We had lunch at Firebowl. The menu looked like Peiwei. But the dish tasted much better than Peiwei. We all loved our dishes. After we came home, we fed Chloe and took a nap in the afternoon. David and I treasured our opportunity to learn from Amy and Kendall. We tried to get as much hands-on experience as we could: feeding bottles, changing diapers, taking bath, ... Amy had lots of good advice to share.

After the nap, Amy and Kendall took us to their Sunday evening Care Group. David and I already knew several people in that group: the worship leader and his family, Jessica and her sister, Laura Rich's twin sister Jenny. All the people there were very warm and welcoming. We ate, talked, and played the game "Rock Band". That was the game that I always wanted to buy for David since he loved the drumming part. The only thing that's holding me back was I was not sure whether we would have time to play it. The music got louder and louder. I stepped out of that room and chatted with a few people until the party was over. The children's minister and the outreach minister were in the group too. Amy told us it normally had the Bible study content. But tonight was a party because of the memorial weekend. I liked everyone there: energetic, fun-loving, and friendly. No wonder Amy and Kendall liked their church and small groups.

Heading Over Austin

Since David and I weren't able to make it to Austin during the Mother's Day weekend, we postponed it to the Memorial weekend. I liked it because we got to spend more time with Amy, Kendall, and Chloe. We packed, mailed out the check to the Beijing church, had a good breakfast, and we were on our way to Austin! The weather was beautiful and hot. We learned several Children's songs from the CD. David knew many of them already. We made good time to arrive Austin in 3 hours and 15 minutes. We bought some diapers for Chloe after we got there.

It was a joy to see Chloe. She is more and more beautiful each every day. Her big brown eyes scanned everywhere in front of her. Amy said she just learned to use her hands and feet. She is still exploring and processing! We had lunch at a nice Mexican restaurant. Then we headed over to an outlet mall to buy the sleeper for Chloe - she outgrew her outfit already! It was so hot and dry in Austin. We stayed the rest of the day at home: playing with Chloe, talking, and eating.

Late at night, David suddenly remembered that we hadn't told everyone in the Sunday class that we were out of the town tomorrow. Nobody was available for teaching on Sunday. We began to make calls and found out none of our class members was able to make it to the class - it worked out perfect!

UTD Welcome party

David's co-worker John and Mary invited us to UTD's new students welcome party tonight. He told us there would be some food. But since David and I were not able to bring anything, we decided to eat before we went there. We had orange chicken and pork stripes in garlic sauce. They were good!

During the welcome party, we met the leader of the International Christian Fellowship group that was very active on UTD campus. We also met some people from Christ Church in Plano. But we were a little bit disappointed that we didn't talk to many foreign students except a couple of Chinese on our table. One of them came to Friendspeak before for a couple of times. Another one was the guy whom we met at Heidi's graduation, her birthday party, and at John and Mary's house. David and I had printed out some flyers to hand out. We didn't hand out any. I remembered last time when I was invited by UTD Chinese student Association. They let me to talk about Friendspeak in front of the group for 10 minutes and invited me to the BBQ with all the new Chinese students. I really enjoyed that one. Later on, a country music band played the country music. I thought it might be too loud for the baby. So I stepped out of the room. When I was looking at the posters on the wall in the hallway, I heard someone calling me. They were Xuan and her boy friend from Friendspeak. David and I just thought that we hadn't seen them for a while. We chatted and David joined us too.

It was almost 10:00pm when the party finished. Renay, the guy who leads the Bible study on campus, asked David to teach next Friday. David agreed to think about it. John encouraged us to participate more in the campus activites too. We'll have to see ...

What Would Jesus Do

David prayed that God will lead us to adopt a family in China. That was on my mind the first thing after I woke up. God had prepared both of us for it. When we found out that Gary will return to Beijing on Saturday, we sent an email right away asking about the possibility of finding a sponsor candidate for us. We've been examining our financial status recently. David asked "What would Jesus do?" many many times. We ask God to give us wisdom to be a better steward for Him.

LST sent an email thanking us for introducing them to Jet World Travel. They said they booked most of this year's tickets from there since the price was better and it was faster than others. We were glad to hear that. Phil from GardenRidge and Kelsey from LST asked the China team to take some materials to Beijing. The team is leaving next Wednesday morning. They've got to act fast if they want to deliver the materials to Ted and Mary on time.

It was one of the relaxing evenings since David's reader Mike couldn't make it for Friendspeak tonight. After dinner, I continued to read the book "The Voice of A Wanderer" while David continued to read the book "Raising the Kids of True Greatness". I read the part about the sin. It was difficult for many Chinese to accept the concept of sin and sinners. It all started when Adam and Eve deliberately chose Satan (the tree of Knowledge) instead of God (the tree of Life). The result was the death, both spiritual and physical. Since all the people were born after that, we all inheritated that: sin and death. God hated sin; but He loved the sinners so that He gave His only Son to reconcile and offer the life to them. "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9)

I fell asleep after the reading. After I woke up, David picked up the Chinese book that I was reading and began to read. I was thrilled that he recognized about ten percent of the Chinese characters! It won't be long for him to read a Chinese book on his own!

Clip of Cody

Fang sent us a video clip of Cody to support the Chinese 3-day National Memorial. Cody was so cute and excited. But I had difficulty figuring it out what he was saying in the video (I knew it must be Chinese). So I didn't reply to Fang until I heard from her that 1/3 of the Chinese friends she sent to only understood the last sentence while the other 2/3 were still trying to figure out. I told her I was the 1/3. She sighed! After she told me what he was saying. It began to make sense. "China, China, I love China; Beijing, Beijing, I love Beijing; China, keep up!" I'm sure David was more motivated to learn PinYin well before diving into too much Chinese (although he is already very good at it).

The security guard at the office sent me to HR to get an expecting mother parking pass. Everybody in HR was so excited to hear the news. A designated sign was set up for me before the lunch hour. I was so glad to enjoy this little previlige at the office.

David read with Jerry and Ray for Friendspeak tonight. It was the first time Ray came back after a long absence. He and Olivia only take half day class during the summer. David said they look refreshed. David was encouraged by the progress Jerry was making. After the reading sessions and picking up the mails from the rental house, it was time for bed again!

Verses and Pandas

David and I lowered our standard on the scripture memorizing. We decided to improve the quality by remembering one verse per week. The verse for this week is Philipeans 1:1, mainly referring to the elders and deacons of churches. This verse is more for teaching rather than for assurance. I liked David's choices because it's more balanced and more other-focused.

Gary emailed that he and two other guys from the Beijing church were in the hospitals in ChengDu already. They sent some pictures of the earthquake survivors. It touched me to see the smiles on their faces although Gary said that was the most emotionally difficult day in his entire life. Heidi sent some pictures of the Pandas that were rescued. They were so cute!! That probably was the only earthquake related news/email that made me smile and laugh.

Our renter called that the air conditioner didn't work well. David went to meet with the technician after work. He bought me some CD/DVDs of the Children's Bible songs with Actions on the way. We had a conversation a couple of days ago that I wanted to learn some Children's songs before our baby arrives. Later we refused the opportunity of teaching the children's class because I was afraid I didn't have experience. I was so glad to see these DVDs and CDs. My husband is the best!!!

Dinner With Eileen

I got an email about the relief workers in China - over 150 were buried by the mudslide this morning. At the same time, one of my co-workers passed around an email to everybody about Brian Concar. Immediately people in my surrounding cubes began to get together and talk about him. I was sad that nobody in our office has talked about the people in China yet. But so many people were so interested in a guy who hit the firetruck! They laughed and expressed their opinions. The group topic turned to the orthodontics dentist somehow. One lady asked me about my orthodontics. Tears were still in my eyes and the tissues were still in my hand; I was a little embarrassed and joined in the conversation reluctantly. After providing the basic information, I turned back to my desk.

Fang called to ask which venue we went for the donation. She and Fred are going to take the kids to see Fred's dad this weekend. James Ma dropped by. He was still trying to decide where to donate the money and how. While I had some time, I read a little bit on Jewish circumcision. The article asked why God asked the Jews to circumcize the baby boy on the 8th day? It went ahead said the Jewish married women have 10% less chance to have the overies related cancers. The new born baby needs Vitamin K to produce blood in the liver. A 3-day baby only has 30% of Vitamin K needed. By the 8th day, he will have 110% and then later go back to 100%. In the time when medical was not advanced, God picked the best day to do the circumcision to protect the babies! I was in awe by His supreme love and care toward His chosen people!

We invited Eileen over for dinner tonight. David bought some Mexican fajita meat and marinated chicken. We had Mexican soup, Guacamoli, Mexican rice, etc. Everything was delicious. The conversation was great! We always enjoy hearing stories from our missionary friends. Time just flew by. Eileen asked us to say something to her church friends in Russia. David encouraged them to keep up with their good work. Walking out of the door with Eileen, we saw a neighborhood cat lying in our front porch. David fed him meat, milk, cake, ... A colorful meal was spreaded in front of the cat. But the cat didn't enjoy it. The flowers in the front yard were all gone in one day. David examined the plants and suspected that the bonnies ate them - We spent over $30 on the rabbit food! After we cleaned up the kitchen, David played piano for a while and asked:" Is it time for bed again?" I nodded. He was so disappointed that a day passed by so quickly! I admire my husband for being so energetic and excited everyday that he can't wait to start a new day - there are always so many things to look forward to each every day and he is always so productive!

China Meeting and Friendspeak

David taught the class again this Sunday. He did a great job leading the discussion and teaching across different books in Bible. His preparation paid off! After class, we bumped into Eileen. She said she wanted to make good use of her time here so she would attend the both services. We sat with Mary, Ted and Eileen in the back row. During the end of the service, Mary, Ted, David and I popped out to meet Leslie and Donna at Cheddars. We had a good meeting. David and I gave each of them a travel bag of stuff they would use and some culture training materials. They talked about the last minute assignment for everybody.

After we came home, I volunteered to give David a hair-cut. I was surprised that he let me. I was really touched by his trust. Luckily I didn't mess up too much (I guess I might have cut more than I was told. But David didn't complain at all. Well, this was the first time. Practice makes perfect.) Now we are even - he cut my hair and I cut his. David worked on the weeds for a while and jumped into the shower. Cathy, Richard, and Annabelle dropped by to gave me the radiation proof jacket they bought in Beijing. We wished we could talked more about their vacation in China. But we had to leave for Friendspeak.

Ted and David led a prayer for the Chinese during Friendspeak. I thought it was well-received. At least Maggie did. Maggie and I had a good study on Romans. She normally studies two or three lessons at once with other workers. But I sticked to one lesson at a time. We spent more time on discussion and the sharing of the book "The Voice of A Wanderer". I could tell she was learning!

David and I gave some of our kitchen stuff to Sandy and Hongyu. They told us that Peggy had a severe car accident. But she didn't have insurance or money to see a doctor. We planned to call her later. I was craving fish so we had spicy fish at a Chinese restaurant on the way home. We read from the Internet that most Americans don't have enough Omega-3 fat, which mainly comes from fish. Now I feel more balanced :-)

Prince Caspian

I came home a little bit late after picking up the clothes at the Cleaner's and a few groceries at WalMart. David was working in the backyard pulling out the weeds. He suggested we eating out at Olive Garden. He knew that I like the Italian food and we hadn't been there for a long time. We both were stuffed after the delicious meal. To help with the digestion, we decided to watch the movie "Prince Caspian" from "The Chronicles of Narnia".

We really enjoyed the movie, except for a few minutes, the fierce scene of fighting made us nervous. It was so happened that right before we went to the dinner and movie, I read the 12 Spiritual Lessons from the movie "Prince Caspian". Here are the summaries of them:

Time Really Is Relative: The use of time in "Prince Caspian" seems to be a metaphorical nod to the biblical concept found in I Peter: "With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day." The Pevensies learn that what may seem in important in the moment is not necessarily important many years later--yet Aslan, the God symbol, always remains the same.

Let Go of Great Expectations: Repeatedly in "Prince Caspian," C.S. Lewis examines the faulty assumptions and expectations of some of the characters (the mice, the four kids) as they rely on false information or take others at face value. The Bible is filled with stories of God choosing the small or foolish to demonstrate his power. Yet too often we continue to judge only by superficial qualities.

Faith Shouldn't Be Decided by a Majority Vote: Lucy is the only one who can see Aslan for a good portion of the novel. The majority rule that Lucy's sightings of Aslan are nonsense, and they proceed on their way only to regret their decision--and their lack of faith--soon after. It is always tempting to let other voices drown out the still, small voice of faith inside us. It is also easier to simply go along with the crowd when we know we should stand up for our beliefs. But just as Lucy let her faith be silenced and regretted it, when we do not act on our faith, it will likely not take long before we too reap the consequences.

Hang on to Faith in a Culture of Doubt: No one in this Narnia believes in talking animals, dwarves, or any of the other characters that originally graced the land. But when Lucy and the others try to tell Prince Caspian about the way Narnia used to be, he slowly begins to believe in the Narnia of old and wishes to meet the old Narnian dwellers who have been in hiding. In this sense, Narnia is an excellent metaphor for a postmodern society in which skepticism, narcissism, intellectualism, elitism, and any number of other "isms" have created an environment of doubt, anxiety, depression, and hopelessness that has choked out the beauty and mystery of the journey of faith.

Fear Not, for God Is With You: Aslan gently instructs Susan to stop listening to the voice of fear. Fear was one of the reasons she couldn't see him when he appeared to Lucy earlier in their journey. To help Susan refocus her energy and thoughts, Aslan then breathes on her. With that breath, fear loses its control of Susan's heart and she is able to be brave once again.

Be Thankful for Blessings in Disguise: we need someone like Trumpkin in our lives to remind us that our current situations could be far worse if we had made a different choice or refused to listen to a trusted friend.

Make Time to Enjoy God's Presence: One of my favorite scenes from the novel is when the old Narnians are reunited with Aslan, the creator of Narnia. Though there have been difficult times in the past and danger lies straight ahead of them, they take time to enjoy Aslan by literally playing and romping with the giant lion.

Actions Can Have Lasting Consequences: When the children uncover their gifts from their first adventure in Narnia in the treasure room at Cair Paravel, Edmund is once again reminded that because of his earlier betrayal of his siblings and Narnia, he does not have a special token from his previous journey. Even though Aslan willingly gave his life for Edmund in "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," this does not mean that there are no consequences for Edmund's previous choices. God will willingly forgive us of our sins if we ask, but that does not mean there won't be long-term effects from our actions.

Vanity Corrupts Character: When Reepicheep finally has the opportunity to stand before Aslan, he can only dwell in the embarrassment he feels appearing before Aslan without his beautiful tail. While Aslan praises Reepicheep's acts of heroism and valor, he also reminds him that he places too much importance on something that is really an outward show of vanity, not a true reflection of inner character.

Loyalty and Sacrifice are valuable: Reepicheep's followers offer to cut off their own tails in solidarity if Aslan will not restore their leader's tail. Touched by the mice and their willingness to sacrifice on behalf of their leader, Aslan honors the request. This kind of devotion, rarely found in this world, is exactly the example of loyalty and sacrifice the Bible gives throughout the New Testament. As the passage from John states, "No one has greater love than this, that one lays down his life for his friends."

Stick Close to Your Spiritual Family: When he meets the Old Narnians, Caspian immediately feels a kinship with them that he has never felt before. These Old Narnians are his true, spiritual family. We may not have been born into a family situation that is caring and fulfilling. However, we can always choose to develop a spiritual family unit with people of similar faith and character to share our journey.

Leaders Are Made, Not Born: regardless of destiny or birthright, becoming a true leader is a process--and not an easy one. Both Caspian and Peter make mistakes. The two youngsters actually struggle to work together at first, and they need a lesson in humility and teamwork before they are finally victorious against the Telmarines. Perhaps the best gift we can give our leaders is to be more like Susan or Lucy and give our grace, encouragement and support as they learn and grow in their leadership skills.

John 5:24

John 5:24"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. "

The reality of death makes us face the reality of life. Whether we will rise to live or to be condemned is decided now, in this life. Jesus said, "A time is coming and has now come" (v. 25). Salvation is for now, too, not just later. The "now-ness" of it begins when we hear His Word and believe. Then death's reminders become reminders of life. We will breathe our last if Jesus does not come first. Philippians 1:21"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." If we choose right, with death we live, eternally with Him.

I sent the link of the book "The Voice of A Wanderer" to some Friendspeak readers and my sister and brother. Three of them emailed back that they really liked the book. I hope all of them can find time to read it.

David and I were trying to find a Christian group to donate for the China relief work. We didn't hear any. Finally we went to American Red Cross through CA's matching program since the company can match 100% of the donation.

I received the Travel Document and the EAD card today. They have my new married names. So in the future I should be able to travel and change my job without any visa problems.

You Zi Yin (Voice of A Wanderer)

When we met Gary and Danita for the China meeting, they recommended a book written by a Chinese who graduated from Beijing University, Biology Department, and then got his doctor's degree at Michigan State University, now working as an established researcher at Winsconsin Medical Institute. The name of the book is called "You Zi Yin (Voice From The Wanderer)". They mentioned that many Chinese Christians were influenced by that book. Bobbie and Ling asked me where to buy it. I told them a Chinese Christian bookstore I know of. But I wasn't sure they could buy it there. Today, I went to the website trying to find out which bookstore had it. To my surprise, I found a link that we can download the whole book for free! The only thing is that it's in Chinese. http://www.livingwater4u.com/reader/b_youziyin/youziyindex.htm (I recommend to read the appendix first)

I was so happy about the discovery. I couldn't help reading it before I sent the link to Bobbie, Ling, and others. It was a fabulous book! I thought we should make copies for each FriendSpeak reader since the book was so true to every Chinese. I resonated with the author in many places. Definite a good reading. I'll see whether I can translate it into English for David later.

David went to Friendspeak. We were glad Jerry came back to study. I was still in the emotional state that a mere mentioning of "China Earthquake" would bring me to tears. So I stayed at home. After the dinner, I took a ten minutes walk. Then I wanted to go to the Impact fellowship to make better use of the evening time. I was glad I did. Every time I went there, I learned some new children's songs. That was what I needed to prepare for our baby! Matt gave a good lesson on God's creation - the fourth day. I came home fully relaxed and entertained by the kids. David had a great night at Friendspeak too. He brought home a book Paul Melton got for me about my hometown Xinjiang.

China Earthquake (2)

I'm still addicted to the Chinese website reading about the stories and the latest news of the China earthquake. Every time I read them, I had to take out the tissue and tab off the tears. It's said that pregnant lady's mood affect the baby. Maybe I should force myself not to go there. But how could I resist reading of how a teacher protected the school kids with her dead body; how a wife gave her life for her husband; how a grandma threw the grandson out to the safety before she was hit; how the soldiers left behind their wills and landed with parachutes; how a large performance show turned into a charity performance ... I dared not to go to any website with images or videos. These were enough!

I was glad to see how people were pulled together so quickly: the companies in China donated cash 2 billion (around $0.3 billion), 386 cars and buses in two days. The Houston Rocket start Yao Ming donated $290,000. Movie start Jackie Chen donated $1,420,000. Over 140 airplanes dropped tents, food, and soldiers non-stop. The Chinese organizations all over the world set up the donation account immediately. Every Chinese has a slogan now:" What can I do?" Maybe a new China is waking up soon!

I was sad that so many people lost their loved ones and all what they had. I was more sad that tens of thousands of people perished without knowing God's love. I thought about the disciples when Jesus was cruxified. They experienced the same disbelief, shock, and grief. But one thing they realized later was Jesus overcame death. They found peace in the midst of pain. Now fastforward to today. Have you found the peace yet? Have you felt the urgency of looking to a more eternal life? What if today is your last day on this earth? The shadow of death can strike us at any time, when we are in the elevator, when we are working in our cubicle, or while we are watching news, or browsing Internet. Are you prepared for death? Life is a precious gift from God and it's fragile too. Darkness will pass, but love and peace and God's glory will again shine on this earth, May GOD bless you and make your spirit soar!

China Earthquake

As soon as I got to the office, I read the email from our missionary friends Gary and Danita. They said that China had a major earthquake and they were fine. I looked up the news and there it was: 7.8 earthquake in central China Sichuan Province! That was right where Hongyu and Olivia's hometown. About 20000 people were buried in the collapsed buildings. 12000 confirmed dead! On a Chinese website, it posted a picture of the Chinese Premier holding a pair of children's shoes in hand with tears in his eyes, he commanded the Chinese army "to search for every life." The bridges and roads were destroyed. The heavy rain added the desaster. Many places could only be accessed by foot. Airplanes began to drop the tents, food, water where the life were possible existing. The new bridges were built with the fastest speed. People lined up to donate blood. The parents began to search their only child with a flashlight ... My tears came out; my heart went out to those families with only one child. At one middle school, 900 students (18 classes) were buried. At one plant, hundreds of workers were buried.

David sent emails to Hongyu and Olivia. Hongyu was angry. David tried to comfort him. As the tears still in my eyes, I saw millions of people offering their helping hands; I saw the families that used to pursue money, power, and material things realizing that there was something more valuable than those; I saw the Rich Fools losing what they accumulated in one second; I saw students searching for the real purpose of life; I saw a Father with a heavy heart ... A time like this helps people to redefine what's really important and how we shall live. Dear Heavenly Father, I pray that your light will shine through the dark clouds before men. Please send your angels and wrap your arm around those who were affected by the earthquake. Please offer them hope and strength to sustain the difficulties. And most of all, please send the message that there is a valuable gift, a far more valuable than their earthly life, awaiting for them to unwrap!

David and I read the first chapter of the book "Raising the kids of true greatness". The main point is that parents should have a clear goal of what kinds of kids they want to bring up. The true greatness is to be a godly servant. What the world would be if every parent raises their kids to be godly servants?! A thousand steps start from the first step. We are about to raise our legs for the first step ... By the way, today marked the end of the first trimester! I felt so much better than before. It's amazing!

Mother's Day

David got up early to prepare for the lesson. I cleaned up and had some breakfast before we left for church. We turned the radio on and listened to the worship music on the way. Right after we got to the parking lot, the radio mentioned "Mother's Day". "Hey, I was so busy this morning that I messed up everything" David said, "I have a Mother's Day gift for you in my car." We both laughed. I really didn't expect to get a gift since my newest title is only "mother-to-be". Thank David for thinking of me!

The first service ended late today. The classroom was empty when we got there. Later we found out we had two contributions and all the mothers received a flower. Plus Prentice preached. David and I were glad to see Maggie and Alex. They spent the weekend on Brookes' cousin's farm hunting and feeding the goats. David did a great job teaching the class. I was sure Maggie and Alex learned a lot. I learned something too: about the qualifications of apostles. We had lunch at Chili's with guys and I had my yearly hamberg. That was the hamberg of 2008.

Neither Hongyu nor Maggie came to Friend Speak. David and I read with two other people. After Friendspeak, David heard the voicemail from Hongyu. His car was broken and he said he might not come to Friendspeak for a while. David was discouraged thinking that he wanted to quit. "He can't stop coming to Friendspeak. Not yet. Not until he becomes a Christian. I want him to believe. But God wants that more, a million times, a trillion times more ..." After we came home, David called Hongyu. I prayed for their conversation. "What did he say?" I asked. David was all smiles:"Funny how completely opposite I can feel ... Hongyu said he and Sandy are more and more closer to God. They wanted to participate more in church activities. I gave him the first reading assignment this week!" We were so encouraged that we couldn't wait to share with them some good movies, good devotinals, and good websites that he would enjoy.

Sick Day (4)

How do you like being sick for four days in a row - sounds depressing! The Telynol bottle was almost empty. Maybe this was the day to get well! It was beautiful outside. David worked in the backyard pulling the weeds. Our backyard needs a lot of work, especially with the weeds. David enjoyed working on that!

I sold another book on Amazon. So I went to the post office to mail the book in the middle of the day. I have more erands to run. But my body told me "No". We just rested at home in the afternoon: for me, it was the real rest. For David, it was study - to prepare for the lesson tomorrow morning.

I began to feel better in the afternoon. Not just a little better, but much better. No pains, no fever. I saw the light!

Sick Day (3)

The fever didn't go away. I called the doctor's office. The nurse worked me in right away. The doctor checked my ears, throat, lung, and asked some questions. He thought the antibiotics hadn't kicked in yet. So he let me to go home and come back if I still have the fever on Monday. I took another sick day!

David suggested me to order some Chinese food for lunch. I drove all the way to Legacy and 75 to order the dishes and buy some Chinese grocery. I was tired after the shopping. But the food was so delicious! David and I had them for dinner too.

This was the night that our China team met without us. The purpose was to see how they would interact with each other as a team. David and I prayed that they will have a good plan meeting and they will experience God's power in China so that they will go back to China again and again in the future!

Sick Day (2)

I got up and tried to get ready for work. David didn't rest well last night- He had too much on his shoulder. So he stayed in bed a little bit longer. Before I went out of the door, I felt cold again. I called my manager. She insisted me staying at home. So I went back to bed. The fever came and went for the whole day. Telynol only could work for several hours.

I was planning to take a heavy coat to the EEM dinner. Bobbie called and commanded me to stay at home. She suggested me to call the doctor tomorrow morning if the fever stays. I really appreciated her loving care! David came home and stayed with me. We called Robert H. to cancel our seats. We also called Amy about the possibility of canceling the trip to Austin tomorrow night. I actually felt well enough to drive to Austin. But Chloe is still fragile. The last thing I wanted was to pass the fever to her. Maybe we could see them at the Memorial weekend.

I couldn't appreciate my husband enough: I knew how much he wanted to go to the EEM dinner and I was ready to detect a little disappointment in him. But I couldn't see any of it on his face throughout the night. He was joking, talking, taking a walk with me ... A sick night at home couldn't be any easier than this!

Sick Day - 1

I had a chill and fever last night. Luckily the doctor's appointment was this morning. The doctor listened to the baby's heart beat - 156 per minute; measured the tummy, and gave me some antibiotics for the fever. I took the whole day off for the sick day since I've accumulated over 200 sick days over the years.

I was very glad that the doctor spent about an hour for our appointment. Many people complained that their OB/Gens only spend 5 minutes with them. My doctor asked me whether I had any concerns or questions. I asked about the organic food, sleeping on the left side, papaya, etc. He dismissed many stress for me. Now I know that I don't have to stress about sleeping on the left side even with a sour arm and leg and face. Mother Nature will take care of it on its own.

David went to Friendspeak at night. I rested and read some baby magazines. It was so relaxing to read them. I didn't take a long walk although I tried to walk outside. My body was too weak ... I realized my spirit was weak too since I seldom spent time reading Bible, devotionals, etc. They seemed to take my mental energy. As David noticed, we don't pray together as we used to. I was often too sleepy early in the morning and too tired late at night. The only time we prayed consistently was at dinner time. Father, please help me to regain some of the energy so that I can take some steps toward you!

Joan

Joan was my co-worker who just retired last week. We've been working together for several projects. She asked me out for lunch today. We went to the Chinese restaurant. Joan was known as the quietest person in the office. Her words were always minimum, especially in the meeting. I remember in one status meeting, everyone elaborated the whole week's effort. When it was Joan's turn. She only had one word "Issues" (which means she worked on the issues for the week). All of my co-workers and managers know her personality. So nobody asked her to say more. But I like Joan. She is thorough and responsible in everything she does. She also thinks about me when doing her job so that it would be easier on me. I know I'll miss her in the future. During the lunch, Joan was not the quiet person that everyone knew. She talked about her children, her plan for the future, her friends and listened to me talking. We had a great time. In the end, she asked me to take one of her Christian friends to church someday. I gladly agreed. I asked Joan whether she was a Christian. She said not yet. I pray that she will be a Christian soon!

I had too much for lunch. Joan kept putting food in my plate. I was so full even at dinner time. So I skipped dinner - not completely, since I had a kiwi and some rice soup later on. David ate at Taco Bueno for the late Cinco De Mayo. We went to Sprout to get some grocery afterwards. After I came home, I felt cold. I covered myself with the blanket and read the baby magazines for a while. Then I went to bed. David was preparing for the Sunday lesson. When he was ready for bed, I took the temperature and found out I had a fever! Fever again! I took some Telynols. David made the ginger tea for me and put a wet towel on my forehead. I started to pray for God to protect our baby - tomorrow we'll have the 12 week checkup.

Mocking Birds

Sandy emailed me about the newly opened Korean Supermarket H-Mart over Carrollton. She said it was really big and it had more things than any Chinese grocery store here. I'm thinking to go there sometime, at least before the baby is born, to stock up all the grocery need ed after the delivery. I'm also thinking to buy some dates. Lots of people told me to eat that and it was my favorite food before. I miss not eating them for a long time.

My friend in Beijing Wenjing emailed me her son's one-month old pictures (similar to the birth annuncement pictures here). I still remember last year when David and I were in Beijing, she was having morning sickness so she couldn't meet us for the dinner. Now her baby is one and half months old, healthy and cute! I can't wait to bring our baby to her next time when we are in Beijing.

David and I took a walk after dinner. We saw a snail on the way. David had compassion for it, thinking that it might be killed by the car. I hoped it knew where to stay, at least somewhere wet, like the grass area. When we got home, David pointed to a baby Mocking bird that just learned to leap in our bushes and said:" Hey, that's the baby of the Mocking birds. A family of three live in the tree in front of our house. I saw the mom bringing the food to the baby one day ... Look, the parents were on the mailbox." I looked over. The mom and dad were standing there watching the baby! They were excellent singers. Many times, they would land on the tallest light pole and sing in different voices - showing off!

Our neighbor just had a new addition - a puppy. But she kept the dog in the backyard. The puppy barked day and night. I hope someday, the dog will get used to the new environment. The vegetables in the garden look great! David looks at them everyday. The tomato plant already has some green cherry tomatos. The squash took off to the tallest. We will have some organic home grown produce this year!

David is preparing the lesson for this Sunday. He is going to teach the International Bible class. I'm very proud of him. He is a good teacher!

Sunday Eating Out

Gene Vance was out of the town. John B. taught the class today. We studied Psalms 22. It happened to be the chapter that I read a lot recently because it touched so many aspects of Jesus' death. The main point was no matter how low we feel, or what difficulties we face, Jesus actually experienced them all.

We happened to sit with Dawn and Kyri. Kyri already knew that she is going to have a baby girl. She told me one of her friends found out whether it was a boy or a girl during the 12th week. I looked forward more to the doctor's visit on Wednesday! We had lunch with Jerrod and Dawn. We had a great time. Dawn's birthday is coming. I had planned to give her the birthday gift during Friendspeak. But I found out she and her reader planned to watch a movie to celebrate finishing the book of John. I'll have to mail out her gift.

The auroma of the chicken filled the whole house when we got home. The chicken we put in the oven before we left for church turned out perfect! David and I couldn't help tasting it although we were both full. David and Hongyu watched the DVD Gospel of John during Friendspeak since Hongyu liked watching movie. Hongyu told David that the Jesus in the movie was not serious as he thought. In chinese culture, the highly respected people normally are serious and old. David told Hongyu that a person who was full of the infinite love and joy has to have a pleasant face. They had a good discussion after the movie. After I read with Maggie, I met two new readers: Lin and Josh. They just moved from Houston to Dallas and found out our program over Internet. I was glad they came today.

Mary and Ted asked us to join them for a dinner at a Chinese restaurant. We invited Hongyu and Sandy too. We had a great time in the restaurant. We were glad that Hongyu and Sandy joined us!

Men's Retreat

David left early for the retreat. I appreciate him driving back and forth to spend the limited time at home. I found the China culture training materials that I used before from the piles of paper in the closet. Then I snuggled in the sofa to read. Fang called that she was having lunch with Cody and Evan after the church cleaning activities. They were going to the Plano International Festival in the park afterwards.

David came home right after lunch. He tasted the carots dish and the celery dish before I put them away. He liked them. He told me more about the retreat. The speaker told them about a story that the village in Haiti was converted to Christians after the witch doctor was moved by the compassion that a missionary showed to his malformed dying child. I could tell that David really enjoyed the retreat.

I read and rested for the afternoon. David worked on the yard. He put in some grass sods and fertilized the grass. After the dinner, I wanted to take a walk. David suggested walking in the Babies4Us. We got there and saw so many baby stuff. It was really difficult to choose what to register. But we did great by scanning 20 items in half an hour! David continued playing piano for the baby everyday. I wished we could record all of them! One day I even thought the music was from the TV! It was beautiful ...

Amy's Birthday

Today is Amy's Birthday! We wished we could see her, Kendall, and Chloe. Later on, Amy emailed that the best birthday gift she received today was Chloe's first laughter! She laughed when Amy was singing to her. How adorable! David and I can't wait to see Chloe laughing next time!

I put on the new radiation proof jacket to the office. Everyone came over and asked about it. They liked the style and the color. I told them that many companies in China stock this type of dress in the office for the pregnant employees to wear. They never heard about that.

Heidi emailed to ask me to go to the Cinco De Mayo activities in the down town area tomorrow. I told her that I planned to do some house work and reading instead. Maybe we can get together on some other weekends.

David went to the Men's retreat tonight. I cooked, took a short walk, did the laundry, and called home. Kathy dropped by to get a letter for her. She said her dad is going to come to visit her soon. I read some baby magazines Amy gave to us. They were very informative. When David came home, I was in bed already. He liked the speaker very much. But I wished I was conscious enough to remember all the things David told me. I was glad he had a great time!

Lori's BD party

I came home for lunch. Right before I left the house, the door bell rang. It's the Fedex guy. The package from my sister arrived! It only took four days to get it from China. I opened the box and took out the purple radiation proof jacket first. It is a little bit big for me now. But I'm sure some day it will be fit!

David called that Lori's surprise birthday party was 6:00pm. When I got home at 5:35pm, David was playing piano. He put the salad in the bowl and took out all the salad dressings already. We arrived at the Turnbow's house at the same time as Amy and Nathan. Amy and Wes were already there. We met several other couples from Greenville Oaks COC. After everything was ready, Amy W. called Billy. We all held our breath when Billy and Lori opened the door to the garage. "Surprise!!!"

We enjoyed the food and talk there. Debra and Lance were there too. Most people from Greenville Oaks left the party after the dinner. Amy and Wes, Lori and Billy, Nathan, David and I sat there chatting. We all remnancred the time when we partied together as singles. How things changed in short period of time! Lori gave me a pile of Amy W.'s maternity clothes on our way out. I was so thankful for their genuine support and friendship.

Good Or Bad

I bought a papaya several days ago from Sprout. Mary asked me what it is for. I told her that I saw from the what-to-expect website that Papaya is a natural digestion aid. It's good for the heartburn. I have been putting it off to eat it because it's not my favorite fruit. This morning, after the breakfast, I finally had a slice of it hoping that the heartburn would be relieved soon. Later on I went to the website to find out the nutrition values of the papaya. I was glad to know that its nutrition content is one of the top three among all the fruit! I was ready to send that to David and ask him to eat more of it. Suddenly a pregnancy forum caught my eyes saying that papaya is not good for pregnant woman because it serves as the abortion inducer and it can cause miscarriage and birth defects ... Oh, I wished I could spit out the papaya I ate this morning. I started to pray to God to protect the baby. Although I did my best to read what to do, what not to do, what to eat, and what not to eat, ... still ... I couldn't help wondering how the women in old days survived without all these information! Or, all these contraversal information makes it more difficult for the pregant woman today to pass the 40 weeks pregnancy.

After I came home, I told David that I wouldn't eat papaya any more. David held me in his arms and said, think about the people who live in the islands where papaya is the daily consumption. If they survive, you certainly can survive with a slice of it. That's right. Think about the Japanese who eat fish (or sushi/sasimi) everyday and think about the Chinese who eat MSG for generations ... I need to learn not to sweat on these but to trust God!

David and I didn't have readers. But we still decided to go to Friendspeak, anticipating that some new students would show up. As a result, 35 readers came. The girl I read with last Sunday brought a new reader. David and I read with a guy from Nigeria. He was a Christian already. Both David and I admited that we enjoyed more reading with unbelievers and doing evangelical study. Bobbie gave me a can of prune juice during Friendspeak. She is always thinking about others.