螃蟹蘭 Christmas Cactus

客廳裏的螃蟹蘭，因為有充分的陽光和營養，就在聖誕節這段時間裏熱熱鬧鬧地開了起來。其實種植室内植物並不困難，只要利用洗米水和泡過蛋殼的水交互澆灌，就可以養出健康漂亮的植物哦！ 噢，對了，先生説還有一個原因是因為他常常和它們説話。。。難怪它們都長得比女兒和我漂亮一些。。。

Our Christmas Cactus is blooming during the Christmas season. Actually it is quite easy to grow healthy and beautiful in-house plants. I always water them with the leftover rice-rinsing and eggshell-soaked water, and place them at the location with good sunlight. BTW, my husband said that part of the reason is that he talked to them often... No wonder they are much prettier than Vivian and me...

德布西第五號鋼琴序曲 Debussy Prelude Book I, V for piano

最近雖然學校正在放寒假，但是Vivian一點也不得清閒，在家裏忙著練鋼琴、大提琴和錄音。這一首是德布西作的鋼琴序曲第一冊第五號，標題是Les collines d'Anacapri - Anacapri的山丘。學音樂是一條漫長又艱辛的路，若不是有熱情和興趣，是很不容易走下去的。

Even though it is winter break now, Vivian didn't get to break at all. She has been busy with practicing and taking recording of cello and piano. This one is the Debussy piano prelude no 5, Les collines d'Anacapri, meaning the hills of Anacapri. Music is a long and hard road, very difficult to continue without passion and ambition.

充滿歡樂的季節 T'is the Season to be Jolly

聖誕節就快到了，到處洋溢著一片過節的氣氛。馬路上車來車往，尤其是靠近購物中心附近的街道，更是車潮不斷。剛來到美國時不是很習慣這個送禮物的習俗，直到這幾年我才漸漸體會出來，送禮物的意義不在它本身的價值，而是在於它背後蘊藏的那一份心意。當我在列送禮名單時，我開始記起過去這一年中有這麼多的人照顧、關心、幫助過我們，我們曾經一起同工，彼此鼓勵，也願意用這個機會，向一些人表達對他們的感謝和關懷。尤其是像我們不是很善於用言語表達的民族，這一份小小的禮物抵過千言萬語。

可惜的是，許多人專注於送/收禮物，卻忘了為什麼我們要慶祝這個日子。那是因為在兩千年前的這一天，神賜給我們全人類一個最大的禮物 -- 祂自己道成肉身，來到我們中間，充充滿滿地有恩典有真理！有許多人甚至改口稱「聖誕快樂」為「假期快樂」。殊不知，若不是祂自己的降生，所有的慶祝都是徒然，我們今天無法活在恩典之中，一切的快樂都只是表面的假象，也沒有永生的盼望。

所以，親愛的朋友們，讓我在此祝你聖誕快樂！願主的恩典充滿在你的生命中！耶穌愛你！

Only two days left before Christmas, you can smell the holiday everywhere. Traffic is busy especially on the streets surrounding shopping centers. I didn't understand why people give gifts on Christmas until recent years. The significance of giving gift is not about the gift itself but the thought and heart behind it. When I started to write down names on my list, I recollected that there were many people helped me and cared for me in the past year and I remembered how we have worked together and encouraged each other. So I love to use the small gift as a token of my appreciation and care. It means a lot especially for us who are not good at express ourselves in language.

The only thing is, a lot of people only focus on the gift and forgot why we celebrate this special day. It is because God came to earth in human form on this day about 2000 years ago to give us hope and lead the way. Some people even changed from saying "Merry Christmas" to "Happy Holidays". If it is not for Him, all the celebrations are meaningless and there is no hope of eternity.

So, my dear friends, may you have a wonderful Christmas with your family, and may the Lord bless you abundantly in the coming new year!
Merry Christmas!! Jesus loves you and me!

一個夢 A Dream

昨天和Vivian有一點不愉快，她回家後就把自己關在房間裏不出來，我們一直到睡覺前都沒再説過話。我想是因為這樣，所以我做了一個夢。。。夢中我和Vivian有點爭執，我又因她動作不夠快上學要遲到了在生氣，反正夢裏是一團混亂。後來夢境轉為她爸爸要開車帶她出門，好像她要去日本還是臺灣。我因為還在生氣（不知道為什麼自己氣那麼大），甚至不願意和她説再見。一直到周圍的人開始唱詩祝福她，我記得很清楚大家是在唱「從今天起」，我的心就軟下來，忍不住跑過去緊緊地抱著她哭了起來，後來我是從夢中哭醒的。。。那時的心情是原諒、歉意、愛和不捨，錯綜複雜。

我知道神在對我説話。其實我心裏也很清楚，她再過兩年就要離家讀大學去了，我們能常常在一起的時間所剩不多，而且我們的生命並非自己能掌握，每一天都仰望神的恩典，所以每一天甚至每分每秒都應該好好把握。記得幾年前我在上班途中看到一個車禍，從那時起我就時時提醒自己，要珍惜和親人在一起的時間，所以當以後他們想起自己的時候，記憶中是充滿了愛而沒有後悔或遺憾。雖然理智上知道該怎麼做，但是由於肉身的軟弱，有時候行起來由不得我。神藉此提醒我，要把神的愛放在我的心裏，因為祂的愛能勝過一切。

最要緊的是彼此切實相愛．因為愛能遮掩許多的罪。-- 彼得前書４：８

Vivian and I had a little disagreement last night. She stayed in her room the whole night and we didn't get to talk again until this morning. I think I had this dream last night because of this... In my dream we had an argument over something I don't remember anymore, and I was also mad because she was slow in the morning before school, anyway it was a mess. Then it turned to the scene that her daddy was taking her out probably to the airport, my impression was that she was going to Japan or Taiwan. Because I was still angry so I didn't even want to say good-bye to her until people started to sing a praise to give her blessing. I remember clearly it was "From This Day On". My heart was softened and I could not hold it any longer, so I ran to her, hold her in my arms and started to cry. I woke up in tears and a mixed feeling of forgiveness, sorry, love and compassion.

I know God was talking to me through the dream. I know clearly in my heart that she is leaving us in a couple of year to attend college, after that our time together will be very limited. I also need to constantly remind myself that our life is not in our hands and every breath I take is by God's grace. I remember driving by a scene of car accident on my way to work several years ago. I kept reminding myself that I need to cherish every second of my time with my loved ones ever since. So when they remember me, their memory is filled with love and no regrets. Even though I know it in my brain, but sometimes it is hard to do because of our own weakness. That's why God reminds me to keep His love in my heart, because His love conquers everything.

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. -- 1 Peter 4:8

團隊建造 Team Building

昨天下午我們辦公室的幾個同事組隊參加了一個很有意義的團隊建造活動--到辦公室附近的一個公益機構「奧勒岡食物銀行」去當義工，總共有17個人參加。我們的責任是把一袋袋100磅的白米倒進一個罩有塑膠套的大容器中，再兩磅一包地分裝到貼有標簽的袋子裏並裝箱。開始的時候負責人要我們每個人都洗手，戴上頭罩、手套，穿上圍裙，舀米的人還得在手臂上戴上塑膠套，然後七人一組，兩人抓住裝米的袋子，兩人舀米，兩人封袋，一人裝箱、過秤、並確定每一箱都最少是32磅，其餘的人有的在袋上標貼使用説明，有的封箱，等等。雖然我想發揮聖經上「上尖下流」（不是尖酸刻薄帶下流的意思喲）的精神，讓收到的人多拿一些，但我們在嚴格的品管控制之下，必須用他們提供的容器，很精確地估算大約多少米是2磅，到最後我已經成了一個舀米專家。他們的要求很嚴，掉到地上或桌上、從米箱裏的塑膠罩漏到外頭直接踫到箱子的全都不能要。三個小時下來，我們處理了5376磅的米，根據食品標準管理局的數據，相當於4135餐飯，所以一個人包裝了243餐飯。這些米將會被分送給需要的人。我很高興能為這個社區貢獻一點力量，為需要的人提供一點幫助。

聖經上是這麼形容好的量器的：
你們要給人、就必有給你們的．並且用十足的升斗、連搖帶按、上尖下流的、倒在你們懷裏．因為你們用甚麼量器量給人、也必用甚麼量器量給你們。 -- 路加福音6：38

Several of us from our office attended a very meaningful team building event this afternoon. We went to a charitable organization "Oregon Food Bank" to do volunteer work. There were a total of 17 people attended this event. Our mission was to pour the white rice from 100 lb bags into a huge container covered with plastic sheet, use the measuring cup they provided to separate them into 2 lb bags labeled with instruction, seal and box them. The supervisor asked us to wash our hands cleanly, put on the hair cover, plastic gloves, plastic apron, and plastic arm cover. We were divided into 7-people team: some scooping the rice, some holding the bag, some twisting and tying the bag, some boxing them, weighing the box and making sure it is 32 lb each. The rest were responsible for putting the label on the bags and move the finished box to the pillar. At the end I had become a scooping pro. I thought about the good measure in gospel of Luke... but we were under strict QA so we had to adhere to their rules. After three-hour of hard work, we processed 5376 pounds of rice which is equivalent to 4135 meals. Each of us helped 243 meals. The rice will be shipped to those in need. I feel good for being able to give back to the community and contribute my time and energy to the needed people.

This is how Bible describes a good measure:
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." -- Luke 6:38