Experience and Obedience

At six o’clock on a Saturday morning, Chris told me that three people were registered to attend a Celebrate Recovery workshop in San Jose even though the church paid for four people. I recognized the name of the program but knew little about it and how it worked. My friend who is attending a local Celebrate Recovery program told me that it is like a Christ-centered “Alcoholics Anonymous” meeting. As Chris was preparing to leave the house, he mentioned the fourth open seat. I don’t know what came over me. I thought about the wasted money and I was also curious about the program. A minute after Chris left, I got out of the bed and drove to the church parking lot where they met for a carpool. I turned out to be the fourth person.


The founder of Celebrate Recovery introduced himself by saying, “My name is John. I am a believer in recovery from alcoholism” and his wife said, “I am Cheryl. I am a believer who is in recovery from co-dependence”. The couple shared their powerful stories. When John had acknowledged his alcohol addictions and gave it to God, then his recovery began. After he recovered from his addiction, he started Celebrate Recovery program 19 years ago as a member of his church. There were two things that stood out from the couple’s testimonies: first their experience and second their obedience. Because they had firsthand experience with alcoholism and its destructive ways, they established a ministry for people suffering in similar situations. Because of their obedience, God was able to use their ministry to change lives.


As I listened to different recovery testimonies, it so obvious that God uses our experience to serve Him. We have seen a need for a recovery program for our church. I see the pain that family members have to go through. I feel a fish out of water. We as a church pray for them. But that is not enough. God must call the right person into service. He or she would require both the first-hand recovery experience and obedience to the call.

Life is a vapor

Indeed, life is a vapor. In the past few days, one friend died suddenly with heart failure, and another friend got a notice that she has a cancer and she may not live more than a month. They both are pretty young (in their 60’s) and they were planning to do many things after their retirement. What a good reminder for me to live my life TODAY with the purpose. Each day is a gift and I need to use it to be counted.

Sing Hallelujah!

My son Simon visited us over Thanksgiving along with my daughter-in-law Dilia and my 9-month-old grandson Lorenzo. Each morning, Dilia would bring Lorenzo to our bedroom and put him between my husband and me. I would hold him for a while then Chris would take charge. Every time it was my turn to hold Lorenzo, I would make a sound like "Aah~~", then Lorenzo would open his mouth wide forming a perfect "O" shape. Then he would sing in a chanting monotone. When that was accomplished, Lorenzo would clear his throat and smile proudly. I think Lorenzo is going to be a singer when he grows up.


When I study Lorenzo, I see my son, my husband, my mother, and host of other family members. It is not just his physical appearance; also I see his father and his mother in his temperament. I've heard it said that no parent can gaze into the face of their new-born child and not believe in miracles.


When I see Lorenzo, I see his family resemblance. Then I think about a child who was born 2000 years ago in Bethlehem. There was a family resemblance with him too. God revealed Himself to us through His Emmanuel - "God with us". As I study Jesus, I learn about His Heavenly Father. I learn that the baby born in a manger was to become the Savior of the world; and like the heavenly host I sing "Hallelujah, Glory to God in the highest".

A Lady, not a Woman

We lost a dear church family member unexpectedly. Lillian Marsh went to sleep on the evening of November eleven right next to Al, her husband of 69 years. But on the next morning she woke up in heaven.

I saw her on the previous Sunday morning just before Sunday School. As usual she walked into the social hall with a gentle and warm smile with twinkles in her eyes. She was impeccably dressed as always. Lillian gave me a hug, and then walked over to her usual seat.

Exactly seven days later at the same spot where I greeted Lillian for so many times, Mable Miller said, “I can’t believe Lillian is not going to be here today. I couldn’t go to sleep last night, just thinking about her. She was a lady, not a woman. In heaven, I wonder if there are different seats for ladies. She was a really lady.” At her funeral, people were celebrating her life. Again, people said of Lillian “she was a real lady” and “she was a grand lady”. That label seems to be the best descriptor of her person. I was curious what would be the dictionary definition for the word "lady", so I looked it up and found:

1. a woman who is refined, polite, and well-spoken
2. a woman of high social position or economic class:
3. any woman; female (sometimes used in combination):

When Mabel used the word “lady” to describe Lillian, I’m sure she meant meaning number one. I’d like to add to the list of lady-like qualities. Beyond “refined, polite and well-spoken”, Lillian demonstrated: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” According to the Apostle Paul, these are the fruit of the Spirit [Galatians 5:22-23]. Lillian was a lady for sure, but surely she was a godly lady.

Learning is a party

I gave an assignment in my class: students create a podcast(or a vodcast) to illustrate the concept connected learning. I learned that when I step aside, then my students become more creative, and they learn much more than I could teach them with direct instruction.

Enjoy vodcasts:
The Knights of Connectivism
Learning is a party http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Pull and push

I stacked up books and binders in my arms to move them from my old office to my new one. I managed to stack them up as high as my head, and then I pushed the door with my body and walked to the new office. I tried to push the door with my body, but I realized that the door needed to be pulled open. I was struggling to hold on to the books with my chin and try to reach the doorknob with my hand. I thought I was going to drop everything. At that moment a passerby who saw me pulled the door for me; a small but kind act made a difference for me.

If we open our eyes and look around, we can see people in our church family who are carrying armfuls of heavy burdens. They are struggling. Their hands are tied. They need someone to pull that door for them to walk into a new room. Some have lost homes, some have lost jobs, and some have lost health. Just like the stranger who pulled that door open for me, I can be that someone who pulls the door open for others. A small, kind act can make a big difference in a person’s life.

This year, our church will be making Thanksgiving baskets to share with our church family who need our pull. You can bring food (see the list on the bulletin board) or contribute money to fill the baskets. Let us remember last week’s sermon on the parable of Rich man and Lazarus. The rich man saw the poor man’s needs, but he was deliberately indifferent. He committed the sin of doing NOTHING. Let us do something! Let’s share the burden of hurting members in our church family during this Thanksgiving season. Let’s give them some reason to be thankful.

High-school friends

I recently spent a weekend in Oregon catching up with lives of my old high-school friends. One friend flew in from Korea, another from Canada, another from LA, and I came from San Francisco. Two of them I had not seen in over 40 years. After I came to America, I was too busy building my career, raising kids, and moving around the country. I lost touch with these dear friends. The internet is a wonderful thing. With diligence and determination my friend from Korea first found my sister, then found me.

Their wrinkles and grey hair shocked me at first, but within a few minutes, my eyes got adjusted. I only saw faces of my 15-year-old friends. We talked, laughed, and ate Korean food for three days and nights. My mother’s grave is near Salem Oregon, so all of us went to her grave. We sat in a circle and talked about our old days. I learned a lot about my mother and the influence that she had on my friends. My mother was the first Christian lady they ever encountered. They equated her kindness with Christianity. All of my friends became Christians. I am not sure how much my mother influenced their choices, but the way they talked about her, she seemed to be their first and most significant Christian example.

As adults we play an important role in the lives our children’s friends. Without realizing it, we may be the only Christ they ever see. They may decide to follow Jesus because of the kindness that we show to them. We exchanged many gifts during this reunion. The greatest gift that I received was the testimony of friends about the Christian witness that my mother showed to them through her life.