在過去的學期中，除了週末以外，我必須每天開車送一位高中生上學，她是在附近的一個私立學校就讀，這個私立學校的地理位置很好，是緊臨於一個高級住宅區。 所以，每當我送她上學後，我都會穿過那個高級住宅區而出來。有一天早上，我循例送她上學，然後就從高級住宅區旁的小路出來，迎面而來的一輛Minivan 的司機竟然向我連連揮手打招呼，我當時有點錯愕，因我並不認識她，所以我也就沒有回應。後來一想，很有可能她誤認我和她一樣 — 是那個住宅區的居民。雖然我並非是高級住宅區的居民，但是，卻因著我進出那個地區的行為而被看做是，心裏突然有個奇怪的想法：我是不是常常讓人對我有錯誤的印象呢？我是否也像法利賽人一樣的虛假呢? 心中有著一陣感慨，因我自己心裏清楚。

這個遭遇讓我想到一位「基督門徒訓練營」的帶領人曾說，「一件戲服是你穿來扮演某某人的; 而從另一方面來看，一件制服是提醒你: 你真的是你所穿上的那一位! “A costume is something you put on and pretend that you are what you are wearing. A uniform, on the other hand, reminds you that you are, in fact, what you wear.”」我想我們都需要被提醒，「倒底自己真正的身分是誰? 我現在所穿的是戲服，還是制服呢?」

對於跟隨主耶穌的我們來說，主耶穌賜我們一套制服，這套制服是祂為我們在十字架上犧牲所成就的，我們今天可以如希伯來書的作者所說的「我們只管坦然無懼的、來到施恩的寶座前、為要得憐恤、蒙恩惠作隨時的幫助。(希伯來 4:16)」都是主耶穌的恩典。在人生的旅程中，我們可能有許多機會可以穿上不同的戲服，扮演不同的角色; 但是，親愛的弟兄姊妹們，請不要忘記我們是 神的兒女，我們需要活出主耶穌所賜的制服的真正身分，願我們彼此共勉之!

四、五月份是鱒魚季節(Trout Season)，對於有釣魚嗜好的我，這是一年當中我接觸附近的溪流或湖泊最多的時候。

幾個週末以前，我剛好有一個機會可以到附近的小湖去練習飛釣甩竿，順便釣一釣魚。練了一段時間後，看到有兩位年青人帶了兩位小孩也來湖邊垂釣。湖邊一下子熱鬧起來，因那兩位小孩吵著要其中的一位年青人幫他們裝魚線、魚鉤，等等。很快地，我看到那位年青人一副不耐煩的樣子，因他自己無法專心的去釣魚。好在他們離我有點距離，而且我也不在乎魚穫，所以我就不在意。一陣子過後，突然我聽見一聲驚叫從那邊傳出來，我趕緊轉眼望去，就看到那位年青人站在湖邊彎著身體，轉頭向著身後拿著釣魚竿的小孩大聲說「你在做甚麼?」，這時那位年青人不敢移動位置，祇擺著一個很奇怪的姿勢，不停地數落著拿著釣魚竿的小孩，而另外一位站著較靠近我這邊的年青人則大聲的笑了起來。因距離的關係，我不是很清楚到底是發生了甚麼事，我猜有可能是那拿著釣魚竿的小孩打到了前面的年青人或是甩竿甩到了他。我沒有再去追究，就轉頭繼續我的練習。幾分鐘過後，突然看到有一輛救護車馳騁而來，我心裏開始納悶「這裏沒看到甚麼人受傷啊，難道…」，接著看到兩位救護人員很快地走向那位彎著身體、姿勢有點奇怪的年青人，這時我才覺得事態有點嚴重。原來拿著釣魚竿的小孩的魚鉤飛到那位年青人的身上，鉤住了他的大腿無法取下來，難怪這位年青人驚叫且不停地數落著那小孩。很快地，救護人員就把魚鉤從這位年青人身上拿下來，剛才的一陣吵鬧總算平息了下來。

這件事讓我想到不管是在學校、工作塲所或在教會生活，我們都需要經過「門徒訓練」才能對自己所要做的事得心應手。當指導你的人不花心思、時間來教導或是你自己不願意聽從指導和認真的學習時，「門徒訓練」的果效自然是不彰，甚至會發生意外，如剛剛的小孩將魚鉤甩到年青人的身上一樣。我相信若是這位年輕人好好的教導，而那位小孩也注意的學習，魚鉤甩到身上的意外就不太可能會發生了。所以「門徒訓練」成功與否是需要兩方面來配合的，一個是「願教(Willing to teach)」，一個是「願學(Willing to learn)」。

回想主耶穌出來傳道時，在加利利海邊行走，祂看見西門彼得和他兄弟安得烈二人，在海裡撒網，他們本是打魚的。主耶穌就對他們說：「來跟從我，我要叫你們得人如得魚一樣。」他們就立刻捨了網，跟從了祂。(馬太福音 4:18-20)。也許你會驚訝西門彼得和安得烈的順從，他們竟然能立刻捨了網而去跟從耶穌，其實根據其他福音書的記載，他們認識主耶穌已經有一年多，也就是說，他們已經有過「門徒訓練」了，所以當主耶穌正式呼召他們時，他們就馬上回應 – 從打魚的漁夫變為傳福音得人的漁夫。今天我們在教會生活中常會遇到做會友的人很多，但是願意委身服事的人卻不多，其中原因可能有許多種，但是我總覺得最基本的原因就是不願意付代價。也只有一顆願意付代價學習的心，才能經歷主的愛和信實，願我們能互相提醒，但願 神賜福給你，讓你成為那得人如得魚的漁夫!

前一陣子在收音廣播中聽到一個發人深省的故事，最近在整理一些檔案時剛好又在檔案中看到，就想要與大家分享一下:

話說有一位神學教授正在給他的神學院學生期末考，他說這個考試分成兩個部分；第一部份有10個問題，佔總成績的50%；第2部份則只有1個問題，也是佔總成績的50%。考試開始後，大部分的學生都很快地就把第一部份的10個問題做完，開始要做第2部份。第2部份的考題是「你每天在走廊上都會遇見一位打掃清潔的女士，請你把她的名字，與她的家庭需要寫下來」。大部分的學生看到這個題目就傻眼了，他們愣在那裏，遲遲不知道怎麼去回答這個出乎意外的問題。

考試完畢後，學生們就向教授抱怨說，「教授，我們是在上神學課程，為什麼那位清潔女士的『名字和家庭需要』跟我們的學習成績有關係呢？」

教授就回答說「你們正準備畢業後要從事『牧養教會和改變人生命的事工』，你不認為人的『名字和家庭需要』非常重要嗎？我們的主耶穌祂很注意和關心孤兒寡婦和流離失所的人，祂願意為他們捨命，難道祂不是你們的一個好榜樣嗎？」

這個故事在提醒我們，學習神學是可以增加我們對 神的知識，但我們要清楚的是，懂得神學知識並不代表我們就是真正的「認識」主耶穌基督，若不能在我們的日常生活中行出來，我們就成了現代的法利賽人。當然，我必須承認，我自己有時候我也常會犯同樣的毛病，我太太就常常提醒我，不要「光說不練」而要確實的說到做到。親愛的弟兄姊妹們，願我們彼此互相的勉勵 — 能行事為人與所蒙的恩相稱!

時間確實過得很快，一轉眼，2016年已經過了3個月。在過去的幾個月裏，我們看到全球至少有4件大事颇受一般大眾的關注，第一件是ISIS恐怖份子的肆意攻擊全球各地，第二件是美國總統競選提名所產生的一些奇怪的現象，第三件是美國宗教自由法的反覆起伏和是否被接受，第四件則是中國大陸對台灣新任女總統的壓力。每一件事都足以讓人憂心忡忡，不知道後續會如何發展。

我們可能會常聽到一句話就是「有人的地方，就會有問題」，沒有錯，因著各人的認知不同、需要不同，大大小小的問題就會跟著產生；但是，當這些問題是出於個人肉體的情慾，眼目的情慾和今生的驕傲時，其結果將是小問題變成大問題，社會也會因此陷入混亂、不安。前面所提的4件大事很可能就是這樣的結果。

那麼對於基督徒來講，我們怎麼能避免放縱肉體的私慾，不隨著肉體和心中所喜好的去行，而能為主做美好的見證呢? 兩個星期前的主日崇拜中，角聲佈道團的勞伯祥牧師，就勸勉我們說要「身上常帶著耶穌的死，使耶穌的生也顯明在我們身上(林後 4:10)」因為祇有當我們願意捨己時，耶穌那復活的生命才能從我們的身上彰顯出來，如此我們才能過一個隨從聖靈管轄的生活，我們也才能成為主的美好見證。

其實捨己的功課並不容易，要捨己就必須先學會願意放棄自己的權益開始。使徒保羅的一生，可以說是我們的最好榜樣。他在哥林多前書第9章就提到他在許多事上並沒有使用他的使徒權柄，反而是凡事忍受，為的是免得基督的福音被阻隔。他的行為告訴我們:「我們有自由可以放棄我們的權利，但是我們沒有權利來放棄我們的自由 (We have the freedom to give up our rights, but we don’t have the right to give up our freedom)。」這是因為我們每個人都是主耶穌用重價買贖回來的，我們應是「義的奴僕」而不再是「罪的奴僕」，所以我們本來就沒有權利放棄我們「從罪得到釋放的自由」；反之，我們是可以「為了神的緣故」而選擇放棄我們所能享用的權利，就如保羅一樣，這也是捨己的第一步。

所以親愛的弟兄姊妹們，願我們能常常思念天上的事，願我們一切所做的也都是為了基督的福音的緣故!

今年中國新年的前兩天，當一般民眾正在積極準備過年時，台灣南部地區突然遭受了強烈地震的襲擊。根據新聞報導，有十幾棟高樓因受震而倒蹋，造成不少人受困其中，雖然經過連日的搶救，仍有不少人失蹤或傷亡，令人難過的是: 不少家庭因此事件而受到骨肉分離之痛，實在是令人噓唏不已。

遇上這樣的災難，也許我們都難免會問:「為甚麼會發生這樣的事呢？」可是，我們都知道這並沒有直接或容易的答案，過去的經驗告訴我們: 偵測科技方面仍然需要許多的努力和改進，因要準確的預測出地震的襲擊時間和震幅是一件困難的事。經過事後的初步勘查，政府當局發覺監督建築的官員有疏忽職責之嫌，因建築承包商在建築高樓時偷工減料 — 用不當的材料參雜在水泥柱中。其結果是，建築物無法承受地震的震憾力而倒蹋。也許我們可以推託說地震的襲擊時間確實是難以預料，但是有時候「人心」卻是更難以預料、無法識透。這猶如先知耶利米所說的「人心比萬物都詭詐，壞到極處，誰能識透呢？(耶利米書 17:9)」。為甚麼會如此呢?  其原因有二，一是由於人「與生俱來的原罪」，人的心都喜歡違背神，二是那惡者魔鬼撒旦的引誘，他使人不知不覺的就陷入利益薰心的罪中。

問題是我們怎樣來提防呢? 首先，我們需要認清的是人的原罪是我們無法避免的，因那是我們從始祖亞當與夏娃所承續下來的。大衛在詩篇40篇2節描述說「他從禍坑裡，從淤泥中，把我拉上來，使我的腳立在磐石上，使我腳步穩當。」雖然這是描寫耶穌基督因承擔我們所有的罪而進入滿著淤泥的禍坑裡，但是在祂十字架上完成救恩後， 神就將祂升為至高，坐在 神的右邊。所以，當我們願意憑信心來接受耶穌基督所成就的，神就將我們從滿著淤泥的禍坑裡，也就是我們的罪，拉上來而站在耶穌基督的這塊磐石上，使我們得稱為 神的兒女。

那麼，我們怎樣來提防那惡者撒旦(魔鬼)的引誘呢? 雅各書的作者，耶穌的兄弟雅各告訴我們說「你們要順服　神．務要抵擋魔鬼、魔鬼就必離開你們逃跑了(雅各書4:7節)」，所以當我們願意順服　神的帶領而不願跟從魔鬼的引誘時，我們就可以不再陷入那滿著淤泥的禍坑裡，而保羅在以弗所書 6章11節說我們必須「要穿戴神所賜的全副軍裝，就能抵擋魔鬼的詭計。」，這全副的軍裝包括了「真理束腰帶、公義護心鏡、平安的福音鞋、信德藤牌、救恩的頭盔、聖靈的寶劍」，它不光是有防護作用的裝備，還包括聖靈的寶劍也就是神的道，作為攻擊的武器(弗所書 6:13-17)。一個有趣的觀察是，有人說這全副軍裝並沒有包括背後的防護，所以只能往前而不能轉身，否則就無法防禦攻擊。但是我個人認為祇要我們願意順服　神、抵擋魔鬼，神必與我們同在，祂必然在四面八方保護我們，背後的防護自然是其中之一。

所以弟兄姊妹們，我們需要隨時穿戴神所賜的全副軍裝，為了這個國家的領袖，世界的局勢、我們的教會、家庭和自己來警醒禱告，惟有如此才不至於在將來會羞愧地面見 神。

在去年年底聖誕節期間，我的太太和小孩們決定趁機回鄉省親。在離家前，我的太太特別囑咐我說要注意一下銀行帳目內的存款，因為我們有許多大的帳單需要支付，譬如說兩個小孩的大學學費和回鄉的飛機票等等。我略為盤算了一下，知道我們的存款不足，需要再次借助房屋貸款才能過關，所以，我就答應太太說我會處理。等太太和小孩們離家後，我就開始忙了起來，做了一些平常她們在家時我無法做的房屋維修的事，在忙得不亦樂乎之餘，我就忘了要辦貸款的事。等到太太回來、看到銀行帳目出現罰款後，我才猛然警覺自己忘記了一件很重要的事，可是已經是為時已晚 — 銀行罰了我們、因帳目內的存款不足無法付清待付的學費。我只好趕快地辦了銀行貸款以便付清那帳單，祇是還是免不了被太太滴咕了一下。

也許你從來都沒有碰過這樣尷尬的事，因你總是有大筆的銀行存款在手邊，不用擔心存款不足。這當然是令人羨慕的，祇是對於薪水階級的我，我就不得不要隨時注意自己的銀行存款在甚麼程度。聖經約伯記中記載了的一位「非常富有、不用擔心存款不足的人」，他就是「約伯」。約伯記1:1-3節對約伯有這樣的描述:

「1烏斯地有一個人名叫約伯。那人完全、正直，敬畏神，遠離惡事。2 他生了七個兒子，三個女兒。 3 他的家產有七千羊，三千駱駝，五百對牛，五百母驢，並有許多僕婢。這人在東方人中就為至大」

約伯是位完全、正直，敬畏神，遠離惡事的人，他在東方人中被稱為「至大」，這表示他敬畏 神，他擁有很多的財富以及很高的地位。可是，如果你繼續往下讀約伯記，你就會發現約伯遇上了一場「飛來橫禍」，他失去了一切物質上的財富，身染毒瘡，連他的太太也勸他離棄 耶和華神 (約伯記2:9); 他的三個朋友執意地認為他的遭遇是因他自己的罪，更糟糕的是當約伯想要從 神得到解答時，神卻好像是無處尋覓。即使是在這種悲慘的境況下，我們看到約伯仍然沒有離棄神，約伯體會到「祂 ( 神)知道我所行的路，祂試煉我之後，我必如精金(約伯記23:10)」他相信神有祂的旨意，他從神的言語中支取力量(約伯記23:11-13)。。

從約伯的例子，我們看到世上財富的無定，反而是那在「屬靈銀行」內的存款才是真正可靠的!! 約伯對 神的信心使他能安然度過那飛來的「橫禍」，最後得到 神雙倍的祝福。那麼，親愛的弟兄姊妹們，在我們的屬靈銀行裡，我們會發現什麼呢？是有深厚的屬靈存款還是祇有一個最低的得救存款 (Saving Faith) 而已呢？我們都知道人生不可能總是一帆風順的，有些不好的事情常常是出乎我們的意料之外的，若我們一直與 神有著深厚的關係，我們就是經常做「信心的儲蓄」。從經歷了祂的恩典（林後8:9節 ；你們知道我們主耶穌基督的恩典：他本來富足，卻為你們成了貧窮，叫你們因他的貧窮可以成為富足。），我們就能相信聖經上所說的應許：神是公義和信實的（申命記32:4, 帖後3:3節）

所以讓我問一下大家：你知道你的「屬靈銀行」內的存款有多少? 夠用嗎?

「光陰似箭,日月如梭Time flies」is an old adage that I was taught in my young age. Interesting thing is it seems to be truer when I am getting older 🙁 This reminds me of the author of the book of James had said “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes你們的生命是什麼呢？你們原來是一片雲霧，出現少時就不見了 (James 4:14b)”. What a verdict!

As the year 2015 is near its end, let me take the opportunity to reflect a few things.

Early in the year, we were busying in our youngest son’s college application. It is a kind of try-your-patience-in-waiting process – we had to patiently wait for responses from colleges that my son had applied. After receiving admission letters, the process of pick-and-choose follows – to select one of which he preferred. Even though we had been through this process with my other kids before, it is still a time consuming and tiresome process. We thank our Lord for his provision and guidance in granting us patience in waiting and making the selection.

Summer time for me and my family is a time for outdoor activities. From various fishing trips to church picnic gatherings, we have enjoyed every possible opportunity that God had given to us. One of a special trips is we went to attend our daughter’s college graduation ceremony. We want to thank our Lord for His amazing timing in providing my daughter a job right after her graduation – our Lord knows our financial burden too. Also, we had a joyful family reunion in the summer when our in-laws came to visit us. They stayed with us a week and half to enjoy their new born grandson. We praise our Lord for His blessings.

By the end of summer our youngest son entered his college, we finally gained the status of “empty nester”. Our “humorous” God, however, gave us another caring task – we have to host an oversea high school teenager due to unexpected reason. Oh well, I told myself, it looks like our empty-nest status has to be delayed as God thinks we are NOT OLD enough yet. 🙂 In fact, if we recall it, Moses was called to serve when he was at the age of 80. Ha..ha.

I don’t know whether your wife likes to challenge you or not, at least my wife does. After having built a hydroponic system last year, two new projects were added onto my honey-to-do-list this year. The first one is a worm farm aimed to fertilize our outside gardens, and the second one is to restore a 20+ years old car. The restoration of the old car is a lengthy process and it pushed me to learn auto body welding in order to fix body rust and most importantly, learned to be more patient. Overall, I am glad that I learned new skill and completed the worm farm project which now is reproducing. 🙂

In the fall, before winter is coming, we decided to have our oil heating and hot water system converted into natural gas, as new gas pipe lines became available around our area in summer. The work was done by a local plumbing company and thanks to God for the smoothness in conversion. As a result, we are pleased to have a high efficient hot water heating system, hooray…..

Our church has been blessed for the past five years. We saw God brought in many new families and believers to us. However, we also find that worshiping time and location are not ideal to those new families with kids. For this reason, we have been praying diligently – asking God to provide us a suitable new location for worshiping. May God grant our prayer in the year of 2016.

When Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 凡勞苦擔重擔的人，可以到我這裡來，我就使你們得安息。(Matthew 11:28)”, He was focusing on those who were heavy laden under the laws set by Pharisees. Today, we may not subject to those laws but we are subject to Jesus’ law to love one another and to love our neighbors as ourselves. When we are faithfully follow Jesus’ commands,  we can always find rest in His bosom, regardless of situations. Therefore, it is my prayerful hope that in today’s chaotic world, people can find rest in Jesus.

Finally, my dear brothers and sisters, Happy New Year!  May you have a peaceful and promising year!

Last week, I stopped by my local bank during lunch time to set up an internet banking service that I used to have. My old set-up was lost due to a recent computer server’s upgrade in the bank. I was not in good mood when I went to the bank because they didn’t even bother to tell me the fact that my old set-up was wiped out by the upgrade.

Upon my arrival, I found out that I had to register at front desk of the bank before I could get helped. Apparently, mishaps caused by the computer upgrade are prevalent as there were several people ahead of me waiting there already. I had to patiently wait for my turn because fewer clerks were available during lunch time. As I was waiting, I saw a message “We appreciate your patience and we commit to serve you to your satisfaction” showed up on the computer screens constantly, around the area. Ha..ha..ha. Isn’t this hilarious?

Though I am not against using modern technology to improve our life, but this experience reminds me of how vulnerable we are in relying on modern computer technology under the push toward “smarter world” – how often would we suffer from inconveniences, headaches and chaos because of computer glitches or hick-up’s? Of course, you could argue that no technology is perfect and I should not be this critical. Yes, there is no perfect technology that would fulfill the promises of 100% satisfaction. Therefore the message of “We appreciate your patience and we commit to serve you to your satisfaction” becomes painfully important to businesses and to customers.

Now let me post a question: In our journey of faith, do we commit to serve our Lord to His satisfaction? Can we tell our Lord that I appreciate your patience? I think it is very important for Christians to set a goal like that because we are followers of our Lord and He had paid a hefty price on the Cross for us. This is exactly the mentality of Ruth B. Graham, Billy Graham’s wife, had. When she went to be with the Lord in 2007, she has her tombstone engraved, “End of construction, Thank you for your patience”. She had this insightful understanding of what a Christian’s life should be in this world – it is to be molded like our Lord. This is what apostle Paul urged us in Romans 12:2, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. 不要效法這個世界，只要心意更新而變化，叫你們察驗何為神的善良、純全、可喜悅的旨意。”

We should be clear that God’s will is for us to be holy because He is holy. We may feel that we are still far from it. But, all we need is a commitment to put ourselves under God’s construction, instead of worldly construction. Then I believe God would wait patiently for our transformation until we meet with Him face to face. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, “Can you commit to serve the Lord to His satisfaction?” I hope your answer is “yes!”

As summer time is rolling, my outdoor activities increase. Two of my favorite summer activities are “freshwater fishing” and “gardening”. Among all types of freshwater fishing, trout and sunfish fishing are fun and exciting, when fishing in local creeks. Most fishermen would agree with me that live earthworms is a universal bait for both species. The only problem, however, is you have to purchase them if you don’t want to dig them up from your own backyard or outside fields. And, you need to store the left-over worms, after each fishing trip, in a cool area to prevent them from dying. The expense of purchasing earthworm would quickly add up when trips to the local creeks increase. So, I switch to use my fly fishing gear instead of live bait fishing recently, in order to minimize my expense. However, live bait is still considered to be more effective than fly fishing in catching fish.

When it comes to gardening, I find that in addition to good sunlight exposure and irrigation, earthworm is also a key ingredient to vegetables in your gardens, as they would fertilize and soften garden soil if they are in the gardens. After contemplating a while on how to maintain the fun of fishing and gardening, I decided to do a little bit of research in earthworm farming project. Of course, I turned to internet resources to find out how to do it. Finally, a few weeks ago, I found time and necessary materials to set up a 3-tier worm farm. Weeks later, I was delighted to see the first reproduction of small worms in my worm bin. Hooray… they are growing, even though it is not fast enough to my wife’s like because she is eager to use worm water (discharge) to fertilize our garden 🙂 Anyway, the worm farming seems to be promising.

The growing experience is great and I have learned a few lessons too. One is “Healthy and happy worms would reproduce” and the other is “Patience is always needed”. For the first one, I find that using right materials and right method are two imperatives to have healthy and happy worms. This includes right worm bed and materials, initial worms, and right food sources, etc. Talking about patience, you will need to wait patiently for the worms to grow because there is a timing for everything!

When I reflect on this experience, I find similarities in our spiritual journey. Firstly, there is a life, there is a growth. Our spiritual life can grow because we have the Holy Spirit dwells in us. Without the Holy Spirit, we are as dead as Adam and Eve, spiritually, when they ate fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3). Secondly, the growth of spiritual life needs to have a good environment. In addition to good fellowship group and church, study God’s word and listen to sound teachings, we have to shun away from sins and evil things in order to grow our spiritual life that is holy and pleasing to the Lord. As last Sunday, pastor Hui’s reminder, there are 3 do’s and 1 don’t in Paul’s teaching of Romans 12:1-2. They are: 1-Do: offer your bodies as a living sacrifice; 2-Do: Be transformed by the renewing of your mind; 3-Do: To test and approve what God’s will is; and then, 1-Don’t: Do not conform to the pattern of this world.

Finally, we need to wait patiently for God’s timing. This probably is the biggest challenge for most of us. Oftentimes, we want to see result of our church ministries right away and are easy to get discouraged when nothing obvious is in our sight. No wonder patience is also called “long suffering” :-). Let’s learn to know God’s will and wait patiently.

So, dear brothers and sisters, my question to you is “Are you growing?” I hope your answer is “Yes!”

Memorial Day weekend, we went to attend our daughter’s college graduation ceremony – it is an event of her life time and we’re sure don’t want to miss it. When we arrived at the college campus that morning, we saw the big college stadium was filled with crowd and we couldn’t even find a place to sit down. We ended up standing up from the beginning to the end. Fortunately it was a cool day and the ceremony was not lengthy, so we enjoyed the scene without much sweating 🙂 After the ceremony, we were asked to attend her departmental reception thinking that it would be short and sweet, comparing with college-wide main ceremony. Boy, we were wrong – the reception was more than twice longer than the main ceremony. As a result, we had to hurry back to our daughter’s apartment after the reception in order to help her pack stuff in preparing for someone to move in. It is really a laborious looooong day…. 🙁

I still remember the very first time we dropped our daughter off at the college campus. It was a hot summer day and we had to unload a lot of stuff into her dorm, as this is the first time she has to stay with others for a long while. The moment we prepared to leave, I saw her eyes filled with reluctance to part. In fact, we were reluctant too.

Time really flies! Four years later, she finished her college education and we see her growth in confidence and maturity in managing her life. By no means, she is still our baby girl even though the day will come when she is ready to leave us to form her own family.

As I was reflecting my past experience, I once again realize that how gracious our God is. He granted us children in order for us to learn how to teach, to love and to lead them. Through the process of parenting, we may have many joyful occasions – even though mixes with heart aches, longing and waiting times, sometimes. All in all, it is a great heritage and reward for us to learn the heart and love of our Heavenly Father, as King Solomon indicated, “Children are a heritage from the LORD and a reward from Him 兒女是耶和華所賜的產業，所懷的胎是他所給的賞賜 (Psalm 127:3)”

In fact, the palmist in Psalm 136 indicates that our God’s love endures forever as He remembered us in our low estate and freed us from our enemies. He gives food to every creature (Psalm 136: 23-25) 他顧念我們在卑微的地步，他救拔我們脫離敵人，他賜糧食給凡有血氣的，因他的慈愛永遠長存！Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, we should give thanks to the God of heaven for His love endures forever.