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On 20 July 1969, Neil Armstrong, one of the astronauts in the Apollo 11, stepped down onto the Moon and made his famous statement, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” Armstrong and his fellow astronaut, Aldrin, spent about two and one-half hours walking on the Moon collecting samples, doing experiments, and taking photographs. This is a historic moment of mankind which explored a completely foreign planet. It also reminds me of the famous quote from Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek TV series, “Space… the Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.” Ha…ha…ha…now you know I used to watch this TV series.

Last weekend was my daughter’s historic move-in day as a college freshman. I was thinking that this could be a “small step” to my family – the beginning of our empty nesting. But on the other hand, this would be a “giant leap” to her – being departed from her comfortable home. My wife and I accompanied her throughout the weekend. It was a special memorable moment for us to share with her “alone” without her brothers around.

In the college campus, I find that she was not quite tuned into her situation even after we unloaded and moved her stuff into her dormitory. I guess she was overwhelmed by the new environment – she will need to learn how to share space and make friends with the other 3 roommates, and a lot of things she needs to take care of by herself from now on. This will be a brand new experience to her, certainly. We also spent time in meeting with a family from a local Chinese Christian church which was an old acquaintance to some brothers and sisters in our small group, in hoping to help her quickly settle in a new spiritual home in the campus. The family was very hospitality and we thank God for His provision. In my mind, our daughter will be in good hand if she learns to trust our Lord completely.

I still remember my own experience of college freshman years. Being the 1^st child left to a location that is far away from home, I was confused and overwhelmed too. At that time, it was quite a challenge for me to share my room with 7 classmates, with different living styles and sleeping schedules. After the 1^st year, however, we became good friends. You see, all I need is a small step out of my comfort zone.

My dear brothers and sisters, sometimes I view our journey of life as a series of small steps. Each step we took, it may produce a giant leap effect later on. The effect, however, could be profoundly detrimental if it was a misstep. Therefore, my brothers and sisters we need to be sure that those small steps we took would lead us to the right path – a gracious path that was devised by our Lord Jesus. When King David was facing plights in his life, he wrote psalms to express his feeling and situation to our Lord. This in turns gave him courage and hope to continue his steps of life. His famous psalm #23 probably is the most well known one to us in the Old Testament. From this psalm (as attached below), we can see how his walk with our Lord was. May we all learn from him…..

1 The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,

3 he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

1﹝大衛的詩﹞‧耶和華是我的牧者‧我必不至缺乏‧

2他使我躺臥在青草地上，領我在可安歇的水邊‧

3他使我的靈魂甦醒，為自己的名引導我走義路‧

4我雖然行過死蔭的幽谷，也不怕遭害‧因為你與我同在‧你的杖，你的竿，都安慰我‧

5在我敵人面前，你為我擺設筵席‧你用油膏了我的頭，使我的福杯滿溢‧

6我一生一世必有恩惠慈愛隨著我‧我且要住在耶和華的殿中，直到永遠‧