Cambridge, Massachusetts Nov 26 - Dec 1

A few things to remember in this first-time visit to Boston...

* The BIGGEST steak which I had ever seen and ever eaten at The Smith & Wollensky is definitely the highlight in this entire trip. That Prime Rib steak is like one of those that you see in The Flintstones cartoon (聰明笨伯). As I ordered that steak to be cooked medium-rare so I felt myself like a barbarian while cutting the almost bloody meat, except that I wasn't eating with hands. And I was being asked by a puzzled eye, "Meghan, do you usually eat that raw?", speechless for a second, I answered "eh...sometimes....blah blah blah...." to bluff my way through - I ate the biggest piece among the whole table, EMBARRASSED

* The nice office building overlooking a small river, I love the hardwood floors there and the college-feel of the office build-out. Two interesting things I found from this office visit: (i) the CEO never sits to work, his computer was set up for him to work in a standing position, but seems no one around know why he works that way (ii) people can bring dogs to work, how nice to work with a puppy cuddling around you!! May be that syncs with "It's a hard day night, I've been working like a dog....."

* Nice friendly American colleagues, it's fun to have finally matched names with faces. Someone whom I thought was a lady turned out to be a guy!

* Spilled apple juice on my laptop, and now the spacebar key isn't working well, oh mine...

* Hotel Marlowe - an animal-friendly hotel with dogs food bowls sitting outside the main entrance, and leopard-print stuff inside the room like leopard-print cushions, leopard-print carpet, AND leopard-print bathrobe too.....a "wild" hotel!

* Slight regret for having no time to visit Harvard which is only a few stations away

* Unusual warm weather in Boston in Dec, in the high 60's F, guessing that it was due to the global warming effect

* The 3-hour flight delay due to snowy weather condition on the Canada side, I reclined on the chair taking a nap without caring my manners, and at the same time, overhearing the girl sitting next to me complaining about the flight delays to her parents, boyfriend and friends over the cellphone NON-STOP! However, I found it interesting that she could actually repeat the same story, yelling the same bad words for so many times....

That's all for now.

遊魂

最近忙碌的生活,沒有令我感到充實, 而是越忙越感到無奈,就是那種很想完成一些事情,但卻辦不到; 被不同事情/期望拖著自己走, 恐懼感隨著增加, 接著便是遊魂.
發現原來我應付壓力的能立未有我想像那般好...

Daily Devotion 10-06-06

While I'm swamped with work these days, I find it ever more important to spend time with God, even a little, in each day. There is the source of my strength, can never be compromised.

Galatians 1: 11-24
Learning of today:
Faith can never be received second-hand, but is the gift of a personal encounter with the Lord through Holy Spirit. Spend some time in quiet, and in prayer meet with Him.

Mother Teresa

Just read some slides with quotes from Mother Teresa, whose life exemplified a faithful servant of Christ. I'm reminded once again of a few important things in life that has long been neglected.

"Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary, what we need is to love without getting tired"

"Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies"

"Each one of them is Jesus in disguise"

"Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing"

"I do not pray for success, I ask for faithfulness"

"Words which do not give the light of Christ increase the darkness"

"We need to find God, and He cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence...we need silence to be able to touch souls"

Life is like a wheel

Read a quote from a preacher, wanted to jot it down:

“Life is like a wheel, sometimes you will be on top of the wheel, sometimes at the bottom or even under the wheel… but don’t worry, you will go up again…..”

so, when will be the next turnaround?

From Night Safari to the Noah's Ark

Night-time visit to zoo is a new experience, and animals in the Night Safari are a little fortunate than their counterparts in other conventional zoos because they are not caged.

During the tram ride in the zoo last night, apart from trying hard to spot out the animals in darkness, I was startled also by the numerous kinds of living creatures(other than human-beings) that exist in the world. The Night Safari alone has 135 species, can't imagine how many more in other parts of the globe, think about in Africa!!

Then I remember something...mmm....God instructed Noah, "You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along..." (GEN 7:19-20)
Oh, what a huge task!! If I were Noah, I would immediately get headaches and sleepless nights. Finding two of EVERY KIND of animals is difficult enough, let alone the next step of transporting them onto the ark. If Noah didn't receive help from God, that would have been just a mission impossible.
So, God was there with Noah...
God give us missions impossible all the time, but that's exactly how we can learn to "lean not on our own understanding" but to trust and experience His Might.

Who's in charge?

Today is the anniversary of my baptized day, a milestone to remember. Looking back these years, I feel I am very blessed.

This morning the scripture is in John 18:1-11 - Jesus is about to be arrested in the olive grove, Simon Peter drew his sword and cut off the right ear of the high priest's servant. Then in v.11 Jesus commanded Peter "Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?"

Perhaps Peter had a good intention to protect his Lord but he did not understand the Father's will. I, like Peter too, impulsively tend to bring out my own weapons when I don't like the way things are going. I developed evil thoughts, tried to nag and manipulate others or speak in ways to achieve my own purpose. In those times when I didn't let God to take charge, I failed and made my God sad or even angry.
The author of the book writes "Going God's way is not always comfortable, but it is the path to which He calls us" - Lord, please show me your Way and plant in me an obedient heart.

奇蹟

Got a forwarded message recently about 奇蹟, 每個人對奇蹟的定義都不同, 故事裡的小女孩之定義很簡單,卻又最有意思:
http://home.graffiti.net/eu30/7-miracle.htm

「我 要 稱 謝 你、 因 我 受 造 奇 妙 可 畏 ． 你 的 作 為 奇 妙 ． 這 是 我 心 深 知 道 的 。」詩 139: 14

El Roi ~ the God who sees

Reading "Lord I want to know You" Chapter 4, by Kay Arthur

The content of the coming Wednesday study is about He is El Roi, the God who sees.

Received a number bad news in these few months, sometimes do wonder "Where is God"?
Why are things have to turn out this way? Where is Your healing and where is Your comfort?

Today being reminded again that He is El Roi, His eyes are not shut, He sees, He knows, and I trust He cares. He is our Lord, omnipresent, both at good times and bad times.

"Where can I go from Thy Spirit? Or where can I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend to heaven, Thou art there....If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even Thy hand will lead me, and Thy right hand will lay hold of me" (Psalm 139: 7-10)

Mi Kamocha Adonai.

Tokyo shopping spree!

August 5 - 8 Wynne, Miss Chan Chan, Jean, me, and Charmaine ^_^

Back from the trip for three days already, yet I'm still savoring all the happy moments of that 4-day trip ~~

Crazy shoppiings: yelling "lovely!, pretty!, beautiful!...in almost every stores" then followed by "buy lah, buy lah".....that's how we ended up carrying loads of stuff back home =P

Long hours of walking: nobody can ever under-estimate ladies' potentials, we walked for almost 12 hours a day without sitting down properly for resting in between! Incredible!?!

Food: Japanese Curry, Sushi, Crepes in Harajuku, Ramen and Shabu-shabu...實在太好味啦!!The all-curry dinner (MCC must be having a hard time with the spices =P), the 105 Yen Sushi of Uni and Toro (simply irresistable).... and the Ramen, 3 bowls in one hour, their super-good tastes outweighed the risk of gaining pounds! The Shabu-shabu dinner with the Yeung's... I was saved by the veggies ^^ The crepes in Harajuku 竹下通 - strawberries, bananas and cream, mmm... nice to have that again after three years...

The late night-time gathering in MCC's room was sweet, though we're all having "bedroom eyes" already, the excitement of reviewing our day and the prayer together had kept us awake =)

Thank God for such a wonderful trip with such a bunch of wonderful sisters :-)
(and thanks to Sai Chu for being our tour guide^^)

Until next time...

Dim Sum lunch with CNEC girls

Great to see those three lovely girls again, unfortunately the two guys couldn't make it, hope they're doing fine.

Judy attended Tsimfook's service today, PTL! May our heavenly Father work in her heart so she knows HIM and accept HIM one day. Judy, I enjoy talking to you, you are a matured-thinker (your mind is more matured than a F.7) and is forever patient with me and always so gentle :-)
Chung Lai Wah, I pray that your allergy will go away soon, I understand it is such a bothering problem. Continue to work hard in your part-time job and trust in the Lord, He will make a way for you.
Kelly, I can see the fruit of "joy" in you, and you know what? I am so encouraged and delighted to see your bold witness for God,even at your part-time workplace! God has planted in you a seeker's heart. May He greatly use you to be His witness everywhere at all times :-)

A wonderful day to remember and cherish, Thanks heavenly Father!

Some Lines to ponder on...

Reading "What's So Amazing About Grace" by Philip Yancey - week of July 24, 2006

"Grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us more....And grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us less..." (p.70)

"Grace is free only because the giver himself has borne the cost....Why, then, do I so often act as if I am trying to earn that love? Why do I have trouble accepting it?" (p. 67)

"Yet if I care to listen, I hear a loud whisper from the gospel that I did not get what I deserved. I deserved punishment and got forgiveness. I deserved wrath and got love. I deserved debtor's prison and got instead a clean credit history. I deserved stern lectures and crawl-on-your-knees repentence; I got a banquet - Babette's feast - spread for me" (p. 64)

"Grace is not about finishing last or first; it is about not counting. We receive grace as a gift from God, not as something we toil to earn..." (p. 61)

My very first blog....thoughts remain, memory saved.