Crazy snowstorm!!!

Snow has been pouring over North America this week. Do you find it fun? From the three of us, only I got the most interest in snow. Connie finds it too cold to stay out and prefers to stay in cozy warm indoors. I tried to get Abby's interest in playing in the snow, but she wasn't too fond of it. I'm the 'kidult' who still enjoy all sorts of activities with snow like skiing, snowfighting, toboganning(sliding downhill with a board)......except one thing: DRIVING in the snow!!

My home is surrounded by slopes, so I've to drive uphill or downhill to get to different places. You can imagine driving downhill is very dangerous while the road is covered with snow/black-ice. But I have never thought that it is also very difficult to drive uphill in such cases. There was once that the wheels of my car was just spinning on the spot while I was driving uphill. The car didn't go up. I had to switch to a lower gear at the end to drive up to the hill safely.

Even worse, I GOT STUCK in the snow THREE TIMES IN AN HOUR!!!! It was once when I suggested to go to the park nearby for some snow fun after a heavy snowstorm. It would be a ten-minute walk at most, but to do a favor for Connie, we decided to drive there. It should only take 2 minutes, but we took an hour!! The snow was so much that it could reach my knees. Roads here in Vancouver are not so well swept, especially the minor roads in the neighbourhood. My car first got stuck in one of the neighbouring streets. Then we arrived at the park and I tried to find a spot to park the car. As I have mentioned, if the roads are not well swept, not to mention parking spots (especially the ones in the park)!! My car got stuck badly and it took me a long while to get out. I had to shift the gears to go back and forth, and got out of the car from time to time to clear the snow near the wheels and the bottom of the car. I was right beside the park but I was stuck!! After a long while, we're cleared to go. I thought there would be a better place to park, so I drove to another path. However, I couldn't find an appropriate spot to park and my car was stuck AGAIN!!!! I HATE BEING STUCK!!!! This time, a friendly man drove by and he got out of his car to help pushing my car out of snow. I really thanked this man. As I got out, I felt totally defeated and had no more mood to play in the snow. I drove back home and found it so stupid to get stuck in the road so many times within the hour. Ironically, Abby was sleeping through the whole time while we're stuck!!!

As Connie suggested, I think I should have a shovel ready in my car in case more of these incidents happen again. ~_~ What a pity!!!

I was not the only pity one. I heard from others that one had lost his keys while shoveling snow. Another lost his cell phone in similar case. Would you enjoy finding your keys/cell phone in the snow? ~_~

Snowing is so pretty, but don't feel too romantic for it ^_^

Despite the beautiful branches coated with snow, you can click the picture and take a closer look at the cars at the background and you'll see how badly cars can get stuck.

08 Biggest Christmas Surprise

Something astonishing that Connie and I found out this week: Connie is PREGNANT!!

Such finding is very surprising if you know our story of adopting Abby. We've been trying to have our biological one but have never been sucessful. Even the doctors diagnosed us with 'unknown' reason for infertility. So this breaking news was really unbelievable at the first instance. In fact, our finding led us to thank God for what He has been doing, especially an incident that take place last month......

Connie had had gone through really tough time as being "barren". This sense has never fully disappeared with the arrival of Abby. But in one of the sermon last month, God used His scripture in John 5 (The healing of the a lame man at Bethesda) to encourage Connie: "Do you want to get well?" Connie felt being challenged to ask God for healing her brokenness. Our pastor prayed with us after the service and Connie was relieved after acknowledging her brokenness. A month after that service, surprisingly, Connie is now pregnant!! We are amazed with God's healing, not only spiritually, but also the physical 'gift' that He has given us. This is surely our biggest present for Christmas this year.

There are complications. For Connie has no MSP (the health care system in Vancouver) coverage at the moment (she's still holding a visitor status). I have a Canadian citizenship and has sent in application in sponsoring Connie's permenant residency, but it'll take quite a while to process. Meanwhile, we'll have to pay all the medical expenses which would be free if she is MSP covered. We hope that her status can be settled by the time our baby is dued. We just have to go through a new path of faith. We know that God will provide our needs when He gave us this gift. We trust that God will lead and help us, we just hope we can have more faith in witnessing God's grace and His wondrous plan for us. Please remember us in your prayers and share with us our joy.

How are we feeling? Connie did not feel so secured at the beginning, and she gave herself the worst scenario that would happen. We just need some time to 'believe' this would happen to us. But over the past few days, she is feeling more 'real' about being pregnant. She would get tired easily now and would need more rests. I'm grateful for the timing. I'm having my term break and can take more care of Connie and Abby. I'm doing the cooking and cleaning and most of the housework, so I feel more responsible and committed as a husband and daddy. I imagine if this were to happen during my stressful moments in the school year, I would not feel much joy. The baby is expected to be delivered in August, which will be during my summer break. I guess it would be the best time for I can be more available in taking care of the family. With the tension in workload and finance, this is surely a journey of faith to us. Please stand by us to see how God works with us. ^_^

Please join me in prayers

How's your prayer life? I long for a deeper prayer life. At Regent, I really appreciate the prayers at the beginning of each lesson. Some professors like to begin the class with prayers selected from prayer books. Others lead us with their own prayers. I find both very fruitful and they expand my horizon in prayers. For prayers selected from prayer books, I was thrilled when I related the prayer content with the original pray-er--the great theologians and saints like Augustine of Hippo, Basil the Great, Thomas Aquinas, ... and more, who shared the same faith with us. Most prayers were simple but genuine. Let me quote a prayer by Clement of Rome (c.30-c.95):
Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, establish and confirm us in your truth by your Holy Spirit. Reveal to us what we do not know; perfect in us what is lacking; strengthen us in what we know; and keep us faultless in your service; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

What a great prayer to start for the day!

The prayers of other professors also inspire me. They pray with such sincerety and devotion that I can feel their love to God and their fellow students. Looking back to myself, I find a certain dryness in my prayers. I tend to pray with similar wording/content all the time. I really hope to pray with a lively spirit that I can truly enjoy the communion with our God. It's also a matter of a loving relationship too. This is the yearning of my growth of spirituality and I guess this is one of my wish for 2009. Even though I am not very good at praying in English, I really hope to join other fellow schoolmates to pray. How about you? Are you praying well?
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D&D Time

Abby is just so adorable. Abby now gets into a habit that whenever I return home, she'll run to the door and greet me with a big hug and kiss. She made me feel so welcomed!! On Wednesday nights, Abby and I will stay home on our own because AbbyMommy has a night class to attend. Tonight I cooked Abby some dumplings. When she began to eat, she gave me a lovely smile and said in Chinese:「多謝爸爸煮」(literally meaning "Thank you daddy for cooking") My heart melted and was so surprised that she started saying things in simple sentences. What a joyous improvement!! So I could not hesitate to capture some funny shots of her while she was eating dumplings. Enjoy! ^_^ (The photo on the right is one of her favourite pose: Was that learnt from me and Connie? ~_~)

Final Dash Begins

The reading break is over and there are 2 more weeks to go!! 3 Exams awaiting next week!!!
Did I have fun over the break? Guess I was worn out by the stress that I could never have all the reading done in a week; so I was quite down in spirit with school work along the WHOLE WEEK. In fact, I did read much. I finished the "Latter Prophets" section of the bible and was left with the "Writings". I hope to catch up more with the reading before the exam next week.

There were a few enjoyable things I did:
1) On our special day (Nov 28, the day I proposed to Connie years ago), Connie, Abby and I had a city tour near the Kitslano area. We drove around and had lunch at a Greek restaurant. The food reminded us of our wonderful honeymoon trip in Greece. Connie was really glad that I could spend some time with them during the break, and I felt very relieved for her delight.

2) I'm now a fan of Joe Zheng 鄭元暢 and Ariel Lin 林依晨--the two hottest idol in Taiwan!! Recently, Connie has been so attracted by a Taiwanese drama series, and she was very fond of the two leading actor and actress. I took a peek during reading and eventually I was also attracted by them. Part I of the series was about their dating at their high-school and uni years. Part II of the series was about their relationship development after marriage. The interactions and dialogues of the idol series were sometimes quite hyperbolic but hilarious. I find it very interesting to see the development of their relationship. Indeed I treasure the moments when I disscuss with Connie about the various stages in their relationship. I long to love Connie more dearly. Connie finished the DVDs, and we're starting another series: Love or Bread「我的億萬麵包」with Joe and Ariel again!! ^_^ Only that this new series is shown weekly...we'll have to wait patiently for the weekends to come...

3) 銀河英雄伝説--I haven't been playing computer games for quite a while and I couldn't stop playing during the week!!! As a result, I sacrificed some sleeping hours and reading hours unfortunately. I still have struggles to strike a balance between work and play in terms of hours and attitudes. I really don't want to feel regretful in any cases. Nothing is perfect, isn't it?

Spiritually, it was really DARK inside me. I felt that I was put into a test in this past week and I FAILED. My stress and my viewing of comics that conveyed lustful thoughts had pushed me away from God. The sense of being a loser prevailed and I was depressed, especially when I was reading on the Prophets and was admonished by God's words. I was surprised about myself that I felt numb of my sinful rebellion. This vicious dark cycle continued to roll and there were times that I felt I had gone beyond remedy. However, when things are at the worst, they will mend under God's grace. I was reminded on God's faithfulness no matter I have failed Him many times. I was reminded on how I taught my primary students to make clever choices to avoid painful consequences. I have more lessons to learn.

Dear God, my Lord, here I am. I confess that I have all these brokenness. Please give me an undivided heart to live righteously and joyfully according to Your will.

As this first term approaches its ending, I do yearn for a deeper spiritual growth here in Vancouver.