Mochi

On June 3rd 2017, someone gave us a new friend; a four-legged friend. She was from Mexico and was born around Nov 1 2016.  My daughters Maya & Mira are excited to meet her. Brown medium size dog about 45 lbs, very skittish and shy.  We named her Mochi because Maya wants a Japanese name for her.  Today she is probably about 55 lbs, knows some tricks like lay down, sit, play dead, clean your feet, stand and shake. She still feels insecure around new dogs or people but a lot better now.  She ruined 2 dog beds that we got her, and made few accidents inside the house before, but hey we all made mistakes!  We give her best dog food, sometimes grilled chicken or turkey soup with rice, sweet potatoes, carrots etc.  She sleep next t me on her bed at night, and I let her out in the morning to do her business in the backyard..  Mochi still needs to learn how to walk properly, not keep stopping every few seconds to smell the flowers, I mean the ground.  Having a dog is so much work, it's like having another kid, do I need a 5th one???  Don't think so, but we are stuck with Mochi for now. She loves us all but I think she loves me the most ( I might be bias).

Foggy Boxing Day

Boxing Day in Canada doesn't have anything to do with sports. I was confused when people mentioned this to me few years ago when we first came. The Canadians dedicate one day of the year, which is the day after Christmas for "shop till you drop" day. Electronic stores are the major targets on that day. Prices on some items are reduced significantly to attract customers. It seems like the the saying "Early birds get the worms" becomes reality on that day. In US, they have something similar, but it's the day after Thanksgiving. It works every year to force people to wake up earlier that day to go shopping. If you miss it, then you have to wait another year. In order for people to go their stores first, most major electronic stores have to slash their prices on some items to the point that will motivate people to hit their doors first. Another motivation is offering some sort of drawing or special door price if you line up there before the door opens.

I usually don't go shopping on Boxing day. It's very hard to find a parking space, then you have to wait in a long line to pay, and after all your efforts including waking up early, the item you are looking for might be gone already when you get there. After 5 years in Canada, I decided to go buy a laptop on Boxing day...more than $100 savings on that particular item. That morning I was backing up my car slowly from my garage. One of my sons decided to go with me just in case he found his favorite Lego "Star Wars" on sale. The fog was pretty thick, which reduces your visibility to less than 1km. It always makes me nervous driving in a rainy or foggy condition especially at night. It was still dark when we left the house that day...almost no cars on the street...I thought :"Good for everyone who is still lying down in their cozy beds with thick nice warm blankets." In winter here, the sun comes out pretty late, probably not till 9 or 10 am, in Vancouver Island some areas are still covered with fog till 10 or 11 in the morning. When you are driving with reduced visibility on a narrow road it's even worse, especially when you know that your right hand side is a ditch, you are like a blind man trying to enter a room without bumping into any furniture. When a car is coming towards you, the passing cars' headlights also kinda blind your eyes. Anyway, when I was forced to give 100% of my driving skills in this situation, I remember how important my headlight is...it helps improve my vision...

The same is true for your spiritual light, Matthew 5:14-16 says "You are the light of the world, a city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

Our world can be a foggy place to live, it's hard to see clearly what's right and wrong...something that seems right is not always the right choice. So many options, so many distractions. Many good things have been tinted too. Hollywood for example, doesn't make clean movies for teenagers anymore, and when they label a movie as "13 and up", it used to be for adult viewing only in the old days. Kids and adults swear a lot these days, you hear profanity everywhere you go. Some people even think it's cool when you use certain swear words. We don't allow our kids to use those words. People concentrate on how to make their lives easier, more and more products are made for this purpose these days versus making better quality products. Computers, laptops, TVs, etc. used to last a lot longer than they do today. Is living our lives easier more important than improving the quality of our lives?

Cheesecake

I like to make my own cheesecake because I can customize the ingredients. Cheesecake makes nice gift too during holiday seasons. This recipe is good for 2 cheesecakes, I usually make two at a time, one for my family, one to bless someone.

Ingredients:

• 3 packages of cream cheese (250g each),take it out from the fridge and set it aside until soft at room temperature.
• 1 cup sugar
• 4-5 eggs (depends on the size..medium or large)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup lime, another option is 1/4 cup coffee
• 1 cup milk
• 1 can of cherry/cranberry sauce for topping (you can make your own too by cooking your own fresh fruit with sugar and water until the liquid thicken
• For the crust, if you prepare this yourself, you need 12-14 Oreos or graham crackers for each bottom of cheese cakes. Chop or crush the cookies until very fine, mix with some butter. Then press to the bottom of your pan.

You will also need:

- Two 8" round cheesecake pans (can be aluminium foil pan with prepared crust you can buy from the grocery store or your own spring foam pans)

- big rectangular broiler pans are also helpful if you have one, this can prevent the cheesecake from breaking.
- Mixer

1. Mix the cream cheese until soft with sugar in a bowl with medium speed.
2. Beat in the egg one at a time.
3. Mix in your vanilla, milk, lime juice or coffee.
4. Bake in the oven between 325º F - 350º F (162º C - 175º C). If you have broiler pan, pour one inch of hot water to the bottom of broiler pan. Then set the cheesecakes on top of the cover/top part of the broiler pan. If you don't have broiler pan, then you can just put your cheesecakes on top of regular rectangular pan and set a lower heat.
5. Take out from the oven, let them cool , then refrigerate for few hours.
6. Then spread your cherry/cranberry sauce on top. I figured 1 can can be used for two cheesecakes.
7. Put it in the freezer for easy cutting, or use a paring knife dipped in hot water to cut it before serving.

What does it mean to be strong and courageous?

JOSHUA

There are probably only a few army leaders in the Bible that stand out, and Joshua is one of them. For years I have read Joshua and have seen the words "Be strong and Courageous", and missed it.

Recently God helped me understand why He spoke those words three times to Joshua (Joshua 1 : 1-9)

The first time...He told Joshua to be strong and courageous because Joshua was the new leader after Moses. He needed to be strong and courageous for this is one of the qualities that any leader needs to posses. Are you a leader in your work place, your community, or your family? Do you have passion to lead people to God? In spite of our mission or purpose in life, we need to be strong and courageous. In this case, Joshua's mission was to lead God's people into God's promise land.

After that , he was told by God to be strong and courageous again...to do what? To obey the law...
In the world today, many things can drive you away from God's law, the internet, TV, magazines, etc. Are your eyes fixed on God or on the things of this world? Are your passions driven towards sport games, TV games, food, money, diet program, fashion, etc? There is nothing wrong with those things, but what is your priorities? Is any of your passion turning you away from God's law or commandment? How can we keep our path straight, not looking to the right or left? This is difficult but doable. God says : "Study the Book of the Law and meditate on it day and night". When Peter stepped out of the boat and walked toward Jesus, he was not sinking...as long as he kept his eyes fix on Jesus only.

Finally, God told Joshua to be strong and courageous because He will be with him wherever he goes...this means always. God wants us to have faith, don't be afraid...We had so many trials in the past, but He always delivered us just in time. God will never say "Sorry I am late...", or "I'll do better next time..."

Another interesting thing is that whenever He told Joshua to be strong and courageous, He also promised that he would be successful in whatever he did. I believe His promise is still true today for us. Isn't this an awesome promise? Everybody wants to be successful in life. He gave us the key already. Are we going to be strong and courageous like Joshua to win the battles in our lives?

Lemon Grass Chicken

I was just tired of my old recipes, so I created this dish, and it turned out to be pretty good. If you love Thai or other Southeast Asian food, you might like this one.

Ingredients :

1/2 skinless chicken, cut into four, seasoned with salt & lime
1/2 chopped fresh lemongrass
Few chopped lime leaves
Some sliced red chilies or you can use garlic chili sauce
2-3 sliced shallots/ 1/2 big red onion
2-3 chopped garlics
Salt
1-2 tbsp sugar
Lime juice
Cooking oil (I use olive oil sometimes for healthy option)

• Heat some oil in a frying pan (medium heat), fry your chicken until half cooked, cool, separate the meat from the bone, set aside.
• Put 2-3 tbsp oil in the frying pan, and fry your shallots, garlic, lemongrass, lime leaves for few minutes.
• Fry your chilies or chili sauce for 2 minutes, then add your chicken, stir add some salt, lime juice & sugar for taste.
• Enjoy your dish with steamed/cooked white rice.
  

Sufficient

Have you ever thought about the meaning of the word "sufficient"? People usually connect this word with their income, or whatever their daily need is. This word probably comes from the Latin word meaning "meeting the need".

When I was thinking about God's kindness, He reminded me that Jesus is sufficient enough to meet all my needs. Jesus once talked to the Samaritan woman by the well (John 4), and He said that " ... whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” Isaiah 55:1 also says :"Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; ...".

Let us rewind and move back to the time where Moses went around and around in the desert with all the Israelites. What kind of things they complained the most? Their basic need, water and food. God supplied their water in the desert... The word "desert" will make you think of a dry land, lifeless, waterless, without vegetation. Yet God in His graciousness gave them water, is this a miracle or what? Absolutely! You can walk miles and miles searching for water in the desert and all you'll find is a mirage.

Remember the book and the movie called "Holes"? Stanley Yelnats was wrongfully accused of a crime he didn't commit and was sent to a detention camp in the desert. They had to line up to get water when the water truck came every day after they dug holes in the hot desert. Once Stanley ran away to search for his friend Zero, and they almost died of thirst and hunger.

Next thing the Israelites wanted was food, and God sent them little "wafer-like" bread from heaven, it was light and tasty, some people call it coriander seed. Can you imagine if we are out in the pouring rain one day, and suddenly you have some food coming down from the sky instead of water? People that live in the west probably will not be so excited about it, but imagine if you are in Africa where food is scarce, and you are dying of hunger. Boy, that would be the biggest miracle in all Africa! Can you imagine the joy the whole Africa would have if this thing happens there right now? Imagine...bread from heaven...the Israelites became so creative with this ingredient, I am sure they created hundreds and hundreds of recipe from this miracle food. They called it manna, which means "What is this?". When it happenned the first time, they were in awe of this miracle...they said "What is this?" Isn't it interesting that Jesus told the Jews that "I am the bread that came down from heaven." John 6:41

Those two things are probably our most basic need, water and food. At least physically. During Christmas season suddenly all kind of charities collected food for the needy to bless them. Yet around the world many people commit suicide in this season because of lack of love or lack of purpose in life. Guilt, depression, shame, desperation, physical pain, pressure, anxiety, these are some of the main causes of suicide. Why? Are they also our basic need?

God created you with a spirit, yet many people are not aware of that, they are spiritually dead, or perhaps some are still searching. Have you ever heard a song that says "...Your name is like honey to my lips, your spirit like water to my soul, your word is a lamp unto my feet..." When we accept Jesus, something inside us changed, awakened..For some people, this event made them cry, for the first time they feel God's love, they feel like there is more to look for than just their basic needs, there is a new purpose to live than just working for food, there is a change in direction, there is a "detour" sign. There is a hope that fills the emptiness inside. There is a healing and peace inside that come from God's love.

When my boys were young, sometimes they watched Donut Man's video show. He said, "Without Jesus, we are like a donut. There is a hole inside us that only Jesus can fill". How true is that statement, He is more than enough to fill all our needs, He is sufficient for us! Even when you lost everything in this world.

Holiday Poem

Oil painting by: J.Jusman

Christ alone is the center of this festive
He was sent to be among us, Emmanuel
Reconciliation plan that no one can comprehend
In Him all the fullness of God
Son of the Most High was given unto us
To be offered as atonement for our sins
Messiah from the offspring of David
Alleluia, a child is given
Sing with all the angels..Glory to God!

Gloria in excelsis Deo
In the manger a bright morning star has shone
First born of all sons
The Savior has come to us!

Wild Nature

You can not turn someone away from her love of nature, especially when that someone is an artist. Maya loves animals, anything from a tiny brine shrimp to a tall Giraffe will stir up her passion, and how does she express it? Through her water color, pastel, and canvas....

Way to go Maya!

Brainwashing

When your two-year-old has a brain, she likes to keep it clean! Mira was washing her brain in
the sink. "There, it's clean now!" She said cheerfully.

Easy Bookmark Project

My kids made this kind of bookmark last year. It's fun and beautiful.

• The best time to collect your main ingredient is in spring, summer or fall when all those nice flowers bloom.
• Put them in between your thick phone books pages or any heavy book for at least 12 hours to dry.
• Cut two pieces of transparent plastic (Transparency film) about 8 1/2" x 2" or any size you like.
• Arrange about two to three dried flowers on one of your transparent pieces, and put the other on top. Make sure you leave enough space between the flowers and the edges of your plastic.
• Cover with a piece of cloth and press them with hot iron for few minutes.
• Hole punch the top of your bookmark, and finish it with a nice string or ribbon.

Banana Bread

This is our family favourite, and it's so easy to make, and is guaranteed to turn out good!

Ingredient:

2 to 3 ripe mashed banana

2 eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup melted butter/margarine (about 3 tbsp)

3/4 to 1 cup sugar

1 3/4 to 2 cup flour

1/2 tsp to 1 tsp baking soda

a pinch of salt

Raisins, dried cranberries, blueberries, peanuts, almonds, etc (optional)

Mix together the first 6 ingredients for 1 minute with a mixer (at medium speed). Then mix in the rest of the ingredient with slow speed.

If you use a non-stick banana bread baking pan, grease inside the pan with some margarine. If you use a regular pan, then you need to put some margarine and flour.

Bake at 350F for about 50 minutes to an hour.

Shortbread Cookie

These are yoummy cookies for your holidays, especially Christmas.

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

3/4 cups butter

1 cup sugar

Beat the butter until smooth about one minute, mix with sugar, beat again for another 2 minutes. Blend in the flour, and knead a little. Wrap the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour. Then roll it out on a flat surface (put some flour on it), and cut it with your favourite cookie cutter. Arrange your cookies on wax paper. Bake in an oven at 350F for about 15 minutes. You can decorate them if you like. Enjoy!

Leader

It's the election time again. The question is, which candidate do we want to choose? Democrat? Republican? Independent? Conservative? Green Party? etc. What kind of leader we choose will determine the future... the future of our country, our community, our society, our family. Therefore we should choose wisely!

Do we need a leader that puts his/her trust in this world or his/her trust in God? What qualifies you to be a leader in the eyes of God?

God loves us the same regardless of our races, talents, & physical appearances. People usually choose someone that is strong, good looking, good at speech, etc. as a leader, but God looks at your heart. In the movie "Braveheart", the Scottish people said: "We heard William Wallace was 7 feet tall". God chose Gideon from the smallest clan in Israel to be a leader to defeat their enemies, and He picked Moses which claimed to be slow at speech to deliver His people. In fact, God's strength is made perfect in our weaknesses.

A world leader gets his power from the people who choose him/her, and this power doesn't last. God's power is absolute! God has power over us because He is the creator of the universe and He made us, and without Him, we wouldn't be here, we wouldn't even exist! Isn't it ironic if we can surrender to the world's leader but we keep running away from God? When God uses His power to change something, it's always for our benefits.

World leaders might sacrifice our needs for his/her own purpose. In other words, he/she will not be willing to sacrifice his/her need for the sake of many. When a world leader makes a wrong decision, the affects could be devastating for the whole country or even the whole world. The attack of Pearl Harbor in 1941 by Japanese Navy led to the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the US. God never make a wrong decision. John 10:11 says that God is like a good shepherd, He lays down His life for His sheep. God sacrificed His son to save us. God never makes a wrong decision!

A good leader must have compassion for those he/she leads, John Maxwell says: "People never care how much you know until they know how much you care". Mark 6:34 says that when Jesus saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them. You can not move or influence people if you don't care for them.

A good leader always protects his people with humility, promotes others, and never shows off. For example: When a Roman centurion took off his official emblem or insignia and went to fight with his people, he humbled himself, but he remained a centurion, he is not considered less in the eyes of his people. Jesus came to serve, not to be served.

World Leaders can not see the future, thus they can not really protect us. Nobody predicted that the Twin Towers (World Trade Center) in New York City would collapsed in 2001. God sees our future, and He can guarantee that our future is good if we trust Him and lean on Him. God is omniscient, He knows everything!

Different

Few years ago we moved from Texas to Canada, and we noticed that the Canadians are a bit different from the Texans. Here are some of the differences:

- When Texans meet you, they'll say: "How ya'll doing?", while the Canadian will say "Nice day..eh?" Basically when you talk to a Canadian, you just add...eh at the end of your sentence.

- While the Texans are cheering for their "Rodeo" show, Canadians will cheer for their "Vancouver Canucks"

- When you go to KFC, Texans will eat fries with ketchup, and their Canadian friend will ask for gravy (Probably similar to poutine which is a popular dish from French/Quebec).

- While nobody in Texas wants to buy a house without AC and water sprinkler, the realtor in Canada will tell you that these items are the special features of the house.

- When the forecast says it's going to rain in Texas, the game is cancelled, but the Canadians will not let an outpouring rain stop their soccer game, jogging, or biking activities.

- When you own a ranch in Texas, you are a rancher, when you own a one story home in Canada, you own a rancher!

- When you own a house with a big lot in British Columbia, Canada, you are considered a millionaire, while in Texas, almost everybody has acres of land.

- When you send your son or daughter to school in Texas, they'll learn to say "Gracias!" , if you send them to the school in Canada, they'll learn to say "Merci!"

Do you want to be a caterpillar forever?

Recently after I read a book about ladybugs to our 2-year old, I got an insight from the Lord. He reminded me that we are just like caterpillars that can be transformed into beautiful butterflies or moths... and even ladybugs go through those stages.

The definition of transformation itself is "to make a thorough or dramatic change in the form, appearance, or character". 

Before a caterpillar becomes a cocoon (for moth) or chrysalis (for butterfly), it has to eat lots & lots of leaves, usually from the host tree (the tree where its mother has carefully chosen to lay the egg on).

My older daughter recently took home a caterpillar that was ready to turn into a cocoon, and she did a lot of research about it.  The next day, it turned into a cocoon, and we were so excited to wait for it to turn into a moth.  As a Christian, we all want to be more and more like Christ our Redeemer, but we are often only stuck in the caterpillar stage. The word "Transformation" is too big for us, it's almost impossible sometimes, and it takes a long time for most of us. The good news is, it's possible!

Caterpillars have to eat a lot before they turn into pupas, and they molt four or five times as they grow.   The reason is because all that food makes their exoskeletons tight on them, so they have to let go of their old exoskeletons, and get new ones.  This is very interesting, because as Christians , we have the choice of whether we want to move to the next stage or not.

Our spiritual food is the Word of God, which is our Bible.  As we feed on these words, we slowly adopt new characters and eventually hate our old ones, and slowly "molt" many many times.   Roman 12:2 tells us that we should not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind that we may prove what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

During the pupa stage, inside the cocoon, the caterpillar organs and other structures are somehow going through a "complete remodeling" process.  When we are going through our changes, we must die to ourselves, carry our crosses daily, crucify our bad habits, say no to our temptations, build up new good habits, and develop new characters in Christ.  This is very hard to do since our nature and our flesh loves comfort and convenience.  We are pulled by the world, by what it promises through the media, commercials, etc.

This "metamorphosis" process is the most difficult one for every Christian. That's why some just avoid it, stay in the "larva" stage forever, and just carry a label that says "I am a Christian". It's true we are born sinners, but when we come to Christ, we have a new nature.  The Holy Spirit can help transforming us into the image of Christ from glory to glory ( 2 Cor 3:18).

Apostle Paul in 1 Cor 9:24 says : "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it."  We should concentrate on the prize, which is valuable and beautiful. That cocoon or chrysalis will turn into a beautiful butterfly or moth, so as our difficult "metamorphosis" will turn us to be more and more like Him.  At the end we will be called "faithful servants" and receive our prizes.  Or do we really
want to be a caterpillar forever?