Roadtrip to Dallas

It was a wedding of my friend, Erica Quinn. So we drove up to Dallas to celebrate…
With 5 hours of “Are we there yet?” and “What road is this?”, we made it and stayed at Doubletree Hotel near Galleria. Here’s a pic of 3 reasons for my existence.

The kids loved the day. They loved the beds and jumped for good 10 minutes. And the shuttle ride that was provided as well. The reception was at Tower Club on top of the Thanksgiving Tower in downtown Dallas. They were dazzled at the night view across Dallas.

However, the fun ended there for them and soon wanted to go home. So I took out my secret weapon: my Cowon A2 30 GB video/mp3 player. On that 4.3″ screen, they watched their favorite shows… for 2 hours! Even that’s long for them… but thank God they pulled through.

We left “early” at 10:20 pm and eventually went to bed near midnight. Kids were cranky from that Sunday. We went to Irving Bible Church with Mo and then had lunch with Mo and Ricky. I forgot how much they grew. It was near nightmare coming back. Overall, it was good, but boy are we tired… Here’s to a good night’s rest!

You know you are a dad when…

1. …you find out that the cheese slice for your lunch has a bite mark on it.
2. …you realize that your cars have as much toys as you do at home.
3. …you begin to sing your child’s favorite tune… without them near you!
4. …you put your ring on the other hand just so that your son can touch it while he sleeps.
5. …you buy 2 boxes of “Basic 4” just so that your children can eat it … every week!
6. …you don’t have pictures of you and your wife anymore…
7. …you think that getting 6 hours of sleep is plenty, and 8 is just unthinkable!
8. …you go to 2 bookstores to find the other 3 plush toys of Backyardigans so that they can be complete!

More to come as I remember some more…

Another reminder from “Purpose Driven Life”

As we are going through Purpose Driven Life again for the 2nd time, I came across a rather shocking reminder… It’s from the end of the Chapter 10: The Heart of Worship.

“There is a moment of surrender, and there is the practice of surrender, which is moment-by-moment and lifelong. The problem with a living sacrifice is that it can crawl off the altar, so you may have to resurrender your life fifty times a day.”

Being a habitual creature, I found this to be too true. But it hurts so much each time… it’s like being shattered like the jar of clay each time… totally broken. The only thing I can do is to ask God to help me get up again and again…

I got so sick of coffee at work…

… so I brought my little Vietnamese coffee maker in to work! 

Now, my coffee is soooooooooooo much better!!  Now, all I need is a glass of ice and condensed milk at work!!    Seriously, I just nuke my filtered water for 2:30 and then pour home brought coffee into the maker, wait few minutes, and mix and drink!   Whoever invented this little sucker should be a millionaire!!

Sickness & Pain this Lent Season

As we remember what Jesus has done for us this Lent season, one thing became rather clear: that many of us are suffering from some kind of sickness.

In review, Pastor Shawn and Chung have just recently been suffering from migraines again after at least two years of no migraines.  They get it to the degree where Chung tends to faint, and Pastor Shawn can’t do anything.  Ken, myself, and starting this year, Soojin have been suffering from severe allergies.  Soojin and I had it to a degree where we ended up with sinus/upper respirtory infections.  Anna and JJ had stomach virus where Anna’s was more severe and had to be taken to ER for dehydration.

What does this all mean for us, especially in this Lent season?  It’s a small (a very small one at that) reminder that Jesus had to go through even greater suffering in order to save us.  40 days of no food, bleeding and dying on the cross, and 3 days of loneliness in hell.  All so that you and I could be saved.  Our own sicknesses are a very minute reminders of how great a suffering Jesus must have gone.

As we have been praying this Lent season, may we all be able to remain thankful… that we were given opportunities to get a tiny taste of what it must’ve been like for Christ in His suffering, and that we should do our very best to endure the suffering… for He came out victor over death.

“Basic 4” and the Family

What is so special about this cereal?! I don’t find it that special… but evidently, ever since Soojin, Anna, and JJ discovered this cereal while visiting the grandparents over Christmas, this is all they eat at least once a day!! We go through at least 2 boxes of it a week!! Yikes… oh well… eat away, I say.

Now JJ is throwing up…

He will be staying home… please pray for his quick recovery…

When I got back from church, JJ wanted to lean on me on my legs and wanted me to rub his back… and then he fell asleep.  I forgot how good it feels when the kids fell asleep on me.