Happy 3 month birthday Anna!

Happy 3 month birthday Anna!

Anna is now just a little over 3 months old. She is well over double the weight she came home from the hospital as. It is such an amazing thing to watch. It feels almost like a time lapse movie because it is happening so fast. We know she won’t always want to snuggle this […]

What you see is what you get…

What you see is what you get…

An amazing thing about kids and toddlers especially is their lack of pretense. What you see is what you get, if they are feeling something they will express it. Often with Anna, that means crying or curiosity, but every once in awhile she shows us the most beautiful smile and our world stops for a […]

Babe of a thousand faces…

Babe of a thousand faces…

Today marks the two-month-old birthday of Anna! One of the surprising things for me about parenthood is just how many hilarious faces kids make. It’s especially delightful with newborns because it’s just purely what they are feeling without artifice or pretense. These pictures are from this afternoon where she was particularly alert and expressive. But […]

Anna

Parenting is highly skilled labour

  With Anna we have had so many beautiful and fun moments, little adventures, and great memories already. But there has also been probably even more crying, sleepless nights, misunderstandings, not realizing what is uncomfortable for her, and just being pretty clueless as a parent of how to help her sometimes. Recently, Jetaime has been […]

I knew when I met you an adventure was going to happen

I knew when I met you an adventure was going to happen

“I knew when I met you an adventure was going to happen.” ― A.A. Milne   There’s something about having a baby that brings us out of the usual and into the unusual. This weekend I was walking Anna around Jetaime’s parent’s place. Anna was wide-eyed and curious and I had a lot of fun introducing […]

An Unusual Game of Monopoly

An Unusual Game of Monopoly

Yesterday I won a game of Monopoly against my students and I felt like I was the worst player among them. I was really good, I stacked up on houses early on and made a ton of money in rent. When they couldn’t pay my rent they gave me their locations until I had the […]

祝福满溢

祝福满溢

昨天晚上,我问贺先生:“什么是见证?” 他说,是神所行的事。 有一段时间,我觉得自己没有什么见证可以分享,因为自己把一切当作理所当然。我以为是要有奇妙的医治,或是不可思议的奇迹,才值得禀报天下。可是经贺先生的提点,加上最近充足的思考,让我意识到,神迹,无所不在。 在新加坡待了八天,其中两天搭帐篷露营,另外两天住背包客栈,其他日子都是在朋友家当厅长。然而,我的内心满是感恩。当一连三位沙发冲浪网站主人都拒绝我们发出的留宿请求时,我很纳闷,很苦恼,很摸不着头脑——上帝怎么不让我们体验啊?祂怎么会不喜欢我们认识陌生人呢?到底哪里出了差错? 后来我慢慢察觉,祂的安排比我的计划还好。被恩准寄宿大牌621的日子,是偶然的,也是幸运的,它让我和昔日学记好友的道路又连结在一起。短短的几天,贺先生与我获得很多很多盛情的款待。无论是失联的高中同学,久违的主内姊妹,缺席婚礼的小学记,聚了又聚的学记伙伴,还是表姐和表姐夫,甚至更多想见但是没办法再挤出更多时间的…… 丰盛的每一餐,宝贵的每一分钟,难得的每一张合照,都是神的祝福满溢。

火车随想2

火车随想2

过了十个小时,天色渐晚,气温也降低不少。近几站上车的乘客都是一身冬装:大衣、围巾、绒帽等,就差没下雪,不然我还以为我们回到了加拿大。我心里暗觉不妙,希望不会重犯两年多前首次踏足昆明的误会(笑话)才好——当时是冬天,我却一副清凉装扮,最后落得要借衣服买衣服来保暖!贺先生倒是蛮有信心,说凭几件还像样的衣服应该不成问题;我只盼清迈对我们手下留情。 严格说起来,这是我第一次正式搭火车。感觉很新鲜,火车上看到的每一张面孔都似乎有故事而来。本以为一路要慢慢熬,怎么知道没两下就快到了。这一路上,除了贺先生之外,我可是什么人都没搭上话(除了请前排位子的女生拉一拉窗帘)。我在想,如果是一个人旅行的我,应该就不会是这个局面了。 贺先生坐在我身旁轻轻入眠,我仔细端详他睡着时的模样,很平静,很单纯。结婚后的日子,他坚持常牵手,我喜欢多拥抱,肢体接触很能安抚不安急躁的情绪,尤其像这样背包旅行,天知道有多少惊险的时刻,一次又一次刺激心脏。此时车上有个泰国男子对着手机大声嚷嚷,我静静靠在老公身旁,感觉好满足。那是一种无需言语的力量,在冷冷的车厢里,温暖彼此。 我喜欢认识新朋友,而现在身边的这位,更加值得我用一生去认识、去了解、去珍惜、去疼爱。

火车随想

火车随想

我坐在摇晃的火车上,目的地是清迈。 火车一路向北,穿越城镇和乡区,时而徐徐前进,时而加速奔驰。车上乘客常满,每一站都有人上下车。车厢内大概六十巴仙以上是金发碧眼的游客,他们都和我一样,要坐上十一个小时才算到站。路途漫漫,却不觉寂寞,除了身边有亲人陪伴,更是因为沿途风景美不胜收。 谁要说搭火车闷死了,谁就是糟蹋了火车。 写这篇文章的时候,刚好过了五个小时。我小睡片刻,我对着车窗发呆,我拍了几张照片,我享用了简单美味的火车餐……提到火车餐,真是意外的惊喜,当漂亮的服务员推着餐车送早餐时,我不明就里小声地问贺先生拿食物要不要还钱。后来才知道原来搭火车就跟搭飞机一样,好棒!午餐是一份香米饭+两份不同口味的鸡肉料理,我小心翼翼以免汤汁滴在衣服上,最后还是失败了,手忙脚乱的样子逗得贺先生笑不拢嘴呢。 对了,我还在火车上看完了一本书,是看了好多天,刚才终于看完的那种看完。故事讲述一个美国人的亲身经历,他尝试身无分文旅行六个星期,通过搭便车方式到达终点,一路见证和感受美国人尚未丧失的善良举止。真实的故事,最叫人感动。他在书中不止一次提到,贫穷的人一般是最不吝分享的。我赞同,用我的双手双脚。 我看的是电子书,到了83%时,我侧头对贺先生说实在不想这么快把书看完。一个好的作者,能轻易通过文字带领读者身历其境,Mike Mclntyre就是其中之一。 准备开始阅读下一本书前,我想好好写写字。我想起去年高二盈的某个女同学。她的样貌不出众,她不是那种会夸大其词,引人注目的人;可是她的文章,总是真诚得动人。我到现在还记得她上华文课时常会摆出的那副模样:是会鼓舞、振奋授课者的,认真倾听的模样。我喜欢读她的文章,每次做功课或改考卷,我都迫不及待想要看看她的作文又给了我什么意想不到的惊喜。 我想,我对她如此印象深刻,大概是从她身上看见了(年轻时的)自己吧。 前几天与贺先生讨论我们新年的新目标,其中一个我渴望达成的,是把握上帝给我的恩赐,以文字的力量去感动生命,影响生命。我生来要做伟大的事,哪怕我的伟大,只呈现在屈指可数的生命里,那也是绰绰有余,不枉此生了。 文末,真心推荐:“The Kindness of Strangers: Penniless Across America”

Celebrating with Students

Celebrating with Students

A few weeks ago we had a wedding celebration with Jetaime’s students. Jetaime and her friends had been planning this for months and it really showed. The whole event was so fun and the biggest thing was that we really wanted each student to have an encounter with God.  In the morning I got to […]