Happy Birthday to My Mother-In-Law!

#2021-0117

Just like in the previous years, we are celebrating my mother-in-law's birthday together, cheerfully singing the Happy Birthday song:

-- Happy birthday to you, mama.

-- Happy birthday to you, grandma.

-- Happy birthday to you, great grandma.

Yes, my mother-in-law is ninety one now -- Today is exactly her birthday according to the Chinese lunar calendar; that is, the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month. I'll again pray for her: May the Lord bless her day and night -- now and forever!

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相關文章 (See also)：岳母九十歲生日快樂 (A Birthday Party)

 

很冷很冷的今夜，我思念著 ......

#2021-0111

很冷很冷的今夜，我思念著 ......

It's very cold tonight. So extremely cold. If Mama were still living in Guoxing alone, or if she were staying in the nursing home as from September through December last year, how could she stand such bitter cold? -- Oh, this severe cold spell in the winter must be a terrible killer of the elderly! Maybe -- perhaps -- I don't know, but it would possibly be better for Mama to have been taken to the Heaven home, where she and Papa can be together again, with the Lord's loving care and protection.

思念著母親，也想起了父親，在如此冷冽的（寒流來襲的）冬之夜！......

At this moment I'm missing my parents in particular; I miss them so much, especially in such a cold night. And I pray for them. May the Lord take care of them himself!

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Holy Baptism (聖洗禮)

#2021-0110

Congratulations! ... Joseph Luo and Vivian Wu's one-month-old baby, Weixin (羅唯心 小朋友), was baptized this morning, on the first Sunday after Epiphany -- the Sunday for us to commemorate the Baptism of our Lord Jesus.

In the Book of Common Prayer, we'll see these Additional Directions on page 312: "Holy Baptism is especially appropriate at the Easter Vigil, on the Day of Pentecost, on All Saints' Day or the Sunday after All Saints' Day, and on the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord (the First Sunday after the Epiphany). . . ." So, to be baptized on the first Sunday after Epiphany is definitely very good and commendable! We would again say this: Congratulations! Congratulations! ... 

The Snow (雪景)

#2021-0101B

What would you say about the snow? . . . 

Well, if you ask me, I'll say, "I like it -- just on TV." 

~     ~     ~

No kidding! I enjoy seeing such beautiful scenes; 

however, it would be too cold for me if I were there!

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相關文章 (See also)： 雪的懷念： When I Read Liu Zongyuan's "River Snow"     (2016)

好彩頭 -- A Good Sign!

#2021-0101A

This must be a good sign! ... 

A beautiful butterfly came flying to my wife, Jean, and stayed for a long time on her arm, on her neck, and then on her hair. Our friends at St. James' were very surprised at that, as this is a season when you can usually see no butterflies in the outdoor garden here.

St. James' has an indoor (enclosed) garden for butterflies to live in -- it's the Eco-park meant primarily for the preschool children to visit for Science Education. You may imagine how happy those kids would be when seeing some beautiful butterflies flying, or dancing, or chasing each other in there. But was this pretty little one escaping from that enclosed Eco-park? Where was it from? And why was it sticking to my wife -- and seemingly so reluctant to get away? ...

"This must be a Sign," said one of our friends.

"Yes, something wonderful must be happening soon," another friend of ours confirmed.

All laughed, at least smiling in happy anticipation. Our good friends who saw such a scene told my wife and me that we are blessed -- the Lord will continue to bless us even more abundantly in this new year, 2021. They also told us not to be too sad about my mother's death, as my mother is together with my father again, living in another way in the Heaven, where God himself is taking care of them.

(Note: The photos were taken last Sunday, during the coffee hour after the service; by the way, I was the preacher in the English service last Sunday, my sermon entitled The Christmas Story Retold in Different Ways.)

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相關文章 (See also)： The Christmas Story Retold in Different Ways