Chinese New Year

Went to a SPA yesterday with some friends. It was mix of indoor swimming pool and onsen for families.
Lots of spas in different temperatures and with different characteristics such as rose water, lavendar water, bubbles, massage showers, Chinese herbal medicine, etc. Too bad the kiddie pool was closed.

Today is Chinese New Year. Our family took a road trip to Asia University and we were able to stroll in the sunshine, admire flowers, watch the children run around, and feed the fish. Ma and Ba treated us to delicious dim sum and taro ice cream.  We are so thankful that our family is healthy and able to enjoy such moments together.

Next year I want to start some Chinese New Year traditions for our family: new clothes, cleaning the house, vegetables on New Year morning, hot pot on New Year's Eve, and fa gao and nian gao. I especially enjoy the fact that Chinese New Year gives me a chance to start afresh and throw away the old spiritually, as well. And put on a garment of praise to God. New Year Day is always so close to Christmas that I don't really have a chance to reflect and seek God every year. I'm just trying to recover from the holidays in general. Chinese New Year provides the perfect distance for planning new beginnings.

Our family really wants to devote ourselves more to God this year, not just do the motions of Christianity, which is quite dull. We want God's power to be seen in our lives. But we know that change has to start from within. Taiwan has helped us see the condition of our hearts, something that is easily masked by the daily business of life in Orange County and church life in general.

One thing we have started doing is incorporating repentance in our times of family prayer. Steve and I are still reading the Bible together almost every evening. Last night Steve encouraged me with the thought that if Judas had not taken his life he would have seen Jesus' resurrection. Jesus would have forgiven him and perhaps Judas would have become a powerful witness to Christ like Peter was. How often do we just give up when we mess up? Take things into our own hands? Missed His revelations in our despair? Forgotten that we can bring each place of despair to our Father who cares and wants to heal and repair?

Tonight we discussed faith. Upon Jesus' crucifixon, bodies of believers were raised from the dead and even walked around. The curtain of the temple was rent. There was a earthquake. Darkness for three hours. Some believed in Jesus' deity at that point. Some did not. I have seen miracle after miracle after miracle after miracle and yet my faith still wavers. Why? We thought of two reasons: 1) we don't practice our faith and 2) we forget the miracles (places where we see God clearly at work) because we do not nurture our spirit lives. We are only living in the flesh.  For this reason I am writing this blog. So I don't forget.

--PTW (Tina's new signature)