Computation improvisation combination

Cold and short for the warm and long

Last night, Jadon and Evangelina successfully attempted their first "Nigeria shower": showering using only the maximum amount of COLD water that could fill 2 4-ball tennis ball cans, based on what I shared with them about my experience in dorms on the Ile-Ife Adventist Hospital compound back in 2002.  They were proud to say that they were getting ready to serve God and His kingdom wherever He calls them.

Hammed-up Hamlet: What Was the Question?

Recently I taught Evangelina the Taiwanese folksong "Thi(n) O*-o*" (Dark Skies) as she showed interest in both singing as well as the Taiwanese language.  The lyrics are as follows:

Thi(n) o*-o*, boe lo ho*

Akong gia ti-thau, boe kut o*

Kut a-kut, kut a-kut, kut-tio chit boe soan-liu-ko*.

Hi(n)-a, he(n)-a, chin-chia(n) chhu-bi!

Akong boe chu kiam, Ama boe chu chia(n),

Nng lang sio-pha long phoa tia(n), long phoa tia(n), long phoa tia(n)!

Hi(n)-a, he(n)-a, chin-chia(n) chhu-bi!

Seeing our joy in singing together, including to the delight of Akong and Ama (both sides), Jadon has surprisingly picked up on nearly the whole song.  The final line, "Hi(n)-a, he(n)-a, chin-chia(n) chhu-bi!" ("Hee-hee, ha-ha, that's reeeal interestin'") is particularly funny to him, and he will sing those lyrics to himself on occasion.  Most recently, I heard his own Shakespearean use of his newfound Taiwanese: "Chhu-bi... or not chhu-bi?!"

The breast of both worlds!

When I picked up Evangelina from school today, she said she wanted some Jamba Juice, to which I replied that we were going home, and she might get some "Mom-ba" juice... some healthy, yummy creation from Mommy (lately, fresh-squeezed pomegranate juice).  She said that "Mom-ba" juice is actually breastmilk... to which I said, "Yeeeaaah, but don't you it's kinda gross at your age to like breastmilk?"

Not missing a beat, Evangelina quipped, "Well, milk is breastmilk from cows."

Innocent as charged!!!

Guilt and guilt feelings are funny things.  Differentiating between the two can be tough, yet knowing the difference is essential to living in peace.  Recently I've had to address this topic in some depth with some patients dealing with anxiety.  Guilt and guilt feelings can be over specific issues or over life in general.  Furthermore, guilt and guilt feelings can be rightly placed or misplaced... one can be guilty of some wrong and feel guilty about it, one can be guilty of something but not feel guilty about it at all, one can actually not be guilty of something yet feel terribly guilty over it, and one can be innocent of some wrong and have the freedom of not feeling guilty over it.

There's been relative strife in the home for the past week over some misunderstandings and differing goals/perspectives between JJ and me, yet a few days ago while Evangelina and I were alone, she took the time to approach me to apologize for the recent family difficulties as she perceived that they came out of her disobedience that put JJ and me off on each other.  I found it remarkable that our little one had for some reason been carrying this around in her little heart.  I tried to reassure her that our family's entire problems in no way fell upon her shoulders, but rather mostly upon us adults.  I wanted her to know that I was grateful that although her sin cannot cause others to sin, she recognized that her sin can and does affect others deeply.

Peace my child, the peace of the Lord, the peace He bought for you at the cross by taking on all of your guilt... God's peace be upon you forever.   Mommy and Daddy love you so much.

Sibling alliances, sibling diplomacy, sibling translation

Recently I was irked with our daughter.  She was speaking and acting disrespectfully toward me during our out-of-state trip which required us to rent a minivan, of which we had our pick (being value-minded Taiwanese-Americans, we chose the top-of-the-line American model available to us, the Chrysler Pacifica).  Our selection was replete with leather seats, premium audio with satellite radio, Bluetooth cellphone connectivity, motorized sliding doors, motorized back hatch, rear A/C controls, heated seats (which we "threatened" to use on them in the hot muggy Colorado summer weather if they misbehaved)... all foreign features for kids whose family cars are 14 - 22 years old!

Anyway, as we were driving I had gone on and on about how Evanglina needed to be more respectful to her parents... namely me at the time.

After some time of silence, I heard Evangelina comment in what I thought was a sarcastic tone, "I really like all this lecturing."

"What????!!!!!!"  I nearly blew my top, and was about about to lay it into her afresh!

Thankfully, Jadon intervened in a rather calm and matter-of-fact way: "Dad, Evangelina meant 'luxury' when she said 'lecturing.'"

Deflated from my narcissism, I couldn't help but thank him for his effective "Mina-ese"-to-English translation. 

I love you, warts (and solar lentigines) and all!

The age spot on my face -- likely a solar lentigo -- has been ever so slightly growing at my left temple over the decades.  Recently, perhaps partly out of vanity, partly out the realization that it might easily be removed (an in-law our age told me he recently had his frozen off), and partly in order to rid myself of something that I worried might transform into skin cancer down the road, I decided to attempt to remove it myself with liquid nitrogen cryotherapy available at my work.  (Wincingly applying the stinging remedy to oneself while trying to avoid spraying it one's own eyes is another story in itself... it's just begun blistering.)

After I had applied the treatment and my temple was still swollen, I told Evangelina what I had done and why.

To my surprise, she responded with a pout, "Awww, I really like your brown thingy. Ever since I was born I saw it there and I like it and I got used to it."

This healing's got me reeling!

As we read the Bible tonight from Mark 5, Evangelina and I were reminded how complicated language (especially English?) can be, even with proper grammar and word order.

D (reading the chapter heading): "Jesus Heals a Man with a Demon"

E:  Awww, why did He have to use a demon?

早上好...

In the car on the way to school, I mindlessly gave Mina a rhyming prompt:  "早上好...."

Her immediate response:

早上好!

跑,跑,跑!

我們學校都遲到!

She Said Yes

While returning some books to the library, I noted a book entitled "She Said Yes." Hopeless romantic that I am, I assumed it was a story about some dramatic events culminating in a proposal for marriage.  Curious, I pulled the book by its spine from the shelf and shortly realized that it was no fantastic romance but rather the true life story of Cassie Bernal, the seventeen year old Columbine High School student summarily shot to death in 1999 after being asked if she believed in God.

The thought of my own daughter having to face such prospects moved me to want to read it, but when our 8 year old laid eyes on the book, she was hooked on the story and has been since, even since we arrived at the hockey store 30 minutes ago.

Fifteen minutes ago Evangelina told me, "If I was Cassie's mom, I would tutor Eric [one of the killers] at home."

When I briefly asked her what she meant, she clarified, clearly not knowing he'd killed himself at the end of the massacre.  She wanted to help Eric, to protect him from harm, and to keep the massacre from happening again even though she'd be "freaked out" having him in her home.

TRUTH even amidst fiction

Over dinner at a nearby restaurant, Jadon was recounting to us with significant drama one of his recent dreams.  Apparently, if I remember the vivid details correctly [I hardly ever remember my dreams, let alone their details], Jadon dreamt that the four of us were somehow stuck in an underground river at a crossroads where we had to decide among four possible pathways in order to survive and escape.  Mommy, being the most valiant and loving [hey!], said that she would go first, and if she screamed in terror as she went down her watery pathway, that would be her signal to us that we should choose another path.  Unfortunately as she traversed down her chosen tunnel, she screamed in terror, and we knew she had died.

I, being the other brave and loving parent [whew, at least I didn't chicken out and go third or fourth!], chose a different tunnel with the same instructions to the children, but unfortunately, it was another fatal mistake, & they heard my screams of terror as I died as well.

Meanwhile, Evangelina silently listened with rapt attention and head cocked forward, as usual when she hears a dramatic story unfold.  Her eyes welled up with tears at the scary thought of losing both her parents to watery grave, but what she asked next was telling of what was truly important to her: "Jadon, in your dream did Daddy and Mommy know Jesus?"

Listen #2

Apparently JJ had Eva recite the rhymes herself!

I'm the type of girl... I roam around, around, around

While we were walking around Cancun it was very important that our kids stay nearby us at all times, so we were upset when Evangelina wandered off a little too far away from us for our comfort.  After enduring our quiet chastisement, she told me, "I'm a planet.  Planet means wandererer."

I guess I could use the help...

As told to me by Jadon:

J:  do you know what I got for your birthday? A cellphone that does your homework for you

E:  I want to do my own homework...

(then after thinking about it a little)... Can it do my Chungdahm [writing composition class]?

The difference between eternities

Tonight's Bible reading was 2 Chronicles 5 about the dedication of the first temple ("Solomon's"), including verse 13 when the temple singers sang of God, "He is good; his love endures forever."  Before we prayed for the night, Evangelina asked, "Daddy, if God's love is forever and yours & Mommy's love is forever, then what's the difference?"

I told her that God's love is infinitely deeper and higher and wider than ours, and therefore much more love than ours (as we have told her countless times in the past), but that both would go on forever.  We agreed it was like a quark of love going forever and a universe of love going forever at the same time, even though our quark of love for her is immense to us...

Lost in translation

As Evangelina was brushing her teeth tonight, she farted in my direction.

Daddy: Uhhhh, don't you have to say "Excuse me"?

E: My butt did.

D: No, your butt said, "Pppppppbbbbbbbb!"

E: Yeah, that means, "Excuse me."