Friday, April 15, 2005
Tax Day. Today is the deadline for turning in tax forms. Couple interesting thoughts coming from coworker's conversation.
-We all work for the government 4-5 months of the year.
-Funny how when we file our taxes, we are so happy to find a loss in our stock sales and sad to find capital gain.
-We all work for the government 4-5 months of the year.
-Funny how when we file our taxes, we are so happy to find a loss in our stock sales and sad to find capital gain.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Calfel Retreat. This past weekend, Imelda and I went to a retreat with the Calfel group. There were eleven of us: tante Mona, Min, Daniel, Ben, Bok Lum, Henny, Henny's Aunt, Itho, Loh, Imelda and me. We stayed in a small town named Twain Harte. Ever heard of it? According to AAA representative, it is a "hole in the wall place" located in Gold country with nothing to do. She frankly could not understand why we would go there. I am glad she was not on the trip with us. hehe...
Saturday, we spent the day in Stanislaus National Forest. It was only half hour drive from our cabin with seas of trees along the way. We found two lakes; one surrounded by snow, the other in a lower elevation with crystal clear waters. We also got to inner tube in Leland High Sierra Snow Play park. Sunday, on our way back, we stopped by Sunol Regional Wilderness. This is definitely the best time to go with wildflowers everywhere. We were blessed with great weather on both days, with lots of pictures to show.
Funny moments:
-As we caravaned to the cabin, the passengers in my minivan had this imagination that we were driving too slow and that the other cars had passed me. They asked me to drive faster. So I did. Not too long later, we got a serious phone call from the last driver asking us to slow down. Apparently, we had mistaken other people's car with his car.
-The GPS led us to a one lane road up a mountain. The further we went, the more rugged and steep the road was. I knew something was wrong, but I just could not stop laughing that the cars behind me still followed me faithfully.
Out of the ordinary:
-Saturday morning, we set aside some time for worship. The Spirit was with us, and everyone was so eager to lift up voices of gratitude through songs. We sang song after song after song. It felt as if we could have spent the whole day singing praises in the cabin.
-It was great that we all took time to explore every destination that we stopped at. Everyone was equally curious and equally playful about what each place has to offer. It was fun doing simple thing such as jumping from rock to rock by the river. It goes to show that a heart of appreciation makes everything worthwhile.
Love in action:
-Chrisanty who didn't join us on the trip, made food for the rest of us.
-While everyone was eating breakfast, I found Min quietly cleaning the bathrooms.
These two folks demonstrated self-less acts. Something that Jesus Himself would do. It made me stand in wonder... would I do what they did? Lord, help me to be Christ-like, help me to fully understand the meaning of love.
"Love is measured by how much we are willing to give and serve."
-Tim Keller
To see the pictures: click here
Saturday, we spent the day in Stanislaus National Forest. It was only half hour drive from our cabin with seas of trees along the way. We found two lakes; one surrounded by snow, the other in a lower elevation with crystal clear waters. We also got to inner tube in Leland High Sierra Snow Play park. Sunday, on our way back, we stopped by Sunol Regional Wilderness. This is definitely the best time to go with wildflowers everywhere. We were blessed with great weather on both days, with lots of pictures to show.
Funny moments:
-As we caravaned to the cabin, the passengers in my minivan had this imagination that we were driving too slow and that the other cars had passed me. They asked me to drive faster. So I did. Not too long later, we got a serious phone call from the last driver asking us to slow down. Apparently, we had mistaken other people's car with his car.
-The GPS led us to a one lane road up a mountain. The further we went, the more rugged and steep the road was. I knew something was wrong, but I just could not stop laughing that the cars behind me still followed me faithfully.
Out of the ordinary:
-Saturday morning, we set aside some time for worship. The Spirit was with us, and everyone was so eager to lift up voices of gratitude through songs. We sang song after song after song. It felt as if we could have spent the whole day singing praises in the cabin.
-It was great that we all took time to explore every destination that we stopped at. Everyone was equally curious and equally playful about what each place has to offer. It was fun doing simple thing such as jumping from rock to rock by the river. It goes to show that a heart of appreciation makes everything worthwhile.
Love in action:
-Chrisanty who didn't join us on the trip, made food for the rest of us.
-While everyone was eating breakfast, I found Min quietly cleaning the bathrooms.
These two folks demonstrated self-less acts. Something that Jesus Himself would do. It made me stand in wonder... would I do what they did? Lord, help me to be Christ-like, help me to fully understand the meaning of love.
"Love is measured by how much we are willing to give and serve."
-Tim Keller
To see the pictures: click here
