Back from Hong Kong

Sandra and I are back from Hong Kong. We've traveled to Hong Kong to change our US visa and visit families. We've had a really wonderful time in Hong Kong. We were nervous about whether we could get the visa due to several risky situations of our case. The only thing we could possibly do was to pray ernestly. Thanks God. The visa application process turned out to be very successful. While we're in HK, we spent lots of time with our families. We decided not to travel too much but stayed more with our parents. We've had a good time and shared a lot with them. I also got the official contract for my new job next year. I have been waiting for it for a while and it's finally come. I am really thankful to our Lord because He has prepared everything for us. There is nothing for us to worry about when we are walking with Him.
On June 3, we took a long flight back to Boston. It was a very tiring journey. We've spent about 26 hours on the flight and waiting at the terminal for boarding. Glad that Sandra was traveling with me that made time passing faster. We found a dusty apartment when getting back home. Thanks Sandra for spending two days cleaning up the house. It's become comfy again!
I confessed that I've done nothing much for my research while I was in HK. I should definitely get back to work seriously. No more laziness! And frankly, I feel a bit stressed with my research work lately. May God give me peace and wisdom.

Thanks, Somerville Police

Here is the story:
Two weeks ago, I drove my friend to my home to have bible study, and we forgot to lock the door of the car. The GPS, which I put it in the drawer, was stolen. I think it would be gone and didn't even bother to report to the police...
Just a few days later, we saw a notice from the Somerville police that a thief was caught. A GPS with our home address in it was found in his possession. We called the police and they are so polite and helpful. They promised they will release it to me next week, after they use it for the evidence.
Isnt it amazing? Thanks Somerville police~

Back from the Cherry Blossom trip

Sandra and I went to see the Cherry Blossom in DC during the weekend. It was a wonderful trip. It's my first time seeing the cherry trees. They're so pretty! We drove 10 hours each way to DC. It's tired to drive such a long way, especially for the overnight drive on Sunday's evening. I had to keep myself awake while I was really sleepy. Thanks God that we finally returned safely.

Congrats to Tony

It's a good news. Tony is appointed as the next President of HKUST. I believe it is beneficial to HK as a whole, in both aspects of HK education and academia.

More things happened in the last 2 days. umm..Overall, I am thankful to God because He has made His will clear to me.

Cherry Blossom trip 2 days later!! I am so excited about it. Tony has confirmed me that the cherry trees are in full bloom! Great!!

Insomnia

I had an insomnia last night. Maybe because I took a long nap in the afternoon and drank some strong tea & coffee right before I went to bed. It's strange tho', coz coffee and tea have never had any effect for my sleep. Thanks God I could still keep awake during the Sunday worship today.
The message today was a good reminder. It talked about how one might suffer to follow God and that Christians should carry the cross. Yes. Indeed, one might have to 'suffer' when following Christ. We might have to 'give up' a lot. But to me, the words 'suffer' or 'give up' don't sound quite right to me. When we follow Christ, we see the love of God. He loves us so much that He gave up His life on the cross, and gives us the eternal life. When we see His love, we are EAGER to 'suffer' and 'give up'. It sounds strange to say we are EAGER to suffer and give up. But it truly is. We 'suffer' because we know we will get sth much much better in the near future. And we know God can be glorified. We 'give up' because we see sth better and dislike what we've considered to be good before. The message reminded me that today as a Christian, I grasp something which is much much better than what I've considered to be precious before. So, we deny our old self for good.

"只是我先前以為與我有益的，我現在因基督都當作有損的。不但如此，我也將萬事當作有損的，因我以認識我主基督耶穌為至寶。我為他已經丟棄萬事，看作糞土，為要得著基督；並且得以在他裡面，不是有自己因律法而得的義，乃是有信基督的義，就是因信神而來的義，使我認識基督，曉得他復活的大能，並且曉得和他一同受苦，效法他的死，或者我也得以從死裡復活。" (Phil 3:7-11)

Thankful, joyful, relaxing...

Friday we joined the church fellowship. It was a testimonial night during which bro/sis shared about their experience with God. Both Sandra and I haven't shared our stories. But it was nice to listen to others' testimonies, like how God has saved them, how God has changed their life etc... It is encouraging to know many others are experiencing the love of the same God whom I believe in. I feel really thankful because God shows His mercy and love to everyone who rely on Him. I feel joyful because He is living in me.

Today is a relaxing day. I drove Sandra to the church for she had a hymn practice in the morning. We went to Sichuan Gourmet for our lunch. It's delicious. I like spicy Sichuan food. Yummy Yummy. (Bad that I forgot my camera.) The price is reasonable too. I am sure I'll visit again. We also went to gym. It's refreshing after a nice workout! I hope I can keep this habit of exercising everyday.

DC Cherry Blossom trip in 7 days. I am so looking forwards to it!

Update about my recent life

It has been a long while since I last updated my blogger. It's time to write something to update my recent life.
Everything is going well. Thanks God. There has been up and down in my spiritual life. But God has His mercy on me and brought me back whenever I walked away from Him. There were so many things happened recently. All these things happened let me experience Him more. I feel so joyful because I know He is leading my way all the time.
I went back to Hong Kong for my wedding banquet in December. It was really a memorable moment, and it was so touching that so many bro/sis and friends were so eagerly helping us out. Both Sandra and I experienced God's grace and love. We are hoping that through our marriage, we might testify God's love to others and let Him be the glory.
I have also been struggling about my future career by myself. This made me feel quite stressful. I seemed to forget one thing: everything is governed by Him and He has already planned the best for me. It was so weak and lost my faith in Him for a while. I am thankful to Him because finally I realized once again that He is the one who control all things. And He loves us so much that He must give us what is the best for us. I am peaceful in Him now. Although I don't know what will happen and where I will go, I trust that He MUST lead me all the way. And I further remember that "For thy pleasure we were and we are created". We should live for His glory but not for our own. May God give me strength that I can walk in His will so that His name might be glorifed.

Got my new camera!

I finally got my new camera. It's a DSLR Canon 450D. That allows me to capture lots of important moment and scene that I will be encountering. From now on, I'm going to take lots of pictures!

Life in Boston...

Wow! It has already been two months since I've last updated my blog. So many things have happened recently and there were three important changes in my life. Tho' it may be hard, I am going to write about each of them.

The first important change was the change of my marital status. On July 23, Sandra and I did our marriage registration in L.A. and got married. On Sunday July 27th, we had our testimony in front of brothers and sisters to testify God's blessing to our marriage. Thanks Kite Ma and Kite Yea for organizing all these for us. So now, I have officially switched from 'single' to 'married'. That said, I have stepped into a new stage of life. For this, I am so thankful to God. It's really the happiest thing in my life that I could be united with Sandra and to live with her for the rest of my life. Of course, we are also facing lots of challenges to build up a new family. But I am sure that with God's grace and mercy, we can deal with all the challenges. We are not walking alone!

On July 27th evening, Sandra and I took the red eye flight to Boston. That's my second new change -- change of residence. I am not a Californian anymore! I miss L.A. a lot. I miss my church, my brothers and sisters, my friends... But I know going to Boston is what God has prepared for me. I am eager to go and walk with Him. Of course, settling down in a new environment takes time. We rented a car from Budget at the airport. We drove to our new home, got the keys and unloaded our lugguages early in the morning. We then had to drove around to buy the furnitures and neccessities. It was a tiring day for both of us!

On July 29th, I met Prof. Yau to discuss our research topic. We had lunch together. Switching from a student to a postdoc is the third important change. The very first thing to do was to look for suitable research projects. Thanks God. We have finally decided on several research projects to work on in collaboration with Tony. Everything went through quite smoothly. I can see how the Lord has helped me.

Finding a new church is another big challenge for me. We went to few churches and finally we found a church to settle down. Thanks the Lord for preparing us with brothers and sisters. I can see that I am really not walking alone in Boston. He is with me always.

Everything is going fine. I got more and more used to the new environment. I met many new friends here. I hope I will like Boston more and more...

My update...

I haven't updated my blogger for quite a while. I have been quite busy last month and didn't have time to do so. It's time to write something again to update a little bit about how I am going on.

After months of hard work, I have already finished my dissertation and passed my PhD's final defense exam. I officially received my Ph.D on June 12. Calvin, Eva, Tsang Uncle and Tsang Auntie came to my hooding ceremony. I am so happy they came to share my happiness, especially for Calvin and Eva who flew a long way to L.A. from Hong Kong.

Photos of my hooding ceremony are uploaded here at: http://picasaweb.google.com/malmlui/UCLADoctoralHooding/

So, while Calvin and Eva were around in L.A., I was traveling with them. We went to many different places, including SF, Yosemitie, Grand Canyon and Vegas. Since the traveling schedule was so tight, Calvin got sick at the end. Luckily, he is okay now.

After the U.S. trip, I went to church retreat. The topic of this year's church retreat is "Walk with the Lord". I really got some new understanding of God's word. Praise the Lord.
(to be continue...)