Today started off with me in a dark cloud. I was not sure why though I guessed lack of sleep was the primary concern, having been woken up again at 5 AM by Isaac. I thought about those less fortunate like my friend whose brother died in a freak accident or my friends who learned their unborn baby has Trisomy 18.  But not surprisingly, thinking of other’s misfortune does not actually cheer you up.

Ji Seon, Isaac and Victoria stayed home sick while I took Dylan in my bike trailer.  At church my plan was to only make the courtesy gestures, sit alone during worship and then come home quickly.  But maybe God didn’t like that plan because he had someone sit beside me, Dan whose wife was also at home sick.

I did not really cheer up until I came home when Isaac and Victoria greeted us with hellos.  Somehow that dispelled the dark clouds.  And that would be the first thing I am grateful for today.

1. I am grateful that Isaac and Victoria cheered me up when we returned from church.
2. I am grateful that Isaac and I were able to take a nap this afternoon.
3. I am grateful that Ji Seon got a break this afternoon while I stayed with the kids and that they seemed to have a pretty good time.
4. I am grateful that Ji Seon’s parents and brother arrived home safely in Seattle.
5. I am grateful that the kids got to video chat with Ilene back in Arlington.
6. I am grateful for God’s grace, it’s always there, never runs out.

Tags: Dylan,Isaac,Ji Seon,Victoria
Categories: Devotions
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Ji Seon’s parents and brother left today at 5 PM for a long drive home.  Earlier in the day Dylan expressed his disappointment that they were leaving but when they actually did leave he was okay about it.  Isaac wouldn’t come to the door to see them leave, he kept saying he didn’t want them to go.  I picked him up and brought him to the door because I didn’t want him to miss saying goodbye.  Victoria actually cried and reached out for her uncle, Ji Seon’s brother, and new best friend.  This was the first time the kids ever got upset about one of our overnight guests leaving.

A few memorable quotes from this Thanksgiving weekend.

Dylan to Ji Seon’s parents.

I have never seen 엄마 cry.  I have seen 아빠 cry.

(엄마 is “umma”, Korean for mommy.  아빠 is “appa”, Korean for daddy.)

Isaac to Dylan after Dylan was calling Isaac a monster during a game.

Dylan: Hide!  Run away!  Isaac is a monster!

Isaac: I am not a monster.  I am a baby.

Dylan: You’re not a baby.  You’re three years old!  You’re a big kid!

Five things I am grateful for today (this seems to be getting harder everyday).

1. I am grateful that Ji Seon’s parents and brother’s visit went well.  The children really enjoyed their company and Ji Seon enjoyed the break.
2. I think I am grateful about my recent purchases but now I am wondering if I should have been more grateful with having less.  For example I have three different cordless phone systems because I can’t decide which one to keep, Uniden 1580-2, Uniden 1560-2 or Panasonic KX-TG9344T?  Why don’t any of these have speed dial?
3. I am grateful my Ooma system is working well, that I will no longer have to pay monthly phone bills, and that I convinced Amazon to give me $30 credit when they lowered the price by that much on Black Friday.  However I am not happy that I apparently blew out my Ooma scout.
4. I am grateful that when we do not feel like cooking there is such a wide variety of dining options here in Sunnyvale.
5. I am grateful that every Saturday I can go to the Farmer’s Market and buy reasonably priced organic (or at least pesticide-free), fresh picked, local, delicious produce.  Right now is apple and persimmon season so we have been eating a lot of those lately.  Dylan and Isaac’s favorite fruit remains the fuji apple.  Mine is the pluot but that went out of season awhile ago.  I am not sure what Ji Seon’s is, she’s the most demanding fruit eater I have ever met.
6. I am grateful tomorrow is Sunday and that I can worship with others our God.

Tags: ooma
Categories: Devotions
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Today was Black Friday and  I don’t know even why I try.  I have been having trouble sleeping lately and last night was no exception.  I woke up at 3:30 AM and could not fall back asleep so I went to Fry’s at 5 AM.  The line was so long I could not see the end of it, it went around the side of the building and continued to infinity.  I gave up and tried Office Depot and though that line was relatively small I did not believe it was worth lining up for a $10 label maker.

Around 11 AM I tried again.  I first called Office Depot and they said they were sold out.  I then tried calling Fry’s but no one answered.  So I went to Fry’s with the boys and found that the desired cordless phone system I wanted was sold out.  I then went to Home Depot and bought another cordless phone system, my consolation prize.  While there I noticed some LED flashlights on sale so I bought those too.  There were six in each package and by the end of the evening four of them were missing.

1. I am grateful that uncle Jimmy, Ji Seon’s brother, was so generous and bought the children lots of toys today.
2. I am grateful that the children are really enjoy having Ji Seon’s family here.
3. I am grateful that I was able to take a nap this afternoon and that when Victoria woke me up at the beginning of my nap I was able to put her back to sleep in her crib.  I have never succeeded in doing that before.
4. I am grateful that Ji Seon’s parents are so generous with us.
5. I am grateful that the family had a relatively relaxing day today.

Categories: Devotions
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My former church, Highrock Church, in Arlington, MA is having a Christmas concert to benefit the Arlington food pantry.  If you are in the area please check it out.

Tags: highrock,youtube
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Normally I write my grateful post at the end of the day but then I end up staying late surfing the web so now I am going to do it a bit earlier.

1. I am grateful that I still in touch with friends in Boston.  Today I got an email from my previous pastor, talked on the phone with Alan, and IM’d with our friend and former tenant and babysitter.
2. I am grateful that Ji Seon’s parents and brother arrived safely.  It’s especially nice to see Ji Seon’s brother after many years.
3. I am grateful that we are starting to get a little better and I hope Ji Seon does not get sick.
4. I am grateful that today I do not have to work.  I have not had a holiday in so long.
5. I am grateful that the sun came out today after many gloomy days.

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When I heard the market on Thursday, November 20 had dropped to its lowest point in 20 years I said I have got to buy.  On Friday afternoon at 3 PM EST I put my order in and was pleased that the market had remained flat that day.  When the market heard Frank Kim was buying it was an immediate bull signal.  In just a few minutes the market shot up 6% and on Monday it shot up another 6%.

One would think this would be a happy story but it is not because I am buying mutual funds and they do not execute until the end of the next business day.  In two days I lost over 13%.

On the bright side the market continued to go up for the rest of the week and I am up 2%.

It just goes to show you can’t time the market and you really can’t time it using mutual funds.

Categories: Finance
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Another sick day for the family.

1. I am grateful that I get the next two days off.  At first I assumed I was going to work like I did on July 4th but my boss told me I cannot bill for the next two days.  He let me bill for July 4th because at that time we were behind schedule.  Maybe I will make a family calendar and get a hair cut.
2. I am grateful that Dylan has recovered so quickly from his cold.  Isaac and I are doing the worst, Ji Seon is still going strong.
3. I am grateful that Ji Seon’s parents and brother are willing to drive down from Seattle to see us for Thanksgiving.  I pray they arrive safely.
4. I am grateful that my two youngest cousins wanted to be friends with me on Facebook.  I learned they wanted to from my sister who found out from my mother who received the request from my cousins’ mother.
5. I am grateful I was able to take a nap this afternoon while Ji Seon took care of the children.  Ji Seon is an amazing woman.

God, thanks for taking care of me and my family.  I pray that tomorrow we will all be feeling much better.

Categories: Devotions
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Today was a lot tougher day than the past two days so it is not going to be as easy to do this.

1. I am grateful that Esther Sung faithfully reads my blog.  I am also grateful that she has been such a good friend to Ji Seon and our family.  She has one of the most enjoyable personalities I know and we are looking forward to seeing her soon during the holidays.
2. I am grateful that though our family is currently a bit under the weather we have been blessed overall with good health.
3. I am grateful that though the weather is a bit gloomy it is still relatively nice and I can walk around without a jacket.
4. I am grateful that Dylan’s appetite is growing and that he can spend ninety minutes eating at Sweet Tomatoes like he did tonight.  Unfortunately Isaac is done in thirty minutes and I am done in forty-five minutes. Dylan likes to eat plain noodles, baked potatoes with cheese, those deep fried noodles, tomato slices, some peas, some macaroni and cheese and ice cream for dessert with sprinkles on top.  Isaac pretty much only eats plain noodles and some ice cream with sprinkles on top.
5. I am grateful that in spite of everything my family still loves me and forgives me.  And so does God.

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1. Today Dylan and Isaac had a dental checkup.   I am grateful that Isaac had only one cavity and Dylan had none though one is on the verge.  Last time Dylan had five cavities and Isaac had a few too.
2. I am grateful that Alan Kwok faithfully reads my blog.  Seriously I am grateful to have such a good friend, it’s hard to find a friend like him.
3. I am grateful that Sara, Tom and their children Avery and Summer came by to drop off Victoria’s jacket and diaper wrap which we left at their house yesterday.  And it was nice they invited us to go with them to Ikea.  We appreciate having a family friend that lives so near.
4. I am grateful that Esther and her son Elijah came to visit.  We have not seen them for awhile and it’s always good to hear Esther laugh.
5. I am grateful that after putting in my order for two mutual funds late Friday afternoon, they both went up 10% before my order could be executed at the close of business today (in other words I lost 10%).  The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.

Thank God for friends and always for providing and watching over my family.

This is a little side story.  Late in the morning I was wondering why Ji Seon and the children were taking so long to return from the dentist.  My mind started wandering and I started imagining what life would be like if all four of them were tragically taken away from me.  After depressing myself quite a bit I realized that life would be so boring without them because I would have nothing to do, no one to take care of.  After a few minutes of day dreaming I heard the garage door open.  It was nice to have everyone home again.

Categories: Devotions
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In today’s sermon Pastor David Chae encouraged us to increase our spiritual appetite.  He asked us to write down five things that we are grateful for that day and give thanks to God for those things.  At the end of 14 days he challenges us to see if our spiritual appetite has not increased from doing this exercise.

So here we go on day 1.

1. Today Ji Seon got together with the other women from the cell group for a day out.  They had lunch together, hung out, and then had dinner together.  I am grateful that Ji Seon has a group of women friends that she is becoming closer to.
2. I am grateful that today while Ji Seon was out I was able to take care of the children without incident.  The last two times we did this I lost my patience at the end.  Fortunately there was another small group meeting to make things easier for me.
3. I am grateful that I am becoming closer to my children.  Dylan actually kissed me, without encouragement at all, right on the lips when I was holding him on my lap at the movie theater.  Or maybe because it was dark he thought I was Ji Seon.
4. I am grateful that though we have been here for a little more than a year many people have welcomed us into their lives and we have built up many friendships.
5. I am grateful that fantasy basketball and real basketball (played tonight for the first time in a while) are enjoyable and that I did not get hurt.

Praise God for blessing me and my famiy.

Categories: Devotions
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