Birthday lesson.

This past weekend, I went to Little Rock with my older daughter to see and have lunch with my father on his birthday.

The restaurant we were going to go to didn't serve for lunch what my daughter wanted to eat, so we chose a different restaurant and told my father to meet us there instead.

We arrived at the restaurant and he wasn't there, so we waited. I tried calling him, but he wasn't answering, because he had left his cell phone at home. 

After waiting for 45 minutes, we guessed that he went to the same restaurant, but at a different location, since this was a restaurant chain with at least four or five locations in the city, so we went ahead and ate without him.

My daughter's birthday is the day after my father's birthday, and she wanted to go to a shopping mall. We left the restaurant, and drove to towards the mall.

Before we arrived at the mall, the stopped working in the middle of an intersection. We had to push the car into a parking lot. I took a look under the hood, and discovered the belt that works everything had come off, because some bolts had broke.

Now at this point, different people would handle the situation in different ways. Some might panic, and not know what to do. Some would call for a tow or a mechanic. Some could try to fix it themselves if they knew how. I knew how, but I felt the easiest would be to call a mechanic. I later learned that this was the wrong decision.

The mechanic came about an hour later, and said he could repair it. Four hours later, he told me that he had to order the correct size bolts, and that they would not be in until the morning. He said he would be back then to repair the car.

Now, for this next part, I know there are many people that would tell me that what I did next was a big mistake, and I agree. My daughter had also brought her boyfriend, and her boyfriend's brother with us, so I called my mother to drive two hours from our home to come get all of them.

In the meantime, my father had returned to his house and called me. He agreed to come get me, and let me stay overnight with him, since he lived not too far away, so I could get the car the next day when it was fixed, and drive it home.

I wanted to meet the mechanic the next day after he was finished with the car, and I would pay him then. Since I was going to stay overnight with my father, I decided to go to church with him the next morning. What happened next is the part where most people will disagree with what I did next.

The mechanic said he could fix the car in the morning while I was at church with my father, and if I paid him in full now, he would leave the keys with me, and I could pick the car up at anytime. He seemed like an honest guy, so I agreed.

The next day, after church, we went to check on the car. It was still sitting there just as I had left it. I contacted the mechanic, who told me the bolts he ordered at the parts store had not come in yet, and that it would be later.

We waited three more hours, and then I took matters into my own hands. I went to the parts store, and found some bolts that would work. I bought an inexpensive tool set, along with the parts I needed, including a new belt for the car. I borrowed a special tool I knew I would need to install the belt. And then I went back to the car and fixed it myself in only about an hours time.

If I had done this yesterday, it would have only cost me $45, and would have been fixed in an hour, instead of staying overnight.

That's not the main lesson learned. The main lesson isn't about the money. It's not about the time. It's not about what who was right or wrong. The main lesson came from what I didn't do after the car broke, and before I even made a decision on what to do.

When I went to church with my father that morning after the car broke, I learned that God wants us to talk with Him. He wants us to not only pray, but to simply communicate with Him. God still wants us to bring our problems to Him, but He also wants us to ask for advice. And then, after asking for advice, we should listed to what He has to tell us. If we regularly talk with God, and read the Bible, God will communicate back with us through the Holy Spirit.

The main lesson to learn here, is that I should have stopped after the car broke, and talked with God to ask him what I should do. He might have told me to fix it myself. Or, he might have told me to call the mechanic anyway, since that course of action led to me being able to stay overnight with my father and spend some time with him, including going to church together.

As a believer in God and that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to atone for our sins, we not only have the opportunity to communicate directly with God, but we have an obligation to do so on a regular basis. God is with us always, whether we choose to acknowledge Him or not. And He cares for us with great love. He is the perfect father, teacher, lord, and master.

Destiny's 9th birthday party.

Destiny will be 9 years old in a few days, but we had her birthday party this last Saturday. She had ten of her school and church friends come to her party. My other daughter, Destiny's older sister, had a cake made. The theme of the party was Jurassic World. The kids had fun playing games, and Destiny really enjoyed all of the gifts from her friends and family.

My father came to the party.

Mission Trip

It's been awhile since my last update to the blog. I was having trouble with accessing photos from my phone. I have corrected the problem now.

This last week, I took Destiny on a mission trip our church had. We went to another town about four hours drive away. We stayed five nights in a church, sleeping on air mattresses.

During the day, we went out into the different communities, and invited them to come to the local church for a 'block party'.

We would serve free hot dogs, popcorn, and snow cones. We also played christian music, while providing the children with face painting, bouncy houses, and games.

In the evenings, we invited the people to join in some free classes that taught about christian marriages, evangelism, and finances.

We had four block parties in total, and then also served a meal at a homeless shelter in Memphis, Tennessee, on the last day. There were a total of 33 from our church that went, and it was a great experience for all.

Father's Day weekend

The third Sunday of June is Father's Day. On Saturday, I went with my younger daughter to Magic Springs, then to Mid-America Science Museum, and to see 'Incredibles 2', and finish the day, we ate at Larry's Pizza.

Solo: A Star Wars Story

We started our day by doing some house cleaning. When we took the trash outside, we found a baby deer.

After spending some time with the deer, and letting it go, we hung an American flag for Memorial Day.

Then we went to Crystal Falls Water Park for the afternoon.

Followed by going to see 'Solo: A Star Wars Story'. The cinema had comfortable recliner seats.

Awards and dress.

Destiny finished second grade. She received an academic award. Then she got a Summer haircut and her big sister bought her a new dress for church.

Summer fun.

We went back to Magic Springs this weekend. This time around, the water park side, 'Crystal Falls', was open for the first time this year. We rode a few rides first. I tried the 'Brain Drain'. It took me up 132 feet, before dropping me at about 55 miles per hour. And then there was the 'Summit Plummit' and the 'Splash Zone'. The water park was lots of fun, including the 'wave pool'.

Magic Springs Theme Park

My younger daughter and I have season passes to Magic Springs Theme Park, about an hour and a half drive from our home. We went to the park this last Saturday. Destiny liked the bumper cars.

It was a beautiful Spring day, and we had a wonderful time. We are planning on going back again in a couple of weeks when they open Crystal Falls, the water park that is included in our season passes.

Answers to common questions: 'Teacher, why have you lived in so many different countries?'

My father was in the United States military when I was born in the USA, and was stationed in Germany for about one and a half years when I was still a baby.

My parents divorced after returning to the USA, but my mother remarried to another military man, and we moved to Italy to live there for about another one and a half years until I was twelve years old, and then returned to the USA.

Later, we moved to England for three years, until I graduated from high school.

I moved to China after I was married and had my own family. We lived there for three years, from 2010 through 2012. We lived in Jiamusi, Heilongjiang for two years, and Beijing for one year. This is when I started my teaching career.

Sharing old photos.

First, let me introduce my older daughter, Suzanne. She likes animals, including snakes, coloring her hair, piercings, tattoos, and Harry Potter.

This is Suzanne's snake, Banana.

This is our guinea pig, Moe.

And now, this is my younger daughter, Destiny. She is twelve years younger than her sister. She likes 'Frozen', animals, watching cartoons, and playing.

This is her school, Victory Christian School, which is only a ten minute walk from home.

This photo was taken just after Destiny was baptized.

This was in Little Rock just before Chinese Spring Festival 2018.

It was very cold to go see the lanterns and performers.

This is an old car we saw in a parking lot going into Walmart.

We were at Mid America Museum in Hot Springs.

Just before baptism.

Halloween 2015 at the nearby White Oak Lake State Park.

This is a little water park our town put in for the kids to have fun during the summer.

This is from Destiny's eighth birthday part.

This is at the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum.

They have a real submarine, the U.S.S. Razorback, which you can go in. You can see a video tour here.

It was the longest serving submarine in the world, serving for 26 years in the United States Navy, starting in 1944, followed by another 31 years in the Turkish Navy.

This was our 2017 Christmas tree.

My little girl's bed.

I chop about ten different vegetables to make a large salad. The salad is seasoned, and I will have a little salad dressing on it for my lunch, and sometimes dinner each day. I keep the salad refrigerated, and it will usually last all week.

Disney on Ice

I surprised my little girl on Saturday with a trip to our state capital to see a traveling show called 'Disney on Ice'. She had a wonderful time, and so did I. She really likes 'Frozen'.

We were going to go to another event, about a civil war battle, on Sunday that is once a year in our area, but the weather looked like rain, so we stayed home after church.

My grandmother's paintings.

My mother’s mother sewed, quilted, cooked, wrote songs, gardened, painted, and was an author.

These are some of my grandmother’s paintings.

Easter 2018

On Saturday, Suzanne, her boyfriend, and I went to Little Rock to the movies. I went to see ‘Paul, Apostle of Christ’.

This is the second movie I have seen starring Jim Caviezel. He plays Luke in this movie. In the first movie I saw him in, ‘The Passion of Christ’, directed by Mel Gibson, he played Jesus. It was a very powerful role. I later saw an interview with Jim Caviezel that explained how he was able to perform so well in the first movie.

The bottom picture shows my two daughters and myself at our church, Grace Baptist, on Easter Sunday.

For those that are interested, if you go to the link for the church, you can find links to videos of our pastor’s sermons, and his blog.

We also have a wonderful singing group named ‘Ten Steps Back’ that sings at our church. This is a link to watch one of their concerts.

Happy Easter.

Spring Break 2018 day 8:

We left the campsite this morning and drove about an hour and a half to Malvern, where we checked into a hotel. We arrived early, so we went to see the Hot Springs Tower. Then, the idea was that we were going to go to Magic Springs Theme Park. This is our first time to have season tickets, and received an email about coming to the park today between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. to activate our season tickets. We thought the park would be open and we could go on the rides. It was only to activate the tickets. We are still going to stay the night in the hotel and return home tomorrow before noon. Then it’s time to get back to work for me, and back to school for Destiny.

Spring Break 2018 day 7:

We slept in, and went to the diamond mine at 10. We took some sandwiches, chips, and drinks with us. We dug, washed, and looked for diamonds, but didn’t find any. We returned to the camp and enjoyed the rest of the day by the river by practicing archery and going on a hike. In the evening, we had our last big campfire and made s’mores. Tomorrow, we are going to drive about an hour North to Malvern, Arkansas to check into a hotel for our last night of vacation.

Spring Break 2018 day 6:

Wow, it was a day full of activities and walking. We changed plans and went to Hot Springs today, because it was a little cool this morning. We started by going to a toy store and then saw a museum with Star Wars and superhero stuff. Then we had breakfast for lunch, (I had hash-brown potatoes, sausage, biscuits, and eggs covered in country gravy, and Destiny had bacon, eggs, and a pancake.), before going to see some model trains and town. After that, we went to an alligator farm and petting zoo. Finally, we went to walk around some nature trails called Garvand Woodland Gardens. We are both tired, but are going to enjoy a good campfire before bed.

Spring Break 2018 day 5:

We said goodbye to my father and drove to see where an ancient Indian civilization used to live about 3,000 years ago up to about 1,000 years ago. They built mounds of dirt to keep track of the Winter and Summer solstice, and of the Spring and Autumn equinox. Next, we drove to Murfreesboro, Arkansas, to spend the next four nights in a Tipi. After settling in, we built a campfire, and Destiny made some new friends. They all went out at night with flashlights on a ‘treasure hunt’ the campground owner arranged for them.

Spring Break 2018 day 4:

Took my daughter and nephew downtown Little Rock, Arkansas to three museums: Old State House Museum, Historic Arkansas Museum, and Arkansas Museum of Discovery. We also rode on a trolley car, had pizza for lunch, and ice cream in the afternoon before returning to my father’s house. I recorded a really cool video using a thermal camera.

Spring Break 2018 day 3:

Had a great Sunday with my daughter, father, my nephew David, and God. We went to church, and then my father took us to a Mexican restaurant for lunch. We came back to my father’s house, where the kids rode a 4-wheeler, and spent the whole afternoon playing. Tomorrow, we are going to take my nephew with us to three museums downtown.

Spring Break 2018 day 2:

It was Saint Patrick's Day on Saturday. We went to Burger King for breakfast before going to the zoo. We were at the zoo when they opened the gates at 9 a.m., and stayed at the zoo until 2:45 in the afternoon. We saw lots of animals and even went on a train ride. We had lunch at the zoo, and while walking around after lunch, we found $28 on the ground. Our feet were sore from all the walking by the time we left the zoo, but we still had another stop to make before going back to my father’s house. We drove to the Verizon Arena in time for a real feast. There were games for kids. Destiny had lots of fun. There were a lot of people there. We ate catfish, chicken, buffalo, quail, deer, bear, turkey, and pig. We also heard singers singing songs of praise, and speakers giving their testimony. (The name of this event was called: John 3:16, which is a Bible verse that says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not parish, but have eternal life.” We left about 5:15 p.m. to return to my father’s house about 5:45. Enjoy the pictures.