Hope 畫的全家福 Hope's drawing - family picture

This is Hope first drawing of Family Picture... Oh well, she had done that many times, but this time she has clear plan before she started drawing. Not like before, she drew a circle, then told me "this is mommy" after I asked her... If I asked her later, she gave me different answer... This time, she told us she is going to draw family picture, and then draw ... For 3 years old, I am very happy for her art... 　All the words were instructed by her cute sister - Faith. Hope can write her own name, but the rest - Faith wrote on another paper, and then Hope wrote her own from copying Faith's.

Happy New Year 新年快樂

It is so fast that the year of OX has gone. Let's welcome the year of Tiger. We have been through a lot in year of 2009, and pray for the new year we all can be in peace and joy. Happy New Year!

好快又過了一年. 牛年已過, 讓我門迎接虎年吧! 虎虎生威!!! 2009 我們經歷了太多, 祈禱新的一年有豐盛的喜樂平安! 新年快樂!

Faith perform in Chinese School.

White Christmas 銀色聖誕

We had beautiful white Christmas... Chicago had snowing days around Christmas time in Chicago. It certain a good time for kids. Only in around our neighberhood, they could had great time. Post some pictures here to make Uncle's family in LA, and Aunt's Family in Taiwan jealous :-)

聖誕節期間,芝加哥下著大雪. 孩子們玩的好開心. 在家們口及附近,她們就玩的這麼快樂. 放些照片讓洛杉磯的舅舅全家, 和台灣的阿姨全家羨慕一下 :-)

Faith's Baptism Ceremony 受浸典禮

Faith 受洗了!


她在12/20/2009 Sunday 3:30pm 芝加哥的活水福音教會受浸典禮中受洗歸入主名. 我們都感動不已. 這是新堂落成啟用後的第一次受浸典禮. Faith 是英文堂受浸典禮的第一個受浸的孩子. 太特別了! Faith 9 歲時就決志, 但一直等到現在符合了教會的規定(滿13歲). 12/6/2009 剛滿13歲, 又逢新堂第一次受浸典禮, Faith 該是最年輕的一位了! 我們的傻瓜相機拍不到Faith 受洗的畫面, 因為太暗. 放上幾張受洗的照片, 是從Video上翻拍的. 不是很清楚, 但比沒有好 :) Video 也上從TV上翻錄. 因為要等Daddy 有空把CamCoder的video load 到網上, 不知何年何月. 只好用傻瓜相機的錄影功能翻錄! 不是很清楚, 但比沒有好 :)




Faith 隨即做了信主見證 ~

Hi! My name is Faith Tsou, I'm 13, and I want to share my testimony.
I grew up in a Christian family, go to a Christian school, and go to church every week ever since I was born. So I basically thought I was always a Christian. But slowly I realized that I need to have a relationship with Jesus.
The reason why I want to be a Christian is that I want to walk with the Lord and not have eternal death, so when I die, I will be in Heaven with my family, friends, and God and be sure of it.

When I was 9, I was getting ready for bed, and I had a sudden thought to become a Christian. I asked my parents if we could talk and they asked me what I wanted to talk about and that it’s getting late. I told them that I want to become a Christian. Then my dad said that we should have a family meeting the next day, but he wanted me to think about two questions: Why do I want to be a Christian and how do I think I can become a Christian?

The next day we had a family meeting as my dad promised. My grandma, my mom, my dad, and I were sitting in our dinning room with our Bibles.

My dad first asked me if I was serious about my decision to become a Christian, and I said 'yes'. Then he asked me why I wanted to become a Christian. I told him that I wanted to walk with the Lord, and I want to be in Heaven with my family and God when I died. Then he asked me if I knew how I can become a Christian. I told him that I have to admit that I am a sinner, I want to repent, I believe that Jesus is God's Son and He came into the world and died on the cross for me, and I need the courage to confess my faith in Jesus as my Lord and Savior.

My dad shared some Bible verses with me to make sure I understand the meaning of becoming a Christian. The one verse that helped me understand the most is John 1: 12~13 "Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God."

Since I was clear about my decision, my dad told me that I can pray to God and accept Jesus Christ into my heart as my Lord and Savior. I was slightly nervous, so my dad told me that I don't have to do it if I wasn't ready, but I still believed that I was ready, so I prayed with all my heart and then my dad prayed for me. Soon after the prayer, the room was filled with tears of joy and I'm sure heaven was too.

After being saved, I have changed the way I think about the Bible and I have taken God’s Word more seriously. Now I truly believe that God’s Word is the truth. I no longer worry about being separated from my family if any of us died. My grandma passed away in November this year and although I missed her very much, I truly believe that I will see her again in heaven. I pray for one day that my sister will accept Jesus Christ as her savior, so my whole family can be always together with God. I would also pray for everyone to know Jesus and be saved by Him, since God’s salvation is prepared for everyone.


Faith 收到許多的禮物和祝福!

















Faith 和家人,牧師,青年部主任合影.














Faith 的好朋友們都很為她高興.

Hope goes to school! Hope 上學囉!

8/24/2009 is the first day for Hope going to pre-school.... She was so excited...

One thing Hope and Faith in common - both of them had no problem in going to school at all. They were great to say "bye-bye" to mommy without tears. However, I was the one feeling sad and "not want to let go my girls" :(

8/24/2009 是Hope 小班上學的第一天. 她非常興奮. Faith 和Hope相同的一點就是-她們第一天上學,一點問題都沒有. 非常輕鬆的和我說拜拜. 一點也不哭鬧... 反倒是我.. 很捨不得她們這麼早就"不需要媽媽了" :(




Faith and Hope wore the same dress for the first day of their school... Yes, the same dress, which Faith wore 10 years ago, but still looked very new (I have friend asked me where to buy such a great dress, even now ). Same hair style (excep the bans), the backpack... Although 10 years ago, we didn't know we would have Hope, we kept Faith's stuff well as new. It seems telling us - Having strong "Faith" will bring us "Hope".

Faith and Hope 穿著同樣的衣服上學. 是的!這件衣服十年前Faith穿的,但它和新的一樣. 到現在還有人問我這漂亮的衣服在哪兒買的. 她們綁同樣的髮型 (除了Faith 有瀏海), 同樣的書包... 雖然在十年前我不知道會有Hope, 但Faith的東西, 我們都保存得很好... 好像有了堅定的"信心" 就有"盼望"... Left side is Faith (10 years ago), Right side is Hope (one week ago).

Faith's Art work - mini Sculpture 小公仔

Faith is always artistic and creative to me. One quiet afternoon, she told me she wants to play clay... Oh well, I don't have anymore clay at home, so I drove her to buy the "magic model clay". She only asked for a very small package of white clay. "Would that enough?" "Do you need more color?", I asked. "No, I need to finish whole package in short time or it will dry out. I would create my own color scheme...." Oh well, she is the artist, I am just a "supporter". She works in her room for a couple of hours, and she showed me her work. So cute!!!


This is the pen holder that Faith made for her Grandma. 這是Faith做給奶奶的筆架.


Here comes the one with the pen. 哪! 筆來囉!


Can you see the little face of the bunny? 你可以看清楚小兔兔的臉嗎? 很可愛喔!



Then she made another dolphin pen holder for me. Can you tell it is a pen holder. Faith 也作了一個筆架給我. 看得出是筆架嗎?

Here comes the pencil... 筆來囉!


As a piano teacher, I "request" Faith made me a PIANO! Faith said it is hard, since the clay is very soft, but she tried. 身為一個鋼琴老師, 我特別要求Faith做一個鋼琴. Faith 說很難, 因為黏土很軟, 很難hold住 Grand Piano的蓋子. 連琴腿都壓短了!



Faith doesn't like this Little Mermaid. She said she made her too fat. I think this Little Mermaid is very cute. Faith 不喜歡這個小美人魚. 她說小美人魚太胖. 我倒覺得小美人魚很可愛呀! 所以我還是 PO 上了!

This Angel pen holder is requested by Faith's cousin asked for one, since she saw all other art works. I took picture in a hurry, so it is not clear enough! 這個天使筆架是Faith 的小表姊看了Faith 的做品後, 要求Faith 做的. 照的有點急, 所以不清楚!