Count Our Days

Counting God's blessing in our daily lives

August 18, 2010
by Thuong
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8-bit Color Cycling in real-time rendered in HTML5 canvas

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Geek post alert!!!

There are so many things I want to learn and try, like this one, an implementation of a full 8-bit color cycling engine rendered into an  HTML5 canvas in real-time. It’s uber cool that I want to remake that  first page level, or the waterfall level of that Nintendo Contra game. There’s just no time!!

8-bit Color Cycling by Mark Ferrari (screencap)

The screencap doesn’t do the demo justice. Click link  to see the awesome work by Mark J. Ferrari, http://www.effectgames.com/demos/canvascycle/

The color cycling engine works in the following browsers / platforms:

Safari 4+ Mac/PC Works
Chrome 5+ Mac/PC Works
Firefox 3.5+ Mac/PC Works
Opera 10.6+ Mac/PC Works
iPhone with iOS 4+ Works
iPad with iOS 3.2+ Works
Internet Explorer 6, 7, 8 Does not work, unless of course you have Google Chrome Frame, hehe.
Internet Explorer 9 Should work natively once it is released.

August 10, 2010
by Thuong
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Live for Today

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In good hand

"Sleep tight. Everything is under control. Love" - God

Worrying, that’s something I’m pretty good at. Just to name a few, family, health, rent, mortgage, foods are things I constantly worry about. It’s like a non-paid part time job that I keep volunteering in doing, and I need constant reminders that I need to stop exerting my strength for meaningless work. Instead just relax. It sounds all so simple but very hard to do.

We are human after all, and it is our nature to worry, to be anxious just about anything. God knows that, for He created us,  and He  reminds us to stop worry. Worry does not add any single hour to our lives, in fact it’s the opposite. So relax, we already are in good hands, just rest leave the rest to God. He knows what we need, and it shall be given in due time.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? (Matthew 6:25-26)

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:31-34)

So, live and enjoy our day. Sleep tight. Everything is under God’s control. Listen or sing along to this melody “Live for Today” by Natalie Grant

Live For Today (Natalie Grant)

Sittin’ in my room staring at the wall
Wonderin’ about the meaning of it all
Why is it this thing called life
Has got me goin’ crazy
So I open up your word and let it speak to me
The purpose and the plan that you’ve designed
Is clear to see, and I believe

Chorus:
I’m gonna live for today
I’m gonna follow in your way
I’m gonna let my little light shine
Like there’s no tomorrow
I won’t worry about the past
I know my future is intact
So I’ll choose to live my life one way
I’m gonna live it for today

You told me not to worry
About what lies ahead
So I am gonna focus on today instead
Making every moment count and counting
Every single blessing
I’m gonna set my mind on the
Here and the Now
This is what I want my life to be about
And this is How… (repeat chorus)

Taken from the devotion yesterday:

“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Luke 12:6-7)

In a universe so vast, what is our little planet? In a planet so diverse and so full of life, what are simple everyday people? Among all the billions of people alive and who have lived before us, what significance do I have? Jesus reminds us that our significance is great — not because we are so important, but because we are known personally by God. We don’t have to be afraid; we are known and loved by the One who is and was and is to come!

August 3, 2010
by Thuong
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He Knows

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Daddy and Benji

I think being parents and watching the kids grow each day is truly a special gift from God. It certainly brings me a clearer perspective on my relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Our little Benjamin is now quite talkative using his limited bilingual vocabulary pools. It is quite funny yet adorable hearing him talk, trying to explain something with only words that he knows. Most of the time, you probably already understood what he is trying to say before he finishes his sentence as he takes his time choosing the words, while the other times you will be guessing what he tries to say as he mixes in English and Vietnamese words altogether.  I can’t keep from laughing every time he finishes his stories. At first, he thought I probably made fun of him, so he blushed and shy away. But then, now he takes it as I am cheering him on. Ha ha ha. I love it!! I absolutely love to hear him telling stories of his day.

It must be the parent instinct or something very cool like superhero power in us that we parents typically already know what our kids try to say before they even say it.  Our ‘parent-sense’ probably tingling all over as we can sense when our children are happy, sad, excited, hungry, in pain, or something bothers them.  Even though we can read their mind most of the time, we still wish our kids would talk to us about what’s going on in their lives. We would give them foods, clothes, toys, things that they like anyways, but we would like to hear they request them first.

Isn’t that strange that this is exactly how things are between us and God, that He always knows what is in our hearts before we even lift up our prayer to Him? Well,  it shouldn’t be a surprise since we are created to His image, His likeness. We are His children, and God loves to hear from us, our stories, our needs, what going on in our lives, what bothering us. Not that God doesn’t know since He is the omniscient One (simple word, He is Mr. Know-it-all), but He longs for that interaction, conversation, relationship that connect we and Him.

“Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord” (Psalm 139:4)

“for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:8)

When Benjamin talks now, he often struggles finding words to express his thoughts. That’s when I come in to help him, either complete his thought by saying it for him, or help him saying it right. Again, we learn to do that from the Master. God knows our hearts and He is praying for our weakness.  He even has given the Holy Spirit in us to intercede for us when we cannot find words to express ourselves.

“Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you,  that your faith may not fail” (Luke 22:31)

“the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” (Romans 8:26)

The love in our earthly relationship between parents and children is simply just the small scale manifestation of the “truly, madly, deeply” God’s love for us. Our mind just simply cannot fully grasp how strong, how far, how high, how deep God’s love is for us. Then God gives us that gift of being parents so we can have a glimpse, a taste, a somewhat comprehension of His love through the love for our children.

“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! ” (Matthew 7:9-10)

God knows what in your mind, and your heart. Yet have you talked to Him lately?

July 19, 2010
by Thuong
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You Are Not Alone

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You are not alone – for God is with you.
You are not defenseless – for God is your protector.
You are not inadequate – for God is your sufficiency.
You are not useless – for God has a purpose for your life.
You are not worthless – for God sent His Son to die for you.
You are not without hope – for God has a place prepares for you.
You are not unloved – for God loves you with an everlasting love.
You are not rejected, or abandoned – for God calls you His own.

“I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?” – Hebrews 13:5-6 NLT

Devotional by Roy Lessin

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June 17, 2010
by Thuong
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Random Thoughts: Change in Marriage

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There is a joke saying a woman marries a man thinking she will change him, but she can’t. A man marries a woman thinking she will not change, but she does.

My thought: It’s not really a joke; it’s the truth. We need to expect, acknowledge, and accept that there will be differences and changes in marriage. The sooner we recognize those changes and differences, the better marriage relationship we would have.

Actually, this is not so much a random thought. It was triggerd by Dr. Gary Chapman’s question of the day: “Looking back, what wasn’t discussed at pre-marital counseling that you wish you would have known before you got married?”

Dr. Gary Chapman is the author of the famous The 5 Love Languages book. I highly recommend this book, and sign up for his very insightful weekly newsletter. More information at The 5 Love Languages website

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June 5, 2010
by Thuong
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Road Trips

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I just love road trips. There is just something fun about driving, discovering places, trying new foods, being outdoor, being spontaneous. For Thao, she just doesn’t like the part sitting in the car for too long. I don’t think the kids like sitting in one place either, not to mention the dreadful repetitive question: are we there yet?

With recent little short road trip to Denver with the kids, another issue arise: bathroom break. Benjamin was quite fussy and kept requesting bathroom break like every fifteen minutes. When he was younger, he just slept the entire trip in his car seat, which was a whole lot easier. He’s not wearing diaper anymore, but for little road trip like this, we put him in diaper just in case but he refuses to go in the diaper.

The we have the little guru in back seat giving us tip: “Mommy, usually he wet his pants when you don’t tell him. If you tell him pee in his diaper, he won’t. You should tell him: don’t pee in the diaper, then he will!” Then, she turns to her brother: “Don’t wet your diaper, ok?” I couldn’t help but laughing out loud during that little therapy session. She already uses reverse psychology at her age.

This gets me thinking of the huge “road trip” the Israel took from Egypt to Canaan, the promised land. Now, that is some road trip, 40 years long, crossing many desserts – not so much of a scenic drive. There was a shorter route but of course due to their constant complaining, God made them took the long route, wandering in the dessert.

Forty years, can you imagine that? There were lots of them, like sand on the seashore, like stars in the skies, with donkey, camel, pets, cattles, belongings, kids. That is one heck of a trip. I don’t know how Moses did it, leading millions of people, knowing when to start moving, when to stop, what to do for foods. Then, I got to curious how the bathroom breaks were handle. That trip was a miracle in itself.

Road Trip

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