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Purpose Driven Life article by Mallcom Gladwell

As you may already know from my previous posting that I studied The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren in my bible-study group. It was a great book, has lots of practical advice for practicing Christians.

As you may also know, I’m a big fan of Malcolm Gladwell. He was the author of The Tipping Point and Blink, two of my favorite books.

Now I just found out that Malcolm Gladwell wrote a New Yorker article about Rick Warren and his church. You can find the article on Malcolm Gladwell’s site, it’s called The Cellular Church

This articles digs deep into three main areas:

  1. Rick Warren the person and pastor
  2. The Purpose Driven Life
  3. The Saddleback Church – the cellular church

From what Gladwell has written, I gathered Rick Warren is a fascinating pastor. He leads one of the largest churches in the US, likes to give hugs, dress casually for his sermons, learned a great deal from Peter Drucker, follows and improves upon Charles Spurgeon, and sometimes borders on audacity.

The extraordinary success of the Purpose Driven Life is not coincidental. It’s Rick’s conviction, his ingenious way of marketing it to the other churches through his prior-established relationships, and the way the book is designed to be studies in small groups. It’s both surprising and inevitable that the books has sold 23 million copies. The new story of how Ashlee Smith was able to convince Nicols – a convict to let her go after sharing the Purpose Driven Life with him was also mentioned in the article.

The Saddleback church today has twenty thousand members and occupies a campus of 120 acres. That is a huge church, compared to my church, which has around 300 people with couple of acres of land. The amazing size and growth of the church was the main focus of the article. The idea of having small tightly-knit cells as an unit has been done elsewhere. Rick Warren actually made it work better through his unique blend of pragmatism and understanding of management principles. He actually rented the Anaheim Agnel’s baseball stadium to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Saddleback church.

There are a lot more information in the article, mainly from academics trying to put what Rick Warren has accomplished into perspective. There are some sections that in my mind are not dubious intention, such as section 5, I did not see the relevance of Christian Smith’s study to Warren’s success.

Anyway, this article definitely makes an informative reading, especially for someone who has studied The Purpose-Driven Life, or someone who wants to know how to grow their cell group or church.

Please share your opinion under the Comments section.

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女儿的第二次B超

我家妞妞终于又做了一次B超。
主要是上次体检医生说她偏小，想知道她究竟啥时候才会出来。一开始我和妞妞爸爸都吓坏了，以为她会出问题，一直在担心。所以我们今天一早8点就到了医院（可怜妞妞爸爸还感冒着），等了一个多小时后终于进了B超房。

今天操作的是个男医生，他用很大的力气把探头在我肚子上移来移去，把我肚子弄得很难受，我们可怜的妞妞被挤得在我肚子里乱动，翻来覆去，真让人心疼。

妞妞个儿真小啊，到现在为止（已经进入第九个月了），才四磅10盎司。可是我从怀孕到现在已经增重超过30磅了，估计都长到自己身上去了。:(
医生还告诉我们妞妞已经长出了头发，呵呵，就像我刚刚出生的时候浑身通红，一头浓密的黑发，我爸爸吓了一跳，以为是哪知小猴子。不知道妞妞出生的时候会不会吓她爸爸一跳啊！

最后医生记录了一些数据，说要去报告一下，然后再通知我们有没有其他问题。我们等了一会儿，他出来告诉我们可以走了。看来妞妞到目前为止一切都好，就是小了点。我和妞妞爸爸都放心了很多。

下面这段是老公写的：
今天看到的妞妞比上次大了许多。不过由于医生探头动得很快，没能看清楚。医生检查了妞妞的心跳，量了她的脑袋和四肢的尺寸，和一些其他的数据。这家医院的效率挺低的，我们挂号久等了40分钟。
感谢主孩子没事，我想JY的医生会告诉我们孩子偏小怎么办。
请大家继续为我们祷告。

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美食推荐：Hayward的上海小吃

两个星期前，JY和我看报时同时看到一个广告。内容是本来在Oakland的上海小吃在Hayward和Milpitas开了分店。并且分店也是同一个老板经营。
Hayward分店地址：600 West Harder Road, Hayward, CA 94544.电话：510-264-5888。

由来：
我和JY非常喜欢Oakland的上海小吃，可是因为距离关系，加上停车困难，所以去的机会不多。Oakland的上海小吃的小笼包是湾区最好的，每次我们去都会买些回来慢慢在家品尝。他们的凉菜做的也不错，而且价格合理，服务也蛮好的（特别是如果你会说上海话）。既然在家附近也开了一间，我们当然要去尝尝了。

初次：
两个星期前，我们在Hayward的上海小吃吃了顿中饭。有几点值得一提，一是他们没有Oakland那家的凉菜摆在台子上，有点失望。估计是刚开张，没有机会提供。比起Oakland那家，这家可算得上是窗明几净。我们去的时候，只有两个客人。我们要了一个熏鱼，一个酱鸭面，一盘马兰头。熏鱼味道淡淡的，爽口而不腻。马兰头切得比我们在上海吃的大一些，味道更浓。酱鸭面的酱鸭和面是分开上的，这样不会串味，不错。面汤也不腻，很鲜。我们临走时还买了一包小笼包，准备回家慢慢享用，还没来得及吃。

服务：
我觉得这里的服务要比Oakland那家好，服务生更加周到，态度也好，不过也可能是我们去的几次客人不是很多。要提醒的是，如果叫外卖，最好提前半小时。不知道是不是因为他们新开张，我第一次叫外卖三个菜花了他们四十分钟。

价格：
我觉得他们的价格很合理。几乎与Oakland那家一样。他们有一份内容非常丰富的家常小炒菜单，三个菜十五元（外卖同价），物超所值。只是小炒菜单上才的分量不是很多，但是我觉得刚刚好。上海菜的特点就是精致，量多反而有点不伦不类。
　
地点：
我觉得他们的地点的选择不是很好。其实它离880很近。下了880上92（Jackson) 往东走第一个红绿灯右转上Santa Clara,第二个红绿灯右转上W Harder Road.餐馆在路左边约一百米处。它的停车场不大，好在旁边地方宽阔，可在路边随便停。可惜它附近没有其他中国店，加上离Cal State East Bay有些距离，建立一个稳定的顾客群可能不容易。

下面这段是JY的评论：
我们去baby shower之前在那里随便买了三个菜（一共才15元）：虾仁炒蛋，上海小炒皇，毛豆雪菜百叶，带到朋友家。 非常受欢迎，尤其是毛豆雪菜百叶，我刚吃了几口，还想再去拿一些，已经被大家分光了。 毛豆雪菜是上海人的家常菜，他们做的雪菜有点接近上海的风味：很鲜，不觉得酸。虾仁炒蛋我也没多吃，因为也是很早就被分掉了。 上海小炒皇是类似炒面类的，如果在平时，我见到那样的菜都会反感，感觉是迎合老美口味的那种chao mein， 可是我一尝，发现和那些chao mein完全两回事，就像小时候爸爸妈妈常常带我去吃的“正宗”的上海炒面，而且里面还荤素有致。

去了以后别忘了和我们分享你们的感想。

总体评分： 8/10

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Cheap auto insurance for CA resident

You probably remember that I had couple of accidents last year.

The first one was right before my wedding, in October, I was making a left turn on an one-lane street just as a big SUV behind me decided to over-take me from the left. I ended up with a big repair bill. The driver actually lied when she told her insurance company what happened, and because this was a secluded road and the police refused to come (because if no one is injured in an accident, the Hayward CHP will not show up), the arbitration process couldn’t determine fault. I’m still steaming from it. The second accident happened right after Christmas in 2004, on my way home from work one day, someone rear-ended my car. This time, the Castro Valley CHP came, and it was determined on the spot that the other driver was at fault, and the responsible party’s insurer paid my repair bill.

Anyway, my current auto insurance company, Kemper Direct, got acquired by another company, and they bumped up my rate more than 35%. I was also totally disappointed in the way they handled my accidents and claims, I felt that they didn’t care much for their customers, and the whole claim/arbitration process dragged on and on, it was time to look somewhere else. In the meantime, my wife’s insurer, Liberty Mutual, just increased her premium as well.

I was forced to look around for another auto insurance company for both of our cars.

After weeks of searching, I finally found an auto-insurer online that met my needs exactly.

The company is called Wawanesa Insurance, it mainly focuses on good drivers in California and Oregon. It’s been writing auto insurances in California since 1975, they also have an A+ rating with AM Best. There was also a lot of good things people said about the company, you can read these reviews on Epinion.

I heard about it from someone on Fatwallet, and did some research, and asked for a quote. When I got my application in my mail, I was stunned, their quote is 40% less than what I’m paying for right now. Someone from Wawanesa then called me to clarify some issues with my two accidents, and I got them resolved. I then mentioned that my wife has her own car, and wanted to know if they can add my wife to my policy as well as the car under her name.

The lady on the phone told me yes, and get this, the quote for both cars, with both my wife and me covered, the total is 20% less than what I’m paying my car right now. We saved over 60% on auto-insurance by going with Wawanesa. I strongly suggest you check them out. BTW, they have no referral program, so I’m just telling sharing this with you so you can enjoy the same savings.

Here are the pros and cons from the view of a new Wawanesa customer.
Pros
1. Cheap
2. Good reputation
3. Being selective thus can maintain low premium.

Cons
1. In the US, only available in California, Nevada and Oregon.
2. Paper-based application although the online quoting process does pre-fill some fields in the paper application.
3. CSR has no email access, everyone will be by phone.

To me, the pros far out-weighs the cons.

Hopefully you can save some money with Wawanesa as well.

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The Crib problem

I didn’t know it’s so hard to make sleeping arrangement for my baby.

So I went crib shopping with JY the other day. There were so many to choose from. We found more than 5 brands/15 models of cribs at Baby Depot just the other day. I mentioned that I live the Baby Bargain book a great deal, and use it mostly as my shopping guide. Now their coverage of cribs is truly extensive. I looked around Baby Depot, and finally settled on Child Craft as the brand of choice. The other brands are either too expensive (eg. C&T, Bassett) or too cheaply made (eg. Delta, Storkcraft).

The next decision is to have either a vanilla flavor crib, or a convertible one, which can be converted to a day-bed, a toddler bed, and full-size bed or all of the above (Delta has a model that can do all four).

After weighing things, I thought convertible crib makes sense for me because we simply don’t have space to store the crib if our baby moves to full-size bed because I have a rather smallish house.

So I took out my ruler and made some measurement. After I went back to my house, I measured the dimension of my room, and low-and-behold, I found the fully assembled crib won’t clear the nursery’s door or our bedroom’s. Now, that’s a problem for us. We don’t the baby to live alone in the nursery for the first three months, but if we put the crib inside our bedroom, then moving it to the nursery after 6 months presents a challenge.

So I went home and did a bit more research and re-read the chapter of the Baby Bargains book on Bassinet. I wanted to get a Moses’ Basket for my baby first, then I looked at the basket stands selection, and didn’t like them much, too shaky for comfort. I then looked at a bunch of pretty bassinet on-line, some of them are real nice. However, I hate to just add a piece of nursery further because of this one problem with my crib.

Again, the Baby Bargains books came to my rescue. In it, the author actually advised against a bassinet, they were saying a playpen with a bassinet is the way to go. They actually recommended Pack ‘n Play – Mocha. So I went to the baby depot again the day after thanksgiving, and got my baby a Pack ‘n Play – Mocha. Setup was a snap, took no more than 15 minutes.

I’m going to get a convertible crib for my baby a bit later, no need to hurry now since the Pack’n Play will hold her for 3-4 months after her birth. I’m a happy man again.

Check back often to find my quests to acquire other nursery furniture.

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感恩节快乐!

希望大家都过了个好的感恩节.

我和JY昨天在朋友家过的感恩节。 我负责做Mashed Potato.做了几年的Mashed Potato,我总算能不负众望，Mashed Potato又软又滑，非常好吃。做Mashed Potato的诀窍有三个。第一，要用含水分少的Potato，比如说Russett Potato.第二，要有好的工具。我一直用Potato Masher.一个圆柱形的把子，下面是一块圆形塑料板，板上有很多小孔。听说一种新的工具叫Potato Ricer更好用，我想明年我会买个来试试。第三个要点是牛奶要温热时加入，一边加奶一边搅拌，直到达到想要得Consistency.

朋友这次是从我家旁边的中国超市定的火鸡，明炉烤的，味道很不错。朋友还作了不少的寿司，有Tuna, Eel, and Salmon的。味道不错。其实我更喜欢吃鱼生，我觉得米饭是多余的，真正好的鱼生单独吃才能吃过瘾。

感恩节吃的东西还是次要，主要是和朋友及家人联络感情，分享感恩。

这个感恩节我和JY有很多事情需要感恩。我们有许多好的朋友。我们婚姻路上虽然有小的磕碰，但总体来说满顺利的。神由赐给我们一个自己的孩子。JY父亲的烫伤恢复得很好。JY可以在生孩子前见到父母。还有许许多多其它可以感恩的事情，在此就不一一表述了。我们求神继续带领我们全家在今后的道路，也希望大家能继续为我们祷告。

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Baby registry ready!


Baby Registry

We just created a Baby Registry in preparation for our impending arrival!
我们给宝贝女儿设立了一个用品需要网页,请大家如果有兴趣,从中选择给我们的婴儿礼物.谢谢.

You can view my registry at any Babies”R”Us, Toys”R”Us, or
Geoffrey retail store.

Or, see it online by copying the below URL and pasting it into your browser:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/1GSB8SL5Q9Q31?type=babyreg
Or, click on the link (请按下面的图案):
Visit our Baby Registry

Thank you,
LW and JY


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我的好动女儿

JY怀孕32周了。

现在她的肚子越来越大了，连肚脐都突了出来。现在女儿也是越长越大，又有了一些更多的问题。

JY现在经常有Heart-burn.她现在晚上睡觉前会吃鸡蛋和牛奶。不过因为女儿占肚子的面积日益扩大，胃经常被压到，是胃酸倒流。所以现在JY晚上很晚才能睡着。请大家继续为她祷告。

女儿现在动的幅度也增大了，我有时可以看见JY肚皮突然突起，有时象地震一样，此起彼伏。不知道女儿是不是个天生的运动健将。

我们最近发现了一个可以听胎动的机器，所以最近我经常把它放在JY肚皮上，听女儿的声音。不过好多时间需要找半天才能找到听到女儿心跳的最好位置。如果你们有兴趣，这个机器叫BeBe Sounds Prenatal Listener With Two Headsets可以在Amazon找到。

我又要去听女儿的胎动了，下次见。

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我的家庭

这一篇文章是位教会团契所写的。在此与大家分享。- JY

我的家庭

我们家有我，我先生，还有将要到达的baby – 小妞妞。

我上海人，18岁时来美国念书，经过漫长的求学生涯后，先在北卡的一家银行工作了1年半，随后在2001年来到湾区的一家信用卡公司工作，至今已有4年。我平时喜欢看书，看电视，尤其喜欢漫画书，别人都说我童心未泯。

先生是北京人，随父母在90年来到美国，在东部上学，毕业后去新加坡工作了2年，1999年底来到湾区，现在在一家超市做电脑工作。他也喜欢看书，平时最大的爱好是摄影。和我恰恰相反，他性格比较稳重。

我们俩结婚一年了。是在中华归主海沃教会认识的，在神的祝福下相爱，结婚。。。而且现在又有了我们爱情的结晶。

我们因为认识不到1年就结婚，所以婚后要化不少时间来适应对方，比如我经常说他太一本正经，他也说我作息时间不好好安排。。。时常有一些小小的摩擦，可是我们彼此都遵循神的话语，互相体谅，改变自己以前的一些坏习惯。现在我们每天晚上一起祷告和沟通，分享自己的心情，过得越来越幸福。

自从我怀孕以后，先生更是体贴照顾我，把一切事情处理得井井有条，分担了我的家务，还为我们baby的出生准备好一切。大家都羡慕地对我说：“你先生一定是个好爸爸！”

在未来的日子里，我们还要成为以身作则的父母，神会给我们更多的功课和磨练，生活会有很大的变化，有很多现在还想不到的事会发生。我们会继续求神带领我们全家走合他心意的道路。希望大家继续为我们全家祷告。

感谢神的赐福！