野地百合 花香满径

今天是我3岁的生日。^_^，祝自己生日快乐一下！

当然，上个月已经过了30大寿。今天是受洗3周年纪念日啦，my Christian birthday。

今天很开心的一件事是什么呢？就是下班的时候看到了老吴！拔腿冲到他面前的那一刻，我知道，自己很想念非洲。

今天不愿意做的一件事是什么呢？就是晚上去华大的培训教室参加英语角活动。因为已经下班了，所以不愿意去。为什么要去呢？因为圣灵要我去。这是一个传福音的机会。今天是学习澳大利亚的文化，同时看Nick弟兄的见证短片。我顺服，通过和大家一起学习英语，探讨Nick的人生，来介绍耶稣基督给到场的同事。

一起来看看神怎样藉着一位没有四肢的弟兄，去激励了一群群陷在绝望中的人：http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/。

By Tim Harford 2009-07-31

My 15-year-old is disinclined to work for her GCSEs, saying her time is better spent preening herself in preparation for assignations with her delightful, diligent, privately educated, moneyed boyfriend. She insists the money spent on nail-painting, hair-colouring and the like is an investment and will be more than repaid when he marries her. Is she deluding herself?

A curious mother

Dear Curious Mother,

Surprising as this may seem in the 21st century, your daughter's strategy is not unusual. Evidence on speed-dating gathered by the economists Michèle Belot and Marco Francesconi shows that women are attracted by rich men, while men focus more on a woman's physical appearance. Lena Edlund, another economist, has found that in the areas of her native Sweden where the wealthiest men live, women of prime marriageable age are over-represented.

However, your daughter is only 15; for Edlund, “prime marriageable age” is 25-44. Your daughter is either going to have to get her hooks into this chap unusually early, or she is going to have to keep him on the boil for another decade – a lot of nail-painting.

Not only is she concentrating her investments into a single asset by abandoning her education, but she may even be making her main goal harder to achieve. Belot and Francesconi discovered that a strong social trend towards “assortative mating” means that although educated, high-achieving men are not interested in marrying a rich woman, they do like educated high-achieving women, rather than shallow girls with shiny nails.

Your daughter should learn to work hard and look good at the same time. Not only will it advance her immediate goals, it will also – sadly – stand her in good stead for the rest of her life.

You have put gladness in my heart, more than in the season that their grain and wine increased. (Psalm 4:7)

你使我心里快乐，胜过那丰收五谷新酒的人。（诗篇4:7）

我每静念那十字架，并主如何在上受熬，
我就不禁浑忘身家，鄙视从前所有倨傲。
愿主禁我别有所夸，除了基督的十字架；
前所珍爱虚空荣华，今为祂血情愿丢下。
看从祂头！祂脚！祂手！忧情慈爱和血而流！
那有爱忧如此相遘？荆棘编成如此冕旒？
看祂全身满被水血，如同穿上朱红衣饰！
因此我与世界断绝，世界向我也像已死。
假若宇宙都归我手，尽以奉主仍觉可羞；
爱既如此奇妙深厚，当得我心我命所有。

不用担心，靠着主我实在是可以开心。阿门！若不认识主，我会被撒旦捆绑，会说不公平、委屈、会抱怨、甚至会哭。但是靠着主，我不再会被这些情绪捆绑。真理让我自由。

有天父良人同在，我还有什么不满足？不开心？不喜乐？祂撇下高天宝座荣耀降卑在世上，用最受羞辱的死法赤身露体死在十字架上。我有什么委屈不能受？我有什么坎儿过不去？我有什么挫折不能战胜？

《我爱吕西安》里，奶奶劝安妮特，吕西安的心中已经遭受了害怕、痛苦和悔恨。但我已经让你不知道如何向我开口。你们都是我爱的人，尤其是你，而且我知道你上面还有“婆婆们”，我其实真的不愿意你经历这为难。

不是基督徒没有原则，基督徒好欺负，基督徒可以一再忍让……但是我是读过《彼得前书》第二章的人，我认识我的主人，我的父亲，我的良人。不靠祂，我定意在自己身上。信靠祂，我定睛在天上。很多事就可以放下，可以淡定。如此而已。

不认识祂的时候，我就是要走遍世界，不知道神一直留我在上海是爱我。向神求，和神闹，要过天马行空的生活。之前为自我的这些折腾我得付上属世的代价。如今我知道世界不是祂要带我去的地方。在不可能的情况下，祂就是开路为我成就大事。我相信祂的心意是要带我回来。而且是神量算好了脚步，不早不晚。以色列人在旷野中怨摩西，因他们在埃及有吃有喝。有吗哪我不至匮乏，我不后悔。不仅如此，我享受与那赐吗哪的父神同在的甘美！

其实，我岂不知，你们在这些恩典中也是有份的。一些事情我靠主放下并不难。

还有就是想说，我真的爱你们。我的爱从何而来？我的爱从造天地的独一真神而来。因为神就是爱。