Xiaojian Zhou <zhou.xiaojian@gmail.com>
我家今年值得感恩的事情很多。
去年感恩分享的时候，我曾经说，儿子申请大学还没结果，女儿找工作和申请研究生都不顺利，我所在公司又被收购，可能面临大裁员，特别是各大公司正在轮流搞万人大裁员。尽管这些事都没眉目，也应该先感恩。这是去年的此刻说的。那时我也不知道该怎么为这些事祷告。
后来这三件事都成就了，结果都比我们预想的要好得多。此外，我父亲年初大病一场，一度到了一碗馄饨6个都吃不完，但奇迹般地好了，现在体重增加了好几公斤。岳母的舌癌则得到了及时治疗。舌癌特别容易复发，但由于被医生指定为教学观摩病例，想不及时复查都不行了。
这样的例子还有很多。但是，我今天想另外摘取几件小事来感恩和分享。
我儿子victor今年申请大学时，多次表示，想挑单人宿舍，因为怕和同屋闹矛盾。我说可以。还到网上看别人的review，给他推荐了一批宿舍楼。没想到他却挑了其中评分最低的一栋楼，选择了两人一间。我们都急了，说你怎么挑这栋楼？而且你不是说想一个人住吗？他很不耐烦地说，他也看了网上review，人家说这栋楼不错，他现在改主意了，想两人间了。
儿子报到时，因为要凑我老婆的行程，成了整个宿舍楼里最后一个到的人。结果很意外的，他受到了全楼层同学的欢迎，每个人都过来打招呼。管楼的人也非常nice。他受宠若惊。他是很需要一个温暖小环境的人。同屋的roommate人也很好，而且有极好的生活习惯，正好可以帮助他纠正晚睡晚起的坏毛病。
真的，神给的就是最好的。
第二件事，为了迎接即将到来的空巢生活，我们开始了走路锻炼。我太太每天给自己规定要走15000步。但更重要的是，她要求其中的一半由我陪着走。8000步要一个多小时。每天固定有一个多小时，夫妻两人边走边沟通思想，不看手机。回想起以前我们忙忙碌碌，家庭生活变成了有事说事，没事各自看手机，思想交流很少。现在我们经常在走路时祷告和感恩分享，因为一起经历过那些事，感恩分享更真诚，更深刻。
第三件事，今年我参加了网上的学钢琴，主讲老师是一位基督徒，他显然是想通过免费教钢琴来传教，这是很好的一个活动，感谢主。他选的练习曲大部分都是赞美诗。这些歌曲我都很熟，但是自己要练琴就不一样了，需要一遍又一遍地练，每练一遍都有熏陶，和平时跟着哼一哼太不一样了。比如上次的考试曲目“轻轻听”和“我以祷告来到你面前”，我足足练了上百遍。最近的第五课要练习“爱的真谛”。我突然被这首歌的歌词感动得停了下来，我知道这是保罗在哥林多前书里说的一段话，现在逐字逐句去品味，才发现每个字都那么贴切和重要。我感动的是，对照这段话，我深感自己一直身处各种各样的爱之中而不自知，老觉得社会和世界亏欠了我。而从这段话中，又对照出我自己在“爱“这一点上付出得太差太少了。
杨明印弟兄很多年前对我说，”我觉得你身上的恩典很多“。几年来，我一直不认同他的话，那个练歌的晚上，我突然想起了他的话。比起生活中那些升学工作之类的，其实最大的恩典就是神拣选了我，让我这个那么骄傲，内心那么刚硬的人，居然都信了。
（周晓剑）
Many things in my family this year are worth being grateful for.
Last year when I shared my thanksgivings, I mentioned that my son had not received the results of his university application, my daughter was facing difficulties in finding a job and applying for graduate school, and the company I worked for was being acquired, possibly leading to significant layoffs, especially as major companies were taking turns in conducting massive layoffs. Although there were no clear outcomes for these issues, I believed in expressing gratitude first. This was what I said at this time last year. I also didn't know how to pray for these things back then.
Later, all three of these issues turned out positively, much better than we had expected. Furthermore, my father fell seriously ill earlier in the year, to the point where he couldn't finish a bowl of noodles, but miraculously, he recovered and has gained several kilograms in weight. My mother-in-law's tongue cancer received timely treatment. Tongue cancer is particularly prone to recurrence, but due to being designated as a case for medical observation and learning, missing follow-up examinations was not an option.
There are many more examples like this. Today, however, I want to highlight a few more things for which I am grateful and want to share.
When my son Victor applied for university this year, he repeatedly expressed his desire to have a single dormitory room because he was afraid of conflicts with his roommate. I agreed. He even went online to look at reviews and I recommended several dormitory buildings to him. However, he chose the one with the lowest rating and opted for a double room. We were both surprised and asked him why he chose that building. Moreover, didn't he want to live alone? He impatiently replied that he had also read online reviews, and people said that the building was good. He had changed his mind and now wanted a double room.
When he moved in, because he had to fit into my wife's schedule, he became the last person to arrive at the entire dormitory building. To our surprise, he was warmly welcomed by all the students on the floor, and everyone came over to greet him. The dormitory staff was also very nice. He was thrilled. He is someone who really needs a warm environment. His roommate is also very kind with excellent habits, which can help my son to correct his bad habit of staying up late.
Indeed, what God provides is the best.
The second thing is that, to prepare for the impending empty nest life, we have started walking for exercise. My wife sets a goal of walking 15,000 steps every day, and, more importantly, she requires me to accompany her for half of it, which is over an hour for 8,000 steps. We have a dedicated time each day, and as a couple, we walk and communicate while leaving our phones behind. Looking back, we used to be so busy, family life became all about business, and in our free time, we'd each look at our phones, with very little communication. Now, we often pray and share our gratitude during our walks because, having gone through those experiences together, our gratitude sharing is more sincere and profound.
The third thing is that this year, I started taking online piano lessons. The main teacher is a Christian, and he clearly aims to spread the faith through free piano lessons, which is a wonderful activity, and I'm thankful for it. Most of the practice pieces he chooses are hymns. I am familiar with these songs, but playing them on the piano is a different experience. It requires practice, over and over again, with each practice leaving an impact. For example, for the last examination piece, "Listen Gently" and "I Come to You in Prayer," I practiced them hundreds of times. In the recent fifth lesson, we are practicing "The Essence of Love." I was suddenly moved by the lyrics of this song and paused to reflect. I knew that this was a passage from Paul's First Corinthians, and now, when I read it word by word, I realized that each word is so relevant and important. I have always been immersed in various forms of love without being aware of it. I used to constantly feel that society and the world owed me something. However, when I contrast this passage, it becomes apparent that I have given too little in terms of "love."
Many years ago, Brother Yang Mingyin said to me, "I feel that God has a lot of grace in you." For several years, I didn't agree with his words. But on that night of singing practice, I suddenly recalled what he had said. In comparison to the pursuits of education for my children and career in life for me and my wife, the greatest grace is actually that God chose me, allowing a person as proud and stubborn as me to believe."
Xiaojian Zhou
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