Swim party July 23

Hi All,

I wanted to make sure to let people know that there is no New Light on Friday night but that there is Pizza and Swim party at the Brighton Square Pool from 3pm to 6pm. If you haven’t done so already, please contact Winnie to let her know if you are planning on making it. The Brighton Square Pool is located off Curtner Ave (between Leigh & Dumbarton, closer to Leigh), at the end of Parquet court. Winnie says that the gate is usually locked so text her at (408) 833-8925 and she will let you in.

I mentioned last week that I received an invitation to my high school class’ 40 year reunion and next year would be Adele’s turn. I think I also mentioned that I actually knew more people in her class so we may go to that one rather than the one this year. One of the people that I remember from Adele’s class actually works at Apple now and even though I don’t see her often I recognizer her name when I see it on e-mails. She had a fairly unique name and always said that she would get married early just to be able to change it. It turned out, though, that when she did get married she decided to keep her family name (her husband’s was not nearly so unique) and that’s how I recognized she worked at Apple so many years later.

One of the things that I remember about my colleague was that when she was in high school she was on the diving team and she was really quite good. My twin brother used to take photographs of the dives so that they could study them later. Back then there was no such thing as digital photography and video equipment was rare and very expensive (not to mention rather poor quality) so he did all the photography with a 35mm film camera with a motor feed and a full roll of film per dive (24 or 36 images). And one of the most talked about series that he took was one of my friend.

In the series the first photograph shows her just starting her spring, then lifting into the air and then tucking and spinning flawlessly until her fingertips just tap the water as she is suspended absolutely vertically in the air. The next two shots show her piercing the water and then just her feet are visible as they slide beneath the surface. There was hardly a splash as she disappeared. The last image is of an almost smooth surface with the smallest of ripples radiating outward from the center of her entry that was marked by her swimsuit floating on the water.

I’m not going to tell you her name. I doubt that any of you would know her or her children, but if you did, I wouldn’t want it to get out that I told you. And I can’t really come up with a verse or Biblical lesson for this story, either. Maybe one of you can suggest something.

And if anyone has anything they would like prayer for or would like to talk with someone about, we are always available.

Allen Cheung - avaliant@gmail.com

Sudden Gurung - sgurung2s@yahoo.com

Veronica Conte - mail4veronica@gmail.com

Duane Fowler - dlfowler@comcast.net

Middle School is meeting this Sunday. Don’t wear your Sunday best. : )

Cheers,

Duane

No pictures this week, for obvious reasons...

Duane's thoughts July 14, 2016

Hi everyone. I received something very unusual this week. In fact, it was the first time I have ever received anything like it in my entire life. I know that other people have received one of these. In fact, many people have received multiple ones but I never have. Not ever. What did I receive? (you might be wondering) OK, I’ll tell you. I received an invitation to my high school reunion. The Saratoga High School Class of 1976 40 Year Reunion, to be exact.

Now there are few very interesting things about this. First is that I am not at all surprised that I did not receive any before now and actually was very surprised to receive this one. You see, even though I actually do have a diploma from Saratoga High and even though it is dated 1976 and even though my twin brother did graduate from Saratoga High in 1976, I did not. I graduated from Monta Vista High. I actually transferred from Saratoga to Monta Vista mid year and attended Monta Vista for the last semester of my senior year. The reason that I have a diploma from Saratoga is that someone in the school office mailed one to me over the summer. I don’t know who.

I know that even though I transferred mid year to Monta Vista, Saratoga did not forget me. In fact, my picture appears in the Saratoga yearbook but is nowhere in the Monta Vista yearbook. (That might be why I have never received any invitations to Monta Vista reunions, either.) Also, during the spring when Saratoga seniors were voting on the Senior Mosts (Most Popular, Best Smile, Most Likely to Succeed, etc.) they created a new category for me and voted me the Most Likely to Secede. And since my twin brother was still going to Saratoga, a lot of people never even realized that I had left. That and I actually pulled more senior pranks at Saratoga than Monta Vista. But that’s another story...

With all that being said, I think I actually remember more people from my wife’s class (she graduated from Saratoga in 1977 - her 40 year reunion is next year) than from my own. I can only come up with four names from my Saratoga High class and one of those is my brother. So, what do you think? Should I go? I haven’t decided yet.

Over time, we get a lot of invitations. Some expected, some not. Some to things that we want and some to things that we don’t want. In Revelations 3:20 Jesus says: "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” I know that a lot of us have heard that invitation and accepted it. But I also know that we know a lot of people who haven't heard the invitation yet, or who have but are still trying to decide what to do. So the question for us, then, is not whether we have received the invitation, but will we deliver it?

Coming up this week:

New Light, Friday night at 7:15, July 15

Anyone up for a beach trip? The weather has been perfect!

And if anyone has anything they would like prayer for or would like to talk with someone about, we are always available.

Allen Cheung - avaliant@gmail.com

Sudden Gurung - sgurung2s@yahoo.com

Veronica Conte - mail4veronica@gmail.com

Duane Fowler - dlfowler@comcast.net

Cheers,

Duane

Duane's thoughts July 6, 2016

Hi All, I hope you had a great Fourth of July holiday weekend.

So, have you ever had a situation where you had two close friends who didn’t like each other? I mean where you really liked someone and really liked someone else and they really didn’t like each other? That can be the definition of awkward, I think. Like where you are walking with one friend and you see the other friend but you have to change directions really quickly not because you don’t want one to know that you like the other but because you don’t want them to get into a fight with each other that you may get drawn into and really don’t what to have to take sides. Yep, I knew that you would know what I was talking about. And it’s not like there wasn’t enough drama in life already. I think the worst “between two friends” event I ever had was once when I took a friend who was a girl (as opposed to a girlfriend) to a movie and my best buddy showed up at the same movie with his present girlfriend. The problem was that the girl I was with was his ex-girlfiend. Without going into to much detail lets just say the encounter ended with a levitating bucket of popcorn, flying jellybeans, and a torrential soda shower. That and getting kicked out of the theater.

The curious thing is that sometimes we can act the same way with Jesus. When we’re with one friend or group of friends, we really don’t want them to know that we know Jesus. And it’s not even like Jesus would start a fight or make a scene. Because he really wants to know who we are with (well, actually, he already does) and he wants them to know that he loves them. But sometimes for us it seems easier to duck and hide rather than make the introduction. Sometimes we’re just afraid to let them know that we know Jesus. But 1 John 4:18 says: “There is no fear in love. Instead, perfect love drives out fear.” Next time a chance to make the introduction comes up, try it and see what happens. At least you probably won’t get covered in popcorn and soda.

So, coming up:

New Light, Friday night at 7:15, July 8

If anyone is interested in rock climbing, let me know. I have all the equipment checked out and ready to go.

If there is anything else you would like to do, let’s get it organized and do it!

And if anyone has anything they would like prayer for or would like to talk with someone about, we are always available.

Allen Cheung - avaliant@gmail.com

Sudden Gurung - sgurung2s@yahoo.com

Veronica Conte - mail4veronica@gmail.com

Duane Fowler - dlfowler@comcast.net

Cheers!

Duane

Duane's thoughts June 29, 2016

OK, I know that I am really going to be showing my age on this one. When I was a kid there was an animated commercial with a kid singing the Oscar Meyer Wiener song:

"Oh, I wish I were and Oscar Meyer wiener. That is what I’d truly like to be. ‘Cause if I were an Oscar Meyer wiener, Everyone would be in love with me."

Then there was a second commercial with a bratty kid singing:

“Oh, I’m glad I’m not an Oscar Meyer wiener. That is what I’d truly hate to be. ‘Cause if I were an Oscar Meyer wiener, There would soon be nothing left of me.”

Yeah, I know they resurrected the song with a few changes but I remember the old song. The original song. And you know what? When I was a kid, I really did love Oscar Meyer wieners. Of course there were a lot of other things I loved. Like ice cream (especially vanilla chocolate chip), and anything with lemons in it, and water mellon (especially water mellon!) and I loved my bicycle even though now I really love my motorcycle. I also love traveling, always have, always will. I love photography and making things (do you know I designed and sewed two prom dresses when I was in high school?) There are so many things that I love.

Which makes me think. It’s kind of an over used word, isn’t it? DO we really mean we love something - that we couldn’t do without it? Most of the things I say that I love, I don’t really need and although I might miss them if I lost them, it wouldn’t be earth shattering (except maybe the motorcycle - that would really hurt to lose it). So, do I really love these things? Or do I just like them and like the idea of having them? What are the things I really love?

I love my wife, Adele. I love my daughter, Julia. And not because I possess them, but because they possess me. True love isn’t taking, it’s giving. In John 3:16 John wrote: “God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” And then in 1 John 4:19 he wrote “We love because God first loved us.” (Pretty awesome stuff from a guy who used to be called one of the “Sons of Thunder” because of his temper).

There is an Russian proverb that says “Love is like a potato. You can throw it out the window, but it grows wherever it lands.”

Coming up this weeK:

New Light, Friday night at 7:15, July 1 (Hey, did you know that it’s Canada Day?)

We still have lots of S’more fixings as well as ice cream float fixings, pizza rolls and other stuff guaranteed not to be too healthy.

Monday is the Fourth of July. Anyone going for fireworks?

If anyone is interested in rock climbing, let me know. I have all the equipment checked out and ready to go.

And if anyone has anything they would like prayer for or would like to talk with someone about, we are always available.

Allen Cheung - avaliant@gmail.com

Sudden Gurung - sgurung2s@yahoo.com

Veronica Conte - mail4veronica@gmail.com

Duane Fowler - dlfowler@comcast.net

Cheers,

Duane

Wishing you LOTS of potatoes!

Duane's thoughts June 22, 2016

Hi.  I hope that everyone is having a good start to their summer. I would say that we’ve been lucky and that the weather has been good, but hey, this is California. The weather is always great here.

So, to kick off the summer, this Friday at New Light we are planning games and a campfire with marshmallows and s’mores. We’ll also have pizza rolls along with ice cream and soda for floats. Basically an health foodie’s nightmare. : ) I’ll also bring a frisbee for a game of Ultimate Frisbee.

I think I have mentioned to most of you that I have two cats. Or rather, there are two cats that live at the same house as I do. After all, can you really say that you own a cat? I am absolutely convinced that in their mind, they own you. Over the years I have had a variety of pets - everything from snakes and lizards to rats, chipmunks and squirrels. I have had a rabbit, an opossum, a raccoon, and a chinchilla. And for about six months I even had a dog. So I have had some experience with pets and the ways in which they interact with the people around them. Some with more intelligence and some with less.

Of all the furry animals that I have had, I think that without a doubt the least intelligent was the opossum. We named him Pogo and he was friendly enough but usually when you looked him in the eye, there was just nobody home. One thing that I learned about opossums is that they really do play dead. Well, actually they don’t mean to, they just frighten and swoon easily. Kind of a “Boo” “AACK” thud response.

The most intelligent was the raccoon. We named her Patty Sue and I honestly think she was more creative than a number of people I know. She could escape from almost any cage and she could steal the keys from even the best pickpocket. And the thing about raccoons is that they seem to have two brains - on in their head and one in their hands. They will be watching something (like you) with complete concentration while their hands are doing something completely different (like stealing your keys).

And every one had its own personality - even the tortoise that we called Rock because, well, that’s what he tried to imitate most of the time. And each one had it’s own way of showing affection. The raccoon would run up and wrap her arms around your ankle leaving little black handprints on you cuffs (she also loved to wash black walnuts). The chinchilla would jump onto your chest if you were lying down and leave a couple of “presents” before she left. The cats will meet you at the door when you arrive home and then turn away like they are completely uninterested. Yeah, I know that’s not the usual way we would show affection, but to a cat, that’s really special. Even the chipmunks and squirrels had their own ways of showing affection to us and to each other.

But so much of animal affection, as well as human affection, is conditional. I’ll love you if… For animals it’s mostly “I’ll love you if you feed me.” and to a lesser extent “I’ll love you if you don’t eat me.” Not always, but often. How many times have we heard the same from people: “I’ll love you if…” or “ I need this or that from you.” But God’s love is unconditional. 1 Corinthians 13 gives a list of eight things that love is and eight things that it is not. And the list ends with the statement that God’s love “never fails.”

Next time you get peeved at your brother or sister or parents or friends or whoever, take a look at the list starting at verse 4 and ask yourself: “Am I patient? Am I kind?" And so on. And don’t worry about the other person. It’s pretty enlightening to look at yourself through God’s eyes. Transforming, too.

We’d like to put together events for this summer that people would like to do. There are a couple of concerts coming up in August, and there are opportunities for other things like beach trips. Bring your ideas on Friday and lets map out the summer!

See you then.

Friday June 24, 7:15

Grace Community Covenant Church / Foothill Covenant Church

Corner of Oak and Truman in Los Altos

And as always, if anyone has anything they would like prayer for or would like to talk with someone about, we are always available.

Allen Cheung - avaliant@gmail.com

Sudden Gurung - sgurung2s@yahoo.com

Veronica Conte - mail4veronica@gmail.com

Duane Fowler - dlfowler@comcast.net

Cheers,

Duane

Everyone needs a hug now and then.

Duane's thoughts June 3, 2016

Hi all,

It’s that time of year that if you’re not out of school yet you’re pretty close. Of course that means that everyone is busy with end of school/graduation plans and so are probably as busy if not busier than you’ve been all semester. Especially if you are a senior because everyone knows that seniors really don’t do much of anything their last semester except make sure that they actually pass everything. So, for all those progressing to the next grade I say:

Congratulations!

And for those moving on from middle school to high school I say:

Congratulations!

And for those who after 12 long years of continuous toil are finally graduating from high school I say: 

Congratulations! Way to go! Whoo Hoo!

OK, Now on to other business.

First I know that everyone has a lot going on for the next couple of weeks so we are taking a break from New Light for a bit. We will not be meeting tomorrow night (June 3) or next week (June 10). The following Friday (June 17) we’ll be having ice cream floats and smores and whatever other sweet and gooey stuff people want to bring.

Also, Sunday June 12th is the Spirit West Coast concert at the Concord Pavilion. Veronica and her family, Adele and I, Sudeep and several friends are going and getting lawn seating tickets. And the more the merrier! Lawn seating costs $19.50 per ticket. Beach chairs are allowed as long as the legs are less than 7” tall. Full height chairs are not allowed. Doors open at 3pm and the music starts at 4pm. There will be food caterers as well as various booths with things for sale. I don’t know how much parking will cost but it will cost something.

If you would like to go but need a ride, please let me know. This would be a great family event so I encourage people to bring parents, siblings, friends… the works!

Information can be found at: http://spiritwestcoast.org/events/spiritwestcoastconcord

As always, if anyone has anything they would like prayer for or would like to talk with someone about, we are always available.

Allen Cheung - avaliant@gmail.com

Sudden Gurung - sgurung2s@yahoo.com

Veronica Conte - mail4veronica@gmail.com

Duane Fowler - dlfowler@comcast.net

And one last thing. A bunch of people have asked me what my wife and my mother think of me getting a new motorcycle especially considering what happened with my last one. Well…

I think they are OK with it,

Cheers!

Duane's thoughts May 26, 2016

Hi again,

It’s been quite a week. For those of you who may not have heard yet, Adele and I have a new member of the family. No, not THAT kind of new member! On Wednesday morning way before the sun rose, I woke up about 15 minutes before my alarm which was set at 4:30am. By the time I had taken a shower and gotten dressed, Adele was up too and ready to drive me to the airport. Perhaps ready is not the correct word. She was resigned to take me to the airport. We got there at about 5:30 and do you know, Southwest is already busy by that time of the morning!?! Fortunately I had already gotten my boarding pass the day before (exactly 24 hours before as anyone familiar with Southwest would know) and didn’t have any baggage to check, so I was able to go directly to the security line. That’s where the fun began. You see, the member of the family is a motorcycle and the reason I was at the airport was that I was flying down to San Diego to pick it up and drive it back hone.

Even though I have TSA PreCheck (thank you Apple) the guy checking the boarding documents looked at the helmet I was carrying and then at me and asked: “You nervous about flying?” “No,” I answered, “But one can never be too cautious.” He seemed to take that at face value and let me through. Next I went to the x-ray machine and placed the bag with my Motorcycle boots, armored gloves and riding trousers on the belt along with my helmet and armored jacket and walked through the metal detector. No beeps or bells was a good sign but the belt going back and forth as the guys peered through my bag was not. Finally they let my stuff go through but not before one of the security people asked me; “You afraid of flying or something?” “No,” I said, “But you never know…”

I arrived at the gate and after a bit of time the plane was ready to board so I got in line and when I reached the guy taking the boarding passes he took mine looked at my helmet and asked: “Afraid of flying?” “No,” I replied again, “I just like to be prepared for anything.”

So off I went down the jetway and walked on board the plane. At that point the flight attendant looked at me and at my helmet and started to say: “Are you…” “Yes,” I interrupted, “Yes, I am afraid of flying. I really am, and if I could have gotten it through security I would have brought my brother’s parachute.” “Oh, uh, well…” the flight attendant replied, “would you like a window seat?” “Thanks.” I said.

The rest of the flight was OK, except that the flight attendants seemed to be staring at me every time they passed by. As I was leaving the plane in San Diego, the pilot was standing next to the door with the look of “So that’s the guy.” as I walked up. “I hope my flying didn’t scare you too much.” “No,” I said “Very smooth in fact." Holding up the helmet I said, "I just bought this in case the person next to me was too chatty.” And with that, I left the plane.

Since this has already gone on too long, I’ll condense the rest. I got to the motorcycle dealer in San Diego (Fun Motor Sports) signed all the paperwork, got the key to my new motorcycle and took of on a really long ride north. I stayed on I-5 for longer than I thought possible, turned onto 152 and then 101 and 85 and made it home 14 hours and 500 miles after I had left in the morning, thirsty, hungry, and with one of the worst cases of saddle sore I had ever experienced in my life!

I hope that you all had a good week, too. I wanted to mention that the Spirit West Coast Christian Music Festival is coming up in two weeks from this Sunday. It costs $19.50 for lawn seating and if you let me know that you would like to go, I will order the tickets in advance. Adele and I and Veronica and her family are going as well as Sudeep and some of his friends. Please let me know as soon as possible if you would like to go so we can get tickets and arrange transportation. The concert is at the Concord Pavilion which is about and hours drive away. The concert starts at 4pm and is over between 10 and 11pm.

Some other events on the Calendar:

New Light this Friday at 7:15

Middle School Sunday School this Sunday

Kings Academy Senior Commencement June 4th

Spirit West Coast Concord June 12th.

Please let us know if you have any prayer requests. We really do pray for you guys!

Allen Cheung - avaliant@gmail.com

Sudden Gurung - sgurung2s@yahoo.com

Veronica Conte - mail4veronica@gmail.com

Duane Fowler - dlfowler@comcast.net

Also, you can find out anything you need about New Light and the youth program at: http://newlightnotes.blogspot.com

Cheers!

Duane