Truly Rested!

I was up and after Isaiah took off, I went for a run... and yes, I tried to stick to one hour only... 

I was home and after a quick shower, I got my coffee and my books and read and rested... And I fell asleep and Alan came home from his workout and it was already 1:17! WOW...

We had lunch together and I turned on the WiFi to look at train schedule. I can now get a senior discount, I think, but things aren't so cheap nowadays! Anyhow... I didn't buy anything... 

At 5pm, I had prayer time... and then at 6:30, I headed off to my Tuesday evening Bible study. It was so good to see everyone.

I joined the 8:45 prayer time... and rode home at 9:10. 

It was nice to get home... I decided to start baking so that I won't have to do it tomorrow!

Again the day flew by...

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!

A Change...

I was up but not too early... And after my time with Jesus, I started to cook as I wanted to make tamale chicken. 

I went out for my run but the sun was out in full blast... so, what's the change? I've decided to just run an hour... if I make 9k, great... if not... that's ok... when I go to Germany, I'll give myself more time to run... the weather is going to be much cooler... unlike Taipei now!

I was home and Isaiah called to ask about the gas meter... I had to rush as I was set to meet up with a sister at 11am at church. I was 15 minutes late!

Then at 1:30, I went to drop off sheets and pillowcases to the person who is now staying at our old house and two water filter replacements. And then I headed to tutoring... 

That hour flew by and when I got home, there were five bags of nice bedding to sort through... wow... 

Another friend came over to chat... and then we had Prayer Time in person at 8pm and online Bible study at 9pm. I stayed at church and did the online Bible study... 

I guess my days have not slowed down! Tomorrow... for sure... I am going to have my PR Day!

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!

The Weekend Is Finished!

I was up not so early as I went to bed late last night... 

And after time with Jesus, I had lots to do... I wanted to clean the washing machine... and get Isaiah's closet 'reset' and look over my closet to change season... plus clothes to pack for my trip... And I also wanted to bake for church... So... the morning flew by... LITERALLY!

By 2:30, I was out the door... 

It's great being with my Church Family... 

I was home by 8pm and finished up the tasks that I had started this morning.

Prayer time at 9pm and then blog and I was truly ready for bed by 10... but I wanted to get things ready for tomorrow... 

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!

A Even Longer Saturday!

If you thought Friday was a lot... READ ON!

I was up early and knew that the day was going to be LONG...

I dropped off more stuff at our friend's house, but I'm not sure if these people will be staying there. I'm just getting it sort of set up and we will wait and see... I did go run... but only 6K!

 Then I had tutoring at 11:15 to 12:15.

When I got home, the boys were almost ready to head out... and that's what we did! We went over to our old house and started moving Fenny... and she had a lot of stuff. Isaiah and Fenny went up and down and I went to move things into the car and Alan packed everything in. We also had two scooters which we put two small carry on suitcases and a gym bag! That was amazing.

Alan drove and Isaiah took Fenny and I took Fenny's scooter! We got over there and started to unload... when that was finished, we packed up Erica's stuff to bring over to the old house! Now... the amazing thing was: when we were riding or driving, it was raining... but when we had to move stuff, the rain stopped! WOW... miraculous!

We got Erica familiar with the area and we came home.

I again checked the recycling and the lady came and picked up stuff! WOW...

At 5:20, we headed out for our Marriage Builders Date Night! Isaiah had taken Alan's scooter so we had to find the extra key to Isaiah's scooter... 

Cantonese food and then bowling... Wow... what fun! We didn't finish until 9:30... and got home by 10PM... 

Isaiah had gone to basketball practice for the Company's Three-on-Three tournament that's coming up.

Wow... it was a go, go, go day...

Tomorrow is going to be much slower pace... 

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!

A Very Long Friday!

I was up early and knew that today and tomorrow will both be very long days...

I did run... Only 8KM... 

And then we went out to meet some friends for lunch... After that we went to the travel exhibition and didn't see much but we bought four breakfast buffet coupons for the Renaissance Hotel. That's only because we've passed by it several times and wonder what it was like inside!

We got home and I put things away and checked the recycling while Alan took a Power Nap. At 4:05, we were off to Danhsui. We got there by 5:05 and I started cleaning... I was finished by 5:58 and Alan, who was napping in the car, drove up and we loaded things into the car and headed to church. We went to pick up the keyboards that we are giving away for the church. The lady is coming to pick them up tomorrow.

We got home at 7:40 and Isaiah came down to help us unload!

We sat down to have dinner and then I worked to sort everything and then had prayer time at 8:45!

By 10pm, I was exhausted but took one load of things to give away and another load to our friend's house next door as we're setting it up for a short term stay in May. I will be gone... so I have to get it done now! And I heard from the Ministry of Education. They liked for me to work two days a week there... but I said, "No thanks... I will only help with one day a week." This is going to start in July! Wow... That was a big surprise!

11pm came all too quickly... 

Tomorrow... it's going to be another busy day!!!!!!!!

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!

I Ran Again...

I was up early and decided to go out early... but actually, the weather stayed relatively nice throughout the day... cloudy and cooler!

I was home and after a nice shower, I made rice noodles for my meals... and sat myself down on the sofa with a stack of books and read.

Alan and Isaiah had left for work!

I finished the book Living the Resurrection and started on two more! And yes, I ate my delicious rice noodles for breakfast, morning snack, lunch and afternoon snack! WOW... fabulous!

At 4pm, I prepped for tutoring and headed out at 5pm.

When that was finished, I was home by 7:30! And yes... more rice noodles!

Alan and Isaiah played basketball!

Abby has recovered... and she attended her second online seminary class... We have yet to set up our Family Time... 

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!

I Did Run...

It's already Wednesday... and I am feeling much better.

So, after helping with the recycling, I scooter to the park and ran... My legs were like: What are you doing? They seemed to have forgotten how to run... everything felt very foreign... And it was hot... I ran 8K.

I got home and took a quick shower and headed out to tutor.

When that was finished, I rushed home and picked up everything for my Bible study. We had 10 people... Two kids didn't show up but it is the week before midterms. Next week we will just use the time to chat!

I went straight to my tutoring and when that was finished, I stopped at a convenience store before heading home. I was so glad that I didn't have my 6pm tutoring... I was exhausted!

I had a simple dinner and stayed up until prayer time at 8:45 and then went to bed!

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!

It's Tuesday... And It Was A Busy One...

I was up early... but I didn't go for a run... I am still recovering...

I made the food for the morning Bible study and baked... for tomorrow's Soochow Study!

I decided to go to church early... that worked out well...

I slowly set up and sat down and did a blog for church!

We had five people at the study and it was great... the discussion and the sharing!

We didn't finish until 1:40! I scootered home... put things away and was off again. I had an appointment to counsel someone at 3pm.

The time flew by... and I hope the time was helpful for her... 

I scootered home and arrived at 6:45 and got the computer turned on and running... and tutored online until 8:05!

The rest of the evening flew by... 

I didn't hit publish as I wanted to update you on the flight situation... 

Tonight, I finally decided to take the plunge and call the long distance number via my land line to Florida USA, which is where GOTOGATE seems to be located. It was around 8:30pm Taiwan time... and when our church prayer time started, I was still in the cue to talk to someone. Finally, a real person came on. I moved to the bedroom as Alan was still in the online prayer call... After another 45 minutes, a request was put forth for me to be on a flight from Taipei to Beijing and Beijing to Frankfurt on May 3rd and May 4th, arriving in Frankfurt on the morning of the 4th! That's two days earlier... so... I think the Lord has something planned... of what, I do not yet know... What will I do? Where will I stay? Those are all questions... but I'll be in Germany... I am thrilled... I will roam... and see what the Lord has prepared... I will start looking for lodging... but anything will be fine with me!

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!

It's Monday... Already!

I was up and knew I wasn't going to go run today! I was still 'recovering' from the herniated disc!

At 10am, I left to meet up with my once a month Monday morning prayer time... I left early since I knew it would take longer... 

Again, she had a huge spread of delicious food and we talked. I had to set the alarm as I had tutoring at 2pm.

I got to tutoring in time by taking the MRT all the way to tutor... And then I rode a bike and walked... It was nice... and it was hot. I was able to shop along the way.

I got home at 4pm and posted things to give away!

It was a nice free evening!

Oh... Abby finished her run! She thinks she made it before the cut off time of six hours!

And still no news about my flight to Germany!

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!

Abby's Run & Sunday Fun/Pain

I was up and had a time with Jesus... I had herniated my back yesterday while doing the recycling for our complex, so moving was difficult. I am praying for healing. I also have a patch on right now.

I rested and then headed out to the Young Adults Fellowship. It was only Isaiah and I. We discussed the Purpose Driven Life, Chapter 13-14.

Then I went for a 90 minute massage. It helped, but the disc is still herniated!

I walked slowly back to church and I had already set up the Love Cafe before going for the massage. YEAH! That was perfect as we had counseling with a gal who is struggling with a sense of love, belongingness and acceptance! The hour flew by!

Church was great... The message was from I Peter 1:1-9! How trials and suffering purify our faith and firm up our relationship with Jesus! 

I helped to clean up and started to talk to a sister who is struggling with her relationship with God.

I got home and Isaiah left to pick Fenny up at the train station as she got back from Kaohsiung.

I had prayer time at 9pm and blogged and received a message from Abby. She had finished half of the full... GO ABBY GO!

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!

Happy 39th!

I was up but not early... So... the run was not a pleasant one... but I did it!

After a shower, I decided to work on my talk... 

Alan and Isaiah went to play tennis and got back at around 11am. At 11:45, Alan and I left for our luncheon at a new restaurant, Poetry! Our friends took us out for our anniversary and the food was fabulous and expensive! We would not have gone there... I think the tab was well over 6,000NT$! And we didn't even order a lot...  We sat and chatted until 3pm!

When we got home, we were all ready for a nap... but first I made tamale filling and Mexican chicken. Both came out fabulously delicious! I layered the tamale filling and the Mexican chicken and cheese... WOW!

We were all feeling lethargic so we didn't meet up with our friends from the UK until 8pm at NingXia Night Market, one of Alan's favorites as it has fried oysters egg pancakes! Our friends are leaving tomorrow... and it was fun to hang out with them. The night market was crowded as it was a nice evening... a bit warm... but still.

I am still trying to communicate with GOTOGATE... Please pray! God is going to work something out... I am trusting Him to do the impossible. They gave me a new itinerary but I won't be getting to Frankfurt until May 8th!

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!

A Different Way to Celebrate

I was up but not early enough... hence the run was tortuous... I finished... 10.6K. Tomorrow... I will run 10 and I'll finish the week with 60!

After a shower, I took the clothes down and put everything away. Alan wasn't back yet, so I sat and read. I will start writing my talk for 4/26!

I took out the shirt that Alan made me as a final surprise on the night he proposed almost 40 years ago... I thought it would be fun as tomorrow is our 39th anniversary.

We went to Costco as the tires needed to be changed... there was a 50US$ discount if we changed all four and we needed to change all four! While that was being done, we ate at Costco and then went and shopped! All four tires were changed in less than an hour for 500US$!

I wanted to deposit the rent money into Isaiah's account and the wait was so long that I had to send Alan home as we had meat and ice cream in the car! He came back to pick me up and then we went to get our car aligned and did a car wash on our own at a self serve place... Wow... That was fun! 20NT$ for the bubble spray... 10NT$ for the water spray... 10NT$ for the vacuum. Of course, everything was on a timer and things shut down after a minute... or maybe it was two minutes. We then headed home... exhausted! ha, ha, ha...

Isaiah came home and hung out at home as Fenny came back and headed down to Kaohsiung as one of her friends is getting married tomorrow. 

We had a nice evening!

Daily Lovely InsightL

 

Seek Him First!

A Busier Than Usual PR Day

I was up early but went back to sleep... thus... my morning started later than usual...

After Alan and Isaiah went off, I started on a few things that I wanted to get done: get Abby's room back in order, put things away in Isaiah's room, put away the heaters and take out the fans (yes, the weather is getting warmer and warmer!), look through the books and prep for my afternoon tutoring (new students who need intensive sessions as they are planning to study abroad in an international school), set the iRobots to work and go for a run.

I did run 10K... in the heat... and then after my shower, I sat and read and napped! I did not want to get up... but by 4pm, I turned on the WiFi. 

We had heard from Abby earlier... I was up at 4am and she had arrived in San Francisco and walked to the gate to board for Chicago. Then we heard that the flight to São Paulo was delayed but she got on without a problem. So, she's on her way back to Brazil!

I left early to get things copied and to drop off things for a friend.

The tutoring session was at church, which was perfect. I had organized it so that they had things to work on while I worked with one gal at a time. I have only 10 sessions with them as they are planning to leave on July 10th... Please pray for a miracle that they will be able to do well in the international school which starts in mid August!

Alan had basketball at Soochow! Isaiah had to work until 7:45, so he didn't make it to basketball. He needs to exercise more... oh well... 

Prayer time at 8:45!

And I heard back from GOTOGATE... Please pray... they are putting me on a flight on May 7th which will get to Germany on the 8th. I'm requesting to be put on an earlier flight... maybe May 4th! I want to be in Heidelberg before the 7th... I want to spend the day on the 7th REFLECTING! I know God has this in His hands... and I saw that they do have a flight to Beijing on the 4th of May... and hopefully with a short transit in Beijing before flying out to Frankfurt. If that works out, then I'll look for a simple place to spend the night in Frankfurt or Heidelberg or even Mannheim... God knows... I trust He has this trip planned!

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!

 

A Sad 8th!

I was up early and I expected the day to be long! And it was...

I baked and cooked and gathered things together for Abby. She and Alan went to the Brazilian Consulate and I went for a short 8.6K run. I was home and took a quick shower and left to ride my scooter to school, reminding Abby about the items she had in the bathroom sink.

I wanted to set up the room for my afternoon Bible study, but they were having a meeting in there. So, I messaged Abby and Alan, thinking they were heading out. Well... they did... but Abby forgot her things that were around the bathroom sink!!!!!!!!!! So, they had to go back to pick those items up... and they finally came at 11:22... And I knew we were going to be rushing... 

The check-in lines weren't long... but still... and we were praying as all her items were over the weight limit... even her carry on! God did it... two were 23.5-23.7 and she let them pass. The last one was 25.3 and we took a few items out and I had a Trader Joe's bag and she didn't ask to weigh the carry ons!!!!!!!! We then went to buy pineapple cakes because we didn't have time earlier. They were expensive... I spent over 1000NT$! For three small boxes... And she was off... and we rushed to get back to Soochow. 

I was late... I didn't get there until 1:55... the time flew by!

From there, I went to tutor... and that hour flew by.

I rushed home and ate and went off again. Tutoring at 6pm. I finished that and rushed home... 

Time to clean up the house... I have more to do tomorrow!

But it was so good to be home... 

Prayer time at 8:45... 

The miracles of the luggage... the miracle of God providing me with a bottle of water... the miracle of His sustaining strength... 

And I forgot to mention that Abby was feeling quite frustrated that she had so many things to carry... and that carry on and her backpack were really heavy... At the gate, they asked people to volunteer to check in their carry on! WOW... she was like... this is God! So, she did and felt so relieved... less things to carry... and we don't know if God worked to give her a 'not so crowded' flight... we will find out tomorrow. She flies to San Francisco and then to Chicago and then to São Paulo! I miss her already!

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!

The 7th!

I was up early and the Lord blessed me with rain and breeze. I ran slow... but it was nice to be out! The warm weather is just around the corner!

We have everything out in the living room as we are now in the midst of getting Abby packed. Yes, we bought an extra piece... for 200US$! That's cheaper than trying to mail 23 kilos of stuff to her!

Alan and I went off to the Brazilian Consulate as she did have to get a stamp even though we went and had it notarized! What a hassle!

I went off to catch the MRT and Abby met me there as we headed out to lunch with one of my Bible study groups. The food was WOW! (Sorry... we didn't take pictures!) Expensive... Classy... A place I won't go back to... It was definitely a treat! The ladies ordered all of Abby's favorites!

At 2:30 we headed off: Abby to do her nails and I had a massage! WOW... 

Alan went to exchange a pair of shoes and then workout at the Neihu Sports Center.

Isaiah came home at around 6:45 and we had a nice Family Time at home... Our last before Abby heads off and we're back to online Family Time... WAHHHHHH...

This was TUESDAY'S... I did forget to hit publish!

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!

Another Family Day Outing!

I was up early and we had a lot of ideas as to what we'd do this day.

It's been a tremendous blessing to have these four days off... and that Fenny went to Australia, so that we can have Isaiah... Abby likes hanging out with Isaiah... we all do... 

We had thought about going out to YiLiou, but the morning was cloudy and raining. 

The rain turned into a drizzle and Alan and Isaiah went out to play tennis and Abby and I went out for a run. It turned hot and humid very quickly. I ran home and Abby went and played a bit of tennis.

We were all home by 11:20 and called Mom Bea to wish her a happy Resurrection Sunday and to chat. It was really really nice!

After that, everyone took turns to take a shower and then we were off... We decided to go to a Cantonese restaurant and then shop at the shoes store and walk around for snacks and drinks... then we were off to PX Mart and Costco and got home at 5:10. I put everything away while everyone else took a nap.

At 5:45, I went and laid down. It was so good to nap!

We went to church at 6:45 as we had our monthly meeting and prayer time at 7pm.

When we got back, it was time to start packing. We had thought about going for a massage... but Isaiah has work tomorrow! And Abby still has errands to run... plus packing... and her nail appointment... Alan has Tuesday and Wednesday off... but I have a full day of commitments on Wednesday!

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!

Resurrection Sunday!

I was up early... and I knew it was going to be a long day!

Abby went for a run. Alan went to play tennis... and Isaiah joined him later.

I went for a simple walk... and two miracles happened...

One of my neighbors was riding down and was going to go to her office. She stopped to talk and I said it was Resurrection Sunday and she said: I guess I should go to church... and she went to church instead of going to work!

Then I went to HiLife to pay a bill and another neighbor walked in.  She knew I was a Christian and she told me she had recently become a Christian and wanted to know how to pray and grow in Christ. We stood there for 30 minutes talking about God! That was fabulous...

We got to church and I worked at setting up... coffee, snacks... the Lord's Supper! Isaiah shared the message. Abby was the worship leader and the translator. I had ordered the Love Feast and it was perfect! I was also in charge of cleaning up... WOW... I was so exhausted!

Glad it's a holiday tomorrow!

And we never got to packing for Abby!

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!

Holiday Saturday!

I was up and again, the skies were dark and the drizzle was coming down!

Alan went to the tennis courts to see if there were people playing! I went for a run... and on the way back, Abby was just heading out... and she was gesturing 20... but she was wearing her tennis shoes not her running shoes! So I ran with her... and she did not go for 20... but she ran about 11k! I ran 21.74... so I ran a half!

I was so glad for a shower... and then I had a simple lunch... And I napped for two hours!

I got up and tidied up and made winter melon tea... I wanted to bring it for the Love Feast tomorrow!

At 4:45, we left for dinner at Lorain's. She prepared a feast!... AS ALWAYS! We ate so much...

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!

Rainy Day Run!

I was up and the sound of rain was just so delightful... the skies were dark... 

Of course, I went out in the rain... and no one was around... just the earth worms and birds... 

After a shower, I put in a load of laundry and when that was done and hung up, I went to do my errands. The rain had stopped. I paid a bill, went to a friend's house and fixed their shower head, and went to our old house to switch an iron to give away!

Alan went to play a little tennis.

This afternoon, we got together with friends... I had ordered pizza and made a salad... we also went to CoCo to buy the drinks.

And even though it was a holiday, we had prayer time at 8:45.

The day flew by... 

Abby and I are still working on going for a long run... tomorrow... maybe... The kids were out late... or rather, early morning... they slept the whole day... and only got up when we were going to go out to meet up with friends! I was ready for a long run... but she didn't get up until 1pm... and was just lazy.

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!

Alan's Day Off!

I was up early and was hoping that Abby would go for a long run... but that didn't happen. She had promised a gal from church to attend the stretching class. I went and ran my 10K. It got hot! 

I was home and had time to just hang out and read... I set the iRobot going and sat on the sofa. I'm thinking about what to share on April 26th! God was filling my mind with ideas.

Abby was to come home for lunch but the gal invited her out. So... from lunch she went straight to meet up with another church family... and I had to get Alan to ride over to switch scooter with her. When Alan came back, I was off... I wanted to go pay a few bills and I had a nice oil massage at 3pm.

I got home at 5pm and we had a dinner date with friends at 5:30. But with only my small scooter, Alan rode down and I walked. ha, ha, ha... 

We were back home by 8:15 and I had prayer time at 8:45.

The kids were out with their 'cousins'... Rex and Peilun's kids who are like their cousins as they hung out quite a bit when they were young! It's Diean's birthday and they booked dinner at a fancy hotel up on YangMing Mountain! That's why Abby needed Alan's scooter... it has more power!

The day flew by... I think Abby will have to go for a long run tomorrow... Oh... in case you didn't know. She signed up for a full marathon and while she is home, she had asked to go for a long run as part of her training... That's why I keep asking her about going... She has not gone running until she got back... I guess she can just walk it... or forfeit... that's a waste of money... So... we shall see... 

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!

Spring Break Wednesday

I was up early and went out, thinking the day might turn hot... and it didn't... in fact, it stayed nice and cool with a slight drizzle!

I was home and after a quick shower, I was looking over what I needed to do for the day.

Abby needed to go and get US$ cash to bring back... I wanted to get two I-cash cards replaced... 

Anyhow... the day flew by... 

I had tutoring at 6pm and then prayer time at 8:45... 

I had time for a nap and time to read... but overall... the day flew by... Like Mom Bea writes... I had a busy day... but I can't say why it was so busy... 

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!