Isaiah's Year in Review

From Isaiah (Not his best friend, AI):

I can’t believe how fast 2025 has flown by.  2024 was a blur as I started my first 'official' full-time job at Nanshan Life Insurance. (I was in the MA Program, starting in July of 2023 and moved into my full time position in 2024!) But wasn't that just yesterday? 

So, here is my recap for 2025:

There are three main aspects that I want to focus on: my job, my relationships, and lastly my personal goals. 

First off, I have been at Nanshan for two and a half years already. I was originally working for the Claims Department, but have continue to be at the Customer Service Project Department - Claims Division for nearly two years now. Working on projects regarding digital platforms and streamlining processes, I have learned so much, way beyond my imagination. If you were to ask me three years ago about writing codes for automating processes or help plan for Apps and Websites, let alone working for a Life Insurance Company, I would have thought you were crazy. And my answer to that invitation would surely have been a big fat NO. So, it is truly amazing that I am doing what I'm doing. One of the reasons that I've stayed is because of the relationships that I have built with my colleagues, especially those with whom I have grown pretty close to from the Management Association Program. Even though we don't see each other that often anymore, the occasional hang outs really are cherish able. 

Now about my relationships... I have been dating Fenny for around a year and a half, and a big answer to prayer is that she has professed Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior! Those who are curious about when the ring is going to be purchased or when I will pop the question, I guess I can only say that it is time to put one of the fruits of the Spirit into practice: Patience. As for church relationships, how can I describe them? I guess I'd have to say that those relationships have been quite the roller coaster this year. The bright spot in all this is that I have been very involved in the Young Adult Ministry. Although there has been a few rough spots, I know that in this upcoming year, the Lord's will will be done, and He will continue to guide this ministry. 

Finally, as for my personal goals... I had set a couple of personal goals last year. One of the big goals was to maybe buy a house this year. Through God's help, this happened in mid-November. I am so grateful for God's divine provision and how faithful He has been. Dad & Mom matched what I had saved up so that I had enough for a down payment. I had to take out a loan for 8 million NT$. The apartment is on the 3rd floor of an old apartment building, meaning there is no elevator. It has three bedrooms and two baths. All the bedrooms are quite small. I did qualify for the Young People's Government Sponsored low interest loan, so that's another praise. Escrow should close by the beginning of 2026!

Another 'goal'/'dream' was to go to a Twice Concert, which I thought might have to be overseas since Twice had not been able to come to Taiwan.  But God fulfilled this dream as Twice came to Taiwan in November to Kaohsiung. I was able to purchase a ticket for about 8000NT$. I had an absolute blast! I hope to go again in March of 2026 as they are scheduled for another visit.  

Now comes my prayer request for 2026. I pray that I will make wise decisions in regards to financial stewardship. I will be officially in debt with the need to pay a monthly mortgage payment for the apartment that I purchased. The loan is for 30 year! I pray that I will make more of an effort to lose weight as I wasn't very consistent in that respect for 2025. I pray that I will have a chance to continue to be recognized at my job for the work that I do. Hopefully, I will receive another substantial New Year Bonus in February! Lastly, I pray that the Young Adult Ministry at House of Praise will be a place where peers can grow spiritually and bond as a family in Christ. 

The theme of this upcoming year I think will be…Faithful. And the verse that I want to focus on is Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV) -- 

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

Daily Lovely Insight:

I was up early and went out for my run... I finished this week with 63.63. Annie said I should have done 64.64... So, I will try for 65.65 next year!

Alan and Isaiah went to play tennis. I took a shower and finished packing the box. I then started working on the different events for House of Praise: the Year-End Service on Sunday 12/28, the Saturday Christmas Special on 12/21 as well as the songs for Caroling at our complex on 12/24. We had plenty of food, so no need to cook. After lunch, I scooter to SanChong, hoping to donate blood. Unfortunately, there were 40 people in front of me and I didn't have time to wait around. I will have to do that maybe next week. I will check where I can go... I scootered back home and rested!

This evening we had the Ladies' Bible Study Potluck! FUN! Isaiah went out with Fenny. He got a $2000 gift certificate to be used at a Department Store for a story that he submitted about elderly care! I hope to get a copy and translate it and share it with you all!

Seek Him First!

Lovely's Year In Review!

I was up early and decided to run 12.12! Why not?

I was home and after a shower, I started to pack the box that will be shipped to the Philippines... I also went to the traditional market to buy Chinese Romaine Lettuce and veggies! Alan came home at around the same time I did. He got ready and we went to Yehliu for lunch. I wanted to go to the Yehliu GeoPark as a remembrance of Mom... 

First, let me write my personal 'newsletter' for 2025.

This has been a tremendous year... this time last year, I had no idea what God was going to carry me through. As you recall, it was one of the most difficult years in 2024 as I was on the board of our complex and the care of Mom weighed heavy upon my shoulders.

The verse the LORD gave me was Mark 4:39. I will copy and paste the exact picture/scripture I had in my post from last year:

This verse has been extremely meaningful as the wind, the storm of life, belted me this year. I went to the States at the end of March, and Abby joined me... We spent our time in San Diego as I didn't know when I'd have a chance to visit with Mom Bea. The day after I arrived, Judy had a Celebration of Life for her dad: Bill Jones. I was blessed to attend that Service! Abby returned with me to Taiwan and she stayed for 17 days and what a joyous time that was. We again had our Family Portrait done.

Then on the morning of May 7th, my Mom passed in her sleep... shocking... for the next four days, my life was spinning. The cremation happened on Saturday, the 10th. My brother James flew over from Malaysia. Everything was in a blur... Plans were made for Isaiah, Alan and I to go back to the States in July with the ashes and we would have a graveside service. My brother Eddie joined us and the Service was held on July 19th. I came back to Taiwan on August 10th. Isaiah returned a week earlier and Alan stayed until September! 

And on the morning of August 16th, I had a conversation with our pastor which led to havoc and turmoil. As things progressed, the pastor decided to resign by December 31st, taking a five month paid Sabbatical, which brought the church into a state of chaos. Again, Mark 4:39 was what God sang over me. I won't go into all the details, but in my 50 years of being a follower of Jesus, I have never experienced what has happened in these past four months!

Even in the midst of 'grieving', the Lord has brought comfort and surprises. My Bible studies gals and the Soochow students... A trip to Nepal to see Abby... House hunting with Isaiah (and you can read his newsletter tomorrow to know more about that...)... Our God is faithful... He is my Refuge and He speaks calm in the midst of the chaos. He speaks peace in the midst of upheaval and conflicts. He indeed silences and calms the storms.

What does 2026 look like? What is the verse that the Lord has put upon my heart for this upcoming year?

Abby will be back for a month: from March 8th to April 8th. And of course, we will do another Family Portrait!

I plan to travel to Heidelberg: most likely from May 5th to May 19th. I'm still praying and looking for the best price for the round trip ticket.

House of Praise will continue... but perhaps with only half of the number of people. I will be more involved as a Deaconess and perhaps be a board member. I hope that House of Praise will also be involved in a missions trip this year: maybe to Nepal or Cambodia!

I hope to work on tossing and cleaning and sorting and organizing. 

I will continue to run, but will not be joining any races. Maybe the year I turn 70! I hope to do another ultra in another country!

I might be getting a few more students... and perhaps letting go of a few students! MOE asked me to go back, but I have committed to being at Soochow on Wednesdays and they couldn't work around that. They needed me on Wednesday!

I don't plan on traveling to the States!

So, here are my prayer requests:

1. For God to build up HOP and to spark the hearts of those in our congregation to maybe partner with another church on a missions trip!

2. For God to give me insights and strength as I lead or speak or help others.

3. For God to reveal truth in the midst of lies.

4. For God to plan the trips in the New Year!

5. For God to provide job opportunities either tutoring or speaking.

My verse for 2026 is:

John 15:16 (2025-2026)

What a powerful verse! To know that I am chosen. I am ordained. I am to go and bear fruit. I am to ask in Jesus' name. And I trust that God the Father will answer!

Daily Lovely Insight:

Alan and I had lunch in Yehliu and then went to the GeoPark. It was windy but I quite enjoyed it. We drove back through the mountain and I had ordered pizza for dinner! Isaiah came home and we just had a simple supper at home. Alan and I were too full. Tomorrow night, we have a ladies' Bible study potluck. So, I'm planning to make a main dish and a dessert! 

Overall, it was a wonderful birthday... 

Seek Him First!

A Low-Key Sabbath Day

I was up early... but didn't go out for my run until 9:30. The weather was warm... and sunny... 10K... finished.

Alan and Isaiah had already left for work... and I had the house to myself!

I made some delicious coffee and had my brunch/lunch after a shower... And I trimmed my hair... NICE!

The afternoon was spent on the sofa, reading... I alternated between several books... and I also dozed on and off.

At around 3:30, I turned on my WiFi and bought coupons at a restaurant in Yehliu. Yes, that's the plan for tomorrow... head out towards Yehliu for the day!

At 4:20, I headed out... I had to drop off some CDs to a friend... check on my MRT cards... get money to pay for the coupons... and then I had an oil massage... 

I was home by 8pm... and Alan was home at 9pm and Isaiah walked in soon after that... We watched two episodes of House while eating dinner!

It was just a very nice low-key Sabbath!

I do need to start working on several things next week!

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!

Last Soochow Bible Study... For This Semester!

I was up early and started cooking... I wanted to make a chicken shepherd's pie and a dessert!

I did go down to check the recycling as this new janitor just don't seem to know how to sort things! Anyhow, the people from the recycling truck always like to see me... we work well together.

After that was done, I went out for my run... and it was hot! But I finished my 10K and came home for a quick shower. I layered the shepherd's pie and finished making the dessert. I realized that I had too many things to bring, so I cancelled tutoring. I was feeling tired... and it was great that I cancelled as the kids all wanted to stay around and chat after our 'mini' party!

I have so enjoyed this group of students!

I got home and put everything away... and was so glad that I cancelled my tutoring as I didn't get home until 5:10!

No meeting tonight... Fenny came over for dinner... and I had prayer time at 9pm.

The day flew by... I didn't work on more file tossing... I realized that I should just wait until I go 'home' and my kids or Alan can toss everything as they won't have any emotional attachment to my first class of students at Castelar where I did my student teaching and then landed my first full time job... That sure was an easy decision!

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!

Trying to Toss Files... Not Successful!

I was up NOT early... I really slept in... I guess I didn't take a nap yesterday and was quite exhausted! It felt so good... 

Alan was home at 9am... as the game started at 9:15: Chargers Against the Eagles! I didn't know that the Eagles were the Super Bowl Champs last year... Anyhow, I worked on sorting through files while Alan sat in the living room to watch. And like the title: I was not successful... the key was TOSS... I didn't toss anything! I did reorganize and that was great. 

While working on that, I also cooked two different dishes in the crock pot. The first one was a beef stew, which turned out very very delicious! The second one, which is still cooking, is a Mexican chicken dish! I'm sure that's going to be nice too... I'm cooking quite a bit because now that Fenny is living in Neihu, I invited to come over for dinner whenever she has time. And Isaiah also packs his lunch, so we have lots of food in the fridge! YUMMY!

At 12:40, I went out for my run. Delightful... 10K... not too fast... easy pace... weather was great.

And Chargers won... it was a great game according to Alan and Isaiah!

I resumed my cleaning and sorting... while listening to another CD: Luminate, a Christian band. Their songs are quite nice!

The complex management director called: a neighbor has a bag of bedding to give away. Do I want them? I went and looked and the stuff was nice. It turned out that a bed and breakfast lodging closed and gifted our neighbor with tons of bedding items. I sorted and called for a box and will give away the stuff!

I must say... it was quite nice to have a day without any appointments and just do some much needed time consuming tasks. I need to set aside days like this more often! To tackle the files alone will need many days! I can toss other people's files, but it's so hard when I have to do files of my own notes and papers! I'm going to set this task for the year 2026!

At 7pm, I had tutoring for an hour... that flew by... and the day drew to a close!

By the way, the chicken dish turned out very yummy... even without sour cream!

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!

 

Tackled A Huge Task!

I was up early and did go out for my 10K... the weather was perfect!

I got home, took a shower and put in a load of laundry as I didn't get to that yesterday! 

Alan and Isaiah took off for work... and I was off to meet a dear friend. It's our usual monthly prayer and share time. And again, she prepared a feast for me!

I came home and started the task for the day: organizing all the CDs in the house! You can't believe how many we have! The dining room table was stacked up so high... I grouped everything first and then took out the CD player to listen to some of the CDs to check them out! After over three hours, I finally started to put them back to the different racks! I was hoping to finish before 6pm, but I did not!

I pushed everything to one side of the dining room table and had dinner! We had our first in person prayer meeting tonight! We have not had this for many many many years... what a joy!

We used YouTube for a worship song and then we shared verses before praying together. The hour flew by.

Fenny came and we dropped off the last of her stuff at the old house and she will be sleeping there starting tonight. Isaiah had to go to the office, so Alan dropped me off before going there. It was sprinkling, so Alan didn't want him to be riding his scooter. Plus, it got quite cold.

I came home to check on the meat and to finish up with the CDs... YEAH! Tomorrow, I'm going to try to tackle another big task: getting rid of some files and sorting through some stationery goods. 

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!

The 7th of the Month!

I was up early and went back to bed and napped until 9am. Then it was time to get things ready as I had decided to go to the morning service and then hang around before attending a prayer and worship time for a sister who will be undergoing a cancer operation.

So... the Taipei International Church started at 10:30 and it was a wonderful service. Dior, a gal from YWAM, is back from the Philippines, which means she got her work visa to be at TIC as a professional coordinator, serving at the church. The church was beautifully decorated and the message was on Hope, the Advent of Christ. And of course, as it was the first Sunday of the month, we had communion, which was beautifully done!

Alan came... so that was nice. And I met several new people. After the service, he left and I stayed to organize the books in the church library. I donated 7 books and got 7 more books, which I will give away! I then headed to get money to pay a few bills and then found out that the Dazhi Carrefour closed on 11/30. SAD! I went to PXMart instead and sat there to have lunch before heading out the house of the host of the prayer and worship time. I got there right on time. 

The songs sung were beautiful and we just read Scriptures and prayed. 

I walked one of the gals to the MRT Station before walking back to my scooter and getting home. 

Alan walked in 15 minutes after I did.

I had stayed down at the recycling area, cleaning and sorting, as the janitor is off today!

Isaiah came back from his trip quite late.

The week has started!

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!