Glance at our problems; Gaze at our God

In my walk with God, He constantly teaches me.

I have been reading through the Bible in a year for about 15 years now.  And I truly enjoy it.

The Lord also has me focusing on certain chapters or books of the Bible.  And I truly enjoy it.

But recently, He has brought me back to something He did at the beginning of our love relationship.

When I first came to know Christ, I didn't have a Bible.  And when I did get a Bible, I didn't really understand how to study the Bible.  So, He gave me one verse to focus on for the entire year.  That verse was meat that was well digested and absorbed.  One verse for an entire year.

John 3:16
Matthew 6:33
II Corinthians 5:17
John 14:6
John 15: 5

Those are just the five that have really affected and transformed my life.

The verse He is presently working into my life through and through is -- Isaiah 50:4-5


Through this practice, I am learning to see life in a different light on a daily basis.

I'm keeping my focus on Him.

I know I will truly enjoy it!

Indeed, glance at my problems; gaze at my God.

Seek Him First!

My Favorite Season

My favorite season is just around the corner -- Fall is almost here.

Today, I actually 'dragged' my daughter, Abby, out in the morning to get some exercise.  She rode the bike for 15 kilometers while I ran 12 kilometers.  Just last week, I would not have done it. Even today, by the time we were heading home, it was getting a bit too hot for the two of us. I had finished all my water and Abby said, "Peddling up that last hill to our house was exhausting."  I think it was around 30C by 10:30.  There was a slight breeze which helped a lot.

So, I'm thinking that perhaps in another two weeks, the weather would be much cooler...

I sure hope so.  October is two days away and today still felt like summer.

Living in Germany, Fall was so beautiful. Autumn leaves all along the cobble stone path near the castle which was next door to where I lived.  Here are a few pictures I found on the internet of what it looked like --



Seek Him First!

Isaiah's First Tennis Tournament

Isaiah joined his first tennis tournament.  He enjoyed the experience and hopes to do better next time.

Seek Him First!

Amazing

About 18 months ago, I went running with my iPod -- IN THE RAIN.

When I came home, the iPod was totally not functioning.

A dear friend said, PUT IT IN A CUP OF RICE.  It will take out the moisture and dry the inside up.

I got a cup of rice and left it in the cup for the past 18 months.

Tonight, I decided it's time.

I got it out of the rice.

Plugged it in to charge.

After about 10 minutes, this appeared --

It's Working!

And now, I am leaving it to be fully charged.

I haven't seen this screen for the past 18 months.  

This iPod might be old, but it has some of my favorite music on it.  

Thank you God.

This is such an answer to prayer.

I feel as if it's come back to life again!!!

Seek Him First!

Riding My Scooter from Neihu to Danhsui

It's a walk or ride of faith, going from Neihu to Danhsui.  The total distance is about 31 kilometers. Today was my third time and I'm actually starting to enjoy the ride.

This is Neihu.

And this is a map of the route I take to go to Danhsui.

From the upper half of the map in the middle to the very top of the map to the left.

What do I see on the way?

I see several beautiful bridges.

This is along the bike path.

I see rice paddies.

I see ferries crossing from one side to the other.

I see lots of things.

Seek Him First!

Buying Bricks in Taipei

For a weekend activity, there was a need for bricks.

I rode around and actually saw a neighbor down the street with a whole pile of bricks covered over with a large tarp.  I stopped and knocked on her door. She answered. I asked if I can have five bricks. She thought I was crazy and said, NO.

(It looked similar to this picture, but the tarp was blue and the pile was not so big.)

I rode to two local hardware stores.  They both did not have bricks for sale. But the gentleman told me where I could go to buy bricks.  It was about a five minute scooter ride from my house.

The clerk was very kind. I asked about buying bricks and she said, SURE.  I asked, How much for one?  She replied, 5NT$.  That's less than 20cents each.  I waited for her to bring me the bricks. She sat there staring at me. Finally, I asked, Where are the bricks? She said, They are stacked right outside. Help yourself.


I walked and looked where I had parked my scooter. There right next to my scooter was a pile of bricks. I picked 5 and they were very heavy, paid the clerk and rode back home.

What an unusual experience!  I now know where I can buy bricks as well as cement or putty and all sorts of interesting things.

Seek Him First!

An Unusual Day

I haven't had one of these days in a long time.

I actually sat down on our living room sofa and read for about three hours.

I finished a book!!! And started on another one!  It was absolutely delightful!


I finished the household chores.

I called my mom.

I ran errands.

And I still had time... so I sat down and read and read and read.

And this evening, I had time to run... in the rain.  I like running in the rain. Yes, my shoes are soaked but it's so much cooler.  There are also less people out at the River Park.  If I had more time, I think I would have kept going.

I think I'd like to spend every Wednesday like today!


Seek Him First!

The Cooking Oil Crisis

These past few weeks the news have been plastered with the recent scandal involving a cooking oil factory down in Pingtung that supplies oil to some of the major food producers island-wide. This factory was reusing 'old' oil and other sub-standard ingredients, some of which shouldn't even be in cooking oil.  The factory was using recycled waste oil and animal feed oil.


An old farmer noticed this happening some two years ago. He reported it five times to the local authorities who did nothing.

Finally, he took matters in his own hands, bought digital camera and video cameras and recorded what was happening.  One of the reasons why he started to be very suspicious was because the waste from the factory was contaminating his farm.

He turned everything in and an investigation started, which discovered what the farmer already knew to be true.

This is a major case as so many products were removed from the shelves.


Even though my mom lives in the States, she watches Taiwan news.  In the past few weeks, when I call her each day, she reminds me to be careful about what I eat.  Now, I buy my cooking oil from Costco. And because I enjoy cooking, I actually buy the nicer  more expensive kind of cooking oil. So hopefully, we have not been ingesting any "gutter oil" or food products that have been tainted by this kind of oil.

I guess even shopping for groceries has become a step of faith --

Seek Him First.

Weetabix

While in Germany some 34 years ago, I fell in love with Weetabix.


After returning to the States, this particular cereal was always a lot more than the other brands. If Kellogg's was 1.50US$, then Weetabix would be 3.00US$.

This past summer while in the States, I went to Ralph's -- to the back of the store where they put the "manager's special".  These are items that have been marked down. And to my utter surprise, there were like 10 boxes of Weetabix.

And the price???

I took every box they had!

Now, I get to enjoy my favorite cereal every morning here in Taipei. With every bite, I have a chance to remember the fun I had in Germany, the friends I met in that year, and the faithfulness of God I experienced.

Seek Him First!

No Day Off

The typhoon has blown over without much damage to the Northern area of Taiwan.

People were hoping that they might get a day off tomorrow... but no... everything is back to normal.

It's still going to be another hot 'summer' day even though we should have entered into the fall season by now.

And yes, I had a very busy Saturday.

Alan and I did go to Isaiah's Back to School Day. It was very informative and we were able to meet several of his teachers.

In the afternoon, I rode the scooter all the way to Danhsui.  I prayed with the sister at the foreclosed home she just bought. The 'inside' wasn't that bad.  Here in Taiwan when you buy a foreclosed home, you don't get to see the condition on the inside until the deal is sealed. So, you don't know if you bought a "lemon" or not.

Then I came back and we had a wonderful family core at Robert and Ariel new house.  The food and fellowship were just splendid.

I drank a half cup of coffee and should have gone for a run. But physically I was feeling tired, so I went to bed at 12:30 and tossed and turned until 3a.m. ha, ha, ha... Next time, no coffee after 6p.m. no matter how good the coffee may be.

Today was a day of rest... as we went to church in the afternoon and had Robert and Ariel over for dinner.

Now the kids are working on their school work and getting on their cell phone. Isaiah is playing this football game and Abby is conquering TsumTsum.



Seek Him First.