A Day of Rest, Sort of!

I must say, I did take time to rest today.

I had to finish the test that I lost.

I had to do a load of laundry.

I had to get out the Christmas decorations.

I had to finish my Bible study homework.

I had to tidy up around the house.

I had to email people.

I had to call my mom.

BUT, I did take time to rest. And it felt so good.

I also went for a run. The weather was really nice -- I ran in shorts and a t-shirt.

This evening I had our Bible study group on the book of Revelation. I always learn something from the lesson.

The kids will have their second set of big exams tomorrow and Wednesday. I am going to email people to be in prayer for them.

Seek Him First!

Prayer Walk, Memorial Service, Baby Dedication, Love Feast

It was a tremendous Sunday!

The weather this morning was perfect for the last prayer walk of this year for the New Beitou Baptist Church. I was praying for 10 people... but we had only 9 show up! God gave me 7 songs and two areas of focus -- unity and thanksgiving. We read John 17 and by faith, prayer walked the area around the church.

I then rushed back to Neihu as there was a memorial service for Allen Chen. Most of those attending were not yet believers. It stirred my heart as I know there is no fear in death. I'm only going home... and that's something I long for.

This evening at HOP we had a baby dedication. Alan led the service and Abby and I were the intercessors.  We stayed for the love feast and came home before 8pm, which is very unusual.

There were lots to do at home as I hadn't been home all day -- dishes to wash, things to put away, clothes to put away, emails to answer and I had hoped to work on the test that I had 'lost'...

But it's not even 10pm, and I'm so ready to head off to bed...

Tomorrow is already the last day of November...

Seek Him First!

Abby's Birthday!

 

Today was Abby's birthday.  She had math cram school in the morning and then her usual fellowship in the afternoon. In the evening, we couldn't decide what to do. We were invited to go and have dinner at the camp site. (HOP family went on a camping trip out in SanShia.) But the kids just wanted to hang out at home. So, we went over to the Miramar Entertainment Center as they had a Christmas tree with Star Wars decorations. We got in front and took a couple of pictures.

 

NICE!

 

For dinner, I made friend onion cakes with eggs. That's what Abby wanted for her birthday dinner.

Seek Him First!

 



Birthday Dinner

Friday is DATE with HONEY.

We had to run a few errands, but I bought coupons and we had a great lunch at the food court of a local shopping mall.

This evening for family time I planned a special dinner celebration for our kids.  I found coupons for a local burger joint. And the burgers were fabulous. They even had milk shakes that were really like American milk shakes.

Even with coupons, we spent 60US$. For me, that's a splurge.

The kids got gifts from us this year.

 

 

Seek Him First!

 



Happy Thanksgiving!

I took today to rest!

Plus, after last night's celebration, I had dishes that were left in the sink and table cloths and rags to wash.

After all that was done, I went to the church to sort through the cabinets. I was there in the church's kitchen yesterday and found that the place was quite disorganized. So, I spent about 2 hours and got things organized a bit.

I came back and had lunch and took a very long nap! It felt so good.

And yes, the temperature dropped and out I went for my hour-long run!

Tutored tonight and ate leftovers.

My sister sent me pictures of the feast that she and KR have been preparing for the past three days. Homemade everything... even the cranberry sauce!


Seek Him First!

Thanksgiving Birthday

Seventeen years ago, on a Wednesday also, at around 11:31, I received a phone call. Isaiah was born at 10:48 in the morning!

And even though I had not set eyes on him, I knew -- HE WAS MY SON, A GIFT FROM GOD.

Today, we celebrated together with our church family.  They prepared a red envelope for Isaiah and Abby. Uncle James this morning also gave each of them a cash gift of 2000NT$.

It was a fabulous evening!

I don't know how the years went by so quickly!

Seek Him First!

10 Hours of Work -- VANISHED!

Yes, it's true.

I sat in front of my computer for almost 10 hours today to finish up one set of tests.

I hit saved throughout the process. But when I finished, hit save, closed up the file and reopened it -- THE ENTIRE FILE WAS BLANK -- like it was when the template was sent to me. Nothing was done on it. Not one question.

I could have cried. And I sure did feel frustrated.

But then I decided to give thanks.

So, it's gone.

I can let this situation steal my joy. Or I can give thanks in everything.

I chose to give thanks in everything!

It's a tremendously busy week, and today was the only day I had to work on it.  To find the time to do this is going to take a miracle. I will trust the Lord to give me the time.

I went off for a run.

When Alan came home, he tried to search for the file. He got a list of all the times I saved it. But upon opening those files, the computer gave him a message -- this file does not exist.  He tried for over an hour. So sweet of him...

God's word (I Thes. 5:18) says, in everything give thanks; for this is the God's will for you in Christ Jesus. It doesn't say give thanks when things are going smoothly. It doesn't say give thanks when life is good. It says, in everything give thanks. I'm going to trust God. He knows what he is talking about when he instructs us to give thanks in everything. The file was not found when I gave thanks. It did not miraculously appear.  But I did not let the situation steal my joy and my peace and my spirit of thanksgiving.

And I chose not to believe that the day was wasted.  My day, my time... well... actually, it's God's time and His day. I'm just a steward. My master is in charge. I report to Him. And I'm not going to stay up to rewrite the test. Tomorrow is my son's birthday. And I'll be getting up very early... I plan to make a special breakfast for him.

Seek Him First!