Annual Family Portrait

What a blessed day... It was a holiday here in Taiwan-- 228 Peace Day!

Abby had plans with her classmates.

Isaiah went out with his girlfriend.

Alan had a River Park Tennis Tournament!

That left me home ALONE! YIPPY!

I had bought containers last night and started going through things in order to make room for my mom!  What I bought worked out perfectly...

Just when I had wanted to go out for a run, it started pouring...

I decided to use the time to clean the house!

By 5pm, Abby was home... and the rain stopped. I ran out the door... FAST!

This evening was our annual family portrait night.
Clothing theme: tank tops
Annual Motto: the immutability of God
2018 Verse: Heb. 13:8

We got there at 8:10, changed and were ready for the photo shoot by 8:30!

We were finished by 8:45!

We get to see the pictures on 3/23 at 7pm!

Seek Him First!

Isaiah's First Semester in College

I've been posting mostly about Abby as she is at that juncture with all the 'stress' of figuring out where she'd be attending university... I neglected to post about Isaiah!

He has started second semester...

While he was in Australia, I submitted his 'scholarship' forms. By maintaining a great GPA and since Alan is teaching at Soochow, Isaiah got his tuition fee refunded! So, that meant his first semester of college cost only about 350US$!

Then he found out that he was ranked number 1 in his class... with that, he is now eligible to receive another 200US$ scholarship from school!

YIPPY! So... his first semester was only 150US$!

Obviously, we hope he keeps this up... He can have his entire university education costing only 1200US$ for four years!

Seek Him First!

No Go...

Well... Abby did not go through the first selection process...

Two of the 76 students before her chose Soochow University... So, all the available spots were gone by the time her number was called. She will have to go through the second selection process that starts on March 19th.

Again, Abby was quite disappointed. She thought for sure she'd get in through this first selection process. So, she was both disappointed and shocked!

The good thing is that through the second selection process she will have more departments to choose from... but at the same time, there will be more materials that she will have to submit and most likely, go through an interview process!

And of course, she will not know the results until the middle of May!

I spent the day preparing for the two upcoming presentations I have... Plus, I continue to work on getting things ready for my mom's arrival -- hair salons, accupressurists... I also contacted a place to make gravestones... All in all, the day went by way too fast!

And even though the day went fast, I had no time to go out for a quick run... I sure miss going out to the river park... Maybe tomorrow...

Seek Him First!

What A Weekend!

This weekend has been a non-stop, go-go-go, weekend!

We went to several stores and decided to buy a new sofa bed... which will not arrive until 4/19!

We also went to Carrefour, Costco, RT Mart, Ikea, 3C, Nitori, and KwanHwa Market! Yes, it's true...

Then today, I spoke at the Chinese church... This year I'll be going six times and the book of focus will be the book of Philippians!

This afternoon, Alan, Abby and I went to House of Praise... it was great to be back with our HOP family. Isaiah was on his way back from Kaohsiung!

Abby was so cute as she asked, "We have school tomorrow?"

Yes, the weekend flew by! And school is starting for everyone... TOMORROW!

And Abby will be selecting her college possibilities... and if she gets in, she will find out on 3/14. And if not, she will have to go on with the second selection process that starts on 3/19!

Seek Him First!

Scores Released!

At 6am today, Abby's JCEE (Joint College Entrance Exam) scores were released via a text message on Alan's phone.

This morning I had gotten up at 4:30 to have time with Jesus...

And then we looked...

How to describe my feeling?

Oh... first, she got 54! What does this mean? So, let me also tell you the breakdown --
Chinese -- 10 (lower than bronze)
English -- 15 (gold)
Math -- 10 (silver)
Social Studies -- 12 (silver)
Science -- 7 (lower than bronze)

Ok... I added those notes to hopefully help you (those who are reading this blog) to understand!

The score was actually two points from what I had prayed for... but those two points make a world of difference for the application process. She needed those two points in Chinese in order for her to be at the 'bronze' level.

I had predicted correctly in all the other subjects and had put down 12 for Chinese as she had obtained that score on all her previous practice tests. Unfortunately, without a 12 in Chinese, she is limited on her college choices.

On Monday, Abby will try with her overall GPA from school. Of course, to choose based on her GPA, she still needed to have that 12 for Chinese. So, what does this all mean? She will not get into her first choice of school -- the National ChengChi University. But she will get into Soochow University, if not in the English Department, she does have more options than Isaiah, since her overall score and school ranking are higher!

I know God has all this figured out... and as one of my dearest friends said, Perhaps her future husband is there and that's why God is leading her to that particular school and in that particular major!

Abby was quite upset and sad when she first saw her score... I think she has come to grip with the outcome...

Seek Him First!

Another Very Long Day!

I had to teach at the Foreign Police Department this morning... and so, the day started early...

I then came home and had time to talk with Alan about how to rearrange the furniture/room in order to have a nice place for my mom when she comes!

Off I went at 4:30 to tutor... so, no time to nap!

This evening was the monthly complex meeting and it was a long one!

It's only 10:30 and I need to go to bed...

Tomorrow... Abby finds out her scores!

Isaiah is down in Kaohsiung for the Collegiate Tennis Tournament! I hope the team does well! Maybe even in the top three!!!

Seek Him First!

We're Back!

How long do you have? Because I feel as if I could write a book to describe all that have happened in these past 13 days... Yes, one thing like my last post -- I have had very little sleep... And the Lord sustained me!

Abby was very ill when we left Taiwan and the Lord kept healing her as we asked many to be praying for her.

As for the memorial service, it was simple and meaningful. I did get to read Ps. 23 and we sang two songs -- You Are My Sunshine & Amazing Grace! The military guards came and played the Tap and gave the flag to my mom. The weather was just perfect! And Eddie, KR, Alden, Kurtis, Roger and Ricky were the pallbearers. That was totally unplanned, except by God! So many more people came to the graveside service as it was a four day weekend. Again unknown by us, but not by God! After the service, we had a beautiful reception at Nadine Circle. Annie gave the eulogy and we played the song for Mom to dance with different people. Annie had put together a wonderful slide show that captured the beauty of Daddy George's life. We had placed many of Dad's diaries and photo albums all around the house for people to look at. When everyone left, I stayed up until the early morning to put the house back in order.

The amazing thing is that mom has agreed to return with me in March. So... now that we are back, I have so much to do in preparation in order to have her live with us.

All I can say is that with God all things are possible!

Seek Him First!

We're Leaving ...

It's been an amazing day...

Despite having very little sleep... The Lord sustained me.

I'm so glad the Foreign Police postponed the class for this morning. I would have never gotten everything done if I had to go and teach this morning... BUT...

We are packed. And the house is in order and all things arranged for when we will be gone!

Our neighbor will drop us off at the MRT Station and we will take the MRT to the Domestic Airport and from there take the bus to the International Airport!

Our flight is tonight at 11:50!  And going to the States, it's only a 12 hour flight...

Perhaps I will not blog... although Abby will be bringing her computer from Uncle James! And we do have wifi at my mom's place.

Annie did send a few messages about the memorial service... It will definitely NOT be the traditional style... YBNormal??? But I hope we will still be able to read a few scriptural passages, such as Psalm 23!

Seek Him First!

The Expected Came Unexpectedly

Yes... Annie called this morning... and the expected happened unexpectedly...

Daddy George passed away! (Feb. 6th, 2018)

We weren't planning on going back, but Annie would like for us to be there...

So, miraculously... I found tickets for Abby and I -- 877US$ each! Leavning on 2/8, Thursday night... and we'd return on 2/20, the day before Abby starts back in school!

God was working...

My Thursday class at the Foreign Police gave me Thursday off... and was willing to extend my class until March 1st!

I was able to cancel our CNY trip with only a 5US$ cancellation fees!

I borrowed a luggage from our next door neighbor and her husband dropped it off...

As I type this post, I have still many things to do... but I know... God is working on my behalf...

And I know... many are praying... My heart overflows with gratitude as my eyes overflows with tears...

Seek Him First!