Isaiah's 5th Grade Track and Field Competition

More than a month ago, Isaiah was in his 5th Grade Music and Dance Show. Now, a month later, he was involved in a 5th Grade Track and Field Event. He ran the 100m. (To watch the video, you can get on YouTube. Type in Isaiah's 5th Grade 100m Dash.) He didn't get into the final round, but they sure had a great time. It was a rainy day, but the "show had to go on". We all went to watch. Isaiah wasn't Eric Liddel, but we pray that he ran for the glory of God.

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Isaiah's 5th Grade Music and Dance Show

Each year most elementary school students in Taiwan have a music/dance show. Of course, parents are invited. So, for your entertainment pleasure... here is Isaiah in this year's performances.

Okay... I only got to post a picture, because I tried to upload a video. Six hours later, it still was not finished. So, I have uploaded the video on YouTube. Type in Isaiah's 5th Grade Class Music Performance and you'll get to watch him on stage with his classmates. Type in Isaiah's 5th Grade Class Dance Performance and you'll get to watch the show.

What do you think? Care to comment?

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My Brother's Visits

The diamond studs help him lose weight!

One of our many feasts

Are we having fun yet?

One of the most difficult things about living overseas is being far away from our family members and friends. So, it is always special to have visitors from abroad. Recently, my older brother, James, has been in town, because of his new business venture. And what a great time we have had together. What does he do when he is here? Of course, he works... verrrrrrry hard... but we also get to play ping pong and eat out. My kids are always so thrilled to have Uncle James around. That's the highlight of their school's nightly journal, capturing all the details such as where we ate, what was ordered and the funny weird jokes they heard from Uncle James. We get to try restaurants that we have never eaten at, even though we've lived in Taipei for 23 years. We get to meet some very interesting people, whose path we would have never crossed. And we get to give "Uncle James" lots of hugs and that beats everything else that we do on these visits.

This reminds me that perhaps that's what God might enjoy the most... not our sacrifices, but if we would just draw near to Him and hug Him each day.

Be glorified!

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Anniversary Family Pictures

We celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary on April 11th. And every year as part of the celebration, we go and have our family pictures taken at a PROFESSIONAL studio. (My yearly splurge) This year the kids decided that we'd wear our favorite T-shirt and the name for the pictures would be "T-shirt". Yes, every year we have a dress code and a "name" for our annual family portrait. It's a tradition now. If you come to our home, you will see all the pictures beautifully framed and displayed on our dining room wall. I'll soon be running out of wall space. Every visitor to our home is asked to put the pictures in the correct chronological order. As I look at all the pictures, I am reminded of God's goodness and His Presence in our lives. His faithfulness endures forever.

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The Job Is Done

What started on April 1st as a small de-cluttering job turned out to be a MAJOR task of rearranging the furniture in our entire house. Not only did we clean up the sporting equipment that had multiplied in front of our front entry way (which was my original intention), my husband (with the support of my two kids) decided that it was time for them to be in their own room. For almost two weeks, you could not see the floor of our living room as everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) was pulled out of their room so that we can figure out how to give Abby a room of her own. We had to say good-bye to the guest/TV room.
What have we done with the "extra stuff"?
We sold it at our church flea market.
We boxed it away to sell to the "junk collector" who comes by once a month.
And our car is presently packed with it to donate to a church-run second hand store.
Were you hoping for a picture?
I'm too tired to take one.

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De-Cluttering

It's the First of April... and with the start of a very short Spring Break (which seems like the only break in which I am in Taiwan), my mind has gone into the SPRING CLEANING MODE. I want to de-clutter my entire house in 3 days!!!!! Okay, I must admit -- it's not going to happen... but isn't there a saying, "it's the thought that counts"... Well, I'm thinking it... will "it" actually happen? The above picture -- that's our study. I'm not going to tackle that just now. I can't seem to part with books. So, guess where I'm going to start? Yes, with the sporting equipment!!!!! And this is NOT an April Fool's Joke.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:"

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"It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like CHRISTmas..."

Yes, it's already December. Another year has again flown by. Although we didn't experience any major changes or take any major trips or publish any new books, it still felt as if the year was filled with blessings after blessings and packed with activities after activities. Alan and I celebrated our 22nd anniversary. We all turned a year older (Alan hit 51, Isaiah turned 11, Abby is now 10 and I will be 48!) We took two trips to the States so that we can spend more time with our elderly parents. We both still teach at the same schools and yes, Alan still is the basketball coach for the English departmental teams. We did switch Abby to a new school and she is thriving. Both of the kids have continue to take lessons in piano and can now play MUCH better than Mom. Isaiah's team won third place in the recent T-ball tournament. He is hoping to win a "gold medal" in the 100 yard dash during the school wide athletic meet. He will also be joining the school's English speech contest and Taiwanese song contest. Alan will take his basketball team down to a major competition and hopefully, they will be champions again this year. We love being a part of our church family at House of Praise and the kids are beginning to serve. Abby is now on a regular scheduled rotation to be a greeter and an intercessor. She has also volunteered to play the piano during the offering at our Christmas service. She is in the process of learning a few songs that she can play with confidence. The few that she has mastered are As The Deer, Silent Night and Jesus Loves the Little Children. She has also been learning how to play the drums, so perhaps she will join the worship team next year.

So as we look towards 2010, we ask that you will remember to pray for us. Here are our prayer requests --

1. To walk closer to Him each day. We want to continue to read through the Bible each year and to work on memorizing verses individually and as a family.

2. To nurture our children to love God and others. In school, they are often asked or required to read Buddhist text and it has been challenging for them to speak up.

3. To continue to score well at our schools' evaluations. The schools that we teach at are changing, and teacher are evaluated more. Some of these changes in our opinion are not necessarily positive. We praise God for how He has always been our Provider.

4. To have our kids enjoy school here in Taiwan. Isaiah feels stressed already as the homework load is quite heavy. There is a tremendous emphasis on memorizing everything--verbatim.

5. To spend time with each other to build our marriage for His glory. God has blessed us with consistent time to spend with each other and with other couples. We pray that He will use us to bless other marriages here in Taiwan.

6. To take trips to the States to visit our elderly parents. Please pray for their health and the time that we have to spend with our friends and family members.

7. To share Christ with others. We want to be used by God to bless the lives our friends, our fellow faculty members and staff, our students, the children in our kids' schools, their parents and teachers, our neighbors, those at House of Praise and other churches that we minister at... and the list goes on. May He continually supply us all that we have and are.

That'll keep you busy in prayer for 2010.

Thanks so much for being a part of our lives.

Yes, remember CHRIST in your CHRISTmas this year and in the years to come.

"By this the love of God

was manifested in us,

that God has sent

His only begotten Son into the world

so that we might live through Him."

I John 4:9

Seek Him first!

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