Good Friday!

This has been a blessed Good Friday for many reasons!

One is the time to reflect on the love of Jesus... The truth of John 3:16 comes alive!

Another reason this day was special is because of something I've posted from before. Just to refresh your memory, I have started to receive a small monthly pension. Alan and I have similar ideas when it comes to stewardship. In our opinion, putting money in the bank doesn't help people. So, we don't have much in the bank. Now that I have this monthly pension, it seems like such a waste if it sits in the bank... accumulating each month.

And that's when I started to look for a small property for investment purposes.

You cannot imagine how expensive properties are here...

I thought the prices would have gone down after the newly elected president came to office as the number of tourists from Mainland China has dramatically decreased. But in Neihu, I haven't seen much of a drop.

I've looked at many properties, but nothing 'clicked'. And just when I was going to put things off until after my return from the States, I went and saw two today in the same building! And I liked them both! There are positives and negatives of each place... the biggest negative, of course, was the price! The most positive thing is the location. It's a three minute walk from the MRT station and about a 15 minute bike ride from where we live!

I'm going to pray until Sunday and then make an offer. I hope the agent won't faint at how ridiculously low my offer is!  Just to give you an idea -- the listed price: 245,000US$. My offer: 177,000US$! And this is for a very small suite! VERY SMALL... OK, maybe just a little bigger than a five star hotel room!

Seek Him First!

Long Bike Ride!

This week has been Nanhu High School International Week.
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God worked it out as a group of basketball and soccer players from Santa Fe Christian Schools came to minister through sports and English activities. They came for lunch and an afternoon of interactive things. I attend the first part and left at 1pm to run a few errands.

I decided to ride over to the high school and run errands on my bike. It was quite fun!

When riding to the school, it was so windy. The bike didn't seem to be moving no matter how hard I was peddling. But in the afternoon, it was much better... but it started to sprinkle!

I had to check about changing A/C units for the Danhsui house, mail out a registered letter for Isaiah, look at several books for my new class (and I ended up buying one for Isaiah)...

After getting home, I worked on the computer the rest of the afternoon -- finishing up the test and Sunday message!

I also made lots of food as we're going to have a weekend of people over dinner!

The kids called... the two of them decided to go and catch a movie...

Seek Him First!

Another Activity-filled Day

Yes, today was another activity-filled day!

My 'new' Wednesday tutoring schedule is going back to back to two different places.

I have to end the first hour very on time, in order to get to the next tutoring session.

Of course, it is very difficult to end on time... so there was a lot of running, albeit short distances! I ended up being only 5 minutes late!

What else did I do this day?  Well, Alan and I had a simple lunch date for our anniversary as we did not have the time yesterday. After lunch, we scootered up to this one community as we noticed that the prices of properties up there were quite low... We 'picked' the perfect day to do this as it was wet and the mountain road was 'hairy' and quite slippery. Even though it was only a 15 minute ride up, coming back down, Alan's breaks started to smell like burning rubber! YIKES! We decided... NO... the homes up there might be in our price range, but Alan would not want to live there!

Isaiah had his second tutoring session... He is earning 40US$ for 90 minutes of tutoring. Of course, his trip there and back is 90 minutes. But he says, he enjoys it! Our friend is a great cook and packs Isaiah a 'lunch box' to bring home! How very nice!

As for Abby, she was exhausted from her Coldplay outdoor concert last night in the rain! She came home and went to bed by 9:30!

Seek Him First!

NSB Started & 30th Anniversary!

Today was a wet day... but I had to get so many things done in preparation for my NSB classes.

I biked over to the training center and forgot to bring an ID. What trouble did I get myself into!!!! I will make sure to remember next time!

I have 15 students, but they seemed lower than last year's group. Still, I think it's going to be a great year.

When I got inside the building, one of the students from last year was there to greet me. It was so great to see him!! The group from last year will be coming over for dinner on Saturday. It's going to be so much fun!

I biked home and heard the message... our car is ready. Isaiah also messaged me and said that he'll be at the MRT station by 6:30. I plopped everything done and ran down to pick up the car and drove to pick up Isaiah.

Abby went to her Coldplay concert. Alan had class until 8:30... It's our 30th anniversary, but it was just another activity packed day!

Seek Him First!

Another Run on An Extremely Hot Day!

The weather report said that it would be a hot day and it was!

My Mondays are usually so packed and this was no exception.

I wanted to work on the test... go to the library... deposit money at the post office (yes, in Taiwan, the Post Office also has a banking service)... cook and bake... order books (the NSB called me to go and teach again)... and tutor... In between everything, during the hottest hour in the afternoon, I went out for a run! 10K... in the heat... trying to do it in less than an hour... NOPE... still 65 minutes! It was difficult to run any faster with the heat beating down on me... I did bring water with me and that helped!

Isaiah rode his own scooter to the MRT Station, so I didn't have to worry about picking him up.

Alan and I both said that we are looking forward to June... ha, ha, ha...

Seek Him First!

Now the Waiting Starts

Isaiah is 'finished' with the university application process.

He went to the Philosophy Department's interview this morning. I don't think they had a great turnout. We think they might have to accept every student who came for the interview?!?!?!

They did ask Isaiah lots of great questions about the 'research paper' he submitted.

I walked around the track while he was waiting to be called. And I saw a lot of very nervous looking parents.

He was finished by 9:45.

Now, we wait until 4/20.

I think he will be going to Soochow University this fall... in the English Department!

And he rode to church today and is getting quite good at riding around.

Seek Him First!

Two Milestones for Isaiah

Isaiah went and took the Soochow English Department Entrance Exam this morning. There were four others from his high school! What a surprise!

The test did not have translation or sentence correction or listening comprehension. It had vocabulary, fill in the blank, cloze and reading comprehension -- all multiple choice! The second part was an essay of at least 250 words! 70 minutes and he was finished! They called 240 students back, but only about 188 decided to come! The top 80 will be admitted and the rest will be on the waiting list! We want Isaiah to be in the top 80! Go, Isaiah, Go, Go, Go (as my sister would say!)

The second thing that happened was: ISAIAH RODE HIS OWN SCOOTER TO CHURCH THIS AFTERNOON! He will probably start riding his scooter every day to the MRT station! So, he will start with short distances -- no riding to Soochow yet! Going through that tunnel is still a bit 'hairy'!

For myself, it was a hot day and I went and had a RUN -- 10K -- in the heat! It felt good to be out running again, even in the heat!

Seek Him First!