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.

Seek Him first!

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.

Seek Him first!

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:"

Seek Him First!

"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!

6:33

On A Friday Morning

Where is this at? This is not an amusement park, but Costco, Neihu. This is where I shop for bulk items. Yes, it is the same as any Costco in the States, except for one thing -- the lines. I usually try to get in and out within 30 minutes. That means, within 30 minutes, I try to find a parking space, which is probably down in B3, get a cart, get the food, check out, and drive out from B3 within 30 minutes. It's call SPEED shopping.

But on this particular Friday, I saw this as I headed down to B1. What? They were setting up Disneyland-like ropes to form lines. From B3, I headed up and was confronted with winding lines. For this particular day, it took 30 minutes just to get inside Costco. Why I asked one of the ladies? Her reply -- The Passport coupons had coffee packets, truffles and liquid detergent on special! What time was this? It was 20 minutes after they opened their doors.

The verse to claim on this particular morning --

Rejoice always and again I say rejoice! Phil. 4:4

Seek Him first!

This Is The Captain Speaking

Yes, this is the captain of the A-Team. I'm Alan. I'm the one with that bright yellow cap. It's a Lakers' cap from the trash (I think) that my wonderful sister in law, Annie, gave me. I've made my home in Taipei, Taiwan. I teach at Soochow University and coach the English Department's basketball teams. But for our family, I'm only the team captain as our wonderful creator God is our Coach. And our team manual, you got it -- the Bible.

Seek Him first!

Queen of Fun!

I'm a part of the A-Team.

My name is Abigail.

I'm 10 years old this year.

I love bicycling.

I love to play all kinds of card and board games.

I think my mom is very weird and she needs to lose a bit of weight. Me, too.

I'm attending Xi Hu Elementary School and I'm in the fourth grade.

Seek Him first!