Christmas Eve -- Picture Review of 2018

Our Annual 2018 Family Portraits

January -- Alan & Isaiah in Australia

The Joint College Entrance Exam

February -- The Passing of Daddy George

 

Gathering for the Memorial Service

March -- Mom's Moved back to Taiwan

April -- Abby's Decision
Soochow University -- Social Work Department

Our 31st Wedding Anniversary

May -- Abby's Graduation 

 

Abby's Best Friends from High School

June -- Unbelievable Visit and Trip

July -- Return to the States

August -- Family Trip

We had so much fun!

We visited friends and did goofy things! AS A FAMILY!

September -- Family Fun

Alan's Trips with His Students

November -- Birthday Celebrations

December -- Abby's Basketball Team
They came in second place!

Seek Him First!

The Weather Changed!

What a huge change...

Yesterday it was nice and warm... and today... cloudy and cold and raining!

We had our Christmas service... and a delicious love feast.

We had a smaller then usual crowd... but it was a wonderful service.

Abby wasn't there as her team has gone on to the championship... As of right now, they are in the midst of their championship game... I have no idea against which school...

Tomorrow... is a holiday!

YIPPY!

Seek Him First!

Fabulous White Elephant Party

We did not have as large of a crowd as we were hoping for... but it was a beautiful evening...

I cooked three items... and we rushed to go as we had a HOP Leadership Meeting before the party...

The party started at 6pm and we had about 50 people...

The food was plentiful...

The laughter was plentiful...

The gifts were plentiful...

The songs were beautiful...

It was just a fabulous evening...

I told the Christmas story...

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It's Christmas Weekend...

Today for most of the American companies, schools and agencies... vacation has started... But for the rest of Taiwan... it's business as usual!

In fact, Christmas Day is NOT a holiday here anymore...

If the kids and Alan weren't at Soochow, they would all have had to work or been at school...

Mom had her morning program and the group was practicing for their singing program that will be held tomorrow. Mom stayed behind with one of the volunteers and then they all had lunch together.

Alan and I had our date... at a new breakfast shop...

Isaiah and Abby had class and then went out with their friends.

In the afternoon, while Mom napped, I went for my short run... it was nice and warm.

After Mom went to bed this evening, I went over to say goodbye to the Filipino team...

And we had family time... and watched a movie... Vacation has started, even if it's only for four days!

Seek Him First!

A Very Full Day

This morning started with me trying to help book a restaurant for the Filipino softball team... Because the dinner was tonight, it was difficult to find a restaurant within their budget to accommodate 30 people... God worked it out... and then later on in the afternoon, they wanted to increase the total number of people to 35...

So... in the afternoon, I had many errands to run... Donate money, drop off things... pay bills... Took Mom over to her massage and then I went for a quick run. Before the run, I ran into so many different people...

I also took Mom to the supermarket so that we can have some fresh veggies for dinner.

Abby was having a party with her students, so I picked up the pizzas she ordered and dropped it off at the cram school for her.

I got dinner for Mom and our neighbors came over to have their supper here...

After Mom got to bed,I tidied up the house and went down for our complex meeting... it was a long one...

This evening we decided to stay up to watch a movie I borrowed from the library...

For Alan, the long weekend starts tomorrow... YIPPY!

Seek Him First!

Fun Books to Read

One thing that I've been doing a lot of is reading children's books...

Because I'm tutoring a 4th grader and trying to get her to her grade level in reading, I've been borrowing a lot of books from the local library and reading them... before I go through the books with her.

Oh... the Cows in Action (CIA) series is hilarious... I'd love to be able to write like that...


And Kazu Kibuishi is a Japanese author and illustrator of the Amulet series... Those books are also pretty amazing!


I'm just stunned by how many new authors there are these days... I still have a few of my old favorites... but it's been fun getting to read all these new books!

Seek Him First!

Reflection...

The more I think about the run this past Saturday, the more I know it was a miracle...

I went on line on 10/10 to see what runs were coming up... and saw the 12/15 run... Oh, I thought... It's on a Saturday... and 55K... not too bad... I signed up and in the afternoon went down to the local convenience store and paid... 1755NT$!

They sent me the confirmation that day and I had time to 'study' the route... Oh... The old highway to Ilan... Through the mountain paths... I asked Alan to help to figure out what the map meant... and I realized... although the distance was reasonable, the mountains were going to be tough...

Knowing that my time was limited in terms of training, I decided to run six days a week, 30 minutes each time...

And that's what I did... From 10/10 to 12/14... During these past two months, I had maybe two one hour runs...Otherwise, it was just the quick 30 minutes...

All this to say that I was NOT close to ready when 12/15 came...

It was only by the strength of Jesus through the prayer support of so many that I made it and at a time that I felt was incredible... and to think that two days later, I feel almost fully recovered. I went on a slow 30 minute run today and had only very slight soreness... I'm amazed!

One more thing that I want to mention... The run was called Taipei to Yilan Along the Ancient Path. The route we ran was the 'old road', which was the only road to go from Taipei to Yilan. More recently, the "Snow Tunnel" was finished and very few cars, buses, or trucks travel this route. Scooters still do as they are not allowed in the Snow Tunnel. But the Ancient Path reminded me of the verse  Jeremiah 6:16 -

Isn't this beautiful???

Now... I have two more months -- from 12/15 to 2/16... before my next run. Although there will be no hills, no mountains... it will be the duration of the 'shuffle'...

Please pray! I don't even want to tell you my goal for this next one...

I'm trusting the Lord to carry me through... But do start praying now -- the weather and endurance! Saturday, February 9th!

Seek Him First!