wu mama

We found out this week that Lawrance's mom has stage 3 liver cancer.   We've been told to expect her time left on earth to not be very long. 



Wu Mama and BabaMy husband and his siblings are in the midst of making lots of decisions, trying how to provide the best care for their mother and father right now.  



We would very much appreciate prayers for the Wu family right now. 



The one praise this week has been that Wu MaMa accepted Christ as her savior on Wednesday.  After Lawrance shared his testimony, a dear Christian friend invited Wu MaMa to believe and she did. Father is merciful to the end.  I am so thankful for his patience and mercy!!  Praise Him!



So, in the midst of a heartbreaking situation there is hope. 



Right now, I will just leave it at this . . . we thank you for going to the Father on our behalf.



Taiwanese Wedding: Wu MaMa and her new daughter-in-law Wu MaMa and Lawrance 





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I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 

My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.



He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 
Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.

The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 



The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 
The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

(Psalm 121)





please pray

Today, September 22, 2009, at approximately 9AM Taiwan time, Peter Bennett, sustained a head injury when struck by a car
as he was crossing the street in Yonghe, Taiwan, a suburb of the capital city of Taipei.

I do not know Peter, but it seems like according to the blog set up for him that he worked with Team Expansion.  I found out via Scott's facebook who blogs at SQJ Taipei, and set up the site to help others pray for Peter.

I invite you to join others in prayer for this young man who is serving the Lord in Taiwan and is now in critical condition in the hospital.



I just found--literally stumbled upon--Laura Story. 

And, right now, I am enjoying this song because it seems like I could have written it.  It's as if she is speaking my story.


My heart is so proud. My mind is so unfocused.
I see the things You do through me as great things I have done.
And now
You gently break me, then lovingly You take me and hold me as my father
and mold me as my maker.


At times I may grow weak and feel a bit discouraged, knowing that
someone, somewhere could do a better job. For who am I to serve You? I
know I don't deserve You. And that's the part that burns in my heart
and keeps me hanging on.



As I walk with You, I'm learning what Your grace really means. The
price that I could never pay was paid at Calvary. So, instead of trying
to repay You, I'm learning to simply obey You

by giving up my life to you For all that You've given to me.


Chorus:

I ask you: "How many times will you pick me up, when I keep on letting you down?

And each time I will fall short of Your glory, how far will forgiveness abounds?"

And you answer: " My child, I love you. 
And as long as you're seeking My face, You'll walk in the pow'r of My daily sufficient grace."


great is the Lord

Running through my head this morning:





"Great is the Lord, He is holy and just, by His power we trust in His love.
Great is the Lord, He is faithful and true, by His mercy He proves He is love."





"For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods" (Psalm 96:4).



"Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable" (Psalm 145:3).



"But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, Great is the Lord! (Psalm 40:16).



there is hope

I was crying within 5 minutes of listening to this Focus on the Family program, and tears streamed down my cheeks for the rest of Ann Kiemel's talk.

She talks about her desiring to have a baby and her struggles with miscarriages and adoption.

Just a small taste . . .

I knew I had a choice.  I could make sorrow my friend or my enemy.  Sorrow could make me hard and cold and bitter or Sorrow could be my best friend and teach me things I had never learned before.  I reached out and took Sorrow's hand in that quite moment.  She removed all the sham and fluff from my life.  She taught me what it is to be real. She taught me what it really is to celebrate because only when you really know sorrow do you know how to laugh.  She taught me what it is to love; it is to be vulnerable.  It's to hold you hand out and to never hang on to anything.  It's to let Jesus take out or put in anything he wants, and it is to say yes.

If you are waiting for a husband or baby or struggling with sorrow, listen.  (On the Focus on the Family page click "listen now.")  It will be 15 minutes well spent.

HT: Kelly's Korner 



repeating conversations

Shop Signs in Taiwan

There was a joke in one of my foreign language education classes in grad school about a student of French who went to France and came back upset because no one in France knew their lines to the dialogues. 



I think here in Taiwan, someone actually could memorize "their lines to the dialogue" because they are most likely going to be asked the same questions in nearly the same order . . . .over and over and over again.



However, one thing to be careful of is that the conversation patterns change depending on what phase of your life you are in. 



So, since I've been amused by the conversations I've been having lately, it seems that I'm entering a new phase of repeated conversations.



Here is an actual conversation I had yesterday in Chinese (translated to English by me):

Shop Owner: So, hey, why can you speak Chinese?  You been here long?



Me: Yes, I've been here 7 years. 



Him: Ah,  married?



Me: Yes.



Him: Taiwanese guy?



Me: (with a smile) yes.



Him: Oh yeah!  Taiwanese guys are good guys, aren't they!?!



Me: (with an even bigger smile) yes.  they are pretty good.



Him: yall have a baby?



Me: No, not yet.



Him: Oh, that is just not right!  If you really think we Taiwanese people are good.  You should make a little Taiwanese baby!



Me: Well, we've only been married a year.



Him: (visibly surprised) Oh!  Just a year!  I thought it would be much longer than that since you speak Chinese.  . . .So, uh, hey, you a teacher?





This particular shop owner cracked me up.  He had a very lively
personality and talked with me for a least 20 minutes while I waited in
his shop. 


So, as I hopped on my moped leaving his store, I started thinking, and here are my observations/ponderings:



Observation/Pondering 1:

His reply to the baby question was a new one.  Usually it is followed by something along the lines of "oh, mixed blood babies are beautiful.  I'm sure your baby will be so gorgeous."  

Following, Lawrance's example, I reply to that with "all babies are beautiful."   He can get away with it--they stop that line of commenting with him.  When I'm alone, whoever I'm talking to (especially the grandmas) insist I don't know what I'm talking about because it is a "known fact that mixed blood babies and the most beautiful in the world."  At this point all I can do is smile. (Something Lawrance and I have already talked about is how to help our future children deal with all the compliments they are going to receive while in Taiwan.  But that's another topic for another day.)







Observation/Pondering 2:

The other place this conversation usually takes me is to the fact that we don't have a baby yet.  I mean come on we've been married a full year, surely there is a little one by now . . . or at least one the way!  When the shocked listener finds out, that truly the answer is "no, not yet"  four out five times they will respond "加油" (Jia you)!! 



Jia you is a cheer that roughly translates to something like "Go! Go! Go!"  It is often used to cheer on sports competitors at sporting events or to encourage someone who needs a little encouragement in their studies or to show support to someone who is about to take a test or needs to be brave.



At first I found it quite embarrassing . . . that is because I was listening to it with my American ears.  Once I realized that it just meant something more like "good luck!" or "hope you get what you want soon," it has become much less embarrassing.







Observation/Pondering 3:

I find it funny/interesting that everyone I've spoken with so far about my language skills since I've been married seems to think that having a Taiwanese husband explains why I'm pretty fluent in Chinese.  This is a new one for me and something I've got to puzzle through and figure out.  I mean it totally and completely explains everything they need to know about why I'm here.  Before people always wanted to know why I came . . . and that leads to a good opportunity to share the Gospel, but now that question is gone once they know my husband is Taiwanese. Hmmm . . . 





That's all my ponderings for now. . . back to course planning and syllabus making I must go.



small world

Years ago . . . maybe about 8 . . . Lawrance was a new Christian.  He attended a "One Day Taiwan" conference. 

When scanning in photos a while back for our wedding montage, I saw this photo from that conference.

Long ago 

And, after looking at the younger version of Lawrance, looked back a few rows and saw a red head that I recognized!  Someone I knew from college was in Lawrance's photo!  I even emailed her (ok, facebooked her) and asked if it really was her. 

In fact, several people from my college in America were at the same conference in Taiwan that Lawrance was at.

It's a small world.



crab crossing

Life on a tropical island is never boring!



Lawrance and I saw this really cool street sign . . . "crab crossing." 



Crab Crossing



And, Sandy saw this one for "beware of falling coconuts" that she posted on her blog a few days ago.



how we celebrated

To celebrate our first year of marriage, Lawrance and I went to Kenting for three days.



We had a great time just being together, relaxing, and being in a beautiful place!! 



As for "anniversary traditions," we've decided to read our vows to each other each year and to write and then read a card to each other each year.  We'd also like to make it a tradition to just get away for at least one day to be together alone.



This time, Lawrance choose for us to read our vows and cards to each other on the beach.  We got there a bit late (after sunset) so we used his cell phone as our flashlight to read to each other on the darkened  beach.  It was really sweet.

Taiwan's Tourism Train
{we first took a tourism train--to kaohsiung--huge seats}

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lunch on Sunday
{we had yummy chicken fajitas, just like we did at our wedding}

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East Coast
{we rounded the tip of the island and got to the "other" side}

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On Our Balcony
{our room had a balcony with a view of the ocean}

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Sunset on our balcony
{sunset from our balcony}

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Oreo Cheesecake
{we couldn't eat our wedding cake (since it's in mom's fridge) but we did get to eat oreo cheesecake}

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Chu-Wa (Natural Gas Fire)
{natural gas coming up from the ground}

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1-4-3: I love you!
{Law lit sparklers from the natural gas fires and wrote me this message "1-4-3: I Love You"}

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Go-Karting Lawrance
{Law got to go Go-karting for the first time}

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The Beach House
{Law picked out this really cool bed and breakfast for us to stay in called the "beach house"}

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The Beach House
{great view from our third floor room}

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The Beach House
{the white and blue is so fun!}

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The Beach House
{it's main drawback was that it had REALLY steep stairs}

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We did go to the beach twice . . . but those photos are on Law's cell phone.

And, even though we used 50 SPF, we both still got sunburned. :(



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