We seem to have a repeated theme...

We picked Kenna up from school this afternoon, and met up with friends on the road as we were walking back...

The girls invited Ella to come over and play dress up, and they started off, excitedly running down the alley towards the back gate. Except that Anaya, running to catch up with them, biffed it on her way down the hill. I picked her up, holding her and trying to comfort her, thinking, "that was a pretty hard fall." Then, once again, someone pointed out to me that she was bleeding... we wiped her off, and seconds later I was calling Anna, "Hi, can my kids play at your house instead? ... uhhh... I need to take Anaya in for more stitches!"

As soon as she heard that, Anaya began repeating, "No! I don't wanna lay down! I don't wanna lay down!" She remembered very vividly being totally strapped down on the stretcher the last time she got stitches: 3 weeks ago! (see Nov 30 entry)

She made it through -- lots of crying, but 6 stitches to the forehead and 2 to the lip later, she was good to go!

You can see she is enjoying her candy-afterward treat (thanks auntie Anna)!

Did they fall together?!

Anaya and Nathan are looking like twins these days... egg twins... same spot on the forehead... and all the Chinese comment on it, everytime we go down the street!

Nathan (sorry, didn't get a picture) decided to go down the front stairs by himself, Michael found him after he landed, so don't know quite how many stairs he tumbled...

Anaya's nice bump came the day after. She and a neighbor girl from several floors above us were outside taking turns pushing each other on a tricycle. Loving to live more on the edge, Anaya was having fun being pushed down the small incline from our back gate, until they ran into the rock wall & pavement underneath!

Titus Taiwan 2008

As I reflect back on Titus Taiwan, 2008, it has been a full year. Exciting. Rewarding. Fruitful. A year in which we have much to give thanks for!

We had a team teaching Himalayan pastors that came down from the mountains for 3 months of their winter to study the Bible, a team out in the jungle villages of Borneo, a team fighting the cold wind in Mongolia as they traveled out to teach in the ghers, Mandarin-speaking teams on 'the other side', teams equipping church leaders with tools for inductive Bible Study, teams discipling new believers, etc.

January: Ran first Training Time. Sent teams out to: Indonesia, Nepal, C*, Taiwan.
February: Ran second Training Time. Sent team to Mongolia.
March: (the day after the above school left for outreach) Michael started full-time SBS staff.
April: Welcomed first set of Titus students back from outreach, debriefed, graduated them.
May: Welcomed first set of Titus students back from outreach, debriefed, graduated them.
June: Staff training & preparations for July school.
July: Ran third Training Time. Sent teams to: K*, C* (x2), Mongolia.
Aug/Sept: Office logistics. :)
Sept/Oct: Welcomed July school back from outreach, debriefed.
Nov/Dec: Office logistics & prep for 2009!

"Titus has been the most challenging but also most rewarding 3 months of my life. I was able to conquer my biggest fear of teaching & come out knowing that God was pleased with me. It was awesome to see the people that I taught begin to really understand how to study the Bible inductively." S.N. (July student)

With SBS, Titus, 4 kids, etc., 2008 was definitely a full year for us -- but we feel so privileged to be equipping students with a solid foundation in the Word, then training them up as teachers and sending them out! All the glory goes to God!

Get me outta here!

It was Sunday afternoon, we had just finished up with lunch and were looking forward to putting some of the kids down for naps, having a cup of tea, and relaxing for a bit on our 'rest day'...

... until Anaya climbed on top of the dehumidifier and fell off -- landing face down. She cried a bit, then settled down on my lap. A few minutes later Elise noticed, "Anaya's bleeding!". Sure enough, she had split her chin open, so off to the ER she went with Michael & Kenna (to help :)).

Anaya, being our more stubborn, I-don't-do-anything-I-don't-want-to-do child, had lots of fun being strapped down to the stretcher. To the doctor's amazement, she managed to wriggle her hands out, smiling & waving them around, "Look at me!" They re-strapped her in and she was still doing ok, until they covered up her face to shield her eyes from the bright light, leaving a hole for the chin to stitch her up. At that point she yelled as loud as she possibly could, "Get me outta here!" and then started screaming.

When Michael dropped her back home and went to park the van, I asked her about her visit to the hospital: "How was it?" Good. "Did you cry?" No. "Did it hurt when the doctor stitched you up?" Not really. "Can I see your owie? (Juts chin out) Mom! Look at my candy the doctor gave me!

When Michael came in the door, I asked, "How was it?" Well, she was a bit of a handful. "Did she cry?" Ohhh -- she screamed! Did they strap her down? They sure did! And she didn't like it one bit, you should've heard her...

Well, so much for our quiet Sunday afternoon, guess we'll try again next week. :-)

Michael's last book for the year: Daniel

SBS has less than a month to go! The students are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel (a very GOOD tunnel, being immersed in studying the Bible! But, a very intense time too with lots of long hours and hard work!)

Here is Michael teaching the book of Daniel, his last book for this year. After this, it's catching up on grading, end-of-school stuff, catching up a bit at home :P, and then Titus starts just 2 weeks later!

Anchovies & Octopus

After-school comments from Elise & Kenna this past month:
(aka: An update on school lunches)

Kenna: Mom, can I have a special treat? I ate the baby fish (complete with skin, heads & tails) all gone today...

Elise: Guess what mom! We had pig's blood again for lunch today, but the teacher didn't make me eat it! (big smiles)

Kenna: I'm so so sorry, I really couldn't eat the octopus we had for lunch today... I tried, but I just couldn't do it...

Elise is quite used to most things by now and overall does pretty good... Kenna is slowly getting more accustomed, though her teachers still frequently comment on her slowness in gettin' it down... takes after someone I know, when they were at school... ;)

(Btw, did you know that the octopus pizza at Pizza Hut here is one of the most popular flavors among our Taiwanese friends?)

Michael's Week in Mongolia

(written by Michael)

I was very grateful for the opportunity to spend a week in Mongolia, my first time in that country. The weather in Mongolia was unseasonably warm according to the locals, with the daytime temperatures being slightly above freezing. It actually was a nice change from the long summer in Taiwan.

I spent the week teaching the book of Romans, also a first for me to teach this book. It was a wonderful opportunity to be able to share the message of this book with the SBS students there.

I was also able to try some of the local foods, some horse meat which was very tender and tasted like beef -- I would not have known any different unless they had told me. I also was able to taste the local favourite beverage of choice: fermented mares' milk -- keeps you warm on a cold winter's day!

The best thing about any trip is being able to be with the local believers and seing the growth of the church (the church in Mongolia is only about 18 years old). Many thanks to Amy for holding down the fort at home, no easy task with our busy household.

Why Moms Don't Always E-mail...

The other day I decided to sit down at the computer for just 5 minutes to quick check e-mails. While in the process, I got distracted and began replying to one... but then began to realize things were a little too quiet in the living room... . Going to investigate, all thoughts of replying to e-mails were quickly abandoned when I found the following:




















If you don't hear back from us right away, sometimes we're just busy with other things :-P Ahhh... we try! :-)

On Top of Guanyinshan

First of all, confession: we skipped church today. But, what a great way to spend a Sunday! and it was so nice to truly relax as a family.

We rented bikes and went for a 2-hour ride by the ocean, stopping for a picnic lunch.

Then, the kids still didn't want to go home, so we decided to check out the mountain across the river from where we live. We drove up as far as we could go, then got out to hike the rest of the 1.4 km to the top -- and... 2000 steps later (carrying Anaya & Nathan almost the whole way up) we made it! Definitely worth it!

Above we are overlooking Danshui, the suburb where we live (pop ~130,000+).

Left is proof that we made it to the top (photo courtesy of Kenna) :-).

Leapin' Lizards!

Well, not really leaping. Scrambling is more like it. The girls saw it first, "Mom, Dad, come quick! It's a lizard! Not a gecko, a big lizard!" Yes, it definitely was a nice-sized lizard and it was scrambling to get out of the kitchen sink.

The girls started having flashbacks of "Parent Trap" and kept warning us to be careful, "Back up! He's going to get in your mouth!"

I wonder how long he's been around the place... probably ate a few roaches for us...

Oh well, cute or not (he was pretty cute), he had to go. I made Michael do the honors and out the door he went...

We've had other things besides lizards and geckos crawling around recently... Check out this creepy crawly I discovered last week -- a nice good 4-inches in diameter. This one wasn't as fortunate as the lizard though -- he got the Raid can instead...

So -- who wants to come over for a sleep-over this weekend?!? :-)

The Bridge Keeper

This week we've been teaching in the DTS on the Character of God. As we wrap up our week, I thought I would share one story we used in today's teaching with you:

The Bridge Keeper

There was once a bridge which spanned a large river. During most of the day the bridge sat with its length running up and down the river paralleled with the banks, allowing ships to pass through freely on both sides of the bridge. But at certain times each day, a train would come along and the bridge would be turned sideways across the river, allowing a train to cross it.

A switchman sat in a small shack on one side of the river where he operated the controls to turn the bridge and lock it into place as the train crossed. One evening as the switchman was waiting for the last train of the day to come, he looked off into the distance through the dimming twilight and caught sight of the train lights.

He stepped to the control and waited until the train was within a prescribed distance when he was to turn the bridge. He turned the bridge into position, but, to his horror, he found the locking control did not work. If the bridge was not securely in position it would wobble back and forth at the ends when the train came onto it, causing the train to jump the track and go crashing into the river. This would be a passenger train with many people aboard.

He left the bridge turned across the river, and hurried across the bridge to the other side of the river where there was a lever switch he could hold to operate the lock manually. He would have to hold the lever back firmly as the train crossed. He could hear the rumble of the train now, and he took hold of the lever and leaned backward to apply his weight to it, locking the bridge.

He kept applying the pressure to keep the mechanism locked. Many lives depended on this man's strength. Then, coming across the bridge from the direction of his control shack, he heard a sound that made his blood run cold. "Daddy, where are you?" His four-year-old son was crossing the bridge to look for him. His first impulse was to cry out to the child, "Run! Run!" But the train was too close; the tiny legs would never make it across the bridge in time. The man almost left his lever to run and snatch up his son and carry him to safety. But he realized that he could not get back to the lever. Either the people on the train or his little son must die. He took a moment to make his decision.

The train sped safely and swiftly on its way, and no one aboard was even aware of the tiny broken body thrown mercilessly into the river by the on rushing train. Nor were they aware of the pitiful figure of the sobbing man, still clinging tightly to the locking lever long after the train had passed. They did not see him walking home more slowly than he had ever walked: to tell his wife how their son had brutally died. Now if you comprehend the emotions which went this man's heart, you can begin to understand the feelings of our Father in Heaven when He sacrificed His Son to bridge the gap between us and eternal life. Can there be any wonder that He caused the earth to tremble and the skies to darken when His Son died? How does He feel when we speed along through life without giving a thought to what was done for us through His Son Jesus Christ?

What to do during a typhoon

Today another typhoon has been blowing through... I personally enjoy them for the most part, because it means you don't have to go anywhere... which means you can stay home and get things done (in a relaxed day-off-feel sort of way). However, when you are a kid, it means staying inside the confines of one's apartment, and sometimes you just have to be creative finding things to do...:

Not only do we have lots of activity inside, there is activity outside too -- in the form of wind and rain. Sometimes during a typhoon the wind howls so loud we can't sleep through it at night. Sometimes it rains so much we have to bail water from the front entryway to keep it from coming in the house. Most of the time though it's just enough wind and rain to keep one inside for a day or two, but not enough to do too much damage in the immediate area where we live -- today was one of those. Here's a bit of video footage from outside our apartment:

A Trip through the Universe

Have you ever taken the time to really reflect on the magnitude of the universe??

We talk and sing about how great God is, but how often do we truly think about HOW GREAT He really is?

To help us get just a tiny glimpse of God's incredible greatness, let's take a little trip together...

Imagine we are traveling in a car together at 65 mph (105 km/h). If we keep at a steady pace, not stopping to fill up with gas or get food, how long will it take us to drive around the earth? A: 384 hours -- 16 full days! If we want to go to the moon in our car? 3,548 hours >> 148 days >> nearly 5 months!

Let's take a rocket. The fastest speed we have reached yet is 25,000 mph (40,000 km/h). But, this is still not fast enough -- traveling at this speed we would reach earth's nearest star in 112,657 years!

We're going to have to travel much faster than this! Let's pretend we have a "speed-of-light spaceship" to travel in. Light travels at 186,000 m/sec (300,000 km/sec)! It is impossible to travel at this speed. One scientist conservatively estimates it would take the output of the all the world's nuclear energy to push a golf ball to the speed of light!! But, even then, according to laws of physics, it would be impossible. Although it is completely impossible for us to travel at this speed, let's just imagine we could...

Blink your eyes for just a second. In the time it took to blink your eyes just once, light can travel around the earth at the equator 7 1/2 times!!! Now we're moving!!

So, traveling in our speed-of-light spaceship, how long will it take us to get to the:
Moon -- 1.2 sec
Sun -- 8 min 20 sec
Pluto (farthest planet) -- 5.3 hrs
Proxima Centauri (nearest star) -- 4.2 yrs
(remember we can travel the equator 7 1/2 times in the blink of an eye at this speed --
and it takes us over 4 yrs to reach the nearest star!!)
Sirius (brightest star in sky) -- 8.6 yrs
Polaris (north star) -- 432 yrs!
to get to the center of the Milky Way galaxy -- 30,000 yrs
to cross the Milky Way galaxy -- 100,000 yrs
Andromeda galaxy (closest galaxy to ours) -- 2 million yrs
Virgo cluster of galaxies (closest cluster to us) -- 60 million yrs
3C273 - a quasar (the farthest thing astronomers can see with most sophisticated equipment) -- 2500 million yrs!

Does that boggle your mind? What a humbling thing when we realize the magnitude, the Awesomeness, the Power, the GREATNESS of our Almighty God who created it all by His spoken word and holds it all in His hands!!!!!

Michael and I will be teaching in DTS this next week on the Character of God. The above is a small excerpt from Tues. morning's opening (that comes with powerpoint), when we will look at God being All-powerful, All-knowing, All-present, and All-wise.

I always have fun teaching this day -- the morning includes powerpoint pictures, music, blowing up balloons, God-stories, and lots of personal challenge as we consider what these aspects of God's character mean for us in our daily lives. Right now, I'd better go do some more preparing for tomorrow's class...!

Don't look -- you might cause an accident!

I was on my way home this evening from the vegetable market and slammed on the brakes as another motorbike turned onto the street right in front of me without even looking... a rather common occurence around here and something you get used to watching out for...

I asked a friend one time why this happened so frequently and she told me people here believe if you look before making a right turn you will cause an accident. I don't know if people really believe that or not, but based on observation and daily driving experience -- it sure seems like a lot do!

Ghost Warning

"Are you taking your clothes off the line tonight?" -- the question was voiced with concern from some Taiwanese friends visiting us one evening.

"We'll take them in later," we reassured them, not clarifying what later might mean.

It was still ghost month according to the Chinese lunar calendar, and during ghost month it is believed that if you leave your clothes hanging on the line overnight, the evil spirits will come and inhabit them. Then, when you do take your clothes in, the evil spirits will stay inside and come in too. When you put those clothes on, the evil spirits will come upon you (unless you are a really strong person, then they might just follow you around). They will control your fate, bring you harm, cause sickness and ill health, etc.

Well, to let you all know what “later” actually turned out to be: We didn’t end up taking our clothes off the line until 2 days following. It wasn’t on purpose, it was just that at first they weren’t dry (it’s humid here!) and then the next day I plain forgot :-P.

Numerous people here engage in many practices to appease and ward off evil spirits. What a privilege it is for us to share with our friends and neighbors the victory and power we have through Christ!

"Maggot Meat" Memories

Remember those school lunches you used to refer to with a name other than what was actually listed on the menu?

I remember the "maggot meat" lunch we used to be served -- hamburger meat (mixed with ?) mashed flat into the bottom of a pan, then baked and served up in a square "steak". It probably wasn't quite as bad tasting as the name we gave it, it did look awful though! Then there were "green eggs and ham", and no, this wasn't just a few elementary school Dr. Suess fans' term for them -- they literally were green! (made out of a powder mix)

When I used to pick Kenna up from last year's kindergarten, the teachers commented a few times, "Kenna bu gan chi zhu xie" (Kenna doesn't dare to eat the pig blood), and I smiled and nodded and thought to myself, "No, and her mom wouldn't/doesn't either!"

I'm not sure what Kenna has been eating at her new kindergarten the past two weeks, but apparently she often has to skip recess as she's a bit slow gettin' it down. Poor thing, it has brought her to tears a few times at home already. She loves school itself, it's just the food she doesn't necessarily look forward to everyday (different style to what she's accustomed to). Oh well, she'll get used to it and eventually grow to like it -- her school friends do. :-)

Kenna -- Jia yo!

Kenna does Runway!

Kenna just got to do her first runway fashion show for "DAKS" -- held at Taipei 101 (currently the world's tallest building, located here in Taipei).

It was quite a lot of fun -- first going to the hair salon to have hair & makeup done, and then on to 101 where she got to practice just a little bit before joining all the professional models backstage to get ready for the half-hour show.

She was a bit nervous, but very brave -- having to walk all by herself. There were only 2 kids, Kenna and another 8-yr-old boy and the rest were all professional adults. Kenna wasn't sure she'd have the confidence to take off her jacket at the end in front of all the cameras, but we practiced backstage, and she did it! (though she kinda forgot to pause and smile at the cameras while counting to 4 -- oh well)

The video isn't the best quality (hard to see because of the bright spotlights) but thought we'd post it just for fun.

This other picture was taken after the show -- wearing their second outfits.

Back to School!

Elise & Kenna are back to school!

Elise is in 2nd grade and is so excited to see her teacher again (she gets the same teacher for both 1st & 2nd grade) and catch up with all her friends. There are about 350 2nd-graders at her school (one of 8 elementary schools in our area). A little bit different to home! She loves learning (especially Chinese) and overall enjoys school very much.

Kenna is in the local public Kindergarten (attached to the same elementary school Elise goes to) and is very excited to be at school where she gets to play quite a bit and do lots of activities with all her "best friends" (she came home with 5 new "best friends" after just the first day of school). The food however, is not her favorite... but she'll get used to it. At least this kindergarten doesn't serve quite as much pig's blood for lunch as last year's kindergarten! :-P

Helpers :-)

I often lay with the kids for a few minutes at night when putting them to bed -- we talk about the day, they ask questions, beg for stories, and we pray together.

When there were just the 3 girls, Elise often used to ask for a brother. I told her we were finished at 3, but if she really really wanted a brother, she could pray for a miracle. (Well, I guess we know who God listens to ;-)) The other night, Elise was reminiscing about this, which got the kids to asking for another sibling, to which I responded by saying that they are all very special gifts from God, but we are definitely finished at four! So, Kenna says, "Why mom, don't you want to have more helpers?"

In a season where all you feel you ever do is clean up, pick up, wipe up spills, do mountains of laundry, tackle stacks of dishes, and work at never-ending housework -- all you can do is smile. :-) Yes... I dearly love my 'helpers'! :-)

God is so Li-Hai!

This evening as the girls and I were pulling in to park the motorbike at the end of the alley, I noticed a cat ready to jump to it's perch on top of the brick wall. I told the girls to hold still and watch -- thinking it would be fun for them to witness the little cat jump from the ground up to twice Elise's height. Kenna immediately began chasing the cat down the opposite end of the alley... (yep, that's our Kenna), and Elise responded, "Bu ke neng!" (meaning, that's impossible). But I told them to be patient and they might still be able to watch the cat jump.

Kenna did eventually chase the cat back, and we waited quietly out of the way -- and sure enough, a minute later -- jump! -- up to the wall about 2m high. Both girls were so impressed and Elise says, "Wow, God is so li-hai!" (we speak a lot of Chinglish around here, and roughly translated means, 'God is so amazing'). I was so blessed by her comment in that she immediately recognized the cat's ability wasn't in and from itself, but from our amazing Creator God.

Mommy's Big Helper

Motorbike Mania

We have heard that Taiwan has the highest number of motorbikes per capita. This quick clip gives you an idea of what the streets look like here in Taiwan.

We love our motorbike and drive it everywhere locally -- very convenient way to get around! (And easy to find parking for!)

Riding the MRT

"MRT" stands for 'mass rapid transportation' and is the name Taiwan uses for it's subway system. Here we are traveling into the city with some friends.

Can anyone name the two people directly in front and the four off to the right side???

Projectile from top bunk (a.k.a. Revenge of the Rotavirus!)

It's just past midnight, the whole house is sleeping... and then the sound of whimpering... which soon turned into crying... the kind you know you're going to have to will yourself out of bed for (sigh...roll over...sigh again... stretch...). Michael (as usual) was the one who got up to investigate -- and what a sight met his eyes!

Kenna, who hadn't felt very well when going to bed, had just spewed her spaghetti.

(Disclaimer: don't read further if you don't want the details)

Now, this was not any normal upchucking episode! Kenna knew it would not be good to throw up in her bed, so she decided to lean over the side instead. Only problem? She sleeps on the top bunk. Yeah... so there was twice-stirred tomato sauce dripping from the wood railings, spots on the bed, spew sprayed all over the walls, closet doors, dressers (it bounced off of everything and splattered everything), chunks of chuck all over the toys (of course we hadn't picked up the room on that particular night and nearly every toy in the house was on the floor in that room!), vile-smelling vomit oozing into every crack of the alphabet-puzzle foamies that covered the whole floor... yes, that'll do, you say!

And thus began the "Revenge of the Rotavirus" that attacked the youngest 3 kids for almost the whole next month.

Not only did the rotavirus bring on puking every 10 minutes or less for several hours in a row, the severe diarrhea that was also part of the fun made us go through several packages of diapers. Even Kenna had to wear diapers for a couple days because it was so impossible to control!

Anaya and Nathan just laid like rag dolls on the couch -- so out of it. They had to be on a BRAT (bananas, rice, apples, toast -- and that was it!) diet for 2 weeks -- poor kids -- it was torture for them to watch us eat other foods, so we all went on the brat diet for a bit. We had to force-squirt rehydration drinks down their mouth. Many kids in our area had to be hospitalized, but we managed to just avoid that.

After rotavirus, we went through hand-foot-mouth with the kids (Elise's class closed down for 10 days!), then finished off the sick season with bronchitus.

Bring on summer vacation! (Please?)

Diving from the top bunk

Yes, at just 16 months of age, Nathan mastered the art of climbing to the top bunk. Yay.

We tried to keep close tabs on him, but of course one evening he managed to sneak up there and we didn't know it till we heard the big THUD! Right onto the back of his head/neck (so says Kenna, who was 'playing' with him and apparently watching... yes, Kenna, thanks for watching...). He was in quite a bit of pain, not acting normal, eyes were a bit roll-aroundy, and he went right to sleep 2 minutes later and did NOT want to be woken up -- so we decided we'd better load everyone up in the van (kids all in pj's)and make a trip to the emergency room.

You feel like great parents when you turn up at the ER and try to explain just how it was that your one-year-old fell off the top of a bunk bed.

Anyhow, everything was ok, Nathan started to perk up and return to his normal self, even cracking a few smiles, they sent us back home -- and didn't charge us anything! Nice!! Love healthcare in Taiwan! :-)

Friends

We spent a day at the park with some good friends -- our kids are all quite close in age as you can see, and our kids absolutely love it whenever they get to play with Ian, Caleb, and Ella! In fact, if they had their way, we'd all rent a big flat and live together so they could play 24-7! :-) Here they are all getting ready to hop on a kiddie train for a little ride...

We love you Contivals!

Eating a Sandwich