Feeling the Pressure

I'm sitting at the computer, trying to get a few e-mails out, and am mentally composing a list in my mind of everything we need to do the next few weeks ... and it's a bit overwhelming! In addition to all things that are "mom" things... I get to: prepare a Psalms lecture for SBS, get a new Titus website up and functioning (and I have no clue what I'm doing!), prepare for Germany (leading 2 days-worth of Titus International meetings, and presenting Titus Project at the SBS world-wide consultation). At the same time, Michael is trying to stay caught up on grading, plus get his 1st Corinthians as prepared as possible before I go..., so I want to be able to protect his time as well for that... Any prayers any of you want to lift up on our behalf for grace & strength are much appreciated! :-)

Kenna's 2 best friends

Kenna is our early morning riser... and she loves to snuggle. We often hear little (well, getting bigger now) footsteps down the hallway in the very early morning and we know, "Here comes Kenna".

This morning was no exception. I woke up unable to roll over -- Kenna was snuggled in as close as she could get. I got up out of bed to write down a few thoughts I had for my upcoming Psalms lecture and perhaps read for a bit before the kids woke up... Kenna rolled over and snuggled into Michael.

When I went back in the room 1/2 hour later, Kenna was giggling, quizzing Michael on, "Do you know who my best friend is?"

Michael starts guessing, "Elise?"
"Bigger than Elise."
Michael starts thinking (as Kenna's closest friends are younger than Elise), "Elwina? ... Annie? ... Christina?"
"No... Nope... Uh-uh... bigger than Elwina".
"Uhhh, Mommy?"
(giggle) "Nope! Bigger than mommy!"
"Oh, I know: Jesus!":
(another giggle and big grin) "Yes!! ... And do you know who my other best friend is?"
Michael guesses again, "God?"
Kenna looks at him slightly puzzled, "Jesus IS God!"
Michael, "Yes, you're right, Jesus IS God! :) (pause) ... bigger or smaller than Nathan?"
"Smaller than Nathan".
"Owen?"
"Nope, smaller than Owen -- a lot smaller."
(Michael thinking) "uhhhh... you're fish?"
(with a laugh) "No, not my fish," holding up her blanket, "My TAG!"

Yes, Kenna, what would you do without your tag...!? (the most used, most snuggled, most worn and best-loved part of her blanket!) But, we're thankful that Jesus is your very best friend! :-)

Grounded, Growing, Giving

SBS International recently featured an article about SBS Taiwan on their site. We thought you might enjoy reading it. :-)

(written by Scott Contival)

In YWAM we often talk about how or where we want to serve after our school is done. But maybe we should ask this question: does God really want us to live such compartmentalized lives? Is “Missionary” a jacket you can just take off for nine months while you’re doing a school? Shouldn’t we be missional and full-time Bible students at the same time?

SBS Taiwan has a three-pronged vision statement: Grounded in truth, Growing in relationship, Giving out what we’re receiving.

Grounded – With the incredible deluge of information and opinion out today, it’s more necessary than ever to know what you believe. Asia has such an incredible need for teachers grounded in God’s truth. We’re privileged to be one of the only bi-lingual Chinese/English bible schools in Asia. We want to see students leave our school with the tools necessary for a lifetime of teaching and applying God’s Word.

Growing – We believe that if you leave our school with a lot of knowledge – but haven’t made an impact on the lives of those around you – and haven’t let yourself be impacted by the lives of those around you – then you’ve missed out on one of God’s major goals for this time. An incredible score on Bible Trivia doesn’t necessarily mean you know the Bible. God’s heart is for relationship and we’ll do what we can to see your relationship with God and others develop throughout the school.

Giving – We want to see a lost world reached for Jesus – that’s the passion and heart of our base. Therefore, we don’t all live together – all of our staff and students live in houses all located within a short walk of our central location – a coffee bar that YWAM runs to evangelize and reach our community. Therefore, every day you’ll get a chance to be in contact with the wonderful people of Taiwan who desperately need to see and hear of His amazing love for them. If we can’t be missional while being full-time Bible students, then what message are we sending to the church?

Pray about coming. If you’re not sure where God may be calling you next, then come and do SBS with us here – and while you’re sharing the gospel, experiencing cross-cultural living and studying God’s Word, living in the midst of a nation that is 96% non-Christian, we feel pretty confident God will give you direction!