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