Snakes & Sneakers

We often put these cardboard squares around the house to catch cockroaches. They are super sticky with some bait in the middle to lure the roaches in. Once the cockroach hits the sticky part, it's stuck ... for good!

As we live on the 1st floor, we get more than our fair share of creepy crawlies trying to get into the apartment... so we usually put a few of these roach stickies in our entry way to try to cut down on the summer population inside. Today, Michael thought he'd check to see if he caught anything... and found this:

You'll notice what remains of a roach on the bottom right. Then a lizard/gecko encircled by the snake, then of course, yes, the SNAKE!

And where did Michael pull this out from? Right under the kids' shoe shelf, in the entryway of the house, right next to the screen door with totally broken screens (the kids don't even both to open the screen doors, they just walk right through)!

Michael showed it to our community groundskeeper who said it was a very poisonous variety... comforting thought!

If this was the first incident, it might not be so bad... but this is the 5th snake we've found in our entryway area, and the 3rd one under the shoe shelf! So, I guess the next time we put on our sneakers, we'll check to see if there's anything slithering inside first!

34 years!

No, neither Michael nor I have recently turned 34... (though one of us is currently 34... not for long though)

Neither have we been in ministry 34 years...yet.

34 years is a statistic. A statistic about exponential growth.

Did you know that if there was only one Christian in the world, and in one year that one person led one other person to Christ, then the following year, those two people led (one each) two more to Christ, then the following year, those 4 people led 4 more people to Christ... how long would it take for the entire world to come to know Christ?

Well, I guess the title sort of gives it away... but can you believe the answer is actually just a mere 34* years?!? And that's starting with just one person! If the whole body of Christ around the world right now started doing this... where would we be in just a few years? Go ahead, do the math -- and be challenged! I am!

(* does not take into account the projected population in 34 years time, which could be more like 12 billion... but still... don't think about the math quite that much... just accept the challenge!)

Theology with a Three-year old

"Mom, did you know that after Jesus died, he got alive again?"
"Yes, Anaya, that's exactly right!"
"Mom, when we die, Jesus will make us alive again too."
"Wow, honey! I'm impressed! ... Did daddy just talk with you about all of this?"

The last couple days Anaya has been asking lots of questions about when we will die, and there has somehow been a connection with flying on an airplane. As we have been talking about flying to Australia, she has mentioned/asked several times, "Will we die when we go on the airplane?" I don't really know where she is getting this from, but am guessing maybe she saw something when Michael had the news on about Air France and somehow made a connection...?? Anyhow, we are all trusting God that we will make it Down Under in one piece :-), and we have assured Anaya that flying is quite safe and not to worry. This evening, Michael must have spent some time talking with her, and by the time I laid down with her for bed-time prayers and a little chat, she was sharing the above with me. We continued on:

"And, Anaya, where do we get to go after we die and Jesus makes us alive again?"
"Uhhh... we get to be with Jesus?"
"Yep, that's right! We get to be with Jesus in heaven."
"But, Jesus live up in the sky. We can't fly, mom."
"Well, we can't fly right now, but I'm sure Jesus will work something out. Jesus will come and get us, and we'll get to go be with Jesus & God."
"But, Jesus is God, mom."
"Yes! Jesus is God, (she has that down! but now, how do you explain the Trinity to a 3-yr-old??? ... how do you really explain the Trinity at all, for that matter?!) but, Jesus is God's son, so God is Jesus' dad, and we also have the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is also God -- so God is 3 in one..."
"(getting a bit lost on that last bit) Mom, will Jesus really make us alive again?"
"Yes, honey, He sure will! We just need to have Jesus in our hearts and believe that He is the only true God... If we love Jesus and believe in Him, then we will get to live with Him forever! Do you love Jesus, Anaya?"
"Yes, I love Jesus. ... Mom, when we die Jesus will make us alive again.? (half statement, half question)

And we started the conversation all over again...

Fun times, those bed-time chats. :-)

Countdown & Carry-ons

The countdown is on! Only 3 more weeks today before we take off on furlough to Australia! There is definitely excitement in the air! Nathan walks around the house multiple times throughout the day, pointing his finger towards the sky and looking up, saying in a 2-yr-old way, "Big aih-pane! Big aih-pane! Sky! Go Ah-seh-yah!" Yes, Nathan! We are all going to Australia! :-)

Elise & Kenna both packed their carry-ons several days ago, and Kenna has been sleeping with hers on her bed! Last night, she had special permission to sleep in Anaya and Nathan's room on the floor, and she wheeled it in there with her, put her feet up on, and laid down! :P (in photo: Elise & Kenna both asleep on Kenna's bed)

Honestly, we are looking forward to this upcoming six-week break... It has been quite the season for us recently... Absolutely non-stop since... wow, I don't know how many months... I'm counting... back, back, back...!

This past month, I (Amy) taught Psalms in SBS, re-did the Titus website (starting from scratch, and I'm a total newbie so have to learn everything as I go!), plus went to Germany for a week (leading 2 days of Titus meetings and attending 3 days of SBS world-wide consultation). Since I can't really work on teachings or Titus stuff during the day much, my "work time" starts at about 10:00 at night, after the rest of the house has (hopefully!) gone to sleep. So, for about a month, my normal bed time was 2:00 am. I did pay for that later, getting rather sick in Germany, and according to what the doctor I saw the morning after arriving back in Taiwan entered into his computer, suffered "acute bronchitis". But, he said, "Don't worry -- at least it's not pneumonia, just a common cold!" :-)

Michael has just finished teaching 1 Corinthians in the SBS, and now we are trying to catch up on the house, organizing, etc.

So, we'll all keep at it: SBS staff, grading (Michael), some Titus stuff (Amy), house (Amy with Michael & girls help :-)), school (Elise & Kenna) and making messes for the rest to clean up (Nathan!) and then, Australia, here we come!!

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!

Welcome SBS 2009!

SBS 2009 is officially underway as of today! There are 14 nations represented in the classroom! We are looking forward to a great year with this new bunch :).