The Simple Things...

I can hardly believe that today is my last full day at home! Tomorrow I'll be dropped off at a hotel in Detroit to sleep and get a shuttle for my early morning flight to Haiti. It seems like the last month has been a whirlwind! Lots of goodbyes and "last" events! It is always bitter sweet to leave! Both exciting and a bit terrifying! This time I will be coming home for Christmas, so the goodbyes aren't as bad as usual. Although the Paws with a Cause puppy, Augie (the black one) will be gone when I get home, which makes all of us who know him sad. He'll go off for his training, so that goodbye will be a tearful one. You can see Augie on the right, looking about as forlorn as I feel to say goodbye to him! But the last month has not been all sad. I've had a chance to enjoy fall for the first time in two years! A trip to the apple orchard to pick apples and eat lunch with my two dear friends was a much anticipated and long overdue tradition that we revived this year! I also went to my first high school football game in a LONG time (we won't say just how long) to see my cousin play for West Ottawa! He was fantastic, scoring a touchdown and playing almost the entire game! It was so great to sit in the stands, eat a hot dog, watch the band, and reminisce our high school days with my sister! Another great memory from the last month is seeing the movie "Julie and Julia" with two wonderful friends and then enjoying a night of delicious food featured in the movie with the same friends... boeuf bourguignon, buttered baby peas.... mmmmmmm good! This last month has been a wonderful time with my family and friends and all the places that I love! I've been trying to soak in all the sights, sounds, smells, and feelings of home! I have really learned to appreciate the simple things... scratching a dog behind the ears, fall football games, the changing leaves, picking apples, enjoying a good meal with good friends! These are the things that make life sweet!

Changing Seasons

I can hardly believe that fall is here! It is the first time in two years that I'm in Michigan to enjoy the cool weather (although we've been having that all summer this year), and to see the trees start to change (yes, a few of them are turning already)! I love it! I've missed fall and so many other things about being home!

But... least you think I'm getting comfortable and settling down to a normal life... not so fast! I am enjoying the comforts of home till the end of September, then I will be off again, to Haiti this time. It was a long summer filled mostly with the stress of looking for a teaching job... for those of you in education, you realize what a difficult task that is these days! After encountering nothing but closed doors for months, I began to widen my search. I sent letters of inquiry to two schools overseas, one in Haiti, the other in the Dominican Republic. Within one week, I had been offered jobs at both schools. While this is certainly not the direction I thought my life would be taking at this time, a wise friend pointed out that, it seems for whatever reason, God wants me on the island of Hispanola this year.

I've wrestled with the idea of "calling" as I thought about moving (again) to Haiti. In the past I've FELT the call to go overseas. Emotionally, cognitively, and spiritually, I have experienced a feeling of being "led". This time is different. The "feeling" isn't there as much, and neither is the certainty, but after talking with several trusted people, I'm redefining the concept of "calling". Sometimes God calls us by simply opening doors... our act of faith is to obediently walk through the open doors and trust that He will catch our hearts up with our feet. It may be similar to the principal of giving in the Bible, where your treasure is, there your heart will be too.... perhaps where your body goes, there your heart will follow too.

So, in the midst of this change of seasons in Michigan, I prepare for another change as well. I hope to keep up much more faithfully with this blog, so please continue to check it so you can pray for me and with me on this next journey with the Lord.

Letting it slide!

I have really been letting this blog slide! I can't believe that Christmas was the last time I posted anything new! I suppose life has been full of the normal day to day activities of living and working in Taiwan, with a few extra special events thrown in... enough to keep me occupied and not thinking of blogging in any case!

Well, let's start back in January... The Chinese New Year was a big celebration again this year. The air is full of incense, fireworks, etc. All the bright, noisy, loud, smelly reminders that this is indeed a VERY foreign country with VERY foreign customs. I was able to celebrate the Chinese New Year with my co-worker Echo Cheng and her family this year. I learned a bit more about the customs and traditions of Chinese New Year from Echo and her family and thoroughly enjoyed the evening with lots of international students from the University where Carl teaches. We represented Taiwan, America, Canada, Ecuador, Russia, and Ukraine! It was a truly

international group!

February and March brought all the usual school events. We took a few field trips, studied and worked in our classroom, held special events like "Afternoon Tea", and in general kept plugging away at doing school. These months saw some real challenges with parents and students dealing with school issues. It is always a difficult position to be in as teacher telling people things they may not want to accept about their child's school performance.

April was an exciting month for me as I was able to take a much anticipated trip to London to visit a dear friend! It was my first trip ever to London, and we saw all the sights! It was really amazing to be in such a fascinating city with its long history and international flair! Some favorite memories include a day at Windsor, an Easter meditation in St. Paul's Cathedral, seeing the musical "Oliver", attending a performance of Handel's Messiah at Royal Albert Hall, and breakfast at the Wolsley! There were a million other wonderful things about my trip to London, but the highlights will have to do for this blog... I could write for ages if I let myself! Suffice to say, I loved London and I had the time of my life!!!

Which brings us to the present... the school year finishes in two weeks, and in two weeks and three days I'll be on a plane headed home for the summer. Looking back over the last 10 months of this school year I see many ups and downs. There were great moments of accomplishment, like Monica winning 50th place in a world wide math competition. There were also moments of great challenge and struggle with students and parents this year. There were goodbyes to friends leaving Taiwan for good, and some hellos as new people arrived. As I prepare to go home, I always have to think out my answer to the usual question, "How was Taiwan?" It is such a difficult question to answer! On any given day the answer may be quite different. Some days I would say, "Taiwan is wonderful! I'm so glad I live here! It is well worth the challenges to be having this amazing experience and meeting these interesting people!" On other days my answer would sound more like, "Taiwan drives me CRAZY! I don't understand these people. I don't like these people. I don't remember what posessed me to come here in the first place. WHAT WAS I THINKING???"

I wish I could love Taiwan more than I do... or hate it more than I do. It is much easier to explain either loving or hating a place entirely. As it stands I have a love/hate relationship with Taiwan. I suppose the answer to, "How is Taiwan?" is similar to much of the rest of life... sometimes it is amazing and wonderful, sometimes it is difficult and horrible, much of the time it is somewhere inbetween the two. So... getting ready to leave Taiwan for a brief respite at home I take the bad along with the good and pray that God continues to somehow weave it all together in my life to make me who he wants me to be.

Merry Bronchristmas!!!

Cough, cough, cough!!! Wheeeeze! Cough, cough, cough! These were the joyful sounds of the season at my house this year! Sadly, the germs and pollution caught up with me in the first few days of my Christmas break and I came down with a very ugly case of bronchitis, which, on the first of January, 2009, I am just beginning to feel better from! Sadly, there were many things I had to miss out on this Christmas in Taiwan... the OMF Christmas party, my New Year trip up to Taipei, various gatherings and activites full of Christmassy fun and cheer.

But I was able to make it to a few special Christmas events in spite of the bronchitis. This year our church hosted a beautiful Christmas Eve English service for the city of Chiayi! It was left to a small group of about 5 of us to plan and execute the whole thing. Our "unofficial leader" Phillip, took us out to a lovely buffet breakfast to do our planning. It was a really wonderful meeting where we really thought and prayed about how to present the story of Jesus' birth to mostly unchurched non-believers. We decided to let the scriptures speak for themselves and selected passages that tell the Christmas story. These were read aloud and interspersed with all the familiar Christmas Carols that also tell the story so beautifully. It was a really wonderful service. We were so pleased to have many Taiwanese join us and hear the message of hope in Jesus birth and his sacrifice for them. We continue to pray that many hearts were opened and touch by the words of scripture about the Savior!

Another event that I did not miss out on was the school Christmas Program! The kids have been working so hard since Thanksgiving to prepare for our program this year. We did a "Broadway style musical" entitled "Hope is Born Again", written and choreographed by Christina (I helped where I could, but the whole singing and dancing bit is really not my strength)!!! The kids did a spectacular job! They always do, and each time I see them perform I'm so amazed by their talent and feel so proud of them! I have to admit, this year as I watched them gather and kneel around the manger scene while singing, "Lift your voices high and sing, Grace has entered in, celebrate the joyful news, Hope is born again," I had tears in my eyes! If the parents and community memebers in the audience were half as blessed as I was, then we were successful!

In spite of the sickness, doctor visits, hospital visits, pharmacy runs, medication problems, and generaly feeling lousy, this was a good Christmas season. This was my first time being really sick here in Taiwan, and I was very blessed by the care and compassion of my friends here. God was very faithful to me and provided special people to bring me to the doctor/hospital, stay with me in the ER, bring me food and medicine, call to check up on me, come over to visit, and just in general be supportive and loving! Sometimes is takes bronchitis to fully appreciate the community of people around you! I will always remember the Christmas of 2008... both for the bronchtis and for the blessings!!!!!