following an unknown path

(new) taiwan blogs

Sandy is a IRL friend who is also a college teacher, tentmaking here in Taiwan.  She and her husband have been in Taiwan about a two and a years, but she just started blogging!  Check out her new Neipu Notebook.

Actually, the Bells have been blogging for awhile, but their blog is a "new to me" blog.  Jackie and Fran are missionaries to Taiwan (have been here since 2000).  I've been enjoying their blog and view of Taiwan from the north side, maybe you will too.  Check out TheBellSite . . . from Texas to Taiwan (Hey!  that sounds familar)!

reading as a Christian discipline

Kim from Hiraeth asks some questions about reading as a Christian discipline.  Here are my answers to her questions:

Has reading Christian blogs increased your desire to tackle weighty Christian tomes? 
Increased desire?--yes.  Actually caused action?--no.

Have you learned of Christian authors and theologians that you might not have otherwise known or read?
Probably Spuregon is the biggie for me.  After reading a quote on someone's blog, I just had to get me a copy of Morning and Evening.

Have you purchased or borrowed books that were recommended by bloggers?
I bought a book by a blogger because of finding her blog--Carolyn McCulley's Did I Kiss Marriage Goodbye?. 

I also bought John MacArthur's Twelve Extraordinary Women, Randy Alcorn's Money, Possessions & Eternity, and Jerry Bridge's The Discipline of Grace because of blogs I read.  I also have "wish listed" many, many, many more, including, Across the China Sky just a little while ago.

Have you read fewer "real" books as your blog reading has increased?
No, not at all. 

Has the availability/searchability of great Christian works caused you to rely upon them merely as resources?
Not sure.  Usually seeing someone unless reference or quote someone makes me want to go read more, go read all.  Not just go search out something.

Do you think reading the great Christian authors and theologians is important and/or profitable?
Yes.

Do you read them?
I try.  I want to.  I would love to be better about making even more time for reading them.

If so, who do you recommend?
Right now I reading Bridges, Piper, and Spuregon. 

homemaking meme

Sallie wrote this meme, and I've seen it on a few blogs here and there recently.  So, I thought I'd give it a whirl.  Life as a single homemaker in Taiwan looks like this for me and my doggie:

Aprons – Y/N?  If Y, what does your favorite look like?
Yes, but not plural--just one.  It matches my table cloth--kacky with red lines.

Baking – Favorite thing to bake
Bake?  You mean in my teeny tiny convection oven?  Brownies.

Clothesline – Y/N?
Yes, my dryer is also teeny tiny--a gift to myself two Christmases ago. Most people here don't have one.  So, I am thankful for sheets and jeans that are dried in a dryer--but most everything else goes on the clothesline.

Donuts – Have you ever made them?
Nope.

Every day – One homemaking thing you do every day
You are supposed to do this homemaking thing daily??  In that case, does making my bed count?

Freezer – Do you have a separate deep freeze?
No.

Garbage Disposal – Y/N?
Nope.  No one has one here in Taiwan.  But, I do have these nifty nets that sit in a "drain cup" in my kitchen sink to catch the odd and ends that fall into the sink.

Handbook – What is your favorite homemaking resource?
Flylady.

Ironing – Love it or hate it?  Or hate it but love the results?
Ironing?  Hmmm . . . I think I have an iron, maybe, somewhere, but I couldn't promise you for sure. 

Junk drawer – Y/N?  Where is it?
I have a "catch all drawer"--in the top of my shoe closet by the front door.  Just money, keys, my business card file-book, and a few other odds and ends in there.

Kitchen – Color and decorating scheme
Black and red.  Black dishes, red glasses and other red stuff (spachulas, measuring cups).  My (green) cabinets are covered in black marble contact paper, and my (mustard yellow) fridge is painted black. 

Love – What is your favorite part of homemaking?
Having company over.  I think it is really hard to enjoy housekeeping when I am doing it only for myself.

Mop – Y/N?
Yes--I have no carpets.  Only white tile in every room.

Nylons – Wash by hand or in the washing machine?
Nylons??  Huh?  Do you mean pantyhose?  I haven't worn pantyhose since the 90's.  And, if you don't mean panyhose, I would guess the answer is with the machine--cuz I don't handwash anything.

Oven – Do you use the window or open the oven to check?
If my teeny tiny convection oven counts--then I can pretty much see all thru the window, but I still like to open the door. 

Pizza – What do you put on yours?
Does "put" include "kind you order from the local pizza place"?

Quiet – What do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment?
Drink a cup of coffee or tea and read a little.  But, living alone--all my moments are "quiet."  So, that cup of coffee or tea only comes when I make myself stop "doing."

Recipe card box – Y/N?  What does it look like?
No, but wish I did.   

Style of house – What style is your house?
Hmm.  I live your typical Taiwanese high-rise apartment: a little white concrete box.

Tablecloths and napkins – Y/N?
Yes, but I also like placemats.  I prefer paper napkins though.

Under the kitchen sink – Organized or toxic wasteland?
Organized.

Vacuum – How many times per week?
Well, Swiffer and mop weekly, but vacuuming not so often.  Remember--its all tile.

Wash – How many loads of laundry do you do per week?
You mean you are supposed to do it weekly?  I am not going to tell you how I know this, but I can go two weeks without washing anything.  So, let's just say I could do 2-3 loads each week.

X’s – Do you keep a daily list of things to do that you cross off?
YES!!!!!!!  Without lists I am lost!   Sometimes, though, my lists are only on the computer.

Yard – Y/N?  Who does what?
Nope--apartment living.

Zzz’s – What is your last homemaking task for the day before going to bed?
Again, you are supposed to do this daily?! Then I guess on the days I do it taking care of a hot spot counts right?

not really here

I am not "really here." 

For two and a half weeks, I am staying with a friend and her family in another city.  So, I am getting about 10 minutes of computer time each day.  So, last week I had all my posts set to auto-post. 

I read and appreciate all your comments, but I just don't have time to respond till about Feb 6th or so.

I have a few more auto-posts ready to go, and I hope to post some pictures I've taken when those run out, but make no promises.  So, if you see some spotty, inconsistent blogging here in the next week or two--that is why.  :)

thru my windows (Part 1)

I've been wanting to share what kinds of things I can see from the various windows in my life--my office, classroom, living room, bedroom, and so on.  This is not the best view I could use to start this, but, it does fit this week's other posts.

So, continuing with the landry theme, here is the view from my guest bedroom:

That's right--come visit me here in beautiful, tropical southern Taiwan, and the view from your guest bedroom will be of my "laundry porch"!  If you draw the bamboo shade, you will be able to see my tiny dryer and my clothes line along with my (American) clothes cleaning products. 

cleaning the washing machine

Since I talked about my need to do laundry on Monday, I thought I would share with you how to clean a Taiwanese washing machine.

As I've mentioned before, the directions on products are pretty friendly to the illiterate here in Taiwan because they are often pictorial.  Sometimes, they are even cute! :)

Check out the back of the package for my "washing machine cleaner":

Cute right?

Just for kicks, here is the front of the package too:

not yet

In Chinese, when asked "are you married?"  the answer is either "yes" or "not yet."  You can not answer this question "no."

At first and until a year or two ago, this really bugged me. 

By saying "not yet" it implies that one day I will be married.  If I was trusting in God's sovereignty and providence, who was I to claim that I would one day be married?  It felt it quite presumptuous of me to say "not yet."

That was until God taught me about hope.  Hope is not wishful thinking and longing.  Hope is placing my trust in a all-kind, all-knowing, all-powerful God.  Knowing that he has already provided for me what I need most--Himself, a Savior, the Messiah.

I was speaking with an older single woman recently and I confided in her how my heart was changing because of hope.  That it was ok for me to say "I am not married yet.  I want to be.  I am preparing to be a wife; when I make decisions now, I do so thinking about how it might possible impact my future husband.  However, if I never marry that is ok too." 

She immediately jumped on my thoughts and told me I was not at peace with being single--how could I be at peace with being single but still long to be a wife at the same time?  She told me I should pray for God to either give me a husband right away or for him to completely remove all feelings of longing to be a wife.  That if I was longing and He was not providing, I was not right with God. 

We, as single women, hear this kind of "wisdom" all the time.  I used to believe it.  Now I don't. 

It is possible to be both content and hopeful at the same time.

I don't know why or how God chooses to bless the way he does.  But, that doesn't mean I still can't hope.  It doesn't mean I can't prepare for something that might never come.  It does not mean that my single years are mine to do with as I please.

Douglas Wilson explains this SO much better than I could:

[T]he time a person spends when he is single should be time spent in preparation for marriage. This is important even if he never gets married. This is because biblical preparation for marriage is nothing more than learning to follow Jesus Christ and to love one’s neighbor. In other words, preparation for Christian marriage is basically the same as preparation for Christian living. Christians are to prepare for marriage by learning self-denial, subduing their pride, and putting their neighbor first. (as quoted by Carolyn McCulley)

Oh, and by the way, now I don't mind answering the question, "are you married?" with "not yet."  In fact, that is how I answer the question in English now too!

another year, another weiya

This year, just like last year, my school had a "wei ya."  The WeiYa is a banquet that companies hold in honor of their employees at Chinese New Year.   

Chinese New Year this year is at the end of Feburary--because the Chinese calander this past year had an extra month.  We have leap years with an extra day; they have leap years with an extra month.  No kidding.

Anywho, even though Chinese New Year is still so far away, our semester is over, so our school had our weiya. 

Here are 9 of the 10 courses served at our weiya:

1. Appetizer, 2. Thick soup, 3. Tasty fish,
4. sticky rice with crab, 5. shrimp, 6. peking duck,
7. baked mini lobster with cheese, 8. chinese herbal something or other, 9. tropical fruit

The one dish not shown was soup.

Here is a shot of the weiya from the 3rd floor of one of our buildings:

That's about 25-30 tables (some not pictured) with about 10 people per table so about 250 to 300 people all feasting at the same time, with KTV and "door prizes" to boot!

In fact, this year I actually won one of the raffle style prizes.

Inside my red envelope was a gift certificite to Carrefour (a super wal-mart kinda place).  My first time in four years to win anything at a weiya!! :)

And, one last part of a banquet--wedding, weiya, whatever--in Taiwan is that guests get to take home the leftovers in "doggie bags."  How great is that!!

There are a few more pictures on my flickr set for the 2007 weiya.  Such as a before and after of the whole (yummy) fish, a close up of the duck heads on the plate, and more.

vacation means . . .

. . . tackling the dirty laundry that I let build up at the end of the semester.

Cartoon by Dave Walker.
Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

A Puritan Prayer

O God of love,

Preserve . . .
  my understanding from error,
  my affections from love of idols,
  my lips from speaking deceit,
  my conduct from stain of vice,
  my character from appearance of evil;

that I may be
  harmless,
  blameless,
  rebukeless,
  exemplary,
  useful,
  light-giving,
  prudent,
  zealous for Your glory and the good
    of my fellow-men.

Cast Your cords of love around my heart,
     then hold me and never let me go!

(HT: Grace Gems! Jan 2007)

sam's one request

When Sam came to visit me this summer, his only request was . . . "to see the monkeys."

We tried on more than one occasion, but the monkeys live in the wild, so we couldn't make a reservation and request they be present when we arrived.  :)  However, right before we left to go back to America, we got to see them!! 

____

Sam fed the monkeys peanuts and bananas.  And, his one wish about Taiwan came true!

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what it was

Two weeks ago, I get a call from a delivery guy.  He is downstairs with a package for me.  I go down to get it, and he tells me it needs to be refridgerated.  Hmm, what could it be?

Inside was green tea cheese cake with bits of taro.  My best friend who lives in north Taiwan overnighted it special delivery via 7-11 to me!  Pretty special, huh?  (I bet you didn't even know that in some contries 7-11 can be your delievery service, right? Yeah, me neither till two weeks ago!)

The cake was incredibly rich--I had trouble finishing one piece because of how rich it was.  Ellen knows that I just love green tea flavored treats, so when she saw this, she thought I should be given a chance to try it out. 

What is just as cool is the beautiful box in came in.

So, that is what it was. 

Yall came up with some really funny and  some really clever ideas. Too bad I don't have some kind of cute graphic to give you as an award for making me laugh and all.

It turns out the first person to guess was actually the closest, but she is Taiwanese, so maybe she had an unfair advantage! ;)  Too bad I don't have a cute graphic for her either.

And, too bad I don't have one for Ellen for being an awesome, gift-giving friend!  Thanks girl!  You're the best!

i highly recommend

The finals have been graded, the learning journals read, and the semester grades posted.  WooHoo!!  I am done with the "fall" semester!!  I don't have to teach a full semester again until March 1st!!  Sweetness! 

Oh, but don't worry--I have PLENTY to do in the next month--my calendar is already very full. 

I wanted to thank you for praying for Char--she's home again to work on recovering and healing.  And to top things off, she has a few screws loose.

Since tomorrow is my first day of "winter break," I am taking the day off from the computer too.  I am not even going to turn it on.  But don't worry, I will tell you the answer to this "what is it?" post on Thursday!   I know you are just dying to know.

Instead of reading my blog tomorrow, I highly recommend to you the following: 

Posts like this one are why I started reading Sallie's blog!  Find out how Sallie "copes with abundance." 

Sallie has some other oldies but goodies on: Calling vs. Clutter and Simplyifing Choices.

Carolyn at Solo Femininity may not be posting as often as she once did, but she still posts great stuff for us single ladies!  Check out her recent post on Abigail's Initiative. 

I also really enjoyed her "Seeking Wisdom for the New Year" post awhile back.

loss of all confidence in self

"Just as the sinner's despair of any hope from himself is the first prerequisite of a sound conversion; so the loss of all confidence in himself is the first essential in the believer's growth in grace. (Arthur Pink)

___

"Without Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13).

photo hunt: technology

According to Wikipedia, technology "is a broad term dealing with the use and knowledge of humanity's tools and crafts."  Perhaps one of the oldest technological advances known to man are eating utensils.  And, out of all the eating utensils known to man, I know of none better than a pair of chopsticks.

These are pictures of my brother and sister using chopsticks during their (seperate) visits to Taiwan. 

Sam is so good with chopsticks, he can even eat ice cream with them!!  Here he is eating his fave flavors in Taiwan, which were mango and taro.

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the package

Here is a little game that will make you think.

I love stuff like this!

guess what this is

Do you know what this is?   (Sorry the pictures is a little dark, but yes--it is a "green" color.)

I'll post the answer in a few days--till then I'll leave you in suspense. ;)

a prayer request

Back in October, my bloggy friend Char, who is from Canada but lives and teaches here in Taiwan, broke her ankle.

photos borrowed from Char's blog

Tomorrow, she goes in for a second ankle surgery.  Would you please pray for her?  Surgery is always a "scary thing," but imagine doing it in a foreign country in your second langauge. . . . hmmm, not something I wanna do.

So, since we are 13 hours ahead of "Texas time"--if you are in America and pray for her on Wednesday during the day, you are praying for her while she sleeps, and if you pray for her Wednesday night, you are praying for her on Thursday morning.

Heavenly Father, would you please give Char a peace that goes beyond her understanding tonight and tomorrow?  Please give her the ability to know and understand all that is going on around her and to her--even though it might be in a language other than her native one.  Please heal her ankle and keep her safe.  Lord, please use this situation to bring glory to Yourself.  Give her oppotunities to share your Good News with others while she is recovering from surgery.  Amen.

Thanks for joining me!

snacking done right.

Shannon is running a themed "Works for Me Wednesday" this week on "healthy eating."  She is asking for healthy recipes, but . . .uh . . . well . . . I am single.  I know that does not preclude the fact that I still have a kitchen and still prepare things to eat; however, let me just tell you now, I don't have any recipes to share. :)

So, instead, let me share with you some of my snacking tips for healthy eating.  You may already know and/or use some of these tips, but now at least you know what works for me!

1. Plan my snacks. I plan a mid-morning snack, a afternoon snack, and after dinner snack.  If I plan them they are something I look forward to, which helps me say no to cravings.  And, if they are planned ahead of time, it helps me avoid wrong choices later.

2. Prepare them ahead of time. I like to use those little "snack-sized" plastic baggies (oh!  so that's why they're called that).  I go ahead and fill them with the right "snack size" portion.  This helps me because they are ready to go--toss in my purse and walk out the door ready.  And it helps me because I don't grab the whole bag and overeat without meaning to.

3. Choose healthy snacks. For me, healthy snacks include all kinds of nuts, cheese, carrots, dried peas (they are great).  At night, I also like me a little sugar-free Jello made with Diet Coke (or Coke Lite as we have here) instead of water and topped with whipped cream.  In the States, I also splurged on low-sugar chocolate ice cream bars (so sad that we don't have those here.)

4. Do it.  If I snack, I don't let myself get hungry--so I preempt possible cravings.  If I snack, I keep my blood sugar levels more even--which is a good thing.  And, best of all, snacking makes me happy. :)  Who doesn't like to be happy while eating healthy.
_____

And here are my hints for how I keep from eating snacks when I shouldn't be:

1. Grab my water bottle instead. If I "crave" a snack and its not snack time, I make myself drink water--I feel full, I am meeting my goal of getting my water for the day, and maybe the craving will go away.

2. Snack, but snack healthy. If water doesn't do the trick, I go ahead and have a high protein snack.  Better to give into the craving when it is small with a healthy choice than later when it is big with an unhealthy choice.

3. Brush my teeth.  Who wants to ruin a fresh minty mouth by eating something? 

4. Put on some teeth whitening strips. Can't eat with those thingees on.  AND, because I am eating healthy (and losing weight), I smile more--what better than to have great white teeth to go with my bigger smile.

So, what are your tips for snacking healthy or for not snacking unhealthy?  Care to share?

True Beauty

We declare it in song all the time:

“Come see the beauty of the Lord!”
"Oh Lord You're Beautiful!"
"Jesus, how can I tell you how beautiful you are to me?"
"Beatutiful one I love!  Beautiful one I adore!  Beautiful one I adore!"
"O Beautiful of Heaven, O Sovereign God transcendent"
"There is no other God but You; There is no other more beautiful."

We proclaim Christ to be the "lily of the valley," "the fairest of ten thousand," and "altogether lovely."

But, when I first think of the "beauty of Christ" the first verse that pops into my head is Isaiah 53:2:

"He had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him."

According to this Jesus was not physically attractive--nothing striking or gorgeous about him as he dwelt on earth.  But, all of heaven is enamored with his beauty.  Isn't it a wonderful, sweet paradox!?! 

As I think about the Beauty of Christ, I find myself woefully incompent to write about it.  As my fingers search out the keys to hit, my heart swells with adoration that cannot be expressed in ten thousand words.

So, let me share some quotes I enjoy on this topic:

Words cannot depict the preciousness of the Lord Jesus Christ to His people, nor can they fully tell how essential He is to their satisfaction and happiness!

As the river seeks the sea, so Lord Jesus, I seek You!
O let me find You and melt my life into Yours forever!
(Spurgeon)

~*~*~*~

There is a thing called 'beauty', which prevails upon the hearts of men. Mighty men, not a few, have bowed before it and paid it homage. But if you want true beauty, look into the face of Jesus,for there you have the concentration of all loveliness.

There is no beauty anywhere but in Christ.

O sun, you are not fair, when once compared with Him.
O fair world and grand creation of a glorious God, you are but a dim and dusky blot compared with the splendors of His face.

When we shall see Christ, we shall be compelled to say that we never knew what loveliness was before. When the clouds are swept away, when the curtains which hide Him from our view are drawn aside, we shall find that not anything we have seen or heard of, grand or graceful, in the wide universe, will bear a moment's comparison with Him, who was once seen as a root out
of a dry ground, but shall presently fill heaven and earth with luster and gladden all hearts with His glory.

(Spurgeon, emphasis mine)

~*~*~*~

The longer we look on 'created gaieties', the leaner and less lovely they grow; so that, by the time we have viewed them forty, fifty, or sixty years--we see nothing but vanity in the creature! But when ten thousand ages are employed in beholding the perfection and beauty of Jesus--He still appears more and more lovely--even altogether lovely!

(James Meikle, emphasis mine)

~*~*~*~

Not only is his teaching attractive, his doctrine persuasive, his life irreproachable, his character enchanting, and his work a self-denying labor for the common good of all his people, but he himself is altogether lovely.

Do not look for anything lovely outside of Jesus, for he has all the loveliness.

All perfections are in him making up one consummate perfection; and all the loveliness which is to be seen elsewhere is but a reflection of his own unrivalled charms.

Jesus is the monopolizer of all loveliness.

He is the engrosser of all that is admirable in the entire universe.

(Spurgeon, emphasis mine)

And, let me end with more of Meikle's words because they capture my sentiments exactly:

Alas! I can say nothing of His true excellencies! They overwhelm my laboring thought, and are too vast for my feeble conception to bring forth!

my "front porch"

As you probably know, in Asia people take off their shoes when they enter a home.  Sometimes shoes are taken off for entering classrooms or resturants or other places too. 

When my students come to visit me, they take off their shoes and line them up on the stairs outside my front door.

I took these pictures as some students were leaving my home after a Christmas party a few weeks ago.  Some of the students (and thus their shoes) had already left (were gone) before I thought to capture it on film.  When they were all there, the stairs were full and about half were Converse.

Here are shots of my students putting on their shoes right in front of my front door. :)

This post is the start of another random series showing you some of the "corners of my home."  I will show you were I keep my shoes in my next "corners of my home" post.  (I also need to remember to take pictures of where I park for that other random series I have going.)

Happy Tuesday!