following an unknown path

a new favorite

When I babysat for a missionary family awhile back, the mom made oatmeal casserole.  It was the first time I've ever tried such a thing.  You eat it warm, but pour milk over it kinda like cereal.  I am an oatmeal lover, so this new twist to an old favorite was a welcome treat.

I decided to make it for my own weekend-before Christmas guests who were spending the night.  Like many casseroles, you can put it all together the night before, leave it in the fridge and just pop it into the oven the next morning.

Here's what I did:

1/3 cup butter

2 eggs

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

2 tsp. vanilla

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup raisins
2 small apples, chopped skin on
1/3 cup nuts (walnuts or pecans
1 cup plus 2 TBSP. milk

3 cups quick-cooking oats

Grease a 1-1/2 quart casserole dish (I don't have a casserole dish, so I just used a cake pan). Preheat the oven to 177C or 350F.

Drop in the eggs and beat them slightly. Add the brown sugar, baking powder, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Mix well, and make sure there are no brown sugar lumps. Whisk in the melted butter and the milk. Stir in the oats.  Stir in the optional raisins, apples, and nuts (although optional, these make it oh so scrumptious).

Bake, uncovered, for 35 minutes. The top should be starting to brown. Remove from oven. Spoon into bowls and pour milk over the top.

I just mixed everything right there in the casserole dish.  This fed six of us, even with going back for seconds.  I also happen to know that it is good warmed up in the microwave the following day.

Next time, I am going to experiment with using Splenda instead of the brown sugar, I know it will give it a slightly different taste, but that'd be ok. 

Also, the original receipe I followed was slightly different.  One difference is that it called for 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder; I didn't have that so I left it out.  I didn't miss it, but you might.

Christmas Day

I spent my Christmas Day evening with this lovely family (their dad is working in China).  They are some of my favorite people in the world.  What a blessing to live so close to them!

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This was my first time to host a "Christmas dinner."  I had fun doing it.  I made Grandma's sweet potato casserole, cherry coke jello, roasted potatoes, and broccoli with cheese.  Oh, yeah and a pumpkin pie too.  Corrina brought over a roasted chicken, salad, and pumpkin soup.  It was all SO yummy!!!

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It was the first time they had ever really celebrated Christmas.  I gave each of the girls a blanket and then a family game set with 10 games inside.  I also gave Corrina some smell goods and coffee with mug.  She asked me incredulously "why do we all get more than one gift?  You spoil us."  I felt like I hadn't given them much at all--it's all perspective.  The girls were SO excited to get Christmas gifts!!

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After we stuffed ourselves and opened gifts, we played Uno Spin and Chinese Checkers.  They had never played with four people before.  If you play Taiwanese style Chinese checkers, only up to 3 people can play. 

Corrina commented how so many American games are suitable for 6-10 players, while so many Taiwanese/Chinese games are limited to two or three players.  She and her girls concluded this is because Americans like to play games as a whole family, but Taiwanese/Chinese people use/used games to encourage critical thinking skills--not as family entertainment.  I think it is a pretty interesting theory/observation.

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Merry Christmas!!
 

Christmas Past, 1981 (part 2, a repost)

Today my guestblogger, my mom, finishes the story she started yesterday.  (Just FYI, the pics are from 1979 and 1980--it's the best I could do with what I have here with me in Taiwan.)

It was a warm Texas December night and a very special one for us (ok – very special to me, the sentimental one!).

It was our first time decorating a tree with a child old enough to participate.  We purchased a small Christmas tree from the local grocery store and carted it home on top of our Pinto station wagon. Ken crafted a tree stand out of scrap wood and we placed the tree on top of our end table, hopefully out of the reach of our toddler’s (Sarah’s) grasp.  We placed the lights on the tree and Amanda and I began hanging ornaments.  She was so excited we were celebrating!  I was so excited – I got to keep the traditions!

It came time to turn off the overhead lights and plug in the Christmas tree lights.  As soon as the lights on the tree began shining, Amanda, overcome at the beauty of what she was seeing, spontaneously began to exclaim “Oh! Oh! Glory to God in the Highest! Glory to God in the Highest!  Glory to God in the Highest!”  She raised her arms and began dancing around that small glowing tree praising God, repeating that phrase over and over just as the angels must have done on the first Christmas night.

I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed worship as genuine as the worship I saw that night!  Worship from one with such a pure heart and pure motives – a precious three-year-old, who knew only that we were celebrating the birth of Jesus and that our Christmas tree was shining just as the heavens were the night of His birth when angels praised God and proclaimed His glory. And, she wanted to celebrate and praise Him in the same way!

That Christmas, God gave us just what we needed through the faith and actions of a three-year-old child.  That experience changed our perspective on Christmas celebrations.  We both realized that a Christmas tradition held its meaning only in the heart of the person participating in the tradition – you could focus on the warm and fuzzy feelings felt by reliving the tradition or you could focus on the original intent of the tradition or you could focus on the One for Whom you were celebrating as you participated in the tradition.

In our family, we choose to focus not on feelings or original intent, but on the Reason we were celebrating.

Each year, as we decorate our tree, it is a family tradition to tell the story of the night we worshipped with Amanda around our first family decorated Christmas tree. We seek to have the same worshipful heart as a three-year-old who, though only looking at the lights on a small Christmas tree, saw a sky filled with a host of heavenly angels proclaiming God’s glory at the birth of His Son and joyfully joined in the angels’ praises.

Now that is giving meaning to a Christmas tradition!

~Joi

Amanda: Isn't that a great story!! I just LOVE it!!  My mom is so right . . . when we look at our Christmas traditions--or any traditions for that matter--we can foucs on one of three things: (1) warm, fuzzy feelings, (2) original intent, or (3) Christ. 

For me and my sister (I think she would agree with me), that now as adults, because our parents focused on Christ at Christmas, the "warm, fuzzy feelings" of the holiday didn't dissappear but were intensified.  It is not that our traditions became stoic--how can worship of the long-awaited Savior be emotionless?  No, the "fuzzy feelings" didn't dissappear, they just were not the reason we did the things we did. 

As adults, my sister and I anticipate Christmas traditions because we are excited to worship the King of kings and Lord of lords; we look forward to being able to express our love for him in unique once-a-year Christmas ways.  Through participating in Christmas traditions, we enjoy being able to proclaim "Oh! Oh! Glory to God in the highest!!" and "Jesus, we love you!!" 

This is a repost from last year.  Originally posted here.

It was a warm Texas December night and a very special one for us (ok – very special to me, the sentimental one!).

It was our first time decorating a tree with a child old enough to participate.  We purchased a small Christmas tree from the local grocery store and carted it home on top of our Pinto station wagon. Ken crafted a tree stand out of scrap wood and we placed the tree on top of our end table, hopefully out of the reach of our toddler’s (Sarah’s) grasp.  We placed the lights on the tree and Amanda and I began hanging ornaments.  She was so excited we were celebrating!  I was so excited – I got to keep the traditions!

It came time to turn off the overhead lights and plug in the Christmas tree lights.  As soon as the lights on the tree began shining, Amanda, overcome at the beauty of what she was seeing, spontaneously began to exclaim “Oh! Oh! Glory to God in the Highest! Glory to God in the Highest!  Glory to God in the Highest!”  She raised her arms and began dancing around that small glowing tree praising God, repeating that phrase over and over just as the angels must have done on the first Christmas night.

I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed worship as genuine as the worship I saw that night!  Worship from one with such a pure heart and pure motives – a precious three-year-old, who knew only that we were celebrating the birth of Jesus and that our Christmas tree was shining just as the heavens were the night of His birth when angels praised God and proclaimed His glory. And, she wanted to celebrate and praise Him in the same way!

That Christmas, God gave us just what we needed through the faith and actions of a three-year-old child.  That experience changed our perspective on Christmas celebrations.  We both realized that a Christmas tradition held its meaning only in the heart of the person participating in the tradition – you could focus on the warm and fuzzy feelings felt by reliving the tradition or you could focus on the original intent of the tradition or you could focus on the One for Whom you were celebrating as you participated in the tradition.

In our family, we choose to focus not on feelings or original intent, but on the Reason we were celebrating.

Each year, as we decorate our tree, it is a family tradition to tell the story of the night we worshipped with Amanda around our first family decorated Christmas tree. We seek to have the same worshipful heart as a three-year-old who, though only looking at the lights on a small Christmas tree, saw a sky filled with a host of heavenly angels proclaiming God’s glory at the birth of His Son and joyfully joined in the angels’ praises.

Now that is giving meaning to a Christmas tradition!

~Joi

Amanda: Isn't that a great story!! I just LOVE it!!  My mom is so right . . . when we look at our Christmas traditions--or any traditions for that matter--we can foucs on one of three things: (1) warm, fuzzy feelings, (2) original intent, or (3) Christ. 

For me and my sister (I think she would agree with me), that now as adults, because our parents focused on Christ at Christmas, the "warm, fuzzy feelings" of the holiday didn't dissappear but were intensified.  It is not that our traditions became stoic--how can worship of the long-awaited Savior be emotionless?  No, the "fuzzy feelings" didn't dissappear, they just were not the reason we did the things we did. 

As adults, my sister and I anticipate Christmas traditions because we are excited to worship the King of kings and Lord of lords; we look forward to being able to express our love for him in unique once-a-year Christmas ways.  Through participating in Christmas traditions, we enjoy being able to proclaim "Oh! Oh! Glory to God in the highest!!" and "Jesus, we love you!!" 

This is a repost from last year.  Originally posted here.

Christmas Past (1981) (a repost)

I, Amanda, asked my mom to share one of my family's favorite Christmas stories.  So, today and tomorrow she is guest blogging here at following an unknown path.  Now, without further adieu, let my mom take you back 25 years, to the Christmas of 1981 . . .

Christmastime is supposed to be a time of joy and celebration, but there was conflict in our household.  My husband and I disagreed for most of our newly married four years on how we should celebrate Christmas and neither of us wanted to give up any ground.  However our children were getting older (3 years and 18 months), and we needed to reach an agreement on how our young family would celebrate this season.

I am the sentimental one in our family.  I love the Christmas season, all of it: the lights, the tree, the presents, cookie baking, surprises and secrets, being with family and of course, celebrating the Reason for the Season – God becoming a man and dwelling among us in order to fulfill His plan of redemption.

On the other hand, I don’t think my husband has a sentimental bone in his body!  He is very practical, very logical, extremely well-grounded in Scripture and very matter-of-fact.  This particular Christmas, he was finishing his education at seminary and had learned that most of our traditional Christmas celebrations began as pagan rituals.  He would come home after seminary classes and explain to me what he had learned in class and the conflict would begin!  He didn’t want our family to take part in any celebration that did not glorify God.  With such a youthful intensity to do only that which glorified God, he didn’t want us to participate in some of the traditions I loved because of their original intent.

Technically I agreed, I certainly didn’t want to be a part of anything that didn’t glorify God!…..but I couldn’t imagine Christmas without all the traditions I had grown up with and loved nor could I imagine not sharing those traditions with my children. 

After much discussion and heart searching, we decided we would keep Christmas traditions as a part of our celebration (yeah! – I could still have a Christmas tree!!), and purposefully seek to make the true meaning of Christmas the focus in our family by telling the Christmas story often to our young girls and singing religious Christmas carols with them. 

It was our routine to read or tell bedtime stories each night to our girls; and, during this season, the Christmas story was a much repeated favorite.  Being a natural storyteller and intent on making sure his daughters knew the true Christmas story, Ken would tell the birth of Jesus with great enthusiasm and drama.  We weren’t sure how much their young minds comprehended, but we were genuine in our desire to glorify God with our Christmas celebrations.   Yet, Ken still was uncomfortable about having the Christmas tree and other “pagan” celebrations in our home, but God was about to give us a sign.

Come back tomorrow to find out how.
Joi (aka Amanda's mom)

This is a repost from last year.  Originally posted here.

I, Amanda, asked my mom to share one of my family's favorite Christmas stories.  So, today and tomorrow she is guest blogging here at following an unknown path.  Now, without further adieu, let my mom take you back 25 years, to the Christmas of 1981 . . .

Christmastime is supposed to be a time of joy and celebration, but there was conflict in our household.  My husband and I disagreed for most of our newly married four years on how we should celebrate Christmas and neither of us wanted to give up any ground.  However our children were getting older (3 years and 18 months), and we needed to reach an agreement on how our young family would celebrate this season.

I am the sentimental one in our family.  I love the Christmas season, all of it: the lights, the tree, the presents, cookie baking, surprises and secrets, being with family and of course, celebrating the Reason for the Season – God becoming a man and dwelling among us in order to fulfill His plan of redemption.

On the other hand, I don’t think my husband has a sentimental bone in his body!  He is very practical, very logical, extremely well-grounded in Scripture and very matter-of-fact.  This particular Christmas, he was finishing his education at seminary and had learned that most of our traditional Christmas celebrations began as pagan rituals.  He would come home after seminary classes and explain to me what he had learned in class and the conflict would begin!  He didn’t want our family to take part in any celebration that did not glorify God.  With such a youthful intensity to do only that which glorified God, he didn’t want us to participate in some of the traditions I loved because of their original intent.

Technically I agreed, I certainly didn’t want to be a part of anything that didn’t glorify God!…..but I couldn’t imagine Christmas without all the traditions I had grown up with and loved nor could I imagine not sharing those traditions with my children. 

After much discussion and heart searching, we decided we would keep Christmas traditions as a part of our celebration (yeah! – I could still have a Christmas tree!!), and purposefully seek to make the true meaning of Christmas the focus in our family by telling the Christmas story often to our young girls and singing religious Christmas carols with them. 

It was our routine to read or tell bedtime stories each night to our girls; and, during this season, the Christmas story was a much repeated favorite.  Being a natural storyteller and intent on making sure his daughters knew the true Christmas story, Ken would tell the birth of Jesus with great enthusiasm and drama.  We weren’t sure how much their young minds comprehended, but we were genuine in our desire to glorify God with our Christmas celebrations.   Yet, Ken still was uncomfortable about having the Christmas tree and other “pagan” celebrations in our home, but God was about to give us a sign.

Come back tomorrow to find out how.
Joi (aka Amanda's mom)

This is a repost from last year.  Originally posted here.

advent calendar inspiration

Last year I made 26 "Names of Jesus ornaments" for my Christmas tree on Christmas Eve.  I was going to carry over the tradition of doing something crafty on Christmas Eve this year too . . . but I have class.  So, I invited my class to my house for a party.  That's an ok compromise in my book.

However, I know what this year's craft is going to be . . . I really want to make an Advent Calendar.  So, I've been collecting ideas while I wait for a time when I can actually make it (which I am hoping is sometime during my Chinese New Year break in January and February).

I REALLY like the toilet paper tree ones that I first found on Bringing School Home and then later on here and the paper box and match box ones that I first saw on the Better Homes and Gardens site. 

There are also some really cool family and around the world themed ones that I think are really neat.

So, maybe it is a good thing that I don't have time till Chinese New Year to work on my Advent Calendar . . . gives me time to collect some more toilet paper rolls. :) 

Thought I'd share with you some of the inspiration I've been collecting.  You can click on this mosaic and go to flickr to see the photo credits and also click through to the page with the original photo.  On those pages, some of the photographers/crafters explain how they created their advent calendar in case you see one you want to emulate.

Aren't these all just awesome.  Some are quite simple and others are more elaborate.  There are several ideas I want to copy. 

In typical Amanda fashion, I would like to have oh . . . about 100 advent calendars.  Do you think that would be too many?

come on ring those bells . . .

Light the Christmas Tree!  Jesus is the King, born for you and me . . .

Welcome to all of you coming from BooMama's Christmas Tour of Homes.  Just to let you know, you've safely arrived in Taiwan. :) 

Most of my decorations are the same as last year; the main difference is that I moved this summer, so they are all placed a little differently in my new apartment.  But, I do have a few new things to show you.

Of course if your a little tired of all the touring, you could just sit with me here on the couch a little while a enjoy my new tree. (Snowmen booties courtesy of my NeeNee.)

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Are you ready now?  If so, here are my snowpeople this year:

 

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And, here is my favorite little snowguy of all--he just blends right in! :) 

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In addition to snowmen, I also really like candles.  They just add a certain festive feel to the atmosphere.

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Here is one of my new things for this year!!  This is a Chinese paper cut of a nativity scene which a dear friend gave me four years ago.  She was living in China at the time.  I only got around to framing it this year.  But, I love it!!

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The only thing I've splurged on this year for my home is this little jingle bell tree--isn't it so cute?  And, here is what my Christmas card wreath looks like this year.

 

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I've also gotten a few new ornaments from others and made some paper snowflakes.

The biggest change is that I bought a new Christmas tree.  Only thing is that it looks empty now . . . I love over stuffed, crowded trees that look like if you add one more thing they will fall over.  I guess this gives me room to grow and add and build. 

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Oh!  I did make some chocolate chip brownies, but they're all gone now.  So, can I offer you some green tea toast instead?  It's really yummy!!  I even tried to make it extra festive for you!!

 

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Well, thanks for coming to visit me in Taiwan!  Before you head off to visit other homes on the tour, let me just say 聖誕節快樂 (sheng dan jie kuai le) or in other words "Merry Christmas Yall!!"

snow!!

well . . . not real snow. 

Christine (one of my little neighbors) and I made snowflakes two weeks ago and then covered my living room window with them. 

I just love them!!

gilby's first christmas

For gilby's first christmas he was only five months old.  And, he hadn't ever had a haircut.  He looked quite different than he does now . . . long gone is that adorable little puppy phase. 

Oh, he is still cute--but it is defiantly a different kind of cute. :)

This red toy that he is playing (a Kong) with was a Christmas gift from my grandparents.  He even unwrapped his present all by himself.  I highly recommend the Kong toy--it's the most played with toy we have.  Also, it's now two years old and still in great condition.  Oh, and the little snowman outfit was a gift from my coworker/office-mate, Kady.  Her friend designs doggie clothing.

Ok . . . that it is for awhile about Gilby . . . I promise not to turn this into a dog-blog. :)

a very noisy 1st Sunday of Advent

I sit in my living room contemplating advent, thinking about hope and grateful for grace while candle light dances on the wall beside me and Christmas tree lights twinkle in front of me.

But, my home is not a quite place on this first Sunday of Advent.  No.  A Taiwanese god is having a birthday, and the temples of Tainan and making sure that he is well celebrated. 

From my back window I can hear worship instruments playing their song.  From my living room window I hear the sounds of an opera being acted out for the god to enjoy.  I hear worship drums being beat in a rhythm unfamiliar to me.

That is I hear these things only when the fireworks and firecrackers have subsided.  Since six this morning they have been worshiping all across town.  All day long firecrackers have boomed and fireworks whizzed and popped.  And, since they echo off the nearby high rise buildings the sound can be overwhelming.

And, from 10-11 this morning and then from about 9-10 tonight they shot fireworks and firecrackers for an hour straight each time--A FULL HOUR OF NON-STOP FIRECRACKERS!  I begin to think they might never stop.  They are still going strong as I go to bed at 11:30--however, now it is more random.  Like every five minutes one temple decides to pop something rather than all the temples all shooting off fireworks at the exact same time for an hour.

ALL DAY LONG these people have worshiped their idol with loud songs and amazing firework shows.  I didn't go investigate, but I assume their worship has also included sacrifices, burning of spirit money, colorful costumes, dancing, spirit possession, dragon dances, and there has probably been some blood shed as shamans pierce parts of their bodies with swords and daggers.  They probably have, are right now, or probably will go on a "god parade" dancing their idols through the streets so he or she in his or her different forms (one for each temple) has the opportunity to bless those nearby as the idols are returning from another more powerful temple where they went to get "recharged."

Less than two out of every one hundred Taiwanese are Christian.  Sunday as I sit in my living room, preparing my heart to celebrate the first Sunday of Advent, I am fully aware of this fact.   Lostness surrounds me, literally deafening me, making me sad . . . very sad.  When will the Taiwanese be able to share with us the hope we have in Christ?

My little neighbors and their mom join me in my candle-and-Christmas-tree lit living room to worship our Savior (I'm new to Tainan, but I've known this family for eight years).  We light a candle, read Scripture, thank Jesus for coming and for being our hope. . . . We worship the King of kings with very little display while the temples all around us worship an idol with great display. 

I will never forget the odd juxtaposition of this day  . . . the first Sunday of my first Advent celebration.

celebrating Advent as a single woman away from home

This is my first time to celebrate Advent.  And, I'm excited about it.  One of my biggest desires is to rebuild anticipation into the season . . . to recapture wonder and awe . . . but instead of directed towards the concept of Christmas as it was when I was a child . . . to direct towards love of my Savior. 

After being away from home for five Christmases so far I've come to the conclusion that being away from family at Christmas time is hard--uh, I probably could have told you that after just the first one.  And, I think that being single and barren at Christmas is also really hard--this is a family holiday.  So, what's a girl to do when she is single, childless, and living across the ocean from her family?

Once I tried basically ignoring it and pretending it didn't really matter.  A few times I tried to only focus on it on Christmas Day--to think about it for a whole month would just be too difficult.  But, last year, I changed. . . I made it a point to make it special and started to build my own traditions.  I also discovered Advent and decided that this year I would celebrate it.   

So, for the first time, I am fully embracing the holiday as a single adult on my own.  I am building my own traditions . . . that hopefully I will one day be able to share with my husband and children.  I am creating things now that I hope to use with my kids. . . and if I never have children, I will share them with my little neighbors and use them myself. 

But I am refusing to play the ostrich this year.  Sticking my head in the sand and pretending this holiday isn't really there--which is easy when no one around really celebrates it--isn't an option.  I will spend this month in awe and wonder  . . . in anticipation.  Christ has come and is going to return.  He is our hope. Our salvation.

Oh what glorious, wonderful news!

a mother's touch

       My thirteenth year of life was horrible.  I was changing from a girl into a woman, and I felt everything and everyone was against me. 

It was Christmas Eve and none of my clothes from the year before were fitting, and I could do nothing with my frizzy curls.  I cried for at least an hour after stomping up the stairs in utter frustration with my mean mother who did not understand me at all!  Then came the gentle knock on the door.  My mother had a red turtleneck and a beautiful white fuzzy sweater across her right arm; "May I come in?"  She came in and helped me dress; then we went to her room where she did my hair and even did my make-up.  She then let me borrow one of her necklaces.

Everyone was waiting downstairs for us to come down so we could open presents.  As I walked down those stairs, I felt like the most beautiful girl on the entire planet.  I felt like everyone on the whole earth was watching me descend down the stairs (not just my family).  I have never felt more beautiful in my whole life.       

The other day, I saw a picture of that Christmas Eve.  I remembered feeling so beautiful, but as I looked at the picture, I just saw a plain girl in her mother's sweater with frizzy curls. 

So what had made the difference? 

My mother's opinion of me.  Her time and attention and her care, along with a few complements, I'm sure, made me feel like a beauty queen.

Never underestimate the power of a mother's touch.

smile at the camera

I think Gilby has actually learned to "smile" for the camera. When I say "Gilby, look at the camera" he actually does!! 

I used to hold a treat right by the camera and give the command.  That way he'd look at the treat and thus be looking into the lens of my camera at the same time.  But, now, no treats are needed at all.  And, not only does he look . . . he opens his mouth and appears to be smiling.

In fact, he absolutely loved taking pictures last night.  I was trying to get some shots to send home to parents and grandparents so they could see my tree.  In some of them I held Gilby, but if I decided to take one by myself he either jumped into my lap or ran over to stand by my feet. 

Silly dog . . . you think it's possible for a canine to actually fall in love with the limelight?

You see him just sittin' there beggin' for me to take his picture, right?

Christmas in Taiwan (a video and a mosaic)

Merry Christmas!! 

Christmas Day will soon be over for me.  I wish you all a wonderful day as you celebrate our Savior today!!

This morning before I left to go celebrate at a fellow missionary's home, I took a few pics of Gilby and me with my tree:

1. gilby, me, and my tree, 2. gilby decides it is time to kiss me,
3. me and my tree, 4. merry CHRISTmas!

Christmas is not a holiday in Taiwan, so most people do not celebrate and it.  Christians usually have some kind of activity at church for Christmas, but nothing like we are used to in the West and not necessarily on Christmas Day.  So, for the most part it is work and school as normal.  However, every year so far, I have been blessed to be able to rearrange my classes, so that I don't have to work on Christmas Day.  Day after Christmas?  Yes!  But not the actual Christmas Day. 

This year, I went to our mission team leader's home.  We had a traditional Christmas meal, and then played games for hours!  It was fun and full of laughter.  However, I do miss my family. 

Merry Christmas!!

Gilby and I wish you a very Merry Christmas!!!

(Do you see what Gilby found under the couch?)

P.S. It is already CHRISTMAS here in Taiwan!! :D 

my christmas eve project

When Mountain Musings had their Christmas Ornament Show-and-tell, they featured one of Dawn's "Names of Jesus" ornaments.  I liked the idea so much I made my own set!!

I am no crafty person, but I am looking for ways to put Christ into CHRISTmas, so I loved the idea of 26 (one for each letter of the alphabet) ornaments that each proclaim who Jesus is hanging on my Christmas tree. 

I really enjoyed searching online to choose the names I wanted to use.  For some letters there were way too many choices, but other letters left me no choice at all. 

I "cheated" and used "Alpha and Omega" for the letter "Z."  "X" also was a strech with "eXcellent One."  And, I made two for "G"--Gracious One and Glorious--because I had made so many decisions by the end that I couldn't decide any more.  So, my set actually includes 27 ornaments. :)

If you wanna make your own set, of course you could use Google, but you could also check here, here, here, or here for some of the many names of Jesus.

I also added one more touch to mine--I made them bilingual.  One side is English and the other side is the Chinese for that name.

As you can obviously tell, I went an easy route and just used a paint pen, some glue, and glitter on red Christmas balls, but Dawn (a more crafty person) has some other ideas for making your own set.

聖誕快樂*Merry Chrismas

It's been a full week of many Christmas parties and tellings of the Christmas story.  I sit here now enjoying a mint flavored milk tea with tapioca balls, and I decided to share a few pics from the week with you.

First, last Sunday, I joined other Hokkien Harvest missionaries to worship Christ in a public park and share with others at the park the reason for Chrsitmas.

Then, I hosted several Christmas parties in my home!!  And one at school.

I also participated yesterday in two other activities that I've made into Christmas traditions.  One is eating is "Wa Gua" or "hot pot," which I've written about before. 

And the other is eating "Tang Yuan" or "soup cirlcles," which are really just glutinous rice-based balls of gooey goodness.

Tonight, I am participating in one more Christmas activity at a fellow missionaries' apartment complex.  I will be playing my erhu (more on that later) and singing.  If you are in the States and read this on Saturday morning--it is still not too late to pray for us, so please do.  If you live elsewhere in the world--well, I don't know what time Saturday night in Taiwan is for you, but we'd sill appreciate your prayers!!  Thanks!!

Christmas Past, 1981 (part 2)

Today my guestblogger, my mom, finishes the story she started yesterday.  (Just FYI, the pics are from 1979 and 1980--it's the best I could do with what I have here with me in Taiwan.)

It was a warm Texas December night and a very special one for us (ok – very special to me, the sentimental one!).

It was our first time decorating a tree with a child old enough to participate.  We purchased a small Christmas tree from the local grocery store and carted it home on top of our Pinto station wagon.  Ken crafted a tree stand out of scrap wood and we placed the tree on top of our end table, hopefully out of the reach of our toddler’s (Sarah’s) grasp.  We placed the lights on the tree and Amanda and I began hanging ornaments.  She was so excited we were celebrating!  I was so excited – I got to keep the traditions!

It came time to turn off the overhead lights and plug in the Christmas tree lights.  As soon as the lights on the tree began shining, Amanda, overcome at the beauty of what she was seeing, spontaneously began to exclaim “Oh! Oh! Glory to God in the Highest!  Glory to God in the Highest!  Glory to God in the Highest!”  She raised her arms and began dancing around that small glowing tree praising God, repeating that phrase over and over just as the angels must have done on the first Christmas night.

I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed worship as genuine as the worship I saw that night!  Worship from one with such a pure heart and pure motives – a precious three-year-old, who knew only that we were celebrating the birth of Jesus and that our Christmas tree was shining just as the heavens were the night of His birth when angels praised God and proclaimed His glory. And, she wanted to celebrate and praise Him in the same way!

That Christmas, God gave us just what we needed through the faith and actions of a three-year-old child.  That experience changed our perspective on Christmas celebrations.  We both realized that a Christmas tradition held its meaning only in the heart of the person participating in the tradition – you could focus on the warm and fuzzy feelings felt by reliving the tradition or you could focus on the original intent of the tradition or you could focus on the One for Whom you were celebrating as you participated in the tradition.

In our family, we choose to focus not on feelings or original intent, but on the Reason we were celebrating.

Each year, as we decorate our tree, it is a family tradition to tell the story of the night we worshipped with Amanda around our first family decorated Christmas tree. We seek to have the same worshipful heart as a three-year-old who, though only looking at the lights on a small Christmas tree, saw a sky filled with a host of heavenly angels proclaiming God’s glory at the birth of His Son and joyfully joined in the angels’ praises.

Now that is giving meaning to a Christmas tradition!

~Joi

Amanda: Isn't that a great story!! I just LOVE it!!  My mom is so right . . . when we look at our Christmas traditions--or any traditions for that matter--we can foucs on one of three things: (1) warm, fuzzy feelings, (2) original intent, or (3) Christ. 

For me and my sister (I think she would agree with me), that now as adults, because our parents focused on Christ at Christmas, the "warm, fuzzy feelings" of the holiday didn't dissappear but were intensified.  It is not that our traditions became stoic--how can worship of the long-awaited Savior be emotionless?  No, the "fuzzy feelings" didn't dissappear, they just were not the reason we did the things we did. 

As adults, my sister and I anticipate Christmas traditions becuase we are excited to worship the King of kings and Lord of lords; we look forward to being able to express our love for him in unique once-a-year Christmas ways.  Through participating in Christmas traditions, we enjoy being able to proclaim "Oh! Oh! Glory to God in the highest!!" and "Jesus, we love you!!" 

Like Sarah said in a comment last week:

as a child it was so neat to me to tell Jesus happy birthday and it was the beginning of me really realizing as such a young child that I could speak to Him and sing to Him, and not just about Him.

I too though have the sweet, precious, innocent, warm-fuzzy feelings and memories attached to this song, and thought that life was GREAT and that everyone loved Christmas and Jesus just as much as we did.

Christmas Past, 1981 (part 1)

I, Amanda, asked my mom to share one of my family's favorite Christmas stories.  So, today and tomorrow she is guest blogging here at following an unknown path.  Now, without further adieu, let my mom take you back 25 years, to the Christmas of 1981 . . .

Christmastime is supposed to be a time of joy and celebration, but there was conflict in our household.  My husband and I disagreed for most of our newly married four years on how we should celebrate Christmas and neither of us wanted to give up any ground.  However our children were getting older (3 years and 18 months), and we needed to reach an agreement on how our young family would celebrate this season.

I am the sentimental one in our family.  I love the Christmas season, all of it: the lights, the tree, the presents, cookie baking, surprises and secrets, being with family and of course, celebrating the Reason for the Season – God becoming a man and dwelling among us in order to fulfill His plan of redemption.

On the other hand, I don’t think my husband has a sentimental bone in his body!  He is very practical, very logical, extremely well-grounded in Scripture and very matter-of-fact.  This particular Christmas, he was finishing his education at seminary and had learned that most of our traditional Christmas celebrations began as pagan rituals.  He would come home after seminary classes and explain to me what he had learned in class and the conflict would begin!  He didn’t want our family to take part in any celebration that did not glorify God.  With such a youthful intensity to do only that which glorified God, he didn’t want us to participate in some of the traditions I loved because of their original intent.

Technically I agreed, I certainly didn’t want to be a part of anything that didn’t glorify God!…..but I couldn’t imagine Christmas without all the traditions I had grown up with and loved nor could I imagine not sharing those traditions with my children. 

After much discussion and heart searching, we decided we would keep Christmas traditions as a part of our celebration (yeah! – I could still have a Christmas tree!!), and purposefully seek to make the true meaning of Christmas the focus in our family by telling the Christmas story often to our young girls and singing religious Christmas carols with them. 

It was our routine to read or tell bedtime stories each night to our girls; and, during this season, the Christmas story was a much repeated favorite.  Being a natural storyteller and intent on making sure his daughters knew the true Christmas story, Ken would tell the birth of Jesus with great enthusiasm and drama.  We weren’t sure how much their young minds comprehended, but we were genuine in our desire to glorify God with our Christmas celebrations.   Yet, Ken still was uncomfortable about having the Christmas tree and other “pagan” celebrations in our home, but God was about to give us a sign.

Come back tomorrow to find out how.
Joi (aka Amanda's mom)

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

So, first of all, let me say to all of you coming via BooMama's "Christmas Tour of Homes" . . . Welcome to Taiwan! 

Did you know that you just crossed the ocean?  Well, come on in--there's not much, but it makes me smile.

 

The Chinese on the door says "God loves the World's People"--it stays up all year.  My little door sign changes with the season--this snowman will stay up till Chinese New Year.

After you step in, you will need to take your shoes off.  These guys stand on top of my "shoe closet" where you will find some slippers to put on if you'd like.

The only wreath in my home is this one--my Christmas card wreath.  I like having a decorative, fun way to display my Christmas cards.  This year, when I added a card, I didn't know that all the snow on the card glowed in the dark till I turned out the lights to go to bed.  Let's just say it caught me by surprise. (The left wreath is a pic from the end of last year; on the right is this year's so far).

Under this wreath, is the rest of my snowpeople collection.

Gotta truly appreciate the snowpeople collection a little better!! :) I think my love for snowmen stated with some handmade crochet snowmen that my NeeNee made for me and Sarah when we were little girls.  I loved playing with those guys.

Besides my Christmas tree, the only other Christmas decoration I have is a small nativity scene my grandparents sent to me my first year here in Taiwan.

You can see my post from yesterday to see my Christmas tree and some of my ornaments, if you feel so inclined.

Thanks for coming to visit me in Taiwan!  Before you head off to visit other homes on the tour, let me just say 聖誕節快樂 (sheng dan jie kuai le) or in other words "Merry Christmas Yall!!"

christmas ornaments

One of the parts of Christmas that I enjoyed most is decorating the tree.  Opening up the boxes and expecting the surprise as I peel away old newspapers to reveal a special ornament and the memories it brings back.

Our tree at home is filled homemade ornaments--some are now almost 30 years old.  Also, a tradtion is that each year mom and dad gave us an ornament.  My NeeNee and PawPaw (paternal grandparents) also gave use a yearly ornament.  We would write our name and the year on the bottom of them.  This was supposed to become the starter kit for our own tree when we became adults.  I love that tradition--but, um, my mom has yet to reliquinsh the ornaments yet.

It is impossible to pick a single favorite from our family tree.  I love the tiny crystal nativity.  I love the little girl on the 1983 swing.  I love the oversized ice-cream cone Sarah made with styrofoam and hotglue.  I love the string of teddy-bears I made in the sixth grade.  I love the faded green ornament that is from my mom's childhood tree.  I love  . . . . I can't possible list them all, huh?

Below are the only ornaments from my family's tree that I have pictures of.  One is of the baked ornament I painted when I was only 2 or 3.  The snowman is one I made in 4th or 5th grade--it started from two make-up powder puffs.  And, the other one is a clothes pin reindeer I also made.

My first Christmas in Taiwan, I decorated my tree alone.  It was little thrilling and a little depressing at the same time.  Thrilling because I was decorating my own Christmas tree, and depressing because I was all alone; there was no one to share it with.  So, I decided at that moment to always invite someone to come help me decorate my tree.  For the past three years, I've invited the same students to come help me.  I am so glad they give me someone to share my joy with.

This year, they also helped me to make lots of these:

See, here they are making them.  (Gilby helped too.)

For my Christmas tree here in Taiwan, I have kept it (almost) all red, white, and silver.  And, most of them sparkle, glitter, or reflect the twinkle lights--and I like that.

There are only two exceptions to my sliver, white, and red tree.  Both have been gifts.  And both reinforce that I am milkshake.  One is made by Chinese knots (given to me by a student), and the other is in the shape of Texas and happens to have the word "yall" on it (given to me by my sister).

Here is my little Taiwanese tree in full:

 

For more ornaments and tree show-n-tell, visit Mountain Musings and Seeds in My Garden.

O Come All Ye Faithful

My friends, a Taiwanese pastor and his wife (Peter and Mary), sing "O Come All Ye Faithful" in Taiwanese on this video:

 

This Sunday, December 17th, Hokkien Harvest missionaries will be joining Peter and Mary's housechurch to worship Jesus in a public park for a Christmas celebration.  I invite you to join me in praying for this time. 

(HT: video posted by Mary Agnes, one of my good friends and a missionary in Taiwan)