So, I apologize for all the updates at one time. Its bascially been a month since we had blogged and SOO much has happened since then. It is hard to remember all the great things we could blog about....I should really start making notes as things that happen so that I can remember them!
I am just going to give a little count down of some funny or interesting things that have happened lately:
1. Cameron and I still have no idea how to get anywhere here...we tried to make it to IKEA by ourselves to return our Christmas tree and thought we were doing well until it was time to go home. I have the bus numbers written down so that I remember which ones take us to IKEA. Well it just so happens that we have always just taken one of them. When coming out of IKEA a bus with one of the other numbers on my list was right their so we quickly jumped on (we were trying to do this trip as quickly as possible because we were SOOO tired and it was a week night). After about 10 minutes on the bus though we realized that we had NO idea where we were. We tried to call some people but had no luck. We were lost somewhere in the city and we did not know what to do. We tried to stay on the bus as long as we could to see if we would see something we recongized ...No Luck! As we passed something for the second time...we decided that it was time to get off! We found an MRT station and decided to just take that home. But, we havent really dont that too much alone either so it was interesting.....We did finally make it home ( a few hours later than we hoped) and a little frustrated with our inability to do things alone yet! However, what can we do but laught about it! (oh and while we were lost and getting on the MRT...I had to add money to my bus card. The machine said that I needed to put in bank notes....Cam and I were both like great?? What are bank notes??? We ended up discovering it that it was just money..)
2. Our Chinese is not improving at all!!! We feel hopeless. I am glad that we at least understand numbers now....We can shop at markets and stuff and ask how much and understand (most of the time) what they say. However, I was reminded that I have no idea what I am doing when I was at the veggie market a few days back. I pointed to the ones I wanted and the lady was just chattering away to me loudly and I just stood their like a dummy. I had no idea.....Boy, do we need to learn quickly!
3. I went to an all girls christmas party last night at a friends house from church! It was alot of fun but I went not knowing most of the people there. My friend who invited me is a missionary here. She is very invovled with alot of the ministries at church adn most of the people there were Taiwanese ladies that are part of her ministry. Most of them speak some English...but mostly Chinese. I tried hard to socialize as much as I could at the party. It was good to meet new people. However, there were many times where I was completely lost during conversation.
At the beginning of the party, we all went around the circle and introduced ourselves. They all introduced themselves by saying their English name and then their Chinese name. It came around to me and I had to sheepishly say...Hi, I am Elisa and I do not even know how to pronounce my Chinese name. I am not sure what tones it is. They all laughed!!
We also took part in a White Elephant Gift Exchange ....in which at number 10 I had to be the first mean one and show them all how to steal a gift from someone else :)
4. Cam and I went out to some markets this weekend.....and quickly discovered that we were a little under dressed. I had on capris and a t shirt and Cam was in shorts and a t shirt. However, in Taiwan....they dress for the season not for the weather. So even though it was a warm high 70's.....most people had on two or three layers or even their puffy winter coats. We got lots of stares.....
5. At the night market we just recently went to we got stopped a few times by locals who wanted to take pictures with us! Its a little odd...but a compliment as well when they say "Can I take my picture with you because you are so beautiful". Makes me remember we are definitely foreigners and we still stick out..... :)
I am sure there are lots of more funny (or embarrasing) cultural experiences we could blog about ...but my mind is blank at the moment. Sorry! I will try to do a better job of keeping them a little more recent!
Monday, December 22, 2008
What it is all about!!!
So, I got a chance to experience what teaching is all about a few weeks ago. I am sorry that I have not updated with this exciting news earlier!
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to ask my students if any of them would like to pray to ask God to forgive them from their sins and come and live in their hearts. I had two students who right away said they wanted to. I told them if they really wanted to that I would like them to stay in at recess time to talk to me about it. I didn't want to do it right there in front of the whole group because then the majority of my class would have played monkey see monkey do and want to do it just because so and so was doing it. Plus, I really wanted to make sure their little hearts knew what it was all about.
I was quite surprised by the response I got from them during our little conversation during recess time. I found a wonderful website that uses lots of visuals to help students understand the steps of salvation. I asked SO many questions because my fear was that they didn't understand enough. However, God proved to me that little 5 year old hearts can be SOO ready. They gave great explanations of what sin was, what sin does to us, what God does to sin, who Jesus is and what he did for us, and what happens when we ask God to come and live in our hearts! It was reassuring that God has been truly using me to teach the truth to these little kiddos who never even heard about Jesus before coming to Kindergarten.
After hearing their wise and innocent explanations....I knew they were ready! So, we all closed our eyes and folded our hands and innocently prayed the sinners prayer. Praise God for times like this.......I mean this is what we are here for!
After we finished praying, we made sure to tell lots of teachers about our great news....they went around saying "Mr. ____, I am a Christian". It was too cute!
However, my uplifted spirits only lasted so long as I quickly remembered that most of the students face lots of spiritual trials when they go home with their new found faith. So many students become believers while they are a Morrison...but family members are still often opposed to it or apprehensive to it! I knew that I could not write a wonderful and exciting note home to the parents of my two littles ones because I knew that the parents would probably not be too excited. So, I just prayed for them and told them to tell their families the great news!
The next day....one of my little ones told me first thing in the morning...my mom says that I am not Christian. My heart sunk...Later that day I was actually confronted by this mother ...boy, was that one of the most ackward and difficult conversations of my life. To make a long story short...this little one is Indian and comes from a family of Hindus. She was very adimate that he was not a Christian. I tried to explain what makes someone a Christian....but she wanted nothing to do with it! So, we ended the conversation with mutual respect for one another ....but my heart was SO sad.
I realized we have a great opportunity each day to teach God's word and love to our students (kids who have never heard about Jesus before) and who have grown up in an idol workshipping, polythesistic culture. However, we also have a large responsibility in praying for them and preparing them for the spiritual warfare that they will face even with their closest family members.
I hope that you are able to take joy in this news and that your hearts will also be burdened for our students and their families. We definitely live in a lost and searching nation now....may God continue to work through us (even if it is in one 5 year olds heart at a time).
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to ask my students if any of them would like to pray to ask God to forgive them from their sins and come and live in their hearts. I had two students who right away said they wanted to. I told them if they really wanted to that I would like them to stay in at recess time to talk to me about it. I didn't want to do it right there in front of the whole group because then the majority of my class would have played monkey see monkey do and want to do it just because so and so was doing it. Plus, I really wanted to make sure their little hearts knew what it was all about.
I was quite surprised by the response I got from them during our little conversation during recess time. I found a wonderful website that uses lots of visuals to help students understand the steps of salvation. I asked SO many questions because my fear was that they didn't understand enough. However, God proved to me that little 5 year old hearts can be SOO ready. They gave great explanations of what sin was, what sin does to us, what God does to sin, who Jesus is and what he did for us, and what happens when we ask God to come and live in our hearts! It was reassuring that God has been truly using me to teach the truth to these little kiddos who never even heard about Jesus before coming to Kindergarten.
After hearing their wise and innocent explanations....I knew they were ready! So, we all closed our eyes and folded our hands and innocently prayed the sinners prayer. Praise God for times like this.......I mean this is what we are here for!
After we finished praying, we made sure to tell lots of teachers about our great news....they went around saying "Mr. ____, I am a Christian". It was too cute!
However, my uplifted spirits only lasted so long as I quickly remembered that most of the students face lots of spiritual trials when they go home with their new found faith. So many students become believers while they are a Morrison...but family members are still often opposed to it or apprehensive to it! I knew that I could not write a wonderful and exciting note home to the parents of my two littles ones because I knew that the parents would probably not be too excited. So, I just prayed for them and told them to tell their families the great news!
The next day....one of my little ones told me first thing in the morning...my mom says that I am not Christian. My heart sunk...Later that day I was actually confronted by this mother ...boy, was that one of the most ackward and difficult conversations of my life. To make a long story short...this little one is Indian and comes from a family of Hindus. She was very adimate that he was not a Christian. I tried to explain what makes someone a Christian....but she wanted nothing to do with it! So, we ended the conversation with mutual respect for one another ....but my heart was SO sad.
I realized we have a great opportunity each day to teach God's word and love to our students (kids who have never heard about Jesus before) and who have grown up in an idol workshipping, polythesistic culture. However, we also have a large responsibility in praying for them and preparing them for the spiritual warfare that they will face even with their closest family members.
I hope that you are able to take joy in this news and that your hearts will also be burdened for our students and their families. We definitely live in a lost and searching nation now....may God continue to work through us (even if it is in one 5 year olds heart at a time).
Christmas at Bethany
The last few weeks at Bethany have been quite eventful! Cam and I just tried to hang in there as we became more and more exhausted every day. Each day seemed to be so full and the students energy level just kept rising and rising!
After returning from Thanksgiving break, our annual school Christmas Project was announced. This year our school raised money for ChristAid Academy in Uganda. The students really got into the spirit of giving and it was neat to see them understand the reasoning behind all of our fun activities and fundraisers!
My class (the Kindergartners) decided to do a pie in the face contest. People paid to vote for who they would like to pie in the face from a selected group of teachers. The Kindergarten students colored signs, explained the process to all the big kids, and then helped collect votes every day after school for about a week. It cost 10 NT for one vote. We ended up with close to 7000 NT by the end of the event! Cameron, along with two other male teachers, and Uwe (our principal) all got pied! It was quite the controversial fundraiser (not sure I would do it again). Cultural differences about respect and wasting food (since they thought it was real pies) ended up causing some problems. However, the actual pieing was a big hit and the students LOVED it!
Cameron's class decided to have a paper chain contest. They had people pay 10 NT for a link in a paper chain. The grade that had the most links in the chain by the end of the contest won a class party. Cam's class was winning by a land slide....So, needless to say....they won their own party. They enjoyed making brownies together and eating them while watching Polar Express.
Other fundraisers that we all took part in over the past few weeks were: Bowling winter Olympics, Mock Snowball fight, Narnival, candy grams, raffles, bake sales, etc....
We also got to experience our first school Christmas concert a few weeks ago. What a cultural experience!!!! The students ended up doing a really good job, but needless to say I left quite frustrated when leaving! I guess concert ettiquite is non exsistent here! Parents letting student run around the whole time (even up in front where the performance is taking place), lots of parents talking to each other and on their cell phones during the performance, and major paparazzi groups each time a new group came up to perform. It was probably no wonder that people talked when they were sitting in the audience because they could not see the group of kids performing if they wanted to. Parents actually flood to the front to take pictures and record (pushing, shoving, standing up in front of everyone) just to get a good shot. I tried to get a picture of a dad who was all the way up front trying to get a good video shot while talking loudly on his cell phone the whole time. Oh, boy!
But like I said...the kids did look cute and what you could hear of them....they did a great job! I guess next time I know what to expect though!
After returning from Thanksgiving break, our annual school Christmas Project was announced. This year our school raised money for ChristAid Academy in Uganda. The students really got into the spirit of giving and it was neat to see them understand the reasoning behind all of our fun activities and fundraisers!
My class (the Kindergartners) decided to do a pie in the face contest. People paid to vote for who they would like to pie in the face from a selected group of teachers. The Kindergarten students colored signs, explained the process to all the big kids, and then helped collect votes every day after school for about a week. It cost 10 NT for one vote. We ended up with close to 7000 NT by the end of the event! Cameron, along with two other male teachers, and Uwe (our principal) all got pied! It was quite the controversial fundraiser (not sure I would do it again). Cultural differences about respect and wasting food (since they thought it was real pies) ended up causing some problems. However, the actual pieing was a big hit and the students LOVED it!
Cameron's class decided to have a paper chain contest. They had people pay 10 NT for a link in a paper chain. The grade that had the most links in the chain by the end of the contest won a class party. Cam's class was winning by a land slide....So, needless to say....they won their own party. They enjoyed making brownies together and eating them while watching Polar Express.
Other fundraisers that we all took part in over the past few weeks were: Bowling winter Olympics, Mock Snowball fight, Narnival, candy grams, raffles, bake sales, etc....
We also got to experience our first school Christmas concert a few weeks ago. What a cultural experience!!!! The students ended up doing a really good job, but needless to say I left quite frustrated when leaving! I guess concert ettiquite is non exsistent here! Parents letting student run around the whole time (even up in front where the performance is taking place), lots of parents talking to each other and on their cell phones during the performance, and major paparazzi groups each time a new group came up to perform. It was probably no wonder that people talked when they were sitting in the audience because they could not see the group of kids performing if they wanted to. Parents actually flood to the front to take pictures and record (pushing, shoving, standing up in front of everyone) just to get a good shot. I tried to get a picture of a dad who was all the way up front trying to get a good video shot while talking loudly on his cell phone the whole time. Oh, boy!But like I said...the kids did look cute and what you could hear of them....they did a great job! I guess next time I know what to expect though!
Thanksgiving in Hong Kong
Thanksgiving was not filled with football, fall leaves, pies galore, and sleep......instead, after a bit of turkey and mashed potatoes at the school Thanksgiving feast we flew to Hong Kong for the entire Thanksgiving break. We went to attend the ICEC conference (International Christian Educators Conference). So, needless to say our Thanksgiving was anything but traditional. We flew in to Hong Kong on Wednesday morning and had the day to sight see. Thursday-Saturday we spent all day at the conference (about 6:30 am until 4:30 pm). However, in the evenings we had time to go out and see Hong Kong. We thought it was an absolutley beautiful city. We went to Stanley Market, The Peak, ate some dim sum, shopped at a Christian calligraphy store, ate at Outback steak house with Katie and Brian Spata (I went to highschool with Katie....crazy) and just walked around and rode the MTR all over Hong Kong.
It definitely did not feel like break, but it was nice to get out of Taipei and see something different (plus we got another stamp in our passport :))
I loved going up the tram to the Peak and getting some great pictures of the night skyline......
To see more pictures of Hong Kong...check out our picasa web page!
It definitely did not feel like break, but it was nice to get out of Taipei and see something different (plus we got another stamp in our passport :))
I loved going up the tram to the Peak and getting some great pictures of the night skyline......
To see more pictures of Hong Kong...check out our picasa web page!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Its beginning to look a BIT like Christmas
So, its the mid/end of November and we have had some chilly days here in Taipei. Most locals busted out the winter coats and scarves to bundle all up for school and work. I even wore a sweater a few days this week to school. So, for a bit....it was beginning to look like fall. Which normally would make me quite happy, but with that chilly weather came days and days of rain (which can be a bit depressing as well). However, this weekend (November 22 and 23) we had the most gorgeous weekend. It was BRIGHT blue skies....sunny...and a warm 80 degrees!
So you ask...what did we do on this warm and sunny weekend?? we got ready for CHRISTMAS!
On Friday night after a half day of school, and then a Professional Development day on Pandemics (that would probably make quite an interesting blog in and of itself), the staff and their families had a fall/winter party. Some people decorated the school for Christmas and some baked and decorated Christmas cookies. Then we all had a wonderful barbeque out on the deck which was decorated in beautiful Christmas lights. We had grilled ham and pineapple, mashed potatoes, veggies, sweet potatoe pie, garlic bread, Christmas cookies, and grilled spiced apples. The time of eating and fellowship was followed up by Christmas carols......
I must have caught the bug then...because on Saturday I was determined to do some more decorating in our house! Cam got up and played basketball on Saturday morning and I stayed home, Skyped and cleaned. Then in the afternoon, after seeing the BEAUTIFUL blue skies from our window all morning...I decided we must get out. So, we took a nice long bike ride to the junk store to get some....CHRISTMAS decor! After hitting up two shops, heading to the school to steal some of the Christmas lights there, and getting some tea.....we were ready to head back home and it was getting dark by then anyways. So we spent our Saturday evening eating chili, putting up and decorating the tree, and eating Christmas cookies. I think it was a wonderful way to spend an 80 degree November evening!
Here are a few pictures of all the fun....more where they came from on picasa web!
Taipei is also decorated for Christmas in some spots....you would think we were shopping in NYC! Ok....maybe not with the 80 degree sunny day.....
The finished product!!! I ended up pleased :)
Oh, we also spent the weekend decked out in our opposite colors, cheering for our opposite teams....but as always, the BUCKS won again! Go O-H-I-O!!! I actually felt a little bad for the wolverines toward the end of the game!
Just an update: We will celebrate Thanksgiving at school on Monday and Tuesday (as we have feasts for our classrooms) and then on Wednesday we will be heading to Hong Kong! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
So you ask...what did we do on this warm and sunny weekend?? we got ready for CHRISTMAS!
On Friday night after a half day of school, and then a Professional Development day on Pandemics (that would probably make quite an interesting blog in and of itself), the staff and their families had a fall/winter party. Some people decorated the school for Christmas and some baked and decorated Christmas cookies. Then we all had a wonderful barbeque out on the deck which was decorated in beautiful Christmas lights. We had grilled ham and pineapple, mashed potatoes, veggies, sweet potatoe pie, garlic bread, Christmas cookies, and grilled spiced apples. The time of eating and fellowship was followed up by Christmas carols......
I must have caught the bug then...because on Saturday I was determined to do some more decorating in our house! Cam got up and played basketball on Saturday morning and I stayed home, Skyped and cleaned. Then in the afternoon, after seeing the BEAUTIFUL blue skies from our window all morning...I decided we must get out. So, we took a nice long bike ride to the junk store to get some....CHRISTMAS decor! After hitting up two shops, heading to the school to steal some of the Christmas lights there, and getting some tea.....we were ready to head back home and it was getting dark by then anyways. So we spent our Saturday evening eating chili, putting up and decorating the tree, and eating Christmas cookies. I think it was a wonderful way to spend an 80 degree November evening!
Here are a few pictures of all the fun....more where they came from on picasa web!
Taipei is also decorated for Christmas in some spots....you would think we were shopping in NYC! Ok....maybe not with the 80 degree sunny day.....
The finished product!!! I ended up pleased :)
Oh, we also spent the weekend decked out in our opposite colors, cheering for our opposite teams....but as always, the BUCKS won again! Go O-H-I-O!!! I actually felt a little bad for the wolverines toward the end of the game!
Just an update: We will celebrate Thanksgiving at school on Monday and Tuesday (as we have feasts for our classrooms) and then on Wednesday we will be heading to Hong Kong! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
First Trip to the Hospital
At the beginning of this week Elisa and I decided that I should probably go see a doctor sometime soon because of this small lump that had been on my face/neck for a few weeks. The lump wasn't terribly big, about the size of a dime. At first I didn't think it was a big issue so I didn't tell Elisa about it. Then after a couple of weeks and it not going away or even getting smaller I decided to see what she thought. We waited another couple of weeks and then made the decision to get it checked out. We decided to ask people from our school for help to find a doctor that would be able to help us out (almost all doctors in Taiwan are specialists in a certain area so you don't just go to a general doctor). We talked to our principal and he said he would call a specialist he knew so that we wouldn't have to go through all of the hoops necessary for a normal visit. However, then on Tuesday I was in talking to the principal and he had some spare time so we decided to walk across the street to the hospital that is right next to the school.
Since we did not set up an appointment with the specialist my principal knew we had to go through all of the crazy hoops necessary just to see a doctor. First, we entered the hospital and we took a number. We had to wait for our number to be called and then we went to see the secretary ladies (there is not just one or two like in the states but about 10 different ladies). We tell one of the secretaries my problem, which means I am telling my principal and he is translating to the secretary. When she hears what my problem is she seems very confused so she starts discussing with some of the other secretary women that are there. Finally, it seems she had decided where I need to go. The second step is for me to get another number that includes a room number and floor to where I am supposed to go to next. I was on the 2nd floor and number 18. When we arrived to my room they were on number 11 so I had a little bit of a wait ahead of me. The way this part works is that there is a little waiting area just outside each room. Each room contains a specialist doctor. There were probably something like 20 rooms with people sitting in their designated waiting area. Anyway back to my visit, as my principal and I are waiting for my number to be called we are just talking and hanging out when I started to get confused about what was happening. I start looking around the hospital rooms and wondering if we were in the right place. My principal must have noticed my confusion and answered my question without me even asking it. He says "yes you are waiting to see the breast doctor." I had noticed on the outside of the door that we were waiting to go into that it said in English breast surgery and general surgery. I found out that this specialist doctor is the one that works with any type of flesh/skin problem and that includes breast problems I guess. We finally get called into the office to meet the doctor and the room was definitely a room for a breast doctor. I saw some pretty weird posters and manikin type people in that room. It was all a little strange. Back to the lump again I am telling my principal the problem and he translates to the doctor for me. The doctor examines my face for a full one second or so it seems and tells me that there is nothing to be concerned with and that the lump is not anything cancerous. He pretty much told me that I have a large whitehead/pimple that is trapped underneath my skin and will probably always be there, though maybe not always as big. So, I was happy with the fact that it was nothing serious, a little disappointed to spend about 15 dollars to find out I have a giant pimple trapped under my skin, and completely weirded out by my first visit to the breast doctor.--Cameron
Since we did not set up an appointment with the specialist my principal knew we had to go through all of the crazy hoops necessary just to see a doctor. First, we entered the hospital and we took a number. We had to wait for our number to be called and then we went to see the secretary ladies (there is not just one or two like in the states but about 10 different ladies). We tell one of the secretaries my problem, which means I am telling my principal and he is translating to the secretary. When she hears what my problem is she seems very confused so she starts discussing with some of the other secretary women that are there. Finally, it seems she had decided where I need to go. The second step is for me to get another number that includes a room number and floor to where I am supposed to go to next. I was on the 2nd floor and number 18. When we arrived to my room they were on number 11 so I had a little bit of a wait ahead of me. The way this part works is that there is a little waiting area just outside each room. Each room contains a specialist doctor. There were probably something like 20 rooms with people sitting in their designated waiting area. Anyway back to my visit, as my principal and I are waiting for my number to be called we are just talking and hanging out when I started to get confused about what was happening. I start looking around the hospital rooms and wondering if we were in the right place. My principal must have noticed my confusion and answered my question without me even asking it. He says "yes you are waiting to see the breast doctor." I had noticed on the outside of the door that we were waiting to go into that it said in English breast surgery and general surgery. I found out that this specialist doctor is the one that works with any type of flesh/skin problem and that includes breast problems I guess. We finally get called into the office to meet the doctor and the room was definitely a room for a breast doctor. I saw some pretty weird posters and manikin type people in that room. It was all a little strange. Back to the lump again I am telling my principal the problem and he translates to the doctor for me. The doctor examines my face for a full one second or so it seems and tells me that there is nothing to be concerned with and that the lump is not anything cancerous. He pretty much told me that I have a large whitehead/pimple that is trapped underneath my skin and will probably always be there, though maybe not always as big. So, I was happy with the fact that it was nothing serious, a little disappointed to spend about 15 dollars to find out I have a giant pimple trapped under my skin, and completely weirded out by my first visit to the breast doctor.--Cameron
Encountering God
God has spoken to me lately as I have been studying the patriarchs. This week, I have really been impacted by the story of Jacob's wrestling match with God. I feel that God has revealed to me new truths through this study and many more things that I will continue to contemplate and wrestle with. However, I was encouraged...challenged...andI wanted to share some of my study with you.
(Just a sidenote....most of this comes from the Patriarchs study by Beth Moore....Ladies, I would highly recommend it. Men, its great content....but her heart is for ladies ministry and it is evident in the way she writes her studies:)
Ok...so after Jacob has worked unfairly for Laban for years and years and years (with God watching over him and blessings him each step of the way with children and abundance in flock) its now time for Jacob to go back to his family. Going back to his family, means going to face Esau (his brother) whom he deceived and stripped of birthrights and blessings. Jacob is fearful of the reunion and what will happen when he and his brother meet again (seeing how the last time they were around one another Esau had claimed he was going to kill Jacob).
He had planned to pacify Esau with many gifts upon arrival and he had also planned to hide out in the back of the pack.
However, upon sending everything ahead of him to meet Esau, Jacob spent the night ALONE at camp.
This is where I was truly impacted.....the face to face encounter that Jacob had with God (Genesis 32 and 33):
First of all, Jacob was left completely and utterly alone! He was stripped of all he had (all that belonged to him). He had to come before God as just "Jacob". Many times, when we are having an encounter with God ....for it to be true and meaningful, we must be stripped of "our gang" and "our game". It must be an honest appraisal before God of who we really are without all the people and plans we have surrounded ourself with!
Secondly, in looking at Jacobs wrestling match with God...we see that it was an honest fight.
So, the story tells us Jacob is completely alone, at night, at camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until day break. And when the man saw that he could not over power him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.
Beth Moore pointed out that the basic idea behind the phrase "could not overpower him" is that the man could not make him quit. God was teaching Jacob to face up and fight honestly. Jacob did not rely on game, he was not a dirty fighter who tried to do end it quickly and get on with things......Jacob was wrestling to figure it out.....
Sometimes we too, in the dark of our night seasons, we wrestle and struggle and we dont even realize who we are struggling with until the light begins to dawn.
When we realize (after all is stripped away) that it is God with whom we are encountering...."wrestling and struggling with"..... the fight is different. Its an honest fight. When God allows us (or sometimes even invites us....initiates it) to wrestle with Him, His constant goal is to make us overcomers! Even when God appears to be against us....he is FOR us!
GOD WANTS TO BLESS US....and SOMETIMES GOD HAS TO BRING US INTO A MATCH WITH HIM, HAS TO INJURE US/HURT US...FOR US TO ALLOW HIM TO DO SO......
So, the third point is.....that in every struggle we have.....God is there, trying to overcome us as we just keep powering through the match. It will be so painful, confusing, and troubling....and yet if we just HOLD ON...God will bless us!
In Jacob's story, Jacob stated "I will NOT let you go, until you bless me." This needs to be our mentality as we face life's struggles and encounter God deep in our hearts.
And in the end, Jacob confesses who he truly is (I am Jacob....a deciever, cheater, liar)....Jacob realizes that it is GOD with who he has encountered face to face....and God gives Jacob an honest name!
Beth Moore states that FEW THINGS DEFINE US MORE THAN HOW WE STRUGGLE. WHEN WE STRUGGLE THROUGH THE CRISIS WITH GOD ALL THE WAY TO THE END, WE ARE GLORIOUSLY REDIFINED.
God makes us entirely renewed!!!
Jacob's encounter with God refreshed him and gave him the courage to do the necessary things that lie ahead that he could not have done without God! Yes, I am sure that Jacob was still afraid....but he was probably more afraid of disobeying God than facing the mess that he was part of creating in the first place.
So now its time for Jacob to meet back up with his brother. And, instead of taking his spot in the back.....he goes to the lead. He limps his way to the front to meet Esau.
Now the Bible tells us, Esau ran to meet Jacob......
Beth Moore notes "God's presence is with Jacob....yet, He allowed His own child to limp while the other ran."
This is what makes following God (struggling and wrestling with Him) SOOOO difficult sometimes.
"Sometimes God will wound His own child to make him walk differently while the profane and ungodly seem to run with endless confidence and vitality."
As a child of God, I am challenged to walk as someone who has encountered God (and some of the most transforming encounters are wrestling matches). I have to remember that the lost of this world do not wrestle with God as nearly as much as we who belong to Him do. The lost people of this world, the profane and ungodly, they do not care to hang out and wrestle it out. We his children, often wrestle with Him most and at times we also seem to hurt the most.
BUT.....our wounding and hurt are only temporary! AND, they carry great eternal benefits! Gods word tells us in 2 Cor. 4:17 that...."our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all!"
Let us cling to this truth. Beth Moore states it so well "THOUGH OUR HUMANITY MAY BE WOUNDED, OUR SOULS ARE MADE WHOLE BY THE ONE WHOM WE WRESTLE".
I have been encouraged.....I have been challenged.....and I feel that I am entering a season of darkness in which I must go before God vulnerable. Yet, I have faith in knowing....that at the other end of my struggle....God is there to bless me and call me his own! WHAT A MIGHTY GOD WE SERVE!
With love I share my heart with you today....hoping that I have encouraged some of you to hang on...your blessing is coming!
~Elisa
(Just a sidenote....most of this comes from the Patriarchs study by Beth Moore....Ladies, I would highly recommend it. Men, its great content....but her heart is for ladies ministry and it is evident in the way she writes her studies:)
Ok...so after Jacob has worked unfairly for Laban for years and years and years (with God watching over him and blessings him each step of the way with children and abundance in flock) its now time for Jacob to go back to his family. Going back to his family, means going to face Esau (his brother) whom he deceived and stripped of birthrights and blessings. Jacob is fearful of the reunion and what will happen when he and his brother meet again (seeing how the last time they were around one another Esau had claimed he was going to kill Jacob).
He had planned to pacify Esau with many gifts upon arrival and he had also planned to hide out in the back of the pack.
However, upon sending everything ahead of him to meet Esau, Jacob spent the night ALONE at camp.
This is where I was truly impacted.....the face to face encounter that Jacob had with God (Genesis 32 and 33):
First of all, Jacob was left completely and utterly alone! He was stripped of all he had (all that belonged to him). He had to come before God as just "Jacob". Many times, when we are having an encounter with God ....for it to be true and meaningful, we must be stripped of "our gang" and "our game". It must be an honest appraisal before God of who we really are without all the people and plans we have surrounded ourself with!
Secondly, in looking at Jacobs wrestling match with God...we see that it was an honest fight.
So, the story tells us Jacob is completely alone, at night, at camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until day break. And when the man saw that he could not over power him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.
Beth Moore pointed out that the basic idea behind the phrase "could not overpower him" is that the man could not make him quit. God was teaching Jacob to face up and fight honestly. Jacob did not rely on game, he was not a dirty fighter who tried to do end it quickly and get on with things......Jacob was wrestling to figure it out.....
Sometimes we too, in the dark of our night seasons, we wrestle and struggle and we dont even realize who we are struggling with until the light begins to dawn.
When we realize (after all is stripped away) that it is God with whom we are encountering...."wrestling and struggling with"..... the fight is different. Its an honest fight. When God allows us (or sometimes even invites us....initiates it) to wrestle with Him, His constant goal is to make us overcomers! Even when God appears to be against us....he is FOR us!
GOD WANTS TO BLESS US....and SOMETIMES GOD HAS TO BRING US INTO A MATCH WITH HIM, HAS TO INJURE US/HURT US...FOR US TO ALLOW HIM TO DO SO......
So, the third point is.....that in every struggle we have.....God is there, trying to overcome us as we just keep powering through the match. It will be so painful, confusing, and troubling....and yet if we just HOLD ON...God will bless us!
In Jacob's story, Jacob stated "I will NOT let you go, until you bless me." This needs to be our mentality as we face life's struggles and encounter God deep in our hearts.
And in the end, Jacob confesses who he truly is (I am Jacob....a deciever, cheater, liar)....Jacob realizes that it is GOD with who he has encountered face to face....and God gives Jacob an honest name!
Beth Moore states that FEW THINGS DEFINE US MORE THAN HOW WE STRUGGLE. WHEN WE STRUGGLE THROUGH THE CRISIS WITH GOD ALL THE WAY TO THE END, WE ARE GLORIOUSLY REDIFINED.
God makes us entirely renewed!!!
Jacob's encounter with God refreshed him and gave him the courage to do the necessary things that lie ahead that he could not have done without God! Yes, I am sure that Jacob was still afraid....but he was probably more afraid of disobeying God than facing the mess that he was part of creating in the first place.
So now its time for Jacob to meet back up with his brother. And, instead of taking his spot in the back.....he goes to the lead. He limps his way to the front to meet Esau.
Now the Bible tells us, Esau ran to meet Jacob......
Beth Moore notes "God's presence is with Jacob....yet, He allowed His own child to limp while the other ran."
This is what makes following God (struggling and wrestling with Him) SOOOO difficult sometimes.
"Sometimes God will wound His own child to make him walk differently while the profane and ungodly seem to run with endless confidence and vitality."
As a child of God, I am challenged to walk as someone who has encountered God (and some of the most transforming encounters are wrestling matches). I have to remember that the lost of this world do not wrestle with God as nearly as much as we who belong to Him do. The lost people of this world, the profane and ungodly, they do not care to hang out and wrestle it out. We his children, often wrestle with Him most and at times we also seem to hurt the most.
BUT.....our wounding and hurt are only temporary! AND, they carry great eternal benefits! Gods word tells us in 2 Cor. 4:17 that...."our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all!"
Let us cling to this truth. Beth Moore states it so well "THOUGH OUR HUMANITY MAY BE WOUNDED, OUR SOULS ARE MADE WHOLE BY THE ONE WHOM WE WRESTLE".
I have been encouraged.....I have been challenged.....and I feel that I am entering a season of darkness in which I must go before God vulnerable. Yet, I have faith in knowing....that at the other end of my struggle....God is there to bless me and call me his own! WHAT A MIGHTY GOD WE SERVE!
With love I share my heart with you today....hoping that I have encouraged some of you to hang on...your blessing is coming!
~Elisa
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Franklin Graham Festival
This past week, Franklin Graham and his crusade team have been in Taipei sharing the love of Christ with all they come in contact with. Last weekend on Saturday they did a Children's Festival. Then this weekend (Thursday-Sunday), was the main festival. The event was at the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial. It was an absolutely wonderful venue for this event.
Cam and I went on Friday night to share in this experience. We had been praying for it for months and we were ready to see what God had planned! (Even my kindergartners prayed for the event this week at school. One of my students parents were going to serve as pray counselors after each service and so he knew the most about the festival. His prayers were so sweet and innocent that they melted by heart each time he spoke "Father God, please be with the Franklin Graham Festival and help the people in Taiwan learn more about you".)
As we walked the park prior to the event starting on Friday, we were already amazed by the crowds and the set up.
We took our seats thinking that we may not stay for the whole event. However, once it got started it was hard to leave! The first couple hours were praise and worship (mostly done in Chinese by local artists). Franklin Grahams team also did a few worship songs. For two of their songs they learned the Chinese to go with it. It was amazing to see them start singing in English and then about half way through the song switch to Chinese....the faces of the locals around was priceless. The people were so appreciative and proud to hear the foreigners singing in Chinese. (A side note, I decided that is how I need to learn Chinese...I just need to learn to sing more songs)
Franklin Graham spoke at the end briefly and to the point. On Friday he spoke on the financial crisis in the world and the void that people are trying to fill in their lives with money. He also talked about the parable in which the rich man came to Jesus and asked how to get to heave......
His sermon was direct and straight forward. It was not an emotional rollercoaster, it was not a lengthy explanation of verses and scriptures. Cam and I watched Franklin Graham just simply speak the Gospel message of Jesus' love and sacrafice for us! Hearts were open to this....
Thousands and thousands of people each night came forward wanting to accept Christ as their personal savior!
The message was spoken by Franklin and translated into Chinese by another gentleman...but the voice that was speaking to people's hearts was Gods.
It is my prayer now that this message fell onto soft hearts. I pray that as SOOO many seeds were planted this weekend in Taiwan that people will rise up to help nurish those seeds and help them take root. I am overjoyed with all the committments made....but I pray that there is enough people willing to reach out (churchs who reach out) to do the MUCH needed and vital follow up work!
I ask that you join us in praying for Tawian. Pray for those who made decisions...that people will be put in their lives to disciple them and help them understand what the gospel truly means (for many of them....it may have been the first time they EVER heard about the love to God for them). Pray that churches here really strive to follow up after this amazing evanglistic event. Pray that Cam and I can do our part in intentionally seeking ways in which we can make sure we are being light to this lost nation! Taipei was changed this weekend, but other areas in Taiwan are still unreached! Join with us in praying that Taiwan will become a Christian nation...pray for revival...pray that God's people continue to shine his light and share his love daily!
Apology
Well, I did get a few responses back by email of people who are reading my blog and would love to comment but cant! I have tried and tried to allow people to leave comments but cant seem to figure out the setting that I must have wrong! So, thank you to those who do read and would love to reply.....
I am trying still...and if you can shed any light on the manner it would be much appreciated!
You can leave comments on our picasa web picture site! So feel free to there!
I added LOTS more pictures this weekend! Enjoy :)
I am trying still...and if you can shed any light on the manner it would be much appreciated!
You can leave comments on our picasa web picture site! So feel free to there!
I added LOTS more pictures this weekend! Enjoy :)
The Bad, The Good, and the DELICIOUS!
So, this week was a BUSY one. It was the start of our second quarter, Halloween (which translates to Book Character Parade at Bethany), parent teacher conferences, and much much more..... The week actually went amazingly well. We were very tired at the end of every day (going to bed at like 8:45 or 9) BUT our days were full of blessing after blessing. Our parent teacher conferences went really well. It was nice to have the whole day off to focus on them (it just made it seem more relaxing and the day actually went by rather quickly). Parents were wonderful and supportive. Of course you will always have a few frustrating ones mixed in the bunch...but overall they went very well! An answer to prayer! The book character parade was really fun too this week (even though it made me EXHAUSTED!) The kids were so excited to be in their costumes and they were very adorable! Cam and I got in on the fun. We dressed up as a good and a bad cowboy from the childrens book Gid the Kid (which was a theme book during reading month at our school).
Then after making it through the week and getting things done this weekend....it seemed like the perfect time to treat ourselves! I baked for the first time this weekend and we enjoyed some wonderful and delicious chocolate chocolate chip cookies! You can tell from the picture that I was very excited!!!
One other thing....we got to talk to my Grandparents (Herring) and I got to talk to Caressa (friend from GA) on Skype this weekend (plus a few chats with our families)....It was wonderful to catch up with people! I am SOOOO thankful for Skype!!! We would love for more of you to get it.... :) Just thought I would make that plug :)Miss you all and thanks for staying updated!
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Does anyone read this???
First of all, as I write this I am not sure that anyone keeps up with our blog. I never get comments on it and I don't often get email responses. I may keep writing...because I think it is a good documetation and reflection for us BUT I hope that it is also keeping people updated at home. I know one of our biggest fears lately is loosing connections with people from back home (no communication, no idea what is happening there, and no one knows what is happening with us).
There have been a few faithful friends who have really tried hard...and of course family members (so thank you to those who are trying despite the distance and time difference)!
This week ended up going a lot more smoothly than we thought it may. It was still a busy one....but it went rather smoothly!
I was able to get all the one on one assessments finished and the moms tea went quite well. It was a very social time for all the moms and the kids just ran around. Not quite what I had imagined but the moms all enjoyed it! This week is now donuts with dad......so I may change my agenda and hopefully it will run a little more smoothly!
On Wednesday, after our 9th Chinese lesson (I still dont feel like we know much.....it is so hard and when you cant just study it full time....its hard to catch on) anyway...after our lesson we went out to eat again with the young married couple that we met from our church. Their names are Kelley and Erich.....We really enjoy spending time with them. We went to this Cheesy Baked Potato place that Cam and I just love. Then they took some time to walk us around to some restaurants that they really like (they made sure to highlight the ones who had picture menus or English)!
I also led my ladies Bible study on Wednesday night and it went really well. We are going through the Patriarchs study by Beth Moore. It is REALLY good....I would highly reccommend it!
Thursday, I also lead the 8th grade girls bible study for the first time. I had about 9 girls show up. Middle school is so different...so please just pray that God will help me know how to best reach these girls. They told me that they wanted to just study different topics that were prevelant in their lives right now. I think this will be good for them, BUT it does make it really hard for me. This means that I need to create my own lessons......(which I am already really struggling with and it is just week 2). I would appreciate all the prayers I can get !!!
This weekend Cam and I had to spend time getting things ready for this next week and for report cards. They are due on Monday....
On Friday night, we did go over to hang out at Sandra and Rays house. It was so fun because we got to make home made dumplings! I will have to post pictures of the wrapping process soon.....We also played Settlers which is one of Cam's favorite games. It is not my favorite game BUT it was fun to play games with people.
On Saturday got treated to a really nice dinner by a couple who has a student attending Bethany! They took around 15 of us to a really fancy Japanese Restaurant. The food was pretty good. At first the dad who took us was teasing us because we said we did not like seafood or raw food.....we were more the meat and potato midwestern type :) However, Cam and I were quite adventurous.....we both at three pieces of sashimi (not sure if that is spelled right....but raw fish!!!) Check out the pictures on picasa web if you dont believe me!
On Sunday, Cam and I went for a long bike ride down by the river ....it was a nice afternoon out. I think I will start having to do it more often after school for a little exercise!
OH a few fun tidbits.....on Friday night as we came home in the rain...we saw a huge REALLY fluffy dog being walked by his ownder. The dog was wearing a full raincoat. It had a hood, went down his legs, and buttoned up and everyting! Boy do I wish I had my camera.....
Then, on Sunday during our bike ride by the river......I saw a really fat weiner dog riding in his owners bike basket (but he barely fit). He was like in there all side ways....I was laughing so hard but it is also a little sad.
I guess I need to carry around my camera around all the time and start just taking dog shots!
There have been a few faithful friends who have really tried hard...and of course family members (so thank you to those who are trying despite the distance and time difference)!
This week ended up going a lot more smoothly than we thought it may. It was still a busy one....but it went rather smoothly!
I was able to get all the one on one assessments finished and the moms tea went quite well. It was a very social time for all the moms and the kids just ran around. Not quite what I had imagined but the moms all enjoyed it! This week is now donuts with dad......so I may change my agenda and hopefully it will run a little more smoothly!
On Wednesday, after our 9th Chinese lesson (I still dont feel like we know much.....it is so hard and when you cant just study it full time....its hard to catch on) anyway...after our lesson we went out to eat again with the young married couple that we met from our church. Their names are Kelley and Erich.....We really enjoy spending time with them. We went to this Cheesy Baked Potato place that Cam and I just love. Then they took some time to walk us around to some restaurants that they really like (they made sure to highlight the ones who had picture menus or English)!
I also led my ladies Bible study on Wednesday night and it went really well. We are going through the Patriarchs study by Beth Moore. It is REALLY good....I would highly reccommend it!
Thursday, I also lead the 8th grade girls bible study for the first time. I had about 9 girls show up. Middle school is so different...so please just pray that God will help me know how to best reach these girls. They told me that they wanted to just study different topics that were prevelant in their lives right now. I think this will be good for them, BUT it does make it really hard for me. This means that I need to create my own lessons......(which I am already really struggling with and it is just week 2). I would appreciate all the prayers I can get !!!
This weekend Cam and I had to spend time getting things ready for this next week and for report cards. They are due on Monday....
On Friday night, we did go over to hang out at Sandra and Rays house. It was so fun because we got to make home made dumplings! I will have to post pictures of the wrapping process soon.....We also played Settlers which is one of Cam's favorite games. It is not my favorite game BUT it was fun to play games with people.
On Saturday got treated to a really nice dinner by a couple who has a student attending Bethany! They took around 15 of us to a really fancy Japanese Restaurant. The food was pretty good. At first the dad who took us was teasing us because we said we did not like seafood or raw food.....we were more the meat and potato midwestern type :) However, Cam and I were quite adventurous.....we both at three pieces of sashimi (not sure if that is spelled right....but raw fish!!!) Check out the pictures on picasa web if you dont believe me!
On Sunday, Cam and I went for a long bike ride down by the river ....it was a nice afternoon out. I think I will start having to do it more often after school for a little exercise!
OH a few fun tidbits.....on Friday night as we came home in the rain...we saw a huge REALLY fluffy dog being walked by his ownder. The dog was wearing a full raincoat. It had a hood, went down his legs, and buttoned up and everyting! Boy do I wish I had my camera.....
Then, on Sunday during our bike ride by the river......I saw a really fat weiner dog riding in his owners bike basket (but he barely fit). He was like in there all side ways....I was laughing so hard but it is also a little sad.
I guess I need to carry around my camera around all the time and start just taking dog shots!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Its getting busy...
So, it sure is getting busy around here. You think I would remember how crazy the end of the grading periods are....but this one sure did creep up on me. I feel like it is all I can do to stay a float...(and I think Cameron is feeling the same way).
This past week we just scrambled to get back into routine after vacation. It is reading month at our school, so we have been busy decorating our classrooms and doors and planning lots of special reading activities that go along with our Old West theme. (hopefully I will get pictures posted soon)
In Kindergarten we are finishing up our color unit and beginning a unit on families. The color unit was really fun...and I have a lot of really neat lessons planned for the Family Ties unit. However, this is the last week in the grading period....SO, I have a TON of one on one testing to get done and many checklist to be completed. Then its the fun part of trying to do report cards (when I never really take grades on anything) :) I still have a really hard time trying to give a percentage for coloring with control...Just not sure how to grade some things. As nice as it is to not really have to grade....its almost just easier to collect papers and grade them as it is to collect them, check or start them, and then at the end have to scramble to figure out what marks to give out!
Then its parent teacher conference time....which I am really dreading for some reason!
So, you can pray for Cam and I throughout the next two weeks as we just have LOTS going on at school.
We also had A LOT going on after school this past week. We had Chinese lessons, bible studies, soccer practices, and some dinners with friends.
On Monday, we had our date night. We chose to just grab some food on the way home and to sit and watch a movie! It was wonderful! It was SO nice to sit and cuddle up together watching a movie and eating POPCORN! Thanks Jackie :)
God answered some prayers this week as we met new friends! We met another young married couple, Kelley and Erich, for coffee on Wednesday. It was so nice to meet people that work outside of our school, love Jesus, love each other, and are in the same stage of life that we are in. I think we can look forward to some good times with them. Pray that God provides us with times to connect with them more and really deepen our friendship with them!
My ladies Bible study is going wonderfully...the Lord is really revealing himself through his word...and the time I get to spend with these ladies is really encouraging. Pray for me as I prepare to lead next weeks Bible study with these ladies.
Thursdays are supposed to be my days to lead an 8th grade girls bible study. This week was supposed to be the first week. No one showed up! There was a volleyball game (scheduled at the last minute) and a lot of them play. It was hard though because I had really prayed for our time and planned for it....and I didnt know that NO ONE was going to come. Pray that the girls really committ to our time together and that this next week we have a good turn out!
On Friday, Cam and I both had to prepare for subs and leave school around 10:30 in the morning to head to MAK (the bottom of the island) for a sports tournament. Cam's team was playing and I was going along to chaperone the girsl volleyball team (who had a guy coach and needed a female on the trip). Like I said, we loaded the BUS with 25 teenagers for a 5 hours bus ride on Friday mid morning. Lets just say it was a really LONG ride :) Each team played 4 games between Friday night and Saturday. We all spent the night at the school. I at least got to take all the girls to a friends aptartment who lives on campus....(which meant I got to sleep in a bed). Cam stayed in the library with his team. After the games on Friday night we headed into town and went to Fridays with all of them. It was a LOUD and crazy night, but the coaches and adults on the trip had good convo and GREAT food! Saturday was extremely hot and humid. Cam's team had to play three games on Saturday! Lots of sunburns and lots of sweat! It was better than Fridays game that they played in a rain storm and three inches of water though :) Cam's team ended up getting second place at the tourney and the girls got third. It was quite the bonding with the older kids trip as we were hoping it may be....but it was something different I guess :) We came back extremely tired....with not much weekend left!
Today (Sunday) we tried to rest up and get work done. It was hard to do too much though because I have felt pretty awful all day. I seem to have a stomach bug....so pray that it doesnt stick around for long!
This past week we just scrambled to get back into routine after vacation. It is reading month at our school, so we have been busy decorating our classrooms and doors and planning lots of special reading activities that go along with our Old West theme. (hopefully I will get pictures posted soon)
In Kindergarten we are finishing up our color unit and beginning a unit on families. The color unit was really fun...and I have a lot of really neat lessons planned for the Family Ties unit. However, this is the last week in the grading period....SO, I have a TON of one on one testing to get done and many checklist to be completed. Then its the fun part of trying to do report cards (when I never really take grades on anything) :) I still have a really hard time trying to give a percentage for coloring with control...Just not sure how to grade some things. As nice as it is to not really have to grade....its almost just easier to collect papers and grade them as it is to collect them, check or start them, and then at the end have to scramble to figure out what marks to give out!
Then its parent teacher conference time....which I am really dreading for some reason!
So, you can pray for Cam and I throughout the next two weeks as we just have LOTS going on at school.
We also had A LOT going on after school this past week. We had Chinese lessons, bible studies, soccer practices, and some dinners with friends.
On Monday, we had our date night. We chose to just grab some food on the way home and to sit and watch a movie! It was wonderful! It was SO nice to sit and cuddle up together watching a movie and eating POPCORN! Thanks Jackie :)
God answered some prayers this week as we met new friends! We met another young married couple, Kelley and Erich, for coffee on Wednesday. It was so nice to meet people that work outside of our school, love Jesus, love each other, and are in the same stage of life that we are in. I think we can look forward to some good times with them. Pray that God provides us with times to connect with them more and really deepen our friendship with them!
My ladies Bible study is going wonderfully...the Lord is really revealing himself through his word...and the time I get to spend with these ladies is really encouraging. Pray for me as I prepare to lead next weeks Bible study with these ladies.
Thursdays are supposed to be my days to lead an 8th grade girls bible study. This week was supposed to be the first week. No one showed up! There was a volleyball game (scheduled at the last minute) and a lot of them play. It was hard though because I had really prayed for our time and planned for it....and I didnt know that NO ONE was going to come. Pray that the girls really committ to our time together and that this next week we have a good turn out!
On Friday, Cam and I both had to prepare for subs and leave school around 10:30 in the morning to head to MAK (the bottom of the island) for a sports tournament. Cam's team was playing and I was going along to chaperone the girsl volleyball team (who had a guy coach and needed a female on the trip). Like I said, we loaded the BUS with 25 teenagers for a 5 hours bus ride on Friday mid morning. Lets just say it was a really LONG ride :) Each team played 4 games between Friday night and Saturday. We all spent the night at the school. I at least got to take all the girls to a friends aptartment who lives on campus....(which meant I got to sleep in a bed). Cam stayed in the library with his team. After the games on Friday night we headed into town and went to Fridays with all of them. It was a LOUD and crazy night, but the coaches and adults on the trip had good convo and GREAT food! Saturday was extremely hot and humid. Cam's team had to play three games on Saturday! Lots of sunburns and lots of sweat! It was better than Fridays game that they played in a rain storm and three inches of water though :) Cam's team ended up getting second place at the tourney and the girls got third. It was quite the bonding with the older kids trip as we were hoping it may be....but it was something different I guess :) We came back extremely tired....with not much weekend left!
Today (Sunday) we tried to rest up and get work done. It was hard to do too much though because I have felt pretty awful all day. I seem to have a stomach bug....so pray that it doesnt stick around for long!
Sunday, October 12, 2008
THANK YOU MOMS!!!!
So, today we went into the school for a brief second.....just to make sure we are ready to get back in the swing of it tomorrow after break.
Well, as we walked in we noticed right away...we had 2 packages on my desk!!! YEAH FOR PACKAGES! It feels SOO good to get care packages! Both mom's sent care packages to us on the same day....I guess they knew we were needing a pick me up.
I was very careful not to look on the outside of the package because they have to write what is inside. I was so good and waited until we got them all the way home....BUT by them I was so ready to rip into them. IT WAS SO WONDERFUL (popcorn , brownies, muffin mix, magazines, etc.) It is amazing how much getting mail can really brighten your spirit. My mom even included a VERY nice note....boy, its great to know you are loved and supported and thought of !!!
Thanks MOMS and (Doug, Tatum, and Tyler)! We love you all and you definitely made our day today! We can't wait to dig into all our goodies!
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Prayer Request
We know that people are constantly thinking of us and remembering us in their prayer. We are so thankful for family and friends who support us as we seek to serve the Lord here in Taiwan. Just a few specific areas in which we would love to be lifted up in prayer:
1. I, Elisa, will begin leading the 8th grade girls bible study this week. Pray for open hearts, fast forming relationships, discipleship, and that the girls and I will be open to what God has for our time together this year.
2. Cam and I will be traveling this next weekend to MAK (the Morrison campus at the bottom of the island) to chaperone a sports trip. The boys soccer team (which Cam has been helping to coach) and the 9th grade girls volleyball team will be playing in a tournament. So, I am going as the only girl chaperone since the v-ball coach is a boy. We will get to do a 5 hour bus ride there and a 5 hour ride back the next day.....It will be a LONG trip! But pray that God allows it to be a time where we can really get to know some of the older students at Bethany.
3. Our search for a church......this has been quite hard
4. Friendships....We have made friends but we both are still in need of some really CLOSE friends that we can really connect with. Especially Cam....there aren't many guys here his age that he feels very close with! Pray that God will help us to build relationships and put people in our lives here to fellowship with!
5. School this week....its going to be rough getting back into the swing of things! Especially since the end of the first 9 weeks is quickly approaching and that means report cards and parent teacher conferences :(
1. I, Elisa, will begin leading the 8th grade girls bible study this week. Pray for open hearts, fast forming relationships, discipleship, and that the girls and I will be open to what God has for our time together this year.
2. Cam and I will be traveling this next weekend to MAK (the Morrison campus at the bottom of the island) to chaperone a sports trip. The boys soccer team (which Cam has been helping to coach) and the 9th grade girls volleyball team will be playing in a tournament. So, I am going as the only girl chaperone since the v-ball coach is a boy. We will get to do a 5 hour bus ride there and a 5 hour ride back the next day.....It will be a LONG trip! But pray that God allows it to be a time where we can really get to know some of the older students at Bethany.
3. Our search for a church......this has been quite hard
4. Friendships....We have made friends but we both are still in need of some really CLOSE friends that we can really connect with. Especially Cam....there aren't many guys here his age that he feels very close with! Pray that God will help us to build relationships and put people in our lives here to fellowship with!
5. School this week....its going to be rough getting back into the swing of things! Especially since the end of the first 9 weeks is quickly approaching and that means report cards and parent teacher conferences :(
Yeah for VACATION!!!
So, October 10th is Taiwan's national holiday (like independence day in a sense) .....This means for us that Morrison gets the entire week off!! We got last Friday off of school for PD days down at the middle campus. Cam and I had to leave on Thursday (right after school) to head down to Taichung to have a follow up meeting for PFO (which was our training that we went to this summer). It was wonderful to see everyone that we met this summer (seeing that we are all split up between campuses) and it was also nice because we got to take the high speed rail down to Taichung. Instead of taking the 2 hour bus ride at 5 am the next morning (like everyone else) the school paid for us to go down on Thursday in a VERY nice high speed train. Cam said the fastest he saw it go was 293 km/hr. We were in Taichung within 40 minutes!
Our professional development lasted until Saturday evening. We stayed in dorms while we were there. It was good to get to collaborate with others who teach our grade level (since we dont get to do that often). It was also nice to just fellowship with all the amazing people that work for Morrison. And, Cameron was really happy we went because we came back with an extra TV that our friends had (they gave it to us for free). Our TV had just broken and Cam was SOOOO sad because we just got slingbox all hooked up! So, to come back with a TV ..that just made his day!
We headed back on the bus (with everyone else this time) Saturday night. We got stuck in traffic so I think it was like a 3 to 3 1/2 hour trip this time! YUCK....especially because I was not feeling well at all. When we got back to Taipei, we then caught a taxi with our two suitcases, backpacks, school bags, and new TV. I am sure we were quite a sight!
It just didnt feel like vacation at all yet....but it started settling in when we started packing for our beach vacation.
On Monday morning, we flew out to Penghu Isalnd (a long 40 min flight ). Penghu is between the west coast of Taiwan and China. It is a little fishing island. The hotel we stayed at was amazing and they really took care of us.
We rented scooters as soon as we got there and immediately hit the road. Cam and I decided just to share.....which ended up being nice. I enjoyed driving (but only occasionally) so it worked out great. There is A LOT LESS traffic there so it was also a nice place to practice driving. We kept our scooters all 4 days we were there.
The first two days we mainly spent scootering around and relaxing in our hotel rooms. A typhoon was close by so we were getting some side effects. We still got to be out most of the day....but we were definitely wind blown!
Then on Wed. and THurs. it was absolutely gorgeous! We spent almost all our time those two days at two beautiful beaches......
We said goodbye to our relaxing time in Penghu on Thursday evening and flew back home.
Friday and today (sat.) were spent hanging out at home and relaxing some more. We have read alot, watched tv (Cam is watching live sports center right now....he is SOOOOO HAPPY), and have taken a few walks. It has been great. We also headed down to the handicraft and flower market today which was lots of fun.
Vacation is good for the soul!
Our professional development lasted until Saturday evening. We stayed in dorms while we were there. It was good to get to collaborate with others who teach our grade level (since we dont get to do that often). It was also nice to just fellowship with all the amazing people that work for Morrison. And, Cameron was really happy we went because we came back with an extra TV that our friends had (they gave it to us for free). Our TV had just broken and Cam was SOOOO sad because we just got slingbox all hooked up! So, to come back with a TV ..that just made his day!
We headed back on the bus (with everyone else this time) Saturday night. We got stuck in traffic so I think it was like a 3 to 3 1/2 hour trip this time! YUCK....especially because I was not feeling well at all. When we got back to Taipei, we then caught a taxi with our two suitcases, backpacks, school bags, and new TV. I am sure we were quite a sight!
It just didnt feel like vacation at all yet....but it started settling in when we started packing for our beach vacation.
On Monday morning, we flew out to Penghu Isalnd (a long 40 min flight ). Penghu is between the west coast of Taiwan and China. It is a little fishing island. The hotel we stayed at was amazing and they really took care of us.
We rented scooters as soon as we got there and immediately hit the road. Cam and I decided just to share.....which ended up being nice. I enjoyed driving (but only occasionally) so it worked out great. There is A LOT LESS traffic there so it was also a nice place to practice driving. We kept our scooters all 4 days we were there.
The first two days we mainly spent scootering around and relaxing in our hotel rooms. A typhoon was close by so we were getting some side effects. We still got to be out most of the day....but we were definitely wind blown!
Then on Wed. and THurs. it was absolutely gorgeous! We spent almost all our time those two days at two beautiful beaches......
We said goodbye to our relaxing time in Penghu on Thursday evening and flew back home.
Friday and today (sat.) were spent hanging out at home and relaxing some more. We have read alot, watched tv (Cam is watching live sports center right now....he is SOOOOO HAPPY), and have taken a few walks. It has been great. We also headed down to the handicraft and flower market today which was lots of fun.
Vacation is good for the soul!
Taxi's
So....its been while since we last blogged and that makes it hard because I can't even remember what it is we have done between now and then.
I know that the weekend of September 26-28th we were hit with another typhoon. The typhoon started coming through on Saturday. We were super excited because it looked like we were going to get the brunt of it on Sunday/Monday....which would mean a typhoon day. However, I was keen on banking on not having school on Monday because the last typhoon left us just in time for the school week. SO, I told Cam that I needed to go in to school on Sunday so that I felt prepared for Monday if we ended up having school. It was POURING as we made our way out onto the empty streets. Instead of waiting our normal 5 or so minutes for the bus....we had to wait about 40 minutes! We could have just walked in that amount of time! We were second guessing ourselves if we should have even gone out in the first place....
However, when we got to school we saw our principal and some others there having meetings. We got our work done...but the typhoon just got worse and worse while we were there....so it was pretty much decided before we left to head home that we would not have to be heading back the next day!
Marcy, our neighbor, was also there for a meeting and so we talked her into riding the taxi home with us to help with communication. We headed out into the pelting wind and rain at this point (couldnt even try to use an umbrella...) to catch our taxi. It took quite awhile which already had us laughing in frustration. Then, we finally ended up getting a guy to stop for us.
We got in and took off....this is where it got weird.....
He stopped shortly after getting going and started yelling. He pulled over to the side of the road. Our friend Marcy repeated our address again but he kept yelling and gesturing angrily. We finally figured out that he was yelling at her to roll down the window and he was yelling at the guy on the road side who was selling beetle nut. So, he was buying what is like tobacco while we were paying to be in his taxi. Marcy kept pointing at the meter showing him it was still running and that it was not ok. He just kept yelling. He got his beetle nut and then started yelling even more angrily. I thought at first that maybe the guy didn't give him his change. But, we soon figured out he was yelling at Marcy. He wanted her to roll up the window but it was stuck. So here we are with a very angry taxi driver and a window down while a typhoon is going on. He proceeds back out on the road while still screaming at her (she showed him it wouldnt work) and he was going VERY slow. So we were going to get stuck at the next light and it was going to cost even more. Marcy ended up telling the guy to stop. She had enough of him. However, he wouldn't. So she just opened up the door and proceeded to get out (which thankfully did make him stop) Then she told us to get out. Cam was like "do we need to pay him" and she was like no way this is awful! So now he is REALLY angry because we got out and are not giving him the fare.....Marcy is yelling at him in Chinese telling him that it was NO GOOD and we are back out in the absolute pouring rain. We try to cross the street to the other corner so we can get another taxi and the guy heads right for us (still yelling at us) trying to hit us basically. Marcy took a good wack at his taxi with her umbrella just so he knew how she felt :)
We then got to the other corner and caught a new taxi....this one made it home just wonderfully!
All in all, we made it home (sopping wet) and with a funny story to tell. Oh, and Cam and I were so thankful that we convinced Marcy to come with us, because it would have really been a mess if we were all alone in that taxi!
I know that the weekend of September 26-28th we were hit with another typhoon. The typhoon started coming through on Saturday. We were super excited because it looked like we were going to get the brunt of it on Sunday/Monday....which would mean a typhoon day. However, I was keen on banking on not having school on Monday because the last typhoon left us just in time for the school week. SO, I told Cam that I needed to go in to school on Sunday so that I felt prepared for Monday if we ended up having school. It was POURING as we made our way out onto the empty streets. Instead of waiting our normal 5 or so minutes for the bus....we had to wait about 40 minutes! We could have just walked in that amount of time! We were second guessing ourselves if we should have even gone out in the first place....
However, when we got to school we saw our principal and some others there having meetings. We got our work done...but the typhoon just got worse and worse while we were there....so it was pretty much decided before we left to head home that we would not have to be heading back the next day!
Marcy, our neighbor, was also there for a meeting and so we talked her into riding the taxi home with us to help with communication. We headed out into the pelting wind and rain at this point (couldnt even try to use an umbrella...) to catch our taxi. It took quite awhile which already had us laughing in frustration. Then, we finally ended up getting a guy to stop for us.
We got in and took off....this is where it got weird.....
He stopped shortly after getting going and started yelling. He pulled over to the side of the road. Our friend Marcy repeated our address again but he kept yelling and gesturing angrily. We finally figured out that he was yelling at her to roll down the window and he was yelling at the guy on the road side who was selling beetle nut. So, he was buying what is like tobacco while we were paying to be in his taxi. Marcy kept pointing at the meter showing him it was still running and that it was not ok. He just kept yelling. He got his beetle nut and then started yelling even more angrily. I thought at first that maybe the guy didn't give him his change. But, we soon figured out he was yelling at Marcy. He wanted her to roll up the window but it was stuck. So here we are with a very angry taxi driver and a window down while a typhoon is going on. He proceeds back out on the road while still screaming at her (she showed him it wouldnt work) and he was going VERY slow. So we were going to get stuck at the next light and it was going to cost even more. Marcy ended up telling the guy to stop. She had enough of him. However, he wouldn't. So she just opened up the door and proceeded to get out (which thankfully did make him stop) Then she told us to get out. Cam was like "do we need to pay him" and she was like no way this is awful! So now he is REALLY angry because we got out and are not giving him the fare.....Marcy is yelling at him in Chinese telling him that it was NO GOOD and we are back out in the absolute pouring rain. We try to cross the street to the other corner so we can get another taxi and the guy heads right for us (still yelling at us) trying to hit us basically. Marcy took a good wack at his taxi with her umbrella just so he knew how she felt :)
We then got to the other corner and caught a new taxi....this one made it home just wonderfully!
All in all, we made it home (sopping wet) and with a funny story to tell. Oh, and Cam and I were so thankful that we convinced Marcy to come with us, because it would have really been a mess if we were all alone in that taxi!
New Pictures
We put up quite a bit of new pictures this time around! Check them out: http://picasaweb.google.com/camandelisa/
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Two Months!
We have lived here almost two months! That is almost unreal. It is starting to slowly feel like home. However, I think it will still take awhile.....not knowing the language and still being unsure of where we are half the time (makes it a little harder for it to feel like home).
God is so good though! We have had our ups and downs...and at times we thought we were for sure in the fight/flight zones of culture shock.....but then you have great weekends and you that makes you realize you are still in the honeymoon stage (fun stage)!
We know it will settle in and we pray God continues to reveal himself in special and intimate ways as we go through culture shock......letting us know that he is with us and he "sees" us. We have no doubts this is where God wants us and where He has put us! So, we await the amazing plans he has for us!
Some updates:
First of all, sorry there was a lag in posts and pictures for awhile. Now you are getting like a three in one deal :)
Here are just a few things from recently (or things coming up):
1. First all of all....thank you to all who sent birthday cards, packages, and little notes online. It was hard not to have family and loved ones with you for a special day like that....but all the messages I received (both near and far) helped!
2. Care packages: so....we got a wonderful one from Cam's mom (THANKS again Jackie!!!) But, it cost quite a bit to send. So, please don't feel obligated and send things in small increments if you still want to send. We have discovered that the large flat rate envelopes that you can get at the post office are the best way to send things!
3. Kindergarten is getting much better! I keep getting more of them.....so that is challenging (I am up to 17 by myself!)....but I enjoy it more and more each day. Thanks for the prayers!
4. I have joined a bible study with a group of ladies from the school (teachers and spouses of teachers). I am SOOO thankful that they asked me to join. We are doing the Patriarchs study by Beth Moore....it is so good so far and it is just wonderful to have those ladies as friends and accountability partners!
5. Spiritual Life Week is this week at school(Sept 22-26)!!! Amanda (the first grade teacher)...her brother is here to be the speaker all week! Pray that God works in amazing ways at our school this week. May he transform hearts! Pray that he prepares Eric (the speaker), the staff, and the students.......I know he is going to work in all of our lives! May we just be open to Him and what he has for us!
6. October break is coming up.....we are trying to plan our first off island vacation!! YEAH!!!
7. Our Chinese lessons are going fairly well. We still feel hopeless! It is just so hard! We don't feel like we can really communicate yet....but hopefully it will come. Please pray for our language learning though! We are on week 5 of our 10 weeks of free survival lessons by the school. We are trying to figure out what we want to do when that is over (private tutor, language school, Rosetta stone??)
8. We miss lots of people at home and have sort of lost connection with friends....so if you read our blogs and keep up with things.....just send us an email! We would love to hear how things are going in your lives too and it is also nice to know who is keeping up to date with us and supporting us in prayer! We appreciate it!
God is so good though! We have had our ups and downs...and at times we thought we were for sure in the fight/flight zones of culture shock.....but then you have great weekends and you that makes you realize you are still in the honeymoon stage (fun stage)!
We know it will settle in and we pray God continues to reveal himself in special and intimate ways as we go through culture shock......letting us know that he is with us and he "sees" us. We have no doubts this is where God wants us and where He has put us! So, we await the amazing plans he has for us!
Some updates:
First of all, sorry there was a lag in posts and pictures for awhile. Now you are getting like a three in one deal :)
Here are just a few things from recently (or things coming up):
1. First all of all....thank you to all who sent birthday cards, packages, and little notes online. It was hard not to have family and loved ones with you for a special day like that....but all the messages I received (both near and far) helped!
2. Care packages: so....we got a wonderful one from Cam's mom (THANKS again Jackie!!!) But, it cost quite a bit to send. So, please don't feel obligated and send things in small increments if you still want to send. We have discovered that the large flat rate envelopes that you can get at the post office are the best way to send things!
3. Kindergarten is getting much better! I keep getting more of them.....so that is challenging (I am up to 17 by myself!)....but I enjoy it more and more each day. Thanks for the prayers!
4. I have joined a bible study with a group of ladies from the school (teachers and spouses of teachers). I am SOOO thankful that they asked me to join. We are doing the Patriarchs study by Beth Moore....it is so good so far and it is just wonderful to have those ladies as friends and accountability partners!
5. Spiritual Life Week is this week at school(Sept 22-26)!!! Amanda (the first grade teacher)...her brother is here to be the speaker all week! Pray that God works in amazing ways at our school this week. May he transform hearts! Pray that he prepares Eric (the speaker), the staff, and the students.......I know he is going to work in all of our lives! May we just be open to Him and what he has for us!
6. October break is coming up.....we are trying to plan our first off island vacation!! YEAH!!!
7. Our Chinese lessons are going fairly well. We still feel hopeless! It is just so hard! We don't feel like we can really communicate yet....but hopefully it will come. Please pray for our language learning though! We are on week 5 of our 10 weeks of free survival lessons by the school. We are trying to figure out what we want to do when that is over (private tutor, language school, Rosetta stone??)
8. We miss lots of people at home and have sort of lost connection with friends....so if you read our blogs and keep up with things.....just send us an email! We would love to hear how things are going in your lives too and it is also nice to know who is keeping up to date with us and supporting us in prayer! We appreciate it!
Green Bay Retreat!
Go Packers! Oh wait, no.....Green Bay is a fabulous beach resort here in Taiwan that we all got to enjoy this past weekend! Our school paid for the staff to travel to and spend the night at this fabulous resort. The hotel was so nice ...the rooms were great, the buffets were great (if you love seafood and Asian food), the beach and pools were great, the spa was great (or Cam says so....), and the list goes on. Most of the staff decided to stay a second night as well to just really enjoy the experience. There were no set agendas or meetings or anything. Just hang out and relax time!
We had a half day on Friday with the students and had PD in the afternoon (which was one of the better PD days I have been to). Then at 3:30 we all loaded up the bus and headed to the north coast.
Everyone sort of went their own separate ways and then we all met up for dinner at 6:30. After dinner we had an amazing praise and worship time by the pool. The rest of the weekend (Friday night, all day Saturday, and Sunday morning) we just spent swimming, laying around, playing card games, watching TV (movies), and hanging out with friends.
Throughout the weekend, I just kept being reminded of how blessed we are. We work for an AMAZING school! We are so lucky to be surrounded by a staff who love God and love one another and have fun spending time together! Its not too often you get to go to the beach (paid for) with all your co-workers (whom you enjoy) and spend time playing, swimming, and praising God together! We are thankful that this is where God has us right now and we look forward to continuing to build relationships with our co workers and other people that he brings into our lives here!
Check out the pictures from the weekend at our Picasa web album page!
We had a half day on Friday with the students and had PD in the afternoon (which was one of the better PD days I have been to). Then at 3:30 we all loaded up the bus and headed to the north coast.
Everyone sort of went their own separate ways and then we all met up for dinner at 6:30. After dinner we had an amazing praise and worship time by the pool. The rest of the weekend (Friday night, all day Saturday, and Sunday morning) we just spent swimming, laying around, playing card games, watching TV (movies), and hanging out with friends.
Throughout the weekend, I just kept being reminded of how blessed we are. We work for an AMAZING school! We are so lucky to be surrounded by a staff who love God and love one another and have fun spending time together! Its not too often you get to go to the beach (paid for) with all your co-workers (whom you enjoy) and spend time playing, swimming, and praising God together! We are thankful that this is where God has us right now and we look forward to continuing to build relationships with our co workers and other people that he brings into our lives here!
Check out the pictures from the weekend at our Picasa web album page!
Typhoon Sinlaku
So, we experienced our first typhoon of I am sure many! Sinlaku started heading towards Taiwan on September 12. We had plans for the weekend so I was quite bummed at first. We still went out some on Friday night (Alley cats a really good pizza place and Alias, to get my hair shampooed). However, the rain and wind was already kicking in on our way home that evening.
Later that evening, we got a phone call that our trip to Sun Moon Lake on Saturday was canceled.
So, here it is, my birthday weekend and we are basically shut in with NO plans! We sort of just hung around the house all day Saturday (basically doing nothing). We talked on Skype, did some laundry, tried to watch a movie (that we could barely hear with the rain just pouring down....) and we ate (like all day long)! That evening we did have a couple ladies who live in our building up for dinner and games. Another brave sole traveled from her apt. to ours to celebrate with us as well!
Sunday, we listened to church back in the states (boy, do we miss 12 stone) and we just hung out some more! At this point, we were just praying for the rain and wind to continue so we could have another official Typhoon day in the city on Monday....which would mean school would be canceled. About 8 at night, we heard through the grapevine.....that school was going to be on.....the typhoon was clearing. I was so bummed at that point!
All through the night I kept waking up and lying there just listening to the rain and wind and praying that maybe by 5 45 am they had changed their minds. No such luck! So, we headed off to school in the pouring rain!
The typhoon officially left Taiwan by mid afternoon on Monday and we have had beautiful weather since.
So, all in all, typhoon number one....not so bad. It just crashed my birthday weekend. We just hope the next one decides to come in the middle of a week instead of on a weekend! We have a couple months to still hold on to hope for (Typhoon season is from like May-Nov.)
Later that evening, we got a phone call that our trip to Sun Moon Lake on Saturday was canceled.
So, here it is, my birthday weekend and we are basically shut in with NO plans! We sort of just hung around the house all day Saturday (basically doing nothing). We talked on Skype, did some laundry, tried to watch a movie (that we could barely hear with the rain just pouring down....) and we ate (like all day long)! That evening we did have a couple ladies who live in our building up for dinner and games. Another brave sole traveled from her apt. to ours to celebrate with us as well!
Sunday, we listened to church back in the states (boy, do we miss 12 stone) and we just hung out some more! At this point, we were just praying for the rain and wind to continue so we could have another official Typhoon day in the city on Monday....which would mean school would be canceled. About 8 at night, we heard through the grapevine.....that school was going to be on.....the typhoon was clearing. I was so bummed at that point!
All through the night I kept waking up and lying there just listening to the rain and wind and praying that maybe by 5 45 am they had changed their minds. No such luck! So, we headed off to school in the pouring rain!
The typhoon officially left Taiwan by mid afternoon on Monday and we have had beautiful weather since.
So, all in all, typhoon number one....not so bad. It just crashed my birthday weekend. We just hope the next one decides to come in the middle of a week instead of on a weekend! We have a couple months to still hold on to hope for (Typhoon season is from like May-Nov.)
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Just an update....nothing too new
Just a few updates:
1. First of all, if you are thinking of being really nice and sending a package our way.....you may just want to pick one item from our list and try to put it in an envelope. We have recently heard that shipping halfway around the world is NOT cheap!
2. We have learned how to count to 999 in Chinese. Well...not really. We know how to count to ten....and then you just need to know two other words and you can count all the way to 999.
3. While riding my bike this week I saw a dog on a leash.....wearing shoes! No joke....I wanted my camera so badly!
4. We had to do a our first bike trips in the rain. Not so fun. Cameron tried to do the ole "hold the umbrella and ride your bike trick".....Didn't last long. However, when we become Taiwanese....we will be able to do it :)
5. I tried the sesame chicken meal again and thought it was going SOO much better this time. We had no smoke or anything....but as soon as I thought we about made it through the meal problem free....I got burnt really bad on the arm by some flying rice. Who knows...I may have a scar to remember if forever :)
6. Cameron is coaching a 7-9th grade soccer team and I am going to be leading an 8th grade girls bible study ......You can pray that we both see these as opportunities to pour into lives of students and bring glory to God. May His love and wisdom be shared through us! Oh, if you have any really good ideas for books or discussion starters for middle school girls....let me know!
7. We are getting quite into the drinking tea routine....but we are trying to remember that some of these tea drinks have like 1000 calories a pop.....I think we need to hit the gym (or cut way back)!
8. I started biking to school one day this week in my skirt...and it was just too windy and I was getting frustrated. So, I just pulled over on the side of the road and pulled on some shorts! Cameron just kept joking and saying he was going to tell everyone back home "that I was showing all of Taiwan my goods".....But, needless to say......I was quite smooth about the whole thing. I just probably looked quite odd for the rest of the ride as I had on a short white skirt on with navy blue gym shorts under it!
9. We found a great new place to eat tonight......We both got huge baked potatoes with TONS of bacon and cheese on top...YUM!
10. We are still church hunting.....Today we went to a Lutheran church. It was ALL in Chinese. For the first service though they have a headset that you can wear for English translation.....so, it was quite interesting and enjoyable! You can pray though that we will settle in the place that God wants us......
11. We are missing lots of friends at home and feel like we haven't gotten to talk to many of you in a LONG time. Please feel free to send us an update in email or get Skype. Its wonderful and we would love to talk with you!
Sorry, not too exciting and no new pictures. We have some fun things planned though....so more pictures to come!
1. First of all, if you are thinking of being really nice and sending a package our way.....you may just want to pick one item from our list and try to put it in an envelope. We have recently heard that shipping halfway around the world is NOT cheap!
2. We have learned how to count to 999 in Chinese. Well...not really. We know how to count to ten....and then you just need to know two other words and you can count all the way to 999.
3. While riding my bike this week I saw a dog on a leash.....wearing shoes! No joke....I wanted my camera so badly!
4. We had to do a our first bike trips in the rain. Not so fun. Cameron tried to do the ole "hold the umbrella and ride your bike trick".....Didn't last long. However, when we become Taiwanese....we will be able to do it :)
5. I tried the sesame chicken meal again and thought it was going SOO much better this time. We had no smoke or anything....but as soon as I thought we about made it through the meal problem free....I got burnt really bad on the arm by some flying rice. Who knows...I may have a scar to remember if forever :)
6. Cameron is coaching a 7-9th grade soccer team and I am going to be leading an 8th grade girls bible study ......You can pray that we both see these as opportunities to pour into lives of students and bring glory to God. May His love and wisdom be shared through us! Oh, if you have any really good ideas for books or discussion starters for middle school girls....let me know!
7. We are getting quite into the drinking tea routine....but we are trying to remember that some of these tea drinks have like 1000 calories a pop.....I think we need to hit the gym (or cut way back)!
8. I started biking to school one day this week in my skirt...and it was just too windy and I was getting frustrated. So, I just pulled over on the side of the road and pulled on some shorts! Cameron just kept joking and saying he was going to tell everyone back home "that I was showing all of Taiwan my goods".....But, needless to say......I was quite smooth about the whole thing. I just probably looked quite odd for the rest of the ride as I had on a short white skirt on with navy blue gym shorts under it!
9. We found a great new place to eat tonight......We both got huge baked potatoes with TONS of bacon and cheese on top...YUM!
10. We are still church hunting.....Today we went to a Lutheran church. It was ALL in Chinese. For the first service though they have a headset that you can wear for English translation.....so, it was quite interesting and enjoyable! You can pray though that we will settle in the place that God wants us......
11. We are missing lots of friends at home and feel like we haven't gotten to talk to many of you in a LONG time. Please feel free to send us an update in email or get Skype. Its wonderful and we would love to talk with you!
Sorry, not too exciting and no new pictures. We have some fun things planned though....so more pictures to come!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Adding to the list....
Just a few more things that we have thought of......
1. jello mix packets
2. pudding mix packets (choc. and vanilla mainly)
3. those cheap plastic picture frames that you just slide photos into (mostly 4 by 6 magnetic ones to hang on the fridge.....include your picture in it if you mail some to us....we would love to have you on our fridge)
4. an 8x10 picture frame for a our black and white engagement picture.......
we can't find one here!
1. jello mix packets
2. pudding mix packets (choc. and vanilla mainly)
3. those cheap plastic picture frames that you just slide photos into (mostly 4 by 6 magnetic ones to hang on the fridge.....include your picture in it if you mail some to us....we would love to have you on our fridge)
4. an 8x10 picture frame for a our black and white engagement picture.......
we can't find one here!
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Just a Hint on some wants......
A few have asked......so all will receive!
The following list are some things that we would love to receive in a little package if you are thinking of sending one our way. We have come to realize that we miss these items, we can not find them here, or they are REALLY expensive here:
- muffin mixes, cake mixes, brownie mixes (can you see the trend.....basically baking mixes)
- chocolate chips
- popcorn (we almost got this last night at Costco....but we had to buy a ASTRONOMICAL amount and it cost A LOT) we would be happy with just a few bags.....
-mashed potato mix (who ever thought I would ask for that) :/
That is it for now....I am sure more will develop over time!
This is not up here as a must.......PLEASE don't feel obligated
The following list are some things that we would love to receive in a little package if you are thinking of sending one our way. We have come to realize that we miss these items, we can not find them here, or they are REALLY expensive here:
- muffin mixes, cake mixes, brownie mixes (can you see the trend.....basically baking mixes)
- chocolate chips
- popcorn (we almost got this last night at Costco....but we had to buy a ASTRONOMICAL amount and it cost A LOT) we would be happy with just a few bags.....
-mashed potato mix (who ever thought I would ask for that) :/
That is it for now....I am sure more will develop over time!
This is not up here as a must.......PLEASE don't feel obligated
Saturday, August 30, 2008
CKS
After a long week of week of teaching (week 2), followed by an extremely LONG day at school on Friday including Meet the Teacher Night......we decided it was time to just relax and get out and see the city a little.
An update on school- Cameron is really enjoying his class. He did find out on Friday that the curriculum that the school bought for Social Studies doesn't match up with the third grade benchmarks ....at ALL. So, it looks like he will be creating his own curriculum (from scratch) on early civilization and explorers! The new S.S. curriculum the school just bought has third grade doing communities.....Doesn't quite match up :)
As for me....kindergarten is still quite hard. I had a mixture of good and bad days! Communication is still a hindrance....but managing 15 kindergarten kids everyday is a LOT harder than managing over 20 second graders. I am learning more each day though and it is amazing how quick the kids are starting to pick things up. I am just worn out every day after trying to constantly keep their attention and get what we need to accomplished. I am getting a new one on Monday too.....Another boy at that! So the count now is 10 boys to 6 girls! :)
Bethany (our School) had 'Meet the Teacher Night' after school on Friday as well. It ended up being a great night....but we were there from 7 am until about 8:30 pm. MTN went on from 4 until about 8....we had a few meetings, school presentations, and a whole school cookout. Cameron REALLY enjoyed the cookout part! He ended up eating 2 hamburgers and 2 hotdogs....plus a whole plate of other good stuff :)
Today (Saturday) we were able to enjoy each others company at home in the morning and then we decided to go out do something touristy together. We ended up walking down to CKS (Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall). It was fun to just see some new things and walk around the park together.
One interesting thing......while walking around the park (taking pictures and just seeing the sights) ....I got to see more than I bargained for! I happened to look up by this tree and there was a little Taiwanese man about to urinate. He was unzipping his pants when we made eye contact.....but....nope that didn't stop him! He continued to go ahead and get "ready".....right there in the public park....pretty much out in the open. Cameron somehow seemed to miss all this.....but he had quite a laugh once he realized what was happening!
Now its off to Costco for some groceries....hopefully we can figure out how to cook in this country!
An update on school- Cameron is really enjoying his class. He did find out on Friday that the curriculum that the school bought for Social Studies doesn't match up with the third grade benchmarks ....at ALL. So, it looks like he will be creating his own curriculum (from scratch) on early civilization and explorers! The new S.S. curriculum the school just bought has third grade doing communities.....Doesn't quite match up :)
As for me....kindergarten is still quite hard. I had a mixture of good and bad days! Communication is still a hindrance....but managing 15 kindergarten kids everyday is a LOT harder than managing over 20 second graders. I am learning more each day though and it is amazing how quick the kids are starting to pick things up. I am just worn out every day after trying to constantly keep their attention and get what we need to accomplished. I am getting a new one on Monday too.....Another boy at that! So the count now is 10 boys to 6 girls! :)
Bethany (our School) had 'Meet the Teacher Night' after school on Friday as well. It ended up being a great night....but we were there from 7 am until about 8:30 pm. MTN went on from 4 until about 8....we had a few meetings, school presentations, and a whole school cookout. Cameron REALLY enjoyed the cookout part! He ended up eating 2 hamburgers and 2 hotdogs....plus a whole plate of other good stuff :)
Today (Saturday) we were able to enjoy each others company at home in the morning and then we decided to go out do something touristy together. We ended up walking down to CKS (Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall). It was fun to just see some new things and walk around the park together.
One interesting thing......while walking around the park (taking pictures and just seeing the sights) ....I got to see more than I bargained for! I happened to look up by this tree and there was a little Taiwanese man about to urinate. He was unzipping his pants when we made eye contact.....but....nope that didn't stop him! He continued to go ahead and get "ready".....right there in the public park....pretty much out in the open. Cameron somehow seemed to miss all this.....but he had quite a laugh once he realized what was happening!
Now its off to Costco for some groceries....hopefully we can figure out how to cook in this country!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
He is the potter.....we are the clay
I just wanted to share a few thoughts that I have been pondering over lately. I am sure that I will not be able to express myself eloquently enough.....but I hope that you can find this as encouraging as I have over the past few days.
We have been trying out a new church every Sunday since we have been here. You can pray that we will find a church that we feel we can call our home church. So far, the search has been a little discouraging. It is not that we are not learning more about God's word when we go to church.....but, it is just so different than what we were used to in Georgia. We LOVED 12 stone. We KNOW that we will not find another 12 stone. Especially in a country where only 3 % are Christians and there are only a limited number of English speaking churches. We know we CANT compare churches here to what we had there. But that is hard......
But, all of that to say......God really spoke to me last Sunday at the church we visited. The pastor spoke on the verses in 2 Corinthians in which God talks about the jars of clay. Here is what I have taken from it:
Like the clay pots, I am broken and ordinary. The clay jars described in 2 Corinthians were of little value, not beautiful, and did not attract attention to themselves. This is why it was customary to store up and conceal treasures inside these jars of clay. God too, because of his mercy and grace, stores up treasures in ordinary people who are unworthy of his love. He chooses to pour his Spirit (a holy treasure) inside his broken children. The more broken and cracked a jar is....the more what is inside can leak out. God works in this way! If we are filled with his love and his Spirit....it is going to leak out of our lives (and the more broken and cracked our lives are...the more He is able to come rushing out!). My absolute insufficiency then reveals the total sufficiency of God.
" Be we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.....We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body." ....."All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God"
Taken from 2 Corinthians 4
As I am transitioning into a new country and am starting a new job....I have been filled with feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness. And yet, I have taken heart in knowing that through my brokenness.....God can be shown to others! Though I am weak....He is strong!
I also cling the promise that God works for the good of those who love him. I KNOW he has called us to Taiwan. He has a plan for us here and he has a plan for me in kindergarten. He will not give us more than we can handle. So even though I feel as if I am facing trials and tribulations of all kinds......I know that "we are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed. perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed!"
We have been trying out a new church every Sunday since we have been here. You can pray that we will find a church that we feel we can call our home church. So far, the search has been a little discouraging. It is not that we are not learning more about God's word when we go to church.....but, it is just so different than what we were used to in Georgia. We LOVED 12 stone. We KNOW that we will not find another 12 stone. Especially in a country where only 3 % are Christians and there are only a limited number of English speaking churches. We know we CANT compare churches here to what we had there. But that is hard......
But, all of that to say......God really spoke to me last Sunday at the church we visited. The pastor spoke on the verses in 2 Corinthians in which God talks about the jars of clay. Here is what I have taken from it:
Like the clay pots, I am broken and ordinary. The clay jars described in 2 Corinthians were of little value, not beautiful, and did not attract attention to themselves. This is why it was customary to store up and conceal treasures inside these jars of clay. God too, because of his mercy and grace, stores up treasures in ordinary people who are unworthy of his love. He chooses to pour his Spirit (a holy treasure) inside his broken children. The more broken and cracked a jar is....the more what is inside can leak out. God works in this way! If we are filled with his love and his Spirit....it is going to leak out of our lives (and the more broken and cracked our lives are...the more He is able to come rushing out!). My absolute insufficiency then reveals the total sufficiency of God.
" Be we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.....We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body." ....."All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God"
Taken from 2 Corinthians 4
As I am transitioning into a new country and am starting a new job....I have been filled with feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness. And yet, I have taken heart in knowing that through my brokenness.....God can be shown to others! Though I am weak....He is strong!
I also cling the promise that God works for the good of those who love him. I KNOW he has called us to Taiwan. He has a plan for us here and he has a plan for me in kindergarten. He will not give us more than we can handle. So even though I feel as if I am facing trials and tribulations of all kinds......I know that "we are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed. perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed!"
Our First Package.....
So, this is a shout out to Abiman for sending us our first package. I even knew it was coming and was still so excited to see it arrive. Getting mail just has a way of cheering you up (hint, hint).
But, seriously.....thank you Abiman. Cameron loved his new Michigan gear. At this point, we dont know if it will ever be cold enough for the hat....but we hear that it will! I mean, he started sweating just putting it on for the picture :)
Not only did Cameron enjoy the new gear ...but for both of us, it was just nice knowing that we have people back in the states who love us and are thinking about us!
So......this is our first big THANKS! Abiman....we appreciate your friendship and generosity....and we are still waiting for you to set up Skype!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Back at it...
So, school started on Monday! Boy are we tired......
What to even tell you about it?? First of all, we love the school we work at. Bethany is an amazing school and we have great co workers and a very wonderful supportive principal (who we have both used already for discipline referrals!)
So just a few highlights from my class:
1. I hear 'TEACHER' probably a MILLION times a day OR Mr. Klump.....Mrs. Klump is just too hard I guess
2. 10 out of 15 in my room are ELL students
3. most of the day I am acting things out or repeating myself because communication is a BIG hinderance
4. I get lots of really cute smiles throughout the day (or cute blank stares)
5. I hear ' I have to pee pee' about every 20 minutes
6. I have to say "Close the bathroom door" about every fifteen minutes
7. Basically all of my students can recognize their ABC's and count to about 30 without skipping any numbers
8. Nap time .....is SOOO wonderful! (Thanks Tutens for the sound sleeping website idea at PFO....I just happened to remember it)
9. I can only plan about a 5 minute lesson (because by then no one is paying attention) but packing our bags to go home or having snack and cleaning up takes about 20 minutes......
10. I get to sing crazy songs and be silly all day and the kids love it
11. I have students who are a great example of child like faith and an encouragement to me daily! We are learning about how God created the heavens and the earth.....I was trying to open our morning in prayer and I asked if anyone had any thing they wanted me to pray about. One of my students raised their hand and asked me to pray to his God too because he was different than my God. I knew his religious background and just explained that at our school and in our classroom we only pray to Jesus (trying to avoid a big theological mess). However, one of the boys sitting next to him went on to tell him that his God is a false God because there is only one true God.
Boy, kids are great tellers of the truth, aren't they?? May we learn from their boldness and faith!
I could tell LOTS of more stories and I will try to keep track of the super funny ones and post as we go along. Also don't forget to randomly check our picasa web albums. I will try to update those periodically as well. I am going to try and get some of their of my little kiddos.
You can pray that God gives me wisdom on how to teach kindergarten though. I still feel extremely lost sometimes and I KNOW that I need to do things differently to keep them more involved. Second to kindergarten is a BIG adjustment. I am still trying to get used to it. Pray that God provides me with the patience I need daily. Also pray that I can continue to see each child through God's eyes!
Cam's class.....he probably doesn't have much to say about his. He's got a pretty good group of 23 third graders. He says he has to adjust to being an elementary teacher again and getting back in the groove of planning! That was one thing that he REALLY lucked out on with his Middle School position last year. He is still waiting for them to warm up so he can get to know their personalities. He too loves working at Bethany. He loves having the freedom to teach the way he wants to and having a supportive administrator behind him. He has gotten to do some fun things in his room that he never felt like he could do in the states! Plus, having the freedom to pray daily and talk openly about his faith is refreshing too. Not too much else there. Oh, He is probably going to start helping coach a 9th grade soccer team next week ....which will be exciting for him!
Well....I think that is it for now. We both are still slowly going through the transition process. We are trying to find the right balance between work, fellowship with friends (and building relationships), time alone together, time getting home things done, and time to explore the culture and learn more about Taiwan. I think it will be a struggle to balance it all...but I am sure as we settle in it will feel more like what's normal for us! We continue to cling to the promise that God gives us through Joshua in saying "Go into the land....Be strong and courageous....I am with you...I will never leave you or forsake you" .
We know that this is where God has called us to be and these are the positions he wanted us in (even if we question that part at times). God knows us both inside and out....and He thinks we are able. Plus He will continue to equip us for what He has called us to do.....It is our hope that we can just bring glory to him through our lives here!
Oh, you can also pray that we find a place soon where we feel like we are being fed well too. We have been to a few churches now....and we want to be open to what God has for us here. We LOVED our church in Georgia and find ourselves missing it dearly. Pray that we won't compare every church here to our church there and pray that God will lead us to the place he would like us to be served and to serve!
Love you all and miss you bunches!
What to even tell you about it?? First of all, we love the school we work at. Bethany is an amazing school and we have great co workers and a very wonderful supportive principal (who we have both used already for discipline referrals!)
So just a few highlights from my class:
1. I hear 'TEACHER' probably a MILLION times a day OR Mr. Klump.....Mrs. Klump is just too hard I guess
2. 10 out of 15 in my room are ELL students
3. most of the day I am acting things out or repeating myself because communication is a BIG hinderance
4. I get lots of really cute smiles throughout the day (or cute blank stares)
5. I hear ' I have to pee pee' about every 20 minutes
6. I have to say "Close the bathroom door" about every fifteen minutes
7. Basically all of my students can recognize their ABC's and count to about 30 without skipping any numbers
8. Nap time .....is SOOO wonderful! (Thanks Tutens for the sound sleeping website idea at PFO....I just happened to remember it)
9. I can only plan about a 5 minute lesson (because by then no one is paying attention) but packing our bags to go home or having snack and cleaning up takes about 20 minutes......
10. I get to sing crazy songs and be silly all day and the kids love it
11. I have students who are a great example of child like faith and an encouragement to me daily! We are learning about how God created the heavens and the earth.....I was trying to open our morning in prayer and I asked if anyone had any thing they wanted me to pray about. One of my students raised their hand and asked me to pray to his God too because he was different than my God. I knew his religious background and just explained that at our school and in our classroom we only pray to Jesus (trying to avoid a big theological mess). However, one of the boys sitting next to him went on to tell him that his God is a false God because there is only one true God.
Boy, kids are great tellers of the truth, aren't they?? May we learn from their boldness and faith!
I could tell LOTS of more stories and I will try to keep track of the super funny ones and post as we go along. Also don't forget to randomly check our picasa web albums. I will try to update those periodically as well. I am going to try and get some of their of my little kiddos.
You can pray that God gives me wisdom on how to teach kindergarten though. I still feel extremely lost sometimes and I KNOW that I need to do things differently to keep them more involved. Second to kindergarten is a BIG adjustment. I am still trying to get used to it. Pray that God provides me with the patience I need daily. Also pray that I can continue to see each child through God's eyes!
Cam's class.....he probably doesn't have much to say about his. He's got a pretty good group of 23 third graders. He says he has to adjust to being an elementary teacher again and getting back in the groove of planning! That was one thing that he REALLY lucked out on with his Middle School position last year. He is still waiting for them to warm up so he can get to know their personalities. He too loves working at Bethany. He loves having the freedom to teach the way he wants to and having a supportive administrator behind him. He has gotten to do some fun things in his room that he never felt like he could do in the states! Plus, having the freedom to pray daily and talk openly about his faith is refreshing too. Not too much else there. Oh, He is probably going to start helping coach a 9th grade soccer team next week ....which will be exciting for him!
Well....I think that is it for now. We both are still slowly going through the transition process. We are trying to find the right balance between work, fellowship with friends (and building relationships), time alone together, time getting home things done, and time to explore the culture and learn more about Taiwan. I think it will be a struggle to balance it all...but I am sure as we settle in it will feel more like what's normal for us! We continue to cling to the promise that God gives us through Joshua in saying "Go into the land....Be strong and courageous....I am with you...I will never leave you or forsake you" .
We know that this is where God has called us to be and these are the positions he wanted us in (even if we question that part at times). God knows us both inside and out....and He thinks we are able. Plus He will continue to equip us for what He has called us to do.....It is our hope that we can just bring glory to him through our lives here!
Oh, you can also pray that we find a place soon where we feel like we are being fed well too. We have been to a few churches now....and we want to be open to what God has for us here. We LOVED our church in Georgia and find ourselves missing it dearly. Pray that we won't compare every church here to our church there and pray that God will lead us to the place he would like us to be served and to serve!
Love you all and miss you bunches!
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Broken Bike :(
So, also this week....can't remember what day (they all blur together) bike riding got to be a lot more stressful for me (Elisa). I was really fighting feelings of negative attitudes and frustrations of traffic laws (or lack there of) in Taiwan. I know I am NOT to think this way and have prayed LOTS for patience and understanding. However, this week especially...I was always tense and I was getting into LOTS of close calls. Well on one of the frustrating trips home from work (after a 14 or 15 hour workday)...I was just about to turn into the alley in which is close to where we live. As I was turning, I was going rather fast and at the same time hit a hug pot hole. My bike swerved all over (thankfully we were out of the way of most traffic at this point or this story could have a horrible ending). As I hit the pot hole...my handlebars came off, I had no control, I almost full off, scraped my legs pretty good, but caught myself and my bike. Needless to say, I couldn't ride anymore and therefore had to push the bike the rest of the way home.
Once home, we briefly tried to fix the bike. Two days later we tried to ride to work. Cameron was going to ride my bike (to make sure it was safe) but realized immediately that it wasn't going to work (the handlebars pointed one way and the tire another)! So, we walked our bike all the way to school that day. (Which did not help with my positive attitude) I was actually to the point of tears I was so frustrated at this point. But, our handy man at school was able to tighten it right up for us and it has worked ever since. God was also able to work in my heart over the last few days and has helped me change my attitude and fight off the negative feelings Satan was trying to fill me with! So, we are back to the bike thing (praise God....because believe it or not....its cooler to ride our bikes to school in this humid weather than walk)! Oh, and I think people would be quite impressed with our bike riding abilities here :) Wish I could ride with a video camera on my helmet just so you could get a glimpse!
Once home, we briefly tried to fix the bike. Two days later we tried to ride to work. Cameron was going to ride my bike (to make sure it was safe) but realized immediately that it wasn't going to work (the handlebars pointed one way and the tire another)! So, we walked our bike all the way to school that day. (Which did not help with my positive attitude) I was actually to the point of tears I was so frustrated at this point. But, our handy man at school was able to tighten it right up for us and it has worked ever since. God was also able to work in my heart over the last few days and has helped me change my attitude and fight off the negative feelings Satan was trying to fill me with! So, we are back to the bike thing (praise God....because believe it or not....its cooler to ride our bikes to school in this humid weather than walk)! Oh, and I think people would be quite impressed with our bike riding abilities here :) Wish I could ride with a video camera on my helmet just so you could get a glimpse!
Friday, August 15, 2008
A Deciliter??? and a House full of Smoke
So, on Tuesday evening this week, we decided we were tired of eating out for almost every meal except for breakfast. Which meant, that it was time to try and master the Taiwanese appliances in our kitchen so that we could make a meal (other than a bowl of cereal or cut up fruit). I had looked at a few recipes earlier in the week that I thought we could try and had gotten the ingredients needed while out over the weekend. So....sesame fried chicken and rice was the menu. I tried to start dinner around 7 oclock after about a 12 hours workday but realized quickly that I hd NO idea of what I was doing. First of all, I knew I needed to start the rice but our rice cooker was brand new (with only Chinese directions). So, I gave our wonderful friend Sandra a call and asked her how much water in comparison to rice, how to put it in, how long to cook it, etc. I forgot to ask how much actual rice would be a good amount to put in for just Cameron and I. So, I guessed and got on with the meal. Oh, I did have to make a second phone call and ask if it had to be boiled water or if we could use water from our faucet. Anyways, It was going to work out perfectly because it took around 20 minutes for the rice to cook and I THOUGHT that would be an adequate amount of time to get the rest of the meal finished. However, when trying to make the sesame chicken....I couldn't figure out what a deciliter was and had to stop to research that on the internet (because that is the largest measuring tool I have) I also had to stop about 5 minutes into the preparation because I was filling the kitchen with a thick black smoke. I had tried to warm up the oil to fry our chicken. We do not have temperature controls on our burners....and apparently it got too hot! It started smelling funny and started smoking rather quickly. And I couldnt stop it quick enough. Within a few minutes our entire living room and kitchen was filled with a thick smoke. We were so scared that we were going to set off the smoke alarms, fire people would show up, we would trigger a sprinkler system...or SOMETHING. So we immediately open all our windows and and plugging in fans to blow the smoke out. However, by this time it is so strong I am in tears because my eyes are burning. And in the back of my mind I am thinking "I have to hurry and keep this going so that the rice doesn't finish and just sit there and get all mushy". So, I kept trudging through the recipe trying to get it done. After figuring out all the conversions and getting the oil back to warm but not smoking....we were able to finish the meal. It actually all turned out quite wonderfully! Very delicious and LOTS of left overs! It will be done again...but hopefully next time with less complications!
The finished product!!! It really was delicious!
The finished product!!! It really was delicious!
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Slight change in address
So, its not that big of a deal.....if you use the other address to mail anything, it will still get here....BUT, we were told that this is the way you should probably write the address when trying to mail us something
Cameron and Elisa Klump
Bethany School
#97, Sec. 3, Ting Chou Rd.
Taipei 100 Taiwan
Cameron and Elisa Klump
Bethany School
#97, Sec. 3, Ting Chou Rd.
Taipei 100 Taiwan
Sorry about the delay
So, I wanted to do really good the first week we were here and post a lot for you all at home....BUT, it didn't work out that way. We have now been in Taiwan for 9 days!! That is crazy to think about. We are settling in slowly but surely. We are no longer jet lagging but still find ourselves tired emotionally and physically most of the time!
This week we spent MOST of our time at school. From the pictures that I posted previously you could see that our classrooms were in need of some dire help! We have spent long days getting things (our trying to) done in our classrooms. I don't have pictures yet of how they are coming along but maybe that will be a project for next week when they are pretty much close to being ready! We start school in 9 days!! YIKES!! So, needless to say I think we are going to devote long hours to school this next week as well. (I think we may even go in this weekend)
Our home is mostly settled BUT it does not quite feel like home yet. We haven't been able to take the time to decorate or even put up pictures yet......so once we do that I think we will feel like it is more "our" place. Who knows....maybe we can even get a little color on the walls eventually!
Cam and I were able to adjust a little more this week to the Taiwan culture. We are now owners of bicycles and we have been riding to and from school on them. We have the route down now and are quite used to weaving in and out of people, scooters, and taxi's. We are also quite used to ringing our little bells to let people know we are coming up to their left......There were some close calls the first few days we rode (Cam feared for my life as I played chicken with a scooter on our first trip alone), but we have learned to be more alert and are adjusting quite well to Taiwanese driving!
We also ventured out alone and took the bus to school one day this week. I am sure all the people on the bus thought it was quite funny as we were making sure we knew our landmarks the entire way.......
As for other "new" things....we eat REALLY well (chinese food, subway, burgers and fries, pizza, pasta) We haven't missed food yet...but there are times when I think I will know what it is going to taste like and it doesn't! We had someone make a map of restaurants near our house so we can just go and TRY to order food. We did order tea this week (in Chinese) with some help from our little language notebook.
We made a Costco and RT mart run again this week....
We completed our first trash night experience (which you will have to read the comments on our picasa web picture page. it was quite an experience!)....
We got cell phones....so we now can have help when we are lost or confused as we are out and about.......
Went to an Olympic party and watched the opening ceremonies live!
Other than that...not too much to report on this week because we have been spending so many hours at school! I did post a few more pictures....
Hope you enjoy!
Thanks for the continued thoughts and prayers. If you are wanting to pray specifically for things...please pray for us and our work at school. We are both often overwhelmed with school (getting ready and new grade levels). Pray that God fills our hearts with peace, with innovative ideas, and with confidence to teach at these new levels. Also pray that he prepares the hearts of our students and their parents to be open and receptive to what God can do through us this year!
This week we spent MOST of our time at school. From the pictures that I posted previously you could see that our classrooms were in need of some dire help! We have spent long days getting things (our trying to) done in our classrooms. I don't have pictures yet of how they are coming along but maybe that will be a project for next week when they are pretty much close to being ready! We start school in 9 days!! YIKES!! So, needless to say I think we are going to devote long hours to school this next week as well. (I think we may even go in this weekend)
Our home is mostly settled BUT it does not quite feel like home yet. We haven't been able to take the time to decorate or even put up pictures yet......so once we do that I think we will feel like it is more "our" place. Who knows....maybe we can even get a little color on the walls eventually!
Cam and I were able to adjust a little more this week to the Taiwan culture. We are now owners of bicycles and we have been riding to and from school on them. We have the route down now and are quite used to weaving in and out of people, scooters, and taxi's. We are also quite used to ringing our little bells to let people know we are coming up to their left......There were some close calls the first few days we rode (Cam feared for my life as I played chicken with a scooter on our first trip alone), but we have learned to be more alert and are adjusting quite well to Taiwanese driving!
We also ventured out alone and took the bus to school one day this week. I am sure all the people on the bus thought it was quite funny as we were making sure we knew our landmarks the entire way.......
As for other "new" things....we eat REALLY well (chinese food, subway, burgers and fries, pizza, pasta) We haven't missed food yet...but there are times when I think I will know what it is going to taste like and it doesn't! We had someone make a map of restaurants near our house so we can just go and TRY to order food. We did order tea this week (in Chinese) with some help from our little language notebook.
We made a Costco and RT mart run again this week....
We completed our first trash night experience (which you will have to read the comments on our picasa web picture page. it was quite an experience!)....
We got cell phones....so we now can have help when we are lost or confused as we are out and about.......
Went to an Olympic party and watched the opening ceremonies live!
Other than that...not too much to report on this week because we have been spending so many hours at school! I did post a few more pictures....
Hope you enjoy!
Thanks for the continued thoughts and prayers. If you are wanting to pray specifically for things...please pray for us and our work at school. We are both often overwhelmed with school (getting ready and new grade levels). Pray that God fills our hearts with peace, with innovative ideas, and with confidence to teach at these new levels. Also pray that he prepares the hearts of our students and their parents to be open and receptive to what God can do through us this year!
Monday, August 4, 2008
A place to look at Pictures
Hey all,
We just decided that since lots of you do not have facebook, we would try to upload our pictures somewhere else as well! I hope that I did it all right and that this link will actually lead to pictures! Hope you enjoy. We figured this would give people a "better picture" of how new and different our life is here in Taiwan!
Here is the website: http://picasaweb.google.com/camandelisa/
I can't remember how to make it a link so you will just have to cut and paste for now!
Again, thanks for the continued prayer support. We are starting school this week (new teacher orientation) so we will update you soon with info. about how school is going. And of course more pictures will be on the way!
We just decided that since lots of you do not have facebook, we would try to upload our pictures somewhere else as well! I hope that I did it all right and that this link will actually lead to pictures! Hope you enjoy. We figured this would give people a "better picture" of how new and different our life is here in Taiwan!
Here is the website: http://picasaweb.google.com/camandelisa/
I can't remember how to make it a link so you will just have to cut and paste for now!
Again, thanks for the continued prayer support. We are starting school this week (new teacher orientation) so we will update you soon with info. about how school is going. And of course more pictures will be on the way!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Home Sweet Home
So, this will probably be a long update because we have not been able to update anyone yet about our travels, arrival, and transition.
DEPARTURE:
We started our trip off with sad goodbyes followed by a delay at the Detroit airport. This however was a blessing in a sense because it allowed us a few more hours to make some phone calls to friends and family before leaving the states. We arrived at the LA airport about 11:30 (2:30 our time) and maneuvered around that crazy airport and made it to our flight out on Malaysia air, which left at about 1:30 am (4:30 am our time). We both slept quite a bit on the flight from Detroit to LA (I took sleeping medicine) and then we slept again for about the first 5 or so hours of the long flight. We rather enjoyed the seats we chose on Malaysia Air (we were able to get up and move around when we wanted....had lots of space). We also had personal TV's to watch movies and shows. This all helped the flight to go fairly quickly.
DAY 1:
We arrived in Taiwan at around 5:50 am on Thursday the 31st. We had some wonderful people from Bethany pick us up at the airport and help us with all our luggage. All 8 of our bags made it safely to Taiwan!! YEAH, thanks for the prayers.
They then brought us to our apartment.We were left alone to settle for a couple hours and then they came back and picked us up and we made our first trip to Costco.....It was all a tad overwhelming (trying to make decision as what to buy, but we at least got some things). Then later that day we went to a Burmese restaurant for dinner. Cam REALLY enjoyed it! It was pretty yummy!
We took no naps throughout the day and barely made it for them to drop us off back at our apartment by 8:30. We were out by 9!!
DAY 2:
We slept till about 5ish (darn jet lag) and started our day early. Kevin, who will work with us at Bethany, came to pick us up in the morning and he showed us our walking route that we will take to get to work. We were able to see the school and our classrooms (which caused a little panic in the back of our minds because our rooms were just like a construction site). The school was renovated this summer and I think they are running a little late. So, you can say a prayer that construction will be cleaned up soon and we will be able to get our rooms ready. (Richele, you have your little kindergarten room already and you start so much later and mine is a disaster...YIKES!!) After touring around the school, we took a walk to go get lunch (dumplings) and we also got tea, made our chops (our Chinese name stamps), and looked to get cell phones. We then hung out at Sandra's house for a few hours in the afternoon and later that night went out to eat at Alley Cats with Ali, Nick, and Chris. Alley Cats is a brick oven pizza place! I dont think we will have to worry about missing pizza...it was really good! We did last a little longer this night!
Day 3:
Again....5ish! We got up and started working on things in the apartment. Our internet finally worked on this day so we were able to connect with family in the morning (praise the Lord for Skype). We then spent basically ALL day unpacking and cleaning! Hopefully we will start to feel settled soon.....it is our hope to at least get our house settled before school starts!
At around 5 in the evening, Sandra (who works at Bethany) and her husband Ray picked us up and took us shopping to IKEA and RT Mart (which is like good ole Wal-Mart). We bought a ton of stuff!! It was a very successful trip. After shopping we ate dinner at a REALLY neat all you can eat hot pot and barbeque place. It also had all you can eat Hagen-daz ice cream!!! YUM..... We didn't get to home till close to midnight . Late night...forcing us to get used to this schedule!
AND TODAY....DAY 4:
We were awake again at 5 ish but refused to get up..so we layed around and tried to sleep until around 9. You can pray that we will start being able to sleep a little later! I think we may just need thicker shades though! Late morning we left to go buy bicycles. We both are now proud and fearful owners of bikes! Please pray first of all for our safety ....you can not even imagine the roads here and secondly that our bikes do not get stolen (which apparently is a risk you run here if your bike is half way decent). We did ride our bikes home (which was a little crazy, but we survived). This afternoon we ventured out on our own on a ten minute walk to the grocery to buy water... AND we didnt get lost!! YEAH! This evening we went to church at The Pearl. It was a small service but very good. After church we decided that we wanted to just come back so again we had to be brave and venture out. Someone drew us a little map and we just hoped for the best. We havent gotten our cell phone yet so we are a little learly just because we wont have a way to connect with anyone if we are lost.....but we made it home safely. We even ordered dinner at a little Chinese shop close to our house where none of the workers spoke English!! Oh, the adventures that lie ahead!
Well, there is a TON more we could write about but here are just a few crazy and fun bits of info about our time here so far:
1. It is ALWAY really HOT!! The temp. is high 90's but humidity is like 98%
2. babies dont ride in car seats here....people just hold them
3. driving (or just even riding in the back of a car) is a wild and scary experience....we are told we will get used to it
4. a whole family (mom, dad, and two or three kids) all will ride on one scooter ....maybe even with their groceries
5. carrying around a thousand dollars is no big deal
6. all of our appliances are in Chinese (we have to make picture diagrams so we can remember what is what)
7. People eat out almost every meal (there is food like every 10 steps)
8. There is a 7-11 on almost every corner and you can do almost anything at a 7-11 (buy food, household items, pay your bills, mail things, pick up shipped items, etc)
9. it gets dark around 5:30/6 o'clock here
10. Gecko tails that have been decapitated remain alive for a few minutes.... (we had a lizard (gecko) in our bathroom late Saturday night. Cameron tried to catch it and ended up ripping its tail off. He didn't really have a good hold of it and the tail fell to the ground and it ended up flopping ALL over the bathroom floor for at least two minutes! The gecko still ran all around our bathroom (tailless) and Cameron finally caught him and literally threw him outside.
11. We need to learn to convert things to the metric system quick......we have a measuring cup that is 1 deciliter ????
Well, this is huge update! Again, we love you all and miss you very much. Thank you the prayers as we have traveled. As we start going into work some this week, please pray that God gives us the strength, energy, and wisdom to prepare for what is ahead. This is the ministry He has called us to and we pray that he prepares our hearts and minds as well as our students. Please also continue to pray that Cam and I remain open and understanding of all the "NEW and DIFFERENT" that we are constantly surrounded by.
DEPARTURE:
We started our trip off with sad goodbyes followed by a delay at the Detroit airport. This however was a blessing in a sense because it allowed us a few more hours to make some phone calls to friends and family before leaving the states. We arrived at the LA airport about 11:30 (2:30 our time) and maneuvered around that crazy airport and made it to our flight out on Malaysia air, which left at about 1:30 am (4:30 am our time). We both slept quite a bit on the flight from Detroit to LA (I took sleeping medicine) and then we slept again for about the first 5 or so hours of the long flight. We rather enjoyed the seats we chose on Malaysia Air (we were able to get up and move around when we wanted....had lots of space). We also had personal TV's to watch movies and shows. This all helped the flight to go fairly quickly.
DAY 1:
We arrived in Taiwan at around 5:50 am on Thursday the 31st. We had some wonderful people from Bethany pick us up at the airport and help us with all our luggage. All 8 of our bags made it safely to Taiwan!! YEAH, thanks for the prayers.
They then brought us to our apartment.We were left alone to settle for a couple hours and then they came back and picked us up and we made our first trip to Costco.....It was all a tad overwhelming (trying to make decision as what to buy, but we at least got some things). Then later that day we went to a Burmese restaurant for dinner. Cam REALLY enjoyed it! It was pretty yummy!
We took no naps throughout the day and barely made it for them to drop us off back at our apartment by 8:30. We were out by 9!!
DAY 2:
We slept till about 5ish (darn jet lag) and started our day early. Kevin, who will work with us at Bethany, came to pick us up in the morning and he showed us our walking route that we will take to get to work. We were able to see the school and our classrooms (which caused a little panic in the back of our minds because our rooms were just like a construction site). The school was renovated this summer and I think they are running a little late. So, you can say a prayer that construction will be cleaned up soon and we will be able to get our rooms ready. (Richele, you have your little kindergarten room already and you start so much later and mine is a disaster...YIKES!!) After touring around the school, we took a walk to go get lunch (dumplings) and we also got tea, made our chops (our Chinese name stamps), and looked to get cell phones. We then hung out at Sandra's house for a few hours in the afternoon and later that night went out to eat at Alley Cats with Ali, Nick, and Chris. Alley Cats is a brick oven pizza place! I dont think we will have to worry about missing pizza...it was really good! We did last a little longer this night!
Day 3:
Again....5ish! We got up and started working on things in the apartment. Our internet finally worked on this day so we were able to connect with family in the morning (praise the Lord for Skype). We then spent basically ALL day unpacking and cleaning! Hopefully we will start to feel settled soon.....it is our hope to at least get our house settled before school starts!
At around 5 in the evening, Sandra (who works at Bethany) and her husband Ray picked us up and took us shopping to IKEA and RT Mart (which is like good ole Wal-Mart). We bought a ton of stuff!! It was a very successful trip. After shopping we ate dinner at a REALLY neat all you can eat hot pot and barbeque place. It also had all you can eat Hagen-daz ice cream!!! YUM..... We didn't get to home till close to midnight . Late night...forcing us to get used to this schedule!
AND TODAY....DAY 4:
We were awake again at 5 ish but refused to get up..so we layed around and tried to sleep until around 9. You can pray that we will start being able to sleep a little later! I think we may just need thicker shades though! Late morning we left to go buy bicycles. We both are now proud and fearful owners of bikes! Please pray first of all for our safety ....you can not even imagine the roads here and secondly that our bikes do not get stolen (which apparently is a risk you run here if your bike is half way decent). We did ride our bikes home (which was a little crazy, but we survived). This afternoon we ventured out on our own on a ten minute walk to the grocery to buy water... AND we didnt get lost!! YEAH! This evening we went to church at The Pearl. It was a small service but very good. After church we decided that we wanted to just come back so again we had to be brave and venture out. Someone drew us a little map and we just hoped for the best. We havent gotten our cell phone yet so we are a little learly just because we wont have a way to connect with anyone if we are lost.....but we made it home safely. We even ordered dinner at a little Chinese shop close to our house where none of the workers spoke English!! Oh, the adventures that lie ahead!
Well, there is a TON more we could write about but here are just a few crazy and fun bits of info about our time here so far:
1. It is ALWAY really HOT!! The temp. is high 90's but humidity is like 98%
2. babies dont ride in car seats here....people just hold them
3. driving (or just even riding in the back of a car) is a wild and scary experience....we are told we will get used to it
4. a whole family (mom, dad, and two or three kids) all will ride on one scooter ....maybe even with their groceries
5. carrying around a thousand dollars is no big deal
6. all of our appliances are in Chinese (we have to make picture diagrams so we can remember what is what)
7. People eat out almost every meal (there is food like every 10 steps)
8. There is a 7-11 on almost every corner and you can do almost anything at a 7-11 (buy food, household items, pay your bills, mail things, pick up shipped items, etc)
9. it gets dark around 5:30/6 o'clock here
10. Gecko tails that have been decapitated remain alive for a few minutes.... (we had a lizard (gecko) in our bathroom late Saturday night. Cameron tried to catch it and ended up ripping its tail off. He didn't really have a good hold of it and the tail fell to the ground and it ended up flopping ALL over the bathroom floor for at least two minutes! The gecko still ran all around our bathroom (tailless) and Cameron finally caught him and literally threw him outside.
11. We need to learn to convert things to the metric system quick......we have a measuring cup that is 1 deciliter ????
Well, this is huge update! Again, we love you all and miss you very much. Thank you the prayers as we have traveled. As we start going into work some this week, please pray that God gives us the strength, energy, and wisdom to prepare for what is ahead. This is the ministry He has called us to and we pray that he prepares our hearts and minds as well as our students. Please also continue to pray that Cam and I remain open and understanding of all the "NEW and DIFFERENT" that we are constantly surrounded by.
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