HIs Hands

I want to introduce you all to a non profit organization that we help out from time to time. It is a home for unwed mothers and an adotion agency for their babies. Two ladies, one American and one Canadian, started His Hands when they realized how many abortions take place in Taiwan each year. (280,000 legal abortions and 300,000 illegal abortions equaling over 500,000 abortions each year!!) Here is a link to their website with all the information and pictures of cute babies! Click here!

We currently have a two month old (Baby Jakeb) with us for the week so that the nannies could have a much deserved break during Christmas and New Years. He is such a cuddly cutie! When I was talking with one of the ladies setting up when I would get the baby and such, I ask her, "Will I have a car seat and a stroller for the baby?" In the past, they have given me these items to use for the time that I will have the baby. She told me that they have enough car seats to send one with each baby, but a lot of their strollers have broken recently. They use these strollers for when volunteers come over to the House of Hope to take the babies out for a walk or when babies go home with a volunteer for the weekend. They currently have nine babies and 3 strollers.

Our local church has been given the opportunity to give an offering to help purchase strollers for His Hands and I would like to extend this opportunity to you. If you want to donate money to His Hands, you can send it to my palpay (ladiel79@hotmail.com) and I will use 100% of it to buy new strollers for them. If you just want to help them out, you can do that through their website. The sheer amount of diapers and formula they use daily is amazing.

As Christians, we have a responsibility to not just say, "Be clothed, be full, or abortions are wrong", but to provide clothes, food and a different option. His Hands is providing a different option that is making a difference in the lives of so many babies. I know it sure has made a difference for Baby Jakeb!

We Wish You a Merry Christmas...

And a happy new year! Hopefully your day will be filled with love and joy and remembering that Jesus is the center of it all. GOD BLESS YOU!

Christmas, Cats and Chaos

Hello everyone, I am finally back from the land of viruses and sickness! And just on the behalf of married women everywhere, I want to say, "Sometimes we have the misfortune to catch a virus that makes us throw up. This does not in anyway mean that we are expecting our third child, because we are not. Thank you."

I was looking for one of my more famous stories to give you all the link and realized that I never, ever wrote it on my blog! Most people know about it because of a lesson I have taught that is called "Medicine Moments". Anyways, it must go into blog history, so here it is.

Way back in 2008, we had a chaotic Christmas. It all started one night about a month before Christmas when Chris and I decided that the church needed to have a Christmas musical that year. Yes, I did indeed say one month. What followed was the two of us writing a musical, finding songs, having them translated, rehearsals, making costumes, breaking one sewing machine and almost two, rehearsals, and "oh yeah, by the way Honey, I think we should have a cast party here at the house after the final performance on Sunday night"! Right in the middle of all of this, our six month old cat went into heat. On a Friday night. The vet couldn't get her in until Monday. We have two cats. A male and a female. Jango, the girl, was locked in the bathroom to keep her from Vader, the male. We had no desire for kittens to be arriving in a few months. She meowed. And meowed. And meowed. And meowed for 24 hours straight. I even tried to drug her with infant Tylenol, but it had no affect whatsoever. (I only wanted her to sleep, so I could sleep.)

Well, we got the cats fixed and here in Taiwan they do things a little different. In the States, I believe the vet would place a cone shaped thing around the cat's head to keep it from disturbing the wound. Our vet took an old x-ray film and cut a hole in the middle of it. She then slipped it over the cats head. The result was a large black square around their necks that totally obscured their bodies. Walking heads, if you will. Remember this, it will be important later.

Well, the Sunday of the Musical arrived and it was busy to say the least. Jango had found a nice safe place to sleep away from all the hectic rushing underneath the Christmas tree (which was sitting on a small table). As I was grabbing the last few things I needed to take to church and calling to the kids to get their shoes on, Ethan decided to be a boy. For no apparent reason that I could see, he just walked over to the Christmas tree, bent down and yelled "RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAA"!!! What ensued can not fully be described in words. Jango flew up from her nap and tried to get away. That x-ray film got caught in the lights and the cat and the tree when to the floor. She continued to struggle as I tried to untangle her. Once set free, she took off like a pack of dogs were after her. The Christmas tree was now void of all ornaments and the living room floor was littered with Christmas balls and ribbon and flowers. Both kids just stood in shock as I tried to right the tree back on to the table. I should also mention that the top half of the tree was dangerously crooked. Realizing that I didn't have time to deal with this right now, I told the kids, "Just put your shoes on and let's go."

The Musical was a great success. When I returned home, Chris had beaten me there and was trying to fix the tree. The first thing he said when I opened the door was, "Honey, I think the cats must have gotten into the tree". Maybe it was the stress or the ornaments ever where or just the memory of that cat struggling to get free, but I started laughing hysterically and the kids had to tell him what happened!

Say what?

Humm... Can't say that I would like to have my skin and hair care products come from this place. The origins seem a little... odd? What do you think they might have been trying to say?

Stop #2- Lodi

In Lodi, We squeezed in a couple of days of cousins time! Those two lovelies with my children are Andy's (Chris' older brother) kids. We hadn't seen Kyler since he was a baby, so it was a shock to the kids to see him so big and grown up.


Abbey and Ethan love to go to Uncle Andy's house not only for the cousins, but for the backyard (where they dug a huge mud pit and got disgracefully dirty) and the tire swing! Here, Uncle Andy is doing the pushing. Kyler is still a little bit too little for the tire, but Abbey, Kailan and Ethan were having a blast!


We were also excited to see Uncle Josh! He came down (over?) from San Fran. We put him right to work! Josh is a good sport and all the kids love him.

We always have fun in Lodi, so you can imagine that there were tears when it was time to leave. Maybe next time, the cousins can play together in Taiwan! (hint hint)

Next stop... Fresno and West Coast Conference

Stop #1- Idaho!

Some of you have probably been waiting to hear how our trip to the States went. For the rest of you that really don't care, Sorry!

Our first stop was in Twin Falls, Idaho. We were with Bro. and Sis. Collins and had a great time. Abbey and Ethan were hoping for snow, but no such luck. It snowed the day after we left. Chris greatly rejoiced over this since he hates to be cold.

The church in Twin Falls is an awesome church! In the evening service, a young girl received the Holy Ghost and was baptized in Jesus name! Everyone was so friendly and Ethan learned how real cowboys wear their cowboy boots to church (Pants over the outside, not tucked in) from some of the men in the church.

In the Twin Falls mall, Abbey discovered Bath and Body Works. She is now addicted. I can't blame her though. I still remember when I discover Sun-kissed Raspberry and thought I was in heaven. Man, I wish they still sold that scent for old times sake!

Next stop... Lodi!

Back in the Saddle...metaphorically

Well, I bet some of you were wondering if I was still alive, weren't you? At times, so was I! Especially on our trip back to Taiwan when three of our four planes were delayed and we literally ran through every single airport! Let's just say that one plane was delayed because when we got on the runway, we were facing two planes lined up to take off. It seems that they wanted to go east from the runway and we wanted to go west. That took an hour to correct. But we are back!!

I have stories and pictures from our US travels and will be getting them up for you guys, but I just want to say this really quick. THANK YOU to everyone who reads this and stopped by and told me so!! It was so encouraging to meet you!

Now, there is one last suitcase calling my name...

Bracken Blurbs

This installment of Bracken Blurbs is devoted to Ethan. Mr. Logical-to-a-fault. You might be able to tell some kids that their father is the milkman and they will believe you, but Ethan would probably just tell you that his Baba is a preacher, not a milkman!

1. Once, during church, I gave Ethan a hug and a kiss. He then turned around with his "flirty" eyes and said, "If you want to keep kissing me, you can". Well, son of mine, thanks for the permission! Now, off to the convent!

2. A few weeks ago, someone bought Ethan and Abbey a cup of Dong Gwa tea. You guys don't have this stuff in America, but I actually love it if it has lemon juice added. Ethan was not so fond of it. After he took a drink, he wrinkled up his face and asked Chris if he liked that kind of tea. Chris, wanting to be polite because the giver of the tea was standing nearby, answered, "Yeah, sometimes." (Translation: "I only like it if someone gives it to me and stands there to see if I am going to drink it!") Ethan then replied, "Well, I hate this stuff!" Did I mention that he is honest to a fault, too?

3. If you have ever seen Chris preach, you know that he gets somewhat excited. He has a hard time standing still, to say the least. Can I get an "amen", Kaohsiung? After one pretty exciting service, Ethan went straight up to Chris after dismissal and asked Chris if he needed to go to the bathroom. When Chris said no, Ethan very seriously told him that he looked like he had to go pee when he was preaching. Well, at least he was paying attention!

Hello From Idaho!

That's right! I am writing this post from Idaho. We are going to be in the States for three weeks and if you are going to be at one of the following places, please come and tell me hello! Here is the schedule:

11/5-11/8 Twin Falls, Idaho

11/8-11/10 Lodi, CA

11/10-11/13 Fresno, CA at West Coast Conference

11/13-11/16 Vicksburg, MS

11/16 Biloxi, MS

11/17-11/23 Florence, AL

11/23 Die from Exhaustion

I hope to meet some of you!

Okay, I have some free time and I am in the States. Where is Walmart?

New Winner...

Well, Zhe Que, you didn't e-mail me or leave a comment before the 31st, so we have to choose a new winner.

Random.org has given me the number 2, soooooo The new winner is:

Mary Francis

Please e-mail me at tebracken@yahoo.com and let me know if you want your gift card to iTunes, Amazon or Wal-mart. And I will need an address. If I don't hear from you by November 25th, I will forced to once again choose a new winner. Don't let me down!!

Congrats!

Disturbing...

There is just something strangely disturbing about pulling open a drawer in your kids room to put away some toys and hearing this:

"Remember me? I am the MEGATRON!"

It begged a reply, so I said this as I shut the drawer:

"Remember me? I am the MOMMY"

Life with boys is never boring.

Taiwan Tuesday #3

Welcome to Kenting! It is pronounced cun (as in cunning)-ding. When we want to get away and relax, this is where we go. It is located on the southern most tip of Taiwan and so much fun! What do we do first? The beach of course! Because we normally go down when the kids are on fall or spring break, and the American school they attend isn't on the same schedule as local school, we normally get the whole beach to ourselves! This is the western side of Taiwan and the best place to get your feet wet!

Oh, man, look at that water! Kenting is a beautiful place and the water is incredibly clear, that is, unless a typhoon has just came through. Then, it is all sandy and brown.

Then we grab some food. Squid on a stick anyone? I am just kidding, I have never eaten this! But it is quite popular to see it being sold and eaten in Kenting or really at any night market here in Taiwan.

At night, the main road through Kenting city turns into a night market. You can throw darts at balloons, buy anything from t-shirts to sunglasses, or get something to eat at the many restaurants. Abbey and Ethan love the ice cream vendors, of course. Chris and I like the Starbucks. Yes, even Kenting has a Starbucks.

Venture a little bit off the beaten path and you can go to this place. Gas is naturally seeping out of the ground, but the quality is too law to make it worth anyone's trouble. So, what did they do? They set it on fire and it burns continually. People love to go there and roast hot dogs, marshmallows, jiffy pop popcorn and of course, squid on a stick!

This platform is the southern most point of Taiwan. From here, you can see the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea collide. The Pacific is blue and the South China Sea is green. There is a distinct line going from the point of Taiwan down through the ocean because the waves do not crash into the shore, but into each other! It is so weird to see the waves crashing parallel with the shore. If you ever make it to Kenting, do not leave without seeing this.

This is Sail Rock. It is a natural formation completely formed of coral. It is about 18 meters or 59 feet tall. See that tiny little ledge about halfway up? I have watch Chris and his brothers climb up to it and jump off into the ocean.

The main attractions of Kenting are on the western side of the island, but if you drive around the tip and up the cliffs, you can get a great picture of the east coast. Most of Taiwan's East coast is just like this, mountains that drop straight into the ocean. Beautiful, but mostly uninhabited. This is a perfect place for a picnic during the day or to watch the stars at night.

I am sorry, but none of these pictures are mine. I haven't been down there since I got my new camera and I can't get the pictures I have on my old camera off because the usb cord ran off of its own accord. BUT, I do have pictures just like these! I hope you enjoyed a little sunshine here in the middle of fall!

Oh, That Flirting Fellow

Ethan is such a cutie pie that I dread the teen years. As for Abbey, well, that problem is already solved. We are forming a Pentecostal Convent and she will be residing there from age 12 until 30. Focusing on God and only God. At 30, she can marry the guy that her father chooses. If he finds one that is good enough. Do I think that we are being overprotective? Overprotective? What is this word? I am unfamiliar with it.


But Ethan, he is quickly working his way into the Convent. Last Sunday night, during pre-service prayer, he was smiling and flirting with Amber. Theirs is a relationship that I have been trying to figure out how to write about for many years. They are two months apart in age. From the time they could sit up, they have been sharing toys and fighting over toys and one day loving each other to death and the next day hating each other with a hate that normally only happens in siblings. You never know how it is going to go. But, there is one thing for sure, they know how to push each others buttons. Once, Amber sat down beside Ethan and he immediately started crying. When David (Amber's dad) ask Ethan what was wrong, he replied, "I don't want her sitting beside me because she talks too much!" Yeah... like I said, a love hate relationship.

Anyway, last Sunday night was a "love" day. Ethan was flirting up a storm and Amber was loving it. When I ask Ethan if he was flirting, he ask me what flirting was. I told him that it was when you "smile and make pretty eyes at a girl". He promptly looked at me and started smiling and batting his eyelashes! Ahh, a flirt and a quick learner. Yeah, he is definitely joining his sister in the convent!!

Taiwan Tuesday #2

Welcome to Taipei 101! It is the second largest building in the world and gives you a great, if somewhat foggy (read pollution!) view of the sprawling city of Taipei. In June, for our 9th anniversary, Chris surprised me with a 3 day trip to Taipei. Because of everything I had heard about Taipei 101, I was dying to go up for a look-see. Well, we waited in line for about 30 minutes to go up, looked around and took these pictures for about 15 minutes and then waited in another line for 15 minutes to get to come back down. The elevator does travel at 37 miles per hour, so it is a quick ride. So, to save you the wait, here are pictures taken from the four directions (N,S,E,W). I do not have the pictures in order because I honestly have no clue. Sorry! They were taken from the 89th floor, which is the indoor observatory. I later heard that there was an outdoor observatory on the 91st floor.



Fun Fact: Chris and I lived in Taipei for almost two years when we first got married and came back to Taiwan. Being there, just the two of us, felt like I was on my honeymoon again.


I love the mountains! They surround the city so that Taipei sits in the middle of a "bowl". However, as you can imagine, the pollution has no where to go.


Yes! Taipei is huge. I should know, I walked all over it in those three days.


This last picture is of the damper that hangs from the 91st floor to the 88th floor. We finally figured out that its function is to keep the top of the tower from swaying in the wind. As far as I know, it is just a huge steel ball. Hey! This is a blog, not a science class!


If you want to read more about Taipei 101 or that huge steel damper, click here

Find the Difference Answer

If you were wondering what you should be looking at, it is the CRUTCHES!!! I found it hilarious that Chris was driving his motorcycle with his crutches looped through the handle of his backpack. For those who do not know, he has an accident about 6 weeks ago and tore a tendon in his knee halfway. Poor hubby is waiting for it to heal, but determined to have his freedom.

Find the Difference

Do you remember when you were a kid playing the "Find the Difference" game? There would be two pictures and you would have to find 5 differences in the second picture. I always thought they were great fun, but I wasn't above turning the paqe around and looking for the answers at the bottom. (The answers were always written upside down.) Well, here is a picture for you. Just one picture, just one big problem. Can you find it?


I will give you the answer tomorrow.

Taiwan Tuesdays

Taiwan is such a beautiful and interesting place and since some of you may never have the time or money to visit, I thought that I might dedicate Tuesdays to Taiwan. I have been here for over 9 years and when people ask me what I think about it, the only word that comes to mind is "home". Sure, some things are different and may seem weird, but I view those things just as I would a bag of Pork Rinds in Alabama. It is weird, I wouldn't eat it, but it belongs there and without it, something would be missing. (If you have no idea what pork rinds are, well, I don't think I can explain it, but they are definitely a southern thing!)

Anyways, back to Taiwan! Here is a shot of Kaohsiung, the city I live in, from the freeway. Ahh, home!

And the Winner is...

The winner of my "Follow this Blog Contest is...........

ZHU QUE

Please contact me at tebracken@yahoo.com and tell me if you prefer a gift card to Amazon.com, iTunes, or Walmart. You have until October 31st to contact me. After that, I will select a new winner if I haven't heard from you. Congratulations!!

A BIG thank you to everyone who follows the blog and also to those of you who may be a little shy to follow, but still read it faithfully.

(Winner was chosen using random.org. The random number generated was 16.)

My Sunday

As some of you are just beginning your Sunday, mine has almost ended. But it was a wonderful Sunday. Anytime three people get baptized, it is a good Sunday.

The first to get baptized was a 5 year old little girl named Rebekah. Chris doesn't routinely baptize children, but after talking with her, he felt that she really understood what was going on and did indeed want to get baptized. Abbey was baptized when she was 4, but she had received the Holy Ghost earlier that night.







The next to get baptized was Rebekah's grandmother, Huang Mama. Today was her birthday and she is 65. Talk about going from one end to the other of the age spectrum! (I am particularly proud of the underwater shot I got!)







The next young lady is from our new work in LiGang. She is the first to be baptized from the church we started there in April of this year.







Finally, how do you know if you had good church?

If you look like this afterwards!!

Who says English is Easy?

I read this on another website and had to post it. The Author is unknown. It is an excerpt from, "The Kingfisher Book of Children’s Poetry" selected by Michael Rosen. If English isn't your first language, I hope this isn't too confusing.


I take it you already know

Of tough and bough and cough and dough?

Others may stumble, but not you

On hiccough, thorough, laugh and through?

I write in case you wish perhaps

To learn of less familiar traps:

Beware of heard, a dreadful word

That looks like beard and sounds like bird.

And dead: it’s said like bed, not bead;

For goodness’ sake, don’t call it “deed”!

Watch out for meat and great and threat

(They rhyme with suite and straight and debt).

A moth is not a moth in mother

Nor both in bother, broth in brother.

And here is not a match for there,

Nor dear for bear, or fear for pear.

There’s a dose and rose, there’s also lose

(Just look them up), and goose, and choose,

And cork and work, and card and ward,

And font and front, and word and sword,

And do and go and thwart and cart -

Come come, I’ve barely made a start!

A dreadful language? Man alive,

I’d mastered it when I was five!

This is makes me glad that English is my first language!!

Song Scramble

Abbey and Ethan have been providing me with so many "Confused Words Songs" that I think I could make Song Scramble a weekly thing! Here is the latest installment:

1. Ethan and Abbey were listening to one of my old cds. Does anyone out there remember Anointed and their song "For the Sake of the Call"? Well, there is a line that says, "No turning back, looking straight ahead...". Ethan chose to sing it as, "No turning back, I'm gonna shave my head." I guess that is a big thing to him.


2. Another old cd of 4-Him has a song where they are singing either "Hey God, Hey God" or "Yea God, Yea God". Abbey was singing it as "Hey girl, Hey girl" when Ethan quickly corrected her. His corrected version? "Make up, Make up". Needless to say, I was giggling it up around the corner!

Contest Time!!

Because I am so happy about Fall, I am going to have a contest. The winner will get a $25 gift card for Amazon or iTunes (Winners choice. If these companies are not available in your country, we can figure out something!) or if they live in Taiwan, they can choose a cool $1000NT. Here's what you have to do.

Just follow this blog!!

Then, on 10/10, Taiwan's Independence Day, I will use the random number generator on random.org. I will then take that number and count down the list to decide the lucky (or blessed) winner. Best wishes and Thanks!!

Happy, Happy Fall

If you remember this post from last year, you will also remember my addiction to Fall. Or Autumn, depending on where you live. And guess what!? It is Fall again. (Yes, I know. It happens every year. Sorry to state the obvious.) While I am once again dredging up memories from America for my Fall experience, this year we may actually go back in November. Abbey and Ethan are hoping for snow, but I am hoping for crunchy leaves and chilly nights and early evenings. Okay, and a Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks.

So, what is your favorite season of the year?

Magic Markers?

The other day, Abbey was showing me a picture that she drew at school. The following conversation was so great that I immediately began writing this blog in my head. Here is what she told me:

"Mom, I drew this at school. And you know what? It said that the markers were magic markers, but when I used them, they just colored blue and green and stuff. They weren't MAGIC at all!"

Oh, how to explain?

Ethan's Birthday

Hey, do you remember Ethan's birthday? You don't? Well, I guess that is because I never blogged about it. So, in typical Tiffany fashion, I bring you Ethan's birthday. Two months late. (On a side note, my grandmother has predicted that I will be late to my own funeral. Thank God for that!)




Our first stop was at a petting zoo where Ethan could fulfill his dreams of being a farmer.

.








He was just standing there scratching this goat's back and thinking about life when I got this picture









Ethan is so brave. He held this bird without one qualm. Abbey was hiding behind us and cringing for him.









At least he got to ride a horse!









Then we moved on to a tiny amusement park that is located strangely enough on the roof of a department store. The building is about 14 floors high.









Here he is with Ye-Ye and Nai-Nai. We were on the Viking ship and I quickly remembered why I stopped riding those kinds of things. Mom Bracken and I both sat the next one out.








The robot cake. This was one of the easiest things I have ever done for a birthday.








And now, he is officially 5 years old!!

Texting

Last month, my brother started college. I wanted to call him and just see how it was going, so I got his number from my step dad. To make sure that Trey wasn't in class, I sent him this text:

"Are you in class? This is your sister."

To which he replied:

"Who is this?"

I then, in big sister fashion, replied:

"How many sisters do you have?"

Followed by:

"I'll give you a hint. My name starts with a T and I remember the first time you cursed."

(He was 2 or 3 and it was directed at me. I plan to never let him forget it.)

I got this reply:

"WHO IS THIS?"

I, now taken back, replied:

"Trey, calm down. This is Tiffany. I got your number from Mike."

He chose not to reply to this, so I decided to just call and see what was going on. We tease each other a lot, but never seriously fight. When I called, it went to voice mail and this is what I heard:

"Hi! This is Angie..."

Yep. I had the wrong number. And I had gotten smart with her. I quickly sent her a text profusely apologizing. When I got the corrected number, I tried again with:

"Are you in class? This is your sister."

To which I received this response:

"I only have half a sister."

Which totally confirmed that I did have my brother that time.

Bracken Blurbs

Sunday night after church, Abbey wanted to tell everyone our Bible words from Sunday School that morning. When she had every ones attention, she began, "Receive the devil and he will flee from you. James 4:7" Then she smiled very big, so proud of herself. After I stopped giggling behind Chris' back I told her that I was very happy that she wanted to say her Bible words, but that the first word was "Resist".

Today, when I picked the kids up from the bus stop, I handed them a bag of baby carrots and cherry tomatoes to snack on. After a few minutes Ethan told me that he really liked the "orange pickles"! Can you tell that baby carrots aren't very common here in Taiwan?

Back to School Time!

This week, Abbey and Ethan both head off to all day school. That means that their momma has all day pretty much alone! I have looked forward to this time all summer and thought about all the projects I can do and how the house will stay nice and clean. On day one, I tried to finish every goal I have for the next month. On day two, I missed hugging Abbey and mussing Ethan's hair. Alas, it seems that it this freedom might take a little time to adjust to.

But, hey, if you are headed off to school this fall, may many A's come your way and may all the bad lunches far from you stay!

A Day of Surprises

Thursday, I was reminded of just how much a child can mature in just one year. Abbey and Ethan needed some booster shots before going back to school and, frankly, I was dreading it like a 200 mile run. Last year, when Abbey got shots, I couldn't even blog about the experience because I was too embarrassed. The short story is that she spun in circles in my arms, screaming and spitting. Yes, I said spitting. Chris ended up holding her legs, I held her upper body and another nurse helped us. When we went back in to the lobby, all the children were sitting in their mother's laps and it was dead quiet. I escaped as quickly as I could and let Chris handle the bill. This year she sat quietly listening to my ipod and rested her head on my shoulder. She didn't even cry. When it was over, she told us that it hurt, but she seemed more concerned with getting a band-aid. (If you don't have kids, then I should tell you that getting a band-aid is super cool to them.) Chris and I walked out of the doctor's office looking at each other in shock. Good shock, but shock none the less.

In case you are wondering how Ethan did, well, he is fearless. Last year and this year, he calmly took his shots and then jumped up and wanted to know when he could get his toy. In fact, when we went to the doctor on Wednesday to get shots and they didn't have the one that Ethan needed, he cried all the way out of the doctor's office because he was going to have to wait a day to get a new toy! Boys!

Abbey and her music

Abbey loves music. Her greatest desire lately is to have an iphone (NOT going to happen!). She is willing to settle for an mp3 player (probably going to happen). However, if you ever read this post ,you will know that she sometimes mixes up the words or makes up her own words. I must confess, this probably comes from me more than from Chris. I still remember riding home from church with my roommate in college and us, still feeling somewhat serious from the service, singing a popular worship song together. I totally ruined the mood when I sang a complete line of the song wrong and realized I had singing it wrong for years. Wrong for years, in church!

Well, the other night, we were listening to something and Abbey didn't catch what the singer said. When she ask me, I told her I didn't know either because I hadn't really been listening. She brushed it off by saying, "I think he is just making it up anyways!" And really, isn't that what all the song writers are doing, just making it up?

My Sunday Morning

This morning in church, Chris almost preached the house down! Literally. We had a 5.4 earthquake right in the middle of preaching. I was thinking about rewarding Chris a million points for not stopping and just keeping on preaching. However, after church, when I mentioned the earthquake, he replied, "Earthquake? We had an earthquake?" So, I guess I will give the million points to the church people who continued to listen and "Amen!" thus enabling their pastor to completely miss the earthquake.

Bible Stories Revised

Ethan and Abbey have been playing church a lot lately. I watch them and remember doing the same thing as a kid. However, we never had "sermons" as interesting as the ones that Ethan has been preaching. My favorite was the one about Joshua. Let me just tell it like he did.

"Now GOOOODDDD told Joshua to blow a horn and all the city would fall down. So Joshua went and got a BIIIGGG horn and when he blew it a BOMB flew out and all the city fell down."

I'm guessing the real story was a little unbelievable to him.

Abbey's Belated Birthday Post

As I was preparing to do a post on Ethan's birthday, I realized that I never did one on Abbey's birthday back in November. Yes, I said November. You heard me right. It was right about that time that I lost the USB cord to my camera and from the look of my blog, I must have been busy. Poor blog. It was terribly neglected! So, here a few pictures!

The Man with the Taser

A few weeks ago, the kids and I were at Ikea. (WooHoo for Ikea! I love that place. Seriously.) A couple of men from the bank were restocking the ATM. One man was doing the actual restocking of cash while the second man stood behind him with a Taser aimed and ready. I assume this was to deter us shoppers from attacking the man and it was a very good deterrent. Ethan immediately noticed that the man's "gun" seemed to be deformed and had lots of questions. After I explained that it wasn't really a gun but a taser and then explained what a taser was for and then explained why the man had a taser (that question came from Abbey), Ethan had just one more question. "Hey, Mama, if you taser someone, will they be dedicated?" To which I replied, "Probably not, but if that were the case, Mama could make a fortune selling it to pastors."

Revival in Taipei

Everyone, I am so excited about Taipei!!! Before I get to the good part, let me give you a little history.

When Chris and I first came back to Taiwan as a married couple 9 years ago, we moved to Taipei to start a church. We were 22 at the time and I think the experience was more to let us know that we didn't know Jack. Needless to say, a church did not get started and we eventually came down to Kaohsuing. Now, fast forward to last year. We had an evangelist from the States, who felt a great burden for Taipei, help us with some outreach that resulted in a weekly Bible Study Class in Taipei. Taipei is 6 hours driving from Kaohsiung, but thank God we have the bullet train which takes about an hour and a half to two hours. Chris has been going up every Saturday (along with Jing Hwa) and teaching this class. That means an early morning and a long day right before Sunday. (If you have read the LiGang Report here , you know we have three services on Sunday.)

Now, for the exciting part!! Chris just baptized the first person in Taipei this month!! We had two of our Taipei people to receive the Holy Ghost at our national conference back in February, but this is the first baptism. And, for the REALLY BIG NEWS, Chris will start having services there later this year! There is going to finally be an Apostolic, Chinese church in Taipei!!

God's Soldier

I overheard this conversation recently.

Ethan to Abbey: "Hey! Let's pretend I'm a soldier, a soldier for God. Now, SIT DOWN AND TELL ME WHAT BIBLE STORIES YOU'VE LEARNED!!"

Man, I sure hope she has been listening in Sunday School!

Droplets of Doubt

Lately I have been thinking about something. I am going to try and put it into words, but if I fail, I apologize. CAUTION: Potential Rambling Ahead.

Lately, I catch myself like Peter walking on the water. I am "walking" and then in the middle of some action, doubt sneaks in like a horde of gnats. Small, yet still annoying. Just for example. As most of you know, I am currently studying Chinese. I have been in Taiwan for almost 9 years, but I haven't had a chance to officially start studying Chinese until last November. (By the by, THANK YOU so much ED Asia supporters for making it possible!) I have one teacher that has a lot of faith in my ability to understand Chinese. We have great conversations. Our class is two hours long and somewhere around one hour, I will have a moment where doubt sneaks in. She will be talking and I will be understanding everything, then my brain will suddenly say, "Hey! Wait, is she speaking Chinese? You can't understand this much Chinese! Hold on!" And in that moment, I will FORGET EVERY CHINESE WORD I KNOW!!!! I have to literally give myself a pep talk and say, "You can do this. You can understand her just fine. Pull yourself together." Now, while this is annoying, I have just been figuring that my brain was on overload and not really thinking to much about these little episodes. Until Sunday.

We had an incredible service Sunday night. If you missed it, poor, poor you. I mean, it would have been worth the flight from the States for just that service. During a time of deep prayer and God was doing awesome things in every ones lives, I was talking with God. I know God's voice. I know how He speaks to me. But right in the middle of our conversation, that same voice of doubt popped up and said, "Are you really sure that you are talking to God? Maybe you have just been talking to yourself for all these years." WHOA! Hold on a minute. I can accept that my brain is on overload with Chinese, but on overload with God? Not happening. And in that moment, I realized that voice of doubt was my enemy. An enemy that would not like to see me succeed in learning Chinese, would not like to see me succeed in my ministry and certainly would not like to see me succeed in hearing the voice of God. Something I had been writing off was trying to plant seeds in my mind that I do not want there.

As Christians, I think we can never take our eyes off of the ultimate goal. Heaven, people, that is the ultimate goal. Don't forget it.

LiGang Report

You all, I meant to post this blog a few months ago, but I wanted to post pictures with it and that turned into a BIG fiasco! After messing with the pictures forever, I forgot that I didn't actually post this! So, 3 months late, here is the wonderful news I wanted to share!


March 21st, we had our first service in LiGang (pronounced Lee Gah-ng), about 45 minutes Northeast of Kaohsiung. Chris has been teaching a Bible study class there since December 2009, and we had two people from this Bible study receive the Holy Ghost at our national conference this year in February. One of the ladies who attends the class is currently loaning us, free of charge, the first floor of a building she owns. God bless her!

Chris wasn't sure what to expect for the first service, but God amazed and astounded us! We had 39 people in attendance, with only 13 of those being from the Kaohsuing church! Then, then, we had two people receive the Holy Ghost for the first time!! There was such an awesome move of God's spirit and confirmation that this was the right step to take. So, praise God and keep us in prayer (especially Chris) as Sunday now has three back to back services.

We had our official church dedication last month and I am sorry to say that I forgot how many people we had in attendance, but we ran out of chairs and several of us stood for the whole service. Dad Bracken preached for us and once again, we had a wonderful move of God's spirit. Oh yeah, here is the slide show that I wanted to post before.

Camera Woes

I haven't post any picture on here in about a million years because I am a lazy bum and I lost the usb cord to my camera, in that order. I believe in honesty, can you tell? But, the other day, Jing Hwa was nice enough to put some of her pictures on my flash drive, so here is a little look-see. Just for a little background, these pictures are from Easter and Ethan practically lives in those boots. Everyday, his outfit consist of a shirt, a belt, jeans, and those boots. And saints perserve us if all of his jeans are dirty.