Uh, say what?

A few months ago, I saw a teenager here in Taiwan wearing a rather interesting T-shirt. I only wish I had gotten a picture for you all. He was obviously Taiwanese and his shirt read, "I am the Black American dream". At first I thought, "Uh, perhaps he needs a few more English classes." But you know what? That T-shirt has secretly thrilled me for months. Every time I think about it, I giggle! I never knew that the black American dream is to be Chinese!

Oh the Logic! It's hurting my head...

See this kid? This one right here:



I may have mentioned before that he is logical. He is the kid that ask me if Jesus wears clothes. He is also the kid that went through a terrifically long stage of asking "why" about everything. A stage that I almost didn't survive. Well, I can think of no other way to tell you just how logical his is than to tell you a joke that he made up on Sunday. It goes like this:

"Why did the cloud go to the doctor?"

and the answer?

"He didn't because clouds are in the sky and they don't need doctors."

The end.

A Pentecostal Purse

Do you all want to know a secret? One of the reasons that this blog got neglected was because we were back in the USA for about two weeks at the beginning of August. Probably about ten or so of you already know that little secret. We went back for an ADMIT conference in Tulsa and Arkansas Campmeeting in North Little Rock. Both conferences were an absolute blessing to attend. But, that is not what I am here to talk about today. If you have already heard the story, (Mom Bracken told it when she was speaking at the Ladies Meeting in North Little Rock.) just come back tomorrow.

The first day that we got to the US, Abbey told me very emphatically that she needed a "Pentecostal Purse". "A what??", I replied. "What is a Pentecostal Purse?" After she gave me the come-on-Mom look, she said, "It is BIG, black and shiny." Much like this:



Except not a Prada, obviously. Well, before we left Tulsa, a dear friend of ours gave Abbey money for her to buy a "Pentecostal Purse". So, in Little Rock, we headed to TJ Maxx (seriously, I love that place!) to find the perfect purse. And that was when I knew for sure that she was really my daughter in heart, not just in blood. She had forty dollars and she searched until she found a purse on sale. And what did she do with the extra cash? Well, bought a new wallet and a new notepad, of course!

And if don't think she has her finger on the pulse of Pentecostal Ladies, next time you are in a Pentecostal church, look around and count all the big, black, shiny purses!

I should also mention this story as a side note. After Mom Bracken spoke in Little Rock, we were chatting with a lady we met in the bathroom (Honestly, I think that is a such a girl thing, you know, to make friends in the bathroom!) and she told us that she was in the car with her husband headed back to the hotel and she said, "I think I might have to get me one of those Pentecostal Purses!" To which he replied, "A say what??" Now I know how trends get spread!

Resurrection

Dear Readers,
I apologise that this blog has been, how shall I put it, stale? slacking? overlooked? neglected? Dead.

I am going to remedy this today. Today, I am getting back on schedule. I have a ton of blogs coming up about Taiwan, our trip to Rome, and some pretty funny things that have been happening around the Bracken Zoo.

For now, I am going to leave you with some awesome pictures created by a Chinese artist. He aptly calls his art "Blending In". Hope you enjoy!