Hi, Do I Know You?

Hi. My name is Tiffany. You may remember me as the sometimes writer of this blog. Since it has been a coon's age (what does that really mean?) since I last posted, I thought we might need to be reintroduced.

Okay, really. Guys, I have a list a mile long of blogs I want to write, but haven't been able to find the time. We are right in the middle of moving to a new apartment and moving is so much fun!! Yay!! (Please do not drown in the sarcasm.) Honestly, I love our new apartment. It has a huge courtyard with a little park for the kids. Since it is next to impossible to have a yard here in Taiwan, having a great courtyard is second best. We are really blessed to be able to rent the apartment we are moving to. I will try to get pictures up for you all. Try. But don't hold your breath. I wouldn't want that kind of pressure.

I promise that I am going to get all of the stories that you love up here soon, but give me a week to get moved into our new house and to get the Internet up and running.


Until then, here's a little mind morsel: God always gives you a choice, but sometimes He makes you miserable until you choose the right thing. Don't believe me? Just ask Jonah. God to Jonah: "Hey, how's the belly? Nineveh's looking pretty good right about now, huh?"

A Wii, a Wha, a What?

Abbey is our sweetheart. Our romantic. Our math whiz. She, however, is not our linguist. Ethan has that department completely covered. We were reminded of this again the other day when she started telling a story to Chris. It was about a book she had saw at the library and she was attempting to describe a person in the book. See if you can figure out what she was trying to say from this conversation.

"Uh, Baba, there was this wii in the book. Wait, not a wii, a wha. No, not a wha, a WIC! It was a WISH! A really bad WISH! You know, like a mean lady. A bad wish."

At this point, Chris helped her with the word she was looking for, a Witch! Sadly enough, I couldn't help because I was hiding in the kitchen giggling myself to death. There is nothing in this world like a BAD WISH!!!

National Conference Update

Hey all! I just wanted to give you a quick update on our National Conference last weekend. We had an awesome, awesome conference. This year, Bro. Robinette, a missionary to Austria, was our guest speaker. He is so full of focus and vision that it was like a breath of fresh air to our own visions for Taiwan. In the conference itself, we had 29 receive the Holy Ghost for the first time and many more be renewed. From our Bible Study in Taipei, one man came down and he received the Holy Ghost. Then from the Bible Study that Chris is doing in a town about 30 minutes northeast of Kaohsiung, three people came and received the Holy Ghost. AND, we are starting a services there THIS month. I can not put into words how excited I am about everything that happened and everything that I believe will happen as a result of this conference. Please keep us in prayer that we, as a church, will retain our outward focus and that many new churches will be planted this year. Hold on to your seat because revival is sweeping Taiwan!

I'm Just like Who?

Last Saturday, I was "encouraging" the kids to clean their room. When they would stop and dally or try out a marker to see what color it writes, I would say to them, "Come on, keep picking up. You have to get your room clean today." After about three or four time of telling this, Ethan grumbled, "You are just like Pharaoh, always telling God's people to keep working." While I am glad to see that he is listening in Sunday School, I'm not so sure I like the way he is applying it!

Early Morning Earthquake Anyone?

This morning, we had a 6.4 earthquake. It was centered about 44 miles ENE from where we live. And still live. I am happy to report that other than giving us a little scare, we are indeed fine and so are our church people. I had the great misfortune to be in the shower when it started. And all I could think was, "Oh Jesus, please don't let this be a big one. I don't want to be pulled from the rubble with no clothes on." I have faith that if I die, I will go to heaven, but I don't want to leave that kind of story behind. (No pun intended.)

Later, I ask Ethan if he was scared during the earthquake. He calmly replied that he wasn't because he knew that Jesus would take care of him. It is moments like these that I get a glimmer of hope that all the lesson and Sunday School is getting through.

I Have a Confession or Two...

I confess, I didn't take one single picture while Baby Owen was with us. Not one. I don't even know where my camera is. I also forgot what it was like to not sleep through the night and to try and comfort a baby that has set his mind on crying. I'm not saying we didn't have fun, because we did, but (whispering) it was mostly fun because we knew it was short term. There, I said it. We are sticking with two. End of story.

Also, I have another confession. It's embarrassing, but we are friends, right? I bought some new colored pens for the kids. When I tried one out, I discovered that they have glitter ink and that they smell like blueberry and strawberry and orange and Chocolate. And.... and... I hid them. I have let the kids play with them under supervision, but they have no idea that I bought the pens for them. I might have even doodled up a couple of pieces of paper and sat around sniffing the pens, but that kind of confession is a bit personal.

One more tiny confession. We just got Dunkin Doughnuts in Kaohsiung. I went to just have a little look see and was seduced by the doughnut holes. I may have created an addict for doughnut holes in Ethan. But I was good. I let him have the last one. Mainly because I was feeling guilty that I have hidden glitter pens in my room.

Realizations concerning Confusion

A few days ago I was talking with a lady. She is super brilliant, but seems to move through life by going from one bad choice, one bad relationship, to another bad choice or relationship. As she was talking, I kept thinking to myself, how can one person who is so intelligent make such bad decisions. Have you ever met someone like this? Suddenly, it was like a light turned on. This is what a life without prayer looks like. I prayed before I started dating my husband. I prayed before I chose which college to attend. I prayed before I got married, had children, came to Taiwan, and any other major decision in my life. I still pray before I teach a class, cook a meal, go to study Chinese and a hundred other little decisions that make up my life. Prayer is such a go to place before deciding things in my life that I had forgotten that some people never pray about such things. They follow their logic or intuition or emotions and hope for the best. When things turn upside down, they blame it on fate or "never- meant- to- be's" or the other person. And for me, that is kinda like deciding to go on a trip and not checking the mileage and filling up on gas. Then when you run out of gas, blaming it on the car. So, what am I trying to say in my rambling way? Folks, if you want to avoid a lot of problems and broken hearts (yours!), you might want to consider prayer. There is no decision to large or small to pray about. I can't take credit for the good things in my life, only for knowing the one who knows it all.

Incidentally, Chris would say that he never prayed about getting the cats and has been suffering ever since. So, let that be a lesson to you.