Mexico!

As you may have noticed, missionaries can be a little weird.  It's okay. We know it and accept it.  Some of us may even think that it takes a little weirdness to become a missionary.  So, I've had these "bucket list" places that I've wanted to go to for years.  As a missionary, I have had the privilege of going to many places and countries.  I count that part of my life a blessing.  BUT, there are two places I have wanted to go and never gotten to go to.  I have been within mere miles of their borders.  So close that it almost hurt to not get to just cross over.  What are these two magnificent places that I have dreamed of visiting?  Well, Mexico and Canada of course!  How can I travel around the world and not have been to the very two countries that border the US?  

Y'all. Yesterday, I got to go into Mexico!  We are in Yuma, AZ and you can literally park in the US and walk across the border to a little town.  And I have never seen one place with so many dentist offices. We walked around and had coffee.  Then we had lunch. Then we saw the Trump wall and had to take a picture.

It was wonderful!  And now I can check it off.  Canada, I'm coming from you next!

  

So, you see, it was like this...

 Hey Y'all, how have you been?  How's your momma and 'em doing?  So, we are back in the US for a bit.  How long you ask?  Well, not sure.  So, here's the story in case you do not receive our newsletters. (If you do not and would like to, comment on this post.  I will not publish the comment with your personal info, but will add you to the list.)

Our Latest Update

Praise the Lord, from Taiwan!
This is not a newsletter. It is just a short update to let you know what is happening as a result of the recent lockdowns.

The main reason for this update, is to let the church in America know about some recent changes in plans. Due to being unable to conduct our normal outreach (nursing homes, children’s outreach, orphanage), and since my wife had not seen her parents in two years, I decided to send my wife and children back to the USA for two months. On returning to Taiwan in August, they would need to do a home quarantine for fourteen days. I would stay in a hotel and buy groceries for them during that time.

Unfortunately, last Sunday, Taiwan changed their rules requiring the quarantine period to be in a government approved location . We were willing to work with this situation. Unfortunately, that wasn’t all. They also require children thirteen years and older to be quarantined separately from their parents. Alone. I feel this to be immoral.

My options are limited. In the twenty years my wife and I have
been married, two months would have been the longest time we
had been separated. I am unwilling to be away from my family indefinitely. That having been said, there really is no end in sight for the situation in Taiwan. For these reasons, I will be returning to the USA temporarily. Pending a change in Taiwan’s quarantine policy, I plan on travelling between these two countries while my family bases in the USA. Please keep us in your prayers as we navigate these new waters.

Hope to see many of you soon, Christopher J. Bracken

  

After service fellowship in a random city parking lot.

Our new music department compartmentalized in our car.

 Government approved location

So, I might be seeing you! We don't always understand the journeys that God takes us on, but we know he is never surprised. 

Security PSA

I, like most of you, do my heavy thinking when I am cleaning up the kitchen.  I scrub pots and think about the steps I should take if we ever have a super big earthquake.  I load the dishwasher and contemplate a rational argument with a liberal.  And the other night, I started thinking about how hard it must be for serial killers in our current world.  Stay with me, I'm going somewhere with this.  Before, they could stalk their victim and then make their move.  Today, they have to avoid so many security cameras.  It seems that every intersection , business and front door has a camera.  This train of thought led me to thinking about kidnapping.  Now, personally, my plan is to go limp if they ever try to get me.  Have you ever tried to wrangle a limp, protesting two year old?  I have and barely succeeded.  I can confirm that I am not two, nor do I weigh what a two year old weighs.  I think with my arms over my head and body limp, it would take a lot of determination to move me.  I also plan to spit, scream, and if necessary, pee myself to make me not worth the trouble of kidnapping.  So, if one day, I do come up missing, get that footage from some camera.  It will be definitely be worth your time!

Back to the matter at hand.  These serial killers also have to be aware of Apple watches and smart phones.  You can send a SOS signal from them to get help.  Which make me start thinking, how do I activate the SOS signal from my watch?  I feel if it has that function, I should know how to use it because smart watch plus dumb person equals dumb watch.  So, yes, I most certainly looked it up.  And here is your PSA for the day.  If you are in trouble, press and hold the side button on your watch.  Continue to hold it until the slide bar appears.  If possible, slide the bar.  If not, continue holding it.  It will do a count down then notify the police with your coordinates.  And then hopefully, help will be on the way!

While "researching" this, I sort of fell down a rabbit hole and I now know that my watch also has a "Fall function".  If you have a heart attack and fall really hard, your watch will notify the police that you need help.  If you are clumsy and fall super hard, it might still work.

PSA over.  What do you think about while doing the dishes?  And don't say dishes.

Bracken Blurbs

#1- Sunday Morning, I was standing by the door getting ready to head to Sunday School when a lady came in.  She looked at me and said, "You look wider." I cheerfully replied, "Thank you!" Everyone left that conversation confused. (I HAVEN'T gained a pound!  I weighed myself.)

#2- Today, Abbey was going to clean the blender after making a smoothie.  We clean it by rinsing it out, adding water and soap and blending to get the blades clean.  The lid sadly wasn't fully pushed down.  It was her first shower in the kitchen.  And now, my counters, my walls, my cabinets, and my floor are super clean.

#3- I was talking with my Mom in Alabama and she mentioned that Alaska had a big earthquake.  She then ask me if we felt it over here.  I told her that I didn't know, but she is probably closer to Alaska than I am, so did she feel it?  And she is indeed closer.  800 miles closer to Anchorage than I am.  It turns out that she didn't feel it either! (Y'all better not tell her I told this story!)

Hello!

Hi there. I imagine that you have come here looking for something to read.  And all you see are the same stories that have been here for a couple of years.  Let me try to explain.  I love to write and I seem to have an extra amount of things happen to me that are amusing.  And for a time, my kids were little and cute and said the funniest things that I wanted to record and remember.  But then they grew up.  And they didn't want everything I found amusing to be shared on the internet.  Well, they didn't care if I shared, they just cared if people read them.  I can respect that even if I don't really like it.  I tried to invoke a law about if you give birth to someone and spend years (Years!) awake with them at night, you get to share stories until you die.  I was vetoed. And to be honest, it threw me into a writers slump.

But, I enjoy writing and I miss it.  So, I'm going to start again.  It's true.  I am busy.  But it is also true that you make time for the things you want to make time for. So for now, I'll be seeing you.

Pride goeth before destruction...

All my life, I have heard, "Pride goeth before a fall."  But that is actually a haughty spirit.  Pride just brings destruction.  Now, in the following story, I would like to think that I wasn't being prideful.  I didn't mean to be prideful if I was.  I was trying to do the Lord's work like a good, little girl.  But there was destruction.  Great, embarrassing destruction.  The kind that makes me wonder why I am sharing this, but well, funny stories must be told.
Earlier this year, we had special guest here in Taiwan.  We are blessed to often have guest who are willing to endure the long flight over and we are always very grateful.  However, these guest were a bit unusual in several ways.  1. They were younger.  2. Their whole family came. 3. They were here for a month. 4. They were here at a time when my mother-in-law was out of country.  So, I had a chance to host them for dinner at my house.  I love hosting guest and was really trying to put my best foot forward.  I set the table with my best dishes.  I cooked a great meal with homemade marinara sauce, homemade bread and some cute individual cheesecakes for dessert.  I'm not bragging, but I'm pretty good at cooking.  And eating, but we'll just talk about the cooking! 
So, we had all eaten this great dinner and it was time for the coffee and dessert.  I quickly cleared the table and got each person their preferred coffee or tea.  I had just sat down with my dessert and was enjoying the wonderful conversation when our guest speaker said something that hit me so funny.  And for the first time in my life, I spewed coffee out of my mouth and across the table!  I was very, very effective.  I hit the guest speaker, his wife, their coffee cups, my father-in-law's cup and the whole plate of little cheesecakes.  After all, I like to do things well!  I immediately clapped a hand over my mouth and fled to the bathroom.  The table sat in stunned silence.  I quickly washed up and returned to red-facedly apologized and began cleaning up the mess.  By this time, everyone had recovered and were laughing!  Well, I was laughing, but not recovered.
As you can imagine, this has been the source of many, many jokes and I am just happy that they had a good sense of humor about my "explosion".  I am a bit scarred now.  I just barely sip my drink if I am listening to anything funny.  After all, my mouth has already failed me once!

Schedule

Many of you wonderful people have ask us when we are going to be back in the U.S..  In an effort to make life simpler for everyone, I am now posting a very simple schedule over on the right of this blog.  If you are interesting in having the Chris Bracken family at your church at some time, these are the dates that we will be in the US.  Also included are some of our events in Taiwan that we would love for you to help us pray for.  Thank You!

Christian Development Course in Chinese

Hello World!


Many of you have approached us over the years and ask for help when witnessing to Chinese people you have met.  You have made a new friend, but you've discovered that only so much can be communicated in nods, smiles and hand gestures!  Often, we wish we had something to immediately give to you since we might forget to mail a book back when we get home.  Well! Finally! This is hot off the presses and sure to help!  It is 40 Christian development courses translated into Chinese (Simplified characters)!  With his permission, one of the ladies here in Taiwan has translated Bro. Crawford Coon's A Reason of the Hope. You can download the Chinese lessons here:


https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B20h0TRS5H1sQ3RLUXZYUnBLZzA/view?usp=sharing


You can download the English version here:


http://thedayaftertomorrow.net/ag5/Christian-Development-Course-A-Reason-of-the-Hope--ISBN-0961885335-9780961885335.pdf


We are elated to have this available!  Hopefully, this will be a blessing to you!  God bless!

Fall... In November

While most of the people reading this are bundling up for winter and possibly seeing a snowy landscape outside of their windows, Taiwan is just beginning to embrace what we call Fall.  On this Evergreen Island, there aren't piles of crunchy leaves or the smell of fireplaces filling the air.  But the breeze is pleasant, not like our summer breezes that feel like that gust of air you get when you open a hot oven.  The sunlight has a softness and no longer seeks to scorch your skin.  The sun goes to bed around 5:45.

 If you have read this blog for long, you know all about my love for fall.  It is such a perfect time of pumpkins, cornbread, soup, freshly sharpened pencils and newness!  I know, I know, Spring seems to have the market on newness!  But not to me.  Never for me.  I was always the kid that loved the first two weeks of summer and suffered through the rest.  I wanted the schedule and environment and even homework that school provided.  Fall was always a new start to school with new supplies.  I would beg to buy everything early and pack my backpack weeks before school started.  Then I would sit my backpack where I could see it every morning when I get up.  I remember waking up, laying in my bed and staring at my backpack.  I would feel a thrill of excitement as that was my promise that school was going to start soon.  

For a few years after graduating college, every Fall felt like a party I was missing!  But, as I've gotten older adjusted, I've come to realize that Fall is still a time of newness for me.  Some people like to make big changes at New Years or on their birthdays.  Fall is my time.

So, as I sit in my second story office and stare out at the green, green leaves on my tree, I see two reddish brown leaves.  And those two leaves amazingly remind me of God's love.  God's love for us goes beyond the cross and into the smallest, most private parts of our lives.  He doesn't just want to save us, but to have a relationship with us.  The lover of my soul cares that I love Fall.  And as a reflection of His love for me, I have a tree that sheds its leaves.  An oddity in Taiwan for sure.  Jesus loves me, this I know!  

Fostering...

I've been trying to write this blog since last April.  I'm still not sure if I have the emotions all straight in my head for this to make sense, but here we go! (Sorry, but this may be long and rambling!)

Last September, we got a call asking us if we would consider being long term foster parents.  Before that, we had fostered several babies, but always on a short term basis.  We help a mother care center/adoption agency here in Taiwan.  This center was started because of the extremely high abortion rates in Taiwan.  The last statistic I heard was that 7 out of every 10 pregnancies here end in abortion.  So, it has been our way of trying to put feet on to our faith.  If you are interested, you can check them out here.

We really prayed about it and felt it was God opening a door.  We said yes and less than a week later, a cute little 8 month old boy moved in.  They had warned us that he was born premature at 31 weeks and that he could quite possibly have mental problems.  He would sit in his sit and never interact with anyone at the nursery.  Thus began a journey of being foster parents.

Here is Titus getting lots of attention at church.

When we started fostering, he was not yet matched with an adoptive family,  The center had given him the nickname "Buddy".  We quickly discovered that Buddy was not mentally handicapped, but starved for affection.  The center has a nice facility and an excellent nanny to baby ratio.  However, Buddy never cried and therefore, didn't get as much attention as other babies.  He just needed to be loved.  We took him back to the nursery a couple of weeks later to get some shots and everyone kept asking us what we had done to this baby.  He was so different.  (I'm not a preacher, but isn't that what God's love does to us?)  

A couple of months later he was matched with a really awesome family from Canada and then began the wait.  We quickly, or rather slowly discovered that governments do not move fast when processing adoption papers.  And Taiwan drags it out as long as they can.  From December until September, we waited on paperwork and  court dates and decrees.  During this time, we absolutely fell in love with this baby that we were entrusted with.  

Many people, when they realized that we were fostering, ask questions.  And maybe you have some of those same questions, so here is a Q and A.

Q: Do you hope to adopt?

A:  We aren't opposed, but just haven't felt led to.

Q: Why didn't you adopt Buddy if he wasn't matched with a family?

A: We seriously prayed about it, but didn't feel that was what God had planned.  Plus, knowing that families had been on the waiting list for a long time to adopt, meant that he was going to get matched.

Q:Do you want a third child?

A: Actually, I'm very satisfied with the two I have.  It could happen one day, but no plans!

Q: Are you unable to have another child, so this fulfills a need in you? 

A: If I wanted a third child, I do not anticipate any problems, so, no.

Q: Do you think it is sad that his mother gave him up?

A: Honestly, no.  She gave him life and then made a decision that allowed him to be adopted by a family that really wants him.  She opened the door for him to go from an unwanted pregnancy to an anticipated blessing. 

Q: Wow!  You must have had a lot of free time to decide to foster!

A: Um, not really!  But you know the old saying, "If you want to get something done, give it to a busy person!"

Q:Will you foster again?

A: Short term, definitely.  Long term, that's up to God!

Q: How will you ever give him up when his family comes?  Won't it hurt too bad?

A: Yes, it hurt.  But I've found that when you are walking down a road that God has prepared for you, he walks with you.  So, we were sad to see him go, but at the same time, filled with an immense peace that could only come from God.

"Buddy" on his 1st birthday

We had Titus (the name given to him from his adoptive family) for a little over a year.  Our greatest hope is that he will grow up to feel secure and with a desire to know and serve God.  I know that he will not remember the time he spent with us, but hopefully, something was transferred in the spirit.  He was always lifting his hands and clapping in church.  Once, I was crying during prayer meeting and he climbed in my lap and wiped my tears away.  I guess you could say that we hope we were a blessing to him in the year we took care of him.  But, I'm pretty sure we were blessed the most just by getting a chance to know and love this awesome kid!

Titus left last week with his new family.  After arriving back home, they shared a picture with me of Titus and his 3 siblings.  It did my heart so good to see him laughing and smiling!

Bracken Blurbs

#1-  Last year, while we were in the US, Chris was preaching at a church.  Sometimes, at the beginning of his preaching, he will speak a little Chinese and then translate for himself.  Just maybe 4 or 5 sentences where he goes back and forth between two languages.  Well, the next day, the church secretary calls me over and says that she has the best story to tell me.  She did not disappoint.  It seems that two ladies were sitting in the back of the church during Chris' preaching.  One lady has a known hearing problem, but staunchly refuses to admit it.  However, during Chris' preaching, even she started to think that maybe her ears should be checked.  She turned to her friend and said, "I can't understand a word he is saying!  It is like he is speaking a foreign language!"  Her friend then leaned over and replied, "He is speaking a foreign language.  He's speaking Chinese!"  Of course, that got them both tickled and they even had to step out of the church for a moment to get themselves back together. 


#2- A few months ago, our family was all talking around the dinner table.  We always sometimes have the most random, stream of consciousness conversations.  That day, we had somehow gotten into a conversation about lips.  I wish I could explain how we got there, but I have no idea why we were discussing lips.  Ethan had been pretty quiet the whole time.  There was a break in the conversation and he suddenly pipes up with, "Lips.  I've been on the wrong side of those before."  Yes, in case you are wondering, he has reached the age where it is embarrassing to be kissed by your mom.


#3- The other day, I packed the diaper bag in a super big hurry.  We were trying to get out the door for church and I needed to grab a clean burp cloth/ spit cloth for the baby.  Now, I'll tell you a secret.  I'm horrible at getting folded clothes from the laundry room table put up in their proper places.  And that day was not different.  So, I ran downstairs, grabbed a cloth and some extra baby clothes and shoved it all in the diaper bag.  On Wednesdays, I teach an English class before church, so Chris watches Titus (Our foster baby).  I always get back to the church right as prayer is starting.  So, after prayer, I notice that Titus ate a cracker when he was with Chris and now I need to change his clothes.  I know church is about to start, so I quickly dig through the diaper bag to get his extra clothes out.  Onesie- check!  Pants- check! Wait.  What's this?  Then I discover, to my absolute horror, I am also holding a pair of my... unmentionables!!  It seems that in my hurry to grab things off the laundry table, I accidently snagged a pair and now I'm sharing them with anyone in the church who happens to be looking!  As you can imagine, I quickly shoved them into the side pocket of the diaper bag.  But my face was still bright red and I got the nervous giggles!  Chris just happen to walk over at that moment to ask me a question.  After 12 years of marriage he just said,  "What did you do? Nevermind.  I don't want to know."

Is it Possible?

Is it possible I haven't written in almost a year?  I remember as a kid feeling like summer break lasted an eternity and my grandmother would tell me, "Just wait.  Time flies when you get older."  And indeed it does, Mamaw!





So, what have we been doing? Well, long story long, here is a brief run through.  We went to the US.  We came home. School started. We started fostering a dog to see if we would like to have a dog.  We started fostering a baby not to see if we would like another. Thanksgiving came.  We avoided turkey just to be different.  Christmas came.  We all got sick.  New Years came.  We went on vacation to try to recover.  January was cold.  Taiwan National Conference came.  It was awesome. March came.  Things settled down a bit.  April came.  It was hot.  The Kaohsiung Church celebrated its 31st anniversary. I remembered I had a blog once.


Well, that's it.  Good bye for another year. 




I'm just kidding! I am going to try and get the details down for all posterity soon.  Until then, God's blessings on you!

Dear Uncle Trey...

Dear Uncle Trey,

In preparation of coming to the U.S., I have had to say almost everything to my kids twice.  This is your fault.  They want me to say things normal and then say it "Southern".  They just discovered in this last year that people from the south have an accent.  I guess I have pretty much lost mine, except for when I am mad.  At least, that is what Chris tells me.  I guess that most people revert back to their native language when they are mad. But, let's get back on topic.

 They want to speak with a southern accent so they can talk to YOU!  I'm not sure how you all have been communicating for the last 10 years, but it must not have been working...
 
So they have been practicing how to say Y'all.  And they are horrible at it!  They say it too high pitched.  The southern voice in my head cries in agony every time they say it.  (Could you perhaps help them with that when you see them in August?  Thanks!)  They are both pretty good at the "Uh-UUH" you seem to say a lot. Honestly, though, we love you!

Dear Uncle Dominick,

It seems that you can understand "non-southern" English.  Congratulations! We love you, too!     

It's Summer, Y'all!!

This may be the first time and perhaps the last that you guys will read the word "Y'all" on my blog, but it just felt right!  And I am from Alabama, so, there's that. 

Hey!  It is Summer!  And I haven't written forever!  I have thought about this blog and kept my list of story idea, but alas, the muse has not been with me.  But I feel it returning.

My sweet kids are on summer break now.  They are now officially third and fourth graders!  But, living in Taiwan has taught me something.  Every summer, we hang out, play, sleep in and in general, just do what kids should do in summer.  However, their Chinese classmates all go to extra classes, practice up on their math skills and probably build rockets or something.  The point is that they stay educationally active in the summer and us, not so much.  And we have to play catch up in August.  So I thought that I would pick up a few workbooks for the kids to just practice in their down time, i.e. when they say they are bored.  Today, that time arrived.  Abbey comes in my room wanting something to do.

  "Go read your library books", I say.  She has already finished them.

 "Go play outside', I say.  It's too hot.

 "What about your Polly Pockets?"  She's bored with them, plus Ethan was doing something else and she didn't want to play alone.

 I grab the Math workbook and give it to her.  Actually, I just held it out to her.  She never actually took it because she was scooting away from me and the workbook.

 "Here, practice this and time yourself.  The first couple of pages are super easy!"

 To which she replied, "Mom, are you kidding me?  Math?  I hate math!!"

 I decided not to push the issue because, well, moms like summer break, too.  Later I heard her telling Ethan about it.

 "Ethan, mom tried to make me do Math today.  During Summer break!"

 "Dude, you're kidding!  Math?"

 I chimed in with, "Well, I just don't want you kids to forget everything in the summer."  Ethan's reply?

 "Mom, it's like in our brains.  We won't forget.  It's impossible."

 Anyone need a math workbook?  Cause I've got genius kids that don't need this one.  

Bracken Blurbs... again

I love to see the world through my kids eyes.  Their perceptions are sometimes amusing and often very insightful.  As many of you know that have been following this blog since they were babies, they are apt to say anything and let's just say that bashfulness isn't something we have discussed very much in our house.  Proper times to say certain things is a frequent conversation topic in the Bracken household.  So, without further ado, here are a few of the most recent observations:

1.  A few months ago, the kids and I were reading the story of the Princess and the Pea.  Halfway through the story, Ethan said, "Wait, it's a pea you eat?"  When I said yes, he replied, "I always thought that she just peed the bed!"  Yeah, that WOULD be hard not to notice!

2.  Just last night, Ethan was talking and he said, "A long time ago, when they had snail mail..."  Oh, I feel old!  I can actually remember a time when there was no e-mail and I actually had a pen pal! That wasn't as long ago as you might think...

3.  This last one, it isn't directly about a Bracken.  Some of you might remember this blog that was meant as a joke.  I thought that most people would get the punch line.  Apparently not.  About three weeks after I wrote it, a girl in my church came up to me and ask where that supermarket was located at.  I ask her, "What supermarket?"  "The one that you wrote about in your blog!  I've searched all over the internet and can't find it!"  And cue the hysterical laughter.  I laughed until I cried and could not breathe.  Somewhere in the middle, I wheezed out an explanation.  Then she laughed until she cried and couldn't breathe.  We were both possibly tired.  After we caught our breath, she told me that she had spent a couple of hours searching the internet and even going to the chamber of commerce page to try and find out about any new supermarkets in Kaohsiung.  Then she search for the whole island to see if it was in another town.  Amazingly, she was unable to locate it.  I wonder why... 

4.  Recently, Abbey and Ethan have both developed a slightly annoying habit.  I fully recognize that is just a part of growing up.  In fact, I can remember doing the same as a kid.  What is it that they are doing, you ask?  They will ask us a question.  When we answer, they will say, "I know".  To which I say, "If you already knew, why did you ask me?"  Their answer?  "I was just seeing if you knew the answer!"  Thank God for college!

5.  Last one!  We have a Sunday School contest going right now.  If you can memorize a scripture and tell a teacher at Sunday School, you get a point.  Points can be used to "buy" big prizes.  There is no limit on the number of scriptures you can say in one class time.  So, last Sunday, both kids remembered this before church.  They got their Bibles and started searching for a scripture to memorize.  When it came to tell the teacher, I didn't know which ones they had chosen.  But their choices so reflected their personalities!  Ethan quoted one from Revelation concerning one of the beast and Abbey quoted a lovely one from Psalms!  I LOVE IT!!

The Joys and Trials of a New House

We moved (Yes, once again...) into a new house in April.  6 whole months ago.  Now, I should mention that it is new to us, not new in the sense that it was just built.  Also, I should mention that it is a a rental, but Praise the sweet powers that be, I was able to convince Chris that we really needed a 5 year contract this time around and not just a year or two.  I keep adding to my dishes which means that he has to move more and more heavy things each time we move, so he agreed to the 5 year contract.  Ladies, when talking doesn't work, dishes will!!

So, after six months, everything should be settled, right?  Not right.  While this is a great house, it was almost completely bare inside.  And every wall of the house was painted off white.  Every room, every stairwell,  every single wall.  And let's talk about the great banisters.  All yellow.  A lovely yellow paint that scratched off easily.  Then we could see that they were once black and before that, a hideous maroon.  So, we have been transforming this into something that represents us a little more.  When it is done, I'll get you all some pictures. (Actually, to be really honest, you have a better chance of seeing those if you follow me on Instagram.  I won't say that I am addicted, but the ease of it is too convenient!)  So, I have been focused that last few months on finding furniture that we really like and can afford, narrowing down paint colors and replacing curtains.  I'll just say on that subject that orange curtains are hard to pull off and bright green with yellow and pink flowers do not exactly soothe the soul.  The whole process  has actually been tremendously fun!

However, I have learned something really frustrating about myself.  Which is happening right now, which is why I am writing this post in the first place.  Am I the only one that puts things off until guest are coming over?  It's like I can ignore anything until someone is coming over.  Now, I don't mean that I have piles of trash sitting around or that I never mop.  I'm talking about the fact that I was outside scrubbing the sidewalk today and buying new curtain rods and trying to get curtains hung.  I even considered (briefly) taking down all the curtains and washing them.  And who are these all-seeing guest?  Abbey and Ethan's best friends.  Kids that honestly will see nothing but toys and friends and possibly notice if I have food or not.  Which has lead me to this question...

"Do I use the excuse of guest coming to motivate myself or do I have issues?"

Okay, that isn't meant to be taken too seriously.  We all have issues.  Deal with it.  But it seems that the day before someone comes over is always a bit frantic and I so wish I could be one of those people that thinks to herself, "Oh, we have guest coming tomorrow?  I can't think of one thing that I need to do!"

Do those people exist?  What kind of person are you?  The Laid back housekeeper or the frantic cleaner?

Ahh.. the desire to be perfect can be such a drag! (I guess that I shouldn't mention that Chris is repainting the kitchen right now as we speak or that I'm off to reorganize my laundry system...)

English Strikes Again

Today we were at an assembly at our kids' school. The principal was talking about a USB key and Chris leaned over and we had the following whispered conversation:

 Chris: "What is a B key?"

Me: "A USB key."

C: "I don't get it. What's a B key?"

 Me: "A U-S-B key. You know, for a computer!"

 C: "Like a flash drive?"

Me: "Exactly."

C: "I can't believe I just wasted 20 seconds of my life. I thought he meant a B key from the US. I hate English!"

And what followed was that awkward moment when you are dying to laugh, but totally in the wrong place to laugh out loud. So, you hold it in and try to laugh silently. Except the laughter turns to tears and escapes through your eyes. And you are sitting in a assembly where the principal is talking about USB keys and nothing, not one thing is funny.

Our Latest Newsletter

East Asia News!

Newsletter of the Tom and Chris Bracken Families

March/April 2012

To all of our Friends, Family, and Supporters,


Good things are happening in Taiwan. Rejoice with us for the following report:



* A very blessed Turning Point 2012-Taiwan National Conference was held February 17-19. Pastor Don Hyler, of Atwater, California, was with us this year. What a blessing! We are thankful for his anointed preaching and for at least 17 receiving the Holy Ghost!

* Saturday, March 24th, marked the beginning of a new semester of Pentecostal Bible College with 25 students! It was an awesome day of teaching and learning!

* We are now in the last week of preparation before beginning the purchase of our building. We had an architect come and make a safety inspection of the facility and are awaiting his report. We are still short of the goal. Our hope is that some last minute offerings will come in for this over the next few days.



Thank you for your prayers and giving for this major undertaking. We are praying that all of the sacrifice by God's people will translate into many, many souls spending eternity in heaven!



Home of the Pentecostal Bible College of Taiwan and the Tainan Pentecostal Church



Pastor Collins, of Twin Falls, Idaho, handing me a building offering check for $50,000.00!




A former Taiwan Naval Captain, James Ho, who was just baptized-standing with wife, children, and pastor



Pastor Hyler Preaching during our National Conference


Pastor Chris Bracken teaching in the Bible School


Education Dynamics Asia | 6541 Paxton Road | Vicksburg | MS | 39180

The Sticker that Was

Yesterday was interesting. If you follow on Instagram, then you already know this story. Yesterday was spent in the hospital. All day. Because of a sticker. Things started off normally, but took a turn around 6:30. Ethan had a shower then headed off to Abbey's room to get dressed. I assumed that he could handle that himself, so I went off to fix Abbey's hair. The next thing I know, Chris is coming in asking if I have tweezers because Ethan put a sticker in his ear. It seems that instead of getting dressed, he decided to explore Abbey's room and found a sticker. He is six and his sister's room is not a place that we normally let him hang out in alone. For reasons only know to God, he found a sticker and put it in his ear. No parenting manual prepares you for this.

Well, after determining that he could not remove it, Chris and I headed off to the hospital. We dropped Abbey off at the bus stop and dashed over to the local hospital. We thought that they would quickly pull out the sticker and we might still get him to school on time. A small bit of our hope was stolen when they said that we needed to head to the University hospital in our town because they had the doctor that was trained to use the "special tweezers for children's ears". We joked in the car on the way over that he must take them home with him at night because they were so special.

Our first moment of real seriousness came when the doctor, after looking in Ethan's ear, said that if it was too painful for Ethan that they might need to put him to sleep to get it out. We strongly encouraged Ethan to hold still and let the doctor get it out then. He, of course, screamed when the doctor tried to remove the sticker. They sent us down to wait in the ER. Well, the doctor thought that maybe they could just give him a sedative and that might be an easier route. Ethan took the sedative and then woke up fighting when the doctor tried once again to remove the sticker. Except that this time, because of the sedative, he didn't know where he was and why was so many people looking at him and why did his ear hurt. It honestly was a tiny bit funny, because after the doctor quickly determined that they would need to put him all the way under, Ethan still dealt with the sedatives effects for about 20 minutes. He would dose off and they wake up and ask me where he was at and why did he feel dizzy. I would explain and he would then discover the stickers for the heart monitor on his chest and ask about those. After explaining this, he would then tell me how Franklin in one of his books had the same thing. Then repeat 5 more times.



We then waited for three more hours for his stomach to clear out so they could give him a general anesthetic and get the sticker out, once and for all. Silly us fed him breakfast not expecting him to stick something in his ear. He headed in about 12:30 and I was getting nervous when he still wasn't out 30 minutes later. I mean, just pull the sticker out. When he was in recovery and they brought us the sticker, several things suddenly became clear. It wasn't really a sticker. It was a small rhinestone. A small, round, hard rhinestone. To a six year old boy, that is a "sticker". And he had pushed it quite far into his ear trying to get it out before letting us know about it.



We ask him over and over why he would stick something in his ear and he seems to have no idea. At one point, I ask him, "If you could go back, would you stick that in your ear?" His answer? "If I could go back, I would go back to breakfast and tell myself to just go brush my teeth!" That would have been a great idea!

Bee Stories

A friend of mine recently wrote a story about an encounter with a bee. You can read it here. It is a great story! And it jogged my memory about a great bee story that never made it on to this blog. As you have probably noticed, lots of stories about the kids make the blog, but ones about me, not so much. Most things that are blog worthy, I am actively trying to forget. But, here's a little story about how Thanksgiving 2011 went down.

All of the Brackens in Taiwan decided to have a little fun for Thanksgiving. Not the traditional turkey and lounging around the house Thanksgiving for us. We are missionaries. Adventurers. Conquistadors! We planned to head up to the mountains to "Bracken Hole" and BBQ beside the river. Since November is nice and toasty here in Taiwan, we also planned to swim in said river. Well, about two years ago, a typhoon came through and causes massive flooding in the mountains. Unbeknown to us, it wiped out part of Bracken Hole. So, when we realized that place wasn't going to work, we set off to find a new place to BBQ and swim. This actually should have been an easy mission. Except for the flat we got on our car. And the two lug nuts that broke when we were trying to change it. Chris and Dad Bracken set off for the nearest town to get it repaired and Mom B and I ended up setting up an picnic/BBQ area on the side of the road. I think we all thought that the guys would be gone for about 30 minutes. They ended up being gone for close to three hours. Finally, they returned and we attempted to recover the day. Chris grabbed a piece of BBQ chicken and headed over to where the kids were playing to watch them. I joined him to ask all the details concerning the car. Remember that piece of chicken. It comes into play in a moment. Well, while we were chatting I heard a bee buzzing. Not thinking, I casually swung my hand over my head. That was the last thing I did casually for about two minutes. I must have scared the bee, who was sitting on top of my head, because he stung me. Then he got stuck in my hair in an effort to escape. So, during our normal conversation, I suddenly screamed and started hitting the top of my head. Just as Chris was starting to ask me what I was doing, the bee flew out of my hair and straight at Chris. He threw his piece of chicken in surprise. Then he started yelling, "IT'S OUT! IT'S OUT!" in an effort to get me to stop beating myself to death. And that day I learned that bee stings to the head hurt. Really hurt. For three days hurt. And that quite an impression can be made on children if you will scream and beat your head. Also, sometimes God test our thankfulness on Thanksgiving.