Even though I’ve let my blog slip majorly in the past few weeks and months, I couldn’t let my blogaversary and annual tradition of choosing one photo per month slip past.
This will be my fifth year to do this:
2005–was my third year in Taiwan, and I started blogging 2006–my sister got married and my brother came to Taiwan 2007–I moved to a new city, and my cousins came to visit 2008–I met the love of my life; we dated, got engaged, and then married . . . it was perhaps the most perfect year of my entire life. :)
I think I took less photos in all of 2009 than I did in many of the months of 2008. Kinda makes me a little sad, and makes me want to resolve to take more photos in 2010. Anywho, not analyzing anything right now, which I am OH so tempted to do.
Let me get right to the point . . . below you find a month by month look at our 2009 using only one photo per month.
January: We celebrate our first Chinese New Year together in Meinong
February: New Life Bilingual Church in Kaohsiung starts meeting
March: We marry again . . . well, ok, we celebrate our marriage covenant in Taiwan with our Taiwanese friends and family
April: I have my first birthday as a wife (aka, I turn 31)
May: Some of our friends marry . . . and Lawrance is the MC at their wedding banquet
June: We start our summer Sunday afternoon tradition of eating ice after church
July: We go on several dates during the summer . . . Thai food, the beach and more
August: We celebrate our first anniversary in Kenting
September: Sadly Wu Mama is diagnosed with liver cancer
October: Lawrance is a clown (well, maybe he always is one, but at least he LOOKED like one this time)
November: I start studying Chinese again (This is my awesome Chinese teacher)
December: Law’s parents help us to decorate our tree . . . a Wu family first!
Years ago . . . maybe about 8 . . . Lawrance was a new Christian. He attended a "One Day Taiwan" conference.
When scanning in photos a while back for our wedding montage, I saw this photo from that conference.
And, after looking at the younger version of Lawrance, looked back a few rows and saw a red head that I recognized! Someone I knew from college was in Lawrance's photo! I even emailed her (ok, facebooked her) and asked if it really was her.
In fact, several people from my college in America were at the same conference in Taiwan that Lawrance was at.
Sunday, after worshiping the most high God and fellowshiping with our church family, Lawrance and I took a three hour nap. I guess we were tired. :)
When we woke up, Lawrance asked if he could invite me to the beach. I said, "Yes!! Let's go now, before the sunsets!!"
We got there and were actually surprised to see so many people there! Last time we were there it was during the school year, and we were the only ones there. :)
This beach is only about 8 minutes from our house . . . we should go there more often. And it's cool because the sand is black.
So, here we are last spring and this summer . . . then just dating and now married 11 months . . .
God is kind! :)
I am so thankful to my very generous AbBa Fu (Daddy God) who has given me such a kind, considerate, patient husband who cherishes me, protects me, meets my needs, and invites me to go with him to the beach!! :)
Ok, so actually it was written on what is called a website . . . but still I was trying to make it like a blog before blogging platforms were abundantly everywhere.
Ten years ago, in a school's computer room somewhere in northern Taiwan, I became a blogger, and I didn't even know it!
To get my printed photos online, I began using using a scanner in Chinese and yahoo's geocities to record my daily life here in Taiwan. The photo quality is terrible . . . and the layout was tedious, but, if I do say so myself, the design was better than many "homemade" websites from the late '90s.
But OH! if I had had flickr and blogger back then, not to mention a digital camera . . . how sweet that would have been!!!!
In fact, I carried my mom's 35mm film camera in my purse daily for a year. Soon after that I got my first digital camera, and so for nearly 10 years now my purse has always housed a point and shoot camera. It is essential–more important than lipgloss and a driver's licence!
Anyway, Geocities is closing later this year, which made me want to take a walk down memory lane. Feel free to click through and see what life was like for me as an exchange student in Taiwan in 1999.
Here was my very first "blog." (nothing is there now besides the "first blog," which I didn't even know was a blog at the time.)
I had an index/home page (which originally was set up kinda of like flickr's sets page), that I changed when I started using another site and then changed again when I moved to blogging.
Based on these "album" names, can you guess what I called that very first site?
That's right "amanda in taiwan." And, yes, my love for not using capital letters in my online world titles started with this very site . . . ten years ago!! (Can you tell I'm having a hard time accepting it was a decade ago that all this happened!?!?!)
Bye-bye, my dear first online home. Rest in peace.
We got some amazingly creative wedding gifts that I will share details of with you a bit later. Today, I just wanna celebrate our biggest gift of all. . . . a new fridge!! :)
Many friends and family (on both sides of the ocean) graciously gave us cash as a wedding gift. It is the traditional wedding gift in Taiwan, but not so in America. However, we are very thankful for all our American friends and family understanding that many traditional wedding gifts from a registry in America would have been quite impractical. (Nevertheless we did register for a few items for our home, and I know my mom and sister would love to see what they look like in place, so I'll do that a bit later too.)
Boy, I am gabby today!! :) Guess I must be excited. ;)
So . . . now . . . . for the grand revealing . . . .our beautiful new fridge that arrived yesterday: Although it fits perfectly in the "fridge spot," from this photo it seems to dwarf our entire kitchen! :)
The fridge part is on top (which I LOVE). I love being able to stare directly into the fridge part. Before we had a freezer top fridge, so I had to lean over and down to look into it.
Then below the two door fridge, there are two sections that pull out. The middle section is for fresh fruit and veggies (a huge crisper, I guess). And the bottom is the freezer.
So, instead of shelves, it is kinda like a top loading deep freeze–just pile and stack. I really like it.
Here are some shots I took last night of the inside of our new fridge–this might be the only time I ever show you the inside . . . so make sure you take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity. ;) (Clicking the photos will take you to their flickr page.)
____ And, here are a few photos taken before new fridge's arrival:
___ And, here is how the little black fridge became black . . .
This fridge was nearly 20 years old. It was given to me when I first moved to Taiwan. Some missionaries on the island were leaving to go back to the States and were giving it away.
Some other missionaries that knew I was coming took it and kept it for a few months, then when I arrived they gave it to me.
I love the way the missionaries I've met here take care of one another and bless each other by sharing not only material stuff but of their time and care too. God is good.
We loved little black, but he was not working quite as hard as he once
was. Sometimes he would forget to work at all, and at other times he
would work so hard EVERYthing–even the eggs in the fridge door–would
be frozen!
He did quit working all together back in 2006, but then he came back on. I know it sounds weird or insanely selfish to some that God would care about insignificant me and my stupid old fridge, but I honestly believe that God caused it to work again. He cared for the widow and her son by causing her oil to run over; he cared for me by allowing a broken machine to keep running for three more years. He is a God who cares about us and meets our physical needs. What a great God we serve!!
Feb. 3, 2008 “Since Lawrance came back from the conference, we’ve gone out twice. On Friday, we went to eat hotpot and then to look at sunflowers, pink flowers, and his mom’s work place. It was so much fun!!
” . . .
“He is so kind and patient. He is also very tenderhearted. And . . . he protects me–making sure he walks on the outside . . . ahhh a man! :) It’s great!”
~*~*~*~
Feb. 7, 2008 Our other date was the very next day. We went to Corrina’s house. I made spaghetti and we played games with Corrina’s girls while Corrina and Kevin went out on a date. I was tired actually, but we still had fun.
“Father, please guide him and direct him and allow me to follow his lead. . . . I want to please you and bring you glory. I want to honor you and him.
“Please give us both discernment and wisdom. Help him to be a man and me a woman. Give us self-control and patience. Help us to do things right in the matters of the heart. Teach us how to serve each other, support each other, and love each other too. Teach us hot to be self-sacrificing and delight in pleasing the other.
“I thank you so much for giving him to me. You are such a good, kind, God. You’ve given me more than I could ever have asked for or imagined! . . . Thank you from the bottom of my heart!! Praise your holy name!”
These three books were so helpful to helping us lay a good foundation for the beginning of our relationship. I highly recommend Boy Meets Girl and Let Me Be a Woman to others who are in the beginning stages a love relationship. Doing Things Right in the Matters of the Heart is also highly recommend, but it is a book that can and should be read by singles everywhere.
Jan. 25, 2008 “I feel like I am living a dream. Walking in the land of ‘I don’t deserve this.’ You, my loving Heavenly Father, surely do know how to give GOOD gifts. You are most kind and very generous.
“Please forgive my lack of faith and distrust. I am sorry I ever doubted you.
“I place my life in your hands and eagerly await the future.”
~*~*~*~
Jan 26, 2008 “. . . I think I am in love. And, I know I WANT him to be ‘the one.’
“Oh yeah, and today when he called on the phone, he spoke only in Chinese and I spoke only in English. So fun!! I loved it! Yea!!!!!”
“Lawrance is away at a conference in KH . . . how is it possible to miss someone I only recently started hanging out with? My thoughts somehow seem to always come back to him. And the only thing I can do is pray. At times I wonder if the Lord will ever tire of my love sick prayers.
“Corrina suggested tonight that Lawrance go back with me to America this summer. That way he could meet my whole family and see me in America. I think that is a wonderful idea. . . . but is it too premature to be planning that far ahead? Corrina also mentioned that she thinks we should just go ahead and get married. Ha! I had to remind her we’ve only had one date! :)
“Sigh!
“I think . . . . I really, really think . . . . I am falling in love. . . . oh my! All I can think of is God is so good, so kind. . . . and how much longer must I wait? I can’t wait to see what happens. . . . can’t wait, too excited. . . .so excited . . .can’t wait!!! oh my! oh my! oh my!!”
Jan. 20, 2008 “In just a few moments I will be leaving to go on my first date with Lawrance. I am excited, nervous, happy.
“Father, you be in control. Help me to reign in my emotions. Please be glorified in our relationship where it leads. Be Lord of it all.
“Help me to trust you as the author of my love life. Help me to handle his heart with care. Give me wisdom and discernment–and him too. Give him the guts to lead and give him the wisdom and strength to do what is right and good and pure.
“Thank you so much for this chance. Thank you for how you’ve changed in the past year. I look forward to growing closer to you than ever before. Be glorified!!”
~*~*~*~*~
Jan. 22, 2008 “Well, our first date went well. I really like Lawrance. I want
the whole process of dating him to go well–smoothly. I want him to be
‘the one.’ He was so nervous, but that just made it all the more
sweet, cute.
. . .
“Father, I relinquish this
relationship to you. I want it to honor you and bring you glory. Even
though waiting will be hard for me . . . I trust completely your
timing. You truly are a good God . . . a kind God. I ask that you
give Lawrance wisdom and discernment. I pray you speak right to his
heart. . . . let him have ears that hear you. . . . Grow us closer to
both each other and you. And most of all . . . please be glorified in
our lives and in our relationship.
“Thank you for placing us together in a way only you could. You are so good!!”
I’ve decided to let you inside my journal writings from the past few months. Of course you are only getting the glimpses and snippets–full text viewing is strictly forbidden. :)
And, just a small warning . . . I was utterly head over heels in love–you will see that in my writing. It was a very, very fun and exciting time. This first journal entry was just some of my “new year thoughts” that are fun to read now that we know there is going to be a wedding on the last day of August of this year. :)
~*~*~*~
Jan 1, 2008 “. . . There is so much I long to do, want to do, would love to see happen this year. Desire. Longing. Hope. It would be amazing to end 2008 as a wife. That seems too good to be true to actually happen. Could it? Can it?
. . .
Father, I entrust you with all that I am. I have no clue what the future might hold . . . but because you are in charge, I am hopeful and excited. You fulfill me and satisfy. You surprise me with your generosity and kindness. I don’t deserve any of it and yet still you give and give and give. What a wonderful God you are! . . .”
The city I first lived in when I moved to Taiwan is famous for its handmade paper umbrellas. Above is a picture of some of my students being silly with one of the paper umbrellas I have in my home. I love the expressions on their faces!! :)
Five years ago, when I was living in Meinong, one of the ladies at the souvenir store near my home showed us (I was with one of our short term teams) how they made paper umberllas. So, below is a slide show of the pictures I took of her demo. You can also see all the photos with descriptions of what she is doing on the flickr set page.
As I was skimming through this article, Has God Called You?, by Albert Mohler, I nodded in TOTAL agreement to the bolded part below.
One key issue here is a common misunderstanding about the will of
God. Some models of evangelical piety imply that God’s will is
something difficult for us to accept.We sometimes confuse this further
by talking about "surrendering" to the will of God.As Paul makes clear
in Romans 12:2, the will of God is good, worthy of eager acceptance,
and perfect. Those called by God to preach will be given a desire to
preach as well as the gifts of preaching. Beyond this, the God-called
preacher will feel the same compulsion as the great Apostle, who said,
"Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!" [1 Corinthians 9:16, ESV]
Consider your calling. Do you sense that God is calling you to
ministry, whether as pastor or another servant of the Church? Do you
burn with a compulsion to proclaim the Word, share the Gospel, and care
for God’s flock? Has this call been confirmed and encouraged by those
Christians who know you best?
God still calls . . . has He called you?
When I was finishing up grad school in 2002-2003, I was faced with "what next?"
I actually considered the fact that I desired to be in Taiwan a sign that it must not be God’s will for me. I actually thought that I should have to struggle and surrender to a task that I didn’t want to do in order for it to be pleasing to God.
WHAT!?!?! Why would I think such a thing?
So, I started looking at other countries. Some friends in Japan had invited me to come work along side them, so I replied with interest. I began to look at organizations that I could serve with in China.
Then another terrible thought occurred to me . . . "what if it is not Asia?" So, I contemplated South America and Africa.
I cannot explain in mere words what this was doing to my heart. I was willing to follow God anywhere He wanted to send me, but I was sure that meant I must suffer, that I couldn’t be happy or joyful about it. Why I fell prey to this evangelical piety line of thinking remains to me a mystery.
However, this reopening of looking for a place to go was making me much like those waves in the first chapter of James–driven and tossed by the wind. I remember in at least one sermon long ago, my dad compared that Greek word used there to the agitation cycle of a washing machine. The twist and turn, twist and turn of all that water going no where. Yep, that what it was . . . my heart stuck in a perpetual spin-cycle of emotion.
By God’s merciful grace, a godly couple I had met on a mission trip to Hong Kong some years before were in town and wanted to meet up. As we sat in the Chinese restaurant, and I poured out my heart, expressing my desire to follow God suffer for God.
Oh, I will never, ever forget the looks on their faces. I was unable to discern the falsehood of the evangelical piety lies I had fallen subject to, but they sure were able to. They responded first in utter shock to the words spewing from my mouth and then with loving kindness spoke scripture to me.
For the first time in months, I was able to see that when we follow God’s will there IS joy. And that is OK. That being obedient, although not easy and not without sacrifice, is a thing that is full of joy and happiness. Oh how everything changed that day! Praise God for the people in our lives who speak the truth in love to us!
Please don’t hear me wrong–being obedient is not easy. But that doesn’t mean it must be a dreadful, terrible thing that we will hate doing. God is kind. Like that second quote by Betty Scott Stam I posted two weeks ago, when we release the little trinkets we’ve been clinging to, He replaces them with precious treasures. Letting go of those little trinkets might seem hard at the time, but accepting those precious treasures? Never.
Our God is a God who gives desires to His children who delight in him. How neat is that!?! Oh, what a great God He is!!
God’s will is good and
acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:2). Amen!
Like I’ve done for the past two years (2005, 2006), I am summing up my entire 2007 in only 12 photos (one for each month).
I took less than half as many pictures this year as I did last year. This year I only took a little over 4,000 . . . .it’s kinda hard to beat 9000 in one year. :) Nonetheless, it was still not easy to choose only one pic per month, but it is a fun way to showcase the various things that took place this past year.
Quite different than previous years. This year was filled with more “風風雨雨” (wind, wind, rain, rain), a Chinese idiom which can be translated “ups and downs.” But still the year remains a testament to God’s kindness.
If you’d like to join me in doing this, please do . . . just leave a comment below with the link to your own pictorial summary of
2007 so we can all go enjoy looking over your year (I tried Mr. Linky, but he doesn’t do custom meme’s anymore unless you pay).
Today my guestblogger, my mom, finishes the story she started yesterday. (Just FYI, the pics are from 1979 and 1980–it’s the best I could do with what I have here with me in Taiwan.)
It was a warm Texas December night and a very special one for us (ok – very special to me, the sentimental one!).
It was our first time decorating a tree with a child old enough to
participate. We purchased a small Christmas tree from the local
grocery store and carted it home on top of our Pinto station wagon.
Ken crafted a tree stand out of scrap wood and we placed the tree on
top of our end table, hopefully out of the reach of our toddler’s
(Sarah’s) grasp. We placed the lights on the tree and Amanda and I
began hanging ornaments. She was so excited we were celebrating! I
was so excited – I got to keep the traditions!
It came time to turn off the overhead lights and plug in the
Christmas tree lights. As soon as the lights on the tree began
shining, Amanda, overcome at the beauty of what she was seeing,
spontaneously began to exclaim “Oh! Oh! Glory to God in the Highest!
Glory to God in the Highest! Glory to God in the Highest!” She raised
her arms and began dancing around that small glowing tree praising God,
repeating that phrase over and over just as the angels must have done
on the first Christmas night.
I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed worship as genuine as the worship
I saw that night! Worship from one with such a pure heart and pure
motives – a precious three-year-old, who knew only that we were
celebrating the birth of Jesus and that our Christmas tree was shining
just as the heavens were the night of His birth when angels praised God
and proclaimed His glory. And, she wanted to celebrate and praise Him
in the same way!
That Christmas, God gave us just what we needed through the faith
and actions of a three-year-old child. That experience changed our
perspective on Christmas celebrations. We both realized that a
Christmas tradition held its meaning only in the heart of the person
participating in the tradition – you could focus on the warm and fuzzy
feelings felt by reliving the tradition or you could focus on the
original intent of the tradition or you could focus on the One for Whom
you were celebrating as you participated in the tradition.
In our family, we choose to focus not on feelings or original intent, but on the Reason we were celebrating.
Each year, as we decorate our tree, it is a family tradition to tell
the story of the night we worshipped with Amanda around our first
family decorated Christmas tree. We seek to have the same worshipful
heart as a three-year-old who, though only looking at the lights on a
small Christmas tree, saw a sky filled with a host of heavenly angels
proclaiming God’s glory at the birth of His Son and joyfully joined in
the angels’ praises.
Now that is giving meaning to a Christmas tradition!
~Joi
Amanda: Isn’t that a great story!! I just LOVE it!! My mom is
so right . . . when we look at our Christmas traditions–or any
traditions for that matter–we can foucs on one of three things: (1)
warm, fuzzy feelings, (2) original intent, or (3) Christ.
For me and my sister (I think she would agree with me), that now
as adults, because our parents focused on Christ at Christmas, the
"warm, fuzzy feelings" of the holiday didn’t dissappear but were
intensified. It is not that our traditions became stoic–how can
worship of the long-awaited Savior be emotionless? No, the "fuzzy
feelings" didn’t dissappear, they just were not the reason we did the
things we did.
As adults, my sister and I anticipate Christmas traditions because we are excited to worship the King of kings and Lord of lords;
we look forward to being able to express our love for him in unique
once-a-year Christmas ways. Through participating in Christmas
traditions, we enjoy being able to proclaim "Oh! Oh! Glory to God in
the highest!!" and "Jesus, we love you!!"
This is a repost from last year. Originally posted here.
I, Amanda, asked my mom to share
one of my family’s favorite Christmas stories. So, today and tomorrow
she is guest blogging here at following an unknown path. Now, without
further adieu, let my mom take you back 25 years, to the Christmas of
1981 . . .
Christmastime is supposed to be a time of joy and celebration, but
there was conflict in our household. My husband and I disagreed for
most of our newly married four years on how we should celebrate
Christmas and neither of us wanted to give up any ground. However our
children were getting older (3 years and 18 months), and we needed to
reach an agreement on how our young family would celebrate this season.
I am the sentimental one in our family. I love the Christmas
season, all of it: the lights, the tree, the presents, cookie baking,
surprises and secrets, being with family and of course, celebrating the
Reason for the Season – God becoming a man and dwelling among us in
order to fulfill His plan of redemption.
On the other hand, I don’t think my husband has a sentimental bone
in his body! He is very practical, very logical, extremely
well-grounded in Scripture and very matter-of-fact. This particular
Christmas, he was finishing his education at seminary and had learned
that most of our traditional Christmas celebrations began as pagan
rituals. He would come home after seminary classes and explain to me
what he had learned in class and the conflict would begin! He didn’t
want our family to take part in any celebration that did not glorify
God. With such a youthful intensity to do only that which glorified
God, he didn’t want us to participate in some of the traditions I loved
because of their original intent.
Technically I agreed, I certainly didn’t want to be a part of
anything that didn’t glorify God!…..but I couldn’t imagine Christmas
without all the traditions I had grown up with and loved nor could I
imagine not sharing those traditions with my children.
After much discussion and heart searching, we decided we would keep
Christmas traditions as a part of our celebration (yeah! – I could
still have a Christmas tree!!), and purposefully seek to make the true
meaning of Christmas the focus in our family by telling the Christmas
story often to our young girls and singing religious Christmas carols
with them.
It was our routine to read or tell bedtime stories each night to our
girls; and, during this season, the Christmas story was a much repeated
favorite. Being a natural storyteller and intent on making sure his
daughters knew the true Christmas story, Ken would tell the birth of
Jesus with great enthusiasm and drama. We weren’t sure how much their
young minds comprehended, but we were genuine in our desire to glorify
God with our Christmas celebrations. Yet, Ken still was uncomfortable
about having the Christmas tree and other “pagan” celebrations in our
home, but God was about to give us a sign.
Come back tomorrow to find out how. Joi (aka Amanda’s mom)
This is a repost from last year. Originally posted here.
My thirteenth year of life was horrible. I was changing from a girl into a woman, and I felt everything and everyone was against me.
It was
Christmas Eve and none of my clothes from the year before were
fitting, and I could do nothing with my frizzy curls. I cried for at
least an hour after stomping up the stairs in utter frustration with
my mean mother who did not understand me at all! Then came the gentle
knock on the door. My mother had a red turtleneck and a beautiful
white fuzzy sweater across her right arm; "May I come in?" She came
in and helped me dress; then we went to her room where she did my hair
and even did my make-up. She then let me borrow one of her necklaces.
Everyone was waiting downstairs for us to come down so we could open
presents. As I walked down those stairs, I felt like the most
beautiful girl on the entire planet. I felt like everyone on the
whole earth was watching me descend down the stairs (not just my
family). I have never felt more beautiful in my whole life.
The other day, I saw a picture of that Christmas Eve. I remembered
feeling so beautiful, but as I looked at the picture, I just saw a
plain girl in her mother’s sweater with frizzy curls.
So what had
made the difference?
My mother’s opinion of me. Her time and
attention and her care, along with a few complements, I’m sure, made me
feel like a beauty queen.
Never underestimate the power of a mother’s touch.
"You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:32).
I know . . . I’ve experienced this truth–that the truth sets us free–several times.
As a kid, lying was probably the sin I struggled with most. I didn’t lie straight out, I stretched the truth or made up my own "stretched facts." I blurred the lines between reality and my imagination. But, still it was lying. I distinctly remember one day–maybe in third or fourth grade–sitting in the cafeteria and telling one of my stretched stories. I remember being so convicted. I realized that I couldn’t keep all the details of all my stretched stories straight. It was liberating to discover that if I told the truth and only the truth, I didn’t have to worry about keeping anything straight.
In college, I sinned and then was convicted by the Holy Spirit; I struggled for an entire summer with the guilt of not confessing it. The moment I went to the person I had sinned against and confessed, the moment I told her the truth, I was able to breathe freely again.
A few years ago, I suffered from depression. Part of it was hormonal, and while hormonally imbalanced, it was easy for me to believe "warpy thoughts." So, part of getting out of the deep dark pit of depression was washing away the lies I had been believing with Scripture. I remember one of my friends telling me: "no wonder your depressed, anyone who believes that would be depressed." Her speaking truth to me and encouraging me to feed on Scripture again, helped set me free from the chains of depression.
Satan is the father of lies, and shoots flaming darts at us. "He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing
to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies,
he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of
lies" (John 8:44). He loves to keep us bound and imprisoned.
Oh, but our Heavenly Father delights in truth in his inward being (Psalm 51:6). And it is Him who sets us free. His truth sets us free. What a glorious thing to delight in!
When I first started brainstorming "the beauty of sacrifices" for this Carnival of Beauty, I instantly pictured my grandparents, both paternal and maternal.
I imagine my PawPaw as a young boy taking care of his baby sister–combing her hair and dressing her. I picture him doing without so many times thoughout the years so that others may have.
I can see with my mind’s eye my NeeNee as a young newlywed living alone as her new husband served our country overseas. I see her crocheting blankets, using her time and talents so that others can be warm.
I see my Grandpa as a boy during the Depression. I see him and my PawPaw both as young men dressed in their uniforms, ready to serve our country and lay down their lives.
I envision my Grandmother as a young girl picking cotton, giving up her dream of going to college, so that her family’s needs are met. I think of her working late at night at her sewing machine so that her five children will all have clothes to wear.
I can see all of them giving of their time, talents, and money to the things they care about and to their churches. I see them volunteering . . . teaching Sunday School in the preschool department, teaching English to new immigrants, working in the soup kitchen, delivering food to shut-ins.
I see four people I want to be just like. I see four people I admire so much words fail to convey my true admiration.
What my generation and those that follow mine lack as a whole is an understanding of the beauty of sacrifice. However, it is something our grandparents fully understand and embraced. For that I am grateful.
Wasn’t it Jim Elliot who said, "he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose"?
Father, please help me to not be a fool. Help me to freely give what I can’t keep anyway so that I may fully gain that which I can’t lose. Thank you ever so much for giving me godly grandparents who seek you and were willing to make and still do make sacrifices for their country and for their families. Help me to truly understand the beauty of sacrifice.
In September of last year, we also visited this same topic. At that time, I wrote about being a living sacrifice. If you’d like to see what others wrote about please visit Renee.
Sam snapped this photo last year of me sitting on some steps at the 228 park in Taipei.
I was on my cellphone and using an umberalla to shield myself from the hot sun. He said I was being very Taiwanese, so he took the picture without me knowing it.
One Saturday night my freshmen year in college, my roommate and I went to find ice cream at 10 pm in the middle of winter. Finding none and forgetting that coffee contains caffeine, we opted for large coffees at a bookstore. When we got back to our dorm room just before curfew, we tried to go to sleep, but obviously could not.
So, instead of fighting it we both pulled out photo albums of mission trips we’d taken during our high school years. We sat on that bottom loft bed, side-by-side till the wee hours of the morning flipping pages, pointing to pictures, and telling each other story after story of God’s goodness, God’s power, God’s love. It was a night I will never, ever forget.
For me the beauty of photographs is that they help us remember who our God is . . similar to the stones of remembrance in the Old Testament. Looking at pictures from days gone by . . . whether they be family photos, vacation photos, mission trip photos, or just old random snapshots . . . I can’t help but remember how faithful God has been in keeping His promises.
Even photos from the "rough times" in life, still speak to how He was faithful to carry us through–that even in bad situations He still remained all-powerful and all-good. Even photos that are before I was born–of my grandparents when they were children or of my parents on their wedding day–these older photos serve as a testimony of how God has worked in and through the various generations of my family.
For me, the beauty of a photograph is that it inevitably causes my heart to swell with praise and thankfulness to the Most High God for all that He has blessed me with and for all that he is. Now isn’t that a great reason to flip (physically or virtually) though photo albums!?!
Beth and Ashely at Onward & Upward posted a fun little musical meme to add a little music to the party (my 1st party post). What a great idea! I love music and totally agree with them about a party is no party if there is no music.
HOWEVER! I could not choose my FAVORITE song for a bunch genres any more than you could tell me which child of yours is your favorite. You just don’t. You just can’t.
AND . . . all those 80’s songs that were on the radio when I was growing up–I never heard. All those 90’s songs that were on the radio when I was in high school–again, never heard. Let me tell you why . . .
Childhood
When I was a kid, I had all 6 Psalty the Singing Songbook tapes that were out at that time. I listened to one side of one tape each night to fall asleep (which started a music listening habit that didn’t stop till I got to college and had roommates). Although I loved all 6 tapes, Kid’s Praise 4 about being a servant and Kid’s Praise 5 about a camping trip (casting our cares on the Lord) were played most often. I LOVED Psalty. These cassettes introduced me to worship and faith and showed me that praising God is a very real, everyday in everyway kind of thing.
I remember my parents listening to Keith Green and the Maranatha! Praise Team . . . these too had a powerful impact on my love of music and heart of worship. Psalty, Keith Green, and the Maranatha! Songs hold an incredibly special, tender place in my heart. Teen Years When I was in sixth grade, I woke up on Valentine’s Day with a terrible case of chicken pox. It was a terrible catastrophe to me.
As a result, my mom and dad both sympathized and spoiled me. I clearly remember my dad buying me my very own bottle of Diet Pepsi–a glass bottle that was my very own to drink all by myself. (By the way, I kept that bottle till 2003, which I decopoged with stickers and filled with pennies). And, one day during my three weeks home from school, mom brought me a walking yellow helium doctor balloon and two cassette tapes–Michael W. Smith’s The Big Picture and Twila Paris’ For Every Heart.
Little did I know this was part of her great plan to help me "grow up" (not the chicken pox–the tapes). She had decided that I needed to "move past" Psalty. When we moved at the end of that year, she helped me to finally release my Psalty tapes into the world to bless someone else.
I spent my babysitting money and allowances on building a CD collection of contempary Christian pop music . . . in addition to Twila and Michael, I bought CDs from muscians like Steven Curtis Chapman, Point of Grace, Amy Grant, 4Him, and NewSong. I also had a several various praise and worship CDs.
College Years I had built quite a collection of CDs by the time I entered college. And it had become an addiction of sorts . . . I needed to buy new music.
My first sememster at college, I realized I was addicted to buying music. Really–I was convicted. So, in 1997, I didn’t buy any new music at all. I "fasted" from purchasing CDs (I’m not even sure my parents knew about this; at the time I only told my roommate LeAnn about it).
After that, I didn’t really enjoy comtempary Christian music anymore. I listened to a lot of Dennis Jerrinagin, Don Moen, and the Passion worship leaders and bands. I longed for meaning and substance.
Now Since I can now buy music with a single click anytime night or day, I still have to be careful because I have a serious weakness for buying music. I have thousands of songs stored on my external harddrive and enjoy enjoying them. (I do not, however, want to think about the fact that that means thousands of dollars spent.)
I also enjoy a variety of sounds and styles now too. In my post-college years, for the first time in my life, I started listening to "non-Christian music." I enjoy a little jazz or country now and then. I look for and enjoy many indie artists; I like listening to sounds that aren’t quite so "polished." I also enjoy songs with meaningful lyrics–I like it when the singer is also the song writer. I also prefer bands over solo artists. Oh, and I also listen to music in Chinese.
My itunes and mini ipod most frequently play in "random shuffle" mode, but some of my current most played songs include songs by (in no particular order). . .
I could type another 20 or even another 40 groups/singers ‘cuz, well, I LOVE music. :) Nope . . . there is no way I could ever pick a favorite song or group. How about you? Know a group I should try out? Is music an important part of your life? Why or why not?
When Sam came to visit me this summer, his only request was . . . “to see the monkeys.”
We tried on more than one occasion, but the monkeys live in the wild, so we couldn’t make a reservation and request they be present when we arrived. :) However, right before we left to go back to America, we got to see them!!
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Sam fed the monkeys peanuts and bananas. And, his one wish about Taiwan came true!
We live in Taiwan--a little tea leaf shaped island in Asia.
Amanda is from Texas and Lawrance from Tainan. We met, fell in love and married in 2008.
We both teach English and both love to tell others about Jesus. We also both really enjoy laughing, and we both just happen to enjoy "ching cha," a type of fabulous green tea.
After that, I didn’t really enjoy comtempary Christian music anymore. I listened to a lot of 
