Thanksgiving Dinner Delivery

Wow!  Praise God!  I'm so blown away by God's sovereignty and faithfulness and love! 

Tonight, seven of us, (me, Tihua, Caleb, William, Tony, Andy, Perry), went to deliver a Thanksgiving meal to a really cool family-- Susie, Josh and Tanna.  Our church adopted them for Thanksgiving last year and Susie's been good about keeping in touch with me this past year.  Susie's the mom, Josh is the son who's my age, and Tanna is his cute 5 year old daughter.  It was such a blessing to see how God has been working in this family. 

God had this night planned all along.  I was worried that there'd be too many people tonight and that it would make the family uncomfortable.  But it turned out that God hand picked this group of 7 and every person played an important role tonight.  I'm so thankful to the brothers who came out too.  William and Andy were able to really talk to Josh in a way I never could've been able to and Josh totally opened up to them.  Tanna was so happy to see so many people and she showed us her cute doll baby brothers and sisters, served us imaginary tea and let us draw in her diary.  She even sang and danced a cute robot dance for us.  We spent about 2 hours with them just hanging out and talking.  We ended the night by praying for them.

I saw changes in this family from the last time I visited too.  The house was totally tidied up from the last time.  Susie's feet weren't swollen anymore, although we still need to keep praying for her health.  Tanna was really well behaved and even gave me and Tihua her hair clips as gifts, which was a huge change from the last time I saw her when she had a hard time sharing her Birthday balloons with her friends.  Susie also said that there are times when Tanna would say something that really sounded like it came from God to encourage her.  Praise God for His Presence in this family.

God is sooooooooooooo amazing!  He truly is a BIG God and is able to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or image! (Ephesians 3:20)

I am thankful for the opportunity to witness God's Hand at work and look forward to us spending more time with this family in the future.

Quick 5 minute catch up blog entry

Ooops!  Yes, I've been neglecting my blog.  Sowi!  I'm still getting used to this blog thing.  I think I still prefer talking to people in person.  Anyways, here's a quick outline of some hilites in my life since September.  If you'd like to know more, I'd love to fill you in on details in person. ^_*

Went to Taiwan and China for 2 weeks in September

Taiwan Hilights:

• Met more of my extended family and found out my grandpa's eldest bro was the first to get saved in the Shyu family.  I was deeply encouraged to see how one man's decision to follow Christ affected the lives of so many in the generations to come.  I saw that though I may be the only believer in my immediate family now, I'm not the only one in the entire Shyu family.  I was touched that even though the Christian faith didn't get passed down to me through my parents, since they're not saved yet, God didn't skip my family and He still saved me and is working in my family too!  It makes me appreciate the genealogies of the Bible more and of how people were able to pass down their faith to future generations.  I also learned that my grandpa's eldest bro was a prayer warrior, and that I have 2 extended family members who are pastors, 1 who's a pastor's wife and 1 who's a musical conductor/composer.  :)

• Had more health issues this time (bacterial infection in eyes, swollen mosquito bite on arm, sick w/ bronchitis, nausea (like the details? hehe)).   In my heart, I was unwilling to suffer these physical discomforts.  It probably can't really even be called suffering.  I am so spoiled. :(  I tried to not complain, but it was hard.  It did help me to appreciate Jesus more and of how He suffered so much for me.  I can't even handle a little pain.  I also needed an attitude change about the trip.  When I had gone to China in 2004 for my first mission trip, I had a good attitude when I my feet swelled up from the mosquito bite.   I was willing to endure the discomfort and was determined to not let that stop me from going to China.  I think I had a good attitude cuz people were praying for me and I was focused on God instead of myself. 
• Rode on a motorcycle for the first time while wearing a skirt and grabbing onto my mom's friend who was driving the motorcycle.  It was embarassing, humbling, scary, and eventually, fun.  It seemed so dangerous to me, but I needed to understand that people in Taiwan get around in motorcycles all the time.  That's their way of life. 

China Hilights

• Guilin's mountains are all hollow caves created from water dripping inside the caves over millions of years.  We went inside some of the caves and they are so grand and magnificent and amazing!  God is sooooooooooo artistic! 

The bottom half is the reflection off the water.  I didn't know it was a reflection at first.  It was like seeing a part of the the Grand Canyon inside this cave.

• Celebrated my bday with an Australian lady named Judy in a restaurant in China. As I was going to the bathroom in the restaurant, I walked past a table of people w/ a beautful cake w/ a huge lotus flower candle.  My mom and her friend noticed it too.  When I came out of the bathroom, my mom's friend grabbed me over to that table of people, and said, "It's your Birthday today?  It's her [Amy's] Birthday too", pointing at me.  The lady was so kind and welcomed me to her table, put her arm around me and her entire table sang happy bday to us.  She gave me a rose from her bouquet and a slice of her cake too!  How sweet!  I found out her name was Judy and she was from Australia, traveling to China w/ her photography friends.

Auntie Teresa, Mom, Amy, Judy

• Saw a Chinese Acrobat/Ballet performance.  It was beautiful and inspiring.  They had great special lighting effects and beautiful costumes.  It made me want to dance more!

I was so happy I got to take a picture with the performers afterwards!

• Li Jiang is a beautiful river surrounded by mountains. 

Here's a picture of a mountain called "Momma and Baby."  Isn't it cute!?

Mom and Amy

• For the first time, I drank snake soup w/ ginger, drank a detoxifying concoction of snake blood+gall bladder+wine, and ate stir fried snake skin (which has lotsa glucosamine) w/ ginger.  I was sick and was willing to try anything that could possibly help.  And guess what?  It was actually yummy!

Dad and Amy.  Special Father and daughter bonding over snake-ginger soup!

Yummy snake skin and ginger!

How you perceive it

I just got this cookie fortune and was laughing when I read it.  It could be a compliment or an insult, depending on how you read it.  What do you take it to mean? 

"You make people realize that there exist other beauties in the world."

1st entry

"Do no let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." ~Ephesians 4:29

This is my first blog entry, so I just wanted to say...

printf("Hello World!\n");

Ok. I hope that wasn't too nerdy.

My prayer is that you may be encouraged by the things I post on my blog because I know it takes time to read blogs and your time is also your life.  May the words I write be worth your while.