Since James and I have gotten involved at our Bread of Life church here in Kaohsiung, we have been blessed beyond anything we could ask for or imagine. Not only have we been given a group of friends in a foreign country, but we have been challenged, encouraged, included in and blessed by learning more about Jesus with them.
When I arrived in Kaohsiung, February 2003, I wasn't here to be a missionary. I was excited to be in a foreign country and away from anything that remotely reminded me of accounting. I was thrilled with the strangeness of the smells, the visuals, the sounds of the languages and the promise of discovery. A month before I left for Taiwan, a friend of my father's, Gerhard (aka Tanne), accurately described what I already knew my motivation was for coming when he said, " Imagine that you will be learning something new everyday in Taiwan. Every time you take a new route to work, it'll be an adventure." We were swimming with Yerma and Lenka, his two beautiful daughters, in the sea at Arniston, SA. He was exactly right.
Now, three and a half years later, I can say that I know the route to most places in this city, let alone to work, and that I could NEVER have imagined that Taiwan would be this meaningful a place, for the joys that I have discovered while living here.
Today is a day that I want to remember. I had a day packed with joys that I couldn't have designed or orchestrated to so fully gladden my heart as it did.
I woke up next to James, my adoring husband and best friend ever. We went for a walk at the park near our house with Thandi and he listened patiently to my excited ramblings about the Together for the Gospel conference talks that I recently listened to. He shared a bottle of water with me even though I have been snorting and sniffing like a rhino with congestion for the past 3 days. My brother and my dad can testify to the long road I take to get to the point of a story, and James patiently waits for me to realise that I have digressed and sometimes helps me get back on track. He always knows just where the crucial break away from my main point was, so he gently pulls me back with a,"you were saying..."
Then I headed off to a paper painting class that I'm enjoying to no end. I popped into a small coffee shop en route and sat down to a delicious egg salad toasted sandwhich and watched a little Chinese girl across the street. She was on the second floor, visible through the floor to ceiling window. She was lying on her tummy, blissfully coloring with her feet dangling over her bum.
The class was rewarding firstly due to the company of girls that attended and secondly, the joy of creating something. Chicks can chat and chat and chat and then suddenly stop chatting and talk. I mean talk about things that really matter. It's rare, but very wonderful, when chicks cut to the chase and actually talk about God. I'm of the opinion that guys can do that much more easily than girls can, just because we enjoy chatting so much more than them. Anyway, I had a chance to really talk to a friend of mine. We stood outside the painting class for an hour and would still be standing there if we didn't mind sweating it up in the humidity or missing dates we had made for the afternoon. YAY!
During my lunch date I was introduced by my friend to a jovial man from the Dominican Republic, that I now consider a new friend (thanks Jam!). Incredibly interesting time with them. In a nut shell, very little chatting and A LOT of talking. Double yay!
At home, tonight, James and I listened to John Piper's talk at the Together 4 the Gospel conference. Good grief, earth shaking, soul stupifying stuff. That one man can contain such a PASSION for God's glory, Jesus Christ, and NOT explode, is amazing. Any man, who is considering preaching or has already preached a thousand sermons, would do well listening to Piper.
My final joyous moment was finally getting it right when I crochet, to crochet a couple of rows without losing a stitch at the end, and figuring out where the hidden, little, tricksy stitch that I kept missing was hiding all the time. The cherry on the cake that doesn't really count as a joy, but was noteworthy, was Thandi doing her bee's wax within ten meters of our building during her late night walkie and saving me a longer walk to the park! Yay, yay, yay!
