Always an Adventure...

Well, the day is here. There's no more dreading, avoiding or bemoaning to be done.  I'm 30, flirty, and thriving, (not thirty, hurting, and crying) This has been a difficult milestone for me to face in some ways. Like many, I found myself approaching 30 thinking I was supposed to have a lot more accomplished by now. Thanks to a few pep talks and a lot of prayer in the last few months though, I'm feeling pretty ok. I don't have to have it all together yet. I can start making choices now that will affect my life in my 30s, 40s, and beyond. God has also been bringing a lot of words into my life for this time. In the last few weeks, almost every verse I read in a devotional has been something about Him directing paths, guiding our way etc. Another quote that has kept popping up is by Ralph Waldo Emerson: "Do not go where the path may lead, instead go where there is no path and leave a trail." It's scary to think of being a trailblazer. It's har...

The birthday celebrations have begun...on Monday night my class got me a cake, on Wednesday and Thursday I had birthday meals with friends. Tomorrow I have class in Hualian with a birthday dinner in the evening. I got myself two birthday presents this year - the first was getting my house cleaned ($2500 for half day of cleaning - about $75 Canadian). It seems like a luxury I guess, but it feels good to be starting my 30s with a clean home. I'm also trying to get rid of more unnecessary stuff. The second was coloring my hair a fun and vibrant red. I figure as I get older, my hair will probably lighten a lot, so I wanted to try going darker at least once. Some have said they like it, others told me "next time don't get that color," but hey it makes me kind of feel young and adventurous still. There is a little voice that tries to tell me that after 30 there will be no fun to be had. Of course I know that's not true, but in these last few hours of my 20s, the do...

So I was browsing Amazon looking for some fun stuff for my Kindle last night when I came across a book about turning 30..it seems I'm not the only one who has a mid- (quarter?) life crisis when approaching this age. Here's what the book description said: Competence. Now in convenient book format You’re old enough to own property and have a family, but can you safely open a bottle of champagne? Or change a flat tire? 30 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do Before Turning 30 provides idiot-proof instructions for mastering these and other essential, face-saving, and possibly life-saving skills. You’ll learn how to... 1. wrap a present 2. start a successful fire in a fireplace, at a campsite, and in a barbecue 3. finish a piece of furniture 4. get a raise 5. order wine at a restaurant without getting stiffed 6. parallel park in three breathtakingly beautiful movements 7. dance a “slow dance” without looking like an idiot 8. use a full place setting properly, inc...

One of my 30 before 30 goals was to do more hiking in Yilan. There are so many amazing hiking trails around here, and many I didn't even know about before. The first thing I did was make a list of all the trails I knew how to get to on my own, and checked off each one as I hiked it. Since I love making lists, this really did help me to achieve my goal. There is one trail that I haven't made it to yet, but I do have one more week to go! I think this year, I will try to do each trail a 2-3 more times. Another thing I did was suggest hiking as a group activity or accept invitations to go hiking with others. This led me to some new places, including a botanical garden with an amazing English garden on the top of a mountain. There were "Watch out for monkey" signs, but to my disappointment, I didn't see any.  The view from the top was incredible. We could see the whole Yilan area. Another hike I did was to a waterfall, that turned out to be 4km each way! Unlike the...

Life just keeps going at breakneck speed. It is just over two weeks until my birthday, and I have 4 more blogs to write! This week has been a pretty typical week:  Teaching at the girls school (their annual school fair is this weekend, which I'm looking forward to) English bible study (a small but sweet group of low level students in the small town of Zhuang-Wei outside of Yilan)  Small group (meeting in my home since October, we're in James chapter 4 now)  Writing tests (never ending)  Doing homework (ironically, my project due Monday is to create an achievement test)  Teaching in Hualian (funny story - the school has been asking me to do more classes, even offered to pay me directly. I really do like the school, so I emailed our office and recommended that we could add a couple more classes this semester. I got back a proposed schedule of 8 more classes in the next two months which would have me going to Hualian almost every week... inch - meet mile....

Easter is coming! It's one of my favorite holidays. It's a time of reflection, mourning and rejoicing, and the promise of new life. Last Friday, I was at church when the pastor asked me if I had any ideas for a Good Friday service. We talked for about an hour, and by the end, we had put together a really cool program! I'm really excited about the opportunity to be involved in this way, and that my church is willing to try something a little different, that will hopefully be meaningful to them. We're doing a partial candlelight service that includes video, singing, silent reflection, spontaneous prayer and dramatic scripture readings. The major church holidays aren't really celebrated in Taiwan, even in the churches, so I'm glad that we can spend a little more time on Easter this year. I also wanted to share my Easter playlist, partially inspired by my friends Amanda and Hope who have both shared some of these songs with me. I'm making them links to yout...