Thank You Lord...

Thank you Lord for the serendipitous encouragements from my students during times of self-doubt in my ability as a teacher. You have blessed me with skills that have allowed me to do an exceptional job at the school. Please continue to guide me through my teaching career and to gently remind me that everything I have comes from You. Thank you!

Obvious Choice

Surrounded by Buddhists, sometimes I try to imagine what spiritual fulfillment I would experience if I were a Buddhist. Quite frankly, the thought of living a life without God to lean on is frightening. I can't imagine being left to my own devices when a disaster strikes in my life. What a lonely place to be. The feeling of utter helplessness is paralyzing. It just strikes me as ludicrous to think that one can control the events in one's life. So the choice is obvious...God and Jesus Christ. What other religion boasts a God that has suffered the insufferable, Who promises to comfort and guide and most of all to lavish forgiveness on anyone who sincerely repents and accepts Him.

Gentle Reminders

Whenever I start straying from God, He always nudges me back gently either through a Bible verse, or something someone says, or just a whisper in my head. I've only begun to learn to listen and follow.

Thankful

God has blessed me with so much since coming to Taiwan. Everything has gone pretty smoothly for me here. However, I must remember and remind myself everyday that it's not from my own doing. Everything good in my life is a blessing from God and He can take it away at any moment. So I have to remember to thank Him everydayfor the things He has blessed me with and continue to bless me with.

Happy Christian

At least once a week there's is a buddhist celebration, parade or some sort of fanfare. I have learned a bit about the buddhist religion from talking to a few people and I have to say that I am really happy and lucky to be a Christian. Just very thankful that God has led me and my family to be part of His family. The whole buddhist religion is just so nonsensical with all the gods and rituals and rites and blah, blah, blah. Christianity on the other hand is straightforward: Accept Christ as your personal Saviour. That's it. Also, buddhism is self-centered. Yes, they preach doing good. However, it's motivated by the notion that the more you good you do the more good you're "saving" in your spiritual bank for later use. Christians do good out of love for Christ and others with no expectation of any returns. I've been told since coming to Taiwan that I my belief in love, honesty, and righteousness will make me a target for people to take advantage of. People have advised me to become "street" smarter and to treat people with the mind set that everyone is out to get you. True, I might be able to get ahead faster or avoid being taken advantage of but I refuse to play into that arguement. Just because that's the way the world works does not mean I need to play by its rules. I will try my best to live by God's rules. It can be impossibly difficult, however, but I can take comfort in the fact that God always wins at the end, and I prefer to be on the winning side.

God's Timing

Many times I find myself steaming ahead in finding more and more students. But God always reminds me to stop and reflect. I have to trust that He will send me more students at a pace I can handle. When I first arrived in Taiwan, I was all ready to just dive headlong into teaching and start working full-time. In retrospect, it was a Godsend that a part-time job came my way first. If I had taken a full-time job in the beginning, I think I would have burnt out before I even started. Having a part-time job gave me the extra time I needed to hone my lesson planning and teaching skills. Now that I'm more efficient with those skills, God is providing more and more students for me. I have to just trust that He knows my capabilities better than I do.

Giving Thanks

Thank you Lord for everything and everything!