I am aunt!!

Ok so no, there is not a new baby in the Lewis family. Well there is but not a human baby. Missy just adopted a puppy - Emmie Anne Lewis. She is precious and a tiny ball of fur. I can't wait to get home and play with my new "niece." You have to know that in the Lewis family dogs and cats are family and treated no different than people (I know, a little weird.) Here is a picture of Emmie and her momma.

Prayer Retreat

What better to do than return to Taipei and be a part of a prayer retreat the next day. The day after I got back from Thailand the English Department had a prayer retreat. The retreat only lasted for a day but it was great fellowship and a good time of prayer and brainstorming. Many of the teacher's children came along, which is always a delight to play and see the little ones. Also we had lunch at a steak restaurant run by a Christian lady. I enjoyed the fellowship with the other teachers, we do not have much time to talk, dream, and just get to know each other. The prayer was refreshing and the corporate worship was enjoyable. That night we had a painting party with some of the students and tried to finish painting one floor of the girl's dorm. We did not quite finish but almost 20 girls helped us paint but they had a great time and we had got a lot done.

Pictures from the retreat:

After the retreat I put on my painting clothes, grabbed a brush, and joined the paint party in the girls dorm. Although many of the students were celebrating the end of midterms we still had a good turnout. We got a lot painted and now the floor is almost complete. Pictures of the painting...

Thursday was a long day but it was fun and rewarding. I was pretty sore the next day after painting for almost 5 hours straight! It was worth it. The halls no longer have that hospital feel to them. Now school is back in session. I am teaching, tudoring, doing devotions, and hanging out with students again. School ends June 19th so I really want to enjoy the last month or so of my time here.

Well until next time...

The Land of Smiles

My trip to Thailand was fun, restful, and an adventure. I find that flying by myself is always an adventure. My flight was delayed two and a half hours because of technical problems. I did not mind because I would rather fly on a safe airplane. I got to Bangkok at 2 am and did not arrive at my friend's house until after 3. Other than that I had a great time meeting people, eating different foods, trying to speak Thai, and catching up with my friend Melanie. She and her friends took me to ride a river boat and see this enormous reclining Budha made of pure gold. I went to a nice mall one day and ate Mexican food for the first time in almost 9 months. I read three books and slept a lot. I also had the chance to see the MTW Thailand team in action. They have many different ministries going on and it was a priviledge to be a very small part of them during a short time. I also met Melanie's neighbors and ate at their shop. They have a little girl (about 5 years old) and a teenager who love to hang out with Melanie and her roommates. I enjoyed them. They ate with us and told us that we were wimps because we couldn't handle spicy food - that would be me!!!
I have a few pictures...











Now I am back at Christ's College. We had a prayer retreat the day after I returned. We also picked up our paint brushes once again and tried to finish painting one of the girl's dorm floors. Almost 20 girls came to help and it was a lot of fun. The halls are looking good.





Much has been going on here. Midterms just ended so I am experiencing one of the "joys" of teaching - grading. Not my favorite part let me tell you. Today I did get the opportunity to give a power point lecture on C.S. Lewis to the senior English Majors who are in the process of reading "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe." I had so much fun finding pictures, rereading the book, and sharing my passion of Lewis' writing and life. So grading balances out with being able to connect faith and learning in the classroom.

Hope everyone is doing well

Until next time...

Thailand...

I am taking a short break and am in Bangkok, Thailand. I am visiting missionary friends for about 5 days. I had a whirlwind of a flight to get here - delayed 2 hours, immigration took an hour and then the ride to their home took about another hour. So we got to their home at about 2 am. So I slept late and haven't seen much of the city yet but Melanie (my friend) took me around the little town they live in and we met some of her Thai friends. I ate Thai stir fry and a Thai smoothie - really good and got money exchanged. There are many similarities between Thailand and Taiwan so it has not been extremely difficult to adjust. The language is beautiful and so is the writing - it looks a bit like Arabic. It is nice to have a breather from Chinese and life in Taiwan but I know by the time I fly back I will miss it dearly and be ready to see the students again.
I haven't taken any pictures yet but I plan to so I will update my blog with Thailand pictures soon.

Cloudy Days...

Blue skies smilin' at me... nothing but blue skies... So we painted Becky White's (MTW missionary teacher) ceiling with clouds. It was already blue so we just finished it adding it with clouds. We put sponges on poles and dabbed the ceiling. I started helping paint clouds but once I painted a very square cloud I was kindly put as picture taker and master foreman - I told the others where clouds needed to be painted by looking up at ceiling in a prostrate position. It was fun - I have never done anything like it. Here are some pictures...

I like to paint especially being creative with it. Next week we are going to finish painting one floor of the girls' dorm. Many girls have signed up to help so hopefully it will be a good time of fellowship as well as painting. I will make sure and take pictures and let you all know how it goes.

Until next time...

Daily Walks on the River

After a busy day of helping students, proofreading, talking Chinglish, and ministering to students I head with some of the teachers and sometimes some students down the hill to Juwei to walk along the river. We usually walk while the sun is setting and it is beautiful. It is a great break and respite to separate the afternoon and night activities. We see tons of dogs ranging from huge sheep dogs to itty bitty shitzus and puffy cocoa poodle type dogs. I love the dogs because I miss my parent's zoo of animals (4 dogs and 2 cats!). The dogs run around and try to dodge all of the bikes. Great entertainment! Here are some pictures...

Ok, so these pictures are when the tide is out so the beauty of the river is not as evident. But believe me it's great.
Until next time...

Yum!

So I would have to say that my favorite restaurant to eat in Taiwan is the little hole-in-the-wall next to the college. The English faculty has dubbed it the "Seafood" restaurant, which I think is pretty funny because we never eat seafood there. It is great. There are only two waitresses, so we have gotten to know them pretty well and it is family owned. My favorite dish is Chinese eggplant and pork with rice. Oh and there is this tofu soup like dish that is great as well. The Chinese name for it is something like soft skin tofu. I eat there at least once a week or more. The place is tiny and most of the time noisy and full of Taiwanese people relaxing and communing over good food after a hard day's work. I have a few pictures of me and some of our team eating at the seafood place. I will dearly miss this food and the people when I leave.

This is a whole fish - head, eyes, everything - cooked in a pan. So, yes they serve seafood but we tend to stick to land dishes.

So I give a shout out to the wonderful people at the seafood place and I can't wait to eat there again - which will be very soon.

Until next time...

Sheep

Growing up I never had a fascination with stuffed animals or had a favorite kind of animal. Well, now that I am twenty five that is changing. This year I have seen how God uses the picture of the shepherd and sheep all throughout the Bible. I am His sheep. Sheep are needy, dependent, and yes let's be frank pretty stupid animals but they are precious to the shepherd. We also have a shepherd who thinks we are more valuable than we think of ourselves.

I received a stuffed sheep for Easter and although she is a bit plump and does not have a smile unless I contort her face she is soft and a great reminder that God will and is taking care of me more than I can see or know.

Picture of the sheep - I haven't named her yet so if anyone has any ideas please let me know.

I hope she makes you smile!
Until next time...

My Battle with mosquitos

When you think of places that might have huge, pesky, blood sucking mosquitos I personally think of places like the Amazon in Brazil or the Congo or Kenya in Africa. Well, I found out this week that we can add Taiwan to this list. I live on the 5th floor of an apartment building and my bedroom is enclosed by a indoor porch and STILL these darn mosquitos find their way into my ear at 1am. So I did something I did not expect to do here. I got a mosquito net and shimmied it up to the ceiling with duck tape and a draw string from my sweat pants! It has only fallen once in four nights and now I think I have gotten it secure so it hopefully will not fall again. I have found one or two mosquitos in my room, which I chase around until I can kill them, but they don't make it to my ears or body when I am sleeping. All that to say I am sleeping itch and bothersome free for the first time in a while. So whoever came up with the idea of the mosquito net - bless you.

Here is a picture of my net. It truly feels like I am camping every night. I actually like it - the canopy feeling. The net is big enough that I don't feel suffocated.

So as I am here battling the mosquitos my family is preparing for the upcoming Masters golf tournament that starts this week. I am truly wanting to be there. I love the Masters and will miss spending time at the course with my family - it's a tradition that I truly cherish.

Until next time...

Brownies, movies, and more...

Sleeping late, eating gluten-free brownies, and watching good movies. Isn't that what Spring Break is all about? I enjoyed making gluten-free brownies last night. For all that do not know I cannot eat wheat so I usually cannot eat cakes, brownies, cookies, etc. A kind friend sent some special brownie mix to me and I used it last night. I made brownie cup cakes and I am ashamed to say that they are almost gone now. In my defense I did give many to friends so that they could try a gluten-free brownie for the first time. Look, I only get stuff like this once a year or so (I don't feel bad!) Special little things make life so sweet don't they.

Spring break plans - go see a play with students, read, grade papers, and spend time communing with the Lord. There are some students staying on campus so I hope to spend some time with them.

I would like to make a shout out to my lovely famiy especially my mom for helping me get some things done in the states that I can't do since I am an ocean and the whole U.S. apart from Augusta GA. Mom, I appreciate your help and could not plan for my future if you were not willing to sacrifice your time and effort for me. Thank you.

Well, Until next time...