Miracles happen all the time and I would like to share one I experienced recently...
After finishing my personal devotion on Sabbath morning, I rolled out of my bed, blew my nose, and walked out of my room.
"Good morning" my dad greeted me.
"...ood...m...ing" I croaked. "Where is my voice?!" I thought. Clearing my throat a few more times, I tried again, but it still sounded pretty awful. "Oh no. Not today!" I inwardly moaned.
You see, that night was the church's Christmas Talent Show. I was planning on singing "O Holy Night" (by Point of Grace) with my mom. This was really important to me for a couple of reasons. First, my mom hates singing up front. I've been trying to convince her to sing it with me for four years! I love singing with my mom; I think she sings well and that our voices really blend, regardless of the excuses she gives. Also, I just love that song and how well it's done and really wanted to sing it. Finally, my mom agreed to sing it with me this year. I was so happy! Finally, haha! We practiced many times and figured it all out. And then... I had no voice. Great. Just great.
Running to the kitchen, I started cookin' up all sort of concoctions. I drank some nasty tea, took cold medicine, tons of cough and throat drops, used throat spray, gargled salt water (Ugh! That was nasty), and anything else I could think. (Did I forget to mention I was supposed to sing a special music for church too?)
Soon, I had most of my voice back, but I still sounded congested and I knew it would be next to impossible to sing the really high notes that I was planning to sing that night. The song is a little difficult to sing because it starts low and then I have to go ultra high at the end. It's a lot harder to sing when you have a cold too! (I had caught the cold the last day we were in Japan and had it for a little over three weeks!)
"Ok, God. I guess it's up to You if you want me to sing. You know I really want to sing this song but I want to sing for Your glory, so, Your will be done."
As we were getting ready to head over to set up for the talent show that evening, I asked my mom if we could practice.
"Sure." she said.
She pushed play and we went through the song once.
"That was horrible!" I exclaimed. "My voice basically left me at that highest note and my voice kept cracking. Are you sure we should do this?"
"I think you can do it. It' already in the program. Just don't practice anymore or you'll strain you voice. Suck on your couph/throat drops until we sing, that might help."
"okay..." I said, not completely convinced.
The talent show was really going great. There were beautiful songs sang, funny skits done, cute stories told, and a lot of laughing and clapping. But I was coming up on the program quick. Problem was, I was feeling even worse! I kept coughing, my nose was plugged, and I just did not feel good. (In fact, I actually ran up a few of the stairs in the building to clear my nose, but it only lasted a minute.) Soon, I was the next one up.
I turned to my friend, "I'm so nervous! I don't know if I can do it!'
"Let's pray then."
"Thanks, Gracie." I said.
She finished at the same time the group ahead of me did and it was time for me to go up.
My mom called me up and it was time. "Please, God? Send me a miracle so I can just sing this song." I prayed silently and started the song.
After I hesitantly sang the first line I realized something. "My nose is clear! I can breath! And my voice isn't strained or cracking at all. I'm not even scared in front of everybody!"
Coming to the end of the song, I took a deep breath right before I sang the highest notes. Then, the song was over. Just like that!
After the song, I distinctly remember just keep saying in my head, "I did it! I did it! Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you, God!"
I then made my way to my seat. As soon as I sat down, I nose became really congested and I started coughing again. That's when I realized that God had indeed answered my prayer and had given me a miracle! I was just ecstatic with joy that He would do that for me. He cared about me wanting to sing a song. It wasn't important, but it was to me. That's why it was important to Him. This incident reminded me of how God gave me my voice in Tanzania when I needed as well. (Look at my blog entitled, "Miracle in the Classrom."
Wow. God is so good; isn't He?
Monday, December 28, 2015
Monday, December 14, 2015
To Tokyo We Go
"So, let me see, Japan will have been the ... one. two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine.. yep! This will be the 10th country I've been in." I counted to myself as I gazed out the airplane window. The sky was full of billowing white clouds. I looked around me and noticed my family and our friends who came with us were all sleeping. Being a light sleeper, I knew I wasn't going to fall asleep so I let my mind wander to all the exiting things we did in Tokyo, Japan.
My mom decided that during Thanksgiving break we were going to go to Japan. And why not? So, Wednesday night we arrived. Our trip turned out to be exciting right from the start.
After we landed in Tokyo, we had to walk all the way to the other side of the airport to catch the Metro. We had to hurry so we wouldn't be late. Problem was, Melissa, a teacher at TAAS who joined us, was currently on crunches. It was a little bit difficult and painful to go at such a fast rate, but it looked like we could still make it.
My dad rushed ahead to buy our metro passes but we were close behind. After much confusion of paying at the wrong station, going to the wrong exit, and so forth, we realized we had just missed our train. Thankfully, someone helped us decide which alternative to take. We all took a deep breath as we sat down in the right train. Then, my mom sat back up.
"We still have to figure out which train to transfer to and where we get off."
I was glad that we hadn't passed our stop before they figured it out about fifteen minutes later.
As I looked at the map of all the metros I was amazed.
"That is SO complicated. Taipei's metro system is way easier!"
Eventually we arrived and found our hotel with no other mishaps.
I remember seeing a haze of orange in he sky behind a tall building and commenting, "Why is the sky orange over there?!"
I found out right after we finished checking in. It was the Tokyo Tower! It was really close to our hotel so we walked over and took some pictures. It's like Japan's version of the Eiffel Tower. We went up to the observatory. They had this kind of majestic music playing and it matched the amazing scene out the glass walls. We could look down on the huge city of Tokyo. You couldn't really see how big it was, but you could see hundreds and thousands of lights twinkling all over the place. It was beautiful. Afterwards, we hurried to the hotel because it was freezing outside! I think I almost forgot what winter felt like! lol!
The next morning, we joined a tour to see Mt. Fuji (or Fujisan). The group we were with was pretty small so we had a lot of room in the tour bus. I remember being so surprised as I looked out the window in the beginning of the ride. The reason was, for a split second I forgot that they drive on the ride side of the car there. So, I see a car drive right next to us and all I see in the 'driver's seat is a box!
"How is the car driving!? There's only a box! Oh..." haha! I realized my mistake before I had even finished my thought, but it was pretty funny.
As we left the city, the scenery was just beautiful. There were rolling hills and mountains covered with dense forest. I could almost smell the fresh greenery in the cool air. We weren't able to see the peak of Mt. Fuji though (until later) as it was covered with thick, dark clouds.
We road over the only 'singing road' in the world too. There's a certain part of the road as you approach the Mt. Fuji that you hear singing coming from the road as you drive over it.
When our leader first told us we were going to drive over ad singing road I was like, "a what?!" But it's true! It sang! Apparently, they strategically place little bumps and lines on the road so that when you drive over it, and you listen carefully, you can hear a song. I didn't know the Japanese song, but it was really cool to hear!
When we reached the highest point you could drive to, we took some pictures (even though we couldn't see the top) and turned around. After lunch, we drove away from the mountain to go on a gondola ride. As we turned away from the mountain, the tour guide shouted, "Oh look behind us! Mt. Fuji is coming out!" All heads immediately turned and we were able to see the peak of the tallest mountain in Japan.
"That is a rare treat." the tour guide explained. "Mt. Fuji is usually very shy."
We got a great view from the gondola, and after that we took a ferry ride on one of lakes surrounding Mt. Fuji. The water was so graceful and peaceful. It was a nice, relaxing ride.
By the time we arrived back in Tokyo, it was dark and we were starving! We decided to go and try to find an Indian restaurant. One of the ladies on our tour decided to join us for dinner as well. The only problem was, we couldn't find it! People kept giving us different directions and we ended up walking a big circle. It took us a while, but we finally found it and the food was amazing. :)
On Friday, we met up with the Smiths (friends we had previously met on their visit to Taipei) and went to the Sky Tree. It is a super tall tower and the has the highest look-out in the world! It has only been there three years. The view was absolutely spectacular! There was great weather and you see the entire city. Its so big, it's beyond words in my opinion.
"Wow," I said to myself, "And I thought Taipei was huge..." It just went on forever, and ever, and ever, and ever, and... okay, I think you get my point.
On our way back to the hotel, we took the wrong train three times. See, that just shows how complicated the Tokyo metro is. Even the locals get lost! There was like a sea of people, too. I haven't seen very many places so packed with people. At rush hour, they have what they call 'train pushers.' They will literally shove and push the people so tight into the cars so they can all fit when the doors close. Thankfully we didn't have to experience that.
Anyways, we finally got on the right train. We had fun trying all the drinks in the vending machines though. Japan is actually known for their vending machines. They have very unique ones and their absolutely everywhere. You can get cold or hot drinks, hot soup, ramen, some have ice-cream, french fries, and all sorts of stuff! They have really good Japanese drinks too.
The next day was sabbath and we went to a church there. It was nice. The potluck was a little different. They had us sit down, and then they served us the food! We took a walk in the park afterwards and saw some fall colored trees.
That night we went to Shibuya Crossing. Probably one of the busiest crosswalks in the world. It's kind of like New York's Time Square or something. After we crossed the road my mom asked me what I thought.
"I felt like I was swimming in a sea of people! Haha!"
We did some souvenir shopping, grabbed a bite to eat and then quickly went to our hotel. We had to take a taxi for a short distance but it was absolutely ridiculously expensive! I have never seen a taxi ride cost so much, and it wasn't a very long a drive at all!
Anyways, before even the crack of dawn, we had to jump out of our cozy beds and rush to the airport.
In summary, we had a great, fun-filled, exciting trip and I have now been to 10 countries! I wonder which one will be next... :)
My mom decided that during Thanksgiving break we were going to go to Japan. And why not? So, Wednesday night we arrived. Our trip turned out to be exciting right from the start.
After we landed in Tokyo, we had to walk all the way to the other side of the airport to catch the Metro. We had to hurry so we wouldn't be late. Problem was, Melissa, a teacher at TAAS who joined us, was currently on crunches. It was a little bit difficult and painful to go at such a fast rate, but it looked like we could still make it.
My dad rushed ahead to buy our metro passes but we were close behind. After much confusion of paying at the wrong station, going to the wrong exit, and so forth, we realized we had just missed our train. Thankfully, someone helped us decide which alternative to take. We all took a deep breath as we sat down in the right train. Then, my mom sat back up.
"We still have to figure out which train to transfer to and where we get off."
I was glad that we hadn't passed our stop before they figured it out about fifteen minutes later.
As I looked at the map of all the metros I was amazed.
"That is SO complicated. Taipei's metro system is way easier!"
Eventually we arrived and found our hotel with no other mishaps.
I remember seeing a haze of orange in he sky behind a tall building and commenting, "Why is the sky orange over there?!"
I found out right after we finished checking in. It was the Tokyo Tower! It was really close to our hotel so we walked over and took some pictures. It's like Japan's version of the Eiffel Tower. We went up to the observatory. They had this kind of majestic music playing and it matched the amazing scene out the glass walls. We could look down on the huge city of Tokyo. You couldn't really see how big it was, but you could see hundreds and thousands of lights twinkling all over the place. It was beautiful. Afterwards, we hurried to the hotel because it was freezing outside! I think I almost forgot what winter felt like! lol!
The next morning, we joined a tour to see Mt. Fuji (or Fujisan). The group we were with was pretty small so we had a lot of room in the tour bus. I remember being so surprised as I looked out the window in the beginning of the ride. The reason was, for a split second I forgot that they drive on the ride side of the car there. So, I see a car drive right next to us and all I see in the 'driver's seat is a box!
"How is the car driving!? There's only a box! Oh..." haha! I realized my mistake before I had even finished my thought, but it was pretty funny.
As we left the city, the scenery was just beautiful. There were rolling hills and mountains covered with dense forest. I could almost smell the fresh greenery in the cool air. We weren't able to see the peak of Mt. Fuji though (until later) as it was covered with thick, dark clouds.
We road over the only 'singing road' in the world too. There's a certain part of the road as you approach the Mt. Fuji that you hear singing coming from the road as you drive over it.
When our leader first told us we were going to drive over ad singing road I was like, "a what?!" But it's true! It sang! Apparently, they strategically place little bumps and lines on the road so that when you drive over it, and you listen carefully, you can hear a song. I didn't know the Japanese song, but it was really cool to hear!
"That is a rare treat." the tour guide explained. "Mt. Fuji is usually very shy."
We got a great view from the gondola, and after that we took a ferry ride on one of lakes surrounding Mt. Fuji. The water was so graceful and peaceful. It was a nice, relaxing ride.
By the time we arrived back in Tokyo, it was dark and we were starving! We decided to go and try to find an Indian restaurant. One of the ladies on our tour decided to join us for dinner as well. The only problem was, we couldn't find it! People kept giving us different directions and we ended up walking a big circle. It took us a while, but we finally found it and the food was amazing. :)
On Friday, we met up with the Smiths (friends we had previously met on their visit to Taipei) and went to the Sky Tree. It is a super tall tower and the has the highest look-out in the world! It has only been there three years. The view was absolutely spectacular! There was great weather and you see the entire city. Its so big, it's beyond words in my opinion.
"Wow," I said to myself, "And I thought Taipei was huge..." It just went on forever, and ever, and ever, and ever, and... okay, I think you get my point.
Anyways, we finally got on the right train. We had fun trying all the drinks in the vending machines though. Japan is actually known for their vending machines. They have very unique ones and their absolutely everywhere. You can get cold or hot drinks, hot soup, ramen, some have ice-cream, french fries, and all sorts of stuff! They have really good Japanese drinks too.
The next day was sabbath and we went to a church there. It was nice. The potluck was a little different. They had us sit down, and then they served us the food! We took a walk in the park afterwards and saw some fall colored trees.
That night we went to Shibuya Crossing. Probably one of the busiest crosswalks in the world. It's kind of like New York's Time Square or something. After we crossed the road my mom asked me what I thought.
"I felt like I was swimming in a sea of people! Haha!"
We did some souvenir shopping, grabbed a bite to eat and then quickly went to our hotel. We had to take a taxi for a short distance but it was absolutely ridiculously expensive! I have never seen a taxi ride cost so much, and it wasn't a very long a drive at all!
Anyways, before even the crack of dawn, we had to jump out of our cozy beds and rush to the airport.
In summary, we had a great, fun-filled, exciting trip and I have now been to 10 countries! I wonder which one will be next... :)
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
God's Race
"...Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." Hebrews 12:1
I just ran
my first half-marathon a couple days ago. You wouldn’t believe I used to hate
running, but I did! Back when we lived in the States, my mom had to practically
drag me to go running with her. She didn’t always take me, but when she
did, I would always complain, “But I have too much homework!” or “I’m tired,”
and “Do I have to go?”
When we
moved here to Taiwan, my mom recruited some people from church and formed a
running group. Soon, they dubbed themselves the New Life International SDA Runners.
They ran every Sunday and Thursday evening along-side the river.
One Sabbath
(Saturday) evening, my mom told us that we had to go running with them the next
morning. I was reluctant, but I went. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed it! It was
actually fun! Probably because we usually stop for tea on the way back.
Sometimes, we jokingly call ourselves the “tea runners.” Lol. After that, I would run with them
periodically.
This year, I
officially became part of the running club and got my own T-shirt. My goal was
to run a half marathon. I had a difficult time though because I wasn’t allowed
to run like half of the time! As I mentioned in the previous post, due to my
allergies, my mom wouldn’t let me run unless I was a certain weight because she
was worried about me losing weight (which was completely understandable but I
still didn’t like it). Thankfully, every time I was allowed to run, I ran just
fine.
Soon, the
day of the ½ marathon arrived. Some of us were nervous, some excited, and I was
a little of both. I was super excited, but we had heard that it was uphill.
Turns out it was uphill, right up a mountain!
The starting (and ending point) was at a track. As we jumped out of the van, we could feel the excitement in the air. Tons of people were milling around and stretching.
To our great amusement, someone on the stage started leading some excerices moves, but it was more of a dance then an exercise. It was hilarious to watch.
Soon it was time for the race to begin. Everyone assembled on the track and the countdown began!
To our great amusement, someone on the stage started leading some excerices moves, but it was more of a dance then an exercise. It was hilarious to watch.
Soon it was time for the race to begin. Everyone assembled on the track and the countdown began!
"...Shi, Jio, Ba, Qi, Liu, Wu, Si, San, Er, Yi!" The alarm went off and we started our race.
"Yeah! We're doing it! We're running!" My mom shouted gleefully as we rounded the bend and started running up. We ran up hill after hill, right up the mountain.
Panting, I asked my mom, "Are you sure this results in good health? Not in broken legs and collapsed lungs?"
"Well, I guess it's a good things health care is so cheap here." She smirked.
"Oh, thanks a lot." I laughed.
We continued trudging upward. It was treacherous! During all our training, we only ran on flat roads. We were not prepared to run straight up a mountain!"
"Jia yo! Jia yo!" People would shout and encourage us as they passed out sports drinks and water at the stations along the way.
At one point, we saw our fastest runner, Benjamin, on his way back.
"You're almost there! (to the half way point)" he encouraged us as we cheered him. Finally, we forced our legs up the last hill and made it to the half-way point where they gave us a scrunchy to prove we made it. Then, we headed back.
"At least all those uphills will be downhills on the way back." I gasped between breaths.
Those down hills were straight down, though, and it started to bother some of our groups' knees, especially, Inah. We were getting close to the end and us girls wanted to finish together so we were were determined to stick together.
"I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die!" Danielle complained.
"We got this! We can do it!" my mom encouraged.
"O, God, help us finish." someone else said muttered.
"Oh, I don't think I can run anymore, my knees really hurt." cried Inah.
"I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die!" Danielle complained.
"We got this! We can do it!" my mom encouraged.
"O, God, help us finish." someone else said muttered.
"Oh, I don't think I can run anymore, my knees really hurt." cried Inah.
"Come on, Inah! You can do it! Just a little longer! We're almost there! "I encouraged as I grabbed her hand.Yes, we were almost there. Almost! Soon we saw friends cheering us on as we the finish line came into sight. We ran, hand in hand, and stopped together over the finish line.
"We did it!" I shouted. I walked over and received my medal and proudly put it around my neck.
Benjamin had already made with Marcy a little behind. Soon, the two remaining boys brought up the rear, including my dad.
Next of course was picture time! After taking pictures we slowly lowered ourselves onto the ground and drank lots of water and rested our weary limbs.
The were some people talking loudly in Chinese on the microphones on the stage but I was concentrated on resting my tired legs.
All of a sudden, Shin looked up and told me, "That's your name!"
"What?"
Then I heard them announce my friend's name. (Apparently they mispronounced my name so bad that I didn't even recognize it, haha!)
Bewildered, we walked over to the stage area. They kind of lined us up, me in front of Danielle, and they asked where we were from and how to pronounce our names. We had absolutely no clue what was happening as they said something in microphone and read our running numbers. Finally, Shin translated: We were the third and fourth fastest runners in our category! We couldn't believe it!
Before we had really processed this information, they ushered us on the platform and announced our name to every one (along with a bunch of Chinese). Then, two guys came and shook our hands, gave us a plaque (!!!) and a gift. I was thrilled! My first marathon I had placed third fastest in my category, received a plaque (even if it is in Chinese), got a running shirt, and medal to boot! I thanked God for how He had blessed me.
The fact that all of us made it without any major injuries was a miracle. God was really working. My mom, just the day before could hardly walk! She had injured her food and it hurt so bad she didn't come to church. God healed her thought and she was able to run a half marathon the next morning without any difficulties. Inah also has a really hard time with running uphill, but she made it! Benjamin had brand-new running shoes that he was worried about blistering and hurting his feet, but they didn't. My dad and Danielle were really nervous about it as well, and they did just fine! God was definitely running with us.
During the race, God brought a verse to mind: Acts 20:24, "However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace."
"We did it!" I shouted. I walked over and received my medal and proudly put it around my neck.
Benjamin had already made with Marcy a little behind. Soon, the two remaining boys brought up the rear, including my dad.
Next of course was picture time! After taking pictures we slowly lowered ourselves onto the ground and drank lots of water and rested our weary limbs.
The were some people talking loudly in Chinese on the microphones on the stage but I was concentrated on resting my tired legs.
All of a sudden, Shin looked up and told me, "That's your name!"
"What?"
Then I heard them announce my friend's name. (Apparently they mispronounced my name so bad that I didn't even recognize it, haha!)
Bewildered, we walked over to the stage area. They kind of lined us up, me in front of Danielle, and they asked where we were from and how to pronounce our names. We had absolutely no clue what was happening as they said something in microphone and read our running numbers. Finally, Shin translated: We were the third and fourth fastest runners in our category! We couldn't believe it!
Before we had really processed this information, they ushered us on the platform and announced our name to every one (along with a bunch of Chinese). Then, two guys came and shook our hands, gave us a plaque (!!!) and a gift. I was thrilled! My first marathon I had placed third fastest in my category, received a plaque (even if it is in Chinese), got a running shirt, and medal to boot! I thanked God for how He had blessed me.
The fact that all of us made it without any major injuries was a miracle. God was really working. My mom, just the day before could hardly walk! She had injured her food and it hurt so bad she didn't come to church. God healed her thought and she was able to run a half marathon the next morning without any difficulties. Inah also has a really hard time with running uphill, but she made it! Benjamin had brand-new running shoes that he was worried about blistering and hurting his feet, but they didn't. My dad and Danielle were really nervous about it as well, and they did just fine! God was definitely running with us.
During the race, God brought a verse to mind: Acts 20:24, "However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace."
I finished my physical race, the half marathon, but I still have another race to run and task to complete: to tell everyone of God's amazing love and grace. Will you join me in this race?
Thursday, October 29, 2015
"So... I can... eat again?!"
"We got your allergy tests back." my dad said as he glanced at me through the front mirror.
Instantly my heart did flip-flops and a cold chill of nervousness rushed over my body. Before I could respond, my dad told me he wouldn't tell me the results until we got to the house and he had showed and talked it over with my mom.
Okay, so maybe I should back-track a little:
As you may know from a previous post, I became allergic to a LOT of things. I took the test in February and it said I was allergic to: Dairy (the highest), wheat, soy, gluten, rice, sunflower seed, papaya, orange, almonds, buckwheat, wheat, eggs, walnuts, peanuts, and tea. Yep, basically everything. Anyway, since then I have tried to completely avoid any of those foods. Do you know how hard that is? Indescribably difficult. Besides the difficulty of finding gluten free, dairy free, nut free, rice free, ect., did you know that almost everything is cooked in soy oil (and here, sunflower oil) or has soy lectin in it? Most Gluten-free products are made with rice, but I couldn't eat that either. On top of that, all the labels here are in Chinese, of course! These eight months I just had to eat at home, bring my own food everywhere, or/and just watch others eat. That is difficult in Taiwan where everyone eats out. I kind of got used to people eating yummy food that I couldn't in front of me, but it was still hard.
A couple months ago we found out more about my allergies. I will try and explain the best I can: I got this bacteria called Candida (yeast) that ate holes in my stomach lining. This resulted in all my food going into my bloodstream. This made my body react to the food as an allergy.
So, while we were in the states, we got a bunch of pro-biotics and other "stuff" to heal my gut. I also started juicing once a month.
Because of all this, I was doing a lot better; only breaking out in hives every now and then. But suddenly, I started getting them more frequently and we couldn't understand why. We were worried I was gaining new allergies (which kind of freaked us out). About this time, we found out that Candida grows on sugar.
My parents decided to put me on an extreme diet for a month and then I would get retested. The diet consisted of: raw vegetables, quinoa, the few nuts and oil I could eat (and seasonings and stuff). I couldn't have sugar, fruit, or carbs (except for a cup of beans a day so I didn't shrivel into a twig :p). In fact, my mom was constantly worried about me losing weight; especially since we run a lot (training for a 1/2 marathon). I wasn't allowed to run and had to walk if I was under 108 lbs / 48 kg (which was the case a lot of the time; but I was still able to keep up when I could run, thankfully).
That last month was horrible. I had such intense cravings for anything sweet (an apple sounded heavenly). I mostly ate salad and nuts. "And I thought my old diet was bad" I remember thinking to myself. I survived and God helped through. After the month was finally up, we went back to the clinic where I got my blood taken and was told I would get the results in two weeks.
Another thing we decided to do was have an anointing service for me. It was really special. After church, (a couple days before my re-testing) the elders laid their hands on me, prayed, and anointed me. I felt peace in my heart. I knew that we had done everything we could and that it was in God's hands now. I knew many people were praying for me.
Two agonizingly-long weeks later, my dad told me he got my results, as I mentioned in the beginning. My dad pulled up to our house, and we all hopped out of the car. I went to my room and my parents to theirs.
"O, God," I prayed. "I'm so nervous! What if I'm still allergic to everything? What will I do? It's so hard to eat and live like this. Please let the report be good. I know You can. I have believe in You, 'Help my unbelief." Most importantly though, let Your will be done."
I decided that even if the results were bad, I would just see it as God's will for me and I would survive. He could help through.
Eventually, my parents called me into their room. I could hardly bear the suspense as I slowly walked into their bedroom. I braced myself, as I waited for them to tell me the news.
"Your allergies are so much better! There are only a few things on here and you have no more high allergies!"
I sighed with relief and plopped onto their bed. "Thank-you, God!" I whispered.
My mom then proceeded to explain that I still need to be gluten-free, and mostly vegan but there were so many more things I could eat!
"So, I can like, almost eat like a normal person again?!"
"Yes!"
I don't know why, but my eyes started filling.
"I'm just... so overwhelmed! I can.. I can eat again!" I laughed through my misting eyes.
"Yes, you can eat again, Enjoli. You just have to be careful to rotate everything and only eat these certain things sparingly and you should be fine" my mom repeated as she and my dad gave me a hug.
Walking into the kitchen, I turned to my parents, "I just can't believe it! I can eat again! But I forgot how to eat... You're going to have to teach me how to eat like a normal person again!" I laughed.
That night I hardly slept a wink, thinking about food, haha! I am definitely more thankful for food than I ever have been in my life. I will never take food for granted again. I repeatedly thanked God for answering my prayer that night. How good, loving, and kind our God is!
Instantly my heart did flip-flops and a cold chill of nervousness rushed over my body. Before I could respond, my dad told me he wouldn't tell me the results until we got to the house and he had showed and talked it over with my mom.
Okay, so maybe I should back-track a little:
As you may know from a previous post, I became allergic to a LOT of things. I took the test in February and it said I was allergic to: Dairy (the highest), wheat, soy, gluten, rice, sunflower seed, papaya, orange, almonds, buckwheat, wheat, eggs, walnuts, peanuts, and tea. Yep, basically everything. Anyway, since then I have tried to completely avoid any of those foods. Do you know how hard that is? Indescribably difficult. Besides the difficulty of finding gluten free, dairy free, nut free, rice free, ect., did you know that almost everything is cooked in soy oil (and here, sunflower oil) or has soy lectin in it? Most Gluten-free products are made with rice, but I couldn't eat that either. On top of that, all the labels here are in Chinese, of course! These eight months I just had to eat at home, bring my own food everywhere, or/and just watch others eat. That is difficult in Taiwan where everyone eats out. I kind of got used to people eating yummy food that I couldn't in front of me, but it was still hard.
A couple months ago we found out more about my allergies. I will try and explain the best I can: I got this bacteria called Candida (yeast) that ate holes in my stomach lining. This resulted in all my food going into my bloodstream. This made my body react to the food as an allergy.
So, while we were in the states, we got a bunch of pro-biotics and other "stuff" to heal my gut. I also started juicing once a month.
Because of all this, I was doing a lot better; only breaking out in hives every now and then. But suddenly, I started getting them more frequently and we couldn't understand why. We were worried I was gaining new allergies (which kind of freaked us out). About this time, we found out that Candida grows on sugar.
My parents decided to put me on an extreme diet for a month and then I would get retested. The diet consisted of: raw vegetables, quinoa, the few nuts and oil I could eat (and seasonings and stuff). I couldn't have sugar, fruit, or carbs (except for a cup of beans a day so I didn't shrivel into a twig :p). In fact, my mom was constantly worried about me losing weight; especially since we run a lot (training for a 1/2 marathon). I wasn't allowed to run and had to walk if I was under 108 lbs / 48 kg (which was the case a lot of the time; but I was still able to keep up when I could run, thankfully).
That last month was horrible. I had such intense cravings for anything sweet (an apple sounded heavenly). I mostly ate salad and nuts. "And I thought my old diet was bad" I remember thinking to myself. I survived and God helped through. After the month was finally up, we went back to the clinic where I got my blood taken and was told I would get the results in two weeks.
Another thing we decided to do was have an anointing service for me. It was really special. After church, (a couple days before my re-testing) the elders laid their hands on me, prayed, and anointed me. I felt peace in my heart. I knew that we had done everything we could and that it was in God's hands now. I knew many people were praying for me.
Two agonizingly-long weeks later, my dad told me he got my results, as I mentioned in the beginning. My dad pulled up to our house, and we all hopped out of the car. I went to my room and my parents to theirs.
"O, God," I prayed. "I'm so nervous! What if I'm still allergic to everything? What will I do? It's so hard to eat and live like this. Please let the report be good. I know You can. I have believe in You, 'Help my unbelief." Most importantly though, let Your will be done."
I decided that even if the results were bad, I would just see it as God's will for me and I would survive. He could help through.
Eventually, my parents called me into their room. I could hardly bear the suspense as I slowly walked into their bedroom. I braced myself, as I waited for them to tell me the news.
"Your allergies are so much better! There are only a few things on here and you have no more high allergies!"
I sighed with relief and plopped onto their bed. "Thank-you, God!" I whispered.
My mom then proceeded to explain that I still need to be gluten-free, and mostly vegan but there were so many more things I could eat!
"So, I can like, almost eat like a normal person again?!"
"Yes!"
I don't know why, but my eyes started filling.
"I'm just... so overwhelmed! I can.. I can eat again!" I laughed through my misting eyes.
"Yes, you can eat again, Enjoli. You just have to be careful to rotate everything and only eat these certain things sparingly and you should be fine" my mom repeated as she and my dad gave me a hug.
Walking into the kitchen, I turned to my parents, "I just can't believe it! I can eat again! But I forgot how to eat... You're going to have to teach me how to eat like a normal person again!" I laughed.
That night I hardly slept a wink, thinking about food, haha! I am definitely more thankful for food than I ever have been in my life. I will never take food for granted again. I repeatedly thanked God for answering my prayer that night. How good, loving, and kind our God is!
Saturday, October 17, 2015
Flooded!
"I found another drip!" I hollered to my dad as I examined the water dripping onto the floor with my flashlight.
My dad shook his head as he scrounged around the kitchen for another pot. "Every time I turn around, there's another leak!"
We were in another Typhoon with no electricity, and water was seeping through our ceiling. This typhoon wasn't as strong as the previous one, yet for some reason our house was leaking water everywhere! We had an assortment of pots, pans, towels, and rags all over the floor.
"Maybe you should go up to the apartment above and see what's happening." my mom suggested.
The wind subsided for a moment, my dad quickly ran upstairs. Even though the wind wasn't too strong, we all still prayed that he'd be safe as he went upstairs to talk to our neighbors.
Finally, he stepped in the door. "They're not home."
"No wonder our house is leaking everywhere. They probably have a window open letting all the water in their apartment." my mom sighed as we all sat on the couch in the living room. We were at a loss of what to do.
I flashed my light around the room, staring at the many brown streaks of water, the puddles everywhere, and the ceiling in the dining room. We were all starting to get quite worried about it. The ceiling was starting to droop and water was almost pouring out of it. It look like it could collapse at any moment.
Finally, my parents broke the silence.
"Well, you girls can probably go to bed. We're going to have to get up on the hour to empty all these pots and trash bins so our house doesn't completely flood."
We said another prayer together, then tried to get some sleep.
Being a light sleeper, knowing that the ceiling could collapse, and random drops of water on my face made it very difficult to sleep.
"Just keep us safe, Lord." I prayed.
It was a crazy night. I woke up many times during the night. Once I woke up to a huge 'CRASH!' I stepped over the small lake forming in front of my door to find out what had happened.
"The Chandelier fell and broke." my dad explained. He was sweeping the glass up. I noticed that the ceiling was lower, and there were even more drips and leaks everywhere.
Finally, morning came bringing the beautiful sunlight. We thanked God for keeping us safe and that the ceiling hadn't collapsed on us. The typhoon was gone! The sun was out! But our house was flooded...
My mom walked over to school in the morning and recruited some help. We didn't know what to do. We were worried about water damage and we knew we needed to pack our stuff. But where would we stay? Would we permanently move out?
The owner of the apartment above us came and found his whole floor covered in about 2-3 inches of water, which explained our situation. His and our apartments were the only ones damaged though.
The school found us a hotel so we packed some stuff and moved into the hotel and stayed in it for about a week.
The owner of our house came to look at it and talked with us.
"Yes, yes, this needs to be fixed. But this is not too bad, and we can just paint over this..." she said as she observed our home.
We knew that it was not safe to live in anymore, especially since our landlord didn't want to even make all the necessary repairs. So, we had less than a week to find a house.
What a crazy week it was! We all had to still go to school on top of trying to find a house, and packing our stuff at our old apartment.
Towards the end of the week, my dad found this super nice, big apartment that was owned by a former staff of our school.
I don't know why, but I just had this distinct feeling that it was all going to work out and that God would give us this apartment.
So, Saturday night we went to look at it. It was huge, beautiful, and in the perfect location! Long story short, the land-owner was super kind and generous, loaned us furniture from her own storage, and we were moving in four days later!
No one else that we knew were really affected by the typhoon, so why were we the unlucky ones to have our house flood? Well, maybe God just wanted us to move so we could have a nicer, bigger house closer to the city. Now we can do more outreach activities in our home. Plus, God taught me something. Many times when bad things happen to us in life, we are tempted to get all upset, blame God, and get all stressed out. But, God is in charge and He can handle anything. We weren't too stressed because we knew God was in control and he would work everything out for good, and He did!
My dad shook his head as he scrounged around the kitchen for another pot. "Every time I turn around, there's another leak!"
We were in another Typhoon with no electricity, and water was seeping through our ceiling. This typhoon wasn't as strong as the previous one, yet for some reason our house was leaking water everywhere! We had an assortment of pots, pans, towels, and rags all over the floor.
"Maybe you should go up to the apartment above and see what's happening." my mom suggested.
The wind subsided for a moment, my dad quickly ran upstairs. Even though the wind wasn't too strong, we all still prayed that he'd be safe as he went upstairs to talk to our neighbors.
Finally, he stepped in the door. "They're not home."
"No wonder our house is leaking everywhere. They probably have a window open letting all the water in their apartment." my mom sighed as we all sat on the couch in the living room. We were at a loss of what to do.
I flashed my light around the room, staring at the many brown streaks of water, the puddles everywhere, and the ceiling in the dining room. We were all starting to get quite worried about it. The ceiling was starting to droop and water was almost pouring out of it. It look like it could collapse at any moment.
Finally, my parents broke the silence.
"Well, you girls can probably go to bed. We're going to have to get up on the hour to empty all these pots and trash bins so our house doesn't completely flood."
We said another prayer together, then tried to get some sleep.
Being a light sleeper, knowing that the ceiling could collapse, and random drops of water on my face made it very difficult to sleep.
"Just keep us safe, Lord." I prayed.
It was a crazy night. I woke up many times during the night. Once I woke up to a huge 'CRASH!' I stepped over the small lake forming in front of my door to find out what had happened.
"The Chandelier fell and broke." my dad explained. He was sweeping the glass up. I noticed that the ceiling was lower, and there were even more drips and leaks everywhere.
Finally, morning came bringing the beautiful sunlight. We thanked God for keeping us safe and that the ceiling hadn't collapsed on us. The typhoon was gone! The sun was out! But our house was flooded...
My mom walked over to school in the morning and recruited some help. We didn't know what to do. We were worried about water damage and we knew we needed to pack our stuff. But where would we stay? Would we permanently move out?
The owner of the apartment above us came and found his whole floor covered in about 2-3 inches of water, which explained our situation. His and our apartments were the only ones damaged though.
The school found us a hotel so we packed some stuff and moved into the hotel and stayed in it for about a week.
The owner of our house came to look at it and talked with us.
"Yes, yes, this needs to be fixed. But this is not too bad, and we can just paint over this..." she said as she observed our home.
We knew that it was not safe to live in anymore, especially since our landlord didn't want to even make all the necessary repairs. So, we had less than a week to find a house.
What a crazy week it was! We all had to still go to school on top of trying to find a house, and packing our stuff at our old apartment.
Towards the end of the week, my dad found this super nice, big apartment that was owned by a former staff of our school.
I don't know why, but I just had this distinct feeling that it was all going to work out and that God would give us this apartment.
So, Saturday night we went to look at it. It was huge, beautiful, and in the perfect location! Long story short, the land-owner was super kind and generous, loaned us furniture from her own storage, and we were moving in four days later!
No one else that we knew were really affected by the typhoon, so why were we the unlucky ones to have our house flood? Well, maybe God just wanted us to move so we could have a nicer, bigger house closer to the city. Now we can do more outreach activities in our home. Plus, God taught me something. Many times when bad things happen to us in life, we are tempted to get all upset, blame God, and get all stressed out. But, God is in charge and He can handle anything. We weren't too stressed because we knew God was in control and he would work everything out for good, and He did!
Monday, September 14, 2015
Chop! Chop!
So how did I decide to do it? My family has been telling me and teasing me about cutting my hair for the last year or two. Whenever they mentioned it I would quickly say no and hold my hair protectively. I couldn't help but notice that my hair was starting to look really dead on the ends though. It was getting a little annoying and my hair was breaking and splitting a lot. My hair looked longer and healthier a year or two before. I also prayed about it ('cause why not? He cares about every hair on our head, right?) and realized a few things. First, I cared too much about my hair and realized that my hair was kind of a security thing to me.
Anyways, it was about time to cut it and I knew it. My mom scheduled an appointment for me. So, the time came. I was a little nervous, but mostly kind of excited. The guy was amazed at how my long my hair was and couldn't believe it when we told them I hadn't cut it for 6 1/2 years.
"6 and a 1/2 years! Really? Wow" he exclaimed while examining my hair.
Then he asked how much I wanted. We told him I just needed to cut all the dead off so my hair could be healthy again.
He put the apron-thing over me and had me stand up (because of how long it was) as he cut the biggest chunk off. My parents even brought the video camera for the occasion! :p Then he started to chop it off. I stood absolutely still, and a little tense as I felt the scissors pulling and cutting my hair. It felt so high up! The next moment, he was done cutting the basics (he still needed to touch up). I looked in the mirror.
"How do you feel?" my mom asked.
I stared in the mirror while running my fingers through my hair. "I can't beleive I cut it! It's so... so... short!"
"It's not that short." she answered.
"It just feels so short. But I'm still glad I'm cutting it."
After that, he put me back into the seat and cut some minimal layers and brushed things up.
"He's cutting more off?" I thought to myself. "Well, I trust he knows what's he's doing."
Now, where I went for my hair cut is kind of on the fancy side. They really like to pamper you. After he finished cutting my hair, he took me to wash my hair. He led me to this quiet, dimly lit room, and set me down in the reclined chair over the washing bowl. He put a cooling mask over my eyes, told me to relax, then started massaging and scrubbing my head. It felt amazing. He also put some sort of cooling (Like peppermint) stuff in my hair, and then laid a warm towel over my face and under my neck for a few minutes.
After the washing ordeal was over he took me back and dried my hair. Finally, I was done.
 |
| Before... |
 |
| After! |
I kind of stared at myself in the mirror in astonishment.
"I'ts so short! Well, not really, I mean it's so much shorter. But, I really like it! In fact, I love it! Thanks so much!"
He smiled, satisfied with his work and said, "You are so beautiful!"
He handed me the ponytail of my hair to keep. I wasn't really sure if I wanted to keep it, but my Dad was already taking it.
I was ecstatic about my hair cut. Everything was a new experience for the next couple of days. It was surprising how easy it was to wash and brush!
So, yep, I have officially cut my hair! I really like it and think it's really pretty, but of course I know that what's most important is that my inside is pretty. It's like the new me, and I want to make sure I'm pretty inside (and out!) :D
Saturday, August 22, 2015
Typhoon!!!
"Ah, no big deal." That's how most Taiwanese respond to the news of a coming Typhoon. If fact, that's what my thoughts were when I heard of it. The reasoning being that most typhoons are just a bit of wind and lots of rain. We had experienced two typhoons already and that's exactly how it was. In fact, there had been one a couple weeks previously that wasn't scary at all and I loved it because it meant no school! What my point is, I wasn't expecting to go through the biggest typhoon I had ever been in (including the ones when I lived in the Philippines).
"Have you heard of the coming typhoon this weekend?" Jeff asked me as I was helping one of the other teachers, Melissa, set up and clean her classroom.
I paused my sweeping, "Oh really?"
"Yep, it's supposed to be pretty big, but my guess is that it won't be much bigger than the one we had just a couple weeks ago.
"Yeah, probably."
When I got home, I went looking for my dad, "Daddy! Did you know a typhoon is coming this Friday?"
"Yeah, I heard about it. Let's look online for the typhoon news."
We found out that Typhoon Souledor was coming straight towards us in Taipei. The news also confirmed that it was going to be a very strong one and that all business were to be closed Friday afternoon and all day Sabbath (Saturday).
That night, we went out to eat at a fancy restaurant with the TAAS staff (and families). I was even able to get a plateful of food!
I turned to my friend sitting beside me and asked, "Did you hear about the typhoon? It's supposed to be pretty big!"
"No, not really."
I told her some statistics that we found online.
"Really? Huh. I wonder it will actually be as bad as they say." she commented.
I wondered too.
Friday, my dad sent out an emailing saying that church would be canceled because of the typhoon. Many thought that canceling church was a good idea, while others thought it was kind of silly.
"Well, I guess we'll find out this evening" my dad told us.
My dad, Carolyn, and I went to pick my mom up from the school around noon. It was pretty cloudy and quite windy.
When we got home we made sure to charge all the laptops and freeze some water bottles.
Sure enough, that evening it started to pour and the wind picked up speed. It wasn't too bad though. The eye of the storm was supposed to hit us about midnight. After watching it for a little, we turned off the lights and went to bed.
After we went to bed, the typhoon continued to increase at alarming speed and intensity. Most of the night I was only half asleep, half listening to the howling craziness outside.
At about 2-3 in the morning, a giant crash woke Carolyn and I up.
"Wow! What was that!" I exclaimed and rushed to the window. I stared awestruck at the sight before me. "Wow" was all I could say. Carolyn soon joined me at my side.
We were in the eye of the storm and the I had never seen such strong wind in my life! It was absolutely crazy!
"It sounds like a roaring ocean out there!" I whispered as I watched the trees swaying dangerously from side to side, rain pelting the earth, a waterfall cascading down the steps out my window, and debris flying all around. We found out that the crashing sound came from a a huge tree that had fallen right next to my window and room. There was banging metallic noises coming from a septic tank outside too.
My parents came out of their room and we shone the flashlight outside the windows and looked around. It was just crazy.
"Well, this is definitely the biggest typhoon we have ever been in" we all agreed. Soon, we went back to our bedrooms, hoping to get some sleep before sunrise.
In the morning it was still storming out pretty bad. Not quite as bad, but bad enough! There was so much rain in the swirling wind that the whole sky would white out.
We just sat on the couches, eating our breakfast as we watched the craziness outside. Soon we decided to have 'church.' We watched a sermon by David Asscheric and sang some songs.
"The Lord's our Rock, in Him we hide, a shelter in the time of storm; We find in God a safe retreat, a shelter in the time of storm. Might Rock in a weary land, Cooling shade on the burning sand Faithful guide for the pilgrim band - a shelter in the time of storm" we sang. (I thought it was an appropriate song to sing during that time. ;) )
The typhoon gradually calmed in the afternoon and finally it was safe to go outside. It was incredible how much damage it had done! The pool was really scary looking. It was a creepy green color and had a chair, a piece of roofing, and lots of tree branches and leaves in it. Fallen trees were everywhere. All the banana trees were broken, the basketball court fence was down, and worst of all, we had a shattered car window! Another car close by had completely lost two windows and all the glass went flying at high speed towards our car, breaking one of ours.
That night was a very hot and humid night. We still didn't have power.
The next day I walked over to the school to see how they fared. When I walked in the gate I was surprised! Almost all the teachers were outside working, moving piles upon piles of leaves that carpeted the roads. We all pitched in the worked and cleared the roads by evening leaving us with half of the ball field covered in a ginormous pile of leaves, branches, and debris. In fact, we went three full days before the power came back on!
The school's power turned on that night, but ours was still off. It wasn't until the next night that we got power back. (Making it a total of 3 full days without power!)
It turned on at about 3:30 am.
"Enjoli!" Carolyn called my name.
"Hmm?" I mumbled as I woke up and turned to her.
"The fan's on! That means we have power again!"
"Awesome!" "Thank-you God." I whispered as I went back to sleep.
I'm so glad God kept us safe during the typhoon and pray for those who were less fortunate than ourselves.
"Have you heard of the coming typhoon this weekend?" Jeff asked me as I was helping one of the other teachers, Melissa, set up and clean her classroom.
I paused my sweeping, "Oh really?"
"Yep, it's supposed to be pretty big, but my guess is that it won't be much bigger than the one we had just a couple weeks ago.
"Yeah, probably."
When I got home, I went looking for my dad, "Daddy! Did you know a typhoon is coming this Friday?"
"Yeah, I heard about it. Let's look online for the typhoon news."
We found out that Typhoon Souledor was coming straight towards us in Taipei. The news also confirmed that it was going to be a very strong one and that all business were to be closed Friday afternoon and all day Sabbath (Saturday).
That night, we went out to eat at a fancy restaurant with the TAAS staff (and families). I was even able to get a plateful of food!
I turned to my friend sitting beside me and asked, "Did you hear about the typhoon? It's supposed to be pretty big!"
"No, not really."
I told her some statistics that we found online.
"Really? Huh. I wonder it will actually be as bad as they say." she commented.
I wondered too.
Friday, my dad sent out an emailing saying that church would be canceled because of the typhoon. Many thought that canceling church was a good idea, while others thought it was kind of silly.
"Well, I guess we'll find out this evening" my dad told us.
My dad, Carolyn, and I went to pick my mom up from the school around noon. It was pretty cloudy and quite windy.
When we got home we made sure to charge all the laptops and freeze some water bottles.
Sure enough, that evening it started to pour and the wind picked up speed. It wasn't too bad though. The eye of the storm was supposed to hit us about midnight. After watching it for a little, we turned off the lights and went to bed.
 | |
| The view out our living room window, Sabbath Morning |
After we went to bed, the typhoon continued to increase at alarming speed and intensity. Most of the night I was only half asleep, half listening to the howling craziness outside.
At about 2-3 in the morning, a giant crash woke Carolyn and I up.
"Wow! What was that!" I exclaimed and rushed to the window. I stared awestruck at the sight before me. "Wow" was all I could say. Carolyn soon joined me at my side.
We were in the eye of the storm and the I had never seen such strong wind in my life! It was absolutely crazy!
 |
| Outside my bedroom window |
 |
| The septic tank and tree that fell right outside my window |
My parents came out of their room and we shone the flashlight outside the windows and looked around. It was just crazy.
"Well, this is definitely the biggest typhoon we have ever been in" we all agreed. Soon, we went back to our bedrooms, hoping to get some sleep before sunrise.
In the morning it was still storming out pretty bad. Not quite as bad, but bad enough! There was so much rain in the swirling wind that the whole sky would white out.
We just sat on the couches, eating our breakfast as we watched the craziness outside. Soon we decided to have 'church.' We watched a sermon by David Asscheric and sang some songs.
"The Lord's our Rock, in Him we hide, a shelter in the time of storm; We find in God a safe retreat, a shelter in the time of storm. Might Rock in a weary land, Cooling shade on the burning sand Faithful guide for the pilgrim band - a shelter in the time of storm" we sang. (I thought it was an appropriate song to sing during that time. ;) )
 |
| The fallen plants and basketball court |
 |
| The shattered window |
 |
| The glass inside our car |
The next day I walked over to the school to see how they fared. When I walked in the gate I was surprised! Almost all the teachers were outside working, moving piles upon piles of leaves that carpeted the roads. We all pitched in the worked and cleared the roads by evening leaving us with half of the ball field covered in a ginormous pile of leaves, branches, and debris. In fact, we went three full days before the power came back on!
The school's power turned on that night, but ours was still off. It wasn't until the next night that we got power back. (Making it a total of 3 full days without power!)
It turned on at about 3:30 am.
"Enjoli!" Carolyn called my name.
"Hmm?" I mumbled as I woke up and turned to her.
"The fan's on! That means we have power again!"
"Awesome!" "Thank-you God." I whispered as I went back to sleep.
I'm so glad God kept us safe during the typhoon and pray for those who were less fortunate than ourselves.
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