January Memory Verse 2019

This past year was a hard year but a good year.  At the beginning of the year, we were privileged to be able to go back to the US.  So we were able to spend two months with John's family and two months with my family.  We got to build snow forts, go sledding, go skating, skiing, doing lots of traveling and also the kids to experience the holidays with family.  It was a busy time but a joy-filled time.   Once we came back to Taiwan we were busy but we were enjoying our time in Taiwan.  Towards the end of the year, we found out that my best friend and someone that I felt that God brought into my life as a steady influence and a wonderful friend was moving back to her home country.    It made it a very busy time for making sure to spend lots of time together with my best friend and preparing for the heartbreak of leaving and saying goodbye.  

I have never done a word for a year.  But as I was trying to decide on scripture verses for our 2019 a common theme seemed to occur.   The word Faith or Faithful came up more often than not.  So this year my word is Faithful.  I pray to God that he would use my life and enter my life to cause me to remain faithful. 

I have had a couple of friends who have approached me to remind me that I needed to keep my heart tender and open to new friendships and relationships.   One of the hardest things about living overseas and working at Victory English Fellowship is that we have a lot of people who are very transitional in nature.  So I am saying goodbyes to sweet people all the time who are moving back to their home countries or are traveling around the world.   Which means that I am constantly saying goodbyes and giving a little piece of my heart all the time.  So it would be very easy and I have at times said in my heart that I am not willing to be friends unless I have long term friends.  Living here in Taiwan for 8 years has been a long time and so I have said goodbyes to at least 100's of people.  It's a blessing because God has introduced me to so many different people and cultures.    So my prayer is that I still remain moldable and tender so that I can still meet people even knowing that my heart will most likely get broken time and time again.  So because of this I pray that I would remain faithful to the call that God has given to me.

This month of January is my sweet Little H's birthday.  She is going to be 7 years old and I can't believe that she will be 7.  It seems like just yesterday that she was born and I had a little buddy whom I did everything with.  Now she is in first grade and trying her best to navigate Chinese school and me homeschooling her.  She is great at playing together and making friends.  She loves to color and draw.  She also loves imaginative play. My prayer is that her faith would continue to grow and blossom.