Hello friend! It’s been a while, so let’s grab some pomegranate green tea, curl up, and chat!

First of all, Happy Chinese New Year! To wish someone a happy new year, you can say “xīn  nián  kuài  lè” (新年快樂). In Taiwan, Chinese New Year is a big deal. It is kind of the equivalent of Christmas in the Western world. Chinese New Year is all about family – family meals, family gatherings, family outings, ancestor veneration, etc. As such, people travel all over to go see their families. For some families, this means they travel across the city while for others, this means they travel across the island. This causes transportation systems to become incredibly congested and makes travel a chore. Buses, trains, and airplanes are at full capacity while the highways are clogged. A normal 2 hour trip on the highway can take 6 or 7 hours during CNY. Life in the city during CNY also has it’s adventures as many shops and restaurants close down for the holiday. Many big chain stores close for one or two days and then are open the rest of the week. The small, family owned businesses are typically closed for the full week. I stocked up on food for the week so I was not affected by closed shops, but I have heard from some single men who don’t cook that finding food was an adventure. ^_^

This past month has been a month of refinement, growing closer to God, learning to be more sensitive to His direction, and refocusing on trusting God. The last two weeks I have struggled with a CFS/adrenal fatigue flare up. All my classic symptoms of brain fog, exhaustion, muscle and joint pain, weak muscles, difficulty word finding, lack of appetite, and dizziness were popping up on a daily basis. This was the worst it had been since my initial collapse in 2011. I could feel myself draining quickly. Immediately, my fears rose to the surface. “I’m going to have to move back to the States. I don’t want to lose my life here. I love it here. Why now? What did I do wrong? Why did God bring me here only for me to get sick again? Why, God? Why?” For the first time in my life, I found myself questioning God’s reasoning. My faith in Him was at an all time low and I could not see past my misery and pain. My co-workers were fantastic and immediately began praying for me and helping me find a doctor. The doctor ran blood tests and came up with normal results. Immediately, all the frustration from my 6 month search for answers in 2011-2012 rose up. Yes, it is good that the results were normal. Look at how all my hard work over the past 3 years has paid off! I have normal levels of cortisol, TSH, T3, and T4 for the first time in years! Yet all I could think was, “This doesn’t help me feel better. Why am I feeling so sick?!” That night I got home from the hospital with the doctor’s clean bill of health ringing in my ears. I broke down. I cried and sobbed and pleaded with God. I begged Him to take away this awful illness, to just let me do the job that I love. As distraught and despairing as I was, I could not sleep. For the first time in weeks, I was wide awake. I scrolled through Facebook, looking for something, anything, to get my mind off my mental anguish. A post by the wife of my college advisor caught my eye and I clicked on it. It was an electronic scrapbook that she had made, documenting their family’s catastrophic car crash several years prior and how they saw God working in it. Essentially, in every aspect of that crash, they saw God’s hand protecting and providing for them. These documentations were done in a way that highlighted many of God’s attributes.

Reading this shattered me. Their testimony of a car crash that should have been fatal for nearly all involved but instead led them deeper into God’s arms as He protected them made me realize so many things. One, as my advisor said when he felt the vehicle begin to make it’s first roll, “This is not an accident! God is in control!”. My life, as topsy turvy and disheveled as it may appear, is completely controlled by the God who gives good things to His children. There is absolutely nothing left to chance. Second, as I read about my advisor’s family I was struck by the fact that I had somewhere along the line stopped trusting God. He brought me across the world, settled me into a community of believers, and forged relationships with my students, and I took it all on myself. My pride rose up and consumed me so wholly that I could not see it for what it was. Third, I lost my joy in God. I lost being able to look at the things God created, the people He made and find joy. All I had left were pain, bitterness, pride, and fear. Lots and lots and lots of fear. That night, God used that book to humble me. He brought me back to Him with open arms, let me cry into His shoulder about how scared and hurt and lonely I was, and He changed my mind about my illness. Even though I live with something that many people cannot understand and cannot treat, I do not have to live as if the world is collapsing. Finding joy in the things that I can do, the things that God has created, loving those around me, and seeing their joy in life is what is helping me feel better. These last two days I have had almost normal energy levels. I came home from work last night and didn’t immediately fall into bed. It isn’t much by normal standards, but it means so much to me.

When I stop trusting God, when I stop finding joy in Him, everything becomes much darker, bleaker, and hopeless. I lost my footing for a while, but I am definitely back on the narrow path with God’s Word as my lamp.  As a cat or a dog sleeps in the sun, perfectly content to wait upon their owners to feed them, walk them, and provide entertainment, so am I learning to bask in the good things that my Father has provided for me.

I have several prayer requests.

• My mother’s heart condition is continuing to bother her. Please keep her in your prayers.
• My afternoon students are starting to have a huge heart for prayer. Please pray that they would continue to grow in this regard, and that their heart would also include listening to God’s Word.
• I have started something with my afternoon students that I call, “Bible Race”. This week we learned about the Old and New Testament and took turns racing to turn to the correct part of the Bible. I am in need of 18 Bibles (cheap, preferably around US$1-2) that I can give out to the students. I want each student to have their own Bible. Please pray that God would provide a means to do this, both in finding cheap Bibles and transporting them here.
• My school is in the process of looking for another foreign teacher to come join our team. Please pray for wisdom and discernment in the selection process. Please pray that God would provide the teacher that would fit in with our school, love the students, and mostly have a heart for God.

Thank you, lovelies. I love and miss you!

May the Lord bless you and keep you,
Tr. Ruth

Hey friend! All I’ve got this week, tea-wise, is some herbal tea. Hope it works for you. =)

This week has been a long week filled with many doubts, misgivings, and things seemingly going wrong. Two weeks ago, while on vacation in Kenting, I caught a cold. I have sniffled, coughed, and “Teacher, are you ok”-eyed my way through the past two weeks of classes. My energy has decreased, my sleep has worsened, and my coordination and speech has suffered.

In addition to this cold, there have been a number of things that have happened this week.

1. General Comments
2. Confrontational Phone Call
3. Parent Meeting
4. Customs Frustration
5. Unusable Classroom
6. Illness

General comments are a great way to connect to parents and let them know how their child is doing in class. In these comments, teachers talk about behavior, class involvement, improvement in their reading and writing, and any other fun anecdotes the teacher wants to share with the parents. General comments do take a bit of time and thought, which normally is not an issue. With the non-existent immune system, the chronic illness, and my decreasing energy and thought clarity, they have seemed like a looming cloud over my head.

On Tuesday I received a phone call from a friend who basically was telling me that they felt that they have repeatedly reached out to me only to be repeatedly rejected. This shook me up quite a bit and I felt pretty wretched about it. At the same time, though, I didn’t feel I had rejected this person and that I had done several things to reach out to them, as well. This phone call affected me for a while and led to thoughts of worthlessness, incompetence in work and life, and a general sense of failure.

This past Thursday I had a meeting with one of my student’s parents along with the owner of our school and two of the Chinese co-teachers. I have been struggling with meting out discipline and dealing with behavior issues, especially with this child. The talk went very well! We learned some important information about the student that will help us help him in the future. We are learning more about this student’s background, as well, which helps us connect the dots and see where his behavior might be stemming from. This was a bit of an emotional and draining experience, although overall quite positive. Even though the talk went well, I still struggled with overwhelming feelings of inadequacy and questioning why I was trying to be a teacher.

This week I was supposed to receive 3 packages from different online shoppings I had completed a few weeks ago. On Sunday I got my first package and Friday I received my third package. Tuesday I was supposed to receive my second package, however, on Monday I received a text message (in Chinese) that said my package could not clear customs and I needed to fill out two forms and send them in. One of our brilliant front desk teachers dealt with all this and sent in the forms with copies of my ARC and passport. We then got a phone call saying that because my name on the package and the name on my ARC/passport were not the same, the package could not clear customs. I had used my nickname which is something I did all the time in the States with no issues. They wanted me to write a letter explaining why I had used this name as well as send documentation with that name on it. I do not have such documentation. After explaining that it is a nickname, the lady on the phone eventually said she would just change the name on the package. Three days later, my package finally cleared customs and is now in Taichung. Hopefully I will get it either Monday or Tuesday.

On Friday I came into work and found out that my classroom floor had cracked over night. I am told that this is a result of heating and cooling. I am sure there is more to the story that I just don’t understand. Although it is not a gaping hole, our classroom is not usable. Until it is fixed, we will be having class in any place available. Friday’s classes were held in the classroom of a grade 4 class that did not arrive at the school until 5pm. If the Badger classroom is not fixed by Monday, we will most likely be holding our class in the basement of the school. The basement is used primarily for parking, storage, and games like dodgeball. It is estimated that our classroom will be ready either Monday or Tuesday. Here are some pictures of the Badger class floor.

With the classroom unusable, I am having to plan for extra things like, “How do I get the kid’s textbooks?” and “What can I use in place of a whiteboard?” “Do I really need to use ____ for this lesson?” One of our classes last year had to deal with a week of displacement from their classroom. According to their teacher, it was a time of growth for them and didn’t affect them very much. My kids have handled it pretty well and think that it is a fun adventure. I am glad they think so! I agree with them, but I will also be glad to be back in our classroom. ^_^ (Update Jan. 27th: We were able to return to our classroom on Thursday. Monday was spent in the basement and library area, Tuesday in the basement, Wednesday split between the basement and the classroom of a flexible class that graciously shared their space with us. The Honeys were grateful to have their own classroom back. It was a week of flexibility, patience, and supporting each other.)

Five weeks ago, I was diagnosed with bronchitis. After three days of antibiotics, my headache, earache, breathlessness, and backache were all gone. My cough and chest pain lasted for three weeks following the course of antibiotics. The next week, I caught a cold and was coughing for two weeks. Sometime this past week my cough morphed into a nastier cough with chest pain, headache, backache, breathlessness, and ear pain. I went back to the doctor this afternoon and was diagnosed with bronchitis. I have been prescribed three days worth of antibiotics along with a nighttime syrup that is supposed to help me sleep better. (Update Jan. 27th: Two days later I was also duagnosed with the flu and placed on dual courses of medicine. The doctors here are fantastic and combined all my medicines (new and old) into easy to recognize packets and just told me to take certain packets at certain times of the day. As of today I am feeling much improved!)

Masked for the well-being of myself and my students!

Steam inhalation treatments!

Taiwanese eye chart. How does one tell the doctor what they see?

Whew. It has been quite the week! There were lots of emotional highs (kids grasping complex grammar points, remembering new vocab words, talking about castles, making our own castle, Skyping close friends, talking with new friends here, and more!) and there were quite a few emotional lows (that phone call, feelings of aloneness and inadequacy, and extreme fatigue). With this, God has been reminding me of all the times He has placed many hard things all together in my life. Those times, while hard, were never meant to crush me. On the contrary, they were designed to grow me in ways that I could not see until the situations had passed. So while this week has been hard and I have doubted many things, including my heart standing with God, it has been a good week of refinement, growth, and leaning on God’s understandings. God is faithful, friend. He is there for you when the times are good, bad, stormy, and downright awful. He loves you with a love that never fails, cannot fail, and perseveres even in the darkest and nastiest of times. He is pursuing you (Hebrews 7:25). Respond to Him, pursue Him as much as you can, seek Him with abandoned passion. This is the lesson I am learning this week. My passion has become hidden and I have ceased to seek Him with abandon, with all that I am, and all that He has given me. As I learn this, I pray that my students, my co-workers, my friends and family, and you would all learn this lesson as well.

May your heart be full of His love and mercy, may you gift others with God’s grace and compassion, and may the Lord bless you and keep you,

Teacher Ruth

Hey friend. Let’s go find a tea shop to get a tea to take on the train. I think we’ll want to sip while we watch the countryside flash by outside the HSR. ^^

In some aspects, traveling in Taiwan is quite easy. With the High Speed Rail connecting Taipei to Kaohsiung, nearly half the island is just a train ride away. Smaller cities and towns are more difficult to get to, yet even they are connected by public transport. In other aspects, travel can be quite difficult (or frustrating). Signage, although for the most part abundant and clear, can peter out when one needs it the most or be unintentionally vague. Speaking the language comes in handy at these times, as does having past experience with the area.

When traveling in Taiwan, there are some essentials to bring with you. Although most public restrooms have tissue and soap, many do not. Or, they will have it outside the door of the restroom so that one must take the tissue before entering the restroom proper. A way to deal with this is to bring a pocket packet of tissues. You will always have emergency tissues and it won’t matter if you forget to grab tissue before you entered the bathroom. Another travel must have is paper soap. Paper soap is a travel container filled with thin slivers of soap (it looks like the breath strips that are popular in America). I got mine in Japan. 😛 If you can’t find paper soap, then hand sanitizer is a definite must. Something that is more of a luxury that you might desire is a small hand towel. In larger businesses in Taiwan (department stores, primarily), it is common to have hand driers and/or paper towels. However, most places in Taiwan do not have either one of these. As someone who doesn’t like letting my hands air dry, I carry around a small hand towel.

Taipei is the biggest city in Taiwan. It is well populated and as such almost never sleeps. Depending on the area one visits, it can be quiet by 9pm or crowded until 3am. Taipei has some nice museums and monuments to check out. Notable places are Taipei 101, the Chiang Kai Shek monument, and the History Museum. One also can’t forget the nightmarket scene!

View from a hotel in Taipei.

Taipei night view.

I think this was the history museum. ^^;;

Carvings on the roof of the history museum.

Night market takoyaki. Definitely not as good as the real deal in Osaka, Japan.

An hour north of Taipei by MRT is Danshui. This is a coastal city that is also a popular tourist area. The whole area is fun to walk around and explore as it has a slight feel of a nightmarket in a much bigger area. There are food vendors, street vendors, and interesting small shops lined up along street after street. One can walk along the ocean, see where the mountain, river, and ocean meet up, or sip a tea at Starbucks and people watch. I highly recommend going in the off-season (winter months) as there are less people. A one-way trip to Danshui costs about NT$50 or US$1.50.

Ocean view from the Danshui MRT station.

Street view of Danshui, a bit further away from the main tourist area.

Taichung is a 45-60 minute HSR ride from Taipei depending on how many stops the train makes. A one-way trip from Taipei to Taichung is about NT$765 or US$24. When booking a ticket, one may choose a “reserved seat” or a “non-reserved seat”. A reserved seat ensures that one has a seat to sit in for the duration of the journey. A non-reserved seat is a gamble. If the non-reserved car is full, one might find themselves standing with their luggage in the aisle for the entire trip. A ride in the HSR feels like one in an airplane, albeit smoother and less noisy. People often bring food and drinks with them onto the train. Just like on an airplane, a lady will come around selling snacks and beverages. A little while later, another lady will come through with a trash bag. The HSR is a definite ‘must-do’ if you visit Taiwan. Although it is a bit more pricey than taking the UBUS, the speed, convenience, and atmosphere are worth it. Also, it is an experience to remember.

The entrance to the teahouse where I do my Sunday Bible study.

Cat cafes are alive and well in Taichung. This one is called Robot Station.

A tranquil water garden made from tea paraphernalia in the middle of a busy Taichung street.

Kaohsiung is the second largest city in Taiwan. It is an hour HSR ride from Taichung (about an hour and 45 minutes from Taipei). A one-way trip from Taipei is about NT$1,300 or US$51. Don’t worry if you go to buy your ticket and you don’t see a Kaohsiung station. The Kaohsiung station is called, “Zuoying” or “Xinzuoying”. =)

Night view of the Love River. One can take boat rides with their loved one here.

Kending is a small town on the south-western coast of Taiwan. The HSR does not travel to Kending, so one must take the bus (which takes about 2.5 hours) or a car service (which takes about 2 hours). The bus is about NT$300 (US$ 10) per person while the car service is about NT$400 (US$12) per person. After the bus arrives in Kending, it acts like a city bus and people will get off at several stops while other passengers come aboard. This is what equates for the difference in times between taking the bus and taking the car service. While in Kending, one can rent electric scooters (NT$1000 or about US$30 per day), walk around the National Park, walk along the ocean, go fishing, try out the local restaurants, or meander through the impromptu open street nightmarket that pops up at night on the main street. I highly recommend renting scooters! It was freeing and fun and one of the highlights of my visit to this tourist town. =)

Beaches in Kending.

Beaches in Kending.

Southern most tip of Taiwan.

View from the highway.

Feels like Florida!

Taitung is a smaller city on the east coast of Taiwan. The HSR does not travel to Taitung, so one must take the “slow” train. The HSR and the TRA (slow train) share a station in Kaohsiung. Therefore, it is easy to make a connection at the Zuoying station. On average, the train takes 3 hours (some less, some more; depends on the number of stops). The fare is NT$381 or about US$12. This train ride is relaxing and beautiful. As one looks outside the windows, they see beautiful countryside filled with plants, rice fields, and palm forests. One can also get a glimpse into rural Taiwan life.

View from the slow train.

Scenery from the slow train.

Scenery from the slow train.

Taitung!

Penghu is a small island off the west coast, nestled between Taiwan and mainland China. One must take a ferry or an airplane to reach this small, Florida-like island. Ferries run from Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Chiayi. The trip takes around 4-5 hours with prices ranging between NT$800-1300. The prices depend upon the type of seat one chooses. A one-way flight costs about NT$1700 or US$53 and takes about 30-50 minutes. Penghu is a beautiful destination for beach relaxation. Once on the island, one can rent a scooter or a bicycle to get around.

Beaches in Penghu.

Apparently I relaxed so much in Penghu, that I only took one picture. I feel ashamed of myself.

There are many more places that I have not visited yet! Here’s to future travels and exploring the world that God has created!!

May the Lord bless you and keep you,

Tr. Ruth

Hello friend! I’m at my kitchen table today. Sit! Sit! I’ve got some special hot Chai tea just for you. =)

As any teacher or parent can tell you, kids will try to get away with murder and will do it with a cheerful smile on their face. In both of my classes, I have one student who will do this without batting an eye. The father of the one in my evening class told my co-teacher and I that he requires unyielding discipline. I was told that I was too soft on him and gave him too many chances. After this chat, I have noticed that this child will just stare at me when I punish him to see if I truly mean what I say or if I will let him off with no punishment. This revelation, though hard for me to put into place, has helped us maintain classroom control and keep this child involved in class discussion. My afternoon student does pretty well with discipline. He is a class clown and a natural joker and that is where most of his trouble stems. The other day we were doing a craft in which we made skeletons from dry pasta. He kept trying to put a macaroni noodle standing on its flat ends where the hip bones should be. I asked him, “What is that?” He laughed and said, “shushu!” I asked him what a shushu was and his response was, “Teacher don’t know English!”. Seeing his obvious glee in teacher not knowing what a shushu was and thus was unable to stop him from putting one on his skeleton, I had a sneaky suspicion what a “shushu” really meant in this 9-year-old boy’s mind. As we were modeling our skeletons off a picture of a girl’s skeleton, I asked, “Is a shushu on a boy or a girl?” He said, “Boy”. With my suspicion confirmed, I pointed at the girl’s skeleton and said, “This skeleton is a girl. No need for a shushu.” I then had him take off the macaroni noodle and left it at that. Although I could have explained that a ‘shushu’ is not made from bone, I really really did not want to get into that conversation.

Something I am learning is that conversations with kids can start in a perfectly logical place, like learning about bones, and end in perfectly strange places, like teacher’s relationship with her biological and adopted family. Looking back through these conversations, though, I can see they flowed naturally. As my kids and I get to know each other better, we have an increased depth in our conversations. I do not believe in saying, “Because I said so” or “You’re too young to know” in response to an honest question. Although there are many subjects that can get hairy when talking to kids, I try to be as honest and transparent as possible. I think my kids understand this and appreciate it. If I tell a child, “You don’t need to know that”, they know that I am trying to protect someone  who may be hurt by that knowledge being shared. Something I have noticed recently in the classroom is that our conversations often turn towards the spiritual. When we were discussing bones, we talked about bird’s bones. After learning that they are hollow, my kids questioned why we can’t make hollow bones to put in humans so we can fly. After debating the merits of having bird bones, a student piped in with, “If have bird bones, can fly like when I d-i-e!” (Side note: When referring to death, my students spell out the word die so as to not offend anyone. Apparently it used to be a hurtful insult to throw at someone in the backyard. You know the, “I hope you die!” kind of thing. To avoid this, we spell out the word. Unless I am teaching the Bible, then I say the full word.) This comment brought a lot of comments about something that is in your body and flies when you die. We then discussed what souls are, where they might be in our bodies, and what happens when we die. The kids had a lot of good questions and we were able to talk about different parts of the Bible.

The Biblical truth that seems to be the recurring theme lately in the Badger class is that of hidden sin in our hearts. We started the year by learning about Creation and Adam and Eve. We continued through the Old Testament until late November when we switched to the book of Luke to begin leading up to Christ’s birth. During Christmas, we tied in Christ’s birth to Adam and Eve as well as Noah and his family. We talked about the little bit of bad things still in our heart, even if we do and say nice things and are good people. In the two days since Christmas, the bad things in our heart have been brought into classroom conversations at least 3 times and 2 times that I have heard outside of the classroom. This makes me excited as I know the Honeys are listening to God’s Word and thinking about what it says. Would you please pray that they would continue to listen to God’s Word, that they would have soft hearts and receptive minds, and that they would be fed spiritually?

Please also pray for my Nemos. They are quickly acquiring English and comfortableness with each other to speak in English. Please pray that I would be modeling Christ to them and that in the small amount of time I have with them, they would also be hearing God’s Word. Please pray for me, that I would have the patience, love, and words to share with them the things that need to be shared.

You have been a comfort for me over these past six months. Thank you for your prayers and support. It means much to me to know that I am not alone in this. May the Lord bless you and keep you,

Tr. Ruth

Merry Christmas, friend! I know it is cold out, so I grabbed you a cup of hot tea. I hope you don’t mind. =)

The Thursday before Christmas, I had the wonderful experience with my Nemo class (the evening class) of having our first dialogue  initiated by the students. Before class and during breaks individual students would come up to me and ask me a question they had learned the previous week. “Tr. Ruth, what do you like?” I would pretend to think and then answer. I would then ask them in turn what they liked or ask them, “Do you like ____?” They would answer yes or no, then continue the question and answer cycle with me. Over time we expanded to asking other students and having them answer. It was fun to watch them start to interact with each other in English. Although Chinese is still spoken heavily between the students, I can already see it diminishing when they know the English word for what they want to express. After our break time, we came back to the classroom. The afternoon teacher has a small Christmas tree set up. The students pointed it out to me. I said, “Christmas tree!” Their eyes lit up and they said, “Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!” I asked them, “Do you like Christmas trees?” They all shouted back at me, “Yes, I do!” I asked, “Do you like Christmas?” Again they replied, “Yes, I do!” What an excited teacher I was when I realized that I would get to celebrate Christmas with my Honeys and Nemos ON the day of Christmas! I made Christmas cards for all the Nemos that had, “Dear (student), Merry Christmas! Love, Tr. Ruth”. On Christmas my co-teacher and I handed out chocolates and Pepperidge Farms cookies that I found at CostCo. Unlike the afternoon classes, the evening classes still had classwork. Therefore, I took the last ten minutes of class to dedicate to Christmas. The afternoon class had a day of talking about the Christmas story, reading the Bible, Christmas activity sheets and a special snack from teacher (the same Pepperidge Farms cookies).

Every day I am finding myself more and more adjusted. I have found routines that are soothing and help me maintain my self within the whirlwind of teaching and pouring into lives. In my teaching this is becoming true, as well. I have found routines that work for my classes, a way of teaching for each class that meshes with the class environment, and am learning little tricks that help students grasp the content. Without the help of the more experienced teachers around me, I do not think I would be doing so well. I will forever be grateful for their help, wise counsel, and support.

Despite having conquered much of the steep learning curve, each day brings with it small learning curves and challenges. Culture and language barriers have a way of making the simple things, like buying pillows and trash bags, into major hurdles that need to be dealt with. Usually these happen when one is exhausted, hungry, has a raging migraine, and can’t recall any of the language that they have learned to date. These can be very frustrating and miserable times and emotionally push one to reconsider living in another country. I know that I am extremely blessed to have only had a handful of these experiences. God has been so good to me and has truly paved my way here. Something I have seen in common with my difficulties is that they force me to interact with the people here. My fears of retreating back into myself or the expat community will be hard to actualize. God seems to be forcing me to jump outside of my emotional comfort zone and act upon my heart desires to make friends with locals and increase my language.

Some things I have learned this month are:

• one can buy trash bags in three sizes: 小(small), 中(medium), and 大(large).
• 小 bags are all I need, although I now have 小，中，and 大. I don’t know what to do with the medium and large. Maybe hide a body?
• Degradable trash bags (made from corn) are cheaper than non-degradable trash bags.
• Bronchitis is no fun. Even after the antibiotics and the coughing are gone, one’s chest hurts for a long time!
• Online clothes shopping is a major life savor! Although people told me that humid winters in Taiwan will make me cold, I didn’t believe them. There is no central heating here and the humidity makes the cold slide right into one’s bones. Thus, I am making several orders of cute sweaters as I refuse to wear a winter coat inside. As you know, sweaters and Tr. Ruth do not go together in a normal winter. 😛
• Essential oils are amazing! I used the Lime essential oil (good for respiratory issues) and my bronchitis cleared up in 3 days. (Well, except for that chest pain!)
• Friends are wonderful. I had a friend send me a package from the States. Now I am trying Juice + for four months! ^_^
• The Chinese word for rent is 租金 (zūjīn). My landlords are really patient with me. I’ll get there. =/ Eventually.

November and December were very busy and continuous months full of children, Christmas show prep, and work. A lot has happened in my life and I am sure in yours, as well. How may I be praying for you?

May the Lord bless you and keep you,

Teacher Ruth

My mother asked me the other day on Skype, “How are you really doing?” I was surprised by this question as I am quite open about the things going on in my life. Her next comment was, “It is so easy for you to put on a happy face for an hour Skype call. I want to know how things are really going.” As I was having a good day, it was easy to dismiss this comment as a mother’s well-meaning concern for her daughter living overseas. I admitted that there are days that I am lonely but I am getting used to it, and my kids fill my days. Content, we both left it at that.

Now, I was truthful with my mother. There are days where I am so lonely I feel like I might shrivel and fade away if I don’t get some quality time ASAP. However, I am also the Queen of Internalization. Unconsciously, I take little hurts, slights, annoyances, and frustrations and shove them somewhere deep inside where they can’t mar my happiness. I shove them so deep that I am not aware they are still inside, growing into a bigger being that is biding its time to emerge. Then one day, another small irritant gets shoved inside and the being of mass irritants no longer has room to stay inside. It erupts and I break down over a small non-issue. Today’s meltdown was over apartments. Specifically, my inability to communicate enough in Chinese to set up an appointment to look at apartments on my own. There is one apartment that I really, truly, deeply desire to live in. It has a full kitchen, is close to my school, and has far more space than I would know what to do with. However, the person helping me find an apartment didn’t think it was a good match for me. My Never-Can-Say-No Syndrome came back full force and I meekly agreed. After hanging up, I could feel the meltdown coming. Ten minutes after the storm had blown through, I heard the bread machine signal that the bread was done. I walked out of my room and saw my roommate sitting at the kitchen table. She greeted me and then asked, “What’s wrong?” As I got out the oven mitts and pulled out the freshly baked bread, I explained. She was sympathetic and listened carefully. I placed the bread on the cutting board and noticed that although the outer section of bread had baked and looked ready to eat, the entire center section of the bread had not cooked. So caught up in my frustration about the apartments, I barely noticed. I grabbed the toaster oven tray, placed the bread on it, and popped the bread in the oven. After twenty minutes, the bread was completely cooked.

My emotions were still quite raw and I began to feel like a failure. I came to a country where I speak the local language to a limited degree. It is slowly improving, but my desire to communicate is much much stronger than my language ability. I couldn’t think of a single person I could ask to help me set up appointments and just felt incredibly isolated. At the suggestion of my roommate, I texted a friend who speaks Chinese and asked them to make the appointment. As I sat down to eat my bread, I couldn’t help but to think about how I am very much like this bread. Although the ingredients were properly put in, the settings correct, and the machine working, for some reason it did not come out the way I expected. God has clearly placed me in Taiwan. He has set me up in a wonderful ministry environment, given me an excellent support system, and has helped me gain basic language skills. Although to my eye this should equal success, God had other plans. Just like the bread’s crust, my life looks great from the outside. I look happy, fulfilled, excited, and passionate about where I am, what I do, and why I am doing it. Even to myself this looks to be the truth. However, today all those internalized annoyances and frustrations spoiled that image, just as the uncooked dough spoiled the image of a well-done loaf of bread. “Perhaps,” I thought, “God needs to put me back in the oven to finish cooking. Just because He put all the ingredients together and started the baking process does not mean that I am a finished product.” That was an interesting thought and one I have been chewing on.

Just as I got on a Skype call this evening, the friend I had texted called me. She had called the lady and made a tentative appointment contingent upon whether the people looking at the apartment now take the apartment. She then told me to send her any more potential apartments and she will call and make appointments for me. It struck me that God was indeed putting me back in the oven and continuing my bake cycle. Sure, I might come out looking a little more well done (or feeling so!), but I will be where God, the Baker, wants me. How many times have I been merely one ingredient, not even mixed into the dough yet, wanting to be a fully baked loaf of bread, and the Baker kept me in the cupboard? Too many to count. I am so grateful that God is perfect, that He knows the perfect time, and that He is in control! I am grateful to be in the baking process, although it is often hot, uncomfortable, and painful. I can feel myself growing and stretching, gradually forming into the person He knows I will be. Our God is greater than all trials, all struggles, all temptations, and despair.

I don’t know if one can label this “culture shock” but it is definitely an adjustment period. I am grateful that my desire to communicate is only growing, pushing me to find new words and develop courage. One of my fears coming here was that I would retreat into the expat community, only interacting with other Westerners. God is faithful and has answered so many of my prayers, even unspoken heart prayers.

That being said, one of the prayers that I have begun to see God answering is that my students would know Him and love Him with an unbridled passion. It is a slow process and I have to remind myself that I am not the one changing hearts. I was sitting with two of my students after class last week. I asked one of them, “What will you do this weekend?” He answered, “We go to church Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.” I asked him if he liked going to church. He giggled, gave me a guilty smile and said, “Little bit.” The girl who was sitting with me had wide eyes and breathed, “I never go church.” I looked at her and asked, “Would you like to go to church?” She nodded her head enthusiastically. I began discussing the possibility of her going to church with a small group of students. She looked torn and eventually told me that her mother takes her to the library every Saturday and Sunday to study. Although taking her to church is not a practical possibility at this moment, the desire is there. I am praying for this student, and all the students in my class. Please join with me in prayer that they would have the desire to learn more about God!

How may I be praying for you?
May the Lord bless you and keep you,

Teacher Ruth

Good evening, friend! This is an extraordinarily long post so snuggle up and sip on this cup of jasmine green tea.

First off, I want to say that this post will be both ministry related as well as personal. If you would only like to read about my ministry, only read the first half of the post. If you want to read both, well, be my guest! I love knowing that you find what I have to say worth your time to read. Your comments, either on here, Facebook, or through email are encouraging and sweet. Thank you!

These past few weeks have been great! My students and I are really getting to know one another well and classes have been going smoother and smoother (at least on my end). My Chinese co-teacher is incredible and thinks of solutions to things that I haven’t even thought of yet. She is great with the kids and inspires me to treat each student as a thinking individual. It is easy for me to play with kids ~ something God is growing in me is to talk to them on a deeper level. Today I was blessed with an opportunity to do so. Last week, one of my students moved to a class that is a grade higher. She is a very smart girl and I know that academically she will do great in this new class. I was a bit worried about the social aspect, and especially her emotional/mental standing. She was the oldest girl in our class, and the most academically advanced. As such, she moved into a class where she is amongst students her own age who are more advanced than her. She had several trepidations and I hadn’t had a chance to talk with her since she started the new class. Today I got a chance to talk with her. I was punching out paper stars for my afternoon class’s Bible Scrapbook project when I felt a tug on my hand. The girl had come over to see what I was doing. She wanted to help so I handed over the paper punch and showed her how to punch out the stars. While she was punching, I started talking with her. We ended up talking about her new class and how she felt about it. She didn’t seem excited and told me, “That question is hard to answer. I don’t know yet.” I know that she is used to finishing her work quickly with few mistakes. Now, according to her new teacher, she sometimes does not finish in class and stays after. It cannot be an easy adjustment. She is a hard worker, determined, and so very bright. Our Honey class has been praying for her. Would you please pray for her, too?

While the Honey class lost one student, we gained another as one of the first year students tested into the second year. Having attended an all-English pre-school, her reading, speaking, and listening are quite good and make her a very strong second year student. As she is quite young, though, her writing is in the lower-end of the second year. Although she has only been with us for a week, she is starting to warm up to the other students in the class. She has started to answer teacher’s questions, talking, volunteering for class activities, and even helping other students. The students in our class love to help others, so I am glad to see that she is joining in on this behavior. The Honeys have also been praying for our new student. Would you please pray for her, too? Please also pray for me, that I would include her in all class activities, be aware of her discomfort, and find ways to connect with her.

I am also still working on making the boundaries clear to my students. I love to play with them and sometimes it is only when things get out of hand do I realize I didn’t establish the clear boundary that was in my head. Please pray that I would be more consistent, clear, and vocal in this matter.

My afternoon class, the Honeys, have recently started working on a Bible Scrapbook. For those who know the Progress of Redemption class at CIU, you will know the basic premise of this project. For the Progress chart project, one outlines the cohesiveness (the main story, if you will), of the Bible. Through all the stories of the Bible, there is one main theme: God’s grace in planned redemption. It begins in Genesis and ends in Revelation. I made a scrapbook. Not sure I would ever use this scrapbook I made, I brought it to Taiwan upon my friend’s urging. Oh my word, how thankful I am she pushed me to pack it! I showed it to my Honeys and they were so excited to make their own Bible Scrapbook. Every week they look forward to our Bible time, and now they are excited to see their scrapbook come together. With the upcoming Christmas concert and the consequent music/dance practice, I am having to do some careful planning so that we get enough rehearsal but their Bible and scrapbook time is not sacrificed. It is truly a delicate balancing act!

My evening class, the Nemos, are still the cutest, sweetest things alive. We have currently learned up to the letter “P” in the alphabet and have begun learning shapes. My Nemos are constantly surprising me with how much English they have already picked up. I had a (very simple) conversation with one student yesterday! It was wonderful!! I am ridiculously proud of them and cannot wait to see what else they will surprise me with in the future! Last night we had our first prayer time. Although I used more English than they are accustomed to, they imitated me nicely. Before you worry that they had no idea what we were doing, I asked my Chinese co-teacher to translate my explanation on prayer. We asked the students if they had anything they wanted to pray about, and even got a response. Please pray that I would manage our class time well enough that we have time to pray before the end of class every evening.

Okay, friend. This is the end of the ministry post. Keep reading if you would like a look into my thoughts about life in Taiwan!

There are a few things that I have learned while living in Taiwan:

1. It is almost impossible to de-seed a sweetsop.

A sweetsop is also known as a sugar apple. When one buys them, they are hard. Leave it out in the air for a day or two and it will become quite soft. One can then peel it with their fingertips and begin munching. There are large-ish seeds inside nearly every fruit segment, so most people pop it in their mouth and then spit out the seeds. They look like this:

2. Jasmine green tea is an acquired taste.

The first week I started teaching, the teachers were bought tea. I went with one of my co-teacher’s recommendations and got the jasmine green tea (ordered without sugar). Oh. My. Word. I have no words for what that was like for me. Bitter. Dry. Kind of like ingesting the remnants of bitter flower petals that someone had chewed on. Part of this, I have come to realize, is that I was totally unused to green tea. Not only was I unaccustomed to it, I didn’t like it. Add to that that this particular tea was quite potent green tea, and you had yourself a Teacher Ruth who valiantly drank the whole cup while simultaneously wanting to vomit. (It took me the whole day to finish that cup of tea…) I have now had that exact tea three times (the most recent was today ~ the picture of it is at the beginning of the page). Each time, it gets better and more bearable. I do actually enjoy green tea, now, instead of putting up with it because it is the only one my body will tolerate. 😉 If you ever come visit, I’ll take you to some teahouses and introduce you to some yummy green teas! Although, maybe don’t try the jasmine green tea right away. We’ll build up your tolerance, first. ^_^

3. Danshui is a huge tourist destination.

When I visited Taiwan in 2011, someone took me to Danshui at night. We walked along the ocean, looked at the beautiful silhouetted mountains, had a portrait sketched, meandered through the few open shops, and then sat at the Starbucks for a cup of tea. My heart fell in love with the quiet, peaceful and beautiful place. So this past weekend when a friend came to visit, I asked if we could visit Danshui. We went on a Sunday and it was packed with people. Picture Six Flags on the busiest day of the park’s season and you have a vague idea of what Danshui (the entire town!) looks like during tourist season. There was a typhoon approaching Japan, so Danshui (being the northern most tip of Taiwan and closest to Japan) was taking a bit of backlash from the storm. What normally would be a bike path was covered in ocean water. Kids (and me!) took off their shoes and played in the water. My friend was quite patient with my six-year-old heart and watched over my things for me. 😀 The lesson learned from this, though, is to only go to Danshui on the off-season. Unless you desire feeling like you are at an amusement park. Then by all means, go during the season. =) Here is a small look at the ocean at Danshui:

Ocean view from the Danshui MRT.

4. I love night markets.

Yes, they are crowded, dark places with vendors on every inch of road selling similar items to their neighbors and greasy, many time strange foods being hawked by harried men and women. Sometimes, though, this is exactly what the doctor ordered. In terms of feeling outside of one’s culture, this is a great place to go. In terms of learning something about culture and cuisine, this is a wonderful place to go. In terms of having a fun night out with friends, this is a perfect place to go! When you go, be wary of the quality of the items you are looking at, and haggle. This is not a place to take point-blank value ~~ except for the food. 😛

5. Ladies, wear a jacket on your lap while driving!

Remember in middle school when we would tie our jacket around our waist and let it hang down our backside? That was so cool, then. Here, women who are wearing short shorts or a skirt wear a jacket tied around their waist down the front so to keep the wind from picking up their skirt and showing everything to the world. There are half-apron looking things that women also might purchase and wear. I am here to tell you that the jacket thing doesn’t always work. It’s just not a 360 protective shield. 😉 The apron-like things seem to work pretty well as they go all the way around someone’s torso.

6. When driving a scooter in Taiwan, make box turns!

This means that when you accelerate from a light, you don’t not make an immediate left turn. Instead, coast to the adjacent right-hand side road and do an about face so that you are facing the direction you want to go in. There are usually small boxes for scooters to turn into and wait in in front of the traffic.

It does take some getting used to, but it is kind of nice. No death defying traffic to maneuver around.

6. Death-defying traffic is a fact of life and you can’t change it.

So, learn to anticipate. This will be your best friend on the road. That, and your brakes. Well, and your horn, too. First of all, learn the traffic patterns. Scooters tend to drive in the right hand lane (and bicycles, and pedestrians, and wheelchairs). Cars like to double park in the right lane, so be careful that the car you see ahead is not actually a parked one. Cars also like to open their doors at random times. Steer as clear as them as you can! Cars typically drive in the left hand lane. If they are in your blind spot, you will definitely not be able to see their right hand turn signal, as they turn towards you. Just be careful of cars. Mmmkay? Also stay clear of buses and trucks, and you should be fine. =) That eliminates half of the traffic… Yeah. Just be careful. Second, go slow. The slower you go, the more reaction time you have to other ridiculous drivers. Third, beware of scooters carrying ridiculous loads of things. *Random driving story* Last night I was driving home and got stuck behind a guy who had a beautiful Chinese painting on his scooter. The painting was in the foot area of his scooter and his legs were at nearly 90 degree angles from the seat of the scooter. The painting stuck out probably 3 feet on either side of the bike. He was going slow and wobbled occasionally. The wind resistance must have been intense.

7. Traditional open air markets are where it is going on!

Sure the local grocery store and the bigger stores like Carrefour and A-Mart are nice (and remind one of a shopping center in the US), but their prices are generally higher and their packaging is much more…existent. I have found that, although one needs to have some Chinese skills when shopping at the local market (and haggling is also a skill you might benefit from!) the traditional market is cheaper, friendlier, fresher, and they give you free products to try. Cilantro and chili peppers are some of the freebies you might find in your bag. This is definitely one of my favorite places to go. Especially when I look around the streets and feel too much like I am in the West. Want a taste of life in the East? Go to the traditional market around butchering time. ^_^

8. Noise pollution is a fact of life.

Yes, there are curfews and people are generally respectful of others. However, they have these wonderful trucks that roll slowly through the streets blasting political ads or product advertising. If a restaurant is newly opened, there probably is a loud speaker outside the doors blaring an advertisement and/or incentive for someone to come try them out. I think the worst night I experienced was during the Mid-Autumn Festival. There was a giant barbeque in my apartment’s courtyard complete with karaoke. It was fun to walk through the mass of people eating, socializing, and singing at 8pm. It was not amusing to be kept awake until 11 by singing so amplified that I could hear every perfectly enunciated word in my bed with the doors shut and AC and fan on. That is when it hit home to me that I am now living in a very busy city.

There are so many more, but this post is already so long! I will leave you with some pictures, and a promise to post again soon. If you liked this post, let me know! I am not sure if you are more interested in the ministry side of my life, or the daily adventures that I am finding comes with living in a foreign country. Your feedback is much appreciated!

Please let me know how I can be praying for you!

May the Lord bless you and keep you,
Teacher Ruth

 

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. – Ecclesiastes 3:11

Happy Sunday, my friends! I would offer you a cup of tea, but I am currently stuck in bed. Please feel free to get the tea things yourself. =)

In 2011 I fell ill with a debilitating illness that completely changed my life. No longer could I work 2 lifeguard jobs, teach swim lessons, lead summer camps, and work out two hours a day. My new accomplishment for one day was to stay awake longer than one hour, and turn over in bed. For 8 months, I was a medical mystery and underwent test after test, looking for the cause of my sudden change in health. Eventually, we found a doctor who knew what was wrong with me: adrenal exhaustion that led to chronic fatigue syndrome as well as hypothyroidism. Over time, I have learned quite a bit about the endocrine system, discovering that every part depends on the rest in the system. Once the adrenals started wearing out, the thyroid tried to take over to keep my body running. Once the thyroid started flagging, the system began to shut down. It no longer had the chemicals (or energy) required to keep a human body functioning. The result was a physically alive body with little-to-no mental occupant.

Honestly, one of the worst feelings that I have ever experienced has been the mental disconnect from my body. There were times I didn’t know who I was and felt completely separated from my body. I would look down at my hand, touch it, and not recognize it as mine. People saw my body and they saw the Tr. Ruth that they knew and loved, and yet, mentally I was completely gone. I couldn’t recognize that they were talking to me – it was like I was in a different body or a different place altogether. I could not understand what people were saying; it often took me several repetitions and several minutes to piece together the basic idea of what they were communicating. After I got that, it took me several more minutes to formulate a roughly coherent answer. Although each step of this process was frustrating, the most frustrating part was when I voiced my answer: it would come out differently than I had intended it. Words would come out jumbled, switched in order with other words, or replaced by an unrelated word. My balance was gone, my strength and energy were none existent. I required help walking or I would stumble and fall, run into things, or try to go the wrong way. I often forgot, halfway through a sentence, what someone was talking to me about. My doctor visits required someone to go with me so that I a) might have an advocate and b) that someone remembered what the doctor said.

At some point in my journey with this illness, I nicknamed it the Energy-Sucking Vampire. These past 2 years, I have grown stronger. I stopped having daily visits from the Vampire and began to be able to do every day things, like walk and talk without help. By the grace of God, I was able to recover, eventually to return to school, graduate, and move to Taiwan. Most days I no longer struggle with my illness, although I am always aware that my body has new limits that leave me wiped from normal, every day activities. I have learned many of my new boundaries and have been able to live peacefully within these. As is common with humans, we test the boundaries to see how far we can stretch before we are punished. I am a boundary pusher. Once I find the hard lines, I toe them with respect. Unfortunately, it often takes me a long time of tip-toeing around to find those hard lines. Through trial and error, I have discovered that I can take a normal class load as long as at least two of the classes are online. I have learned that I can go on a hike as long as it is a high energy day, and it is one of the only things I do that day. I have found that I can travel across the world, but must spend a week of resting to recoup. I have found that weightlifting increases my joint pain. Recently, I have found that I can work a normal work day, as long as I come home and sleep for 12 hours afterwards. On the outside, I can pretend to be a normal human being. On the inside, I am always aware of my energy levels, my inability to act upon my desires, and my fears of crashing.

Sometimes, no matter how careful I am with physical limits, food intolerances, and sleep patterns, my body has had enough and demands a day of absolute rest. These are the days the emotional fears rise to the surface, have their say, and then retreat back into the hidden pool of things not from God. These are the days where it hurts to move, my head feels stuffed full of cotton, I have to move slowly and carefully so not to run into things, fall over, or pass out, and I have to bail on plans. Today is one of those days. As a Sunday, I am sad to not have made it to the teahouse for personal Bible study or to have made it to church. I am also sad to have had to cancel plans for movie-watching with a friend. However, I know that God has good plans for me despite my occasional flare-up days and that His timing is best (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2). To this I am holding fast today. Through all the pain, fear, uncertainty, failure, and despair, He has been good and faithful. He is still taking care of me. So Mr. Energy-Sucking Vampire, you have no real grasp on me. Sure, you may control my body for a while but you cannot follow me to the new earth. Spiritually, I am free. And soon, I will be free physically. Praise the Lord!

This week, please be praying for:

• My family. My family has gotten some hard news this week and needs pray for wisdom and discernment.
• My students. One of my students got a lot more than he wanted to hear when he asked the flippant question, “Jesus is soap?” Please pray that what he heard affects him and that his mind would be opened to truth.
• My health. Please pray that God would give me strength and energy to complete this next week! That I would learn more of my boundaries; when to say ‘yes’ and when to say, ‘I have had enough’.

Thank you, dearest friends!
May the Lord bless you and keep you,
Teacher Ruth

Hello, friend! It has been a while and so much has happened! Let’s sit inside (A/C seems best today as it is so hot outside!) I think I will go for some cold pomegranate green tea ~ what will you have? Ahh. Feels so nice!

The week after my last post, my boss approached me about my evening class. He proposed that my fellow co-teacher and I switch our evening classes (I had the older children and he had the beginners) as I do better with younger children and my co-teacher relates well to older children. How glad I am that he thought of, prayed about, and suggested this switch! I began teaching my new evening class (a year one class called the “Nemo” class) on September 1st. We have had four classes, now, and I am still as in love with them as I was from the first day. No matter how stressed or tired I am by the time class rolls around, they manage to make me energized, excited, and find new depths of love for my job. Evening classes begin at 6:50pm and run until 8:50pm. After class ends, I put away my materials, clock out, and then sit down to keep the last students waiting to be picked up company. Usually, this involves teaching year one students how to play UNO. With our afternoon students, we have several opportunities to play with the students and thus bond with them. With our evening students, however, there is very limited time as they are only at school about 4 hours a week. Thus, during break time between first and second period, I make it a point to play dodgeball with the Nemos. I figure this is good bonding time and also excites the students to have Teacher on their team. Plus, it is fun!

My Nemos are so fun! As many of you know, I am quite expressive and love to randomly sing words or make faces, or act out what I am thinking. My class seems to love this, but they take things a step farther and imitate me. When we are working on phonics, I will often say either the letter name or sound three times, with each vocalization a half step higher than the previous one. My students follow suite. If I say a sentence in a certain way, my students will do so, as well. If I raise the tail end of a word to make it sound questioning, they will, too. It is too cute and makes my theatrical heart glad. =) Can I say that I never thought I would enjoy teaching phonics? My problem, since starting Nemos, is that 50 minutes is too short of a time. 😛 I love making up silly games to help the Nemos get the repetition they need. By their smiles and giggles, I guess they enjoy it, too!

My afternoon class (the “Badger” class, nicknamed the “Honeys”) has been learning about reducing, reusing, and recycling. Throughout this, we have continued our Bible reading. We are working towards the Tower of Babel but returned to the topic of creation for a week. Why? We are talking about how we can take care of the earth God gave us, and what better way to do this than to show the Biblical example of God creating Adam and Eve to be stewards of the Earth! This week we talked about how each of us can make small changes to add up to big differences in the world. Strangely, our example came down to chopsticks: if we all use the wooden chopsticks commonly found, then they will make more wooden chopsticks. If one person uses their own chopsticks, it won’t make much of a difference in chopstick production, but will start to spread awareness. If one person, and then another person, and then another use their own chopsticks, it starts to make a difference. It was an interesting concept for them and once explained, they readily grasped it. They have so many good ideas on how we can take care of God’s earth, and how we can reduce, reuse, and recycle. (Their ideas for reuse are particularly good! I wish you could ask them ~ they love to tell their ideas!) Next Monday we will go to a recycling center. I hope the Honeys enjoy the experience and the idea of recycling really sinks in.

In terms of relationships, God is slowly bringing about potential friendships. There is a distinct difference between an acquaintance (someone you see but cannot really speak intimately with) and a friend (someone you may speak intimately with). I have many acquaintances here, yet no real friends. In time, I know this will change. God is faithful and gives us what we need. How grateful I am for technology which has allowed me to fill in the friendship gap! I *really* miss taking Bible classes! My brain is desperately hungry for complex, challenging, and stretching materials. So grateful to have learned to study the Bible on my own or I would be going absolutely crazy. (Who knew one could miss exegetical assignments? :P) Despite the emotionally challenging start to this adventure and the continuing search for friendships, there is nowhere else I would rather be. I know that I am exactly where God wants me for the moment, and I can see that in so many aspects of my life. Thank you for your prayers, support, and love. It means a lot to me to know that I have such a strong supporting family. You are wonderful! Please let me know how I can pray for you!

May the Lord Bless you and keep you,

Teacher Ruth