I was sitting at my computer this morning, enjoying my coffee and reading email, when I felt a hard thump! A few seconds later my bookcase started rattling and the room shook for about 3 seconds. The Taiwan Central Weather Bureau reports that it was a 5.9 earthquake centered in the ocean (63km. deep) about 60 – 80 km. from Taipei. It caught me off guard.
It got me to thinking about a passage we looked at a few weeks back when we were studying Noah in the book of Genesis. Matthew 24:38-39 says that even though Noah had been telling everyone it was going to flood they just kept on leading their lives as though nothing would ever go wrong. When the time of God’s judgement came they were not ready. The earthquake is sort of like that; you never know when the next one will come. As it is happening there is nothing you can do to make it stop or go away. You just have to ride it out.
Be ready. When Jesus returns it will be without warning! Kind of like an earthquake! [bibleblock]Matthew 24:42-44[/bibleblock]
Taiwan President promises to make Christmas Day a national holiday in Taiwan !
We pray that you and your family can have a special day of fellowship, food, & fun – filled with memories.
I just finished Breaker’s Reef the fourth and final book in a series called Cape Refuge by Terri Blackstock. I can, without reservation, recommend all four of them to you. They are well written Christian mystery fiction that anyone can enjoy.
You wouldn’t have to read them sequentially, but it would add to an already pleasurable experience.
(No, I don’t usually read books so fast. The time between the last three book posts wasn’t the actual elapsed time between each book. I was trying to find a place to jump in and start listing read books. Now I am current so the posts should be in “real time”)
I’ve just finished another good book. This one was River’s Edge It is the third installment (of 4) in the “Cape Refuge” series. While some of the characters are the same in each book of the series, any of the 4 books will stand on its own. I really like the characters – they are developed nicely. The style of the author, Terri Blackstock is relaxed and easy to read.
Today I experienced another first here in Taiwan. I ate red beans for dessert! It took me five years to “work up the nerve”, but I finally tried some. I had a hong dou bing. This is red beans (not pintos) that have been soaked and cooked to tender perfection, generously poured over ice (think snow), topped off with two or three tablespoons of condensed milk. It looks sorta like this
Mine had twice as many beans and half as much ice. The beans had a nutlike taste and overall it wasn’t too bad. I don’t think it will replace my favorite – mango & strawberry - though 
Let me hear from you. What is the most un-dessert dessert that you have ever had?
News flash from the great state of Texas . . . In case you haven’t heard, on election day Texans overwhelmingly approved an amendment to the state constitution. There will be no unnatural marriage unions in my state!
Conservative spokesman Gary Bauer calls the vote in the Lone Star State a “resounding endorsement of traditional marriage.”
For more read this News from Agape Press.
I want to start sharing the good books that I read. If they are recommendable I’ll share the info after I’ve read them. 
The lastest one was Hideaway
The story revolves around an emergency room doctor who visits a rural Arkansas community. There a couple of unexpected twists and the characters are believable.
