Every once in a while we go north of town to an area where there are a few stores that carry more products that Americans & European people want. Since we are in the middle of a three day weekend (Monday is a holiday – Taiwan’s independence anniversary) we decided to make a run. Here is a picture of the loot – $53 worth.

bag of 7 limes – 2 bags microwave popcorn – box of 2 pkgs crackers – 10 oz Brown sugar – 2 lbs flour – Lea & Perins Worchester Sauce – Can of lima beans – Can of Chili – Jar of peperoncini peppers – 2 bananas – Ground Nutmeg – Marjoram leaves – Celery powder – can of pinto beans – Can of black beans – Mandarin oranges – Salad dressing – sm bag Cheetos – sm bag Sour Cream & Onion Ruffles.

Here are a couple of things that we did not buy:

Seaweed Wasabi potato chips  yummmmmmm

Noodles Oodles facebook credits  !@#$%^&*???

How do they do it? Why do we let them?

via Fox News.

I am a native Texan and it makes me sick to see what is happening back home.

The ten-month period through July was the driest in Texas state history. Entire lakes have dried up. Since last November, almost 1,500 homes have burned in nearly 21,000 fires across the state.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Check it out at The Big Picture (click link below).
Texas drought and wildfires – The Big Picture – Boston.com.

A couple of days ago we were out running errands when we saw the tire delivery guy . . . .

A Fran Moment:

I love the work of God’s Spirit among the community of believers! In a brief 15-minute conversation with one of my Chinese sister’s, she told how she had been praying for me the past 4 months while I was in the US. Out of her mouth came Paul’s prayer from Phil 1:9-11. Wow! She went on to share how her quiet time with the Lord each day consisted of praying the word of God. This morning, I opened my bible to read the prayer that so easily fell from my friend’s mouth, because it is genuinely in her heart. In my bible I recognized a couple of personal notes jotted beside this prayer: June ’09 – my own prayer for a named loved one’s spiritual condition; and July ’10 – when I last went to BSF – HQ for TL Institute, Phil 1:9 was my room assignment! Again, I love the work of God’s Spirit among the community of believers! Organically, I was pointed back to His love message to me.

Also in this brief 15-minute conversation with this sister, she shared how she has been slowly reading through Psalms 119:1-7, taking it one section at a time, meditating upon it and praying it back to the Lord. Because our time was brief, she didn’t share specifics. So this morning, I turned to Psalms 119:1-7. The first 7 verses provided a full meal of spiritual food to see me through this day. I look forward to tomorrow’s feeding. Again, I love the work of God’s Spirit among the community of believers! My heart is flamed afresh as I reconnect with the body of believers in Taiwan. My heart is spiritually fueled with words of encouragement and direction through God’s word. No wonder we are charged to know the word of God and commanded to not forsake the gathering of His people! Open the word and connect with a brother or sister in Christ today to experience the work of God’s Spirit among the community of believers!

Do you say yes to too many things? Here is a short article with advice on when it is best to “Just Say No!”

When to say “No Thanks”.

For you folks outside the US – that’s 43 degrees!

Hopefully it will be somewhat cooler on the other side of the pond when we get there.

Moms and Dads – Do you allow your children to “surf the net” outside of your presence? If so, you might want to rethink that. Even if you have a filter that blocks out undesirable visual images, they might be accessing websites that go against all that you are teaching them. Click over to a good article on Josh McDowell talk.
Apologist Josh McDowell: Internet the Greatest Threat to Christians, Christian News.

Last Sunday Fran and I attended the funeral of the wife of one of my cousins. It was an evangelistic service that I felt honored her. We saw family there that I rarely get the chance to see.

While there, we saw something  that we had never seen before . . . .

Where were we?

It was 38 years ago today that Fran & I snuck off and got married. I don’t think either one of us really thought about what life might be like 35+ years into the future or even wondered if we would still be man and wife after so many years. But God is good and even though at the time we were not walking with Him, He had a plan for us that we could not have even dreamed of – what an adventure He had prepared for us!