the wu’s year in photos

I woke up this morning to the shocking reality that *gasp* it is the last day of the year!  I don’t know why this year passed so quickly.  Why do they keep slipping by faster and faster??

At the end of last year, I dreamed of being able to hold our little one in our arms by the end of 2010.  Well, it’s come and gone and we are no more parents today than we were 365 days ago.  So, all I can do is cling to the fact that God is kind.

Without further ado, let’s look back at each month of 2010 solely represented with just one photo.
This will be my sixth year to do this:

2005–was my third year in Taiwan, and I started blogging
2006–my sister got married and my brother came to Taiwan
2007–I moved to a new city, and my cousins came to visit
2008–I met the love of my life; we dated, got engaged, and then married . . . it was perhaps the most perfect year of my entire life. :)
2009–our Taiwanese wedding, our first anniversary, and our first full calendar year married

January: Amanda went back to Texas to meet our newest nephew


February: Chinese New Year


March: Daily life as normal (note the use of gloves to eat messy food) :D

April: A Happy Wedding!! We get to officially welcome Cindy to the Wu family

May: We go to two MORE weddings!

June: Amanda’s mom comes to Taiwan!! Wuhoo!!

July: We introduce Mom to as much of Taiwan as we possibly can

August: Gilby gets bit by a mean, nasty dog, :(

September: Lawrance turns 30 and has his 1st Birthday Party EVER! 

October: We get to meet Melody, our newest niece!

November: Lawrance preaches for the first time

December: We celebrate our third Christmas together in Taiwan. 

Oh, how only one photo a month doesn’t capture everything that happens!!  I think we went to a total of 7 or 8 weddings last year and I got to go to Japan for a few days for a conference, we spoke in public multiple times, Lawrance started serving weekly with a missionary in another town, we changed churches in order to increase our ministry, and so on goes the list.  We are blessed!!

Happy New Year from our Wu Home to yours!!

i’m forever grateful

This song has been playing in my head, in my heart, and on my ipod for the last two weeks:

Popout

You did not wait for me to draw near to You
But You clothed Yourself with frail humanity
You did not wait for me to cry out to You
But You let me hear Your Voice calling me
And I’m Forever Grateful to You
I’m Forever Grateful for The Cross
I’m Forever Grateful to You
That You came to seek and save the lost

(Written by Mark Altrogge, Hosanna Music, 1985)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

working together

One of the things that we both are very thankful for are opportunities to work together.  We’ve had quite a few chances recently to speak to different groups on the topic of “Culture Matters.”

And, we also have been working together to lead worship occasionally at New Life Bilingual Church.  Lawrance leads, while I get to translate and sing with him.

We both really enjoy these opportunities to work together.  We both feel so blessed to have such an amazing teammate and partner to serve with.  The Lord totally knew what He was doing when He  made us husband and wife.

Nonetheless, nothing has made me more proud than getting to work along side him last Sunday as he preached for the first time.  He preached in Chinese, and I got to stand beside him and translate his sermon into English.
What a joy to stand next to him as he shared the Word of God!!



I look forward to hearing God speak through him in future sermons that are yet to come. Praise the Lord!!

run, gilby, run

I’m thankful for our roof.  It gives Gilby a place to run, run, run!!  He loves running, even if there is no grass, 11 floors above ground.

love unreserved

Lawrance is leading worship this Sunday at the bilingual church we are a part of, and below is one of the songs he’s using.  I think it is such a pretty song.

In fact, I first heard it when our friends sang it at our wedding.  There is another version with the lyrics changed to make a wedding version of the song.



Since the song originates from Hong Kong, I can only find it online in Cantonese and English.  (Well, I did find it here, but I think the Cantonese version is prettier.)









Lyrics in Chinese:

常聽說 世界愛沒長久，
哪裡會有愛無盡頭？
塵俗的愛只在乎曾擁有，
一刻燦爛便要走！
而我卻 確信愛是恆久，
碰到了你已無別求：
無從解釋、不可說明的愛，
千秋過後仍長存不朽！
誰人受 痛苦被懸掛在木頭？
至高的愛盡見於刺穿的手；
看！血在流反映愛沒保留，
持續不死的愛到萬世不休！
惟求奉上生命全歸主所有，
要將一切盡獻於我主的手；
我已決定今生再沒所求，
惟望得主稱讚已足夠！

Lyrics of the English version (not a direct translation, so it’s more “singable):

I’ve always been told love won’t survive
Promises will turn into lies
The world just thinks love comes and passes though
It never lasts pure and true
But I still believe can last
It’s your unfailing love that gives me rest
You were there when I needed you most
I’ll never walk all alone
On the cross you died and took away my curse
Love so wondrous no one ever could deserve
Your bleeding hands proved your love unreserved
You’re my greatest joy and treasure on the earth.
Make my life a fragrant offering I pray
Help me Lord to serve you truly every day
Through tears and joy I’ll give you all my praise
Let the whole world know your love and grace

lunch with hubby

So, two nights ago, after feeling thankful for our trash dumpsters, as I was parking my moped I thought about how I could blog about the trash.  Then I decided that perhaps I should blog about things I’m thankful for, and then suddenly I rememered that it is Novemeber–the month of thanksgiving!  So, I decided I needed to do it for sure.

So, without further ado–here’s number two–I’m thankful for being able to have lunch with my husband nearly every day of the week.  And, I’m also thankful that sometimes he does the preparing of said lunch–like these awesome dumplings with a spicy dipping sauce!

a trashy thankfulness

Last night as I pulled into our underground parking garage, I saw trash containers, and instantly I had a thankful heart.  Not sure why last night I decided to be thankful for the trash containers, but I was.

Why be thankful?  Because in Taiwan many (most?) people have to wait for the musical trash truck to pull into their neighborhood on certain days at certain times in certain locations to toss their trash, but we are fortunate enough to be able to throw away garbage whenever we want.

It’s a small thing, but I’m thankful for it!!