Here We Are

When our alarms sound in the mornings, they are usually accompanied by the call of a rooster crowing somewhere nearby. (In fact, the rooster doesn't just crow in the mornings. He crows at any time of the day or night, whenever he feels the need to assert his dominance.) The water that runs through our tap is neither cold nor hot, but usually comes out lukewarm, and only the shower faucet is connected to the water heater. I usually make breakfast for B before he goes to school, and if I am at home, around 9 or 10 in the morning, the rooster is joined by sounds of a recorder or an ocarina piping melodies through our windows. We leave our windows open to let the breezes through and keep our place cooler since we only have one A/C unit in the bedroom. I imagine many of our neighbors do the same, for I often hear instrument practice during the course of the day. The first day we met Yang buo buo, he was carrying an er hu--and I still hear him practicing, in spite of his partial deafness due to old age. It cheers me to think of him spending his retired life happily playing music. If we go to throw out our trash in the evenings, I often hear the sounds of piano practice floating through other apartments, and it makes me nostalgic for all the hours I spent practicing similar pieces back at home on our little spinet when I was young.

Apparently today was a big day for bai bai, as we heard the pops of firecrackers in the morning and evening, and the smell of incense burning filled our stairwell when I went up to the roof to hang up our comforter to sun. There are always temples nearby, but because we live in a community, thankfully they aren't near enough for us to hear the echoing of ritual music reverberating in our ears.

Today in church I was reminded that we are here not just to do our work, get good grades, or have a good time. We are here because of the Gospel. Our life change should reflect the redemption of our Messiah, and bring people to Jesus.

I need life change.

Pray that our lives will be like strains of beautiful music that when people hear, they will be drawn to the greatest Musician.

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Pics of our apartment!

Living room. Our pillows don't match but they are functional (and they were gifts from people)!

Eating area plus pantry

My vintage kitchen. Including 80's style tiling. Pretty spacious for Taiwan!

B's study room

Our bedroom. The piano needs tuning.

We had some friends over this weekend for a potluck! It was yummy. Plus my pink Tatung pot can be seen at the right corner there :)

 Friends and family: Come visit! :D