Typhoon Incoming!

A typhoon draws near. I can feel it. I feel it in the water, I feel it in the earth. I can smell it in the air.

WhuWHAT? Was that TWO Lord of the Rings quotes seamlessly fitted together into one reference? YES. YES IT WAS.

But yeah, a typhoon is coming. Pastor Chao showed me the weather picture and it looks like Taiwan is about to be run over/swallowed by a massive swirly angry thing. haha. Still, in open defiance of nature's wrath, Pastor Chao and I decided to go shopping. Outside. On a motorcycle. With no umbrellas. So intense.

She took me to a famous ice place. Soooo good.

The ice was lightly drizzled with caramel and condensed milk. It was really packed in there too. I was kind of irritated with how dense was until I realized that we were supposed to throw the balls in.
I ordered the combo which comes with "yu yuan" (taro balls), a "di gua yuan" (sweet potato ball), and some tapioca balls with red bean in them. They were all super Q, just the way I like it. When the server delivered this small bowl of balls, it was steaming. I could then decide if I wanted to eat them warm or mix them into my ice. I ultimately decided to spoon the balls into a little mouthfuls of ice so that they would be cold but not lose their chewy texture. [Oh, side note! I learned that the term "QQ" which means chewy actually is derived from a Taiwanese phrase. Not slang as I originally thought.]

It was a very...interesting experience. Not so much the food (which was delicious), but the protecting of the food from insects. There's a specific bug that flies around when a typhoon is approaching. They're harmless, and the natives are always very nice to them. Instead of killing them, they gently brush them off their clothes, or in our case, gently spoon them out of our bowls.
This unfortunate fly landed in Pastor Chao's bowl. The sugar stuck his wings together and he kind of...drowned. Sweet misery. Anyways, we had to eat with one hand while using the other hand to form a dome over our bowls.

Anyways, shopping with Pastor Chao is super fun because she buys the most random things. We were trying to burn time before Melody got out from Math tutorial. She bought 10 bottles of aloe juice. Not a pack of 10. Ten separate bottles. Two cranberry/pomegranate, two mangosteen/mango, two pure aloe, two citrus. As a matter of etiquette, I carried the basket around the store, and later the bag as we went shopping for a bag. haha. The store was kind of pricey, even by American standards. Pastor Chao and I pulled a Neiman Marcus and went around guessing the prices of everything. We're so classy it hurts.

I am being picked up at 6:55 AM tomorrow morning by Pastor Chao because we need to catch a 7:20 bus to Shoufeng. (sigh) I don't know if I'm going to be more tired or less tired during Advent...or if I can even feel anything anymore at that point. haha

Lately, I've been praying that God will help me to be more comfortable with using the gifts he's given me to serve and glorify him. With Pastor Chao, he's slowly giving me the opportunity to practice accompanying on the piano/guitar. On Sunday, I will be playing the drums for the choir and giving my testimony to the children/young adult section. I'm super nervous, but I just pray that God will help me to be an effective communicator and give me the words to speak. Let my tongue be used by the Holy Spirit!

Now that Daniel isn't going on ADVENT and Priscilla and I are lieutenant captains, I have a feeling that I'm going to have to take on a more hands on rather than "guide from behind" approach. I continue to pray that God will help me to step out of my comfort zone. Today during devos, I read that if we sow generously, we will reap generously. This year, I really want to build lasting relationships with each and every one of my students. No more apathy! I want to give them my all so that God's harvest will be abundant. I pray that God prepares my heart for missions -- a serving, selfless heart. But most of all, I pray for love. My own supply of love is inadequate and sometimes I feel like my heart is dried and withered like a old man's behind. But with God, I believe that I can have love like an ocean, joy like a fountain, and peace like a river.

I'm keeping all you soon-to-be ADVENTers in my prayers as well as all you friends at home (whether it's Cali, Baltimore, New York, Pennsylvania, China, Australia, Paraguay... I'm trying really hard not to forget anywhere because that'd just be awkward...you're all on my list!)

May God's grace pour down on you! :) Smile!