Happy New Year!! 2025 is now in the rear view mirror, time really flies. Some people say it's just another day, why do anything different? After all most people' fail at their goals. But I think that if there is a day in the calendar that makes it easier for us to learn from our mistakes and start afresh, why not honor that day? If we have done somethings well, then lets make sure we do those things again. If there are some mistakes to learn from, they can also be our teachers.
I'd say that 2025 is my year as a real resident of Taiwan, even though it's the second year. The first year, I sort of lived as a tourist, seeing all the interesting places and having a good time. Well, after a while, reality sets in. Even thought there were some tough times, there were many highlights that I wanted to remember and to share with you. This famous quote came to mind by Socrates
"An unexamined life is not worth living."
When I was really struggling, I did a few things right. One was that I had developed a new habit of getting out to walk as soon as the morning sun comes out on most days. It was not an easy habit to develop but it changed how I feel and I sleep better at nights. Well, I knew that Andrew Huberman always talked about being exposed to sunlight outside first thing in the morning to set our bodies' circadian clock, but I've not put it into practice until now because I like reading my Bible first thing. Since I usually spend quite a long time reading, I often missed the first light opportunity, and soon it's too hot to go outside. Once I did the morning walk, I started to feel much better. I intend to keep up that habit this new year for sure.
One of the best thing I did was forming an accountability group of four in April. In CR, we emphasized accountability. But Taiwan people are workaholics and they don't have time for things like that. My new friends had to make a sacrifice, but we made it work. We don't meet every week, some weeks we Marco polo, but they made me feel like I have sisters again. We encourage and pray for each other. In fact, I asked them to hold me accountable for my morning walk and quiet time. That's how I formed the new habit. It felt good to have trusted people to share my struggles, even though some may not seemed like a big deal, it just felt better to talk about it.
I started to shop at the morning market here. Last year I avoided it because it smells like fish and it is very chaotic with scooters weaving in and out. So I rather paid a higher price at the PX mart which is like a small Safeway here. But this year, I overcame my fear and joined the locals to shop at the morning market. Things are definitely cheaper and fresher than PX mart. Other than the days when I had visitors, I learned to eat a pretty healthy diet always consists of boiled veggies or salad, eggs, and my homemade fruit kombucha. Those items became part of my regular diet rather than the yummy Taiwan street foods. I sometimes eat those especially when guests come, but not all the time. I've tried most of them and I don't feel compelled to eat street foods now. I'm not tired of them yet, but it's getting old.
I also figured out the best schedules for doing a water fast. Each quarter, I spend a week to fast. Best time is around Easter, Aug and Christmas. It's not fun to be hungry, but it does my body a tons of good. I also enjoyed having more time to read and spend with God, you'd be amazed how much time you gained by not having to plan and prepare meals. I hear Him a lot clearer when I am fasting. Sure there are discomforts but I take some salt or chicken broth when I feel lightheaded. I am much more used to fasting than before. My doctor first introduced it to me as a cancer prevention tip. I've never fasted until then. When I first did it, I felt like I was going to die. But I knew that the discomfort is worth it because my body is doing lots of cleaning and repairing. Sometimes after three days of water only fast, because of scheduling, I had to eat one meal a day. That's fine too. I think it works best when you can adapt it to your schedule. My experience is that I often choose the days when I don't have a lot going on, when I can have plenty of time resting and reading while my body does its thing. Other than the first day, you will experience low energy. But if you can persist, on the 3rd or 4th day, your brain just becomes super sharp and focused. It's great. You can do the things that you normally don't feel like doing, and you can read way more books than usual.
Ministry wise, I still am very active in CR and sponsor lots of women. But I had taken on some new areas of ministry, mostly relating to children. I've been a Sunday school teacher since I was 16. However, here I didn't feel confident in my Mandarin, so I stay quiet. But when the directors approached me, I decided to give it a try so I started teaching Sunday School and I served in a Rainbow program in the elementary classrooms. I go in once a week to tell them stories that affirmed the truth and encouraged them. Then we gave them prizes and threw them a big Christmas party at the end. Though I still have quite a lot to learn, I feel like this is where God wants me to be.
I also joined a local Toastmaster class here in Sept. It's a bilingual class so I get to work on speaking Mandarin on stage. I was scared to death when I gave my first speech, but now I feel a bit more confident because the people there are so nice. They mostly encouraged me, only pointed out things here and there as constructive feedback. This class helps me because for some reason, I have a lot more opportunities to be on stage and I naturally avoid the spotlight, but now I feel confident that with some practice, I can do it better. 1/18/2026 I will be officially translating the pastor's sermon on Sunday. I'm not sure how it will go but I am willing to give it a try.
I was happy to have some visitors from the U.S. Aida and her friend came late Sept, and my friend Janet, bless her heart, took a month off work to be with me. We were able to visit lots of new place in Taiwan and also went to Korea for a week. Such precious memories. I wasn't sure if she would love it here, but she did. Pearl and her friend came the first week in November.
This year I enjoyed my Christmas here much more even though it was still hot and my small apartment had no room for a Christmas tree. But the difference is that I made it the season for giving. I joined some of the church festivities and cooked some American food that I missed. Most of you know that I love to cook, but it's much more difficult here with the small kitchen, lack of certain American ingredients, and not having a car. But I overcame those obstacles this year and I'd hunt down the ingredients, did food prep at home, carried everything on a bus and cooked at the church kitchen. I successfully made pumpkin soup, spaghetti soup, matcha/white chocolate cookies, chips/salsa, veggie platter with ranch dip and clam chowder. It made my heart glad to have people to share with. I also packed small goodie bags filled with lots of individually packaged snacks and chocolates. God brought some people to mind and I write their names down on my list. I love the people few noticed and yet they quietly and faithfully do their jobs. So I give them a goodie bag with a thank-you note. They were so surprised and some teared up. What the Bible said is true that "It's more blessed to give than receive." Even though I didn't receive anything except two Christmas cards, my heart is full just giving people what I can. After all, living minimally in a small space makes storing things hard if I do get something that I can't really use. I am starting to realize that all the busyness of the holiday season isn't really that important, what's most important is a person's inner world. I spent more time studying the Christmas story and read the gospel of John in Dec. And each day I reflect on things I can be grateful for and think about what I can give to others. I suppose that is the secret to having a good day anywhere: filling my heart with worship and gratitude, and adding value to others as the Lord directs. May you have a blessed 2026!
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