Arms of Love

When was the last time you just let everything go? Like, literally everything? I thought I was pretty good at it ... coming home from work and letting work go. Going on a trip and forgetting about all of the stress and pressure that was waiting for me at home. Maintaining friendships in the midst of busy schedules, time zones and changes. But you know what? I've been holding onto all of that. Even when I was convinced I let it go from time to time. When I took time to spend with the Lord, I was still holding onto all of the ... stuff. I let it distract me from giving God my full attention.

Well, last weekend I went to a women's retreat with my church. The theme was "Creating a Sacred Space" and I knew going in to the weekend that we would be talking about putting aside all of our busyness and everything in our lives and making room for the Lord. The problem was, I didn't have time to make time for all of that. My life was too busy. Are you sensing the irony here? By the time I got to the retreat late Friday afternoon, I was ready for some rest. During our first session, our leaders were talking about putting aside everything that is on our minds - everything. We had a "Sabbath" box on the table and we wrote down things that we were going to lay aside for the weekend - work, communication with others, I had quite a list. Then our speaker was talking about finding rest in God. True, quiet rest. She described crawling up into God's lap and letting Him hold us.

I can't remember the last time I crawled into someone's lap and just let them hold me. I pictured that with God. Just sitting there, letting Him rock me, calming me worries and fears, taking all of my stress and throwing it away. Completely letting go of everything. It was amazing. I can't even describe how wonderful it felt to give it all over to the Lord. I guess as a single woman, I feel the need to take care of myself. I can ask for help, but ultimately I feel like I still have to always maintain control. There isn't anyone else around to take care of me. Just me. But you know what? That's not true. I've been lying to myself. My God is here to take over. He wants the control. He wants my worries and fears. He wants all me. He longs to wrap me in His arms of love and rock me. Oh sweet friends, I pray that you can experience that someday. It truly is the sweetest feeling. Now, I just need to remember how to do that every day. To crawl back up in my Father's lap and let him take control.

Trains and Toilets

So, I have some more stories to share about my adventure in Taiwan with Danielle. I had some new experiences that were unique, to say the least.

One day I went with Danielle and her friend Leah to a city on the south of the island called Tainan. We rode a high speed train to get there, which was pretty cool. Next to airplanes, this was probably my fastest speed of travel so far in my life. What would have taken us 8 hours by normal speed train only took 2, so that was pretty neat. Danielle and Leah had to do some work in Tainan, but we also got to see some of the big sights. We went to a Confucious temple, which was pretty interesting, and to a "castle" built by the Dutch and then rebuilt by the Japanese known as Anping Fort. The trees at the fort had these super long roots hanging down, and we enjoyed taking some pretty funny pictures. We also went shopping in a little market that was super cute. One of my favorite things there were these little waffle type things they made right there on the street in the shape of funny things like a chicken, motorcycle and gun. Brilliant, right? haha. On our train ride back to Taipei that night we found out that we were under a tsunami alert. It was kind of scary for me for a little bit, but praise the Lord nothing ever happened!

Another great adventure was to a very, shall I say unique, restaurant in Taipei called Modern Toilet. Several people on facebook commented that they had seen this place on the Food Network, but I can I just tell you that the real-life experience is far greater than anything you can watch on t.v. It was pure craziness! The toilet was their theme and boy did they stick to it! The food (which was not good at all!) was served in toilet and bathtub shaped bowls. We sat on toilets for our seats and ate on plexi-glass that was covering a bathtub. There were little swirls of pink poop on the wallpaper and poop shaped light fixtures. I told Danielle that I think I only enjoyed this experience because I was in Taiwan and it was so crazy that it was funny. Had I been in America, I probably would have thought it was disgusting. But, we definitely laughed a lot! Modern Toilet was in an area called Ximen, which is a fun pedestrian shopping area. I went there on my last trip too, and it's a great place to roam around and have fun!

Needless to say, these experiences were really fun. All in all, it was a fantastic trip! Taiwan is such a neat country full of beauty and warmth. I'm so glad I had to opportunity to return for a second trip and experience more of its greatness! Danielle was a wonderful host and it was great to get to see her in her element in her Asian home! Although, I must admit, that I'm ready for my best friend to come back to the U.S. in August!

Going and Coming

I'm home, finally! This may have been my most exciting travel experience to date. Going and coming back from Taiwan were both definitely adventures! I had such a wonderful time with Danielle! She is the best and we had so much fun together!!! I will tell you more about my trip in another blog- this post is dedicated strictly to my traveling stories. My, oh my!

Going

I attempted to leave for Taiwan on Thursday, March 3 at 10 a.m. When I arrived at the airport, I found out that because my passport was expiring in less than 6 months (June 25 to be exact) Taiwan wasn't going to let me in their country. So, I ended up having to go and get a new passport that day. It was crazy! But God took care of everything and I had a new passport and flight and was on my way about 8 hours later than anticipated. There were lots of crazy things that day - a parking bus that broke down, immediately followed by a broken escalator and elevator, my new flight to San Francisco was delayed ... it was a lot to take in, but thankfully I was not stressed or worried - I knew that I'd get to Taiwan eventually. My biggest concern was making sure that Danielle knew I wouldn't be coming in at 10 p.m. on Friday, but rather at 6 a.m. on Saturday. She did get the message, which was so good and we talked in the airport in San Francisco before I left for Taipei. I finally arrived at 5 a.m. on Saturday morning and continued a VERY long day until about 9 that night when I crashed.

Coming

As I'm sure all of you are aware, there was an earthquake that hit Japan on Friday, March 11. Well, I was still in Taiwan at that time. We were under a tsunami warning, but praise the Lord, we were not hit at all. I was concerned because I was supposed to be flying back to America via Tokyo on Sunday and so I called to check on my flights and they told me everything would probably be fine. Tokyo wasn't hit that badly and so I was trusting everything would work out. When I got to the airport on Sunday at 8 a.m., I found out that my flight had been delayed until 1 p.m. - I'm assuming because of the earthquake, but no real reason was given. Danielle's friends who brought me to the airport had to get back for church, so I said bye to them and entertained myself in the airport for a long time. I ended up getting sick around 9 a.m., but I think it was just because I hadn't had a lot of sleep. Great way to start the trip, though! haha. I boarded my plane for Tokyo at around 1 and as we were traveling down the runway, I found out that our plane had air conditioner problems and we'd have to get it worked on for a while. We sat on the runway for over an hour and finally left about 3 p.m. When we got to Tokyo, I knew I'd already missed my connecting flight for Dallas and that I'd have to be at the mercy of Japan Airlines to hopefully get back home sometime soon. They rescheduled me on a flight to LA that was leaving within 30 minutes so I rushed to that gate. One good thing was I was bumped up to Premium seating - which was really nice for my long flight! I had a nice cushy chair with a pop-up foot rest, lots of little amenities and I was able to sleep most of the time! I arrived in LA at 1 p.m. their time and was so thankful to be back on American soil! I had a four hour lay-over in LA, so I bonded with some of my fellow travel buddies who I'd been with since Taipei. There were some really sweet people and we all laughed and bonded over our exhaustion. Our flight ended up being delayed (surprise, surprise) and so I think we finally left LA around 6:30. We landed in Dallas at 11 p.m. - still Sunday to me (maybe the longest Sunday of my life) and when I called my parents they told me they were booking me a hotel for the night. I know they were really worried about me and all my travels - especially since I was by myself. I really just wanted to be home at that point, but since Brownwood is a good 3 hours from DFW airport, it would've been around 3 a.m. by the time I got home. So I took them up on their offer and stayed at the Sheraton that night. It was so nice to be in a bed! I woke up yesterday morning at 7 a.m. and drove back to Brownwood. Whew! I have no idea how many hours of traveling that was- but it was exhausting for sure! I felt like I got hit by a bus. Thankfully I was able to rest yesterday and now, I'm ready for the week!

As you can tell, I had quite a trip! I can't wait to share more about the fun things that I did in Taiwan! It is such a beautiful country, full of wonderful people, including my best friend! I had a blast! But I am glad to be home ... finally!

Taipei Take 2

Ni Hao!

I'm writing from Taipei, Taiwan on my second adventure in this wonderful city. I'm here visiting my best friend, Danielle, in her Asian home. Just like all of my other trips with Danielle, we have been busy pretty much non-stop. We've seen some really beautiful places, had some great food and I've met some wonderful people! There are still times, just like last year, when it just hits me that I'm in Asia. We'll round a corner, and WHOA, a smell will hit me. Or we will be walking down a street laden with flashing signs, millions of scooters and cars, smells and noises everywhere and I will experience a little sensory overload. Sounds fun and exciting, right? It totally is!

Danielle knows so much more about this city this time - she can get around by bus, carry on conversations with the shop owners trying to sell me crazy things and knows where to get all of the best food - like big chicken and jawza. Here are some pictures from the past few days.

Yangmingshan

Sharyl, Danielle and I hiking Yangmingshan Mountain

Dinosaurs at the National Taiwanese Museum

Leah, Danielle and I at the Shilin Night Market

Trying candied strawberrys - an explosion of flavor in your mouth!

Big chicken! It's as big as your face!

Flora Expo - so many gorgeous flowers!

As you can see, we are having a wonderful time! More pictures and stories to come!