friends, food, fun and oh yeah an earthquake

So last Monday we experienced an earthquake. Before 6 months ago we had never experienced one but now we have both felt at least 3. This past one was the strongest one. Since we live on the 10th floor it seems a little more intense. Last week about 5:30 am I was peacefully sleeping when I suddenly felt the bed shaking. I came to my senses and called out for Chris who was already awake. We knew we were alright but prayed for those where it might have been more serious. That day we went to lunch with one of our new friends who is from here. He said that they are glad when they feel these small ones because it releases the stress. We ask him if there is ever a more serious one when do we know to take off running...he said just count and you will know to run!!

At our first Christmas party of the year.

Our Christmas tree...our friends were so gracious to let us borrow theirs. We are on our 6th Christmas where we haven't had to buy one...of course 2 of those we didn't have one but still we think its a fun record!!

Our cool friends took us to a great Greek restaurant. It was our first time to go to a Greek restaurant...it seemed a little crazy to be in East Asia and enjoying this type of food. What a fun world.




A few weeks back I went on a day trip with some friends to this village on top of a mountain. What a lovely view!

Some fellow shoppers

This man was from another country but had come here to paint. I wanted to purchase this painting from him but the price was a little to high for our budget.

Some yummy foods...what about the black hot dogs??

Our sweet friend came over the night to make some cookies. It was her first time to bake cookies so that's always fun. We almost had an incident with the blender but thankful all our fingers are alright.

let's not stand by...

This is a letter Chris just sent to our email buddies...I wanted him to share our heart because he does it in such a real way.

Family and Friends,

Please watch these videos. If after watching these videos and you are not changed then I question, what will it take to shake you, to move you, to change you?

http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=hLDGFzdPjBU

http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=hLDGFzdPjBU

I believe that after watching these videos your feeling like I am, “We must do something to stop this atrocity that is taking place in America. America is a great country, but this is a detestable side of America.”

What can we do? Education and People is the answer.

As followers of Christ we must not stand by and not turn a blind eye. Please send this to everyone you know and lets come together, so this will not continue.
Christians stood up against slavery and stopped it, we must believe we can stand up against abortion and stop it. This is a God size task, but I believe, God is greater and will defeat this evil!

What should I do? Please pray! Please speak! Please stand up against!

Who will speak for the unborn? Who will be a voice for the voiceless? Who will care about the powerless? We can! Will We?

Thank you for watching the video. Thank you for emailing your friends.

Want some Action!

Educate yourself, check out these websites http://www.nrlc.org/ http://www.prolife.com/

Educate others- go to churches, go to schools, have conferences, seminars

Serve-Volunteer at a Pro Life Clinic, Help at an orphanage, Adopt!!, Picket or Pray at a Planned Parenting Center

Blessings,
Chris

off roading

Our verses to ponder for the week:
Psalm 68:4-5
Sing to God, sing praises to His name; Lift up a song for Him who rides through the deserts, whose name is the Lord, and exult before Him. A father to the fatherless and a judge for the widows, is God in His holy habitation.

Today we got a lot done for our adoption. We turned in the required paperwork for the American government and also were fingerprinted. All we are waiting on now is for our agency to finish looking over our paperwork (praying that everything is correct), they will then send us a document and after we have received that we will send alll of our paperwork to America, it will then go to Ethiopia...which means we will be on the WAIT LIST! We are rejoicing in His goodness.

So we went hiking on Saturday to the tallest mountain around here. At least that's what our new friend, a 60+ year old woman who was practically running up the mountain as we slowly made our way. She was incredible. Every week she does the 2 hour climb up and then meets up with her friends at the top where they go off-roading. They invited us to go with them. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. We walked through fields...here you can see me getting lost in the grass. At this point I turned to Chris and said, "Are you sure you want to go?" Of course he said, "Yes, this is fun...it is an adventure!"At one point we had to use a rope to climb up a small hill/mountain. They were all impressed with Chris mad climbing skills, they said they wished they had his long legs. Climbing up wasn't that bad but trying to go down another way was a different story. Let's just say that I slipped a few times and though I wasn't happy I got my clothes dirty I was so thankful I stopped before the drop off! Well, after about an hour or so we made it back to where we began. I have thought often the past few days of the spiritual applications that can be applied with us choosing to take the harder road. It was an enjoyable time as we were able to meet some new friends and experience a small adventure

Our guide pointing out something...at one point they showed us 2 rocks that they said looked like dragons kissing...I thought they looked a lot like dogs. We were very appreciative for our guide because there is no way we would have made it back on our own. Thankful also for all the white markers that lead us back to safety.
Here are some of our friends...they are so much braver and tougher than I!!

At the beginning of the hike...we weren't tired yet. Actually it's Tuesday night and our bodies are still so sore.