Happy Easter... with love from Taiwan!!

This was meant to be a quick video telling you all how much we love you and wishing you a Happy Easter miles away from home. But I'd rather just tell you about Easter in Taiwan...

This is officially our second Western holiday abroad. Christmas was a little depressing as we'd been away for a couple months already, and were just starting to settle in. Plus, I (Steph) was so sick I spent most of Christmas and Boxing Day in bed. The Taiwanese also don't make as much of a fuss over Western holidays as we do, so they have a tendency to sneak up on you if you're not paying attention.

Thankfully we're both healthy and were able to celebrate Easter with our family across the globe- we joined our church family for a special Easter service, then followed it up with progressive lunch with some English-speaking friends we've met (from Taiwan and as far away as South America!).

After lunch we went to Bus 7 and chatted- it's amazing to just listen to people your own age talk about how God has influenced their lives. We talked about trusting God and waiting for his timing. We agreed that our generation is so used to immediate satisfaction and gratification that we don't often know how to wait patiently, and forget that God's timing is perfect, but often different than our own. He knows the desires of our heart- he knows what we want, but he also knows what we need.

He knew we wanted to travel after graduation, teach younger kids (Steph) and learn traditional Asian food (Dave). He knew we needed to stay together. He provided two jobs, allowing us to both do what we had wanted to do, as well as an income to pay off our school debts and save for a house when we return. And he provided us with a home away from home. He knew we needed good, Christian friends. And He knew we wanted people we could relate to. He provided us with both. 

But it doesn't mean we just sat around waiting. We worked hard for the things we wanted. I picked up extra classes. Dave chatted with local chefs. We went to church, and as scary as it sometimes was, made an effort to be friendly (anyone who knows me knows that in a crowd of people I'm never the first to jump up and say hello), took up offers for lunch dates, and occasionally went to small group (more on that another time). We served God while we waited.

During Easter we always talk about Christ's sacrifice, but sometimes miss that after death there was rebirth- something that's been resonating with us here in Taiwan. It's one of the few ways I could explain Easter to my students (maybe I can't tell them about Christ, but I can definitely love on them like He would have), and the concept of newness and getting rid of a former lifestyle in favour of a new one is something Dave and I discuss frequently. We don't have a choice in the matter- Taiwan is changing us. God is changing us. Our experiences here are shaping us to who we're meant to be. We're learning together, as partners. We're not sure of all the reasons we ended up here in Taiwan, but we do know we were definitely meant to be here.

So Happy Easter everyone!! We wish we could be celebrating with you in person, but we'd love to chat with you via skype, email or a phone call. It makes the distance seem a little smaller for sure!

We miss some of the regular things we get to do, and especially eat (anyone want to send us some scalloped potatoes, ham and Easter chocolate?!), but we are LOVING it here.

And without further ado, a couple photos from our Easter lunch with some of our family over here- we had beef noodle (Taiwan's national dish, and one of our favs), tea, and guava and pineapple pastries from El Salvador. And for dinner, Dave's making pork fried rice. A non-traditional Easter dinner for an Easter spent across the globe!!

 One of Alonzo's friends had sent him some El Salvadorian pastry treats, so we shared them with delicious tea and coffee from Bus 7- the cafe our church owns and Dave is working at!

Lunch with some cool kids from church- between the 8 of us we can speak a combination of English, Taiwanese, Chinese, Spanish and French to varying degrees!! (And yes, we did have lunch before dessert!)