Green Island

Yesterday, I went back to teaching after a very nice 4-day weekend for the Moon Festival. For this Chinese holiday, I went to a minute island off the coast of Taiwan called Green Island. It's so small that you probably can't even see it on a worldwide map. It used to be an island only where prisoners went and was also famous for its deer population. There is still a prison there, but is now a big tourist spot. It has one road that runs around it and you can drive all the way around the island in about 1 hour.

On the ferry to the island, the waves were rought and the ride was pretty rocky. About 15 minutes into the ride, people around me and my co-workers starting getting sick, left and right. One of my roomates and I both got sick. Both of us had never gotten sea sick in our lives or had had sensitive stomachs when it came to fast moving objects. But this really affected us. I felt like I was in an Alfred Hitchcock movie with everyone around us literally getting sick. After that, though, everything was fine.

Although it was a very small island, it was composed of some of God's most beautiful landforms and sea creatures. I saw some of the most gorgeous mountains I had ever seen in my life! I also had the priviledge to go snorkeling and saw some fish that I had never seen before. I was simply in awe of God's creation to say the least. I was reminded of how detailed God is. I wondered to myself: How can someone look at all this beauty and not believe that there is a God from which all this came from? While riding the scooter around the island, I would just gaze with my mouth drooped open and smile. The mountains, the fish, the coral, the seafloor....God is soo creative!

Next month in school is designated as "Kindness Month." The students get rewarded for doing kind deeds. They have to do a certain number of kind actions to receive their "ticket" to the fall festival at the end of October. Please pray for them. They really need this month to learn what it means to be kind to one another. Pray that they won't do these actions to just receive their "ticket," but that they will want to be kind to others and will see its importance. After all, it is one of the fruit of the spirit.

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers!