I Have A Daughter

I have a daughter. Actually I have two daughters, and one son. But it is my oldest daughter that I want to talk about. She was conceived in Taiwan, but born in Canada. To this day, her favorite food is plain steamed white rice. But I digress. Before she was born, doctors in both Taiwan, and then Canada, gave her little to no chance of survival following her birth. The doctors in Canada said it would be a miracle if she even survived to full term. Well, guess what? God did a miracle, and more.

Erin was born at full term, small, but healthy. As we were told beforehand, she did have Down Syndrome. She was our first child, and we received her into our own and joyous arms. It was a time for celebration, not mourning.

We were shaken however, as first time parents, and not quite sure knowing what to do with this special child. We believed she was a gift from God, and we accepted her with all the joy and grace any parent would accept any child.

Since then, she has blessed our life more than we could have ever imagined. She has opened doors no other child could. She has shown us what it means to accept others, no prejudice, no pretense. Erin has always has a zeal for life that we find unmatched in others. When she is offended, she is the first to forgive, and quickly restore the relationship. She is the epitome of unjudging love and acceptance.

One of my greatest pleasures in life is to cuddle with her at bedtime. She still wants me to sing to her and tell her a bedtime story, anything about her being a princess and me being the King that comes to rescue her. She really loves her mom, but in many cases, it is only her Dad that is good enough to help her with certain things.

All three of my kids are a blessing, and I love each of them. But Erin, is, of course, special. I used to ask God why He created her the way He did. Now I just thank Him. I thank Him from the bottom of my heart. This young girl that has brought such joy and love into my life.

The Bible says that in heaven the imperfect will be made perfect. When I think of Erin, that makes me a bit sad. I love Erin the ways he is. Without the Down Syndrome, she would not be who she is. On the other hand, I look forward to getting to know fully the daughter that I only know in part now. One day, she will have the verbal skills to express all that she has felt in this life. She will be able to tell her brother what a great brother he has been. She will be able to tell her little sister how important it was for her to HAVE a sister. She will be able to tell her Mom & Dad all that she has silently harbored in her heart these many years.

For now, I am Erin's Dad, and that makes me both proud and special, for she indeed is a special girl. Erin, you are special, but you are also a daughter, a sister, a granddaughter, and a friend. When we look at you, we see you as a person first, and the DS second.

Erin, I love you! Nothing, NOTHING, will change that.

Vacation In Kenting 2009

For the past three summers we have gone to the southern tip of the island for our family vacation. Kenting is a place that offers lots to see and do for the visitor. In addition the Kenting National Park, there are many beaches for swimming, sunbathing, or snorkeling.

Our kids always love the beach. We went almost every day, but took a break on a couple days. It is hot, and the UV index is usually very high, so it is easy to get a bad sunburn real quick if you don't use sunblock.

We also enjoy visiting the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium every time we go down. Again, this place is a big hit for the whole family. There is a great blog article about it here.

Finally, one of my favorites in the town of Kenting is the Night Market. Night markets abound in Taiwan, but being a tourist town, this one has an especially festive mood. Its layout is a bit different in that it simply lines the main road, and the crowd moves up along one side, then back the other. For more pictures of our time in Kenting and the night market, you can view the albums on my Facebook page.

Ah-Hong - Update

Past readers will recall my meeting and subsequent friendship with Ah-Hong. He has been moved around a lot, from hospital, to rehab center, to home, and then back to hospital. He's basically been confined to a hospital bed for the past 14 months. The hemorrhage in his brain is not under control, and the left side of his body is still paralyzed. I admit that unless God intervenes and heals him, there doesn't seem to be much hope for recovery.

I had stopped by to visit him 10 days ago, but he had just gone into surgery (his 8th one in the past year). His father told me later that this latest surgery lasted 14 hours! I went to see him this past Saturday. In the past he has always been talkative and happy to see me. This time he didn't want to make eye contact or hardly say anything. I could see the suffering on his face. He has told me before, and did so again this time, that he just wants to be free of his suffering, and if death is the only way, then so be it.

I had brought my Bible and hymnal along with me. I read Psalm 90 to him in Taiwanese, and tried to encourage him. I also sang a song for him (God Will Take Care of You). Tears welled up in his eyes as he listened. For the rest of the time I just sat by his side, praying. He asked if I would pray that God would take him home. I said I would pray that God would work out His will for his life, whatever that might be. In Ah-Hong's situation, I see only three options: Either God heals him, God takes him home soon, or God allows him to continue to suffer. I admit I don't like the thought of that third option. I don't understand what His purposes might be for letting Ah-Hong to continue indefinitely like this. I feel guilty for asking God for patience and understanding for myself in this, when it is Ah-Hong who is the one suffering.

I still pray for healing for my friend Ah-Hong. If God chooses not to heal, then I pray that he would be released, and pass through death into new life. Ah-Hong has that hope. Indeed it is the only hope he can see right now. And that is a hope that comes from true faith.

First Day on Kenting Vacation

Today was our first full day on our holiday in Kenting, Taiwan. We always love the time spent here. So peaceful and so many things to see and do. We're staying for a full week this time. The kids are so excited. There will be pictures to follow. I promise.

My Dad

In Taiwan, Father's Day is on August 8, because the Chinese word for the number 8 is "Ba", so 8/8 is "Ba Ba", or Papa, or father, in Chinese. But, back in the land of my birth, and many other places in the world, yesterday was Father's Day (June 21). I had just been thinking of giving my Dad a call (it was late evening Taiwan time), when the phone rang. It was my Dad. "Hello", I said. "HAPPY SON's Day!" he said cheerfully.

"What? I'm suppose to call you!", I replied. Well, he explained that as he felt he was "getting up there" (age 82) and not sure how much time he had left (what kind of talk is that?), he decided that this year on Father's day he was going to call his children and tell them how much he loved them and appreciated them. Not much has moved me to tears the past few years, but I suddenly started to get a lump in my throat.

I have been reading the numerous greetings and well-wishes to fathers around the world on my Facebook and Twitter accounts the past 48 hours. I personally didn't post anything there, but I thought I would just say right here that I love my Dad. I always have. I haven't always liked him, but I do love him, and always will. He has always had a deep love for his children, and it has shown, more often than it's been briefly eclipsed by any faults he may have. I often catch myself in moments with my own kids and think, "I'm so much like my Dad.", and you know what? I'm glad about that. Because when I look at many of the poor excuses out there these days that even try to pass for fathers, I am grateful to God for giving me a man as kind, generous, faithful, thoughtful, interesting, compassionate, and encouraging as my own Dad is. "Thank-you, heavenly Father, for giving me such a great earthly father!"

MY DAD

Half Honest, Half Not

Last Saturday night, my wife's wallet was stolen. We had gone downtown to a recommended shop to get our youngest daughter's ears pierced. That all went well, but in the excitement (and crowded conditions of the store and street), Eileen discovered her wallet was gone. Probably snatched by a professional pick pocket. We prayed that someone would find it (minus the cash of course) and return it to a Police station. 7:30 on Monday morning we got a call from the police station. Someone had turned in Eileen's wallet contents. Yeaaah!! Sort of.

When we got to the police station, we were given only the cards from the wallet. Make no mistake, we were thankful for that, but a little miffed that the wallet itself was not returned. Our theory? The original thief took the money from the wallet then discarded it. The second "person", discovering the wallet, thought, "Hey, nice wallet." They removed all of the contents of the wallet and returned them to the police station. BUT kept the wallet.

Well, lesson learned. Keep close tabs on your wallet when you're on a busy street in Taichung. There ARE professional pick pockets about. Wallet or no wallet, we're grateful we got all of the identity and health cards back. Saves us a lot of hassle. And we are wiser for the experience.

Speech Contest

About a month ago the head of the language school where I study Taiwanese approached me just as I stepped off the elevator one morning. "How would you like to enter a speech contest?", she asked. "Uh, sure. Okay," I replied.

I got the basic particulars from her; time, place, $200 NT ($7.00 CDN) registration fee. It was a "story telling" contest. Speeches were to be a minimum of 4 minutes, but not more than 5 mins. (or they would start deducting points). I didn't really have time to prepare my own story so I picked a "folk tale" from one of the books I was studying. Now I don't remember clearly if I asked our school principal if this contest was just for foreigners or not. I thought I did, and I thought she said yes, but maybe I just assumed it.

Well, come the day (May 3, which also happens to be our wedding anniversary), Eileen and I went down to the school where the contest was being held. We were a bit late and one of the contestants was already at the front giving his speech. As I entered the room, all eyes turned to me and Eileen. We were the only Caucasian faces in the room. Well, these other contestants must be from other Asian countries, like Japan, Thailand, or mainland China. However, I thought to myself, the guy currently giving his speech is speaking pretty good Taiwanese!

The next contestant, a young woman, gets up and starts her speech. Thirty seconds in to her speech, Eileen leans over to me and whispers, "Are you sure she's not native Taiwanese?"

"Sure sounds like one", I reply.

There were 16 contestants. I was #16. I got up and delivered my speech, just shy of 4 minutes. Everyone clapped as I sat down. One of the judges got up and said that they never expected a foreigner to join the contest. "What does he mean by that?", I wondered. Everyone was dismissed for a break. I asked one of the contestants what country he was from. "I'm Taiwanese", he replied. Turns out everyone in the contest, excluding me, was native Taiwanese.

We had a good laugh. Of course I didn't even place (the guy who took First was a professional Taiwanese radio DJ), but they did give me a plaque, and special recognition for my efforts. They commented on how good my tones were and that I didn't have any "foreign accent".

Would I do it again? Maybe. It was a good experience, and I was glad I could represent the language school and join in the efforts of the Taiwanese culture association of Taichung to help promote the use of Taiwanese in Taiwan.

After the contest, and everyone had taken more than enough pictures, Eileen and I went out for our anniversary supper. It was a fun day, and I was thankful for the special memories that were made.