Caleb is here!

We are so happy to announce the birth of our firstborn: Caleb Joshua Hong/洪凱嘉. He was born at 5:38 on Thursday morning, July 29th, 2010. He weighed 2.9 kilos, which is about 6 pounds and 6 ounces, and he measured 50cm long, which is about 19 inches. He is a tiny little guy and we are just so in love with him, despite the sleep deprivation we are currently experiencing. Adding to the fun, my parents are here from California to visit and to help us adjust to our new life as a family. We are so grateful to God for our little bundle of joy. Here are a few photos and I intend to write my birth story soon and add it here.

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Mama and Baby just after birt

Daddy loves Caleb

Little Sweetie

A special Father's Day!

40 weeks nownow

The hospital where I will give birth


Well, my due date has come and gone and no action yet! I have been meaning to blog for months but I haven't, and sadly I haven't really been journaling either, but overall it's been a great pregnancy! No complaints. My mom is here in Taiwan now and she has been a great help with getting ready for the baby's arrival. We have the crib about ready now and most of the baby's clothes washed and somewhat organized, and we have even been organizing other parts of the house as we wait for Caleb. We're trying to find other ways to pass the time as well, like taking big long walks, eating mango ice, and riding buses to see where they go! Good times. I am starting to feel like the baby will never arrive, but I'm pretty sure my doctor will not let me go longer than the end of the month, so sooner or later he should be here. In our last ultrasound the doctor discovered that the baby's cord is wrapped around his neck one time--he said no big deal; that happens to about 30% of babies, but still it is somewhat concerning to me. If you are reading this before I give birth, please say a prayer for us! It doesn't seem real or possible, but the next time I blog I suppose I will be a mother! Thank you to all of our friends and family for the wonderful support you have given us during this time.

-Paula

Preggers and Loving It!

Wow, a lot has happened since I wrote my last blog. We have settled in to living in Taiwan quite nicely. God answered our prayers for my visa and we got it while on a visa run to Thailand. We didn't have one document we needed, but God was on our side and they had mercy on me and granted me a resident visa. I then was able to get my spouse ARC in Taiwan and I will even qualify for insurance in early July, hopefully before Baby Hong arrives. (Due July 20th) I have been really bad about blogging ever since I joined Facebook, but I did want to post a quick update. I am now 7 months pregnant and still feeling great. Josh has a job working at a French restaurant owned by a church couple, and is studying to go to seminary in the fall. He wants to become a youth pastor at our new church, Bilingual Community Church. Recently I've just been subbing at different BuXiBans (cram schools). Some nicer than others. I'm also helping teach Sunday School at church some weeks. Still waiting for my nesting instincts to kick in, though I suspect I may not have any of those. I will have to force myself to get that baby's room ready. We found out that we are having a boy, and so far from the ultrasounds, everything looks good. It's so amazing to see his heart beating and look at his developing brain, spine, and other internal organs! God is amazing. We are considering the English name: Caleb Joshua Hong, and for the Chinese name I like Hong Kai-____. Need one more syllable to complete the name, but it's tricky to find something that doesn't sound like something else or sound girly or sound bad in Taiwanese...sigh. Anyways, here's a photo series of my growing belly. It really has popped out in the past few weeks. Someone even gave up their seat for me on the MRT for the first time! Baby currently weighs about 2 1/2 pounds or 1.2 kilograms. I'm hoping he'll be just the right size when it comes time for delivery :)

Back in Taiwan!

It feels good to be back in Taiwan--and back blogging, for that matter! It's been a while. Well, Josh and I arrived here in Kaohsiung late night Feb. 5th and since then we've been trying to get back into the swing of things. We took our first ride on the MRT, and checked out the new Hanshen Department store by our house. We hopped back on my old scooter and took some rides around town. We ate some traditional Taiwanese food like danbing (not sure how to translate) and goat noodles--yum--and we visited my favorite tea shop. We went to our previous church as well as a new church, and we're having fun meeting old friends and new. The weather is nice and warm during the day and cool during the night--perfect!

For those of you who may not know, we brought some extra special cargo along with us to Taiwan. That's right, I've got a bun in the oven! You can't see it yet but I'm about 4 months pregnant and we're expecting Baby Hong mid July. So excited! We plan to have the baby in Taiwan and stay here long-term. Meanwhile, we are both looking for jobs, and I am trying to get my visa situation ironed out.

Please join us in praying for the following things:
For Josh: to get a job with reasonable hours and decent pay in which he can utilize his talents and glorify God
For me: my visa situation is complicated. I will need to either leave the country and come back with a different visa, get a job, or become a full time student in order to stay. I'm not sure if any of these options will allow me to get health insurance before the baby is born, which is kind of stressing me out, thought it would still be much cheaper than having a baby in the U.S.
For Baby: to grow and develop according to Gods plan and that I would be as healthy as possible and be protected from scooter accidents, H1Ni, etc.

September '09

It's beginning to feel a lot like fall! Actually tomorrow is the first official day of fall, and for that I am excited.

Here's the update on life with Josh and Paula--I finished student teaching in May and got my IL teaching certification shortly thereafter. Yay! Josh quit his job in July so that we could attend our friends' (Robert and Julie's) wedding celebration in MN that month. Prior to that, my wonderful dad dropped off my mom's old Honda Accord from CA, since both of our trucks broke down for good at the end of spring. Those poor trucks just couldn't take it anymore. We got back from MN, and since we had the use of a great car and no jobs to tie us down, we decided to continue our road trip by heading out to PA, stopping by to visit our friend Ruth in Ohio. She's preparing to be a missionary in Croatia! Then we saw Robert and Julie again briefly (at his house this time) on our way to spend a few days with Jenny Bisht, my beloved former roommate from my first year in Taiwan. We even got to take Josh on a day trip to our nation's capital! We had a great time seeing Jenny, then stayed a night with my old college roommate Blaire, also in PA. We took the long way back, visiting our friends Nathan and Alissa in Michigan. What a great trip! Thanks for your hospitality, everyone.








In late July, most of my family came out to visit and attend the Shinners family picnic. Good times had by all. Since they left, Josh and I enjoyed a few months of unemployment. We filled out endless applications and attended many interviews, but all we landed were a few odd jobs, so we've mostly been living off of my student loans and the grace of God! Meanwhile, I've gotten my thesis almost done, which means we can move out of here (IL) at the end of October. We are ready to move on, but I am glad for the chance to enjoy one more real autumn. On our way back to CA we look forward to visiting our good friends Josh and Emily in MO!

AND HERE'S THE GOOD NEWS: We are very grateful after a long search to announce that Josh got a job a Party City, which will last through Halloween--perfect! After a successful phone interview, I am going in to Christian Heritage Academy this week to observe and meet the principals, in hopes of becoming a substitute teacher there. Finally, our job hunt looks like it's coming to an end. Other than that, my thesis is my main focus, and I am doing my final presentation on it October 21st! Can't wait to be 100% done with grad school! (Well besides for paying my debt.) Thanks for stopping by my blog and God bless you with a bountiful harvest season!

Spring Inspiration

During my time as a student teacher, I threw a poetry party as a reward for my third graders for filling up their "cool bean" jar. It was something that my cooperating teacher started with them as an incentive for good behavior--they got to throw a few beans in the jar if they got caught doing the right thing. Anyways, I wrote a poem for the pink blossoms in the courtyard, but did not actually get a chance to read it. Here's the poem and here's the tree.



Pink Blossom

Bright pink blossom
The stubbornness of life
And hope
That won't be quieted
By dismal gray days

All of the sudden it bursts forth
In beauty
Untamed and uninhibited
Despite the troubles all around it
Despite the winter barely melted
Despite the wars and woes around us
It's beauty pierces through
In the midst of it all

My heart is quieted within me
And I cannot quell the hope that has awakened there
I cannot quench
This thirst for life within me
Though in a short amount of time
It falls
***

My students were also inspired by meeting Mr. Josh, and wrote a few excellent poems for him. Here are some of those :)

JOSH plus Mrs. Hong

His name is Josh
He moved from Tywong
He married a girl
Her name is Mrs. Hong
She was my student teacher
I know her well
Hong

From: Kelsey

Josh the tallest
Awesome the coolest
Awesome at wires and making light
With a battery (from Science lab lesson that day)
Very Smart
And a wonderful husband
And a very smart wife

From: Matthew

Just married
Out of this world guy
Shoves kids--j/k
Have a great trip

People smart
A great person
U r awesome teacher
Likes Josh
A great teacher

From: Amanda

Hong
Open for a student teacher
Nice
Graceful

From: Kelsey

Josh the best
person in the world
Josh
Josh
the best
person
in the world

From: Matthew

I'm pretty ashamed that this is my first blog of the year!

I did it! I finished grad school and student teaching! (Well, except for my thesis project...) I can't believe it. I never could have done it without the loving support of God, my husband, my family, my professors and cohort members, and my friends, so it really was a group effort. Thanks everybody! Here's a photo of my cohort on our last day of class.


So the big question now is: WHAT NEXT? I know, it's on everybody's minds. Well, I'm not exactly sure. I need some major guidance from the Holy Spirit, but will accept your friendly input as well, should you choose to provide some. I have a few options:

1. Finish my thesis as soon as possible, spend a few months in CA, then get back to Taiwan.

2. Visit Taiwan this summer, then stay in CA for another year.

3. (The newest and most surprising option) Get a teaching job at a private Christian school associated with the Chinese Christian Church in Chinatown and stay in IL for another year. (Thel church that meets at Morisson in Kaohsiung is connected to this church.)

We also would like to start a family soon, but are waiting on God's timing and provision for this. It seems very complicated from our point of view, but at least from God's perspective it is not. No matter which option we choose, (or it could be another option not listed here), I am excited for what lies ahead, and praying that God will use my hard work in Trinity Grad School for the building of His kingdom in some way. Amen! Lead us, God!