Candid Love

While Charles was visiting Taiwan in January, we went out to beautiful Cijin Island to do an engagement photo shoot with Ashleigh Nicole Photography. Ashleigh is my incredibly talented sister who shot and edited the photos, and my other sister, Sara, worked as Ashleigh’s fantastic assistant that day. The backdrop of Cijin Island couldn’t have been more unique and stunning, and the day is a treasure of memories for me Charles and me. This album is just a sampling of the framed and candid moments of love that were captured that day. Continue reading “Candid Love”

Remembering Sunshine

As you know, I am involved in a ministry called Taiwan Xi En (formerly His Hands Taiwan) that serves women and children in Taiwan. One of the ways I volunteer with this ministry is by writing and/or revising brochures, website content, letters, etc. Recently, I had the privilege of helping to write the story of a dear little child who taught us the hope and love of Christ through her life and death. Several friends contributed to this piece, but I was tasked with weaving together the full story of baby Sunshine. I asked the director of Taiwan Xi En if I could share this story on my blog because I want as many people as possible to hear about Sunshine and about God’s hand at work in Taiwan. You can visit the original Taiwan Xi En post to view more photos of Sunshine’s life.

This is the story of Sunshine.  Continue reading “Remembering Sunshine”

{Prayers for Taiwan} Bringing Life to a Culture of Death

A Culture of Death

Search for “Taiwan + abortion” on Google, and you will find titles like “Taiwan’s Astonishing Abortion Rate,” “Abortions Exceed Births,” and “Taiwan has up to 500,000 Abortions in 2010“–titles that depict a culture where choosing death is an astonishingly ordinary occurrence. Most of these online articles were published in the last six months; in fact, a year or more ago when I learned by word of mouth about Taiwan’s high abortion rate, I could find very little data online about it. This is because until last summer, the most recent statistics were from over a decade ago. But on July 17, professor and pediatrician Lue Hung-chi announced in a public forum that he estimates there are 300,000 to 500,000 abortions every year in Taiwan. One article comments that if his estimate is true, “it has to be one of the highest per-capita abortion rates in the world” (“Taiwan’s Astonishing Abortion Rate“). Lue’s announcement began a long overdue discussion in Taiwan about the low birth rate and high abortion rate of recent years; rightly, these issues are of growing concern and alarm among leaders of the country.

These little ones were given life.   (Photo credit: www.taiwanxien.org)
These little ones were given life. (Photo credit: http://www.taiwanxien.org)

Continue reading “{Prayers for Taiwan} Bringing Life to a Culture of Death”

Our Girl is Going Home

This post is a little tribute to Kara, one of our His Hands Taiwan babies who is going home to be with her forever family this week.  We Hatchlings (i.e. Christel, Sara, and Ashleigh) love all the babies at HH, but every adoption situation is different, and sometimes we get to know a baby better.  Over the past 8+ months, Kara has wiggled her petite little way into our hearts.

From Day 1, Baby Ting-Ting (her name before she was referred to her family) knew how to furrow her brows.  Ashleigh’s favorite question to her has always been, “Why so serious?” Continue reading “Our Girl is Going Home”