In Rememberance

My wife and I went back to Canada for a couple of weeks. During that time my father had a stroke. He was recovering when we left for Taiwan. However when we got homewe received a phone call from my brother telling me Dad had had another stroke and had passed away.
My father was a godly man. Honest and full of integrity. He worked hard all his life to provide for his family. He loved talking about fishing and football and was loved by many people.
I was happy that I had a chance to say things to him before I left that I needed to say.
He is now with his heavenly Father and will rest forever in His arms. This was my father's belief and hope. Raise a praise to God for this man. Henry David Peter Hildebrand. Dad and Grandpa and a loving husband.

Paper done!!!!!!!

I finished my paper on Saturday and sent it on Monday. I feel great. I hope the paper comes back before we go to Canada but nevertheless I will enjoy my time free of schoolwork.
I just changed some light bulbs today. I know it doesn't sound all that interesting but we had light that would usually take a minute to come on. Now it works perfectly. I first changed the buldb and it didn't work. So I changed the condenser. wrong kind. Went to get the right kind and now it works. I did three of them and I am feeling like a real man. Doing home repairs. Feeling masculine!!! Yeah!
One week until we head to Canada. I am pysched. MOre now that I have finished a lot of the other things that preceeded it.

I'm a driver

I did it today. I finally got a Taiwanese car driving license. It was because I couldn't renew my Canadian one anymore so I needed to get one for our upcoming trip. It was not easy but I passed.
I am finishing up my latest course in my pursuit of a Master's degree. This one has been pretty lazy for me but that might be because I am such a keener and decided to read the whole textbook before class started. Everyone else has been bogged down in reading while all I need to do is write my papers and quizzes. I have one 2000 word paper to write on my personal learning theory. The course is on the psychology of learning and has been fascinating in some ways but incredibly boring in other ways.
I can't wait to finish my paper and get ready to go to Canada. I can see the light!

New Contact info

Hey everyone or anyone who maybe interested. Leanne now has her own email address and would be so psyched to get some mail from y'all.
It is leannehil316@gmail.com
Give her some love.

We Got It

Just an update on some of our worries. We got all the visas Leanne needs for our trip. I have been doing very well (A+) in my course assignments. Tickets are almost all booked. I had a great time teaching last week. God is good. See the smiles.
By the way, if you to talk to me for free, go here http://www.skype.com and get the free long distance between skype users. I have used it and it is grrrrrrrreat. Crystal clear from here to Panama. Yeah!!!! Get it and we will talk.

Worry

I never like to worry. I am, however, very good at it. These last few weeks have been a time of incredible stress. I have worried about my next course. I have worried about airplane tickets. Ihave worried about money to pay for the airplane tickets. I have worried we are not going to spend enough time with everyone. I have worried about our church. I have worried about leading worship. I have worried about my job. I have worried about my sister. I have worried about my father. I have worried about my repuatation. I have worried about my nephew.
Even now I worry. I don't how to stop doing it. I try to say "God is in control" and yet I worry. I try to lay it at His feet and yet I worry. I worry about what God thinks about my worrying. The things I want to do, I don't do and the things I know I shouldn't do, these I do. Free me Lord Free me.
I think this picture is adorable. It takes some of my worry away.

Caleefu is my Chinese Nickname.

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Caleefu!

1. Baby swans are called Caleefu.
2. Most bottles and jars contain at least twenty-five percent recycled Caleefu!
3. Plato believed that the souls of melancholy people would be reincarnated into Caleefu!
4. Grapes explode if you put them inside Caleefu.
5. The colour of Caleefu is no indication of his spiciness, but size usually is.
6. In Vermont, the ratio of cows to Caleefu is 10:1!
7. Bees visit over three million flowers to make a single kilogram of Caleefu.
8. 99 percent of the pumpkins sold in the US end up as Caleefu.
9. The average human spends about 30 days during their life in Caleefu!
10. If the Sun were the size of a beach ball then Jupiter would be the size of a golf ball and Caleefu would be as small as a pea.

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

Chinese New Year

We are in the middle of our Chinese New Year Holiday here. That means a week without work for me. This is a time alot like Christmas in Manitoba. Families get together and hang out. We went to Leanne's Mom's place on Monday. Usually this means sitting around watching TV and doing nothing. This time Leanne and I borrowed a scooter from Mom and rode around for awhile. It was fun although her scooter has no muscle. We spent the whole day there and had a good day. Yesterday we went to see The lion the witch and the wardrobe. I cried when Aslan was killed. The blood sacrifice. It reminds me of Chinese new year here. Most families will put red banners with "lucky" words on them over their door and on the sides of the door. It always reminds me of the story of Exodus. The red banners are meant to scare away the monster called "Nian" or year in english. If you don't do this the monster will eat you. It is just custom now but it reminds me of the blood the Israelites put over their doors at the Exodus. It also reminds me that the people here are living in a past of fear that the past will catch them and get them. Praise the Lord that He has saved us from this fear and the need of a blood sacrifice. He has set us Traitors free by His Blood Sacrifice.
PTL

Pray

OUr church is going through a serious crisis. OUr pastor is leaving as God has called him to a new place but this has left the church in a very disunited state. Many people are not on board with our transition time measures and there is a little bit of an out cry among some that they want to break away and start a new fellowship. Pray God will have His way as we will be having a Town hall meeting on Sunday after church. Pray the dissenters come and express themselves in a Godly way.
The picture is of some of the leadership during our recent Leader's Retreat.

Pictures: I keep forgetting!!!

Here He Is

Finally I have been able to see my nephew Tate. Here are two incredibly cute shots of him. We are having a blast although it is alot easier for me as I am just the uncle and when he starts crying I can just let Mommy handle it. Never the less, I love him. I didn't know how he would react to me or how I would react to him but no doubts now. I am in love. When he sees me and smiles I melt.
Kenny and Jo are doing good. It is so fun to watch Kenny with Tate. He is a great Daddy and Jo is a great Mommy. Tate is so blessed to have them.

Forgot the picture: Here It Is!!!!!!

Congrats to Brad

I just received a special message from my good friend Brad. Brad, a self-proclaimed monk and bachelor for life, is getting married. Leanne and I are so pumped. Brad has come to visit me twice in Taiwan and has been very supportive of me in my choice to live here. I love him. I don't know Helanna yet but look forward to meeting her. Here you see a picture of Brad and myself playing Chinese chess. I bought it for Brad a few years ago and he adores it.
Brad, if you see this, we love you and wish you God's greatest joy and blessings in the times ahead.
From a former monk and bachelor and a Lesser Brother of Zion.

Merry Christmas

This shot is a little old but is a good picture of our church. In it are people from Canada, The USA, Finland, Australia, England, South Africa and Taiwan. I think at Christmas I remember most that Jesus didn't just come for me but for all the people of the world. This picture reminds me of this.
I pray you all have a blessed Christmas and New Year.
Kenny and Jo and Tate are coming. Yeah!

The Darkness

I took this picture while playing with camera. We were at a conference for missionaries, some of whom we are partnered with. It was a great weekend although I had to sing and because I had a cold it ended up the cold has lingered all week. I am just starting to get past it now. I just loved this picture. I don't know why. What do you think?
It was great to see so many missionaries and hear their ministry stories. I know some and realize their lives are very much like mine but they possess a certain drive which pushes them beyond their own security onto deeper things. I have been so affected by some of them. I will share some of their stories with you all in the future.

Genius

I have a couple of friends. One you see here with Leanne and I. His name is Mike. He used to live in Taiwan and is back on a fact finding trip for his role as OMF short term coordinator. He is a unique individual. Given any practical problem Mike can find a way to solve it. He grew up on a farm. He is a lot like my Dad that way. Both are great practical problem solvers. The other picture is of another friend. He is able to speak knowledgably about almost any topic. He is an awesome piano player and in the picture he is writing the music for our Christmas Choir. Both of these men are geniuses in my eyes but in very different ways.
By the way, I finished my latest course and got 98 in it. I feel pretty good but am humbled by looking at these guys. I guess God blesses us all in different ways.

Update on School

I have not updated this thing for a while. Sorry to all who read it.
I have been caught up in my class recently and any time I am on the computer I am usually in class. I am now finished the class work accept for a bit of discussion time. Through 3 weeks I have 57.4/59 points in the class. I am feeling more confident now with my ability to do this knid of work. I had been worried about this course as the first one was considered by the school to be easing me into the environment of online classes. I felt this one's marking would be alot harder. I guess it shows me that I may have some ability in research and study. PTL.
The picture is one of Leanne's handmade cards. This one sold I think 6 copies.

The Wedding

Here is our friend Igor from South Africa with Leanne. He usually doesn't dress like that but it was a special occassion. It was the wedding banquet for a couple from our church and our cell group. It was fun to see everyone all dressed up but Igor definitely stole the show. I think of another wedding banquet we will go to. At the end of time the banquet of Christ and his bride (Us- The body). I guess no one will be stealing the show from God on that day. We will be fixated on Him and His Bride perfected through His blood. I can't wait to see Him. I bet the food will be great too.

In The Looking Glass

I really think this is the cutest picture I have ever seen. I can't wait to meet my nephew. He will be coming at the end of December. I can't help thinking about whether he will like me or not. I mean we will be new to him in a new place and that can be scary. Maybe he will cry when he sees us. I can't wait to find out and yet feel scared that maybe I will be rejected by him. I guess at times I feel the same about my relationship with God. I know God loves me and yet I fear when I see Him I will be rejected because I didn't quite cut it on some obscure section of observence of bible dogma. Maybe my hair IS too long. Maybe I didn't worship truthfully enough. Maybe everyone is better than me. ALL RUBBISH. God loves me. I know it. Tate will too!

Long Weekends

We have a rare long weekend this weekend. Monday is Taiwan's National Day. As holidays are not moved if they fall on the weekend it is rare to actually have a long weekend. We aren't doing anything special as I need to lead worship on Sunday. Still it is nice to have the break.
I am in the middle of preparing for my next class. I am doing the reading I need to do before the class starts. I found that very useful last time as I don't need to take time while I have a lot of other things to do. I will be learning how to do research as part of my teaching. It is interesting and boring at the same time and scary. I need to start thinking of what research I will do as part of my thesis. As I read I feel more and more confident that I can do it. The way they present it, it becomes part of your natural teaching pattern. As a teacher you are constantly observing and adjusting your style to what you see. So that is what the research is all about.
Leanne is in the back playing the piano. She recently sold her piano and brought the one her father gave her as a girl here from her mom's house. She just loves the sound it produces. I am so happy that she enjoys playing again. I love hearing her playing back there.