A Few Reasons Why I Have Been Happy -- E.

Children, cousins, Christmas, and a visit from a brother.  Life is good.

When the leaves fall, we . . .

Hide in them!

Roast hot dogs!

Sit inside and blow saliva bubbles!

Malaysian Contrasts: Part 2 -- E.

Religious Edifices

Pick any one hundred Malaysian people at random. You will get approximately 61 Muslims . . .

This is the oldest Mosque in Malaysia, built sometime in the 1700's.  (Photo by Igor Laszlo.)

. . . 20 Buddhists . . .

This temple has three sections stacked on top of each other:  Burmese on top, Thai in the middle, and Chinese on the bottom.  (Photo by Myloismylife.)

. . . 9 Christians . . .

This is a Roman Catholic church.  I don't know much about it, other than that it's in Penang.  (Photo by Michael Coghlan.)

. . . 6 Hindus . . .

A Hindu temple in Malaysia.

. . . and 4 others of various religions.

A Datuk shrine.  This is a significant site for Datuk Keramat worship, which, according to Wikipedia, is "a fusion of pre-Islamic spirit belief, Sufi saint worship and Chinese folk religion."

Mosaic in Greenwood -- E.

Do you know about Mosaic yet? Queena and I talk about this group a lot, so I'm surprised if this is all news to you. We met this band in Dallas a year ago . . . and Queena booked them to come sing in Greenwood!

I cannot speak too highly of what God is doing through these people's music. Check them out on their website: www.mosaicworship.com. Their mission is to teach God's Word through music -- and they are doing just that. So good!


Mosaic's five members are staying at Queena's parents' place over the weekend. We've been blessed to hang out with them a bit -- and glory be, they are Euro game people! Nobody knows how excited I was to learn that.

Jonathan and Patrick, at left, wanted to learn how to play Smallworld. I think they may have like it. They spent most of the game standing up . . .


. . . while Queena and Holly joined Emily and Devon for some Dominion.


Enough with the games, eh? Nobody cares that much. Here's what matters:

• Greenwood Mennonite Church
• Sunday, November 6
• 6:30 pm
• Free Mosaic Concert
• (Be there!)
  

Florida Vacation!

We had a wonderfully relaxing (and warm) week in Florida with Grandpa and Grandma Mast, Ethan's parents, Ethan's four youngest siblings -- Rhoda, Phoebe, Sam, and Keziah -- and Zach and Sarah.

We stopped by to meet some friends, Brian and Tabita and their two children. This video shows the new friendship with their son BoBo and Dorie.


Dorie and her GGma (great-grandmother) had a tea party one morning. When GGma Ellie was Dorie's age she lived in China. I heard her telling Dorie some stories of her childhood in China, but when I left the table for a minute, I missed this conversation, so GGma wrote it down for me:

GGMa: Dearest Ms Dorie, I am so very happy that we could have a tea party together. Thank you for inviting me.

Dorie: Well, I am not really happy.

GGMa: And why are you not happy, Dorrie?

Dorie: I don’t have Jesus in my heart.

GGMa: Dear Dorie, you know that Jesus loves you very much, and He hears you when you talk to Him.

Dorie: He is way up in heaven. How can He hear me talk to Him?

GGMa: Jesus always hears you, and He is with us because His spirit is with us. And He will help us, and be with us all the time.