Precious Moments: February 2026

The rest of October's pictures are here, and it's a lot. :)

Oct. 5th at church everyone held a flag of a different country and we took a picture. What it symbolizes truly makes one's heart want to acknowledge God as the awesome Savior that he is. Heaven is full of people from all tribes, tongues, culture groups that span the globe, yet no one will care about the externals when we're standing before the Maker of the universe and Redeemer of our souls. It's wonderfully amazing to think about. Even in my church, there's people from over 30 countries, but we all unite together under Christ and worship the same Lord.

Eating with friends after church.

Zhongshan Park offers long walking paths and beautiful scenery to stare at. After lunch, my housemate, her sister, mom, and I took a stroll. It's so pleasant for many people, especially plant lovers. 😀

Some people love to play games in the park.

Here's a marriage market, where parents hang up ads about their kids. It's quite hilarious - they'll list their adult child's personal info such as age, weight, height, amount of income, job, assets, location of assets, location of the adult, way to contact, likes/dislikes, what he/she is looking for, etc.

Banyan tree

This and the following wood in the pictures are very valuable and old, displayed in a small building.

I can't remember correctly, but I think this above one is called Gumme, and it's Camellia root.

This is called Memories of the Landscape.

Material: root of purple flower, small leaf Azalea.

Kamilla and I

Sat. Oct. 6th I walked for a few hours on the Xiamen Mountain-to-Sea-Trail. It starts from Dongdu Cruise Square and ends at Guanyinshan Beach. It strings 8 hills and 3 waters together, stretching 23 kilometers (around 30 miles) with 7 large pedestrian bridges. Following the landscape, some parts of the path are the existing roads while others are connected with the ground by the bridges. Many entrances and exits have been placed along the path to link with existing trail and urban roads. There are also supporting facilities, like view platforms, parks, service stations, and restrooms.

This day there weren't many people, maybe because it was sunny and hot, so I really enjoyed a quiet walk.

This spot displays several plaques of figures who made important contributions to science.

This man, DeFayette, was a German oceanographer and meteorologist who made contributions in comprehensive marine scientific expeditions and oceanographic theory research. He proposed 2 layers of study in the Greater Malaysian Sea Tides. His theory of internal and forced internal waves which hold the ocean, like the atmosphere which has a stratosphere and a troposphere, was co-developed with Worcester's theory of ocean stratification.

Edward Brouwer was an Austrian geographer and climatologist who mainly researched the periodic changes in climate, proving that the Earth repeats it every 5 days.

Cobain, a German meteorologist and plant geographer, served at the German Oceanographic Observatory in Warburg for 50 years. In 1914 he discovered that large weather events had an 11-year cycle. A more complete and concise classification of the climate, known as the Koppen classification, was proposed in 1990 and was widely adopted by the author of the first volume of Climatology, General Climatology, Climate in Geological Times, and the Handbook of Precipitation.

This is inside the shop on the trail.

Later we went out to Jimei to explore by the electric scooters. First, we walked through the open-air mall.

These poor little ducklings, and also chicks and bunnies, were for sale and it broke my heart to see them not getting treated nicely.

We visited some temples. I've seen many from afar and to actually look inside and examine them brought a deep sadness to my heart.

This is sort of like an oven where a fire can be made.

The whole design is very ornate and detailed, and as I was standing there staring some people said, "isn't this beautiful." And honestly, no, it's not beautiful to me. It's a temple to false gods - to me it has no beauty in it.

This is a god, but I can't remember which one. It may be the god of the door or protection.

The words written on this panel say "the spirit of Entebbe endures forever."

The words on this panel: "God is powerful and holy and holy man has lived forever."

I believe this is the wife of god statue. There were the gods of protection and the spirit who protects flowers. There are tables in front of the statues with offerings - many had foods and some gifts.

Viewing all of this reminded me of Psalm 115:2-11.

"Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God?

But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: they have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not. They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them......Ye that fear the Lord, trust int he Lord: he is their help and their shield."

Amazing how after God says that the false gods are useless, he says to Israel and to people that fear God, trust in the Lord. You want help? You want a shield of protection? Don't trust in the god of the door. Trust in the Lord who reigns in heaven. 💜

The beautiful thing was the fireworks that we saw when we exited the temples. :) Since it's a holiday, Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, there's gotta be celebration. Also a group of ladies did a choreographic dance which was interesting to watch.

In the mall near my home this sign is on the wall. To me it speaks volumes. I don't know about the picture, but the words are precious.

"Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge. Dad, give me your hand one more time."

The person who painted this calls the Father by an endearing name, Dad. It shows me that God is personal to him/her. And it struck my heart because many times I likewise have cried out to my Father, "help. Take my hand. I can't do this alone."

Seeing this, I thought of Isaiah 41:13. "For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee."

Oct. 7th my friend Jelaine and I went to the movie theater to see Bad Guys 2. First time I've been to the movies is in China. 😂We got there early enough to order a "waffle" from this place. It's not a waffle like you're thinking of. It's more of a wrap with egg, ketchup, a meat, and lettuce inside. Basically, deliciousness.

In the mall there's this place where people can bring their babies to help teach them to float or give them a bath.

Right outside the theater there's this area.

And notice the video games for kids.

Afterwards we went outside to get ice cream from this famous Snowman place, then sat on a bench in the mall to chat for over an hour.

Then we decided to walk into another mall which is right across the street. It looks like the outside. lol.

It says: Rich and powerful people, civilized and harmonious.

Freedom, Equality, Justice, Rule of Law, Patriotism, Dedication, Integrity, Kindness

School continues on. Looking at these pictures I can't believe how small my kids are. They look like babies compared to now. 😅

Yi continues to be adorable no matter how much he grows.

My loves.

And of course, whenever we take a group picture this is how it ends up. Here, Yiyi is pretending his hand is a spider on my head and Coco's thinking it's very funny. 😂

Yi "blowing" out his candle.

Another attempt at a group photo. 😄

On a makeup Saturday, I met with my sister-friend for lunch and we had a deep 2-hour discussion about a biblical topic. 👏

A random street near to where I like to take a break.

This dog's markings remind me the pig Cookie my sister used to have. :)

I had a blind massage for the first time. Massage rooms are not set up like ones in the U.S. They have several beds in them with multiple massage therapists.

Oct. 18th I went with my church to a retreat in the mountains. While waiting for the bus I captured this building. The architecture is quite unique.

On the way.

With my sister-friend.

We were provided with a meal, and it was nice to fellowship with other believers.

Everyone picks out of whatever dish they want whenever they want more. I love this meal style.

My little friend and also my student. I love his exuberant personality. :)

Sunset hour as we drove back.

Random picture of grandmas with grandkids but it's one of the most common sights to see. Many grandparents live with and take care of their grandkids while parents work.