生活點滴：A Joyful Return to St. James'

#2026-0727

Jean and I finished our ten-day stay in Dajia and returned to Wufeng on Thursday, July 23. I spent the following two days resting and doing some chores. Then, yesterday, we were delighted to attend the Sunday service at St. James' Episcopal Church in Taichung once again.

During our year-long stay in Hualien, it was impossible for us to attend Sunday worship at St. James'. Instead, we attended services at St. Luke's whenever possible. (See #2026-0628 for our final worship there.) It was especially convenient because we only had to walk downstairs from our room on the fourth floor to the chapel on the first floor.

Yesterday, however, we had to leave home much earlier because the English service at St. James' begins at 9:30 a.m., and it takes us about twenty-five minutes to drive there.

How glad and excited we were to be back at St. James' and to see so many familiar friends again after a whole year!

Just as we had expected, our rector, Rev. Lily Chang, together with many brothers and sisters in Christ, welcomed us warmly.

"Welcome back, Jerry and Jean!" they said.

Some of them also asked about our grandson, James.

"Is your grandson coming too?"

"No," I replied. "James met a former classmate and the boy's parents in Houli (后里), where the boy's maternal grandmother lives. They planned to visit her together before taking James back to Taipei for a short vacation of three or four days. In a few weeks, James' former classmate will be leaving for the United States, either on a study tour or for a longer period of study abroad."

After lunch, Jean and I stayed in the Coffee Hour room on the first floor, chatting with several of our close friends. We stayed there for quite some time, enjoying what turned out to be one of the longest and happiest conversations we have ever had after a Sunday service.

By the way, today I gave Rev. Ben Simmons two copies of my Mandarin conversation textbook, Yong Pinyin Xue Shuo Huayu (用拼音學說華語), which I published in Hualien last February. I wanted to encourage him, knowing that he plans to devote more time to learning Mandarin this year and next. I also presented a copy to Rev. Lily Chang as a souvenir because one of her photographs appears as an illustration in the book.

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相關文章 (See also)：

1)  Palm Sunday, 2023     (2023)

2)  I Love My Church     (2025)

3)  Mandarin for Faith and Life     (2026)

4)  十個職場人的故事 (A Personal Note)     (2026)

5)  Our Final Sunday Worship at St. Luke's     (2026)