SAWAT DII PII MAE!!!

Just a little note to say, "SAWAT DII PII MAE!!!" Happy New Year!! It is 2 hours into 2008, and it looks to be a fabulous year.

My wish for you is "to be able to look backward and say, 'This has been the finest year of my life' -- that is glorious! But anticipation! To be able to look ahead and say, 'The present year can and shall be better!' -- that is more glorious!" (Brother Lawrence's Practicing His Presence)

2007 sure was a good year. Through heart failure recovery and losing one's job and moving halfway across the world and truly learning complete dependence on God, it has been so far the finest year of my life...looking forward to this year which can and shall be better!!

Pics of New Year party with a soccer ball wrapped in Christmas lights dropped slowly from our shower curtain rod in the living room as we counted down and then hugged and ran outside to see fireworks as I yelled at the top of my lungs, "Sawat dii pii mae Thailand. Kop khun kha Chiang Rai." Happy New Year Thailand. Thank you Chiang Rai!! And it was 2008...

Christmas in Thailand

It is December 26th, the day after Christmas. I am sitting in my living room in my pajamas with my very Thai Christmas tree lit up and blinking while watching movies that I received for Christmas: Bridget Jones 1 & 2, Pride and Prejudice, and maybe even a little Meet Me in St. Louis (which I already watched on Christmas Eve, but LOVE SO MUCH!!). You might be asking what makes a Thai Christmas tree...well, with the limited selection of decorations here, we have six totally varied colored and width and designed tinsels on the tree, brightly and randomly blinking red, yellow, green and blue lights, little presents wrapped in red, blue, green and gold shiny paper, and a dull gold star on the top. When there is little to choose from, you make do.

I have had a pretty good two days starting Christmas Eve day with having a friend, Cece, over for the day. We watched movies and ate popcorn, then got dressed for a fantastic dinner at the Ducit, a resort in town. It was a special buffet for the ferongs in Chiang Rai, and everyone was dressed up in their very best. We had a huge table of friends from the school I teach at, almost 25 people and many more from the community but we didn't get to sit with them all. As everyone got up to start getting food, many headed to the salad bar and to the fruit table. Cece, Jo (another girlfriend from school), and I headed smartly to the dessert table. I say if you are going to eat amazing food, start with what is best...dessert!! AND IT WAS AMAZING!!! There were 10 different cakes and dessert pies...an incredible and most wonderful chocolate fondue fountain with strawberries to dip in it...individual chocolate mousse servings in mini martini glasses...then I had some carrots and peas and pork braised in a strawberry chutney sauce which was like a beach party in your mouth!! While eating, a Thai Santa Claus walked through the crowd handing out presents to the kids. You've never seen Santa till you've seen the Thai version...shorter, not so fat, and no white beard...it was crazy!! For Christmas Eve, the food was divine and the fellowship was good too.

Woke up the morning of Christmas, called my sister and Mom, skyped friends spread all throughout the world from Colorado to Australia...then got dressed in my one Christmas t-shirt, jeans, and a green sweatshirt to take along in case it got cold. Quickly I prepared my stuff to take along to the Penningtons and Tubbs, who had invited me to come along to their family celebration. These were my friends from Texas, whom I love very much and am so glad to have here as family. I rode my bike over to their house and dinner began at like 2pm. We had more roasted pork in a barbecue sauce, sour cream and cream cheese mashed potatoes, a salad made with strawberries, mozzarella cheese, peanuts and a sweet homemade dressing, and so much more. IT WAS A SPLENDID DAY, considering I wasn't with my family or friends.

Overall, the holidays were alright...I think being away has changed me and changed the ways that I celebrate the holidays. It was a simple and peaceful time with not having so much to do in so little time. I want to be intentional about life in general as I don't want to ever fill up my schedule just out of obligation, but I want to choose carefully all that I do with time, money, etc. I've realized some very important parts of Christmas that are pertinent to any celebration - being with loved ones, spending quality time with those closest to you, being in the moment which allowed me to celebrate Jesus' birth and gift of life that has never been more a part of Christmas than this year when I've been seeking Him as the sole support of my daily moments. Though many tears (and I mean many) were shed throughout the past week, I wouldn't trade missing out the family and friends for meeting Jesus more intimately, in addition to the memories I have made here which are priceless and forever a part of me: the me right here, right now.

May this holiday season continue to reveal the peace of Christ to you and yours...

** The peace sign is an Asian thing, when taking pictures, the fingers go up...I'm working on it, because it doesn't look totally natural yet, but very soon...

Trust...in my words and a few others

If I could sum up my experiences in Thailand so far, it would be in that one word: TRUST. I am learning to trust Jesus with everything, especially the areas that I've held onto for probably a bit too long like weight and finances. Being a missionary, I assumed would not require as much trust as I had raised the right amount of money before I left the states, but God had other ideas. I have had a few sponsors unable to send funding, and all for absolutely justified reasons, but it's not them not sending the money, it's that God is asking me to trust Him. My plan has failed, and He's lovingly wooing me to trust Him and His plan.

One scripture I've been meditating on is: Acts 20:24 - "But my life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus - the work of telling others the Good News about God's wonderful kindness and love." So I press onward...deeper into trusting...loving and being loved...hoping to do the work He has assigned me too, and knowing confidently that He who has called me will fully equip and provide for the calling.

My sweet friend, Jodi, painted a picture on Trust, which has spoken great depths to me, so I'm including that and her website (http://www.JodiStyle.com) - go to it, buy stuff...SHE'S INCREDIBLE!!! What a picture of trust...a beautiful girl, hanging on and having a sweet guide keeping her company...I LOVE IT!!! I so felt this way today!

And for your inspiration...I went looking online for quotes on trust, but found few that were inspiring. Seems trust isn't a common thing these days, but I pray differently for all of us...
Frank Crane - You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you don't trust enough.
Henry David Thoreau - I think we may safely trust a good deal more than we do.
Indira Gandhi - You can't shake hands with a clenched fist. (so true...try it sometime, doesn't work!)
Walter Anderson - We're never so vulnerable than when we trust someone - but paradoxically, if we cannot trust, neither can we find love or joy.

And my favorite and most inspiring woman: Mother Theresa of Calcutta - I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish He didn't trust me so much.

If you've ever felt that way, be encouraged...I am right there with you...knowing if God didn't trust me, I wouldn't be here and knowing that He placed me here to fully experience Him right now for whatever comes next!!

weekend in chiang mai...

With the King's coronation celebration weekend and getting two days off of school, Cece (another volunteer teacher and friend) and I headed to Chiang Mai to do whatever...no plans, no expectations...except that I would get as MUCH STARBUCKS as I could possibly fit into my system. That is really all I wanted to do.

It started with a short ride to the bus station from our neighborhood, where we bought our tickets ($3) on a non-air-conditioned bus (with fans but seats made crampt for Thais to fit in as many as possible). On the way we talked about everything. I tried to read as I have about three books to read each week (this week was Rime of the Ancient Mariner and other poems, Till We Have Faces, and The Great Gatsby). I was pretty focused as you can see in the picture.

As we were riding up and down the mountain passes as quickly as our bus would carry us, it got a bit too hard to read and I got a bit carsick or bus-sick. A boy in the row next to us started throwing up and kept throwing up for awhile. If you know me, I had to plug my ears and look out the other window so I didn't do the same. It was awful for him and for us having to listen (or trying not to), but these buses don't stop for anything, sometimes not even for wrecks.

Once we arrived, we got a ride into town and got out right in front of my paradise...Yes, Starbucks. I was so SO excited. We went in immediately instead of eating lunch and got a yummy holiday drink: Cece a Peppermint Mocha and me a Soy Toffee Nut latte...OH WOW!!! I sure missed good coffee.

As we settled down to chat for a bit, a male employee walked up to me and asked me in English, "Do you live in Chiang Mai?" I said, "No, I live in Chiang Rai." He said, "How many times you come to Chiang Mai?" I said, "This is my second time." He said, "I've seen you at the two other Starbucks. I like you. I remembered you." I said, "Yeah I think that weekend I went to both, because I used to work at Starbucks and I love it." He smiled big and walked off. Weird...I know!!

After chilling there for a bit, we went to check into a hotel, which ended up being in kind of a seedy part of town as we found later that night. We got changed to go to the huge market, which is about a mile long and five streets are involved crammed full of vendors, people begging for money, and so much more...it is an ADHD person's nightmare...you cannot think or concentrate...it is overwhelming. I will add a picture later of how crammed it was. It was like a solid river of people moving one way on one side of the street and the other on the opposite side. I bought a sweet lamp for my house upon returning to the states and enjoyed looking at the street art and hearing the musicians. It was incredible.

Since we were walking so much, we sat down to get a foot massage including oil and pressure points for only 60 baht, which is $2. It was for 30 minutes and was incredible until this man sat down with us and started talking. There was also an Israeli family getting massages for their three kids: a son about 12, a daughter about 7, and the youngest about 3 (which made quite a stir with her getting her feet massaged). Several Thais stopped to take pictures because she was so cute and smiled the entire time. It was less enjoyable as this man, who said he was from Papua New Guinea, but was a man of the world and had lived everywhere kept talking. He would have won an award for most stereotypes spewed out in a few minutes. But humorously, I kind of enjoyed it as I was reading The Great Gatsby, and he kind of reminded me of Jay Gatsby, the man that tells lots of great stories, but who knows for real what he is or who he is...a man of the world, a man about town...and a wee bit crazy!!

We took lots of pictures with the millions of yellow Thai lanterns put up to celebrate the King's birthday last week and the Coronation celebration this weekend. (As you can see, I am making the peace sign, which is totally a Thai thing for when they take pictures...haha!!) There was also a Thai's Christmas tree made of only lanterns as you can see. Absolutely beautiful...a fantastic weekend...not much rest, but lots of Starbucks (two more the next day...yahoo!!)

On our way back to our hotel that night, this is what we saw in the streets...not too uncommon I guess as we were the only ones taking pictures.


Blessings on you all as the Christmas holidays come around and you prepare for them and may the realization of who Jesus is to you be so real in this season!! He is the reason for everything!!

Let's set a watch...together!!

OK...I know that I am not the only one who wants to get free from sin...

SO, I'm suggesting we all work together. No, I don't mean, let's all put our sins on the web or something like that. But if we are a community, we can together set a watch for each other and pray for each other, interceding for each other, and being vigilant for each other.

"Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God, and because of them we set a watch against them day and night" (Nehemiah 4:9)

I do think there is something to exposing sin and bringing it into the light, so that it no longer lives in the shady places in our heart or lives. So I'm asking for your prayers as I seek to get out from under the sin of gluttony which has too long stolen my peace and joy. I am working to make the healthiest of choices for my life in regards to eating right and exercising. But it is a battle for me as this place in my life has forever as long as I have known it to be in the camp of my enemy.

NO LONGER...I am keeping vigilant watch over it and over my heart, and want whomever of you who wants to be in a watch together to join with me...

just let me know by email or response to this blog...

LOVE YOU ALL!!! if you want me in your watch, I'm here for that too!!!

Lovers' Leap...

At youth group Tuesday night, we played a game called Lovers' Leap where you walk in a circle and then someone yells "lovers leap (where one person jumps into another's arms), three to a boat (group of 3 and rowing), family of 4 (group of 4 posing) or hit the deck (where everyone falls to the floor)." It was a blast! Then we had worship led by a 15 year old high school girl, who is amazing and the gift of worship leading in her blows my grid!!! After I was up to talk and had this great talk and activity planned to help kids find their giftings.

However, during worship, I kept feeling like it wasn't that great after all, and I thought it might just be me doubting and the enemy attacking. I was ignoring it, but the feeling kept coming back. So I said, "Well, if that's not it for tonight, what is?" Then I heard, "Take the Lover's leap." I laughed inside and said, "Whatever." But then a sweet voice spoke saying, "Tell them what you are going through right now, this very day." "No way, I don't even know what I'm going through and how to solve it, let alone sharing my heart with 20 or so teenagers and a few people I don't even know...nope, not doing that. Plus I have that sweet thing already planned." But I couldn't fight it, so I tried as best to organize my thoughts and took the leap.

What came out felt to me like a donkey attempting to perform Shakespeare, but what the kids got was SUH-WEET!!! So in a more organized fashion, let me share with you what's been going on in my heart these past few days as I have been adjusting and re-adjusting to Thailand and living as a missionary...

I've realized that I don't trust God enough and I don't focus on Him enough in my day to day activities, which keep me ridiculously busy. Through a series of several devotions throughout the past few days, I've found a few commonalities...focusing on Jesus to get free from sin and to have life and life abundant, that if I don't focus on Jesus I will hold onto things that are not meant for me to keep, and if I look only at Him, I can totally encounter Him each day.

In C.S. Lewis' "The Weight of Glory," he says, "We are half-hearted creatures fooling about with drink and sex and ambition [and religious effort] when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea...we are far too easily pleased." As I shared this with a friend, she told me the story of a young girl who had a nice set of plastic pearls that were given her by her father. She wore them every day and they were definitely a treasure. One day before her father was going away on a journey, he asked her for the pearls and said he would bring her back something better. She had a choice to trust that he was good or keep the plastic ones that she had in her hand. Because of her past experiences, she knew her father to be good, so she gave them up willingly and got a sweet set of real and priceless pearls in exchange upon her father's return. It hit me as she told me this that I don't trust God enough that if I give up something like my future happiness or getting married one day that he will be good to me and give me something better than what I think is currently the best and is in my hand.

So I went deeper, which revealed that as a young girl, I gave up a lot, hoping to get something in return from my dad...promised a horse way too many times, promises made but almost always broken...trust given, but returned void...a hopeful girl's heart looking to be noticed, but ignored and feeling mocked. (I have forgiven my dad for this, but as each memory surfaces, more forgiveness is doled out on a loving but broken man whom I still dearly love). My relationship with my earthly dad reveals so much to me about my relationship with my heavenly Dad, however is no longer limited by that as my Heavenly Dad keeps revealing His sweet and loving heart to me, which in turn heals the brokenness left by my earthly dad.

The next day I got this email devotional of Henri Nouwen, and his last line said, "I will look expectantly towards God and in the waiting will encounter Him." It hit me finally how it all fits together...the focusing on Jesus, the trusting God to be good to me, the giving up what is in my hand for what is to come...

After speaking on all this, I totally felt like I fumbled through it but then we started praying for each other. I can only speak for my group of girls, but it was a SWEET time with Him. It opened the door for teens to talk about disappointment with God, which some never admit to but definitely have in their hearts. It opened the door for Jesus to come in and love on each of us. Afterwards, almost everyone there came up to me and said thanks for sharing what's really going on...not holding back...admitting to not having the answers...

Surprise, surprise, I don't have all the answers, but I'm willing to be His fool as I keep my eyes fixed on Him, who is the author and perfecter of my faith, who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, scorned its shame and sat down at the right hand of the Father.

Since taking the leap, it's been all good...

Just another day in Thailand...

A wee quick adventure tale from across the big blue...my roommate, Jessica, is now renting a car, called The Champ, and so we all three, Jess, Damaris, and I, went on our first car adventure to the Huay Mae Sai Waterfall, probably about 20 km away from our house. We all brought books to read, water to drink (as there is a hike prior to taking in the beauty of the waterfall), a snack, and our cameras to take snapshots.



We drive there pretty quickly, following the signs that are thankfully in English. The hike isn't too bad, and we are sitting quietly reading our books when a couple of Europeans come hiking up and take off their clothes and begin swimming in the waterfall (thankfully they had swimsuits on), then four thai boys probably between the ages of 15 and 20 do the same but without swimsuits...only boxers or tighty whities. They slid off the rocks into the water, they dove off the rocks into the water, and splashed about together while we were trying to read. It was a surreal experience.

Then we hiked down and started our drive home, but Damaris had this great idea to follow this one random sign to see if it would take us home quicker. I was hesitant, but up for an adventure. Jessica quickly drove off onto this dirt road and we were off for a 30 minute dirt road extravaganza which involved bushes and trees poking in the window at me, somewhat ruined roads by torrential rains, and coming to the end of what was not a quicker route home. Jessica turned the car around which involved Damaris getting out to help and then me getting out to push the car back over a ridge once Jessica went a little too far. All in all, a grand dirt road adventure.

Finally, we got back to the cement roads of civilization, made our way home, and are enjoying a nice slice of apple pie left over from Thanksgiving dinner and a cup of green tea. In an hour, we are getting dressed, heading downtown to the night bazaar to do some christmas shopping and getting some lebanese food for dinner.

just another day in Thailand...

What I am thankful for...

The day after Thanksgiving in Thailand with an absolutely incredibly loving family of missionary friends, singles, and families...I am thinking of ALL the things I have to be thankful for...here is a short list and not in order, just as I think of them -
I am thankful for...family (whether near or far, blood or friends adopted in), love that has no boundaries both from my sweet Abba and from those who are around me that pour it on me revealing the great Father's love, being content in the hardest of places because of God's grace, being forgiven and given new mercies each day, delicious food shared with new friends, a day when we can say what we are thankful for, my family in Texas and Colorado, mountains and beauty which reveals Abba's face and nature, birds chirping, fans blowing cool air, rains that come and ease the heat during the "cool" season, coffee, $2 haircuts, journaling, internet that allows connection even across so great a distance, the Father's great love for me to bring me here and hold me as I squirm and fight because He knows what is ahead and wants me to get it, and so much more.

I want you all to know how much I love you and am thankful for you. Especially for those who are partnering with me now or will in the days to come as I am blessed to have this opportunity to serve the Lord in a country such as Thailand. I am not aware of all that is happening as my mind is finite and easily distracted...but I do know that God is good and He is at work. So thank you!!!! Blessings on you as you celebrate with your families!!!

back in Thailand...

Back in Thailand as of midnight last night after a 3 hour flight from Denver to Seattle, a 13 hour flight from Seattle to Tokyo and a 4 hour flight from Tokyo to Bangkok. I am hanging out with some friends of friends in Bangkok until Tuesday night. Then back to Chiang Rai right before the Thanksgiving holiday break.

Thoughts on my trip to the states - it was a wonderful time of family, which I so desperately needed. I had a great time with my mom and my sister and nephews in Texas. Hung out with a couple of friends there, and shared how good God is to have brought me here to get intimate with me. Then moved on to Colorado where I helped my best friends, Beth and Paul, get hitched in a 12 minute ceremony that started with cheering and ended with cheering. What a celebration!!! When we wait for God's best, we get to see exactly how good He is to us!!! The week after the wedding I got to spend time with family and friends in Colorado, which was incredible as well. I realized in all that time that I am not a long term missionary type. My heart aches for being with family and friends and has a hard time being so far away. So with that understanding, I am coming back to finish up this year and will be traveling a bit in June to Scotland to see friends and then home to the states.

What you can pray for me about is...the next 7 months. I've realized that my shtick is not teaching, but that I LOVE LOVE LOVE being with teenagers and hanging out and talking through stuff, which is what I am pursuing as much of as I can out here in Thailand...working with teens at school, helping with their dramatic presentation of Little Women, leading in youth group, and mentoring worship leaders. That is what I'm about while here.

Pray that I dig in and get all that I need to out of this next seven months as I am already missing family and friends. Part of that is definitely a huge lack of sleep and delirium which comes from traveling so far and skipping through a day as I came. Part of that also is just the emotional place I am in with the Lord...when you have to rely on Him like I am learning how to, everything is emotional and relates to my trust in Him. So keep me in your prayers.

I also need additional funds for traveling home, which I know the Lord will provide. If you feel like you want to be a part, the address for sending funds is on the right - Joy to the World Foundation. I will also need to save some money back for when I return to the states to start anew, since I sold everything to come here. But again, I am completely trusting God as He sent me here, He will provide for all my needs.

Thank you for supporting me with your prayers and your thoughts. For those of you who read this, that means everything in the world.

I realized while in Colorado, and while talking to Laura-lee, a good friend, that it is not the big things in life but the small that have the potential to kill you. Like it says in scripture, if we aren't faithful in the small things, we won't be blessed with more. I am encouraged to be faithful in the small - like returning to finish my term, plugging into the teenagers here, and doing what God has called me to do for this season. All so that if a big lizard bites me and then a small lizard bites me, I won't die.

traveling in just a few short hours...

So, I am writing to ask for your prayers as I begin my travels home. I leave Chiang Rai tonight at around 9:00pm and arrive in Bangkok at 10:30pm, where I will get a taxi ride to my hotel, Convenient Hotel, for a quick five hour sleep before I have to be up and back at the airport at around 4am to leave Bangkok for San Francisco at 6:40am. Then I am in San Francisco for about five hours layover time, and then I fly into DFW at around midnight on Wednesday morning. It will be a long flight, and I ask for prayers over each flight with grace and favor at each layover and connecting flight, especially getting from the airport to the hotel in Bangkok and back.

I am very excited about this trip home as I will get to hang out with my family and friends, sharing what all I am up to in Chiang Rai and what all God is doing in me. BUT, my best friend, Beth is also getting married, and it is a joyous celebration!!! I am SO looking forward to being there. After praying about going and the details, I feel it is a significant trip, so pray with me that I get everything out of each moment.

LOVE YOU!!! see some of you VERY SOON!!! YEHAHHHHH!!!!

3 days in the mountains of Chiang Mai!!!

So I just got back from Hume Lake Camp Thailand 2007 (www.humelake.org - check out what these folks are doing), and it was amazing to spend three days in the mountains of Chiang Mai with over 150 high school aged missionary kids and international students. TALK ABOUT LIFE CHANGING!!!

The message was all on the Parable of the Talents, and for the first time I got a glimpse of God's heart behind that story. It has less to do with the actual TALENTS than it does to how they used them. I think every time prior to this when I read about the talents, my prayer was "God speak to me and tell me what my talents are." For the first time, it's not about me - sorry to say this online, but I have this selfish bent to think about me and how everything affects me. God is walking me out of that place to where it's all about HIM...HE IS ALL I NEED AND IS MY EVERYTHING. It's all about Him and doing things for Him, for His glory and for His praise. My entire perspective has changed, and it is affecting each and every part of my life. Things I've struggled with all my life are for the first time changing because it's all about Him. Please continue to pray for me as I walk into this fully, because I know the attack will come since I'm taking back ground that's been in enemy camp way too long. Also pray for the students who went to Hume Lake this year...the Lord broke into their lives, stepped into their boats and they were rocked!!

That's why it's been a week or more since blogging...I was parenting four kids, then went to a conference, and then 3 days in the mountains with God, the Hume Lake staff, and the most on fire kids I've seen in awhile.

Just a challenge - life your lives well!! Do everything to the best of your ability!! That's my desire too!!! Be contagious and spread life wherever you go...

Thoughts on parenting...

So I've been a parent of four kids, ages seventeen, fourteen, twelve, and ten, for five days now and have seven more days until their parents return back from the states. And it has been amazing!! I have learned so many things while "parenting" these wonderful kids: family time is the greatest in the world, cooking for more than yourself is amazing, and the mundane things in life can still be awesome ways to please God.

Being single is alright with me for right now, because I am single and am confident that when it's time, God will provide me with the desires of my heart. However, being single, I don't cook dinners very often, because often I get tired of the same thing for a week at a time, but also because it costs too much money to cook elaborate meals for just one. I didn't realize until watching the Fish's kids that I miss family dinner time and being in a family. It wasn't just missing my community in CO and TX, but missing the intimate and loving interaction that happens when you set aside time to eat dinner together and talk about life. So I've enjoyed cooking and spending time with this family. More than just enjoying cooking, I've made things that I've never even thought of cooking before, like twice baked potatoes (which are OH MY WORD INCREDIBLE) and barbecue (later this week, I'll let you know how it turns out!!). The cooking part is something I look forward to at the end of the day while dreaming what I will concoct for the kids. They aren't the kind to rave during the meal other than a "that's good" or "I'm enjoying this," but I've heard from their friends how awesome they think my cooking is...best compliment in the world when your kids' friends want to come over for dinner...haha!!

During this time, I'm also realizing that parenting is such an incredible gift even with its most mundane activities like helping with homework and making sure they bathe themselves and get to sleep on time and wake up in enough time to eat breakfast and get dressed. It is also something the Lord has been using to teach me how to worship Him in everything by having an attitude of worship and making it a lifestyle. Not that it's been easy, but I feel so different when I do things with that attitude, like I am more joyous and energetic. I am able to do more when I am fully surrendered. That is my daily goal...to be fully surrendered and a slave to Jesus Christ.

And props to my friends out there who are parents and work - YOU ARE AMAZING!!! I am giving you a standing ovation and a shout out - YEA YEAH!!!

Love you all!! See you soon!!!

Countdown to being in the States - two weeks and five days till I leave for Bangkok, then fly out the next am to DFW, Texas arriving on October 30th at 11:55pm.
Then fly out from Texas to Denver, CO on November 7th at 8:00-ish am for BETH's WEDDING ON NOVEMBER 11th, a month from tomorrow!!

40 days...

I never realized how significant 40 days was in the Bible until I started the 40 days to a Purpose Driven Life on Monday, October first, with my church, Baan Athitaan, here in Chiang Rai. All of us signed a commitment to do the devotionals and set aside specific time to really, and I mean REALLY lean into the purpose for which God created us. Funny how this started this week and the past two weeks have probably been my hardest here as I started reading Cure for the Common Life (CFTCL), which is based on the same criteria - finding your "bag" that God gave you and what's in it. As I was reading CFTCL, I began to get more stressed about my "calling" or purpose and what it is and what I should be doing...on and on until I realized I had been thinking a whole lot about "I" and not a whole lot about "GOD"!! So in a few days of starting this Purpose Driven Life, that has changed. It really has nothing to do with me, but all to do with a divine God who created me for a purpose and sent me to Thailand for a reason and He will accomplish great things in me if I stay out of the way and flow with Him.

So you can be praying that I do that...instead of being a rock in the middle of the river, that I would be a pebble floating along in the purposes of God and in the peace of God and in all the LOVE and goodness of my Sweet Abba who created me for something surely unique - I mean, it's me we're talking about...nothing normal here!!

Also - keep praying for Burma as Thailand is on the verge of closing their borders in case of major civil upheaval...pray that God's presence would be known!!

PRAY FOR BURMA!!!

For the second day in a row and against the orders from the military government, over 100,000 people marched on the streets of Rangoon today in Burma. The militia have been warning the crowds stating they have the right to use any force necessary, which brings up memories of 3000 people being slaughtered by the army in 1988.

The crowds were led by 30,000 monks, who were crying, "Democracy, democracy," and "May we be free of torture, may there be peace in hearts and minds as our kindness spreads around the world." The elder monks are being threatened to keep their "charges" in line or face stiff consequences.

Please be praying as this country is facing rebellion which could end up in a huge loss of lives. Pray that God's presence would be known there!!

Homemade bread and movies...

It's amazing what brings back that "homey" feeling: tonight my roommate, Jessica, made homemade white bread. It smelled the entire house up with the luscious and lovely yeasty smell. Oh it was wonderful! It is like driving past the Mrs. Baird's Bread factory on the trip from Fort Worth to Waco...good memories of many family trips!! We are all eating homemade bread toasty warm with melted butter on it and drinking hot milk tea (a Thai thing) and watching A Good Year. It is so wonderful being with friends, now more like family, hanging out, just being.

Some updates: Jessica and I are looking at buying a car together, which would be about $750 each. It would help out a lot with us being able to get around whenever we need to. It would end the long trips on public transportation to the grocery store coming home with huge buckets full of stuff and getting laughed at by the Thais who pretty much are humored by our very existence since we stick out so drastically. We could go downtown whenever we want instead of having to be there in the early afternoon so we can actually get a ride there. It would make a huge difference in our lives. But, I didn't raise the extra funds for that...so I'm putting the word out...if you feel led to give, the address and info is on the main blog page. I would greatly appreciate it, and am trusting God to provide. All my leaders here feel it's a good thing, and have a lot of peace about it as do Jessica and I.

I cannot believe that September is almost over...seems like I've been here forever and that my world could never be the same regardless of where I live, but then there are times that feel like I've only been here a second or two. I am taking Thai as part of my school schedule and have three classes a week with a lovely teacher, Kruu Dtum. She laughs at Jessica and I quite a bit, but enjoys our learning styles (I hope). I can now say "Sawatdii Kaa," "Sabaaydiima kaa," "Khopkhun kaa," and the responses. Basically, I can say hi, how are you, good, i'm good, thanks, see you later! I am learning my numbers too. It's really funny when you try to speak to a Thai person, the guy at the post office told me, "Oh you speak so clearly for a ferong. Good job...you speak thai well." I felt so proud of myself, but it is like a little kid that learns to say words, everyone gets excited and encourages them. That is what is happening with me.

This past week was busy. Every night we, the volunteers, had an engagement. Tuesday night - had dinner at the Haynes house - homemade roasted chicken, potatoes, carrots, and a sweet pumpkin roll. Wednesday night - the Penningtons picked us up and we went to a German restaurant, and I had Cordon Bleu, mashed potatoes, and salad (amazing)! Thursday night - the Fish's invited us over for meatloaf, mashed potatoes, broccoli, and sweet tea and IT ROCKED MY WORLD!!! Then Friday night was Mexican dinner night with the Tubbs. Kay, the owner of Kay's Burritto Casa (as you can see in the picture below) had been to Chiang Mai to get the needed stuff to make margaritas and they were delicious!! It was a wonderful night to finish off a wonderful week!!! Then Jessica and I, in addition to the Fox and Fransiscus families all ate at Hamburger #1 tonight for dinner - a lovely cheeseburger and french fries to end the week with...ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!!!

Love you all...check out the prayer requests that I added to my blog...if you want to know how to pray for me!!

1/2 day of school today...

Today, we had 1/2 of day of school and you'll never guess why...

Yes, as you can see in the photo, that was our school parking lot! It was solid water from the street to the school (a distance of a block)! Students, staff and parents waded through almost knee high water at the street to about ankle deep by the school. After wading to the school, I heard that the water had small snakes (as some staff and students chased them around) in it and leeches (at least I now know what they look like)...HOW FUN, huh??

It rained from about 1:00am and continued to rain throughout chapel, when we had to turn off the electricity so no one was electrocuted. I went to my classroom and the air conditioner and most of the electric boxes were all completely submerged. As a result, we had to take 1/2 a day off of school. I know that I've never had school canceled for excessive rain and no electricity!!

This water continues from the street all the way to the school building (a distance of about a block or more) as you see here in the picture. Crazy, huh?

Only in Thailand...

It's been a month...

So as of today, it's been a month since I arrived in Chiang Rai, Thailand. And I celebrated the day by going to church, eating grilled cheese made in my new sandwich maker, exercising, and then playing my drum at worship for international church. For dinner I had another grilled cheese sandwich (because I am getting pretty good and don't have other food in the house), and hung out with friends. I am about to go read THE CANTERBURY TALES and then going to bed after a cold shower!

Blessings on you!
Me

Weekend Part Deux...the rest of the story...

And so imagine it's Saturday afternoon, and you just left the gardens of Mae Fae Luang after having a most wonderful time with my housemates and volunteer friends.

Next all of us traveled in the back of the truck to an Akah village not too far from Chiang Rai (about 10 minutes). As we arrived in the village, all of the children were gathered with the pastor of the village to learn songs for the next day's performance at church. First, we dropped off our bags in the bamboo hut, which would be our lodging for the night. There were three mosquito nets set up with two bed-pads in each with a blanket. Quickly, we picked our net-fellows, and went to dinner.

One of the main pastors of the Christian Akah villages and his wife hosted us for a most delicious dinner of greens and pork, roasted pork loin, rice, fresh cut vegetables, and some spicy sauce for the rice and pork. It was incredible. We ate out on a bamboo hut with a roof and no walls. It was a beautiful setting even though we got there after dark.

After dinner, we went to the kids' practice, and watched for awhile. Once they finished practicing, we got to play some games with them. It is crazy how the language barrier doesn't allow for duck-duck-goose or other what we think are common games. Damaris, a housemate, taught how to play a game called cat and mouse where there are four rows of five kids. Two kids are "it": a cat and a mouse. The cat has to chase the mouse through the rows of kids, and they hold hands. The mouse can say turn and the rows switch hands from vertical to horizontal whenever the mouse says, "Turn." Needless to say, there were lots of laughs. They even wanted the adults to play, which caused more laughs! (Check out the picasa web site at the bottom for all the pictures of the village too).

When games were over, we handed out apples to the kids, and went to bed. More specifically, we all changed into our pajamas and tried to go to sleep. I didn't sleep more than an hour, because I was dreaming of all kinds of gnarley bugs biting me and burrowing into my skin, causing me to toss and turn. In addition, around midnight, the roosters apparently got confused and started cockadoodling, which they continued to do until around six in the morning. So not much sleep...

In the morning, we got dressed and went to the village church (started at 7am), where everything was in Thai or Akah, so we sat and listened for words that sounded familiar. After not having sleep, most of us fought to stay awake. It was a beautiful service. I attempted to sing a hymn in Thai, and sang along to a few in English. Immediately following church, our hosts again made us a wonderful meal of rice, eggs baked omelet style with cilantro and spices, pork and greens, and the same spicy sauce. Every meal, I thank God that He is helping me not to get tired of rice!

After dinner, we packed up and went home, arriving around ten am. I quickly took a shower and went to sleep, waking up around 1:00pm in a foul mood as a result of the ridiculous heat...I was a ball of sweat and in need of another shower. The rest of the day, we all kind of hung around the house doing school work, blogging, hanging out, then at night, walked to the market like every night to get dinner. I had som tam (a salad made of cucumber, chilis, peanuts, green beans, and sugar) and two chicken fingers on a stick.

It is funny how you have this ideal in your head of what you won't do...for me it was being in Thailand - I wouldn't have thought a year ago I would be here and most likely would've laughed if you suggested it. Now, I am. When I got here, I thought going without air conditioning would be impossible, and now I live with a fan near me. I also thought all mattresses should be pillowtop, and now I sleep comfortably on one that is quite hard. When I stayed in the Akah village, I slept on a mat in a bamboo house, and thought I could never do that permanently. Then I woke up and saw the mountains around, and thought, "It wouldn't be that bad to wake up to that every morning!" It's funny how things change and sometimes so quickly...

For sweet pictures from my housemate Jessica, check out her picasa site. She will keep loading pictures, so if there is something I don't have, I'll note for you to check it out there!

blessings and all my love...
niqua bonaenae

PICASA SITE FOR PICTURES: http://picasaweb.google.com/jessica.pott

It's the weekend again, and it came and went!!

If you only get the emails, again this time - CHECK OUT THE BLOG!! GOT PICTURES!!!

I want to introduce you to Nappy-Do aka Rasta. She is our neighborhood dog that Jessica and I loosely adopted - she doesn't live with us and we don't feed her unless we see her coming back from the market. We talk to her as we walk through our neighborhood and she follows us around! I wish the picture did her hair justice...it is so Tina Turner!! She's precious!!

It's been a while since blogging, but this first week of school was a serious readjustment into using my brain again. It took me a bit to get started again after having such a long vacation and moving to a new country. But the week went by and it was smooth, outside of totally changing the way I used to teach in order to meet the needs of these kids. Keep me in your prayers as I adjust...

Here's my week in a nut shell:
Monday - first day of school, awesome, came home exhausted, bed @ 9pm.
Tuesday - second day, awesome again, came home, got a hair cut as you can see in the picture (check it out)...you cannot see the back which is way more layered than I have ever had it before and only for $4.
Wednesday - third day, after school, went to youth group and spoke about how the Lord is romancing all of us and if we just sit still, He will be better to us than we could ever experience anywhere else, got encouraging words from the kids after...thank you God!!
Thursday - fourth day, came home, and then babysat some friends' kids
Friday - fifth day, made it through the first week, and came home, changed into pajamas, watched a movie with my housemates, and ordered pizza delivery!!! yes, it comes all the way out to my house! We were all so excited!

Then Saturday...here comes the adventure...my principal, Ruth, picked all four of us here, and two other volunteers (me, Damaris, Sheila, Cece, Danielle, and Jessica), and we headed out to some of the oldest chedis (temple statues), but not before we took a U-turn in the road to take a picture of a water buffalo (like the ones in the Veggie Tales songs). In the picture on the left, the chedi is a shrine where they put relics of either Buddha or a local monk's ashes in the top for people to worship. Buddhism, as I am learning, includes tolerance for all religions, including animism, a fear of not appeasing the ancestors and spirits. As we drove through this area with the chedis, people honked randomly to let the spirits know they were there, so the spirits don't get scared.

In the center picture, you can see the wall of the city, which is so old that trees of significant height have grown out of the wall, as you can see! That wall in the picture is older than America!!

Another chedi we saw is on the right. If you look closely, you can see me, which shows you how tall the chedi is. We also saw Buddhas everywhere we went as you can tell from the pictures and they were all huge and golden and shiny, but so empty. It broke my heart to have people so tied to a religion that is empty without grace or redemption and no personal relationship or love. Pray for this country and its wonderful people!!

This picture in the middle is of Buddha floating on a beautiful boat that is probably two stories high with shiny glass mosaic put together with steel. The pictures never do the actual thing justice, sorry about that! Maybe if you click on them, they'll get bigger and you can see it better. The river behind it is the Mekong River, which is at its highest level right now. The Mekong River is what meets the Golden Triangle, where Burma, Thailand and Laos meet all in a triangle, as in the picture to the left and down. The pointy part is Burma, the green at the bottom is Thailand, and the green on the left is Laos. Behind the mountains is China - 5 hours away by driving (just fyi!). While we were standing there taking pictures, these kids dressed up in costumes (Akah and other tribes styled) came up and asked in a sing-songy voice, "Take picture, two kids, 5 baht, okay?" Since they wouldn't leave us alone, Ruth, my principal, said in Thai, "You take picture, two ferongs (white people), 10 baht, okay?" Then they walked away, after laughing at her.

Then we ate lunch at a Thai buffet, which was beautiful and delicious.

We hopped back into the truck and drove to the Mae Fah Luang Gardens, which are the gardens of the Queen Mother. Here are some beautiful flowers...indescribably beautiful. I have never seen so many flowers and so exquisite each one. The Lord is surely a creative God!





That is me with a waterfall, which was in the gardens too! Right after we took pictures with it, they turned it off, so we just made it!!





This plant just below is a carnivorous plant that catches bees and other pollen-carrying insects in it's cute little pouch, and uses them for their nutrients! For something so cute, it is pretty vicious!!

This tree on the right looked special enough to be included because when I saw it, I thought it should be in a Dr. Seuss book. Isn't amazing??

The picture on the left is the Queen's gardens which is the last thing you see before you leave. They are perfectly manicured and absolutely incredible.

While taking pictures there, we met new friends, who are from Thailand and wanted pictures with us. The one girl jumped into our picture and we all laughed and had a blast! Another girl took a picture with Danielle, saying, "Same hair, same skin, I take picture with you?" It was awesome!

As you can see, I am still at home among the mountains! My housemates don't think the picture is good unless I am laughing, and it doesn't take much to get me going.

So, the last picture is a bit sentimental, because my sweet roommate and very close friend, Danielle, leaves this week to go back to America. We all are very close, but since Jessica got here and moved into her bedroom, Danielle has been sharing a room with me. We have shared memories, cried and prayed together, and have formed a lifelong friendship. She will truly be missed. Pray with us, that she comes back (at least for a visit!)

Saturday night, we all spent the night in an Akha village, but my camera died and I couldn't take any more pictures, so I will leave you for now, and tell that story later this week! Honestly I think even with all the beautiful flowers and with all the history that we learned and sights that we saw, the best part of this weekend was getting to hang out in the back of a truck with some of the most amazing women I have ever met - all single and willing to leave their homes and families in various countries because God said GO!! Plus, we had lots of adventures where we would literally fall into the middle of the floor of the truck so we didn't fall out, as we sped hoppingly along at 120 kmh (pretty darn fast). At one point, we were holding onto the bars and barely sitting down in between bumps, trying to hold on, but hysterically laughing as Danielle and Jessica landed on each other on the floorbed of the truck. It was almost more than we could handle, but amazing nonetheless!!

I am honestly overwhelmed at each new experience that the Lord deemed me worthy to do this...travel to Thailand alone, and teach in a Christian school. It is amazing! The time I have been here feels like forever, but seems like just a few moments. I so look forward to ALL the future holds whether it is here or in the States...I am confident of this...there is one thing that I seek: to dwell in the House of the Lord forever and to gaze on His beauty. For me, Thailand is it.

And now to Beowulf and British lit...love and fried bananas!!

It's the WEEK-END!!

So, in the words of my sweet friend, Paul, "It's the WEEK-END!!"

This morning I awoke having slept wonderfully on my new mattress pad, which I recently bought at Big C. It does make the bed at least a bit more comfortable. Since in two days school starts and in a week and a half, Danielle leaves to go home, we decided to hang out for the day: Danielle, Jessica, and I. The three of us decided to go to this place on the river and take an hour ride by small gondola-like boat to a small village of Karen, Akah, Yao, and Lahu tribes to ride elephants.

This is Jessica, who just came in from South Carolina on Wednesday, and Danielle. That's the two of them sitting in the gondola boat at the beginning of the trip.

On the one hour trip up to the town, we saw some of the most beautiful scenery...so many different colors of green, trees and plants that I've never before seen, bugs that looked more like animals (couldn't get their pictures because they were too fast and my camera was too slow), and as you can see from the pictures - so much more!!All along the river, we saw small villages with open air grass huts where people lived and worked. Then a few kilometers further down were nice houses with gates and barbed wire. All of them living right on the water...and then the village with all the elephants!!

We all three loaded up on our own elephant and headed out of town. Jessica first, then Danielle, then me bringing up the rear. As we rode, the elephants would stop and eat leaves, break small trees and attempt to carry them along, and climb seemingly steep hills only to come back down and scare all of us, thinking we were going to fall off, as you can see in the picture to the right.

In the picture in the center are rice fields and mountains in the background. The things we saw were amazingly beautiful...I saw a new side of God's creativity and absolute beauty. The pictures, though done well, do not fully enable you to see how beautiful and lush and unique the landscape was. It was a gift.

The picture on the right was what we saw coming around a corner: a remote village Thai gang - teenage boys and younger walking around the elephant paths each carrying a machete. As we went by, they all smiled at us...even the one kid with the largest machete and a shirt that read, "Don't worry, be happy!" He was sending some mixed signals...

All in all, we had an incredible time on the ride...as you can see from the photos, we are still smiling at the end of the ride.

Once we finished the ride, we walked around the shops of all handmade crafts and bought gifts, necklaces, etc. We ate lunch (fried rice and veggies), drank Coca-Colas and water. While at the restaurant, I got to use the squatty-potty for the first time and managed to do it alright without peeing on myself or my pants...if you haven't done it before, I would imagine it's something like peeing in the woods while camping!!

As we got close to the boat, these guys asked if we wanted to take a picture with their boa constrictor, as if you know me at all, you know how scared I am of snakes, so I took pictures of the other girls with them. I wasn't about to have a snake that could easily kill me wrapped around me for fun!!
And that was the day!! We had such an incredible time and the photos are beautiful, but the memories will last forever!!
If any of you come to visit, we'll do this together! If not, you can experience it vicariously through the photos!

I sure do love you all and miss you!!

P.S. The last picture is of me on the elephant. Yes, I am talking on the cell phone. You cannot stop life from happening when riding elephants. It is a bit ridiculous!! I know...the guides laughed when the phone rang and then when they saw me talking, laughed again. Ah well, we made memories...the guys now have memories too of the Americans who rode elephants and talked on the phone!!