The Light of the World

     All the posts on here are not in the exact order that they actually happened. I am trying to keep it as organized as I can but its just not perfect. Anyhow a few weeks back we were at Martins for Thursday night worship and family night. We were sitting around playing games when one of the children came in a told us the neighbors were letting off lanterns. 

     The night we got into Thailand was a holiday called Loy Krathong. Its a time when people float boats and lanterns and ask that their troubles would be taken from them and life would be filled with happiness and ease. It is very much an ungodly holiday but its beautiful. 

     Martin's neighbors were just letting them off because they are so beautiful and lots of fun. All the children got to help let them off. They work like a hot air balloon. 

I think by the time it was all done there were around 12 lanterns let off. It reminded me that Jesus is the light of the world. We should all let our lanterns shine and share Jesus with others. He is the TRUE LIGHT OF THE WORLD!!! 

Fever No More

     The last two days have been very unpleasant by my standards. I have spent them sleeping, tossing and turning, reading, and feeing down right horrid. Somewhere, somehow I picked up a bug. It all started out the afternoon of Thanksgiving.

     We had been cordially invited to attend the IGo Thanksgiving Super. Because I spend ALL morning updating my blog for my Mama dearest I did not eat lunch until 2ish. However, In no way am I blaming this illness on her. Anyhow after I got done eating lunch I noticed I did not feel very good. Deciding a nap was in order before the evening, and thinking it would help me feel better, I laid down my head.

     When I got up I was feeling any better. Many times when getting ready to be with a group of people I don’t know my stomach feels a bit odd. I thought perhaps this was all that was wrong. Against my better judgment I went to super. The whole time I started feeling worse and worse.

     Once I got home I went straight to bed. Only sleep was not on the agenda for the night. I’m sure at some point I slept, but I felt like most of the night was spend trying to get comfortable. It seemed like I had just fallen asleep when Cindy came and got me up. (We don’t have alarm clocks, so whenever everyone else is up they come and get me up). I told Cindy I had not slept well and asked if it was ok for me to sleep in a while longer. She was so sweet and said that was fine.

     When I finally got up I thought maybe I was better. I broke the fast and then sat outside reading with some of the children. When I started feeling dizzy and like I was going up-chuck I went inside and told Cindy I needed to go to bed. There was some laundry that needed to be hung outside so I did that first.

Of course this was all happening on the day Cindy had offered to keep Martin and Rachel’s Children. I felt so bad to be leaving her with not six but nine children, laundry, lunch to fix, and a dirty house. Cindy is such a sweetie and took it all fine.

     My whole day was basically spend sleeping until dear Marci came to check on me. Dinah had told her I was sick. She was headed to town and offered to bring me back some sprite and charcoal pills. Once I took them I felt much better. However, I was so cold. It seemed like I could do nothing to get warm. Wrapped up in my hoodie, pj pants, sheet, and fuzzy green blanket I’m sure I was quit the sight. Every time someone came in my room they told me I must have a fever because my room was hot and stuffy!

     Praise the Lord during the night my fever broke. I am still weak and tired but my belly is feeling so much better. I’m able to eat a little, and finally warm. The most disappointing thing is that today we were all supposed to go to the elephant show. When the children get back I am sure they will be willing to tell me all about it!

     Please pray that God will continue to heal me and that no one else will pick up what ever I had. It was not fun to be sick away from home! I am so thankful for Cindy and Marcie and the kind care they offered me!

Children of Compassion

     Saturday we all piled onto motorbikes, and into the van and headed to the CLC bookstore where Martin spends sometime working. Once there we got into a second van and headed north. A few times as we were driving I really thought I was going to upchuck. We were driving very fast on roads with many twists, turns, ups, downs, zooming on the gas and slamming on the brakes.

However, the view was amazing. This was the first time we had been out of the city. On the way up we stopped at this little village that had produce stands set up along the road. We just pulled over and put our windows down and told them what we wanted. It was a darling little place.

     We drove for about and hour and a half. Along the way we saw many awesome sights. The mountain was probably my favorite. I took so many photographs of it. Seeing God’s artistic hand is always a joy for me. He is so creative and it seems like nothing is exactly alike. 

I lift up my eyes to the hills...

From where does my help come? 

My help comes from the Lord... 

who made heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1-2  ESV

 Because we were driving, many of my other photos of the neat stuff we saw did not turn out. Something we saw that was cool was the rice fields being burnt. After the harvest I guess they burn them down before planting again.

  Here in Thailand, coffee shops are a huge deal. They can be found EVERYWHERE!!! In fact it seems like there are more here then in the USA. We have the main ones like Starbucks, but here they have many, many little privately owned ones. Mom, you would LOVE it!

Playing rock, paper, scissors before lunch

     Shortly after we got to the home it was time for lunch. All of the children were so darling! They served us a very yummy lunch. It was different than anything I have had, nevertheless it was good and filling. 

This little guy was so cute. I think he was hungry!

The white balls are pork

What it looked like after the broth was poured over it

Waiting in line for food

Our table

Most of you know I have a love for kiddos. It was no different with these children. They were so sweet and loving. If you ever want to feel loved beyond measure you need to take a trip to an orphanage. Most of the children want love so much, that they will just hug and hang all over anyone who visits. This is not something that is considered a good thing psychologically but it sure makes me feel the love of God.

Lots of hugs for/from all the kiddos

1,2,3...

...JUMP

All the cloths hanging out to dry

The family in the middle are in charge of the home

     A few days back Shane had an opportunity to meet the governor of Chaing Mia. During this visit the Governor gave Shane a card with his personal information. He told Shane to use the card if he had any trouble with the police while on our visit to Thailand. Shane stuck the card in his wallet and decided to use it should anything come up. We all thought it was a bit funny, and why would it ever be needed, but it was nice to have anyway. So, on our way home from the Compassion Home there was a police check point. Our van load, Shane, Cindy, Hunter, Lacy, Nikita, Brandy, Aspen, Dinah, and I, got pulled over. When we got to the first man he wanted to see Shane’s international driving license. Well, none of us got idl so he did not have one to give. Shane, seeing this as a wonderful opportunity, pulled out he WA driving license, and his trump card…the one the Governor gave him. He then explained how the Governor was his friend. The man who stopped us did not know much English so we were waved up to the next man. He asked for a passport and idl. Shane again gave his WA ID and the Governor’s card. Guess what….we were allowed to go right on through with no problems. It just goes to show that knowing people in power can be a good thing.  

Its in english and Thai

All of the lettering is done in gold