Little Lessons

Well another week is finished. They just seem to fly by. I don't even remember most of what happened but I am very thankful for the weekend. This week has been one of small victories that encourage us through the days. We are learning that most things do not work when you need them to and that nothing goes as planned. I've been reading a little book called God Alone (a book of devotions) that was a gift from a good friend back home. Everyday has been a devotion that feels as if it was written specifically for whatever situation I am facing. The first day's idea was that our fruitfulness for God is dependent on our fellowship with Him. There is so much to be done here that I feel very overwhelmed. I also have a hard time knowing that results do not happen overnight. Two themes that keep popping up are: faithfulness, perseverance, and dependence on God are all necessary for us to see fruit and that fruit grows slowly and little by little. I'm learning to rejoice in the small things and to say "may pen ray" (that's alright) to the numerous little things.
The highlights for this week would have to be the relationships that we are building. Sunday we spent some time with another ministry team that is mainly from Australia. Their ministry is really an encouragement to us and we enjoy getting to know them. This week we have also been making great steps in our relationships with our Thai teaching partners. They have always been generous and kind, but communicating is difficult since they speak only a little English and speak even less Thai. On Wednesday after school Khru Oi (the third grade teacher) invited us to go eat ice cream at Big C. She drove us in her car and we did a quick shopping trip for school supplies.(Big C is a grocery store that is kinda of like a mall with restaurants and additional shops) Then we went to this delicious ice cream shop that we had never been to. When we tried to head home the car had trouble starting but did start just enough that we could back out into the way of other cars before it died again. So we all hopped out and pushed it back into the parking spot where a nice stranger fixed it for us. (At least we were with Khru Oi who was able to ask for help.) She also invited us to go to the talaat (market) with her this weekend. On Thursday she spent some time at our house in the evening which was enjoyable. My teaching partners Khru Pat and Khru Pear have been very kind as well. We are starting to be able to communicate a little better and are enjoying each others company.
Side note: Sarah and I flagged down the ice cream cart/motorcycle vendor yesterday. We each bought a container of ice cream just for fun. Mine actually had milk powder and some calcium (most ice cream is not made of milk or anything dairy).

Funny story for the week (which actually happened a week or two ago)
One of my students has CP and manages to get around quite well but still has some challenges while at school. He has such a sweet spirit and is very smart. One day when he went to the teacher's bathroom (which he uses because it is more accessible) he locked both latches on the door even though one of our English speaking teachers was just outside waiting for him. This student suddenly started calling out for Daniel to save him from a snake. So Daniel (in his own words) said he pictured this huge snake coming out of the toilet about to attack our student. So Daniel, like a superhero, kicked the door in and witnessed a small worm slowly crawling towards our student. I just thought you would get a kick out of one of our stories about our students/school.