Mouse...Really?

Being in Thailand I have done many things I never thought I would do or could do, and tonight was another random one.

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I grew up in the mountains and there were always mice...not a big deal. Sometimes frightening sometimes pitiful they were just a fact of life. Last year about this time we had a creepy Christmas mouse that visited our house for the holidays and terrorized us by jumping on us from the cabinet, eating our food, and taunting us by running around our house while we tried to capture it. Needless to say in the end we were victorious even though a few geckos did die in the process.

***

Fast forward to this year...

Our washing machine has flooded our back room twice, sure the room needed mopping, but sweeping out the water is not my favorite way to spend an evening. After the first time we noticed the hose that drains the washing machine was chewed up and laying on the ground. Our suspicion was that the descendant of last year's Christmas mouse had returned to haunt us. However, we called the landlady and she sent some repair men to fix the problem. Our conversation with them went something like this:

Nice repairmen: "Badikadk akd akdj kadlk."
Me: {I don't recognize those words but I'm sure it has to be another way to ask what's wrong with the washing machine...maybe it's Northern Thai.} "Naam auk." (Translation: water comes out.)
Nice repairmen: "Aldkajdfk akdlfakd lakdjie." (Translation: Yeah, the hose came out of the wall...that makes water come on the floor.)
Me: "Chi, dia khit waa... sat kin." (Yes, I see that but I think the hose is eaten by an animal.)
Nice repairmen: "Nuu." (Translation: mouse)
Me: "Chi." (Yes.)
Nice repairmen: "Khray auck kadl?" (Translation: Which one of you pulled the hose out of the wall?)
Me: "May mii khray." (We didn't do it. )
Nice repairmen: "Pen luuk." (Translation: It must have been your child.)
Me: {Should I explain that we don't have children?... No...} Pause...
Nice repairmen: "Ban haa pen array?" (Translation: What is actually wrong with the machine?)
Me: "Naam auck." (Haven't we established the fact that the water comes out, flooding this room?)
Nice repairmen: "Akdjfad daklkdj idaokjf?" (Translation: So there isn't anything wrong with the machine?"
Me: (Other than the fact that the. water. comes. out. no.)
Nice repairmen: Look at us strangely, stick the hose back into the wall and say goodbye. As they are walking out the door we heard them commenting about us. "Dalok lee dii jai." (Translation: They were funny and nice.)
Us: Did we really just have that conversation, and how stupid do we feel right now?

***

The liquid sloshing around our feet after the next time we did laundry confirmed that yes, merely sticking the hose back in the wall was not super helpful.

***

Then tonight...we get home from Bible Study and my roommate asks, "Did one of you put an apple behind the washing machine?" Answer: "Of course, we love to store apples behind the washing machine." We all go look behind the machine and yes there is an almost half eaten apple sitting behind the washer next the troublesome hose. The thoughts start rolling from there. "How in the world did an apple get behind there?" "Did we have one on the table in the other room and did a mouse really dribble the it all the way in here to its favorite entrance point?" "How big is this thing anyway?" After a little while of being completely disgusted by the thought of what must have happened...we came up with a plan.

***

Plan A:
Put peanut butter and mouse poison on the little edge inside a plastic water bottle.
Jam the water bottle into the hole the washing machine hose keeps getting knocked out of.
Place paint bucket behind the water bottle to help keep it in place.
Hope that what...? The mouse eats the poison and dies in our wall? The water bottle stays in place? I don't know. I'm not sure what to do about the hose which is now almost entirely eaten by whatever this hungry creature is. Maybe we'll just call the super helpful repairmen again...it was such fun the first time around...

Doi Inthanon

November 26th. The day after we made thankful turkeys with our kids. The day after we gathered together with an unlikely assortment of people to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner. The day we spent on a special trip with Nida, the 4th grade Thai teacher and her family. She invited us to travel to Doi Inthanon, the mountain on which she and her husband grew up and still call home. We had a wonderful day visiting waterfalls, pagodas, villages, and the highest spot in Thailand. We thoroughly enjoyed a picnic at the base of a waterfall, seeing the little shop in her cousin's village where they weave beautiful creations, and buying fresh vegetables from a local stand. We are so thankful to have been able to spend the day with these friends and feel privileged to be given a glimpse into the land they call home.

These are just a few memories from the day. Click on the picture to enlarge the pictures.

Thanksgiving Thoughts

Thanksgiving...what a beautiful concept...such a necessary one at that. It is all too easy to get caught up in what is not going right (like when it is nearly impossible to find potatoes in the city of Chiang Mai, or when it's 9:00 at night and the propane runs out only half-way through the Thanksgiving preparation for the next day and the washing machine simultaneously floods the back room again) and dwell on how life is hard and the narrow way we desire to tread is sometimes difficult to discern.

In teaching my kids this week about thankfulness I would ask them throughout the day, "What are you thankful for?" They would reply with different things but one of my girl's favorite replies was "I am thankful for ALL TOGETHER." Reminding me that everything the Lord allows in our lives is for our good, and every good and perfect gift is from above. One of the Hope International School board members was here for a visit last week and during a meeting with him reviewing the past year my boss uttered words of wisdom. He said, "It was a blessing to have been beaten so severely." Replaying those words over in my mind I see how true they are. Last year would I have called our trials a blessing? No way. Thinking about it now can I see how the Lord used that time to grow us, strengthen us, and bond us together? Yes, it is clear to see His hand throughout those dark nights.

While His hand is with us through trying times His hand is still with us during the times of calm. During those moments when you think, "I'm in the right place." Like this afternoon, when my newest student came home with us before we headed out to meet her parents at our boss's home for Thanksgiving dinner. We had to throw together our mashed potatoes (cooked at school since the propane ran out), green bean casserole, and bread. In the midst of the hurry I noticed her gazing at our miniature nativity resting on our coffee table. As we sat in the glow of our little Christmas tree, by the look of wonder on her face I would guess the first she had ever seen, I was reminded of a Mary of long ago who sat at the feet of Jesus in the flesh amid the hustle and bustle. As we sat at the feet of a small figurine intended to remind us of the baby who was born to save us, I knew there was nowhere else I would rather be than sitting with her sharing about Christ by reenacting the Christmas story with the little figures.

How thankful am I that He came, that He suffered and died for us, and that today He calls us to to follow Him and be saved. How thankful I am that He is with us in the midst of our everyday difficulties granting us strength. How thankful I am that He is gifting us everyday with His presence, goodness, mercy, and peace.

School of Promise Video

This is the fantastic new School of Promise promotion video. I hope it gives you a glimpse of the mission and vision of Hope International Schools and the School of Promise. I hope you enjoy seeing the beautiful faces of the students and hearing from some of the teachers.

Photo Shoot

Our talented Miss Brittany took some great photos of our students for several projects including Christmas gifts for each child's family. I thought I'd share with you these beautiful faces and just ask that you would pray for them if you think about it. Pray for their families, their understanding of the Gospel, their education, their soft hearts, their dreams, their futures.

She is very athletic…

She is super artistic…

She loves to dance…

He loves to be funny…

She loves to help…

She is a thinker…

One Thousand Gifts

One Thousand Gifts...

I just wanted to share with you this idea I got from a blog by a woman named Ann Voskamp.

"When gratitude is bound by circumstances, lives are bound to bitterness."
~Ann Voskamp

Hence the endeavor to create a list of one thousand gifts from the Lord that you are thankful for, everything from the ordinary to the extraordinary. Please check out her encouraging blog and read her thoughts on thankfulness. Just click the picture below to get started.

A Sample of Gifts on My List...

1. Small, warm brown hands slipping unexpectedly and quietly into mine.

13. New music in a language I understand after months of listening to the same thing.

14. Hot triple berry muffins fresh from the new gift of an oven with sweet hot coffee.

38. Bible study with godly women who speak with different accents, claim different places as home, but all love the same Lord who has brought us to this land.

52. My precious princesses, who twirl and spin not caring who is watching.
58. Conversations with random strangers that encourage and brighten my day.

"Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks
to the Lord, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting."
Psalm 106:1

Orphan Sunday

Orphan Sunday... what does that mean?

The point of orphan Sunday is to bring awareness to the plight of the orphans around the world. I have no eloquent words to share the hearts of the orphans I have come to love and I have no great wisdom or solutions on how to rescue them all, yet in this tiny way that I can I would like to remind you that they are here. I would like to tell you how beautiful they are, how their hearts are dying to be loved, I would like to remind you that they have walked through greater pain than anyone should ever have to know. I want you to hear their cries. Some, some have been rescued yet many, too many are still out there. Still trying to make it on their own, still working to pay for their parent's debts, still washing their own laundry by hand in the dark of the morning. They are still going to school to become monks because where else would they be fed and clothed. They are still kept out of school because they have lice and there is no one to treat them. Babies still lie on hot concrete bridges with a plastic bottle for a pillow while their "guardian" begs money. Still they don't have a momma to cuddle them and a daddy to protect them or someone to teach them about the Lord. Still.

I just want you to know. The knowledge of suffering children is heavy and it's heartbreaking. But I think that the Lord sometimes us allows us a glimpse of His pain and suffering on behalf of these little ones whom He desperately loves so that we can act on their behalf. Something should be done...someone should stand up...will it be you?

Please know that I don't claim to have this figured out, its a question I struggle with just about every day. I think the problem comes when we cease that struggle, when the least of these slip out of our minds and out of our hearts and we just do nothing.

I thought I would post some links to blogs from women who daily love orphans and teach them about the Lord. I hope you enjoy hearing from these women who are an encouragement to me.

http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2010/11/orphan-cr/ - A momma of seven...four of whom are adopted... and her views on orphan Sunday.

http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2010/10/one-girl/ - Info on the sponsorship program for the beautiful girls from Breanna's house who have captured my heart.

http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/ - Stories from a woman in Africa (a couple years younger than me) who is momma to thirteen precious girls.

http://www.incourage.me/2010/11/a-christmas-card-drive-of-epic-proportions.html - A practical way to love some wonderful Compassion children in Ecuador.

My Cup Runneth Over

It's November, Thanksgiving and Christmas are on their way. Cooler weather is here, I'm freezing in 68 degrees Fahrenheit. This week I'm pretty sure the earth stopped spinning when my students wanted the fan on because they were hot and I wanted it off because I was too cold. I never thought that day would come.

In this, my favorite time of year as I walked through my days this week I just kept thinking, "My cup runneth over." Here are just a couple reasons why...

During FUN Reading (a time where after I read a story or two the kids all pick books and read for awhile) one of my girls brought me the book, The Day the World Went Wacky." In it a little boy asks why there are bad things in the world and the story explains about Adam and Eve and how they sinned and because of that the world is in sin. It shows that is the reason for pain and suffering. It explains that Christ died to heal the world and give everyone an eternal home. I started reading in English and explaining a bit in Thai because I thought it was important. By the end of the story all of my kids were sitting around me listening intently. Which while I almost always have one or two ask me to read more to them I never end up with them all listening to a story. I prayed that the words they heard made sense and were planted in their hearts. Finishing the story made us late to meet the other classes for a group activity and as we rushed down the hall one of my girls (from a Buddhist family) slipped her hand into mine and said, "I know a song about following Jesus." She softly sang a song that our staff sings in the mornings about walking in the path of Jesus. I pray that she chooses that path for her own life.

Yesterday, my kiddos got a special ice cream treat. They've been working on earning it for several months and they were super excited. So, after the Bible lesson I broke out the ice cream. As they sat at their desks all pushed together with their hands folded nicely waiting quietly I asked who wanted to pray. One of my little girls raised her hand and everyone closed their eyes and bowed their heads. And she prayed...in English..."Thank you God for ice cream. Thank you Miss Emily ten oh yeahs (what they had to earn to get their treat). Thank you God for today, for our milk, and for each other. Amen." Precious.

My new student is a beautiful sweet child who loves to hear Bible stories, who shares heartbreaking stories about her family, and who braves riding in the scary car with three foreign teachers so that she is able to come to school. After school she is a princess twirling and dancing. One of my other students pretends to be the prince, bows low and takes the princesses hand. Then they all burst out laughing. The story continues with make believe princesses and I'm thankful. I pray that these girls know how beautiful they are and that they are daughters of the heavenly King. I pray that their fairy tales are not clouded by the harsh realities they have faced and continue to face. I pray they continue to twirl and laugh and smile with dimples and that they know how loved they are.

As I behold the faces of these children the Lord has given me I wonder, how did I get so blessed?

Jealous Kind

When we share this land with visitors we always show them temples. Why? Because they are an integral part of this culture, because there is one on nearly every corner, and because they make it real. Real that these are people, real people, who pray to a god who cannot hear and plead forgiveness from a god who is not able to redeem. Every time I see hands clutching lotus blossoms for an offering or eyes closed with heads bowed to the floor I know this person doesn't know. They don't know the truth, the hope of Christ and the salvation bought for them through His blood. Please pray that this country would be released from the power of the deception of the enemy. Please pray that they would know the truth and that the truth would set them free.

As I daily pass these temples the words play repeatedly in my mind, "Built another temple to a stranger." The song by Jars of Clay depicts a person (even a Christian) who allows idols in their life, who sets their course to run into danger, who is unfaithful to the Lord. All the while the Lord is jealous in His love for that person...waiting for them to come to Him. The heart of so many cries, "I'd rather feel the pain all too familiar than be broken by a lover I don't understand." Sometimes, it is just too scary to step into the unknown love of the Lord and sometimes we choose to stay seeped in our pain because it is inside of our comfort zone.

We often allow even establish idols in our lives "one hundred other lovers one hundred other alters, if I should slow my pace and finally subject myself to grace and love that shames the wise, betrays the heart's deceit and lies and breaks the back of foolish pride." While we stray and set various things in our lives higher than the Lord, He jealously desires us to come back to Him. No matter how many times we dangerously set up idols or walk away, He is always ready to receive us with grace and love that mortal men just can't understand. To receive His grace and love means that we have to admit we have been deceived and believed lies and that our pride has separated us from Christ. But He is always ready to receive us...when we turn away from our idols, when they turn away, He is waiting.



P.S. If you watch this video on the small screen the quality is okay, but if you watch it on the large screen the quality is pretty poor. I apologize for that. Hope you get a glimpse anyway.