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.

Psalm 103:1-5

Snapshots of Dani's Visit!

About fifteen days ago I counted down the hours until my friend Dani was to arrive at Chiang Mai International Airport. I was super excited for her visit and had a really great time while she was here! This is the friend who when I was about nine invited me to a "ball" at my house, the start of a fantastic friendship which has been a huge blessing to me for the last fourteen years. This is the friend who has understood, encouraged, and laughed with me during some good times and bad. In our younger days, we would get a Wal-mart cake and just eat it off the platter with our two forks. We would play dress-up and run around the forest barefoot in winter pretending to be orphans. We took road trips together, travelled to Europe together, and spent countless holidays together. Now we are all grown up, she is married, and we live on different continents but she is the type of friend that when we get together things are just the same as they were when we were young. The twelve days she spent here created so many new memories. I'll always remember when we...

Travelled to Holland...well the Holland in the Royal Flora anyway

Took a bazillion pictures at the Huai Nam Dang National Forest

Sipped lattes at Coffee in Love

Spent the morning in Chinatown...in Thailand

Took a short road trip with Khruu Ooy including a stop at the WWII Memorial Bridge

Shared some of my favorite foods

Drank chocolate milk at one of the four auto mechanic shops we spent time at

Climbed up the waterfall and weren't sure how to get down

Visited temples

Consumed several Starbucks beverages (thanks for that!)

Rode that elephant

Spent time with my roommates

Allowed fish to eat our feet

Braved flying through the jungle on zip lines

Shopped at Walking Street

Thank you for visiting friend! I had a wonderful time, I'm thankful for the laughs, the conversations, and the memories.

Children of Light

Our school this year is super small...which I love. One of my favorite things about the smallness of the school is the close knit group of students that has been created. We have thirteen students and it isn't uncommon to see sweet scenes such as the following:

The fifth grade boy racing a first grade girl...

The fourth grade girl giving a piggy-back ride to a first grade girl...

Brother and sister laughing together...

Girls from every grade being silly together...



The whole school chasing some poor frogs around the pond area...

These pictures represent to me something beautiful...life lived together. Not caring about the distinctions of age, or economic class, or religion. One of my prayers for these precious students is "for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord." Ephesians 5:8-10

I pray that in living life together with us they may desire to come out of the darkness that claims their country, into the Light of our loving Father. I pray that together we would all learn what is pleasing to the Lord that we may glorify Him.

In His Steps

Have you ever read the book In His Steps by Charles M. Sheldon? It is the story of the courageous people of a church who take the pledge to not make any decision or take any action for a year without first asking, "What would Jesus do?" And yes, I know the WWJD craze that swept through Christian circles years ago. But seriously, what would happen if the businessmen, teachers, engineers, construction workers in churches seriously made this pledge and stuck to it? One of the main premises of this book is the idea that following Christ should cost something. The idea that many Christians live a life of faith as long as it is convenient to them, as long as it turns a blind eye to their pet sins or somewhat questionable lifestyles or business practices. The question of: if following Christ became inconvenient, if it became painful, if it caused physical material loss...what would you choose? Would you choose to walk away? Or would you choose to walk in His steps?

Sheldon uses 1 Peter 2:21 as the basis for his book. The thought that Jesus is our example and that in doing the right thing He often chose the hard thing, the thing which people did not understand, or the thing for which He was ridiculed. Should our lives not reflect His, as He is our example? "For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps."

The following two quotes from the book have given me much to think about.

"The bishop found his heart sinking within him as he faced this fact: that men would give money who would not think of giving themselves. And the money they gave did not represent any real sacrifice because they did not miss it. They gave what was easiest to give, what hurt them the least. Where did the sacrifice come in? Was this following Jesus? Was this going with Him all the way?"

"...If our definition of being a Christian is simply to enjoy the privileges of worship, be generous at no expense to ourselves, have a good easy time surrounded by pleasant friends and by comfortable things, live respectably, and at the same time avoid the world's great stress of sin and trouble because it is too painful, if this is our definition of Christianity, then surely we are a long way from following the steps of Him who trod the way with tears of anguish for a lost humanity; who sweat as it were great drops of blood; who cried out on the upreared cross, 'My God! My God! Why hast thou forsaken me'?"

The call to follow in Christ's steps is not an easy one, and when I truly examine my own life I see the selfish desire to give, but not to the point where I lack. To serve, but not to the point of exhaustion. To go, but not go to the "worst" places. To love, but not to the point where it breaks my heart. To surrender my will but clench just a little thread of desire in my closed fist. I see how pitiful my efforts really are...and yet I'm reminded that the mighty God who created the universe and holds it together, daily reaches down into my life and meets with me in a personal way. His word says, "The God of peace...equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever." (Hebrews 13:21) What a relief that it is God who equips and works in us, we just have to step out in obedience to His call to follow in His steps.

I've had to ask myself the following questions this week. Is this step/action/word/choice following the pattern of Jesus or it is at its root selfish? Am I considering the consequences to myself more highly than the heart of Jesus? Am I half-heartedly doing what I know appears right when I know in my heart that God is asking for much more? Do I hesitate to act because I'm concerned for my comfort? Am I like Lot's wife looking back at all I've left not quite willing to face the uncertain future?

Walking daily in Christ's steps requires a brutal honest look at ourselves. It entails absolute, swift obedience. It demands total surrender. It necessitates risk. It bears a high cost. BUT "We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and merciful." (James 5:11)