Taste and See...

Taste. A short word that came up in my mind several times today.
One obvious reason being that today was Thanksgiving and every American knows that large quantities of yummy food are a trademark of the holiday. Thanksgiving today was very different than any other in my past. Today it was celebrated in two languages in a country far from home with many friends who had never had a Thanksgiving before. For the first time since stepping into Thailand we shared a big part of our culture with our Thai, Filipino, and Scottish friends. Throughout our meal the Thai word for "taste" or "try" was used repeatedly. It was said to help convince our friends to experience the goodness of mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato casserole, turkey, olives, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie, among other things. And try they did, sometimes producing a smile and sometimes producing a grimace.
The second reason the word "taste" was on my mind was because of 1 Peter 2:3. "Certainly you have tasted that the Lord is good." While reading that this morning I thought, "I have tasted mashed potatoes and I know they are good, but why would someone write about tasting the goodness or kindness of the Lord?" Then another verse, Psalm 34:8 came to mind. "Taste and see that the Lord is good." Since today was a day of feasting I thought I would research some on these two verses that have never really made sense to me. According to e-Sword, the authors in the Bible are writing about their personal experience. They are saying, "I have been helped, I have been protected, I have been taught, I have been loved by the Lord and I want you to experience it too." They were sure that whoever "tasted" or "experienced" trusting in the Lord would be sure to see His goodness as well. It is like what we did with our Thai friends. We said, "I have tried this I know it is delicious and I want you to experience it as well." The only difference is that whereas food sometimes disappoints, God never does. So... as Thanksgiving (or "day of thanking God" as it means in Thai) is ending in Thailand and just beginning in the States, taste. Taste the mouth-watering food that reminds us all of home and family but do not forget to taste and experience that the Lord is good and then thank Him for it.

Mangos

Recently, one of our routines has been centered around a certain yellow (or sometimes green) fruit. After a long day at school we would come home, get out our mangoes and knives, and sit around our table sharing the sweet but sometimes sour fruit and things from our sweet but sometimes sour lives. One day last week as we sat eating our mangoes we discovered that as we get farther away from mango season the mangoes become less satisfying. The next time we shared mangoes we discovered that yet again the taste was somewhat bitter and unsatisfying. We were quite disappointed because we have tasted delicious mangoes and we know how good they can be. While this was happening I started comparing mangoes to life that we live on earth. Sometimes, life is bitter or unsatisfying and deep inside we know that is not how life is supposed to be. And sometimes we even try tasting again and are baffled at why we are still unsatisfied. I have been reading a book entitled Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper and I would like to quote something he wrote.

"Christ has come into this mutinous world, which he made for his own glory, and paid for an amnesty with his own blood. Everyone who lays down the weaponry of unbelief will be absolved from all crimes against the Sovereign of the universe. By faith alone enemies will become happy subjects of an everlasting kingdom of justice and joy. Advancing this cause with Christ is worth your life."

The words he used portray to me the seriousness of sin against God, but the story does not end there. Christ paid for our crimes with His own blood. All we have to do is believe. Once believing we enter into God's kingdom of justice and joy. The previous four sentences are worth both living and dying for. And that is where life becomes satisfying, when we live and die for the purpose we were created for and realize that Christ alone can satisfy. Only by living the life Christ intends for us are we "eating the best mangoes." Piper wrote that once we come face to face with the reality of Christ and what He paid for us we "can't go on with business as usual -- doing your work, making your money, giving your tithe, eating, sleeping, playing, and going to church." Instead he urges that we "...pray and think about how your particular time and place in life fits into the great purpose of God to make the nations glad in Him." That does not mean that Christians must leave secular work to be missionaries because it is clear that God places most Christians in secular work as a mission and for His glory. And just being a missionary does not guarantee that you are being intentional about making the nations glad in Christ. Living wholeheartedly for Christ, being satisfied in Him, and living and dying to make Him known where we are at are ways we can make the most of life. Even sitting here thinking about Piper's words and the Gospel, I am convicted. When I ask myself, "Am I doing all God wants me to do to make the nations glad in Him? Am I showing others by my life that Christ is all satisfying? Am I living like I truly believe that dying for Christ is better than life?" My honest answer to those questions must surely be "no." Oh, how I long to make those words true and evident in my life. In short, mangoes have become to me a reminder that Christ alone can satisfy. When I see one my heart is redirected to focus on the one who in giving His life gave me life and the importance of making much of Him in everything.

Loy Krathong (Festival of Fire)

Loy Krathong is a three day festival in November around the time of the full moon. There are several activities which occur during the festival. People will often make boats out of banana leaves and decorate them with beautiful flowers. When they send the boats down the river they are symbolizing letting go of their sins and/or sending bad spirits away. A similar activity involves lighting "lanterns" of fire and releasing them into the sky, also sending away sins. One of the favorite activities is setting off large of amounts of US illegal fireworks in public streets, bridges, neighborhoods, or wherever. People have been setting off fireworks for several weeks now. They go all day and into the night making it kind of sound like we are in a war zone. A lot of the fireworks last night were definitely Fourth of July quality (set off about ten feet away from us... we moved quickly.)

Before...

After... (Those are supposed to be floating in the sky at that point.)

The colored lanterns didn't do so well, only two of ours actually ascended into the sky. Others, as you can see, ended up burning in the street. As we were getting ready to launch the lanterns a crowd started to gather (maybe they foresaw our doom). As we started to wonder if our lanterns were ever going to rise more people kept coming. We tried to throw them into the air, but one went up up and then down down. Thankfully the guy it almost hit was one of the crowd watching us and he was able to push it into the air. At one point Ooy was trying to push the lantern into the air with the fused end of a long firework stick. Yup. We were quite the show. Thankfully, we witnessed other people's lanterns dive bomb the crowd, get stuck on power lines and light poles, and be doused with water puddled on the side of the road. Whoever thought a holiday with large quantities of fire and fireworks anywhere and set off by anybody was a good idea was pii baa (crazy).

This was part of a float that was in a parade in Chiang Mai city last night.

This is the Ping River, we are standing on the bridge which was one of the biggest firework hot spots.

A view of one of the inside of one of the lanterns. The outer rims get super hot while you hold it waiting for it to rise.

One of the floats in the parade.

This was our trial run from Sunday night, which actually went way better than the real thing.

This was a scary moment, our lantern got caught on the power line, rolled toward the house, got stuck under the ledge of the house and power line, floated up a little and got wedged between the power lines. Sarah and our outrageously long wooden broom saved our house (and the neighborhood) from burning down.

The Best (Weirdest) Halloween Ever!

For Halloween our new friend Kyndell suggested that we carve pumpkins. We thought that was a terrific idea and decided we would go to a market, buy some pumpkins, and take them home and carve them. At the market we decided that since there are not really any "normal" pumpkins in Thailand we would get an assortment of fruits and vegetables to carve. We came home with a bell pepper, watermelon, squash, pumpkin, and Thai cucumber. These are our finished creations!
In the process of gutting the "pumpkins."

Spooky...

The watermelon (the mom of the group)

(Thai cucumber, the grandma) Yeah, we didn't think it looked like a cucumber either.

At the end of the night as we sat around by the light of the "pumpkins" eating pumpkin seeds (from the only one that actually was a pumpkin) I had a strong "I'm home" feeling. The feeling of being thankful that, even though being in Thailand will never be as good as being in the States, it still can feel like home.

Snapshots from our Life

Our co-teacher told us about this Ice Cream Buffet near our church. He was surprised we had never been there considering how much we like ice cream. So today for lunch (yes for lunch) Amy, Sarah, and I went and had all we could eat ice cream with toppings (sauces, cookies, sprinkles, cereal, etc.) for 50 baht (about a $1.50).

We had dinner at a friend's (from the States) house. She made delicious taco salad with things we don't get to eat very much like sour cream, cheese, salsa, etc.

Sarah, Amy, and I at a Thai restaurant on the water when Misty's mom was in town. We got to feed the fishes (not the ones we ate though).

Brittany, Amy, I drinking our coffee from a bag. While at the school one day over vacation (just the three of us were working) we decided to build some community relationships. We walked up and down the road using our broken Thai to ask for iced coffee. At the very end of the road we were successful. Brittany and I didn't drink ours very fast so we ended up putting the bags of coffee into an upside-down toilet paper holder so that we didn't have to hold them. Very ingenius if you ask me.

This is the pagoda dedicated to the Queen that is at the top of Doi Inthanon, the highest spot in Thailand.

Miss Congeniality?

Here is the funny story of the week (that has been the ongoing joke all week as well.) On Monday while at lunch, Khruu Ooy said that she wanted me to be in a beauty pageant for the Loy Krathong festival that is coming up. Amm (our communication liaison i.e. translator) explained what Ooy had said. They explained a little bit and we all laughed thinking it was pretty funny. It wasn't until a couple of minutes later that I discovered that they were not joking one bit. I believe it is ironic how the Thai idea of beauty is so different than the American idea. We came up with a slogan: blonde, blue, height, white. They were banking on the fact that my super white skin would win the contest. The "bank" was a major draw for the contest; winners received a lot of money. After trying to tell them I thought a beauty pageant sounded like cruel and unusual punishment Ooy informed me that I had two days to decide. For the next few days my roommates and I discussed the crazy idea. We decided that one of us should do it, but none of us wanted to be that one. After many jokes and some not so brilliant ideas (one involving taking pictures in a lime green dress with our landlord's extremely unique lime green "sports" car and another being the idea that I wear a traditional Mexican outfit (instead of traditional Thai dress) since I'm from New Mexico. Therefore, I would be an American wearing a Mexican outfit in a Thai beauty pageant) we decided that this year we would go watch the pageant if it looked benign we would consider doing it next year. Actually, we are hoping that everyone forgets about it by next year so we do not have to come up with another way to politely decline.

Looking Up

Life is moving at a much slower pace now than at the beginning. At first I struggled immensely with that fact. However, I am starting to see the blessings of our situation. When moving to a foreign country for service I expected to be constantly busy doing good things. At the beginning life was very much as I thought it should be. After many changes and disappointments I began to be disillusioned. I thought: "If we have come so far why are we not doing more, why are we just wasting time?" I'd like to share some things I've been learning.

First, God often does not move quickly. I read last night a quote from the Encounters with God Bible by Blackaby. He said that perhaps God isn't so much waiting on time as He is waiting for a heart that is ready to fully obey as soon as the answer comes.

Second, just because things do not appear to be working out that does not mean that God has ceased working. It is easy to say that, but hard to believe what we can not see. I guess that is why faith is so difficult.

Third, with a different perspective this time has now become a blessing. I am thankful for the extra time to spend in the Word and with the Lord. During this time we are making preparations for next school year. These preparations are not interesting but are necessary and I, therefore, must remind myself to work wholeheartedly even when writing a teacher's handbook. (The upside is that since I'm writing the handbook I can make any rules I want. My roommate thought it would be funny to include that teachers must enter beauty pageants for community service, but that is a different story.) We are actively seeking and planning how to best reach the community. It is also possible that we will receive training on community outreach and information pertinent for working with children. We might also be able to continue working with the children that were attending our school by tutoring or other activities. We are also looking into working in Thai government schools teaching English for the semester. I realized the other day that part of my frustration with our work for this next semester revolved around the fact that I felt highly incompetent and unprepared for some of the work I may end up doing. The realization of this fact caused me begin praying that God would prepare my heart for whatever work I would be asked to do and that He would enable me to do each job well so that I will glorify Him.

Besides, today I can say that I watched a Scottish English teacher and a Thai secretary play a fascinating game with rubber bands. I saw a huge frog that looked as if he had been burnt (maybe he narrowly escaped becoming someone's dinner). I also learned how to drive a manual motorcycle (just in case ;)) And had time to download sermons from my old church in Lubbock. (Today is the last day of vacation before 2nd semester starts, therefore, only a limited about of staff is here today and no new projects were started.) Big praise: we had one of our team members who had left rejoin us today. Our situation is not much different but with a better attitude things are looking up.