Why Do You Get Up in the Morning?

At about 2:00am last night in the ER I heard a question that has been rolling around in my mind ever since. It was an unlikely setting and an unexpected question. I was eavesdropping, yes eavesdropping, because when you hear something in English you can't help but listen. Besides that we were sitting in close quarters and doing anything to keep ourselves awake. I heard him ask her, a previous acquaintance of his, "What do you get up for in the morning?" In essence, what do you live for? What in your life is worth pressing on for? She didn't answer immediately and he asked, "Is it just selling your art?" And she answered with just a twinge of defensiveness, "Well, I have my teaching, I teach painting." After that the subject was dropped, but my mind dwelt on that.



What do I get up for in the morning? How would I have answered that question? Would I have said that I live to teach my students? Would I have said that I get up because I have a huge to-do list that needs conquering? Would I have said that I don't really know why I get up...it's just something I have to do? Would I have been brave enough to try to explain the true motivation behind my life...would I have been honest enough to admit that sometimes I lose sight of that truth?



Could I explain how my life was given meaning two thousand years ago when a perfect man who was the Son of God died a sinner's death upon rough wood...and that when He did that He saw me? Could I explain that although I was just as lost as everyone born into this dark world a gracious Savior redeemed my pitiful life. He clothed me in His righteousness...a gift that I could never earn or deserve. Would I have the words to say that I live to know Him...that everyday is an opportunity to walk with Him? That the life He leads me on is an adventure...one that is not always certain but is always secure. That I follow His voice and I turn when He tells me to, that my life is not my own. That I am so thankful I have a higher purpose than myself or my dreams. Would he understand that I'm a bond servant by choice to the King of the universe? That my days, hours, minutes, and seconds are for His glory.



I myself am only beginning to understand these truths and beginning to grasp the blessed fact that nothing in this life is because of my adequacy or power...all of it is by His surpassing power, by His mercy, by His strength. Which is truly good news for me.

Depraved Indifference

These are powerful words...life changing actually.

The Least That's Due

Befriended, befriended by the King above all kings
Surrendered, surrendered to the friend above all friends
Invited, invited deep into this mystery
Delighted, delighted by the wonders I have seen
This will be my story
This will be my song
You’ll always be my Savior, Jesus
You will always have my heart
Astounded, astounded that Your gospel beckoned me
Surrounded, surrounded but I’ve never been so free
Determined, determined now to live this life for You
You're so worthy my greatest gift would be the least You’re due"

This is a beautiful song by Matt Redman and when I heard it last month for the first time, it just about brought me to tears. Especially the line, "You're so worthy my greatest gift would be the least You're due." You know, sometimes I get consumed with the weight of sacrifice or the cost of following Jesus. Well...what I consider weight and cost. Recently, I realized the gift I hold out in shaking arms thinking "Lord this is my everything, this is my all, this is the most I can give" that huge (in my eyes) gift, it's the least He is due. How I owe so much more, how I wish I could give so much more. Yet I know He receives my minuscule gift...my life... and He promises to refine, to purify, and to strengthen it until it is a gift fit for a King. What grace, what love.

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.

***

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.