Soil...Who Knew

(after school gardening club...boys love that dirt)


Science class with 4th grade on Tuesday was filled with laughter. Mostly because we were talking about worms (because we just started talking about soil) and one of my girl says, "You know you can make medicine from worms." I'm thinking, really? Isn't that interesting. Then we discuss how her parents make medicine from worms, but city worms are no good because they are dirty, they have to be worms from a particular place. Then my other little mountain boy chimes in with a word in Karen that only one of my kids understands. They tried to work out what word he was thinking of (he couldn't remember it in Thai). Eventually we decide that he is talking about snails. His family makes medicine out of snails. I told them if I got sick I would ask them to make me medicine. They laughed and said, "Oh, we don't know how to make it, we just watch our parents." Apparently making the medicine involves squeezing the creatures in question. I'm not sure though because I think this was the point I directed the conversation back to the actual lesson. During that Science lesson I also learned the best way to catch termites for eating. I asked each of my students if they had ever eaten termites. Only one said that they hadn't. Not gonna lie I was a little grossed out. But mostly it was so funny. Anyone walking by would've thought we were crazy.


My favorite part though was when I asked the students what things we might not have if we didn't have soil. They answered, "houses, food, clothes, etc." But then one boy, the one who thinks he isn't as smart or as good as everyone else answered, "Well, if we didn't have dirt then we wouldn't be here because God made us out of dirt." I was amazed, I hadn't ever thought of that application. Then another student responded, "God did make us out of dirt, but He can do anything so He could have made us out of water if He wanted to. Then we'd all live in the sea!" They never do cease to amaze me.

Student Stories

Please take 5 minutes and watch this new video from the School of Promise. It highlights the stories of three of our students and some ways the Lord is working in their lives through the School of Promise.



I'm so thankful to be back after a great trip to the States. I'm blessed to be a part of these kids lives and thank God for how He is working in all of us. I'm glad to be home where we find a gecko in our sugar bottle, we drive down the road all breathing through one jacket to filter the terrible fumes, and where we shut my roommate's fiance in the bathroom with a flip-flop so he could kill a cockroach. Home sweet home. Seriously though, I am so happy to be back. I missed my kiddos, roommates, friends, and crazy life.

Two Worlds

December is here and Christmas is fast approaching. I've traded my skirts and flip-flops for jeans and scarves. I can understand stranger's conversations (don't worry I try not to eavesdrop). There is Christmas music, decorations, and snow. It seems rather surreal. I have to remind myself to stay on the right side of the road. I'm still surprised when people tell me Merry Christmas! I think the grocery store is like an amusement park with all sorts of strange new things to discover, many of which make me laugh out loud. I'm amazed that there is a kitchen gadget for absolutely everything. I'm confused by the lack of fish sauce and rice. I'm enjoying the potatoes and biscuits and of course green chile on just about everything. I'm thankful for the drive-throughs here, but miss the fact that over there they pump the gas at the station. It's so cold I wish they would do that here.

I miss the little voices who chatter away in Thai and the hugs they give. I miss their smiles and quirks. Yet, I am so thankful for the sweet friends on this side of the world, who don't stop loving even though we're far apart. I'm thankful for the time with them and their wise counsel.

These are two very different cultures, styles, places: the Asian and American. Both with their good and bad and both with people I love. I'm thankful for the time I have in both worlds.

Things I Loved About This Week

(Two of our van kids. It takes us about an hour to get to the last kid's home and more often than not there are some sleepy kids.)


Singing with Viirawit in the school van on the way to and from school in the mornings and afternoons. Talking with him about Bible stories, hearing him tell about Abel sacrificing reindeer (I think he just got confused about the English word) ;). Having him tell me he was on blue.


Driving up to Naamfone's house and seeing her standing out on the road waving at me. Having her hugs and her slipping her tiny hand in mine as we go to the bakery store. Working through metric conversion problems in the store just because we could. The way my heart breaks a little when she tells me not to go visit the States, that I'm her big sister and I need to stay.


Visiting our newest first grader in the hospital. I don't like that he was sick, and I don't really like hospitals but I enjoyed the time with him. Reading, coloring, and practicing English. Remembering how when we dropped him off with an older man in a wheelchair last week he was so enthusiastic about waving to us while pushing the wheelchair that he ran the chair into a pole.


Sitting in our little clinic room and praying with my smallest 3rd grader who was feeling sick this week. I asked him if I could pray and he said yes, so I did and when I opened my eyes his were still closed with his little hands folded.


Watching our 4th, 5th, and 6th graders all brushing their teeth together at the outside sink at our school where we wash our hands. The dentist from the local hospital came and said that our children have very poor teeth and so we now require them to brush their teeth after lunch at school. So funny to watch. The older girls squat hiding in the grass and the boys who try to be so tough and manly just can't keep up that image with the toothpaste around their mouth.


When my third graders asked me, "Why don't your parents just come here if you want to see them?"


The chaos that is the school van on the ride home in the afternoons. When there are two girls and one boy shouting math facts, at least three different conversations being passed from the front to the back, me on the phone speaking Thai trying to figure out if we should pull over and pick up Naamfone's brother at school. When I am in the middle of trying to tell Amy something and inserting the word favorite into the sentence just because I saw it on a sticker on her hand and subconsciously said it, making no sense. My boss calling the teacher in the seat next to him on the phone because he was thinking about dropping her off when he actually meant to call his wife. Deciding that pretty much our whole team is crazy.


Hearing my children speak English and wondering "Where in the world did they learn that?" And then realizing, they sound just like me.


Seeing a little boy, who was in our summer school, on the street where we drop off one of our students. Waving to him and having him wave back enthusiastically with a big smile. Please pray that he might come to our school next year.


In the city on the last night of Loy Krathong (a huge Thai holiday) where old monks were grinning from ear to ear and repeatedly almost catching people, trees, and a temple on fire with lanterns with fireworks attached. I actually took off running from him once, and another time collided with a stranger because I was trying to escape from another lantern. We said that we probably could predict which of our boys will be the ones almost catching people on fire when they are 70 years old.


When the water in our house came back on after being out for two days. (I take that back, it's still not really working.)


When one of my students did something against the rules and another of my students told him, "Bad choice." In English.


Teaching our cook/janitor English after school. She is such a sweet and generous woman and I enjoy spending time with her.


Hanging out with our Thai boss who is super funny and always selfless and serving.


Driving the previously mentioned school van because our boss had to take care of his kids while his wife went to Laos. Happening upon Naamfone and her brother on the way to school, stopping on the small street, waiting for Viirawit to freak out and rescue her from a spider, and then heading off to school with an extra passenger. Although it is infinitely more fun being in the back with them.


Being a "coach" during our basketball club after school, trying to remember what I learned about the sport when I was 9. Wondering how my little group of 1st and 2nd graders was going to play knock out because they rarely make a basket even though the one they use that is only about four feet tall.


The fact that we didn't get in a car accident! And our car was only in the shop once this week.


My student who usually gets low scores got the highest grade on our Science quiz this week. It seems to come so naturally to the other kids so I was glad he got a chance to have the best grade. He wasn't just guessing the answers either, who knew refraction of light was something he was going to understand quickly.


Hope you enjoyed a glimpse of our week. :)

Basketball club...
Above: I'm trying to get one of the little girls to not put her head on top of the ball before she tries to pass it.
Below: My third graders playing with Miss Amy

Signs...So Funny

Just for fun...

Please check out the following post on my roommate's blog. It is a hilarious collection of signs that we've seen around Thailand.

http://arambikur.blogspot.com/2011/10/signs.html

Feel free to check out her other posts as well. :)

Sprouting Seeds

I think one of my students is a missionary in the making. Technically, he's Buddhist but he has a soft heart for the Lord and remembers Bible stories better than just about anyone. He reads the Bible during English class and I feel terrible telling him that he needs to put it away and listen. My roommate says I'm persecuting him, and I guess she's right.

Yesterday, halfway done with the after school student drop offs my boy says, "I love God." I said "Oh, yeah?" My roommate who just been talking with him said to ask him why. He said, "Because God made us and called us and He loves us." We then proceeded to talk about the stories of Daniel, Joseph, and Noah. Joseph is his personal favorite. I remember being shocked several weeks ago when I asked my class who Moses was and they stared at me with bewildered looks on their faces. This boy however, raised his hand and was able to tell me in Thai from Moses' birth to the parting of the Red Sea. Now, you have to understand this child rarely listens to me, focuses on anything, or remembers what we've been studying, but he can remember entire Bible stories.

After we'd been talking for awhile he saw a plane passing overhead and made a comment so I asked him if he could go anywhere on a plane where would he go. He said he wouldn't because he wouldn't want to crash. But he decided he'd like to build a big boat. He said he would, "Have people come see, and have pictures, and tell them about Jesus." I asked if I could come see it and he said sure. There might be a second ark in the future. ;)

When we had arrived to the drop off spot he said truly disappointed, "Oh, I wish we weren't here yet, I want to keep talking about Bible stories." I told him to read a new one and we'd talk about it on the next ride home.

This is the same child who three days ago was on "red" which is the lowest rung on our school's discipline ladder. He was unmotivated, not listening, and not putting forth any effort. I was frustrated because we were trying to review a lot of information for the final and he was just not being helpful. We finished and he was still nowhere near done with his work so I sent him to the office with a note asking them to have him finish because we were moving on to Science and I had no patience to keep working with him. He spent all afternoon in the office working with my boss. After school I apologized for not being patient with him and he said, "It's not your fault, I'm sorry, I was on red, I wasn't doing very good." I said, "Well, we are both sorry we'll start again new tomorrow." To which he responded enthusiastically and gave me a high five. I was impressed with a third grader taking that much responsibility for his own actions. He has such a tender heart. Please pray for his development in the faith. Please pray Luke 8:15 for him: "But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance." Please pray that he would not be like the "...rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away." Please pray that his faith would not be squashed by his Buddhist family, may they come to believe in the Lord as well.

Call...Obedience

I'm hesitant to try to explain my thoughts of late. Afraid I can't actually make them make sense in verbalizing them. Thoughts of obedience in the hard stuff, of desiring God's will crazy as it may sometimes seem, of common sense and throwing it out the window. Pete Fleming, missionary to Ecuador wrote, "A call is nothing more nor less than obedience to the will of God, as God presses it home to the soul by whatever means He chooses." I think this means that when we know that a certain choice is obedience to God's will, because He has pressed it on our hearts in various ways over the years, that constitutes a call. Rarely do we have a flashing billboard, a 2x4 to the head, or the audible voice of the Lord. But daily as we meet with Him and seek His face He lets us know. At the end of many quiet conversations with Him I can't explain to any human how His voice has turned my heart and helped me choose. Sometimes, we wait for the obvious sign, when God has already given us the quiet word/nudge. Yes, the Lord does command us to wait for Him alone, but when He gives the green light, we better move. We just have to make the first choice to obey and then follow the path of obedience no matter how many twists and turns, how many stops, or detours there may turn out to be.

I think so often God's will sounds crazy to everyone else, sounds irresponsible, sounds illogical. Yet God is above all that, more powerful, and more in control. It sounds impossible and way more than we can handle. And it is. That's the point. He doesn't call superheros, He calls those who in themselves are unqualified and incapable and He takes delight in providing His strength, His wisdom, and His grace.

I think that too often we miss the deeper call of God on our lives because of fear. Fear of what others will think, fear of being unprotected and uncared for, fear of believing that God is good or fear that God might prove to be harsh or cruel. I think within each of us two strong desires battle. One from the flesh for comfort for security and one from the Spirit for more of God and His plans. At least I know this battle has been fought in me. "God is not overly concerned with our comfort" I read those words from a missionary right before I moved to Thailand. I think he was right. There are much much bigger things going on right before our eyes yet we get tangled up in unnecessary worries. I'm not saying this kind of "crazy" obedience is easy...it is not. But it is worth it. I'm absolutely sure that those who have lived this way don't regret it. My fear is that I will consider the cost too high, the way too rough, the risk too great. That I will choose easy and that at the end I will see a wasted life.

May we be the kind of people who live like we truly believe in our faithful God. May we be the kind that follow Him to the ends of the earth. May we come to see that following Him, knowing Him is all that is truly necessary. May we desire Him more than comfort. May we love Him more than ourselves. By His strength and for His glory.