Noble, Pure, and Lovely

My teammate, who picked me up at the airport, encouraged me to spend some of my first few days in prayer, reflecting on my time in the US and considering how I want to use my time in ministry here. I am so grateful for his wisdom. So today I marched myself over to the nicest Starbucks within 20 minutes (by van), and sat down for some good prayer time.

MTW gave me an excellent "Re-Entry" book for when I went back to the US. Good reflecting questions that I decided to use in the reverse (coming back to Thailand instead of the US). Today, I spent the majority of my time on these verses, Philippians 4:8-9, "Finally brothers, whatever is true, noble, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy--think about such things....And the God of peace will be with you." I made a list under each heading of "true", "noble," "pure," etc. and listed what I am grateful to God for during my time in the US. SO MANY things! In doing that, I was reminded again of God's faithfulness. Please pray my time is protected for prayer over the next few days as I ask the Lord to show me what he taught me while in the US and how he wants to use me now in Thailand.

First Sunday

I was "welcomed home" today at church. I love it when everyone says that. It's nice that they recognize this place as home for me as well. (There are so many homes for me!) Here's a few superlatives:

Best hug: would be from Nong. She just hugged me and started crying. Since I left, she has become a Christian. She said she couldn't believe I was coming back. When I left last year, she's the one that said, "Hurry back soon!"

Best first words: Rhianna, one of my teammates, saw me on the back of a motorcycle on the way to Mahathai kids' bible club. She put down the van window and screamed out at me. :) She said everyone was looking and she made a spectacle of herself. I didn't mind. I was just happy to see her.

Best view: That would have to be a tie. When I stand facing out from the Mahathai community center, I can see the palm trees waving under the blue sky. Then as I rode the bus out to our "Wal-Mart" called Tesco Lotus, I enjoyed the swampy grasslands blowing in the wind.

Most shockingly different: The roads. As I said, the gov't is having to put new pipes in for drainage since that huge flood last October caused horrible pot holes. Add that to the normal dodging of water during rainy season, and I have to think a lot about how to get around. I had to take a bus down a short road last night, since I couldn't wade through the water.

Challenging: Most people say my language is great. Thanks to my friends at the restaurant, I remember a lot. But it's hard to have big gaps in my vocabulary. I feel so silly trying to explain things. Today, at Lotus, I tried to explain my need for a power plug adaptor. It took 5 minutes and I left without one. :)

Hailing from Land O' Thai!

I made it here! Wow, what a trip! I am SO tired, but good. The airplane trip was so much better than the last trip I remember. Thanks for your prayers for my knees. They are healing really well. I didn't have someone beside me on the 14 hour flight so I was able to stretch out!

So far, I've been to our team prayer meeting this morning and then to kids bible club at Mahathai. The streets here are full of potholes since that flooding last October. That's really shocking. I feel like part of me has never left. So much of the same but a lot different too. I will try to put it all in words over the next few days.

As for now, I smile over muddy feet (rainy season), hugs, and reunions!

Leaving in 23 Hours

Leaving on a plane from Charlotte in 23 hours. Spending time with family. Weighing suitcases and packing the last one. Woohoo! Wanted to update everyone!

Stop One and Request

I left Asheville today. My apartment is empty. My storage is stored. And my luggage is packed but not yet weighed. I had a good drive down to Charlotte with my dad. Now, good time here at my parents' house with family for the next two days. After laying down for a while, I start realizing what all I have left behind in Asheville. Man, its still a dream. Not many tears yet.

Side note, please pray for my knees. I fell in the parking lot on Saturday after a youth group rafting trip. It was loose gravel, downhill. My knees don't like me right now and its hard to bend and unbend them. I'm concerned about them with the whole LONG airplane flight coming up Thursday. Thanks.

Did You Know...

...if you travel from the US down to Nicaragua and then start digging through the Earth, you'll reach Thailand? It's kinda like how people say you can dig to China. (I spend too much time staring at world maps.)

Bye to Thai Friends Here

I know I'm going to see all my Thai friends when I get back to Thailand. But tonight, I had to say bye to my Thai friends here--the ones who work at the restaurant here in Asheville. They all are giving me the contact information for their families in Thailand to visit while I'm there. It's too sweet. I can't believe how blessed I have been to have them as friends. I don't like leaving them here without more people to take care of them. Please pray God continues working in their hearts. Pray for one of the women working there to find a new place to stay. At Christmas, I get to see the owner and her husband when they go back to visit their family in Thailand. I feel like I'm part of a big extended family now!