4: going away party

Really? 4 more days?

I'm currently waffling between denial and panic mode. Despite growing up, and being, slightly nomadic, I still am a terrible mover. In the past, my M.O. was waiting until the last possible minute, cramming things in my bags haphazardly, and then leaving a scrappy mess trailing behind me.

However, as Amy and Patrick will be returning from their December wedding to move into my room in January, I want to leave it nice for them. I also want to be able to be a part of our last night (Fri) at Comm110. Which means, I need to pack beforehand. Hence, why I'm up late again tonight. I'm trying to make piles and start packing. And, as I have had a year and a half to collect things, it's good that I've started sorting and gifting away my belongings early.

Before I tackled my room, however, Steph and I had a wonderful day/evening at our Going Away Party. After much planning and preparing, it was nice to simply sit and be. For those of you who prayed for Steph's and my party today, thank you. We really were both able to relax and enjoy hanging out with the many people who dropped in.

My quote of the day is this: "How lucky I am to have known someone who was so hard to say goodbye to. -Anonymous" God has given Steph and I many "someones" who have made our time in Thailand rich... but who also make it hard to leave. As my friend Jen so aptly stated, "What a wonderfully bittersweet thing it is to know that now, no matter where you live, someone's missing you."

I'm so thankful, though, for the time I've been able to spend with these wonderful people. It's truly a blessing when God gives you, not only friends, but friends that matter.

5: quick post

I spent most of the day preparing for my classes this evening (which, since it's the final week, involved a lot of baking!). I've also been packing, planning, researching and making lists. Lots of lists. But it's time to crash and the only thing between me and 7 hours of Zzz's is this post. So I'll keep it brief :)

This week is the last week of classes for the BSC and me. After 8 terms at the BSC, it's hard to believe I only have 2 more days of teaching left. Not all my students were able to come because of the protests and traffic-- but we were able to take some class pictures with the folks who could come! Here are a few of the faces I've had the pleasure of teaching the past 6 weeks.

Tuesday, Dec 11, is a public holiday-- and also the day Steph and I will be having our farewell "open house" at LifePoint. Please pray that everything comes together smoothly and that we'll have lots of good "Mary-time" with our friends before we leave. 

6: jum

Matt took over leading small group this evening and it was a great evening discussing Jesus. After group finished, Aom and Jum stayed after to talk for a while. I joined them, and I have some news I want to share with you all (with Jum's permission).

Many of you have been praying for Jum as she reads through the Bible-- that it would be transformational in her life. Well, God has heard your prayers! Through reading the Word, being involved in small group, going to church (with some of the IMB folks who help at the BSC), conversations and relationships-- God has been revealing the Truth to Jum.

Tonight she shared with Aom and I that over Father's Day, she went to her hometown and talked to her parents about her desire to become a Christian! Her parents (praise God!) were both receptive. They said that whatever she decided was okay with them. This is a huge praise, because in Thai culture, changing your religion from Buddhism is sometimes seen as disrespectful to your parents (because they believe your parents accumulate more "good karma" for having good Buddhist children).

A couple from the IMB (Jill & Tim) has been very involved in investing spiritually in her for the past few years as well. She said she wants to talk to them this week and then "officially" become a Christian. (I say "officially" only because she is waiting to pray with them... and she considers that time to be when she will officially commit to be a Christian. But she has already expressed her intent and confessed that she believes that Jesus died, was buried and rose again.) And I just can't wait until it's "official" to share the good news and implore you to keep lifting her up in your prayers.

On Aug 18th I wrote, "I have been praying for God to place an unsaved Thai woman in my life for me to invest in... and I think He may have answered that prayer!" I can say with confidence that that woman was Jum. If getting to build that relationship and spiritually invest in her life was the only investment I made while here, it was worth it.

To see her journey from being a staunch, devout Buddhist to being softened by the Word has been incredible. John MacArthur said that, "The Bible is like a Lion. You don't have to defend it - just let it out of its cage. It can defend itself." I feel like when God is working on the hearts of His creation to draw them to Himself, the best argument for Him, is His Word! Jum has been tearing up the Word. Before tonight, she had texted me a couple times expressing that she can't put it down and every time she reads it she believes more and more about God. Praise God for the power of His message and Word. And Praise God for all your prayers! Don't stop!

[Our after-after small group this evening. Love these ladies!]

7: scripture

"To those who reside as aliens... who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.

Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God." [1 Peter 1- excerpts]

Take a few minutes to listen to this song and be encouraged: 1 Peter Song

8: titus women

Today was a full day of baking cookies and cooking quiches for LifePoint's Unite:BKK Christmas Party this evening! As much as I love baking sugar cookies, what I love even more is getting quality time with Tiffany (and occasionally Steve). 

Claire, who was working on a seminary paper, recently brought up in our conversation the passage in Titus where it talks about older women teaching younger women. It reminded me how blessed I've been to have godly women want to invest in my life. The first person who intentionally "mentored" me (besides my mom) was Gina. She didn't meet with me and tell me "how to love my (future) husband and children, how to be self-controlled, pure, busy at home, kind, submissive..." (Titus 2:4-5). Rather, she invested in our relationship and lived transparently in front of me. As she modeled, I learned.

I learned about what it means to be a good wife, and what submission looks like in the good and difficult seasons. I learned to make choices not based on what is easiest, but on what requires more faith. I learned that sometimes, we just have to "do laundry as unto the Lord." I learned these things because, as Doug says, "Quantity time breeds quality time." Praise God for older, intentional, women who are willing to spend time with (and impact!) us young'uns for the sake of the Kingdom and for the glory of God!

[Tiffany prepping the tomatoes for Unite]

Gina always told me we should always try to have a "Paul, Barnabas & Timothy": someone investing in us, someone shoulder-to-shoulder in the trenches sharpening us, and someone we're investing in. I'm thankful that I've been able to have all three while here in Thailand. Tonight was an encouraging affirmation that God is growing fruit in the relationship investments I've made over the last year and a half. And, it was also a good reminder of how much so many people have invested into my life. Thank you.

[Christmas caroling] 

[Delicious sugar cookies... my mom's recipe!]

[L-R: JJ, Me, Aom, Isabella, photo-bomber: Matt]

[L-R: Me, Chao and Steph]

[L-R: Putt-Putt, Me, Pepe, Steph]

[L-R: Kabil, Mark, Me, Joshua]

[L-R: Nat, Me]

Also, for those who have been praying about my foot-situation, my results came back good! The doctor wasn't sure what's causing the pain in my foot (his theory is my running shoe?), but he said while my bone is irregular and therefore weaker than the others, I don't have a visible fracture and there's no tumor. So, that's good news! I'm going to try resuming some light running and see what happens... Thank you so much for all your prayers in that department :)

9: father's day ii

Thank you, Anonymous, for your comment on my post yesterday. (You rescued everyone from a series of disastrous haikus!) I need a little time to mull your question over... so, the answer is: coming soon.

Today was Father's Day in Thailand. For more information, you can read my post from last year [click here] for details on the traditions and history of the day. It's crazy that I'm getting to experience holidays twice! Below are a couple pictures from an evening excursion to the park with some church friends... which included com-roi (floating lanterns), candlelight singing, and fireworks!

[Rama IX Park]

[1 kg of baby oranges for less than a dolla'!]

[And! The orange peels made perfect wax-guards]

[photo credit: julia biasi]

[L-R: Me, Tseka, Julia, Steph // photo credit: julia biasi]

[Lighting candles and singing/humming the King's anthem // photo credit: julia biasi]

[Beautiful fireworks]

[When people were done with their candles they just stuck them to rocks, surfaces or in the dirt. Still burning. It was beautiful, albeit dangerous]

[Lighting the lanterns! // photo credit: julia biasi]

[photo credit: julia biasi]

[L-R: Me, Erica, Tseka, Steph // photo credit: julia biasi]

[White lights everywhere!]

[Our "Father's Day at the Park" group! // photo credit: julia biasi]

[For more photos from tonight, see Steph's post by clicking here]

And... a quick matter of prayer!

A few weeks ago, post-runs, I started experiencing acute pain in my left foot. I finally was able to go to the Orthopedic center today and have an X-ray and CT scan done on it. The doctor thinks it's either a stress fracture (which, is my opinion) or a benign bone tumor. I go in again tomorrow to find out the results from the CT scan. (Shout-out to my awesome parents who woke up when they got my text at the doctor's and helped give me good counsel!) I'm thankful that I am in a country where I can get good medical care-- but it was a hard/emotional morning. Making medical decisions alone is not easy, especially when every decision comes with a price tag attached to it. However, I am glad that I'll soon know what is wrong. Please pray my appointment in the morning goes well and that I can start taking steps (pun intended!) to help my foot mend.

Also, if you can pray specifically that God would steady my heart and help me to find balance in the midst of all the craziness of wrapping things up-- farewell events, unexpected medical appointments, teaching, ministry commitments etc-- I would greatly appreciate it. I want to finish well and as a real person (as opposed to some frantic sleep-deprived basket-case).

Thank you so much! :)

10: TEN

I would love for my readers to reply in the comment section of this blog post with questions/topics you would like answered/discussed in my Countdown posts. Because, some days, like yesterday and today, are pretty normal. Teaching. Dishes. Laundry. Etc. So, I'd love some new ideas to keep these daily posts exciting! But, in the meantime, I'm on my own for being creative. So here is an acrostic of neat things God has been doing/praises/things you can also pray about! (So really, there's no theme in this acrostic at all... I'm not even sure if you can have acrostic-paragraphs... acrostagraphs?)

The "New Thru 30" NT reading plan is almost finished! -- I'm currently in 1 John. Despite having a rather large daily reading load, and despite it taking me 3x as long as it should have, I've really been enjoying it. Reading deep has value (of course!), but reading scope (to see the Big Story) has also been really good. I think it has helped me keep perspective because I'm not bogged down for months in the same book.

Engaging in the Word -- One of the women in my small group has committed to reading through the Bible on her own. And she's doing it! Pray that the Holy Spirit does His work as she reads... that He softens her heart to the Truth and helps her to understand more about God.

Notes from students -- I love being able to hear back from students about their experiences in my classroom. But more than wanting them to like me (which, let's be honest, I want), I want them to leave having a better understanding about the God who made and loves them. I know I haven't done that perfectly (or even close!), but I pray God uses this last week to really help them to see that the difference in my life is Christ.

(People: please leave me something, anything in the comments-- so I don't have to resort to haikus tomorrow!)

11: my fun list...

...Of 11 Cultural Things That Aren't So Unusual Anymore

11.   Always carrying toilet paper in my bag for use as napkins, tissues, or in the public restrooms (which we call "toilets" here). And, there not being soap provided in the restrooms (no worries, I'm always packing the hand sanitizer!)
10.   Toilet talk and illness symptoms not being taboo. This includes acquaintances and friends asking lots of specific questions about your health problems and/or specific symptoms.
9.    Taking every picture at least twice
8.    Adults liking and sporting cartoons on their person/phone/bags/etc.
7.    Smelling everything before you eat it
6.    Covering your mouth while using a toothpick or while talking on the phone
5.    Taking trips, but not planning the details of them
4.    Umbrellas when it's sunny and gorgeous outside
3.    90 degree weather= women in sweaters, 70 degree weather= women in sweaters
2.    Squatting
1.    Riding on motorcycle taxis

[Proof of #9! Since next Tues is a holiday, today was my last day with this class!]

12: conversation

In the past 24 hours, I've specifically asked three different people, in addition to my blog readers, to pray for me to have opportunities to share the Gospel up until the time I leave Thailand. I'm not sure what I was expecting those to look like, but today, God blindsided me.

I had registration for most of the day, which amounted to being a quiet catch-up day at my desk. The Thai girl who has sat behind me in the office for the past 1.5 years came over to ask me to help her translate some things into English (as in, she gives me the rough translation and I polish it up!).

Even though I see her all the time, I've never really sat down and had a conversation with her. Today, we talked. She is a talented linguist (fluent in 5 languages!) and has been at the BSC only a little longer than me. I learned so much about her. She shared with me about her experiences in Catholic school growing up, but how she had decided to remain a Buddhist. I was able to share a little with her about my faith and the differences between a relationship with God and religion.

In my mind, today was going to be an uneventful day. But God gave me the opportunity to start to build (even at the tail end of my time here!) a relationship with her. What a huge blessing!

It was also really convicting, because I think of my classroom and my church as being a mission field... not so much the office. The office is my "get work done and get out" zone. I am friendly, but not particularly chatty. After all, I need to prep for "ministry/teaching" and so does everyone else there. But even the preparation is ministry. Every thing. Every time. Every place. Every person holds the potential for relationship, conversation and investment. Even if that's only for a few moments, days, months or years.

Today was my reminder: to not forget to see where you are-- and to notice the people around you.

13: on building a community

For a great re-cap of my small group's trip to Koh Kret today, check out Steph's post! [click here]. A big "amen!" on all that she wrote and shared.

Our small group (minus the three who weren't able to make it):

[Back L-R: JJ, Steph, Onn, Thep, Front L-R: Aom, Me, Nicha, Jum, Aey]

Here are a few of the things God's taught me in the past 4-ish months of leading this wonderful small group...

- Never underestimate the importance of consistency. Sometimes we had only one or two people come, but we would still meet. Consistency communicates that each person is important and valuable and worth investing in.

- Take time to be a community. This thought was first introduced to me by my college pastor, Doug. Yes, small group is first and foremost about the glory of God through learning and studying His Word. However, a well timed trip or outing to break the routine allows for friends to be invited and integrated into the group... It also reinforces the philosophy that you are a family. As Christians, we are more than just "Bible learners," we are people. And the group needs to see that, too!

- Be generous. Especially in Thailand, to be generous is to care. As a leader and a member of the group, being generous is a way to show investment. Celebrate together: birthdays, accomplishments, spiritual birthdays, etc. Give gifts or give time, but give generously. As I was reminded recently while reading in Romans, "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another..." (13:8a). Create love-debts within your group!

- Push through the awkward. I started learning this lesson about two years ago when confronted by Doug about my inclination to bail out of uncomfortable conversations (Agh! There was a pause in the conversation, I'm out of things to talk about, better go, bye!). I'm still far from proficiency, but Thailand has given me a lot of practice in this area! Your relationships will have awkward moments because we're all a little awkward at heart. Don't let it deter you from continuing to pursue the conversation. You never know what sort of a lovely conversation you might have once you push through the awkward. People notice if you care enough to keep conversing.

- Value the friends of your group! God has grown our group entirely by the friend-invites (and friend of friend invites) of our original two members. When friends are brought, include them, invest in them, and treat them well. Nothing makes someone want to invite more friends, than when the friend they did invite is included and valued.

- And lastly, and also foundationally, have some people commit to pray for your group. For those of you who have been specifically praying for this small group since my first post on it August 18th, thank you! God is hearing and honoring and answering your prayers! Please don't stop :) There are still a lot of transitions ahead for the group, and we need your continued prayers.

14: blessed

Occasionally, I have fleeting moments of guilt when I have experiences ripped straight from the pages of National Geographic or the Lonely Planet Guide. Here I am, half-way around the world, a missionary (admit it, you just imagined a mud hut and bucket shower)... But in this journey, I have also been given singularly incredible opportunities to revel in God's magnificent creation.

Yesterday in my quiet time, I read the following verse from 1 Timothy 6:17b, "...Put [your] hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment." I think that as long as God is in His proper place, as the giver and provider of the beauty in His creation, it's okay to enjoy it. In fact, he wants us to! Pastor Doug used to always pray that "God would enjoy watching us enjoy His creation." Well, enjoy it, we did!

Today I had the privilege of spending the whole day with three of the folks in my small group and one of their friends in the Lopburi province.

[L-R: Jum, Jo, Aey, Thep and I]

The day started off visiting an area famous for their beautiful sunflowers. We found out upon arrival that we were a week early... but some of the flowers had bloomed, so we took advantage of them in our photo op!

After that, we had lunch on a canal... actually on the canal. 

[The "bridge" to our floating lunch]

[Jum, Aey and her husband, Thep and I]

[Finished... and full!]

After that, we went to a dam, where I purchased some fresh sunflower seeds (if you come to Spotswood on Dec. 15th, maybe I'll share!). Then it was off to our unplanned dayscursion adventure at... Monkey Temple! I'm not sure why "give a monkey a piggy back ride" never made it on my bucket list... (what was I thinking!??) It's now there and checked off.

The highlight of my day was definitely the wonderful company I was with... but the monkeys were a close second! ;)

[The Guardian of Monkey Temple] 

[Jum and the baby monkeys. They were in search of new friends... or more food!]

[Jo and the monkeys]

[They were everywhere... on the streets outside, climbing poles, in apartment windows, crazy!]

[I was taking a picture of some of the monkeys when this one jumped on my leg!]

[Monkeys got the memo, free rides for all!]

Can I just reiterate how happy I am that God made monkeys? What a lovely lot of creatures. I am so thankful for the sweet friends God has given me here, who treated me to such an incredible day. I am so blessed.

Prayer Request: Our entire small group will be going to spend the afternoon together tomorrow (Sunday). Please pray that God would open up conversations about Himself, and that He would continue to bind us together as a group. I am hoping this trip will really help them to connect with Matt and Alli, as they'll be leading once I leave.