Girls in the House

Just wanted to pass along a little message to all you lovely wives and "maybe one day" wives out there.

You need to check this out:

7 Day Challenge

It's not to late to join in the fun and learn from other women.

This has nothing to do with Thailand (other than Thai wives should hear about this too).... However, I just wanted to give you a chance to be challenged and encouraged by Heather (my amazingly wonderful mentor while at A&M) and other women who've been where you are, or maybe one day will be.

She's already on Day 2... so go catch up while ya can!

Summer has come!

Summertime.

A great time to relax and eat rambutan. Yum.

Unfortunately, I haven't had much time to do either of these things yet.

However, I do plan to catch up on eating rambutan and other yummy Thai fruits before their season is over. My fun friends from Texas who visited loved these... the inside looks like so:

It is very sweet and super good.

Odd looking? yes.

Delicious? definitely yes.

I'm sad to say that my camera was in hiding these past two weeks.... I really don't know what my deal was. Anyway, I'll just have to write a bit to give ya the update.

A couple days after school ended, I headed over to a nearby hotel to spend a week with colleagues and friends from my company. It was a wonderful, wonderful time. It was incredible to meet workers from all around our region and learn from them. I loved hearing their stories and finding out more about what God is doing around southeast Asia.

We had a special time of celebrating workers' anniversaries of being on the M field.... for 5 years all the way up to 45 years. All of us gathered in the enormous ballroom of the hotel made a tunnel and cheered these individuals and families as they ran through. I haven't heard that loud of yelling and cheering since my last Aggie football game. It was so fun... and definitely more ear piercing than anything I've ever heard in Thailand.

Along with these few hundred people, we had almost 200 others come from the States to help with our conference. These volunteers were from a church in Tennessee. They led an amazing worship time each morning, took care of the kids, brought us American candy and new CDs, encouraged us tremendously, performed funny skits, and donated a whole bunch of things for us to bid on in our Lottie Moon Auction. I'm thankful for these new friends and prayer warriors.

My next week was spent as a summer camp counselor for a bunch of MKs. I was with the high school girls and loved getting to know them. A friend of mine who is a jman in a nearby country also helped out with camp. He also used to work at Pine Cove.... so we decided to spice things up and introduce the craziness of PC cheers. We had a great time. This camp was about 45 minutes north of Chiang Mai at Doi Saket (a beautiful mountainous area). It was extremely hot... but we managed to have a ton of fun.

One of my jobs was to teach driver's ed. You can stop laughing now. :) I practiced taking deep breaths and focused on not screaming while reaching near death experiences. I was one of three instructors... somehow my name was put on the list. I talked the other counselors out of making me teach stick shift.... considering I've only been at it for 11 months now. So I was the lucky one who got to teach the automatic. This is the only time each year our kids get to practice driving before going to the States for college. They aren't allowed to drive here.... so it's exciting for them to get some practice in. The scary part is we were driving up mountains, across tiny bridges, and on roads a foot away from bodies of water. My kids mastered parallel parking and driving in reverse for a mile down a tiny road only big enough for one compact car.... pretty good, huh?

The last day of camp I was able to sneak away from the resort to visit some friends nearby. I drove about 10 minutes to get to a children's home for hilltribe (not Thai cititzens) kids. This home is run by believers and currently have 120 kids living there. A couple friends of mine worship with them each Sunday. I quickly became friends with a girl named Chi. Chi is 23 years old and is interning at this home for the year. She is basically in charge of running it... we had a lot of fun talking as she showed me around the place. The majority of the kids go to school every day (as Thai school summer is over). However, they've had a recent addition of an adorable 4 month old little boy. I didn't want to put him down. His mom left him at the hospital because she didn't want to take care of him. I jokingly told the ladies as I was holding him that he was going to go home with me. They said OK. Seriously... they would've let me take him that moment. I wanted to cry. I know he'll be taken care of there... but most of those kids are starving for attention and love. There are just so many of them. Anyway... I hope to make it out there a few more times this summer and hang out with these kids again.

Summer Stuff to Pray for:

• I begin language lessons today. I will be studying 4 hours each day until school starts back up in August. Pray I would be diligent in studying and quick to memorize vocabulary.


• Starting this week friends from North Chiang Mai University will come to my house 2 or 3 times a week so I can teach them English and Bible Stories. Some of these are the girls I've spent lots of time with. However, some new friends will come as well. Pray their hearts would be softened and open to hearing about the Lord.


• I'll be meeting with Maew weekly and teaching her as she continues to seek out Christianity. Pray for her salvation!


• I plan to start volunteering each week at the only government run orphanage in town. This Buddhist orphanage is for newborn to 5 year olds. Pray that I would develop good relationships with the workers and have opportunities to share Truth.
  
• Pray that I would make my time with the Lord my first priority each day. I desire for the Lord to work mightily in the hearts of people around me this summer. I CANNOT do this alone. I need your prayers. I need the Lord to continue to work in my heart so I am prepared to give an answer for the hope that is in me. I need Jesus Christ to fill me up each day with His love and Truth from the Word.

Saying Good-bye

It's not any easier on this side of the world.

The end has come. The school year is over... but new things are coming!

Good-bye 7th grade! I can't believe how much my 7th graders have grown up! They still have their moments... but they have begun to amaze me. I love how their hearts for the Lord and serving others has grown. This all hit me as we had orientation for the incoming 7th graders--- those kids are so little!!! I'm excited to get to know a whole new group of kids next year. However, I'll miss my 7th graders--- all 30-something of them.

Last day good-byes...

Good-bye Kindergarten & 1st grade! I have had a blast with the wee ones this year. I'm so proud of all they have accomplished. I'm so grateful for the joy they've brought to my life too!

Just being silly on the last day of school...

Precious students... now big 2nd graders!

Good-bye Junior Year! Then I hopped on over to the Junior Class party. I don't teach any of these kids. However, I do have the best job ever with them--- we just get to hang out! Goodness... they're funny ones. I can't wait to see these kids as Seniors.

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Good-bye Seniors! As if all of those good-byes weren't enough for one day... we re-located to the middle of town for the GIS Senior Class Graduation. It was a night filled with memories, reflection, good friends, tears, laughter, and lots o' dancing! I really wish I had a video of them exiting the ceremony to the song "I Feel Good"... they had a blast.

Katie and I have loved our weekly home-made dinners with Brad and his fam. Here we are with our favorite graduate!

Hello New Seniors! My fun Juniors are moving up the food chain. At the graduation ceremony the Seniors passed the candles on to them.

Good-bye heels.... let's dance! I was privileged to be a sponsor at the Junior/Senior post-graduation dance. I think the other teachers and I had more fun than the kids! :)


Good-bye My Kate! Kate is leaving me to join all the smart people in med school. I really don't want to have any more last suppers... I can't handle too many more of my friends taking off! Nevertheless, here we are... our last meal together as our single teachers (and some cool married people) group starts to dwindle.


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See.... Kate is sad to leave too!

I'll miss you, roomie!!! (I kept trying to get Katie to take a "normal" picture with me at the airport.... she wouldn't stop the silly faces... I mean honestly, Kate. I think she was just trying to keep from being too sad as we all sent her off!)


Katie: Thanks for saying hi in the airplane 10 months ago, thanks for teaching me to drive a stick, thanks for not freaking out as I drove among the crazy people, thanks for loving my Disney serenades, thanks for your scientific explanation for everything, thanks for being my movie watching buddy, thanks for teaching me that vegetarians aren't all totally weird, thanks for sharing my love for Grey's, thanks for all of the uncontrollable laughs, thanks for experiencing life in Thailand... I'm so glad I could do it with you!!!

"Oh, Lael"... seriously.... we say that a lot. Huh, Katie? Well... the three of us newbies made it. We sure had lots of fun on all of our adventures.


Good-bye Airport (for a while)!!! I could go a long time without seeing you. I still think you're cool and all, but I don't like it when you take away my friends!

Pickin' up the pace

As you can probably tell from my lack of postings, life around here has been crazy busy over the past couple weeks. Just rest assured that it's not that there's lack of news... just lack of time to put in all in writing. With only three days of the school year remaining, I see the light at the end of the tunnel! :)

So what have I been doing lately?

• working a lot... meeting with parents, finishing up diagnostic testing and reports, writing end-of-year reports for the Special Needs Dept., packing up my classroom for summer, and of course... teaching. Here's a pic of my fun co-workers in the Special Needs Dept (I'm the baby of the group):
  
  
  
• hung out with some of my company's high schoolers last weekend at a resort up the mountain as their parents were attending a retreat




• went to the junior/senior luau at Grace... good-bye to our graduates! they watched Jaws on a big screen while floating on innertubes in the pool... wooo... scaaaary.



• visited the Northern Thailand school for children with disabilities. I loved this time with these precious kids. This is one of only three schools in Thailand for children with severe disabilities. They are doing absolutely amazing things with these kids. It was so fun to see the teachers' creativity in providing for their needs.... in the States we just buy another program or spend a ton of money on a new device or aid from a catalog. This was definitely eye-opening and I hope to go back soon!



• hanging out with friends who are leaving me soon! About half of the singles that work at Grace are heading back their home countries or other places for all different reasons. I don't think reality has hit quite yet of how much I will miss these friends! Today the first one left.... our favorite Philippino Sam! A bunch of us went out to breakfast one last time. I'm going to really miss him! Being one of the two guys in our fun group... he's been like a big brother to many of us. Sam is off to get married in a few weeks... good-bye single Sam! This is how Sam feels about leaving us:



• Next week I'll be at a conference with a few hundred M's from my company that live in Southeast Asia. I'm excited to see some old friends, meet new ones, and hear what the Lord is doing in the hearts of people around this part of the world.

• I've been a little sick the past several days... some stomach thing. You can pray the medicine I'm taking will work quickly! I want to be spending time with people I love instead of in bed! :)
  

This week is my one year mark of time with my company. It's amazing how quickly the year has gone by! Some of you read in my last e-mail about how I'm considering extending my term to an additional year. At this point, I don't have to make any decisions--- I have plenty of time to keep considering different job opportunities and continue to pray. However, I do feel like the Lord is leading me to invest another year in the people here. So, if that's the case, you can count on my Texas reunion being two years from yesterday! I love yall and want you to know that your prayers for me and the people of Chiang Mai are a blessing and much needed! Thank you for the part you play in seeing His kingdom come here on earth.