What a Night!

Paul left yesterday for Khao Lak to aid in tsunami relief (yes, believe it or not, they are still rebuilding from the tsunami). I spoke with him this morning to tell him about my night but before I did he informed me that he was very sick on the bus down south (about a 12 hour ride, I think)...and I mean, he was sick in a bad way. So, please pray for him to recover quickly.

I just have to share what a great night I had last night. The little neighbor girl, Faa, came over around 4:30 or so and then another little neighbor girl who is English/Thai also stopped in. Then our other friends were walking by outside and PJ ran outside and wanted to play with their children. So, we were outside for about an hour talking and walking and enjoying each other. I was planning on making a Thai meal for supper (thanks to my teacher, Pa At, who gave me some pumpkin and some tofu type stuff). So, I was planning on making a ground pork/pumpkin stir fry and kaeng juud (which is a bland Thai soup but really yummy and really good for you too). So, I had a house full of kids (another little girl came), and a desire to get some supper made (it was about 6 by this time). Thankfully, one of the other moms and her son also came over and she helped me make the stuff. It was great. She was a great teacher and really made sure I participated in making the stuff. She also has a garden and so she had one of the girls run and get a certain type of veggie that I don't think there is an American equivalent for but it's really good for you too. And then she left, the English/Thai girl left and it was just me, PJ, Calvin, the little neighbor girl (who lives right across the street) and her friend...so we ate together. I was so impressed with these girls. They are 10 and 11 and they washed my dishes and even before supper they helped pick up the mess (and I DO mean mess) that was strewn about our entire downstairs!. So, after supper, I asked if they had to get home right away and they said no and so I asked if they'd like to make a cake...and you can bet they wanted to do that, so we made a cake from one of the mixes Bald Eagle church sent us. They waited here while it cooked and we talked and then almost as soon as it came out of the oven they wanted to decorate it. And as you probably know, you really should let a cake cool but they wouldn't hear of it, so they proceeded to decorate the cake. It was so much fun. Exhausting? Yes, but very much worth it. Oh, another neat thing about the night was when PJ went to bed (did I mention they were here until 9:30 or so?) I gave him his nightly shower and then they followed us upstairs. And I figured, I am going to do what I normally do at bedtime and that is to read a story from his Bible and pray. So, they observed that though it was all in English, they saw what our normal every day routine is. I read the story of Jonah and they were somewhat familiar with it but they said something about oil on the skin of Jonah (I don't recall that in the Bible, but I should probably read it from my Bible and make sure.)
Another thing that was very different for them to see was that PJ sleeps by himself in his own bed. Usually, in Thailand, children sleep in bed with the parents until they're 6, 7 or 8 years old so they were really impressed that he sleeps on his own! It was pretty funny.
So, it was a great night, thanks for praying for us!
Tonight, our teammate, Tim, has offered to watch our kids, the Cunningham kids and his own child while we (the wives) go out for a meal and have some time together without having to talk over little ones. I am really looking forward to it. We haven't done anything like this yet. So, it's a very special treat.
Tomorrow, PJ, Calvin and I are heading to my teacher's church to worship with them. She said there are about 60-70 people attending! I am excited to be visiting a Thai church again. Please pray for me as I trek out to unknown territory with my two boys! Pray that I will be patient and that PJ will have a good disposition!
Oh, that reminds me of one other little tidbit. (This post just keeps getting longer and longer). Last night after Faa and her friend left they came back because her friend forgot her bag. So, I walked them out to the gate. My neighbor across the street came over and said in Thai, "make sure you lock your gate and house doors and turn your outside lights on. Oh, and let me give you my phone number in case you need me." (Isn't that nice?! They are really looking out for me and it made me feel very welcomed here.) So, as I am about to go inside she starts telling me about something her daughter's friend is doing. At this point I really have no idea what she is talking about but I know she's telling me because it has something to do with my boys. So, I tell her I don't understand. Her daughter's friend gets out of the car that is sitting in front of my neighbor's house and he shows me this packet of papers with really cute kids and English writing on the left hand side that says stuff like, "fade into close up on eyes..." and stuff like that. So, I quickly figure out he's looking for children for a commercial! And they want our kids to try out! I haven't even told Paul about this yet but I thought, "how crazy is this?!" I will keep you posted if PJ or Calvin is the next child star here in Thailand! Kinda funny how things happen. Ok, I gotta get some ironing done but thanks for stopping in.