PJ enjoying the sand and sun

Here's a snapshot Paul got of PJ after filling up a water bottle in the ocean. We went to Coral Island to do some snorkeling on this day. Again, the water was so clear and beautiful. PJ mostly enjoyed playing in the sand with toys and later in the week discovered that he could also draw in the sand...so we drew front-end loaders, bachos, cement trucks, dump trucks, tractors with plows...you name it, we probably drew it!

Where have we been?

Ok, many of you may be wondering what in the world has happened to us...no blogs and no emails. Well the truth is I ran out of time to let you all know we would be on vacation for a week. We decided that now was the best time to go before the new baby, the hot season, summer short term teams and moving to Bangkok, so we took the opportunity and went to Phuket. Yes, the island off of Thailand that got hit pretty hard with the tsunami last Christmas. We had a great time even though it rained quite a bit. The water was so clear and we even did some snorkeling. Here I am swimming off one of the other islands. You can see how clear the water was there. We are now back in Lopburi and back into the swing of langauge learning. While in Phuket it was a lot of fun to practice our Thai and the Thais there were so shocked we knew a little bit of Thai (most farangs don't know ANY!).

Some more Krathongs

A Krathong Float

Here you see a beautifully decorated float. Many communities pull their resources and make these floats and win money for the best float.

Have you ever seen an elephant in a parade before?

What about a whole slew of them? Well, for PJ they were a main attraction in the parade.

Loy Krathong

Ok, so yesterday was also Loy Krathong. Basically Loy Krathong is a holiday in which Thais make these beautiful krathong's out of bannana leaves and trunks and decorate them with incense and candles. Then on the night of the full moon of the 12th month (which in Thailand is November) they light the candles and release these krathong's on the waterways of Thailand. At our language center, the teachers always have special sessions during national holidays to explain to us the customs surrounding the holidays. So, on Tuesday, we had a special session on Loy Krathong...and we got to make a krathong. The sad part about Loy Krathong is that the reason most Thais release these krathong's on the waterways is to appease the spirit of the water. They ask forgiveness for polluting the water, etc and then ask for blessing from the spirit as well. Despite it's pagan origin we (our family and our fellowship group) wanted to join in the festivities and observe this holiday. We ate at the night food area where there are many, many food vendors and then we walked around a bit. Coupled with the actual krathong is a beauty pageant and here in Lopburi, a parade. An interesting point to make about Loy Krathong is that in some parts of Thailand Christians are redeeming this part of culture with their own version. They thank God for the rivers and place crosses on the krathong's instead of incense. They view it as having a fun time with friends and giving thanks to God, the maker of all ALL things. How encouraging it was to hear that many Thai Christians are seeking to transform culture to bring glory and honor to God alone. So, posted below are some more pictures of the festivities.

Like Father, Like Son

Are my predictions of PJ becoming a mechanic coming true? I don't know, but last night he sure was going to town "fixing" the brakes on this bike in our compound. Paul was adjusting the brakes on my bike so PJ took the opportunity to fix the brakes on this one too! He is always fixing something!

A Recent Purchase

Well, here you see it. Yep, our new motorsigh (that is how you say in it thai). Here are my boys with their very serious faces on as we were about to leave the zoo. Notice PJ has his own little seat mounted onto the motorbike. It's amazing how much this two wheeled vehicle has made life a lot easier here in Lopburi though we continue to ask for God's protection over us as we ride. 

A Very Happy Birthday to My Husband

So, here's the love of my life posing for a picture for me. We celebrated his 28th birthday with our fellowship group during the Loy Krathong festivities in Lopburi. We had a great time and our fellowship group really made the night special complete with bananna nut muffins!

New Thai Friends and Update on Soi Dog

The past few weeks have been very encouraging in terms of making Thai contacts. We started going to a church near our home where some other missionaries were attending. They moved to Chiang Mai just three weeks ago but before moving they introduced us to their neighbors. We weren’t sure if these neighbors would take to us but it turns out they have! They live the next street over from us, which is great and convenient. Anyway, we’ve been able to have the little girl (12 years old) and one of her friends (13 years old) in our home for a visit as well as taking them to church with us on Sunday. They like to play games with us (as hard as it is to explain how to play a game!) and they like chatting with us and looking at pictures of our families. It is a delight to see these two young girls desire to go to church. Of course there is a huge language barrier but for the most part they are pretty patient with us and just keep repeating things over and over again until we understand! Anyway, tonight just as I was about to give PJ a shower, the younger girl and her mom stopped by our house. Paul was on his way out to a meeting and yelled in at me that they were here. I was surprised that they had stopped by so late (it was only 7PM!). They didn’t want to come in, but they just dropped off a gift of fruit for us! The fruit is called durian and if you have never heard of it before now let me tell you a little about it. It has yellow flesh and the smell will knock you off your feet, but honestly the taste isn’t that bad. Thais love the stuff and most farangs won’t go near it! I, for one, am thankful for the fruit and am looking forward to eating it with my breakfast in the morning! Mostly, I was humbled by this gift. More and more I am finding the Thais to be so generous in just little ways like this. I can learn so much from them.
Please continue to pray for our relationship with these girls. I believe God has begun a work in their lives. Let’s pray together for their salvation and that they will grow to love and honor the true and living God. Also the church where we are attending has several girls their age that also attend. Pray that those relationships would be firmly established as well.

I also wanted to give an update on the dog issue. This afternoon as we were heading out to our favorite place to eat here in Lopburi, I spotted the dog that bit my shoe last week. The owners have muzzled the dog...so no more biting for that pooch. Thank you for your continued prayers for our safety here. I have been reading verses on fear and have been encouraged by our Lord that He is good and faithful and there is no need to fear. One verse in particular that really stood out to me was in Psalm 23...verse 4, "Even though I walk thru the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me." Granted I don't feel like I am walking thru the valley of the shadow of death but I have found great comfort in God's words that He is with us and we have nothing to fear. Elsewhere the Bible says, "if God is for us, who can be against us?" Again I find great comfort in these words. If you have a verse on fear, please feel free to share it with me. Post a comment or send us an email. It will greatly encourage our hearts.

Afraid? Who Me?

Fear. In the States, most people are afraid of public speaking, snakes, roaches and other household pests, and probably dying. (Ok, these are my hasty generalizations of things people are afraid of). I really wasn't a fearful person while living in the States. I think I had a pretty good grounding in trusting God with fears but really I think mostly it was just about having a secure life there. The neighborhood's we lived in where nice, we drove our own car, there aren't as many motorcycles whizzing by to be super concerned about and we were living in our OWN culture. Now that I am living in Thailand, I am learning more about this terrible spirit of fear that Satan loves to ooze on us. If you are a fearful person reading this, I can finally relate. What happened? Well, a dog bite happened. No worries, I am fine and in fact God wonderfully protected my foot with my leather sandal so that the dog's teeth actually went into the sandal instead of my foot. But now I have fear. Here in Thailand street dogs are a big problem. And on our soi (street) there are many! Thursday I was leaving for class on my bike and right out in front of our house a dog ran toward me and bit my foot/shoe. I froze. I was so scared. I couldn't believe this dog bit me, for one and for two there were three other dogs nearby, one also chasing me on my bike, so I just didn't know what to do. After the dog released my foot I began peddling again and the dog started chasing me again! This time I whipped out the billy club Paul had mounted on the bike (for such a time as this!) and was determined if this dog was going to come near me again it was going to get a beating. Thankfully, a neighbor began yelling at the dog and the dog turned around and went home.
This incident coupled with the collision last weekend on my way back from Krung Theep has really put some fear in my heart when it comes to traveling and just living here in Thailand. One of Satan's biggest tactics here in Thailand is that of fear (fear of spirits, ghosts, etc)...and if he can get the missionary to fear then what kind of witness are we to the Thais that we know and are trying to be a light unto? Our lives are truly in God's hands, no matter where we are living. I constantly am challenged to trust God not only with my life but with the lives of Paul and PJ also. So, I guess I am asking for continued prayer for our safety here but more than that, that we would trust God and not fear...because fear is not from God.

Trip to Krung Theep

Yesterday I had a doctor's appointment in Krung Theep (Bangkok). It was the one where they make you drink glucose and then draw some blood an hour later. Paul and I decided it would be best for me to go alone this time so as not to interrupt Paul's language study and I definitely wasn't taking PJ with me alone to the hospital. [By the way, I had my second langauge check Friday and did pretty well. I understood a lot but as always there is much to work on with my langauge learning...one area you can pray for me with is that I won't allow my English intonation to affect my Thai tones...big problem right now for me.] So, anyway, all is well with the baby and I haven't heard from the doc so I assume my blood test came back ok also. The baby is 1.3 kilos already and is moving ALL around. I left earlier in the morning so I could celebrate my langauge check by hanging out at a department store in Bangkok before going to my appointment. Would you believe I was able to find a maternity swimsuit that fit me and for only a fraction of the cost it would be in the States? Anyway, I do digress...I went to my appointment, hopped in a taxi afterwards and then hopped on the Skytrain to the Victory Monument stop and there I caught the mini-bus back to Lobpuri. This trip was going along like any other mini-bus trip until our driver slammed on his brakes so he wouldn't plow into the person infront of us stopped on the highway. Then, just as we were all breathing a sigh of relief, the truck behind us plowed into the back of the mini-bus! It didn't feel like a really hard hit, but it definitely had a jerk with it. My immediate internal response was, "Thank you Lord for protecting us." And for the next two hours we waited...for what I am not completely sure but I do know that about an hour after waiting two guys showed up to take pictures and get statements. The police were there right away and one policeman hung out with those involved. In total four cars were involved. As far as I can remember, I think this is the first accident I have ever been in. I just can't thank God enough for His protection over me. Also, about an hour or so after our accident there was another accident just a few yards up the road from where we were hit. It was unbelievable, and traffic was bad too.
So, if you prayed for our safety yesterday, God heard and answered your prayer. I couldn't help but wonder how many of the Thais in the mini-bus with me were thinking that the bus was unlucky or they were having an unlucky day instead of rejoicing that we were spared much. I also wonder if the owner of the bus company will now go and have that particular bus blessed by a monk.
Please continue to pray for our safety as we travel. One of Satan's biggest tricks here is that of fear and I am finding that I am becoming a more fearful person but I need to keep my trust in the Lord and keep my eyes focused on Him and do what He tells me to do...not what my fear tells me to do!

For the love of pork!

Ok, I had to take this picture at the market the other day. You just don't know what you are missing here in Thailand! Don't worry, I have never bought a pigs head and probably never will but I think it's fascinating that they are for sale in the market. By the way, this is the market where I buy our ground beef. That's right, no going to the grocery store and buying ground beef in nicely packaged containers. Actually, Big C (the major supermarket here in Lobpuri) does carry beef but it often is discolored and the meat in the market looks like a better quality and it's fresher. Anyway, I wanted to share this picture and give you just a hint of what it's like to shop at the market! All I can say is that I am glad I am not in the first three months of my pregnancy with all the smells and sights at the market. God's goodness to me is evident in that!

Public Transport in Thailand

Pictured here is what is known as a "song theow." A "song theow" is a truck with a roof over the bed. In the bed there are two benches (hence the name...song=two, theow=bench). It costs between 7 and 9 baht per person to take one of these trucks to where you want to go. There are three different routes in the area where we live in Lopburi. Pictured here is the blue song-theow #1. This one goes past our soy (street).

Breakfast at the Adams

Just about every Monday morning, our missionary friends invite all of us language learners over for a pancake breakfast at their house. Mondays are our days off as students and our friends still open their home to us and feed us. And let me tell you, you cannot go hungry at this house. I have attached a picture of Paul along with some of our new friends and fellow learners. It is wonderful to be in an environment where we can talk about the challenges of language learning and even share the funny, embarassing stories with one another and know we are not alone.

Quote on Quote

Yet another quote from Helen Roseveares' book, "Give Me This Mountain."

Were we willing to be nails, in the hands of the Master Carpenter? Would we grumble at the painful blows of the hammer, or would we remember that the hammer was held by the nail-pierced hands? It was He, not our circumstances, nor our fellow-missionaries, who was choosing us to take our hidden place in His church." (page 83)

"He's Still Working on Me"

You know when you pray for God to show you your weaknesses and help you become a more humble person He is going to answer that prayer. I know that I have a very proud heart and many may argue..."Who doesn't? That's life, that's your sinful self." And I agree, we are all born with a proud heart and with sin but it doesn't justify being a proud person and not asking God to transform us. For the longest time I was unwilling to surrender. I would justify it by thinking, "I have my rights, you know"... isn't that the battle cry of every American? So, I've begun this journey with the Lord concerning my proud heart. It's not easy. If you are in the same boat as me, you understand. I feel like the apostle Paul most days...when he says he does the things he hates but desires to do the things God has called him to (Romans 7:14-20). And the hardest part about surrendering to God aside from the actual surrender is the pruning and purifying that comes from the gracious hand of the Potter (at least that's my opinion). You know once you pray a prayer like the one I've been praying, God is going to start doing some major heart surgery and it "ain't gonna be pretty."
The most annoying part about being a sinful, proud human being is that even in the midst of the trail, you KNOW God is allowing this to happen and yet you STILL fail to handle the situation in love...even if you never say a word to anther soul, your heart is screaming, "I have my rights" or "I would NEVER do that." But the reality is I do NOT have my rights as a child of God and I am just as guilty for doing something rude or unloving as the next gal. I am so thankful to God for being so patient with me. I often think of the children's song, "He's Still Working On Me." That is how I feel most days! The words go something like this, "He's still working on me, to make me what I ought to be. It took Him just a week to make the moon and stars, the Sun and Earth and Jupiter and Mars. How loving and patient He must be, He's still working on me."

I Can Fly!

Almost every night before going to sleep PJ takes an airplane ride on daddy's feet! Here he is "no hands mama" with his legs outstretched having a blast!

PJ and his friend, Phii Baw

Here is PJ with Baw. He plays with her just about every afternoon when we go outside. He really likes her motor scooter as you can see here!

The Girls

The Birthday Girl is the one farthest to the right. Her name is Duan. It is Thai for month. Next to her is her friend (I've forgotten her name). On the left hand side is PJ's good buddy Baw and to the right of her is Phii Denaii's older daughter, Dow (thai for star). Here they are eating thier Korean BBQ amid candlelight. We ate outside...which was really nice until I realized I wasn't the only one feasting...the mosquitoes got their share from me that night!

Almost the final product

Here is the tray with the meat. I forgot to mention that you use chopsticks when eating this meal. So, when the pork is cooked, you pick it up with your chopsticks and dip it in some spicy sauce...that is what makes it SO delicious, or "aroy maak" in Thai!

How it begins...Korean BBQ, that is

So, here is the fat place at the top of the tray. The broth has been poured in along with some mushrooms.

Korean BBQ with Phii Denaii and Phii Lina

This is our landlord, Phii Denaii with his wife, Phii Lina. Phii Lina is also the lady who cleans our house, does our laundry AND watches PJ in the mornings while we are at language school. She is great with PJ. We could not ask for better landlords...God has truly blessed us with this couple. The other night they invited us and our neighbors from Holland to their house for a Korean BBQ in celebration of Phii Denaii's younger daughter's 15th birthday. It was SO delicious. Basically it's a lot like fondue. Notice Phii Lina is dipping something into the pot that is sitting on top of hot burning charcoal. They place a piece of fat at the top of the tray and as it melts down over the rest of the pot you cook the pork in it. And then there is some sort of broth in the tray in which you put veggies and kuaytiaw (white noodles). You let it cook a bit and voila...time to eat! Of course this takes some time so we ate for about two and a half hours that night! We enjoyed great conversation and practicing our Thai with our generous and gracious neighbors.

You know what happens when you ASSUME!

Ok, so Paul, PJ and I took yet another trip down to the City of Angels to finalize some visa paperwork. I am happy to report that as far as I am concerned it is all taken care of for a while anyways! I think when you live abroad your paperwork is NEVER fully done.
So, we left immigration around 1 PM and decided we better get some food before boarding the "rot duu" (mini bus) home for the two hour journey..especially with PJ who was dying of hunger and myself (getting very pregnant...you know how we can be!). So, near the skytrain station we found a British Pub. I said to Paul, "let's eat there..I'll bet they have good food!" He agreed. So, Paul ordered a bowl of pea soup (the bite I had was delicious) and shepherd's pie. And I ordered Beef and kidney potpie. Our food came and as I am eating it I began wondering what kind of meat was in my potpie. I knew the roastbeef but the other I was not sure. And I was looking for kidney beans and none seemed to be in my meal. The next day as I was reflecting on my meal and wondering once again what I ate...it dawned on me that I had eated a KIDNEY! An actual organ...and I about vomited. I totally read the menu and I know it didn't say kidney beans but I assumed that that is what was meant. The funny thing about this story is that Paul made a comment about his shepherd's pie and I said to him, "you can't assume anything." I guess the joke was on me! I am glad that I didn't realize what I was eating WHILE I was eating it because it totally would have ruined the entire meal.

Hi, Ho, Silver

Before leaving the States my very creative husband bought a two disc DVD set of The Lone Ranger! I was a little puzzled why he thought this would be the greatest thing to take to Thailand but trusted his judgement (I never being one who watched the Lone Ranger). He did tell me that he really liked it as a boy and PJ will enjoy it. "OK, I am with you", I thought. So, the other night, to reward PJ for actually TELLING me before he had to go pee and peeing on the potty three times (!) I broke out The Lone Ranger. (We had not viewed them before this). Paul popped some popcorn and we sat on our bed in our air conditioned room and watched two episodes of the masked man and his sidekick Tonto...beating the bad guys and saving peoples lives. It's been a lot of fun to share this with PJ and even for me to learn who this masked man is and what he is all about. It's fun that most of the episodes are in black and white and one so far even quoted Scripture!!!
The weird thing about The Lone Ranger though is I always think about a class I had in college. My prof said something like, "You can't be a lone ranger missionary, it just doesn't work." Oh, folks try to be Lone Ranger missionaries but eventually they burn out doing it all on their own. Often times they go back to their home country defeated and in despair. I am so thankful that we have a team here in Thailand. And as a team we are commited to each other and mostly to God. Are we perfect? Not by any means. And I am sure as we serve here side by side through the years we will go through stuggles together and God will use us to sharpen each other as iron sharpens iron but I am so thankful that we have each other to pray with and for each other and to lean on each other and to grow together in the grace and knowledge of our Lord. Even though our team is small (we are always praying and looking for a few good men and women to join us!) we are NOT alone.

Weakness, friend or foe?

I began reading Helen Roseveare's autobiography, "Give Me This Mountain." I have not yet read this book of Helen Roseveare's but the others that I have read are two of my favorite books ("Living Sacrifice" and Living Faith"). I think this book I am reading currently was the first she wrote. Anyway, she was a missionary doctor to Congo during the 1950s and 60s. Her accounts are the real nitty gritty of missions. She expresses with truth and sincerity her deepest hurts, sin and how God used her and most importantly molded her more into His image. Anyway, following is a quote from her book that really resonated in my heart.

"Of course, I never can be holy! How simple, when one realizes that the Lord knows me as I am in all my weakness, loves me, and waits to impart Himself, His own holiness, His life, living in me.
Each conviction of sin was good in that so far as it led me to trust the only One who can deal with sin.
...The Lord allowed a growing realization of failure in each of the different realms mentioned, in order that He Himself might fill the vacuum. He longed that I would become more preoccupied with Him and less with myself." (page 57)

Failure and weakness are not usually traits we celebrate as Americans NOR as Christians. From my experience (limited as it is) most Christians want to portray a perfect image that they have it together and all is well in the world. The past several years (since college) I am learning from our gracious Lord that weakness is ok. He uses the weak things to bring glory to Himself. And a recent realization for me is that God uses the weak and humble to win others for Himself. What I mean by that is for the longest time when I would be around non-Christians I would try to put on that fascade that I had it all together so that I wouldn't cause them to stumble, etc. What I am learning now is that being humble, honest and real with non-Christians is a more effective way of winning them to Christ than pretending all is well with me because I am a Christian and pretending because I am a Christian I NEVER struggle with sin, etc. Of course this all stems from the sins of pride and self-righteousness in my heart. My prayer has been that I would be humble enough to know and see my weaknesses and istead of trying to cover them up as I would like to, to let God work (we know HE sees them and we can't hide from Him) and move and transform me into His image. And like Helen Roseveare (and many others in church history) allow myself to be "more preoccupied with God Himself and less with myself." Not an easy feat when you are a sinful human full of sinful pride and self-righteousness..only God can do this work in my life.

Cold...in Thailand?

I'm cold in Thailand!!! I NEVER thought that would happen. This morning I woke up very cold, of course, this as a result of our air conditioner that does a great job at keeping our room cool. Then I went downstairs with PJ to get him some breakfast and noticed a really nice breeze. Feels like rain, but it's SO cool. Now I am sitting here with goosebumps on my body, cold! Go figure!

PJ continues to do well potty training. I am so amazed how well it's going...although we do have days when he won't go or it's a huge fight, but the past two days have been wonderful. He is even starting to tell me he has to go in order to get to the potty on time. Thank you for your prayers. I am constantly amazed the way in which God is answering our prayers here. (When I say "our" I mean Paul and me but I also mean your prayers too!).

This morning we are heading off to the new church we tried last week again. Paul is in Bangkok worshiping with our team. I decided to stay home since we will be going BACK to Bangkok on Wednesday. Anyway, this church seems to be just what we are looking for. They have two male pastors (not very common in Thailand...mostly women pastors) and they have recently begun having communion every Sunday! Who would have thought God would provide a fellowship such as this for us? Of course, the entire worship service is in Thai but we have friends who translate for us, as best they can..they are language learners here too but they've been here several months already. There aren't many who attend this church, just a few families but from what we observed last week they are delighted to have "farangs" and have a worship that seems truly God glorifying.

Our first at home Thai meal

Well, it happened. Tonight I ventured into a new world here in Thailand. I made a red Thai curry dish with chicken. I was hoping it would taste like the dish I learned to make in the States but it tasted VERY different from that. All in all it turned out ok, but I still have much to learn in the way of Thai cooking. Thankfully, Lina was around to help me make my first pot of rice in our rice cooker!
The red curry was terribly spicy but it was just really thick...like I needed to add another can of coconut milk. So, next time I need to work on the consistency of the curry and maybe it will taste better!

Paul with his teacher

This is Paul and his teacher, Khruu Awd. Khruu is the Thai word for teacher. We call our teachers Khruu to show them respect.

Feeding the bunnies

Our Weekend

Well, the weekend was a great one. We just relaxed, Paul studied a lot for his language check that was this morning but all in all it was a restful and relaxing time. We have Mondays off from school (we go Tuesday thru Saturday) so we went to the zoo ("suan sat" in Thai.) Of course PJ really enjoys the zoo and it's cheap! Only 10 baht per person and PJ is free. That is equivalent to about a total of around 50 cents! I don't think you can even buy a soda at the Jax Zoo for 50 cents!!! Anyway, we bought a bag of peanuts to feed to the monkeys, goats, bunnies, bears, monitor lizard, otters, turtles and probably a few I can't recall! We got to see a cobra of some sort shed it's skin (not my cup of tea but PJ and Paul really enjoyed it). We then went across the street from the zoo to eat lunch. What an experience that was! We ordered our food but we received one dish we didn't order and Paul NEVER received his rice to eat with his tum yam gai. It was interesting then to top it all off this lady started feeding PJ ice cream with the same spoon she was feeding her (sick) little boy with. Paul and I didn't know what to do, but then Paul remembered the Thai phrase, "that's enough, thank you" and asked me to tell her that. I did and she politely stopped feeding PJ. I thought we might have truly offended her but later she talked with us in Thai for a really long time. I've been told by our teammates that this sort of feeding of your kid takes place with Thai people but until Monday, it had never happened to us. It's so ackward because you feel so rude but yet you don't want your kid getting sick. So, we've been praying that PJ won't get sick...please join us! So far, so good.
Also, I have an update on a prayer request we sent out via our monthly prayer email in regards to the soi dogs barking all thru the night. God is answering your prayers! We've hardly heard any dogs for the past week or so, it's been such a blessing to get a full night's rest! Please don't stop praying!
Ok, one more story and then I gotta go. Today as I was leaving the language center, heading toward the market on my bike I saw this guy walking toward me on the side of the road. He looked very much out of it but I thought he would move out of the way. I continued going the speed I was going but he didn't move! Instead he stretched out his arm and my brakes aren't the greatest in the world and there was traffic to the right of me so I ran right into his arm! I felt awful. I just kept going after hitting him not sure why he wanted me to stop. It was a bit scary and weird all at the same time. Please continue praying for our safety as we travel here in Thailand.

Our New Luxury

This is our new hot water heater for our shower!!! Yippeee!

Our Pot Roast Dinner

I Propose a Roast

I went to Sra Gaew market last week and bought a roast. I decided to cook it yesterday as a pot roast with potatoes, carrots and baby corn. I also made biscuits. We invited our neighbors from Holland over for supper as well. About an hour before we were supposed to eat I realized when I pulled to roast out of the oven to check it that it had shrunk considerably...so I ended up throwing together a meatloaf as well! Needless to say we ended up eating about a half hour later but it all turned all to be pretty good, I guess. We also had fresh pineapple, papaya and grapes to go along with our meal and for dessert Paul got some blueberry and strawberry ice cream! It was nice to have a "farang" (American or western) meal. Our neighbors also seemed to enjoy it.
Yesterday also greeted me with yet another cultural experience. Around 3PM our landlord's daughter came over to our house and said to me in English something about boiling water. Well, as you can imagine I immediately thought she was telling me I couldn't boil water...and I had a roast in the oven! Then her aunt came over and said in Thai some long sentence but I recognized two very important words..." 'aapnaam, hong naam." So, I realized that they were talking about my shower in the bathroom. Hmm....what could they be talking about? It turns out they wanted to know where the hot water heater for our shower was because the guys had arrived to install it! (After two months of waiting and figuring it would never happen!). You can imagine how happy we are to have nice hot showers. PJ is so delighted to shower now whereas before he would cry and despise taking a shower. It's amazing how one simple little thing like hot water can totally change you attitude and give you hope!
I have posted a picture of our newly installed luxury along with a picture of our pot roast!
PJ was sick again yesterday but his fever broke last night. He was fussy again today but no fever. Please keep his health in your prayers. It seems he is getting sick more than Paul or myself.

My Teacher

This is my Thai language helper. Her name is Toy. She has been teaching at LLC for 10 years, if I recall correctly! She is a Christian and has been for some time. I am very thankful for Toy. She is so patient with me and she is a great teacher!