I am loving getting to know the girls, and having them get to know me. I have learned how to say - "Chan yu bret ted Thai nung bee" - which means "I will live in Thailand for one year." The girls meet many people that come for short term trips (a week or so), and they get excited when they realize they are stuck with me :). They are primarily the ones teaching me the language, which is a challenge when many of them have only spoken the language themselves for a year or two. Many of the children at our homes are from the hill tribe villages and their native tongue is their tribal language. Either way, they are so sweet and I am grateful for so many willing tutors!!! They love watching me work on the Rosetta stone program and helping me ace all my tests :).
The last week or two have been filled with getting settled into my new home, downtime at the property, starting to dig in on my studies with Nhu and work for Carl, and local tourist attractions. Many of the teams that come to the RNhu house here in Thailand are awarded with a few trips to local tourist spots in downtown Chiang Mai, and the chance to attend a traditional Thai cultural dinner. I have been given the opportunity to tag along with the team that is here right now, and have loved it! Not only is it awesome to be able to go to those things, but so nice to have fellow Christians who SPEAK ENGLISH! :).
The cultural dinner last Friday was unbelievable. The food here is excellent (as long as I can get my occasional cereal fix, which so far has been my only source of non-rice carbs). It is definitely spicy, but I am quickly getting used to all the flavors ~ curry, coconut, fruit - all so different, but so good. The dinner was so much more than just food. They filled the evening with traditional music, dancing, swordsmanship, and general entertainment. We ended the night lighting 4' lanterns that floated off into the sky. Let me tell you, seeing all those lights rising and floating above us was so beautiful - in Thai beautiful is pronounced: soi. As someone who is drawn to cultural experiences anyways, this night was absolutely perfect.
Work is starting to go well now that I have settled in a bit more. I spent about three hours with Nhu today working on english. We are reading through the New Testament and going through some workbooks. We are getting along really well, and both of us were dying of laughter when she read outloud today from Matthew 6:24: "you cannot serve both God and monkey" (instead of money). hahahhahaha!!! Within that same realm, I was able to get a lot done for Carl today as well, and several people have mentioned how excited they are that I am here to help him. He travels so much, and has a huge workload. I am looking forward to helping take some of the pressure and stress off him, and praying I will continue to prove myself useful in that regard.
So much is happening, and so many things to share, but going to stop there for now. Thank you so much to all who have been covering me in prayer. I am truly feeling the blessings of your support and appreciate it so much. My continued prayer requests are for:
- Continued relationship building and balance with Nhu, Carl, Laurie, and the RNhu staff
- Health - many of the girls are sick/deal with lice (and we all sleep in the same room)
- Self discipline and faithfulness in my work
So GREAT to speak with you briefly the other day and to hear how things are going. Sounds like the Lord is leading and encouraging.
ReplyDeleteI loved reading that the girls were excited when they found you were going to stay for a year. What a joy to hear how they responded to that.
You are on my prayer wall. Whenever you pop into mind know I am lifting you up to the Lord, so whenever times are hard pray the Lord put you on our hearts. We don't need to know the circumstances, He already does...just know we are faithful to prayer on your behalf.
Love you lady!