Journal Entry

This morning I had a really good time of visiting and prayer with Becky. Good friends pray for us in ways that we don't have faith or courage enough to pray for ourselves.

Yesterday when I was talking to Mae Wahn she told me she'd even wash my underwear for me--out of the blue. I decided I'd let her. (Here in Thailand it's not proper to take your underwear to be washed, you do it yourself.) That was one less thing to have to worry about today.

I told Dru that Kathy and Sarah had called about coming over. He didn't seem overly excited about it and finally on his way out the door I asked him what was wrong. "I just don't think you have as much work to do as you think," he said. I wondered what new marriage lesson this was until I went upstairs and discovered that he'd done my whole stack of dishes.  He really didn't care that Kathy and Sarah were coming, he was just being mysterious for my benefit. 

When Kathy called and said they'd have time to come over this morning, I had to think, "Wow, God is taking care of me today!"  I'd been kind of wondering about being able to catch up with house work; company Wednesday night created a deadline.  So Kathy and Sarah came and gave me an hour and a half or two of their time.

God is good!  I feel so blessed!  Thank-you God, for caring!

End of entry.

That was all written and then my man walked in the door with supper.  "Will I ever grow out of my childish liking for McDonalds?" I asked, chowing down a Big Mac.  "I never did," he said.  So in the end, although I have so many friends who love me and take care of me, I'm most of all thankful for my man.  Thankful because he knows how to spoil me best, and he loves me most.

Church

        These are just some snatches of church life. It has been interesting adjusting to a new way of doing church, but it's been good for me to stretch too--I think. The language barrier seems huge sometimes, but it's been exciting to be able to understand a little bit more. I want to be able to bond with the women better and as of yet, am still praying about how to do this in spite of the barrier. I want to invest in their lives.

                     Dru preached this Sunday, so there was no need for Pii Ang to translate.

          The children usually sit in the back until they tire of the service and run out to play, or sit by their parents or other friends or relatives. During praise and worship, they're often at the front of the church dancing and doing motions. Mae Phan is with them here, she would be Pastor Kiat's wife. She's one of those elegant, poised ladies who makes you think of a queen.

                        Last of all, me talking to Pii Oi. Oi is a jolly girl whom I love dearly.

Mangos

Now these are mangoes! I told Dru to buy lots of mangoes. He came home with these three fat ones and some others that were on sale and fit only for shakes. These are some of the fattest, most beautiful ones I've ever seen. It's lychee in the background.
ไม่ค่อยชอบ (Mai koi chop)--I don't really like.


Lovely! We are blessed with a variety of fruit here, not that we care for all of it; but it's fun to have and learn about. I was studying with Mae Wahn today and as we were reading the Thai words for fruit, I told her which ones grew in America. It occurred to me that not many of them did grow in America, not, at least, where I come from. But they don't grow apples here, they import them from China. We laughed the other day when we found oranges imported from Florida. Apparently some farongs prefer the bigger oranger oranges from the States.

Cornbread

Saturday morning I woke up hungry for cornbread. I'd forgotten how delicious and beautiful it was. Apparently Dru did too because he left for his morning rounds before it was out ofthe  oven.There's something homey and pleasant about cornbread.
I know you're supposed to use a cast iron skillet for this sort of thing...but I haven't one. That's okay, I'm not smart enough yet to be able to tell the difference.

Somehow, I managed to get it very much like Mom's always was. We'd always pile on the sugar and eat it with milk.

But it's much better drenched in honey...

...with milk, of course!
(The honey was a gift from Mae Wahn, she's a very generous person.)

For my friends...

Being so far away from friends in America makes it difficult to stay in touch. I'm hoping this makes it easier for some of you to know what I'm up to. To those of you who may have heard me say that I'd never blog--please forgive me. People change their minds. My mother always said, "Every woman has a right to change her mind." I changed mine.  

So this is for you Melinda, Andrea, and all of the rest of you who care about my life and doings. While I'm at it, I might as well tell you what I'm up to these days.

I'm wrapping up my writing course from the Children's Institute. (Please don't critique everything I write from this point out.) I've got one more lesson to send in and it's due the end of June. So why would I choose subject matter that would take more time to research than that? Inspiration! Yet even as I begin to think about this, I panic. Someone closer to the history than I am needs to take to the time to write this story in a way that I don't think I can from here--and soon. It needs to written in a form other than children's literature. I'm also a long ways away from the people I want to interview. I placed a skype call to my grandpa Sid Skrivseth yesterday. I'll be making another one or two calls and I'm hoping to get a hold of some of the great aunts and uncles. It's a fun project but writing the story of how my Great Grandfather came to know the Lord, in a form that is pleasing to children, might be a challenge. So tell me, is this a better lead statement, or a better closing statement? "I don't remember Great Grandpa Skrivseth very well; but I do remember that he could eat a piece of chocolate cake in four bites." Shall I throw in the fact that this man was my Great Grandfather as a twist at the end, or shall I let them know all along and try to play on the fact to increase interest?

Thai class has taken a new form for me. Dru and I are no longer studying together. His poor wife couldn't keep up over the time she got pregnant and has been rather discouraged lately with language study in general. Yet God has a way of working those sorts of things out when we leave them in His hands. Right now Dru is able to get classes every day right next door. I have classes twice a week with Pii Ang. Since this new arrangement I have had one class with Pii Ang all by myself without Dru there and it was incredibly encouraging. I think I'm actually getting excited about studying for real again. She's a super teacher, I couldn't ask for better. Maybe I’ll even catch back up to Dru and pass him.  I’m sure I have the better teacher. But alas, he has the better brains. I was supposed to have another class this afternoon, but simply didn't feel up to it. 

Being pregnant is beginning to be fun. I've been feeling a lot better, but this week I've been tired. Last week I think I overdid it a bit and I'm paying for it now. I have to remember to eat right, that makes all the difference. Sadly, I discovered today that eat right I had not. So how long will it take me to figure out that I have to watch my diet, take my vitamins, get my rest, and drink enough water? That's like four things to remember! Am I old enough to be a mom? But it really is fun to feel life inside of me. It's no longer just little flutterings that make me wonder if I'm really feeling my baby--he's taken to somersaults and vigorous kicking.  

I just sent my man out the door for an English activity and Birthday Party with the Payap group. He really wasn’t feeling terribly wonderful either. His allergies seem to have returned. He usually suffers from a headache somewhere in the day, and a stuffed up head. Along with not feeling well on so many days comes a feeling of discouragement. I’m not sure if his yearly bout with allergies is something he’ll just live with every year, or if it’s something we’re going to have to look into seriously one day. So there is a prayer request for you if you’re taking prayer requests today. Pray for Dru and his allergies. 

I like blogs with pictures, but I haven't any recent ones.  We'll have to dig out the camera and start taking more.  The truth is that we have a very forgetful nature and when we remember to take a picture, we, more than likely, forgot the camera! Nonetheless, I shall see what I can do to fix the problem, but not today...