Quick Update

Life is going on here. I'm happier now. Back up from the crash of last blog post. We have a few more answers and more direction. Keep praying though.

Jube is happy and healthy. The last while he's been daily reminding me to give him his vitamins, and maybe it's my imagination, but I think he feels weller and behaves weller. He's discovered how to use his tractor book from Papa and Nanna. I had to tell him to keep Farmer Dray inside--he wanted to take him out to cut trees down. He likes Farmer Dray's chainsaw. I can't wait to take him home so that he can see my dad's woods machinery. I might just pull up some videos on You Tube for him to watch before that though. All things machinery are of interest to him. His vocabulary is growing. Usually we can even understand him although he doesn't pronounce his "f" or his "s" yet.

Havilah is sweet and smiley, smiley. So fun. No longer can she lay on the table for her nap. She's discovered how to roll over. I really do think she's about a month ahead of Jube on that, and the smiling thing. And she's chubby! We love her bunches.

Dru's got tests to create and then give on Friday night, then there's an break in English teaching for a month. Yippee!!! He'll use the "extra" time for continuing to make his curriculum better and fill in some gaps. Also will be nice to have this time to do more thinking and praying for our future here.

And now I need to go get my supper made and dishes done by the time my men get home for the evening. Jube went with Dru for English classes tonight. I always wonder if I should send him but I think it's good. Dru likes to take him with him and Jube loves it. So I send him and cover him in prayer. I'm generally a very paranoid mom, but I'm learning to balance it with prayer--at least in this area.

Tonight we have cell group at our house. I always enjoy this part of our lives. We're going to miss our cell group when the time comes to part ways!!

God bless you all!

Life in Thailand Right Now

First I simply must mention our weird wonderful March weather. It's very odd to have a cool March but we have, for the most part, and some days were even cold. But I haven't heard anyone complain. I'm hoping this means that we get one less month of hot season than usual.

I heard an elephant this morning when I was out with Jube. We were adding dirt to my flower pots when I heard it trumpet. I didn't actually think he sounded very happy and he trumpeted several times. I told Dru we should go find him but he wasn't in the mood to "have to try to see an elephant with a whole bunch of people crowded around and then have to pay 100 baht to feed it." So he said we should go to the elephant camp this Saturday. Shall I hold him to it?

Doctor's appointment coming up tomorrow night. Honestly, she's not going to like the looks of me. She's going to say that I'm too small and want another ultrasound. I'm not concerned about that because she said that with Jube, too. And he was sufficiently large at birth to impress her. And she'll give me an iron supplement and calcium, which I will gratefully accept. And I have something else I need to talk to her about. But the baby is very alive and kicking--so if she can make it through this pregnancy I will too.

I'm loving Thai study right now believe it or not. My teacher is having me read children's stories and study out of them. And there I get my conversation, grammar, and vocab study. And I like children's literature anyway. I discovered I much prefer the way the Thai language handles the story of the fox and the crow. Dru's studying again with Pii Ang too and I do believe he's feeling pretty good about his language study in general right now.

I sat in on part of Dru's Sunday School class last Sunday. His communication skills are improving and I'm proud of him. When I get big I'm going to be able to speak Thai as well as he does. (Sunday School is always a lot of work and a big day for him though. Big days for both of us actually. Not exactly a day of rest if you know what I mean.)

Jube is fussy often off and on as his teeth come in. I rejoice in his happy times and I guess he copes fairly well with his misery. He's a very social being and very mom dependent. And how do you know how to deal with anger and defiance when he's also teething half the time too? All stuff that feels bigger than me. I told Dru that I'm thankful that God loves our son even more than we do.

Jube's starting to say a LITTLE bit more and he understands more and more everyday. If nothing else, I think he'll start talking when the baby comes, just so he knows he'll be heard. I'm afraid that we're going to be dealing with some jealousy issues in a few months here--just because he thinks that I am his personal property, etc. Already thinking about ways to help with that hump when it comes.

We found an oldish iron/wood picnic table and chairs the other day. Dru tightened down the bolts on it and we still need to do some refinishing of the wood on it, but I'm loving eating out there and Jube and I spend time out there with my Bible and his story books. So nice! I feel rich, with my rickety old lawn furniture. :)

Oh, and my rose bush has 10 buds on it right now. That makes me happy and makes me wonder if I should even try growing anything else. How dumb is that? Most things die when I touch them--or greatly suffer. My potted plants suffer when I forget to water them. And they get root bound...I divided my fern a year ago and now it's time to do it again. Is it within my power to keep some marigolds and petunias alive this next couple of months?

A Fishy Blog

I dreamed about fishing last night. I dreamed I kept snagging a dead, limp, Thai variety of a fish. It was disappointing and unrewarding. But when I woke up, I kept thinking about fishing with my family. I haven't gone fishing for two years. 

There was a summer when Dad bought a big orange-red boat. We discovered fishing. It was one of our last summers together as family before us children turned into adults and went our separate ways across the face of the globe. It was special.

We fit the whole family on that tub of a boat. Not uncomfortably, but not exactly with the greatest ease, either. There were nine of us. The only difficulty was the lack of "hole frontage" from the edge of the boat at times when the boat was inconveniently situated so that one side of it was away from the popular hole. At times like that you'd put a lure on and wishfully cast into the middle of the lake--dreaming of catching the biggest fish of the year.

Either all the fish in Windago were deaf or it isn't true that you have to be quiet when fishing. We had several evenings where the pan fish were biting well enough to bring in fifty fish fast, as though the noise was a lure. After an hour they'd slow down and just as the sun went down the rock bass would start biting. We'd go home late with our bait supply wiped out and our cooler full.

Taking supper with us lost its charm for those who thought worm entrails in the potato salad weren't conducive to a good dining experience. More often then not, we'd eat before we hit the lake. 

We came home late and the men (and sometimes mom too) would clean the fish by the light of the spotlight on Dad's service truck, out behind the house where the hose was. There is probably a whole mine of fish scales back there by now.

I remember one night Jenny opted out and stayed home. I didn't understand that and I neither do I understand Frank's reading a book on board. (I believe Frank had a certain distaste for worms--an overall squeamishness about touching a divided worm, trying to get the frantically squirming thing to stay firmly on the hook.) There were a couple nights that mom read out loud to those of us who were fishing. That was always fun until the light got too dim. 

There are a few rules when fishing with Grabers. Don't cross other people's line with yours. To be more specific, don't cross Dad's.  Don't get caught in the reeds, weeds, or trees--not even the perch actually perch in the trees. As time went on, we actually became more long-suffering with each other for making this blunder. Don't catch people. I did it once. My hook was caught on something, so I just tugged at it to get it come until I discovered that it was firmly embedded in Amy's jaw line. Mom got light headed. Amy was patient about it though. After waiting for an hour in the ER, the doctor had to push the hook around the loop, snip the barb off, and then pull it back. There has to be a cleaner injury than having a wormy hook in your skin. Sorry, Amy.

Dad might put flopping fish down your neck if he wanted to. He did it to Clark once, if I recall properly. I think it was a "baby" fish who needed more life experience or something. Poor thing.

Dru went fishing for his wife's sake. He confessed to me before we were married that he found fishing to be the epitome of boring. He likes it now. I think. He married into the Graber family. It's kind of a prerequisite.

I once asked Dad why we don't fish as much anymore. He said something about a credit card. Not that I'd ask him to go into debt on the credit card--but the fun we had wasn't really something even a credit card could pay for. It was just plain old family fun and we loved it.

So when I get back to the states, I want to go fishing again. Please.

Wash Day

(Photo Credit: Lisl)

The Ride

“Journal every day!” My mom told me this after I told her about my discoveries lately. “It'll be a waste if you don't! Even if you only get in two sentences a day, journal every day!” She's right, with a man like mine, there will be plenty to write about.

About my discoveries, I've been reading Debi Pearls, Created To Be His Helpmeet. It's been freeing and challenging. I think one thing that really blessed me about reading it was the fact that she speaks right to the desires of my heart—really, the life she's calling women to is a life of doing the things that God has built into us to desire to do. There's really nothing I rather do other than being a good wife and mother.

She talks about three different kinds of men. My man would be who she would call, Mr. Visionary. Visionary men tend to be intensely focused on one thing at a time, yet easily distracted. Here's a bit of what she said that really says it well. “Visionary Man will take the trash out if he remembers it. But, he may also end up inventing a way whereby the trash takes itself out or is turned into an energy source, or he may just waste a lot of time building a cart for you to take it out. He will not mind cleaning up if he notices it needs doing, but he may get so deeply involved that he decides to paint while he is sweeping, and then switch projects before he gets finished painting. And he will likely be irritated when his wife nags him about it.” That is so my man!

Visionary men are “adventure men,” who seek out the world's problems to solve them. They are constantly moving from one project, and/or location, to the next. Debbie says to get on board and enjoy the ride. That's what I needed to hear.

The idea of moving to the other side of the city has seemed big and scary to me. But I've been beginning to realize that I need focus on the things that are exciting to me, count my blessings, and, well, get on board! That's what Debbie's book made me realize even more. “Enjoy the ride,” Debbie says.

So that's why Mom says I need to journal. Because it will be a ride. And Debbie says to cultivate joy—so we shall have a joyful ride.

About my “ride” this week. Dru was sick with a bad cold and sore throat. It hampered his abilities to work very well, but he pushed through. I'm never sure if I should tell him to go lay down and sleep for a while...or what. Then I got the stuff. Today I felt much better but have a breast infection, or something like that. Which put me out of commission and now my house is falling down around my ears.

Mae Wahn came up to hold Jube this evening and we discussed lots of things and I actually enjoyed myself. Sometimes, and shame on me, I feel threatened and unsociable when she comes up but it's all my own fault and it's one of the things I need to get over so that I can “enjoy the ride.” She told me one especially interesting thing. She has been having a hard time keeping her hired help. She told me that it's because some of them don't like the idea of Mae Wahn washing the farang's (that is, the IGo student's) underwear. In Thailand it's generally considered poor etiquette to take your underwear to the launderer but Mae Wahn over looked this breach and happily washes the underwear by just throwing them in the wash machine. The farangs didn't know any better and Mae Wahn, needing friendship and business, didn't say anything. I've asked her about it before and she didn't mind, and she still does it, not minding. But she works very hard because she can't get consistent help. Yet she told me, as best as I can translate, “The IGo students are my children. I can wash their underwear and mend their clothes.” Truly, they are some of her closest friends here—and sometimes, I think, her only friends. But she can't seem to explain that to her hired helpers.  

I wonder if her Thai helpers feel awkward with her relationship with the farangs. They really aren't used to friendship with no strings attached. All relationships are based on the status of the individuals involved and the individuals in a relationship are generally never equal. Someone is always indebted to the other. But Mae Wahn is soaking in the love and reciprocating in the ways she knows how...this year she's even gone to see people off at the airport a couple of times, and out to eat with them.

After our chat, in which we also discussed Joy's grandmother dying without knowing Jesus—in which she really listened, she left. Later she came back with supper for us from KFC. What a wonderful friend! We talked some more over supper and afterwards, we showed her the difference between a chain saw and a timber harvester and talked about the dangers of the logging profession.  

So that, my dears, was the ride for the week—so far. Tomorrow Kris flies back to the states and we have a Christmas party in the evening at IGo for the community. Then Sunday there is another Christmas party on Sunday with the CMCC people—a men's party and a women's, happening simultaneously. Monday is the Christmas party with the children at CMCC... There's a wedding Christmas Eve that we can't decide if we should go to or not. Christmas Day evening Craig's and all the loose singles will be here. I think that's all of the parties coming up.

So Merry Christmas to you all. And in the spirit of Tiny Tim, “God bless us, everyone!”

Loy Krathong

I was feeding Jube on the couch last night when I saw and heard fireworks RIGHT outside my kitchen window.  Upon investigating later, I discovered holes in the screen and the tell tale red stick on the window ledge.  It had gotten caught between the window slats and the screen. There was ash dust on my counter this morning.

It seems everything about this holiday involves fire hazards.  Fire works go off all over the city for nights in a row.  There doesn't seem to be any rules about who is allowed to light what size of fireworks.  They send up lanterns, hundreds and hundreds of them.  They make pretty, red lights in the night sky, but they come down and get caught in the high lines.  And they float these pretty little boats down the river with some sort of flame on them.  

So it's pretty enough--but oh, the noise!  Our neighbors out the back don't only let off lots and lots of fire works, they also play their music so loudly that we can listen to it comfortably, whether or not we want to.  But like Dru says, "I really can't complain, it's their holiday."  So it is.  I'm not complaining either.  

When the Thai people play, they play hard.  It's lots of water at one holiday and lot's of fire at another.  At least nobody can say they don't know how to have fun.  

But oh, I severely dislike bottle rockets!

Saturday Morning Rambles...

Thailand, my dear friends, is still quite warm.  I'm looking forward to the day when it is cold in the mornings and remains that way for the majority of the day.  I have discovered that my baby sleeps better in the afternoons if I take him down to the A/C.  There I either take a nap with him, or Dru can keep an ear open for him while he works at the computer.  I can go back upstairs and work.

Dru is feeling quite positive about how his studies for classes, which start next week, are coming along.  Yesterday though he woke me from my nap to explain with some frustration that his computer was not keeping up and was locked up again.  He is a man who can set a record at how many computer pages and tabs, etc, he has to have open at once.  Right now he is down negotiating with one of the students.  His laptop is much like mine but crashed and Dru's hoping to buy it off of him and we'll put the two together and that will give us something to hobble along on.

After he woke me yesterday and told me that it was 2:30 already, I realized that the bread probably wouldn't get baked and I'd be lucky to get my dishes done.  But then Kathy and her girls came over and the girls swept my house and did my large stack of dishes while I made a rather large batch of bread.  Heather was rather amazed that my baby slept through the noise of the vacuum sweeper.  Sarah had just got back from a ministry trip and told us all about it--they had a really good time.  Kathy sat at my kitchen table.  Kathy, the dear lady, has some rather serious back pain these days.  Right now she limps about with the help of a purple cane.  

And then in the end Dru and I took
supper over for the Brownes so we all got to visit some more. Duff's are going to be going back to the states for a couple of months and I am not looking forward to their absence very much at all.  They've become family for us. 

My baby is much happier now that we both got the salad worked out of our systems.  The poor child.  I enjoyed it but I guess he didn't much.  He's a very good baby--but he's especially good when I don't eat lettuce and peppers.  So maybe, as Gabe suggested, I should stick to bananas.  I should be offended at Gabe's insinuation, but can't quite get that way.

My baby is about to go from wearing newborn clothing to the next size up.  He really is going to be a chunky little baby here pretty soon.  He's the cutest little boy there is, I promise.  But you all know all that already.  

And now I should stop rambling and go do my dishes.  There are ants in the sink and on the table.  Yeah, I still have ants.  But I also have bleach, ant poisoning, and ant spray.  I am generally victorious in the end.  They always revisit I suppose, but I've killed more of them then they have of me, if you  know what I mean.  

Okay, the baby is calling me.  Goodbye

Friday Morning Ramblings

 It's time for him to leave. He's walking in frantic circles around the bedroom—stopping at his desk now and then to move papers around in hopes that the book will materialize under one of them. I just sit here smiling at him. He even has a sheepish grin on his face. Finally it occurs to me that I do actually know where his Thai book is. “It's upstairs.”

So Dru drops his other book on the bed and heads upstairs. A minute later he's back in the room, beginning those silly circles again. “It's on the bed.” So he grabs it, kisses me, and leaves—still wearing that goofy grin.

As you can see, we're still alive and getting along as we normally do. Right now the A/C is running. I'll turn that off as soon as it decides to start raining. For some reason it hasn't again for a day or two. The heat starts rising and my pregnant body doesn't keep up very well. Never mind, it's supposed to rain all weekend and I can't wait.

 The only complication that comes with so much rain is riding the motorbike in it. It's always a miserable prospect. Last week we were having our Saturday date and were just about to leave the mall when we noticed it was raining. Neither one of us wanted to ride home in the rain so we thought we'd wait it out in a coffee shop. We curled up with our library books and read for a while. And talked for a while. And did nothing for a while. Finally, we got up to leave—and it was still raining. So we drove home in it. We drove home through a downpour the other evening too—I can't remember where'd we'd been even. Must have been the Payap cell group. I just remember wetness. Would that explain the cold I managed to get the other day?  

  I spent Wednesday nursing the miserable cold. By evening, I was sick of the house and so was Dru. He'd had one of those days where he had spent a good part of the day at his desk doing lesson preparation. Neither one of us felt like cooking. We drove until we came to a Thai restaurant that didn't have a stitch of English in the menu. I discovered that I can read the word, “macaroni” in Thai characters. It looks like this: มักกะโรนี.   

 Yesterday we were out for dinner with Val and Allen and Carolyn Roth. Allen is here as a visiting teacher. We ate at the J House, a little “hole in the wall” restaurant. It was quite warm out there but we had a good time talking with them and picking Allen's brain about their lives on the mission field.  

Last night Dru went to show the last set of video clips from the Bible series we were doing with the Payap group. I spent about the whole time he was gone having quiet time, writing an email, and talking to Mae Wahn.  When I spend time in prayer like I should, I stay reminded that we're in a battle. But I also remember that Jesus has already won the victory. It's amazing to know all that.

I don't know how long I'll live in Thailand. We don't know what God has for us. Yet, even if we're only here for a short time, it will have been worth it. God has taught me so much since I've been here.

I remember staring out into the rain one day at IGo not long after we got here. It was before we were moved into our own apartment. It was dawning on me that some of the things we consider truth are relative to culture. In Thailand, it is true that feet are disgraceful. Not so in the United States. For some reason, that was the beginning of realizing that each culture is entitled to their idiosyncrasies and before I judge, I must go to the Bible to make sure that I'm not dying on a hill that wasn't meant to be there in the first place. Maybe that was a strange discovery for me to make—standing there, watching the rain pour down. But it was the beginning of learning to love a people who are so different than my “home” people. And in discovering this, I also was able to discover that we're so alike. Way deep down inside, we're all alike.  

 I've had to rethink everything that I held as truth. Who is God? Who is the Holy Spirit and what is His work? How do we work with Christians who don't believe quite like we do?

Truth, it all comes back to truth. Make that capitalized—Truth. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Only through Him and the work of His Holy Spirit of truth can people be set free. Psalm 115:4-8 talks about the idols people build for themselves. Idols that are blind, dumb, deaf, immobile, but the sad part is in verse eight. “Those who make them are like them; so is everyone who trusts in them.” We see that here today—literally! And ONLY the Truth can set them free. It's a miracle that blind eyes can see Truth.

Keep praying for our friends here. We want them to see the Truth and be set free. Pray for us. We want to be a clear picture of His love and work; vessels for the Holy Spirit to use.

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.

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...