Thailand (Part 5)

At the Baptist Church in Chiang Mai.

 I just wanted to pick up where I left off yesterday before I go to bed tonight.  Sunday we had good services at the church in Chiang Mai.  I would have liked to stayed for the fellowship they had there but we enjoyed the picnic at the Waterfalls with Bro. Rusty, Sis. Susan, Pawn, Carmen, and Gam a girl that goes to their church and attends their English class at home.

 


Before we went to the waterfall, we had gone to the market to pick out the food we wanted to have at the picnic.  Scott saw fried chicken heads and decided to try one.  I mainly held it in order have a good picture for the kids.  I didn't really want a fried chicken head.  It was a little eerie holding it, since it still had eyes in the head.  Scott said that it tasted like chicken.

And no, I haven't eaten bugs that I know of on this trip.  We saw some interesting bugs but didn't have to eat any.  I told our children that I wasn't going to Thailand to eat bugs but if I had to I would.  Well, I didn't have to so I didn't. :)

The chicken that lost it's head...

I didn't take very good pictures of the waterfall but Scott did. I'll be posting more pictures of that as I get the pictures from him. The falls were really neat because we were actually able to get in the water and climb up the waterfall.  We had taken our shoes off to walk in the water and I happened to step on a rock.  I didn't realize I had actually had a small cut in my foot until we got back to the house. It wasn't too bad, and my sweet, always prepared husband happened to bring neosporin and bandaids.  So I was able to doctor up my foot pretty well. 

After the waterfalls, we all went back to the house and changed into dry clothes in order to go to the Night Market. 



At the night market, we had supper at Duke's restaurant.  We ate a really good pizza there.  After supper, we walked around and looked at several booths and helped Carmen find sun glasses for herself and her brother.  Then Scott and I decided to be adventurous and took a tuk-tuk to the Walking Street market.  Carmen let us take her phone just in case we were stranded.  We didn't get lost and managed to get a tuk tuk ride all the way back to the house without having to walk any. I was glad that he took us home, since my foot was hurting.  Scott paid the man a little extra for taking us past where he thought we were going.


Monday, we had a good day of teaching. I enjoy teaching the younger children and the handicapped children the best.  We did have one class of kindergarteners that were not very well behaved but that was because their normal teacher had left the room. 

Scott and I also taught a class of teachers, that we have really enjoyed.

...or did it lose it's body? Hmm...

We really like the Handicap school.  After the teacher class had ended we stood outside and talked with some of the students.  By talk I mean pretty much say, "Hello! How are you?"  And letting them respond and then asking their names and telling them our names.  One little boy asked my name and then he reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a pink q-tip and gave it to me.  It may sound strange but I thought it was really sweet.  I'm going to bring it back home with me and maybe add it to a scrapbook. 

Monday evening, we went to a home of some church members and enjoyed some really good Chinese food.  It was delicious!  The daughters in the family all speak very good English.  Their father enjoys listening to them use their English with us. After we were done eating we visited for quite a while and then Scott pulled out his Saw-lu or whatever it's called.  It's a 2 stringed, Thai instrument that is played with a bow.  One of their daughters, Mimi, got excited and pulled her Saw-lu out.  They took turns playing different songs.  Scott said whichever one she played on sounded better.  She has had a little more practice.


Tuesday, we had been invited to visit with the pastor and his wife of the local church here in Chiang Mai.  They had some homeschooling questions for us, and we had been wanting to visit with them and get to know them better as well.  They planned to pick us up at Bro. Rusty's and Sis. Susan's house at 10:30 on Tuesday morning. 

Bro. Rusty was a little short handed Tuesday, since Carmen was sick.  Scott and I decided to help him out with the two first hour classes. Then after we taught the first hour's classes we would catch a Green truck back to the road they lived on.

  Scott made up a line of a country song after that adventure.  Two green trucks and two hours later, still walking down the road..."  We could probably add a few lines now, about sunburns and heat rash, but we did learn a lesson from it all and Scott bought me an umbrella today.  From now on if I even think I'll be in the sun, I'm going to have to either have an umbrella or sunscreen.  This young lady doesn't handle the sun like I once could.

After we made it back to the house, I ran upstairs washed my face real quick, and then we got in the truck with the pastor and his 3 year old son.  That little boy was really sweet and reminded us so much of Jonathan.  Those two would have so much fun, even though they have different personalities, I'm positive they would hit it off perfectly.  Their family will be in Texas this fall on deputation and we are looking forward to visiting with them again and letting them meet our children.

A picture I took while standing in the waterfall.

Today, we had to get some money out of the ATM.  We have plenty in our bank, but didn't quite bring enough with us.  We decided it would be best to pay a few dollars to get a little extra money out.  It was kind of hard to decide when and how to get the money.  We found out that Sis. Susan would be going into town to run some errands.  I had the idea of going with her and if it wasn't out of her way, we could get some money out of the ATM. We did and were able to get a few little items to give the kids while we were at it. Scott also bought me an umbrella, and some lunch. 

I wasn't feeling real well today and I think it was mostly because of my sunburn.  I kept getting real hot and then feeling real weak.  My skin still feels like it is being pricked by real tiny needles.  I'm pretty sure it will feel better tomorrow.  I felt the worse when I was hot.  Whenever I feel like that I know that I need to drink more water.  I'm feeling better now that I'm in a cool room and I should feel fine on the plane tomorrow, since it will be air conditioned and hopefully by then my sunburn will be just a tan and not hurting any more.

We are all packed up now, and will help teach two more classes tomorrow, before we get back shower and rush off to the airport in the morning. We should be flying out of Chiang Mai around 2:00 p.m.  It will be a long flight tomorrow.  I know Jet Lag will be a real problem when we get back home.  Hopefully I'll figure the right times to sleep on the plane.  We will be arriving at the airport in Texas early Friday Morning.


I was reading in Romans just now and wanted to end this blog with a thought from what I read.  I was looking for a passage about walking, since Scott and I have done a lot of it this past week.  This is a passage I found. 

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

I've often wonder what draws God's people to do hard things. Why would we want to go somewhere hot, muggy, and be constantly sweating when we could have just as easily decided to take a mission trip somewhere with nicer weather, less work to do, less walking, less pain.  

I really think that it has a lot to do with walking "not after the flesh but after the Spirit."  I really believe that if you really truly follow Christ, no matter how uncomfortable the situation may be to you, you'll want to do whatever it is God is calling you to do.  Maybe it's walking down a hot, sunny road with no shade in order to be an encouragement to a neighbor.  Maybe it's simply being nice to a rude person in the check-out line, or forgiving someone that's done you wrong.  It may be something hard, but if your walking after the Spirit, you'll want to follow through and do whatever it is God wants from your life.  

Well, I'm going to be one tired teacher tomorrow morning, if I don't go on to bed now.  I won't be able to post anything while on the plane, but if I am awake enough, I'll try to post something as soon as we get back to my parents' house. Thanks for your prayers!