Livin the dream

I struggle to share what this weekend was like without sounding spoiled. I seriously feel that way...like I have a heavenly Father who just lavishes gifts upon me that I don't deserve. So I share this stuff humbly, not wanting to sound like, "Look at how cool I am and how interesting my life is," but more like, "Man...who is this God who takes such good care of me and graces me with presents more wild and beautiful than I could ever concont on my own?"

So this last weekend I went to Cambodia with my friend Kamyee to run a half-marathon at Angkor, one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world.




On our taxi ride to the town where the ancient ruins are, we shared the road with lots of bicycles, motorcycles with 3 or 4 passengers, even a few ox carts. We were greeted in Siem Reap with beautiful French architecture and delightful cafes. Outside of our guesthouse was an amputee who was selling pirated (photocopied) books trying to make money off the tourists. That was one of the sickening parts of the weekend that I continue to be puzzled and a little bit sad about...how someone like me gets to enjoy a delightful weekend in this beautiful country and enjoy looking at the rice paddies and palm trees, while others who live in Cambodia have had limbs blown off walking through those same fields that I think are so beautiful. I don't know how to reconcile the unfairness of this- how I got to be born in the USA and earn a degree and have all sorts of choices about the job I wanted to have, and this guy is left to sell books to tourists who make more money in a year than what he might see in his whole life. So that was certainly a toughie to chew on when i was there and it continues to trouble my heart as I think about it.

THankfully, though, that wasn't the only overarching theme of the weekend. I was blown away by God's extravagence and beautify throughout the weekend. We rode our bike through the ruins (acutally, we rode on a road that travels from ruin to ruin- about a 10 mile loop). On our ride we got hissed at by a monkey, we saw elephants giving rides to tourists, and I saw huge trees actually growing over ancient ruins.


I saw beautiful Cambodian children who captured my heart in a way that is different than any other people group has effected me. They are BEAUTIFUL. Big smiles, kind eyes, and seemingly sincere. I loved seeing them. And when we ran the half marathon, they stood along the race route, excitedly giving us high fives and encouraging us with the few English phrases they knew. What a sweet gift to run a race in the cool of the morning, through the jungle (on a paved road) among incredible ancient structures.


Who the heck am I that I get to do this stuff?

I enjoyed great conversation all weekend with my dear friend Kamyee. She is fast becoming one of my favorite people here, and she is a delightful travel companion. we made good decisions together and were both up for adventure. When listing our possible options for getting from the airport to the town where the race was (about a 4 hour trip), I suggested the possibility of renting motorcycles to drive ourselves up there. Kamyee paused and cocked her head, giving thoughtful consideration to my suggestion. I later told her that I loved how she even considered driving a motorcycle for 4 hours in Cambodia. She told me that she loved that I even suggested it. :) So yeah- you get the idea of what a fun-loving, down-for-adventure kind of girl Kamyee is. I sure love her.

So I guess that's it. Thanks to those of you who were praying for us. We were totally safe and had an incredible time. Except for being a little chaffed and soar from the race, I'm in good shape and am ready to push hard through these last 11 school days I have. Hip hip hooray! I'll be in the white and fluffy stuff (if Colorado gets any, that is) before i know it. :)

Who's your favorite tour guide in Southeast Asia?

I asked my parents this question on our way back from beautiful Railay Beach and of course the uncontensted answer was me. Even though I'm the only tour guide they've ever had in Southeast Asia... :) None the less, we had a great time riding elephants and tuk tuks (large motorized tricycles that zoom and pollute the streets of Bangkok), marveling at orchids and jutting cliffs that shoot up from emerald and azure water. I've been super encouraged by good conversations with my parents and feel very blessed in general to be able to enjoy their company this week. What a gift. Here are some photos to capture some of the sweetest moments of the trip:

In Chiang Mai (the second largest city in Thailand), one of the highlights was getting to ride the elephants. I don't know what was more fun- seeing how much my parents enjoyed riding the elephant, or getting to ride on the neck of an elephant. I'd always wanted to do that but hadn't gotten to on my last 2 elephant riding trips...my guide wasn't as friendly on the other 2 trips, I guess. But I lucked out this time and got to ride on his neck instead of the little cart thingie! They are super rough with prickly hairs, and they lumber side to side and he would always put his trunk back in the hopes of getting another banana. What amazing creatures.


This is Mom, Dad and me in a Tuk Tuk. On this day wee got to see the Grand Palace (kind of like Thailand's White House) as well as my favorite park, Lumpini Park. Dad came up with the great idea of riding a tuk tuk, which really is a great idea...the pollution and noise just got a little old after the frist 20 minutes or so of the ride. Still, it was a totally Thai thing to do- I'm glad Dad suggested it. :)


This was one of the super beautiful caves we got to see at one of the beaches near Krabi. It is world-renowned for it's incredible rock formations and attracts climbers from all over the place who want to climb these amazing rocks near this beautiful water. What a gift to get to see this stuff, huh?



And here is one of the most beautiful women I know in one of the prettiest places I've yet seen. I so enjoyed conversations with mom and dad and getting to share this beautiful place with them.



I should say that another highlight was getting to take them to school with me for a day. Dad gave a killer lesson on tools (we were talking about the tools the pilgrims used, so Dad got to share with them what tools we use today) and Mom helped them make the cute apple turkey/marshmellow craft that most of us probably made in elementary school. It was a super fun day. I love that they got to meet my students and colleagues and see where I work. They took pictures of this day and I'll try and load some onto the blog as soon as she sends me a disk.

As for now, that it all. Happy Loi Kratong to you all- it is the Thai festival of lights and they are playing crazy loud music outside my room right now which is why I'm writing this instead of sleeping. :) But I'm off to bed now. Thanks for reading!

So we did it! My first international 10K race! Kamyee and I finished along with our friend Kristin. We were sweaty and a little chaffed by the time it was done, but we had a great time. It was a neat (and sort of confusing) experience to do something like this in a place where you can't understand a lot of what is going on. We found out that the women had a different starting line from the men, and we all just sort of blobbed together at the start line- there weren't any waves or anything. We all just counted to 3 and then started running- no gun shots or anything official to get us started, just a runner-led countdown. It was a neat experience- I'm thankful I did it.

Kamyee and I decided to run in a half-marathon in Cambodia in about 3 weeks! I'm feeling a bit under the weather right now, so feel free to pray that I'll be fully recovered and ready to go by December 2. It's at Angkor Wat, one of the 7 wonders of the world- I guess it's this set of ancient ruins that is miles and miles long. We will be running around it, I guess. I'm excited!

In other news, I had a killer birthday. I enjoyed a delightful meal and concert with my friends. God took good care of me- I felt crazy loved and remembered by my friends. Here is a picture of Kristie and me, one of my new dear friends I've made over here.




And the marine corps ball the weekend after my birthday went really well. I got to hear my first ever Asian Elvis Impersonator. :) It was a delightful evening where I felt really elegant and beautiful. The food was incredible, I used like 8 pieces of silverware for dinner, and dancing afterwards was a ton of fun. It was just a great celebration. Here's a picture of Elvis and me.

International night, my new friends, and musings on this year

So this is a picture of me in my Phylis halloween outfit- a bunch of us decided to dress up as characters from the TV show The Office. It was pretty funny to see everyone dressed up as such kooky characters. I sure am thankful to have friends here who like to be silly and have fun.

One of those friends and I get to do a 10K (about 6 miles) race tomorrow here in Bangkok! I'm so excited! We've been training and are fired up to get to run through one of the prettiest parts of Bangkok- the old part, right by the palace, the river, and lots of beautiful government buildings. This is a picture of Kamyee and me.




She is a delight. She has a husband named Steve and a beautiful little girl named Noelle and has become one of the people I'm most thankful for this year. We run together most Saturday mornings and she comes to Nightlight with me sometimes on Friday nights. God is just so kind to me in giving me folks like Kamyee.

A couple of weeks ago our school had international night. This is where the kids get to dress up in costumes from their home countries and do songs or dances to teach us about their cultures. One of my favories was getting to see my Indian students dance for us. These little guys to my right are 2 super bright and just delightful kids. I'm so thankful to get to be their teacher and to walk with them as they are figuring out how the world works and what believe is true.



One more big upcoming event is my birthday! Hooray!! I'm turning the big 3-0 this year and am feeling pretty good about it. I am confident that I am living in God's absolute best for me here, so that feels good. It would NOT feel good to be turning 30 in Thailand if I were not confident of that, you know? So how kind of God to cement that in my mind- that his abundant life is available to me here and now, and that loving others on behalf of Jesus will ALWAYS be the best and most satisfying thing I can do with my life.

So here's the killer line-up God has prepared for me for this big-deal milestone of my 30th birthday celebration: James Galway, a world-renowned flute player, is playing with the Bangkok Symphony-Orchestera on my birthday! I play the flute, so it seemed like such a cool and personal gift that I would get to go out for an elegant evening with 7 of my girlfriends to listen to beautiful music on my big day. Then this next weekend, I'm going to a ball with a friend of mine named Julio I met salsa dancing. I got a beautiful red dress made in order to go to the marine corps ball. I'm excited! I guess it's a big deal diplomatic sort of affair. More than excitement about the actual dance is the message God is speaking to me through it- that I am beautiful and desirable even as I pass this milestone in life that many believe makes a woman less attractive. But God seems to be screaming to me that this is NOT true- that I am beautiful to him and to others. He sure is kind to me.

I haven't written as much this year in the ol' blog, perhaps because life here is becoming more normal. I still have eyes to see stuff around me as different- things like roosters that hang out by the motorcycle taxi drivers who are waiting for customers...or seeing people sell golf balls on the side of the road...or seeing an elephant on the same road as a prostitue and a missionary and a sunburned tourist. So I still see those things and shake my head at the wonder of being here in this land that seems so strange to me, but I guess I've become more used to seeing this stuff so it doesn't shock me so much anymore.

But I've been doing some thinking about what my time has been like here this year as compared to last year, and this is what I'm coming up with. Last year was about learning to love different people in a broad sense- the IDEA of loving the downtrodden, the privileged, the men I see in strip clubs. This year has been about coming to love them personally. I have befriended a man who has visited the bars as a customer. I was disgusted to find this out initially, but sensed what God was asking me to do was to love him in the middle of his messyness- to not run away and ditch him, leaving him to figure out for himself why he is loney and dissatisfied, but to point him to Jesus and tell him about how he can be loved perfectly by the God who came to earth 2000 years ago and continues to pursue his heart today. I'm learning to love my button-pushing students in whole new beautiful ways- to see them as the complex and intelligent beings that they are and to engage them and treat them with respect accordingly. I'm getting to take flowers to prostitutes on their birthdays. So yeah- those have been some of the biggies I've been learning about recently. I feel like I've graduated from kindergarten in the "school of how to love" and have been promoted to first grade, getting to apply these ideas that I started to learn last year. So those have been some of them major movements in my heart.

For those of you who are praying folks, you can pray with me as I continue to sort out what to do next year. I'm sensing that God is inviting me to stay another year here, which is disappointing in one sense...I was excited to come back to Colorado and engage life and relationship with the folks I love there...but I've got a good thing going on here, too, and unless God invites me to something else vocation-wise, this seems like a good place to stay. So feel free to offer thoughts or counsel to this end- I would love to hear what you have to say. That's all for now- thanks for reading!

white roses for a prostitute

So I know I just wrote...and I don't even have a photo to put with this post...but this is far too beautiful a story to not tell. I saw God's glory last night in a way that just made me worship today, and so I pass along this story to you. It is kind of a long story with lots of details to pay close attention to, but I truly believe it is a story worth reading and telling. I pray you are blessed in reading it like I am blessed in telling it.

Yesterday (Saturday) my plan was to go to a birthday party in the afernoon for my friend Sophia, go to an opening for an art exhibit, and then finish up the night salsa dancing. Somewhere in there I also wanted to get flowers for this woman I had met the night before on outreach with Nightlight. I will call her Nareeva. Saturday (yesterday) was to be Nareeva's birthday, and I hated the thought of her having to the do the work she does on ANY day, much less on her birthday. So I thought it would be nice to at least take her flowers and a card so she would know that someone nearby cares for her and remembers her on her special day. I was unsure, though, how I would work it out to deliver the flowers by myself- the hotel where the women work and wait for customers isn't really the kind of place I should visit by myself, and I hadn't asked anyone to join me in my journey there...I guess I just figured I would figure it out then or risk going there by myself. That certainly wasn't what I wanted to do, but I really wanted her to get those flowers, so I figured I would take the risk if need be. So this is the setup for one of the more divinely led and beautiful encounters I have had with the Living God in recent times.

I go to the birthday party which was a lot of fun- it felt great to visit with the friends I'm making and to realize that this place really is becoming the place where my heart can fully dwell. Then I go get a pedicure and buy a present for a different friend's wedding shower coming up this week and buy a huge wad of white roses. They are small roses wrapped in newspaper- pretty, but I felt a little badly getting ready to give them to her- wondering if she knew I had bought them on the street for about $1.50. But I put my feelings of cheapness aside and thought about how to spend the rest of my evening. I still had some time to burn, so I went to Starbucks to do some reading and journaling. This British guy in his 40's (guessing on that one) starts talking to me which I'm a little uncomfortable with, but I let it unfold and I ended up having an incredible conversation with him about poverty, prostitution and trafficking in Bangkok, and I ended up getting to tell him about how it makes me so thankful to get to be around the people who Jesus hung around when he was on earth- the prostitutes and all the people everyone else wanted to forget about. So that was cool- I wasn't expecting to get to have a good conversation like that with John the Brit.

I left Starbucks and went outside and try to catch a cab, to no avail. So I decide to take the skytrain to my next destination, my friend Pechula's art gallery where an opening is happening for a new artist. I get off the skytrain and start to walk toward Pechula's gallery, and I acutally bump into her on the street! She tells me that the opening isn't at her gallery; it's at a cultural center. So I go with her to the opening and meet up with my friends Mihoko and Naomi. Mihoko had met Nareeva with me the night before and also knew that today was her birthday, and she offered to come with me to deliver the flowers! I didn't have to go by myself anymore! The artist who work was displayed received tables full of beautiful boquets of flowers, and she was a believer, so she told us to take a boquet of exquisite white roses to Nareeva for her birthday. No dumpy flowers wrapped in newspaper for this lady- God wanted for her to have the best. So after I ate a delightful meal with Mihoko and 2 other friends, she and I walked to the hotel, found Nareeva, and gave her the flowers. The expression on her face...I don't have words. I can only describe it as one who is receiving real love- knowing someone sees you and cares for you and says you are worth something- when the only attention they usually receive from people is those who want something from them. It was the look of life and hope being allowed to flourish inside of her. On Friday she was just a prostitue who is only viewed for what can be taken from her. On Saturday she was the worthy recipient of beautiful white roses- a symbol of purity. She was absolutelly lit up. She couldn't stop smiling or saying thank you. I had written a card to her (in my preschool Russian handwriting) that told her I hoped she believed that Jesus loves her. And then I told her how happy I was to see HER so happy- how I had prayed that when she received the flowers, she would really believe that God loves her. She kissed me on both cheeks (that's the Uzbek way of greeting each other) and I told her we had to go. It was absolutely incredible. And I realized that getting to be a part of loving people and telling them about Jesus is absolutely the best, most thrilling thing I have ever been a part of. Way better than salsa dancing even. I still went dancing later that night, though I could have called it an evening after giving the flowers to Nareeva. I know that life still goes on for her...that tonight she will do the same horrifying work she does every night...but God is after this woman, as he is after all of humanity, I suppose. I pray that she would know know and believe the living God sees and loves her in a way that would draw her into relationship with him. She is Muslim, so please pray for wisdom as I think about how to share Jesus with her in a way that makes sense. Pray, too, that God would give her a dream or vision of Jesus. This is happening to Muslims all over the world, and I want it to happen to her. Please pray for her, that she would choose to receive God's love- to believe that God DOES have a good plan for her life and that she would do her part by inviting God's believing in Jesus. Pray that she would be willing to go home- to leave this lucrative but soul-killing work. And praise God with me for the amazing work he is doing in bringing his love to these women in incredibly personal and powerful ways. What an incredible God we have. I love walking with him and seeing him at work.

That's it. Thanks for reading! I know it was long, but I just had to tell the story. Be encouraged! God is on the move!!

Bug Day 2007 and other recent goings on

As seen here, bug day was another huge hit this year. My personal favorite was my biggest pistol in class dressed up as a cocroach. Perfect. Another little weasel in a different class dressed up as a mosquito. It was a fun day. We had a bug hunt where we hid bugs all over the cafeteria and let them find them (don't worry- I've never found a real bug in there- just the occasional gecko who actually helps us with the bug population). Kids made ants out of playdough. They got to see real dead bugs and play a dead bug game in PE. I think it had something to do with running around and then falling over and laying like a dead bug. At any rate, it was a fun-filled day and I was tired that night. I had a great time planning and executing it with my fellow first grade teachers. Picutred here is Kristin, another first grade teacher who is becoming a good friend.



In other news, dancing has become a more regular part of my life here this year, which has been such a gift to my heart. I'm taking hula lessons once a week from another fellow teacher who is Hawaiian, and I went salsa dancing and met a guy who is loosely my salsa partner. His name is Julio, he is Colombian-American, and he is a marine who is stationed at the US Embassy here in Bangkok as a guard. He actually invited me to the Marine Corps Ball in early November, which I am so excited about. I'm getting a pretty red dress made and am quite excited to go to an elegant affair and feel super beautiful for an evening. I can't wait!

Ministry-wise, God continues to humble me and make me thankful for what I get to be a part of here. My students continue to ask great questions about who God is and what he is like, and I continue to go out with Nightlight Friday nights in order to share life with women there. It remains a challenge and is tougher to see some nights than others. About 3 weeks ago I was hit with the raw reality of how unpleasent that whole situation really is and I took the next week off in order to kind of recoop and center. I was back in the game this past Friday which was hard, but good. I'm always blessed when I get to go and share life and hope with those who don't have much of that. Another cool thing going on with this is I invited my new friends Kamyee and Mihoko to come on outreach with me, and I think they both may start to minister regularly with Nightlight! Mihoko is Japanese but is fluent in Thai, and it was beautiful to see her connect with the girls in the bars, speaking their heart language. And Kamyee is American with great hopes to learn Thai- hopes that increase each time she has come with me to the bars. God has been breaking her heart for those invovled in prostitution, so I LOVE that be brought her here and crossed my path with hers so she has this opportunity to share love with this group of folks for which she feels burdened. A slightly unrelated but interesting fact is that she also likes running. :) We signed up to do a 10K race here in Bangkok at the end of the month! We're so excited! I'll be sure to post pictures of this event. It's sure to be a drippy and sweaty one.

So I guess that's it. I feel like I'm riding the blessing train right now- just slathered with his affections. I hope all of you are enjoying his abundant promises, too. Thanks for reading!

Good grief...it's been a MONTH already!

Man alive- I can't believe it's been a month since I've written anything...and it's been over that since I got here. Crazy. On some days I'm well aware of how long I've been here, but on other days, I have to wonder where the time goes.
I'm into my third full week of school and the year is off to a good start. I have 16 kids- 8 are Thai and the others come from the US, Korea, Brazil, Malaysia, and Inda. We are having a pretty good time together- each day gets easier as I remember how to pace myself through the day and as they learn the routines that come with being a first grader in my class. I'm excited to have the oppotunity to talk about spiritual things. And I love how even on the days when I may not be super excited to be in Thailand or even to be at my job, I always get fired up when I get to talk with them about Jesus. So that's an encouragement to me- that I'm not conjuring up anything, but Jesus has actually captured my heart in such a way that I just love to talk about him- especially with open-minded six-year-olds who are trying to put together what is real and how the world works.
I thought I would share some pictures with you from a trip just took with my friends Jaime, Catherine and Kristi.


Some trip highlights were foot scrubs and massages- Jaime and I sampled the scrubs before they rubbed it all over our skin.



We went on bike rides around the countryside (see the picture at the top), and we sat and ate delicious Thai food and read and talked for hours on end. Not a bad way to spend a weekend. I felt super rested and thankful at the end of our time there. What a treat.
In other news, my friends Amy and James are getting married on September 22 here in Bangkok! Hip hip hooray! They were the 2 I traveled to Vietnam with last Thanksgiving break and they've looked out for us over the last year and have kind of taken me under their wing. Another upcoming wedding is for my best friend Noelle! They are getting married on January 5, so I'll be in Colorado and able to attend. I'm fired up- it's always such a gift to see quality people ending up together.
I guess that's it. I hope to get these pictures added soon, so check back within the next day or so. Until then, keep heart, and thanks for reading!

After a killer summer, I'm back to the grind

So it was a fantastic summer spent with family and dear friends. I couldn't have planned a more jam packed with incredible experiences summer than what I experienced. God was so kind in letting me enjoy lots of laughs and great conversations over good beef, wine, and mexcian food- 3 of the things I missed the most when I was away. I was in the mountains every week for something or another, I got to visit Rob in the OC (Oak Creek) and watch him build his house,

visit my sistas in Fort Collins and go salsa dancing and drink good beer at the New Belguim Brewing Company, and enjoy the old haunts from my college days. I made Thai food for my girlfriends, enjoyed delightful lunches on the back deck with Mom and Dad, and did the sprint trianthelon with Jules, my new sista.


And to finish it all off, I got to guide a RMR Young Life backpacking trip with Rob. What a gift of a summer.
And now I'm back in good ol' Thailand, trying to find my stride in my new neighborhood. I live on the 8th floor and have a beautiful view- I get to see the sunrise every morning and look down on a huge pool with palm and other beautiful trees all around it. I'm super thankful to live where I do, though I must say I miss all the colorful character of the old neighborhood. I found a new beautiful park which is about a 10 minute cab ride away. It is full of beautifully manicured Asian gardens, bridges, and those trees with the cool hangy-down things. Beautiful. I'll be excited to go running there. :)
School preparations seem to be coming together. Students will come a week from Wednesday, and I think I'll have my act together by then. It will be good to get back to routine and to get to what it is God has for me during this time.
For those of you who are praying folk, feel free to pray that God would make the hearts of my students good and hungry as they're preparing to come back to school. Pray that I would walk intimately with God- that I would be falling more in love with him all the time so that I'll be sharing him with the kids from an in-love perspective rather than a dutiful one. Thanks for standing with me in that way!
There isn't much else to report. I hope you all enjoy the interface of this blog more- I like how I can post pictures right next to the text. As soon as I get some pictures of the new neighborhood, I'll be sure to post those. Until then, take care, and thanks for reading!