It's late at night, so late that it's actually the beginning of a new day, when I hear the cries coming from next door. Nothing interrupts my toddler's sleep cycle like hardcore teething. I wait a few minutes to see if he's really awake or just momentarily disturbed, when I realize that the cries are only escalating.
As I roll out of bed, I'm not the least bit irritated, strangely. There aren't many things that could wake me up in the middle of the night with such a peaceful feeling, but this kiddo is one of them. I open the door to see a disoriented little boy, standing in his crib, his arms up.
"Mamaaaaa," he cries. As soon as I pick him up, he points to the rocker in the corner. "Chair," he says. He may have been abruptly awakened from his sleep, but this kid knows what he wants.
I sit down, and we begin to rock. He puts his head on my shoulder, and I can feel the drool already starting to seep through my shirt. If I wasn't certain that teething was the sleep culprit before, I am now.
"Ay yah," he says, indicating he wants me to sing to him. Ay yah is the chorus of his favorite song, and he associates it with singing in general. Sometimes I have to go through the first lines of a few songs before finding one he likes. I know I've arrived there when he stops making the "UH" sound a few bars in.
As I rock and sing, with his little body lying against mine in complete relaxation, I feel my other little baby start to wake up and kick and punch. There we are, the three of us, rocking in the dark.
I'm thankful for countless things in my life, but this moment ushers in a feeling of thankfulness like no other. I realize that in just a few months, I won't be able to rock both of my kids together in such a peaceful environment. Kids. The fact that I am a mom to one precious, fiery little boy is a gift I'm in awe of each and every day, but kids, plural? I never knew that reality could bring so much joy.
It may be 3 a.m., but I couldn't be more thankful to be awake.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Thailand photos
As you might imagine, with all of our photos combined, the number is well into the thousands. Here are a few that encompass many aspects of our trip:
We're HERE!
Agape House, an AIDS orphanage:
Gib spent time with this little boy last year, and it was fun for him to see how much this little guy had grown!
We spent two days each way driving through one of the most curvy mountain roads in the world on our way to/from the refugee camp. The first photo is as we are getting ready to leave. The second is a bathroom stop a few hours down the road. Distraction was key to forgetting about the fact that we had several hours ahead of us!
While the drive wasn't exactly enjoyable physically, it afforded us the opportunity to see some of the most beautiful parts of the country:
Halfway through the marathon drive, we surprised the team with elephant rides!
Refugee camp on the Burmese border:
A child's artistic creation depicting heaven.
Praying over these beautiful children
I spent time with her last year, and it brought so much joy to my heart to see her again!
Praying over a teacher in the area who hadn't been hugged in more than a year. It's not a cultural norm to hug, and our ladies were able to love on her.
Hannah House:
Meal with members of the local church:
On our way to Doi Suthep, a large temple overlooking the city:
One evening, we gave the team a few hours of free time to explore the market. When we walked by them unexpectedly, this is what we found: the group praying for a vendor.
On our last day in-country, we spent time at this waterfall to reflect on everything we'd experienced:
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
The funny side of travel
We had countless moments of intense laughter over the course of our trip. Some of the situations were just plain funny, while others had lessons to be learned hidden within. We're so thankful to have been with a group of people who weren't afraid to laugh… at themselves, at us, and at the inevitably funny things that happen on overseas trips:
- In the chaos of getting multiple people and multiple bags on a plane, amidst a sea of military personnel traveling somewhere en masse, our bag didn't make it to the counter. That's right - as leaders of a team, our suitcase, full of clothes and toiletries and chargers and shoes, did not travel to Thailand. Instead, it sat in the middle of the airport until some gracious friends of ours drove back to retrieve it. We realized it as soon as we got to Los Angeles. Fortunately, we'd packed some underwear in our carry-ons and had just enough time to make a mad dash to a nearby LA Target to grab some shirts and pants/skirts/shorts that we hoped would fit. Lesson learned: we didn't need as much stuff on this trip as we thought we did! It would have been nice to have had our contacts with us, and not appear in the same shirts in about every photo, but it was actually pretty liberating to travel so simply.
- Another team member forgot a suitcase, as well, but realized it in time for it to arrive prior to take-off. Wow, these early morning flights have a way of wreaking havoc!
- One team member, seated in the Buddhist temple we visited, was having meaningful time with the Lord, praying and worshiping… when the man in front of her broke wind right in her face!
- Two team members fell into rivers (one was bucked off of an elephant)!
- One team member initially thought that a man in the Red Light area was coming to our table to solicit her services, misheard his innocent question about her t-shirt, and emphatically began saying, "NO, NO, NO" to him!
- One team member, after riding for several hours on curvy mountain roads, informed the driver that we needed to pull over. I got the cue and jumped out of her way instantly (I also had the benefit of sitting right next to the door) - the other team members didn't move so quickly and thus were the recipients of her… shall we say… gift of lunch. While certainly not initially pleasant, the group of us, standing on the side of a mountain highway, cleaning off/throwing away clothes, recovering from the shock of the situation, was pretty laughable. And laugh we did!
- One team leader (hint: not me!), when introducing our team to a crowd of about 100 people, went down the line, introducing our team, until he arrived at one team member and proceeded to blank on her name. Ha!
I'm thankful for these moments - I dare say they'll stay captured in our memories just as long as the more poignant stories will.
- In the chaos of getting multiple people and multiple bags on a plane, amidst a sea of military personnel traveling somewhere en masse, our bag didn't make it to the counter. That's right - as leaders of a team, our suitcase, full of clothes and toiletries and chargers and shoes, did not travel to Thailand. Instead, it sat in the middle of the airport until some gracious friends of ours drove back to retrieve it. We realized it as soon as we got to Los Angeles. Fortunately, we'd packed some underwear in our carry-ons and had just enough time to make a mad dash to a nearby LA Target to grab some shirts and pants/skirts/shorts that we hoped would fit. Lesson learned: we didn't need as much stuff on this trip as we thought we did! It would have been nice to have had our contacts with us, and not appear in the same shirts in about every photo, but it was actually pretty liberating to travel so simply.
- Another team member forgot a suitcase, as well, but realized it in time for it to arrive prior to take-off. Wow, these early morning flights have a way of wreaking havoc!
- One team member, seated in the Buddhist temple we visited, was having meaningful time with the Lord, praying and worshiping… when the man in front of her broke wind right in her face!
- Two team members fell into rivers (one was bucked off of an elephant)!
- One team member initially thought that a man in the Red Light area was coming to our table to solicit her services, misheard his innocent question about her t-shirt, and emphatically began saying, "NO, NO, NO" to him!
- One team member, after riding for several hours on curvy mountain roads, informed the driver that we needed to pull over. I got the cue and jumped out of her way instantly (I also had the benefit of sitting right next to the door) - the other team members didn't move so quickly and thus were the recipients of her… shall we say… gift of lunch. While certainly not initially pleasant, the group of us, standing on the side of a mountain highway, cleaning off/throwing away clothes, recovering from the shock of the situation, was pretty laughable. And laugh we did!
- One team leader (hint: not me!), when introducing our team to a crowd of about 100 people, went down the line, introducing our team, until he arrived at one team member and proceeded to blank on her name. Ha!
I'm thankful for these moments - I dare say they'll stay captured in our memories just as long as the more poignant stories will.
Thailand recap
My blog timeline can't be right, can it? Has it been more than a month since my last post?! Apparently so. I can hardly believe that October begins in just a few days!
We've spent the last few weeks talking about and reflecting on our time in Thailand and relishing every moment with our little dude. Two weeks away wasn't an eternity by any means, but I missed my little wonder. I think I returned even more thankful for him, although I didn't know that could be possible. We've had to work through a bit of toddler separation anxiety, but as Grammy and Grandy took excellent care of him, we came home to a happy little ball of fire, which is just how we left him.
It just isn't possible to put into words how meaningful and adventurous and fun our time in Thailand was this summer. There are so many stories to tell! And while a brief recap below won't do them justice, it will hopefully convey that this trip was life-changing.
A few of the trip highlights:
- Two ladies on our team ventured out for a shopping trip during a few hours of down time on our second day in-country. Ducking out of the rain, they stepped into the shop of an Indian Muslim man… who used to live in Norman… who does business in Norman… and who wanted to know about Jesus. WHOA. They spent considerable time with him, answering his questions, praying for him, and inviting him to church - because he'll be back here later this fall! This story was so much fun.
- Gib stepped into a woman's house, and the woman's mother excitedly relayed that she had recently had a dream that a group of foreigners came to her house, and that Gib was one of them. How fun is that!
- Two members of our team spent time with a very new believer, who, after realizing that her idols to Buddha in her home needed to go, took down every idol in her house and sent them with the ladies to dispose of.
- An elderly Thai man's arthritic hands were healed after two girls on our team, as well as a translator from the local church, prayed with him and shared the gospel. He was incredulous that he could suddenly bend his hands in ways he previously hadn't been able to and accepted the gospel of Jesus.
- The ladies on our team spent several nights out in the Red Light area of our city, building relationships with sex workers in two different bars. Each night with them allowed us to go deeper with them and just show them love in ways they weren't used to. I hope to do a more in-depth post on this experience. On our last night with them, we had translators from the local church (who were both new believers themselves), who told them about the love of Jesus for them. In one bar, three of the sex workers said they wanted to meet again with their translator to know more. In the second bar, a group of workers asked to go to church, surprised that they would be allowed in such a place.
- Gib and I marveled in the kindness and faithfulness and power of God each and every day. We watched as each member of our team had incredible breakthrough in an individual, and often unexpected, way. Some team members' hearts broke for the refugee children and AIDS orphans; some experienced the power of the Holy Spirit when they were asked to speak with little or no warning; some overcame physical obstacles; some who had never before spoken to a prostitute left with a deep love and compassion for the prostitutes in the city. We experienced a group of nine people functioning as the Body of Christ. It was amazing and unlike anything we'd ever known before. Our faith is stirred. Wow. Thank you, God.
These are just a few of the stories from our trip! I'll do a separate post with lots of photos. Thank you so much to each and every one of you who encouraged us, supported us, prayed for us, rejoiced with us and helped us get to/from Thailand.
We've spent the last few weeks talking about and reflecting on our time in Thailand and relishing every moment with our little dude. Two weeks away wasn't an eternity by any means, but I missed my little wonder. I think I returned even more thankful for him, although I didn't know that could be possible. We've had to work through a bit of toddler separation anxiety, but as Grammy and Grandy took excellent care of him, we came home to a happy little ball of fire, which is just how we left him.
It just isn't possible to put into words how meaningful and adventurous and fun our time in Thailand was this summer. There are so many stories to tell! And while a brief recap below won't do them justice, it will hopefully convey that this trip was life-changing.
A few of the trip highlights:
- Two ladies on our team ventured out for a shopping trip during a few hours of down time on our second day in-country. Ducking out of the rain, they stepped into the shop of an Indian Muslim man… who used to live in Norman… who does business in Norman… and who wanted to know about Jesus. WHOA. They spent considerable time with him, answering his questions, praying for him, and inviting him to church - because he'll be back here later this fall! This story was so much fun.
- Gib stepped into a woman's house, and the woman's mother excitedly relayed that she had recently had a dream that a group of foreigners came to her house, and that Gib was one of them. How fun is that!
- Two members of our team spent time with a very new believer, who, after realizing that her idols to Buddha in her home needed to go, took down every idol in her house and sent them with the ladies to dispose of.
- An elderly Thai man's arthritic hands were healed after two girls on our team, as well as a translator from the local church, prayed with him and shared the gospel. He was incredulous that he could suddenly bend his hands in ways he previously hadn't been able to and accepted the gospel of Jesus.
- The ladies on our team spent several nights out in the Red Light area of our city, building relationships with sex workers in two different bars. Each night with them allowed us to go deeper with them and just show them love in ways they weren't used to. I hope to do a more in-depth post on this experience. On our last night with them, we had translators from the local church (who were both new believers themselves), who told them about the love of Jesus for them. In one bar, three of the sex workers said they wanted to meet again with their translator to know more. In the second bar, a group of workers asked to go to church, surprised that they would be allowed in such a place.
- Gib and I marveled in the kindness and faithfulness and power of God each and every day. We watched as each member of our team had incredible breakthrough in an individual, and often unexpected, way. Some team members' hearts broke for the refugee children and AIDS orphans; some experienced the power of the Holy Spirit when they were asked to speak with little or no warning; some overcame physical obstacles; some who had never before spoken to a prostitute left with a deep love and compassion for the prostitutes in the city. We experienced a group of nine people functioning as the Body of Christ. It was amazing and unlike anything we'd ever known before. Our faith is stirred. Wow. Thank you, God.
These are just a few of the stories from our trip! I'll do a separate post with lots of photos. Thank you so much to each and every one of you who encouraged us, supported us, prayed for us, rejoiced with us and helped us get to/from Thailand.
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