Don't Mess With Jesus

There are times when I want to repeatedly kick myself for not having my camera with me. The days when I take it out of my purse to charge the battery and forget to put it back in are the days when I really NEED it! Sunday was one of those days.

Let me first give you a brief description of the t-shirt industry in Thailand. Tourism is huge here and t-shirts are a popular product to sell. The problem is that they are made without having the grammar or spelling checked and I often find myself just laughing at the things they say.

Sometimes they grammar is okay and the spelling is correct but the t-shirt is just wrong. I saw a shirt on Sunday that was the perfect example of this. I was at church talking to some friends after the service when an older Thai lady walked by with a t-shirt that said "Don't f#@k with Jesus!" My initial response was shock, followed closely by the need to laugh and then sadness. This poor lady probably thought she was wearing a great Christian shirt because the only word she recognized and could read in English was "Jesus" and she probably had no idea how offensive her shirt was.

The moral of this story: Don't mess with Jesus!!!

ขอบคุณพระเจ้า

Day 14-17 (Wednesday thru Saturday): I know that this is kinda cheating but I am going to lump the past four days together for this one. And it is my blog so I can do what I want, right?

This may seem like an over-generalization but I am so thankful that I serve such an amazing God.

Do you remember being young and thinking that adults had life all figured out? I remember thinking that one day I would be old (30 was old back then) and life would just be what it was. I would know exactly who I was and what life was about. Well, now I am old (I cringe just writing that because 30 is definitely not old) and I don't have it all figured out. Life isn't just what it is and I can't help but be thankful for that. How boring would it be if life just leveled out one day and never changed? How horrible would it be if we only had till the age of 30 to figure out who we are? I love that life is a journey!

And I am so thankful that I serve a God who is with me on this journey! Because as much as I enjoy this journey, it isn't always easy. In fact, more often than not, it is rather difficult.

This week I've been questioning things in my life. There has been a lot of "why?" and "why not?" which we all know is never healthy and just leads to more questions. So I am stepping back and letting God do His thing again. I'm not good at controlling my life and I am definitely not good at answering the "why" questions. I am just going to be thankful that I am serving such a great God and even more thankful that He loves me.

ขอบคุณพระเจ้า (Korp khun prajeow = Thank you God)

Thancian

Day 8 (Thursday): Today I'm thankful for Ya and her amazing, homemade chicken and vegetable soup. I'm thankful for Aon bringing me the soup for lunch and making me get out of bed to eat it. I have great friends to take care of me when I'm sick!!

Day 9 (Friday): I'm thankful for the rain and thankful that it brings the temperature down into the 90's. I'm thankful for the strong, cool wind that kicks up now and then and ravages my yard but brings relief from the heat.

Day 10 (Saturday): I'm thankful for Supernatural and for Dean and Sam. See previous post for more details. :)

Day 11 (Sunday): Today I'm thankful for the storm raging outside. I'm thankful for the thunder that booms so loud that the whole house shakes and the electricity flickers off and on. I'm thankful for the lightening that makes the night look like the middle of the day and the beauty of it tearing across the sky. I'm thankful for the wind and the coolness it brings, although I'd appreciate it if it would stop picking up my front gate and throwing it across the yard. I'm thankful for the rain, the way it smells and the way the sound overpowers everything else. Thank you God for this storm, it is by far my favorite weather! Oh, and I'm thankful for yellow noodles and red pork.

Day 12 (Monday): I'm thankful for Wor and the friendship we have shared for the past three and a half years. I pray that her new life in a new place is everything the dreams it will be.

Day 13 (Tuesday): I have to admit that today I am having trouble being thankful for anything. I've had pneumonia for about a week and a half and I am pretty tired of it. I just want it to go away so that I can go back to my life. Having said that, I am thankful that I have a job that understands and lets me take time off when I'm sick. I'm sorry that I'm not there but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't want me running the coffee shop and coughing all over every drink I make.

Dean and Jen Sitting In A Tree

If you don't already know, Supernatural is pretty much my favorite TV show ever and I am pretty much in love with Dean Winchester. Sam Winchester is pretty awesome also. Just thought I'd give you a couple examples of why I love them so much. Enjoy!

Korp Khun Ka

Day 6 (Tuesday): Today I'm thankful for kleenex boxes, Nyquil, hot tea and CSI reruns. I'm really thankful for Nick Stokes...

Day 7 (Wednesday): I'm thankful for Facebook. Go ahead and scoff if you'd like, but man, what an amazing place to get reconnected with old friends! Today I got an email on Facebook from Suzie. (If you are reading this, I hope you aren't embarrassed!) Suzie was my best friend in grade school when my family lived in Napa. We moved away from Napa in 1990, the summer before 6th grade and we lost touch but I never forgot her. She's in all my childhood pictures and I have so many memories of here floating around in my mind. I even have a postcard that I wrote to her and never sent. I wrote it after we moved away and I'm pretty sure that I never sent it because I didn't have her address but I held on to it, hoping that someday I'd be able to send it. I still have it, tucked away in a photo album in my parents garage. I saw Suzie once when I was about 14 but I don't remember much. I remember thinking that she was absolutely beautiful and wondering what she would look like when she grew up. And now, thanks to Facebook, I know. And yes, she is still absolutely beautiful but that isn't what matters. What matters is that a piece of my childhood has come back and I'm so excited to get reconnected. So, thank you Facebook!

Singing In The Rain

Aon and Ya won't let me take a shower.

What kind of friends do I have, you ask? Well, the best kind. And the Thai kind. One of my favorite things about having my two closest friends (on this side of the world) be Thai, is the cultural differences that are present in our friendship. The last few days I have been coughing and sneezing and pretty much feeling like my head is going to explode. I've been running a fever of somewhere around 102 degrees and I've been sleeping a lot. And I haven't been allowed to take a shower. Aon and Ya feel very strongly that taking a shower is just going to make my fever worse. I can't help but think that taking a cold shower when I have a high fever is a good idea, but they strongly disagree. Last night I was starting to feel better and I convinced them that I was well enough to shower and feel clean again. The weird thing is, as soon as my shower was finished, my fever spiked up to 103 again and I got the "I told you so" looks from both girls. I think I'll listen to their health advice from here on out...

The One With The Weird People

There is something about these incredibly talented people that totally creeps me out.

A Crash of Rhinos

I haven't had much time in the past few days to get online but as mentioned in my previous post, I have been keeping track of the things I am thankful for every day. So here goes:

Day 2 (Friday): Today I am thankful for treadmills in air-conditioned gyms, for Thai mangos and iced coffee. I'm thankful for long late night talks on the porch with good friends and for cold water.

Day 3 (Saturday): I'm thankful for technology and the fact that I am a missionary in a day and age where I can immediately contact anyone, anywhere in the world. I am thankful for Grandma and the familiarity of the way she talks, the way the sound of her voice makes me smile from the inside out. I'm thankful for the simplicity buried deep within the complexity of the Thai language. I'm thankful for the opportunity to be the lone farang (non-Thai person) in the midst of 200 Thais and the comfort I feel there. I'm thankful for swimming pools.

Day 4 (Sunday): I'm thankful for enormous buttermilk biscuits bought from The Hideaway and Som Tum (papaya salad and my current favorite food) from the stand down the road. I'm thankful for prayers spoken in Thai and long Sunday afternoon naps. I'm thankful for misunderstandings and how "Prajeow tom dai" (God can) can be misheard as "a child died." I'm thankful for the laughter that follows any such misunderstandings. I'm thankful for Skype and video chats with mom and dad.

Day 5 (Monday): I'm thankful for Tam and how simple conversations about the little things in life can be added to my personal list of most important things. I'm thankful for Laura and how often God uses a fifteen year old girl to teach me the importance of faith. I'm thankful for her strength and her smile and how special our relationship is.

On a side note, please be praying for Laura and her family. Her mom, Gina was in a car accident last week and broke her jaw, amongst other injuries. She had surgery on Friday and her jaw is currently wired shut. Laura called me after the surgery and told me that Gina was really panicking over the idea of not being able to open her mouth. Laura said that watching her mom go into a panic attack while being in so much pain was the hardest thing she has ever seen in her life. I get a lump in my throat just thinking about it! Anyway, please be praying for Gina, Laura and her dad Kendall also. Please pray for a swift recovery and for comfort!!

Day #1

So there are 30 days left until my 30th birthday and I thought I'd mark the occasion by writing one thing I'm thankful for, for the next 30 days. Join me, if you will...

Today I am thankful for a comfortable bed. My bed may not be comfortable by American standards, in fact most of you would probably agree that I sleep on a rock, but I like it. After three and a half years of sleeping on rocks, they get pretty comfortable! I've been really tired lately and crawling into my comfy bed at the end of the day is a wonderful sensation! So, thank you God for my bed!

On a side note, I am not thankful for Shadowfax (the newest member of my family) peeing on my bed. Shadow joined the family a little over a month ago and has won the hearts of all of us. He is a Teacup Yorkie and weighs 2.2 kilos and is five months old. He is so adorable and loves to cuddle. We are currently potty training him and he definitely is getting better about going outside. Now he just needs to learn to wake me up in the middle of the night when he needs to go! Last night before I went to bed, I showered and then put clean sheets on my bed. I even washed my quilt yesterday so that everything would be clean. Aon and Ya laughed at me because they know that crawling into a clean bed is one of my favorite things at the end of the day. And I will admit that it felt wonderful. However, rolling over and putting my foot in a puddle of pee in the middle of the night did not feel wonderful! The problem is that Shadowfax is too small to jump up or down from my bed so when he has to go, he goes. I guess that I should probably figure out some stairs for him. And yet, even after all of that, I can't be mad at him when I look at his sweet face. Here are some pictures:

His adorable face!

Isn't he cute?

Shadowfax really loves Max and I'm pretty sure Max loves being a big brother!

Ya, Aon, Max, Gracie and Shadowfax

Shadowfax at the Coffee Shop with me, just hanging out while I work.

Apparently I'm Weird.

My roommates like to make fun of me because I have this thing about skin. You might call it a phobia, you might call it weird, but I call it completely normal.

I really don't like the feeling of skin against skin. I'm okay with shaking hands or giving hugs or even linking arms when walking but any prolonged skin against skin freaks me out. If I am sitting on the couch, trying to relax and your arm is touching mine, I will go crazy. I literally can't handle it because it makes every muscle in my body tense up and there is no chance of relaxing. If I happen to be sharing a bed with someone and their arm touches mine while we are sleeping, I will immediately wake up and move as far away from them as I can. I really don't like the feeling!

That's completely normal... right? :)

This is where it gets a little strange, even I will admit it. I don't even like my skin against my skin. I can't sit with my legs crossed for very long because the legs touching each other is too weird. I can't interlock my fingers for too long because it is just too much skin touching. The thing that bugs me the most about this problem is that it makes sleeping difficult. I currently live in a country that is very hot and humid and the weather calls for as little clothing as possible when sleeping. This causes skin against skin when rolling over or moving at all, and that makes me very uncomfortable. My favorite thing to sleep in is long pants, a long sleeve shirt and socks. In the three and a half years that I've lived here, it has only been cold enough to wear that once.

My roommates tell me that I will never get married unless I get over this issue but I beg to differ. Let me point out again that it is only prolonged contact that bothers me. Also, it bothers me the most when I am trying to relax so holding hands or linking arms while walking is mostly okay. Just don't touch me when I'm trying to sleep!!

Do you guys think I'm weird?