Dreaming With a Broken Heart

*There is something about the song that I titled this post with that is so sad but so catchy at the same time. Darn you, John Mayer, for getting me to listen to depressing music over and over again!

There are days when I get to the end and my brain is so full that I literally have to force myself to crawl away into a book or I fear that it will never stop processing. Books are my refuge! Today is one of those days. And although the title of this blog suggests a sad day, it wasn't. It was a fantastic day! I went up to Ban Mae Toh with Aon, Ya and P'Chai and spent the day at the kid's home and church there. This village is about 2 hours up the mountain, outside of Chiang Mai and sits in absolute beauty. There are about 15 kids living at the home right now and they are wonderful! We brought them snacks, played games with them and just hung out. Pastor T (his name is way too difficult to attempt to spell) asked us if we would mind taking the 8 boys to get haircuts because they don't have a vehicle. So we loaded them in the back of the truck and drove them to the next village. After about an hour of haircuts, I handed the woman about $4.30 which covered all the cuts and a tip (crazy, huh?!) and we drove back home with 8 handsome boys in the back of the truck. We played volleyball and football (aka soccer) and had a lot of fun. It was a really fantastic day!

But driving away from the village, I couldn't help but think of all the ways we could help make their lives a little better if we just had the extra money. These kids are taken care and taught by Pastor T, his wife and other great Christian men and women but they only have a couple bibles to share between them. Thai bibles are really expensive and Thai bibles for kids are even more expensive. But I am determined to figure out how to get 15 bibles for these kids over the next few months. They are curious about Jesus and ask so many questions and it just breaks my heart that they don't even have bibles.

While we were there, the kids were talking about how they wished they had tables to do their homework on. Tables. Something we take for granted every day is something 7 year old kids are asking for as Christmas presents. They said that their backs always hurt from having to lay down to do their homework and sometimes they fall asleep. Tables, such a simple thing.

Last year I bought them some toys for Christmas and it was great to see that they still have them. This year I would love to get them sports equipment. They have homemade soccer goals and volleyball nets that are made from sticks stuck in the ground. Quite ingenious and I was surprised at how well they held up but it would great if they had actual goals and nets.

I could really go on and on about all the ways my heart yearns to help these kids but I'm sure you get the idea. I am just struck once again that there are so many needs in the world that most of us never think of.

How great would it be to be able to change a life with something as simple as a table?

Here's a couple photos from my day:

Above is the Ban Mae Toh area, isn't it beautiful?

Above is one of the boys from the kid's home, he's adorable!

The boys on our way home from getting their hair cut.

Aon and I with most of the kids at the end of the day, just before we left.