Sean’s been working hard on the new site. He’s been laying cement, putting in big concrete poles to light the basketball courts, and doing who knows what else. I got some pictures of the concrete pole work (he asked me to take them) - I’ll put them up later. It was his idea, and he’s really proud of it. I gotta say, it looks pretty good. At least, if someone asked me to light an outdoor basketball court, I’d probably say something like, “What? I’m sorry, but it sounded like you said ‘install outdoor lighting’. Seriously, what did you really say?” On top of that, Sean and Prang are preparing for their wedding. It’s going to be crazy, but it’ll be a lot of fun. I’m certain I overheard the words “kill the pig” at some point.
Cindy has been spending nearly everyday homeschooling Sandra. She’s good at it (though she won’t admit it), but it’s been hard. Somewhere along the line, Sandra learned how to give up. She’s really good at it. It’s difficult for us to teach her how to keep trying no matter how hard it gets. I guess some people never learn that - it took me more than 25 years to learn it, and I still frequently ignore the lesson. But we’re not going for perfect perseverance in her, just a willingness to try when asked.
Cindy and I have dropped Thai class down from five days a week to two. Our teacher comes to our house in the evenings now, since we’re busy during the days. All three of us are good enough at Thai to get around and even translate some for folks, though I still can’t watch TV or make a phone call without missing a significant amount of information. That bugs me.
During the day, I’m at Im Jai trying to make sure all the computers run smoothly. I’ve been cleaning computers and setting them up for the children’s homes, trying to get a wireless network going across the whole site, and researching network printers so I can move the current office printers to the children’s homes. It’s a lot of boring work, but I guess I’m good at it. The other day someone (not at Im Jai) said it’s a blessing to have someone like me around who knows a lot about computers. I never really thought of it that way. All my life, I’ve always been around people who were at least as good with computers as I was (usually better). I mean, nearly everyone I know could do what I’m doing here, but I guess my life experience is not a common one.
On Friday’s, I homeschool Sandra so that Cindy can take a break. For some reason, Sandra respects me less than she does Cindy. Don’t get me wrong, she loves me and wants to spend time with me, but when I try to take authority she bucks against it far more than she does with Cindy. I’m sure it’s something she’s learned from her past as well. Regardless, even though it annoys me sometimes, I enjoy the challenge. To me it’s a competition, and you all know how competitive I am.
Prayer requests:
- Pray for Sandra as she tries to unlearn what she has learned (at the same time, you can praise God for the things she knows and is already good at - like looking to the needs of others).
- Pray for Cindy as she teaches Sandra. At the same time she is teaching perseverance, she is learning it herself. But it wears on her, especially with the added burden of morning sickness (which is not at all limited to mornings - who named it that anyway?).
- Pray for Sean and Prang as they prepare for their wedding and their marriage.
- Pray for wisdom and humility for Im Jai’s leaders. This is a new situation, requiring many decisions. Pray that they will keep in mind that caring for the kids is first, then caring for the staff/volunteers, then everything else below that.
- Pray that God will bless our freetime and our relaxation.
- Pray for all three of us to learn Thai well and quickly.
