Itsara

Today is our Thanksgiving. Last night we had dinner with our friends, the Wades, for David’s birthday. We went out to a restaurant that served Thanksgiving dinner, although they also offered ham and prime rib instead of turkey (and once again I’m glad I’m not a traditionalist – that prime rib was good). So we’ve had a Thanksgiving dinner, but tonight is our’s. Yes, there is turkey. (more…)

We’ve received numerous requests for a picture of pregnant Cindy. So here she is.

Wanna talk to us? For free? Wanna see our faces too? Get Skype. Get a mic. Maybe even a webcam, so we can see you. Our Skype name is now on our contact page. So are our e-mail addresses. (You’ll need those cuz, more than likely, you may have to make an appointment ;-) Just cuz it says we’re online, doesn’t mean we’re on line. You know?)

Note of disclaiming though. We haven’t actually tried it yet. I mean, I’ve done the test call. I know my mic and webcam work. I don’t know how well they work when crossing the bottlenecks that exist at the borders of Thailand’s telecommunications infrastructure. We’ll see.

We’re creative people. I don’t mean us here in Thailand… well, I do, but I mean everybody else too! We were created in God’s image, and the first thing we see God doing is creating (and as far as I can tell, He’s still doing it). People love creating. Music, art, writing, cooking, programming, carving, hammering, designing, sewing, planning, planting… all of these (and so many more) are forms of creation and creativity.

Anyway, the point is, I want to share some of our creativity with you today.

Symmetry Art
The bathroom in our master bedroom is frosted glass and positioned such that it is highly visible from the outside if our door is open. Cindy didn’t like that, so she came up with an art project to solve it. She had us do symmetry art (where you paint one side and fold the paper so the other side is the same) on poster board, and we used the posters to cover up the glass

Mansion
I’ve been designing games since I was 11, but only rarely have I gotten to actually play what I designed. Mansion is based on some concepts that have been bouncing around my head for a couple of years (in addition to some concepts that I outright stole from other games).

The idea is that the players are exploring and stealing from a huge mansion, while everybody else is distracted with a party in another room. The winner is the one who can steal the most stuff (which might also mean stealing from the other thieves). Because they’re there for a party, they could not bring any of their own equipment in. So the only weapons and tools they can use are what they find around the house.

We’ve played it a few times so far, and I think I’m finally happy with the latest revision. It got significantly more fun when, during a game, Cindy had everyone draw art for whatever Equipment cards they had in their hand. (I didn’t realize how much art adds to the fun of a game). The game still needs art for its 62 rooms. Maybe one day…

Learning Thai
English is both Sandra and Matthew’s first language, but they both also speak Thai very well. Reading is a different story, so we’ve been teaching Thai reading and writing skills during homeschool. One problem with this is that it’s boring. Memorize the alphabet. Memorize the tone rules. Memorize the vocab. Read boring stories about fish in a well about 100 times. Repeat.

I decided a game would help fix this. Shamelessly stealing rules and ideas from Dungeons & Dragons, I created a basic game where the players fight monsters to earn experience. With more experience, they are allowed to use more powerful weapons. Here’s the trick though: to use each weapon, they must answer a question. Maybe they have to read a word correctly, or identify which tone rule is used, or hear a word and write it correctly. If they get it right, they damage the monster. If they miss, the monster gets to hit them. More powerful weapons do more damage, but they’re also harder to use (i.e. harder questions).

The game doesn’t have a name yet, but I’ve been mentally referring to it as “นักรบ“, or “Nakrope”, which means fighter or warrior. We played it for the first time last Friday and it went amazingly well. Not only did they have fun, but both of them were highly motivated to “get it right”. As Sandra said, “I don’t want the orc to hit me!” In the near future, I may combine it with the Mansion rooms so they have a dungeon to explore (maybe with a dragon in the middle).

We’ve less than a month to go (give or take). We’re taking birthing classes now and getting our house and our lives ready for the new person, as well as for a severe break in our standard schedule. The combined fear and excitement is starting to get overwhelming – at least when we let ourselves think about it.

Personally, I’m surprised at just how little I knew about giving birth. Seriously, the stuff you see in movies and on TV has next to nothing to do with what I’m learning. Until the last few months, I had never heard of different birthing positions, skin-to-skin contact after the birth, episiotomies, nor any means of determing when the labor starts other than the water breaking. It makes me wonder what else TV has taught me.

One thing I’m particularly glad for is that we’re giving birth here in Chiang Mai, rather than in the States. Does that sound crazy? Believe it or not, the medical care here is as good as most places in the world, and much cheaper (if you’re not insured in the States, it would be a financially sound decision to fly out here for medical care).

Our doctor believes in letting the childbirth be as natural as possible. He intrudes very rarely to check on the baby, and then only in the form of ultrasounds. I like him. When I first saw Dr. Udom, he reminded me of an absent-minded science professor, with his big glasses, messed up comb-over, and casual clothes. He ran into the office looking like he just finished teaching a class. He’s very kind, willingly switches between Thai and English as needed, often acts out what the baby is doing (which is hilarious), and is willing to do whatever the mother wants to make her comfortable.

It’s still scary. How can it not be? But God brought this to my eyes the other day. Jesus is telling his disciples that he will have to leave them. They will be grieving while the world rejoices at his death. But, he says, their grief will turn to joy. “A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world.” It was true then about Jesus’ death. It is still true about the birth of new life. I tell Cindy that everytime she wants to freak out. (Incidentally, it strikes me that this is also true about all of our deaths as well – it’s scary, but when it’s over we’ll know only joy – but that’s beside the point).

I just wanted to let you know a little of how we’re doing in this area. Pray for us. For our fears to be faced and discarded. For our family to grow healthily together. For Matthew and (especially) Sandra to feel more a part of this family, not less, once the baby arrives.

Hello! I finally have time and internet!!! I’m mostly updating because I am asking for your prayers! Life is crazy as a parent, especially of a 12 and 15-year old! I’ve been a parent for about 8 months now, and I’m still surprised how busy it is! I didn’t realize how much chauffering parents do for their kids. I can see why many parents in the US allow their kids to have cars as teens!

Life is difficult these days for us. It seems as though either one of us (usually me) is having a hard time. We find it hard to be patient with behavior problems mostly. We want to see improvement and God’s power, but I’m sure it won’t be overnight. We don’t always know how to handle discipline, and we just pray that any mistakes we make God will make it work out for the good. I know we don’t have to be perfect parents, but wouldn’t it be great anyway? We feel attacked in so many ways by the enemy. He really hates us trying to love these kids and teaching them to trust in God. Please pray that while Satan is trying to ruin our family, we will know the truth – that God put this family together, He’ll help us each step of the way, and He’ll never give us more than we can handle.

I really worry about how life will be like when the baby comes. I can’t imagine living our lives with an additional helpless infant and all it comes with. Of course we are excited to have the baby, but I am fearful for the adjustments our family will have to go through and how difficult they may be. Please pray for our family as we have our little addition. Pray that it is a blessing that bonds our family closer, instead of something that creates jealousy and burdens for us.

I really want to be a family. I don’t even know what that means. How do you make people feel like a family? I try hard to make us a family, but I think that will just come in time. Adam keeps saying that we are actually quite blessed considering how abrupt our family was put together. I mean, we got our 12-year-old daughter 8 months ago, and a 15-year-old son 2 months ago. What should we expect? Probably much worse! But God is good. Please do pray that God would bond each of us to each other with trust and love.

In the hard times, I am reminded of some things Emmet told us while he was here visiting in September. I was having a very tough time with the new adjustments to having Matt and Sandra, homeschooling them, and trying to make a family. All I was thinking about was the worries. Emmet told me that I wasn’t thinking about all the wonderful things God’s blessed us with. I have an amazing husband who loves me SO SO much, supports me more than I could ever want, and who puts God first. Emmet also said that it’s a blessing to want God and pray to Him all the time. I feel desperate in the hard times, but it’s true that I’ve never depended on Him so much. That’s exactly where He wants us all. When times are great, I don’t really feel the need for Him, and I don’t spend much time with Him. But when times are hard, I’m seeking Him because I know He’s the only one who can help. And when He helps, He gets the praise! Thank God for that!

Adam and I are incredibly blessed though. We pray for the kids all the time, that they would know God’s love and truth. God has been amazing by giving us two kids who have really accepted Him as the truth. We weren’t sure how Matt would handle living in a Christian home, but thank God he just has faith. A few days ago, Matt had some breathing problems while he was trying to go to sleep. He prayed and immediately God helped him breathe easily and calmly. His words were, “God really does answer prayer!” Over the past 8 months, Sandra has had many incidents of the enemy attacking her and trying to lie to her. God has taught her and blessed her with the strength to say no to the enemy. Plus, He has really been helping her to take responsibility for her actions and convicts her to make things right with people she has wronged. Just out of the blue, she will apologize for things that happened much earlier. It was so surprising for us, but we knew it was God’s conviction touching her heart.

On a different note, we just had a baby appointment today. I’m at 35 weeks now, and it won’t be long! The doctor gave us the talk about when we might be in labor, so it’s really coming soon! He said that everything is looking great with me and the baby, so that’s a blessing! Praise God that it has been a rather easy pregnancy (compared to many others I’ve heard). He is good!

I really miss you all and hope you’re all well. If you have a chance, let me know how you’re doing! I still don’t have many friends here, so it would be great to hear from my old friends and family!

After nearly two months of waiting and of minor troubles, we finally have internet at our house. This means we’ll be in communication with you guys more often again (I’m downloading Skype as I type this).

Honestly, I know that I really have nothing to complain about. The missionary generation before me (and many missionaries today) never had the internet. They never had communication with their friends and family beyond the occasional (really slow) letter. We are truly blessed to be where and when we are.

At the same time, when I have to use internet outside my home, on someone else’s computer, it feels like I’m being fed through a tube. Yes, I know that sounds pathetic, but most of you should already know that about me.