Itsara

On Saturday, we had not one, but two people baptized. As it turns out, Prang’s grandmother heard that we were baptizing Matt, and though she’s been a Christian for a long time she wanted to be baptized too. We had a lot of fun swimming, eating, spending time together and officially welcoming both Matt and Prang’s grandmother into The Family. Here are a couple of pictures of the event.

Tai means to plow and naa means feild. So when the Thai people say that it’s time to “tai naa” they mean it’s time to plow the rice field. Ryan who has been here for a few months now was able to go up with us to the village and help Prangs father plow his fields. Using the plower was fun and “hypnotizing” as Ryan puts it. The hardest part was plowing the edges and corners by hand with a hoe. The plower can’t reach the edges and corners. Once one section of field is finished you go to the next while everyone else not running the plower cleans up the edges and corners by hand. Very long and hard work. We also had a very good time getting to and from the village. The roads were bad due to the heavy rains and we had to use four wheel drive which was pretty fun for Ryan and I but a little stressful for Prang. I will be going back up in a few weeks and begin grading some land and order materials to get ready for the Coast team to come and help build a bathroom in June. And little Abigail is doing great. She is now over one month and weighs a little over eight pounds.
To see more pics click here

My parents are on their way to Mexico (via Disneyland, apparently), and they’ve started a new blog to talk about it called View from the Terraza. From the first post:

The purpose of this blog is to keep our family and friends posted on what God is doing in our lives. We know that God has plans for us that have nothing to do with retiring, and we are excited to find out what they are. When you start saying “yes” to God, you better buckle your seat belt.

Boy, do we ever know what he’s talking about.

As promised. Here we have (left to right): Alaypa, Lutiya (in front), Matthew, Cindy, Isaac, Adam, Sandra, Pan.

And again: Pan, Sandra, Adam, Lutiya, Matthew, Alaypa, Isaac, Cindy.

Just when I think I’ve got God all worked out, he goes and does something I never saw coming. First I thought we’d be taking in one kid, and the last time I posted it was two. Yesterday, we were called and told there was a 12 year-old boy who needed a place too, but I still thought we’d only take two. We were told that the 9 year-old girl would be relatively easy to place – there was even a family that said they could take in the girl but not the boy because of the room situation in their house.

But now I find myself with 3 new kids.

Alaypa (อะเลผะ) is 12, though he’s still in second grade (that happens in the villages sometimes). He is now sharing a room with Matt. Lutiya (ลูติยะ) is 9 and in first grade. She is sharing a room with Sandra.

The language barrier is difficult. I’m still struggling very much with how to handle devotions and worship and Bible teaching. But I realize even as I write this that it’s not as bad as I was feeling a couple hours ago. I mean, I can’t communicate the things I want to, but I can communicate what I need. I guess I’ll have to relearn a lesson I learned a long time ago about how to love with time instead of words.

It’s our first day with all of them, so things are still kind of awkward here, but I think it’ll get more comfortable with time. And Pan, helpful as she was already, has become surprisingly familiar in her attitude towards us now that these two are here. Maybe it’s because she knows us a little and is no longer the odd-girl out. Maybe it’s because she is no longer the only pure Thai speaker. Whatever the reason, I’m encouraged to see it.

We also feel somewhat stressed, but a lot of that will be relieved when the Thai kids start school next week and as we learn to enlist the older ones’ help in things. Even in writing this I can see now that things are better than I feel like they are. Even so, we could use your prayer now more than ever. We just made a leap that I thought would surely be impossible, and I’m still trying to decide if God is crazy or if we are.

As of Monday May 7th, Abigail Blue Abbott is one month old. She only weighed in about 2.5 kilograms but is already growing quickly and eating a lot. We took her to church for the first time yesterday and I’ve never seen Prang have so many friends. It’s amazing to see so many people floc to a new born. I enjoyed seeing them get so much attention.

This is Abigail now. To us she is noticeably bigger and way more active everyday.
We are both very excited to be parants and in aw of the fact that we made something.

Update: Fixed the broken picture link.

It rained all day on Friday for the first time in six months. The whole world has turned green again in a matter of days. It’s the start of the rainy season, and it will continue like this until sometime in November.

Also on Friday, we made a decision to turn our lives upside-down… again. You know, when you finally take that first, big, blind step into faith – like moving to another country – you think, “I did it! I finally turned my life over to God. Now the hard part is over.” If you’re like me, and that’s what you think, then I’m afraid I have some news for you. Here’s how it actually goes.

The Proposal. God has something big for you – something that you used to think you could never do, but for whatever reason you’re at the point where you think you could maybe say yes. It’s scary, and there’s a lot you don’t know, but you know that with enough faith, you could say yes this time.

The Decision. You decide to do it. Maybe you’re going on a mission trip. Maybe you’re giving something up. Maybe you’re getting married, or having a baby, or moving, or changing jobs, or leaving the country. Whatever it is, you say yes, and your life gets turned upside-down.

The Waiting. Between the decision and the implementation of that decision is the waiting. This, actually, is the hardest part. This is the part where Satan will test you. “Are you sure God asked you to do this? What if you were wrong? What if you made it up, and this isn’t what God wants you to do? What if he doesn’t actually provide what you need?” Maybe it’s God testing you, actually – or at least allowing the testing. The test is there so that you, God, and everybody else will know that you mean business – that you didn’t just say yes on a whim or on some spiritual high. If you can make it through this part, then you get to the point that so few people ever get to: you actually do what God asked you to do.

Real Work (optional: Honeymoon). When you start to do whatever it is, there might be a honeymoon period or there might not, but there will always be a really hard part where you wish you hadn’t said yes. This is where the real work is done. For me, the only thing that ever gets me through these times is knowing that I know that I know that God sent me for this. “Have I not commanded you?” he once told me. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Rinse. Repeat. Finally, when you get through this second hard part (or third, if you count the decision itself), you will have grown in faith, wisdom, and perseverance to a level you never thought possible. You will not be the same person that you were when you thought to say yes. You will know God better, but despite what you might think, the hard part is not over. Because right then, when you have enjoyed a short period of being good at what God called you to do, God knocks on your door again. He has something big for you – something you used to think you could never do…

I’m sorry, I was going to tell you about how we have two new girls in the house, but it turned into this essay on what saying yes to God is like. Cindy and I have agreed to take in two Thai orphans. Pan (rhymes with “fun”, not “fan”) is 15 and moved in with us yesterday. Her last remaining parent recently died and she was staying with her elderly, ailing grandmother. Her grandmother wanted to know she was being taken care of before she died.

The other girl, we haven’t met yet, and I don’t know her name. She’ll be here today or tomorrow. She’s 9 years old and is coming from an abusive situation in one of the villages. It was actually the other villagers who insisted she be taken in somewhere.

I’ll give you more information as it comes, and keep praying – we need it. We’re in the honeymoon stage, sort of, but I think all my honeymoons are tainted now with the knowledge of their temporary nature.

Um, and the conclusion that cleverly ties this all back in with the image of changing seasons is left as an exercise for the reader. Go ahead, have fun with it.