Where did the week-end go????

I am sure that is the question on many minds when Sunday night has already arrived! It is actually about 11:00 p.m. as I am writing this entry. I did get to relax and rest yesterday (saturday) which was greatly needed. I slept in quite late and mainly hung out around my apartment.
Today (Sunday) I left my apartment around 10:00 a.m. for church and arrived home around 9:00 p.m. I am starting to understand a few Thai words in songs and from the messages. I am thankful that I always have people who guide me to the right verses in the Bible. I attended the morning service at 10:45 which goes until around 12:00 and then we all eat lunch together. After lunch we just hang out and talk. I have really been able to build some great friendships with some of the young ladies from the church. Around 2:00 I went for a snack run with 3 other girls to the 7-11 store. I may not have told you this before but there are so many 7-11 stores here!! I have never seen that many in my life. Apparently they are very popular here. I got my coca-cola (caffeine fix) and a small snickers bar---you know the things you always need--ha ha!
Then at 2:30 I was told that I needed to teach this group of 9 Thai people English for 30 minutes because the man teaching English had to go early. Good thing I am a teacher by trade. I told the class that the man taught them the grammar part and now we were going to converse in the last 30 minutes. By the way the man who was teaching is American but he also speaks perfect Thai so he could translate to them anytime they didn't understand something. They didn't receive that luxury with me because I don't speak Thai:) Luckily the 30 minutes passed by fairly quickly. I let the class ask me questions to practice their English and that way they would also learn some things about me too. I will be teaching this group every Sunday for 30 minutes. I never know what new job I may have each day but that is just part of the journey.
I stayed at church for the 3:45 service. I always love this service. It is the young college crowd and I really love the praise and worship at this time. I almost always know the songs and can sing in English until I learn them in Thai. One of the young Thai girls translated the message for me which is always an extra blessing.
After the service a group of us sat around for many hours and sang praise and worship songs while a few of the guys played their guitars. It was an awesome time of fellowship! I finally made it home around 9:00 tonight but really felt blessed to have found such a great church body of believers here. Worship is such an awesome experience in any language!

God is so Good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do you remember singing the song as a child "God is so good, God is so good, God is so good-He's so good to me"......????? I feel like singing it every day here. I am so thankul that I serve a Holy God that loves me and can use me despite my many many imperfections!! I have been praying daily for some specific things and today I saw 2 of them answered in a very special way and wanted to share them with you.

FIRST ONE---I have been praying about the people that live and work on my street that I walk by every day. My street takes about 5-8 minutes to walk to the end (main road). On my walk I pass by construction workers, vendors, neighbors, street cleaners, taxi drivers, and hotel security people. Sometimes I walk down my street several times a day but always at least once a day. I can't really communicate with them but I always smile at them and say "hello" in Thai (swaat dii kha). My prayer has been that I would be a witness by example and that they would see something different in me even if I can't talk to them yet. So this morning at 7:00 a.m. I was walking down the street to the sky train to go to language school. I walked by a guard in front of the shopping center and said "swaat dii kha" and usually they just say it back. Today the man said it back and then said in English "You have a beautiful smile". Wow that made my day! It might be the only thing he knows in English and he says it to every white woman who walks by but i have never been told that here until today. To me--it just reaffirmed to keep smiling and greeting people with the little Thai that I know and it really can be a strong witness.

SECOND ONE--I have been praying for the Lord to open doors for me here in whatever ways He wants to do it. When I finished language school today a little after noon I was riding the elevator down from the 7th floor to the 1st floor. On the ride down a "Thai" young man spoke up and asked if any of us on the elevator were Americans. 3 of us said we were and he asked if we were living in Bangkok. I said I was and would be here for 2 years. He then asked me if I would be interested in teaching English to help some "university students" prepare for this summer when they will go to America on an exchange program and work at Six Flags and places like that. He told me that the school was on the 12th floor and that I could come one day and visit. I will go up there next week and will be lifting it up in Prayer. It involves teaching English and University students but I never would have even thought about it because it is not a University Campus. Sometimes our ministry ideas are limited to a campus setting but God's ministry field is much bigger and spreads into the community in many ways.

I am just amazed at everything that is taking place around me. I can't even describe it at times and I just have tears that flow from being in awe of HIS greatness and Power!

God's Plan is Perfect

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Jeremiah 29:11-13. I truly believe that God has the perfect plan for my life and He is revealing it to me in so many ways. I will share a few of them with you.

Today was the 1st day of official language school and I understood everything and did pretty well. It is all thanks to my wonderful tutor that has worked with me for the past 3 weeks to prepare me. There are 10 people in my class including myself. There are 3 Americans, 1 Italian, 2 Canadians, 1 from Japan, 1 from Malaysia, 1 from Philippines, and 1 from another place in SE Asia but I don't remember where. I felt really bad for several of the students today who tried to follow what the teacher was saying and tried to get the vowel sounds right and a few tones. I explained to 1 of the young ladies at break time that the only reason I was picking up on it so quickly is because I already knew it--I had been tutored. I tried to encourage her and know in about a week I am going to be in the same vote as her wondering what in the world the teacher is saying:) You may wonder why I told you this story----If you remember in America I didn't get my VISA on time and many of you were praying along with me. It was really a blessing that I didn't get it in time. If I had I would have gone straight to language school and wouldn't have gotten any tutoring. The tutoring was a great help and I felt a little confident today which is a good way to start! I expect to be lost soon but feel so blessed that the Lord knew I needed to arrive just 1 day late so I couldn't go to school that session but have a tutor for 3 weeks before going to school. I am glad He knows everything!!! You can be in prayer for the 7 others with us in class. I don't believe that any of them are Christians.

Another example is the other American couple who were in training and my small group with me in VA who are also in my language school with me. Let's call them G & D for security purposes. G & D were originally supposed to go to N. Thailand for their language where they would be living and at the last minute in early Dec. they were told they would be sent to Bangkok for 6 months of language and then sent to N. Thailand. It has been such a blessing for me to have them here. It is so great to have them in class with me. We can laugh, cry, and encourage each other daily! The journey is always a little easier with some friends:) I am thankful that they are living here for 6 months and studying language with me! WHAT A BLESSING! (Just a side note but also if I had gotten my VISA on time I would have been 1 class ahead of them so we wouldn't have been together).

God is so good and He does have a perfect plan! I am glad that He is in control and not me!!!

Visit to the Grand Palace

I debated about what I would do on my "free day". I finally decided that I would go out and explore going up the river to the Grand Palace. I was so close to it a few weeks ago when out and about with friends but we didn't make it there.

I took the sky train to the end of the line and hopped on the river taxi. I sat on the left side of the water taxi this time because when I rode the last time I only saw the right side. I rode up to the 9th stop and the Grand Palace was right there in front of me. There were still a lot of people there but it is much better than going on a Saturday.

I walked around and took quite a few pictures. They don't let you take pictures inside any of the buildings so I only have outside shots. Overall, the place is beautiful but it is filled with darkness. I only stayed a few hours because I know that every time someone comes to visit I will be taking them there so I will see it many times while I'm here. I came home and took a little nap:) The heat really gets to you after a while.

Tuesday in Thailand

Sometimes I can't think of "catchy" titles for my post as you can see. I survived my 17 days of Thai with my tutor. Today was the last time. Today I had to converse with a Thai lady and ask questions and answer the questions that she asked me. I think I did o.k. My tutor said that I did a good job. The Thai lady actually used a few words in a question today that my tutor never taught me but I knew them from the very brief study of Thai I had done in the US with the computer program (Rosetta Stone). I understood her question and answered and my tutor couldn't believe it. He wondered how I knew those words--those many lessons of Rosetta Stone that I went through and didn't think I was getting anything from paid off today!! I take joy in the small things:) Tomorrow I have the day off and then Thursday official language school begins------

Tonight I was able to attend my first BSF (Bible study fellowship) women's Bible study. It is all done in English. It was great! There were probably only a few "American women". The rest of the ladies were from the Philippines, China, etc. but they all speak good English and attend this study. We will be studying the life of Moses. Tonight our lesson was on Leviticus 16. I feel very blessed and am thankful for all the little things that the Lord has put in place to help make me stronger and more effective for the work I will do here.

I plan to venture out tomorrow on my free day but am not sure where yet so you will have to stay tuned to find out!!! Is that a good tease???? I learned it from my wonderful "news producer" Dana!

Visit to the Hospital

Today I had to go to the hospital--don't worry I am not sick! I had to go because you must have a check up with the Dr. to get a certificate so I can receive a work VISA. The reason why I had to go to the hospital is because they don't have offices here like in the US. You go to the hospital for everything.

Several of the hospitals here are International hospitals. They are so beautiful and clean! The one I went to today is on SOI 1 (street 1) and I live on SOI 2. I walked there today with my paper that I needed to have a check up so I could receive a Work Visa. I was a little scared as I walked there wondering if they would speak English and if I would be waiting for many many hours to see the Dr. Before hand I had my tutor write what I needed in Thai in case they couldn't understand my Thai:)

I arrived at the hospital around 10:45 this morning and the first lady I saw greeted me in English and directed me to the 10th floor. I got to the 10th floor and more greeted me in English and one lady had me fill out a sheet of information, took my picture, and then sent me to the 15th floor. I arrived on the 15th floor and in about 15 minutes I was taken back to see the Dr. He spoke perfect English and asked me a few questions. The check up took about 5 minutes total and I was finished. I left the hospital by 11:15! I was absolutely amazed at how efficient they were at the hospital. Now I will know just what to do when I really am sick and need to go there.

My tutor let me know today that for my final tutoring session tomorrow (myself and 2 other Americans) will go out on the street and talk to people! We have learned all of these phrases and now he wants to see us put them to good use! I am a little nervous but it should be fun. I know how to ask about 10-20 questions now in Thai. However my tones are not always right so it is hard to say whether people tomorrow are going to understand me or not. I could be using the wrong word because I have the wrong tone!

I will let you know how it goes. The countdown is on for "official language school to begin". 3 days!

Where did the time go?

It is hard to believe that today is the first day of February. I have almost been here a month! I feel like January was all a whirlwind of events. Every week seems to fly by and of course the week-ends fly by even quicker:( This week will be my 4th full week here and I have established a fairly active calendar. In case you didn't remember language school starts this week!!! That will take up a majority of my time (4 hours in the morning at school and several hours of homework). I am very thankful for receiving 3 weeks of 1-1 tutoring to prepare me for school. The Thai language is very difficult but I am surprised at how much I have already learned. That should be encouraging to anyone reading this because I am not a fast learner. I am still eager to learn and excited to know more.