Awesome God testimonies
I am getting ready to send off a package of thank you notes that my students wrote to Bob Kauflin and Sovereign Grace Ministries to show their appreciation for the Awesome God CDs he/they graciously donated. What a neat testimony they are! I wanted to share a few...
"Thank you for the CDs. My whole family loved it. I listen to the CD all the time! Sometimes when I am afraid I turn the radio on and listen to the CD...."
"I love your CD! My sister once told me to be quiet, but now when I let her listen to the song, she sings and sings! Thank you!"
"Thank u 4 the awesome CD. My favorite song is 'Almighty Creator.' I also made up a motions too! It is my favorite because I understand the song. I memorized it! I understand a lot of things!"
"Thank you for sending us an Awesome God CD. In the CD, my favorite song was 'Mighty, Mighty Savior.' I like it, because I know God is very powerful and strong, also a genious. When I was listening to the CD, I understood more about how Jesus was like. Thank you once again for the great CD!"
"Thank you so much for sending us cd's....I think all the songs on the cd were wonderful. But, if I had to chose one of them, I would say I like 'For You Are Holy' and 'Sovereign One' the most. They both have relaxing tunes and they make me really want to focus on God. When I listen to this cd I feel calmed. Every time I listen to it I feel like I am getting closer and closer to God. I am so thankful that you gave us these cd's. Thank you."How wonderful to think that even while we are on summer break, these students - and their families! - are able to listen to words about Christ and learn about who He is and be comforted by His love and promises! So neat to see God at work in them! Thank you Sovereign Grace!
Interesting day
Today I learned that being sick is probably 10 times more bearable in air conditioning than in heat!
Last night the air conditioner unit in my lovely new apartment stopped working right before bed. I was super tired, so I just glanced at couple things before determining that it was beyond my know-how to figure out what was wrong. I turned on my little floor fan and went to sleep thinking, "Thais live without AC all the time, surely I can for at least a night." Well, I'm not Thai. At some point in the middle of the night I contracted a terrible headache and I woke up to my alarm feeling super nauseas. I took some medicine and planned to go to school as usual, maybe just a few minutes late (my first class was canceled today anyway). Long story short, I never went to school because I never felt better. I spent the entire morning and early afternoon lying on my bed with the fan blowing directly on me, sleeping in between quick runs to the bathroom which I was sure would result in vomiting (only 3 did). I can't figure out if the heat actually
caused the headache or not, but my headaches rarely last that long, so I'm going to assume that laying around in a 95+ degree apartment did not help matters much.
In the midst of this, I called my landlord to get the air conditioning fixed. Between today and yesterday's 3-hour process of calling her and several other Thais who I couldn't understand to get the internet in my apartment set up (talk about a "cultural moment"! In fact, the headache could have been the result of all that built up stress and frustration!) I've gotten a lot of experience calling her recently! She sent a technician to come and work on it this afternoon. Praise the Lord: within an hour or so, he had it fixed and I am already beginning to feel a little better. Wow - so many things I've never had to do by myself before! Makes me miss my Dad and wish I didn't have to be an adult and on my own now. : (
My Bangkok family and new apartment
I feel like God has lavished His goodness on me this past week. As my first year in Bangkok comes to a close, he has been showing me not just His provision of sustaining grace in the past few crazy weeks, but also how He's provided for my needs all year. This all came to a climax in my move to a new apartment last Thursday. The way He brought about this move was replete with evidences of His love to me.
First of all, I guess I better explain. This past year I've been living on campus in apartments designed to make the transition for new teachers moving to Bangkok easier. It did just that and I am so grateful that God provided so much right away through the generosity of ICS. I was able to focus on work from the beginning without having to worry a whole lot about setting up home in a foreign country. Some new teachers moved out of those apartments within a few months when they found a place, but most of us were actually content to stay as long as we could because they were/are very convenient and nice apartments. But with a whole new crew of new teachers coming in next year, we were kind of encouraged (asked!) to find a new place to live before the end of the school year.
God very clearly led me to an available apartment in the large, very nice apartment complex next to the school (where many of the teachers and students at ICS live). This apartment is actually in building that I had hoped and prayed to live in - because it has probably the best views of all the buildings! - and it is the size and price I was looking for. It is a small studio apartment - perhaps even smaller than my other one, but everyone who has been here has said that it feels more open because of how it's set up. It is fully furnished (except for a kitchen table) and even has a washing machine! The furniture is pretty quirky - with a bright blue refridgerator and everything else being either different colors of wood or different shades of blue (
nothing matches) but it's actually kind of fun and I've arranged it in a quirky kind of way! But the best part is, it is on the 8th floor (these apartments have elevators!) and has a balcony with sliding glass doors and another large window. The windows open towards the morning sun (I love bright sun in the mornings!) and look out across a huge
green field, with the city in the background (and no other apartment buildings or parking garages in my immediate line of vision!). I have been leaving my curtains open all day and night and am constantly looking outside! I have a little longer walk to school in the mornings, but half of it is on a winding sidewalk through the park-like grounds of the aparment complex, with trees and green grass on either side, flowers, benches, a pond and even gazebo! It makes me feel like I have a yard again! It is so beautiful and life-giving to me! God has been so good to meet my needs
and answer the desires of my heart!
Another huge way God has shown His love to me is through the love of the MTW team in serving and caring for me these last few weeks. Soon after I had found the apartment and scheduled a meeting with the landlord, I shared with Crystal about everything and she asked if I needed anyone to come with me to the meeting. I had been asking advice about what to ask the landlord, but it hadn't occurred to me to invite anyone to join me. Crystal rearranged her whole schedule and care of her children to come with me that Sunday afternoon and I am SO GLAD she did! My new landlord is Thai and understands a fair amount of English, but not nearly enough to answer my many questions. Crystal was able to translate and advise while we looked at everything and I felt so much more at peace when she said it seemed like a good deal and that she also had peace about it. Later, Paul volunteered to let me use his truck to move my stuff (Paul and Crystal always give so freely as they serve others with their vehicles and home!) and help me move. Last Thursday (which was a school holiday), he and Dave and James, Katy and Jonathan all came to help me move - volunteering before I could even ask for help! And I couldn't believe it, with all of them helping, I was out of one apartment and into another in less than 1 and 1/2 hours time! (It would have taken me a few days and dozens of walking-trips to get it all over there alone!) At the new apartment, Dave looked over my Thai lease and talked to my landlord again, reaffirming that I was doing the right thing. Then Katy stayed for a few more hours that afternoon to help me rearrange my quirky furniture and unpack some of my stuff. Later that evening, I went out to celebrate Yu's, Kieow's and my birthdays with the women on the team (eating at an incredible Mexican place, then having ice cream cake and watching a movie at the "girl's" apartment). The whole day made me feel so loved, so humbled and yet so honored, and so protected and cared for - I honestly felt like I had a family here in Bangkok that was caring for me in the same ways my family would have had I been at home. God is so good!
