Back in Bangkok
Once again I have felt strongly the prayers of others on my behalf - especially regarding the return flight to Bangkok and God giving grace in leaving home yet again. I (and all my luggage) not only arrived safely and on time last night, but God granted a few special gifts along the way. The first was an unusually
under-booked flight for the 13 hour, Chicago to Tokyo leg of the trip. I was sitting in the middle aisle and there were 3 empty seats between me and the man at the end of the row. I stretched out on two of them, he on three, and I was able to sit and sleep relatively comfortably during that flight. What a blessing! However, upon arriving in Tokyo, I was mentally and physically "through" with traveling and had no idea how I was going to make it through the next 3 hours of layover and 6 hour flight (this trip seemed longer and more boring/lonely than past flights). God knew how I felt and gave me a big surprise in Tokyo! As I was exiting one airplane, I saw Emily, a friend and teacher at ICS, ahead of me - apparently she had been on the same flight and I didn't know it! I caught up with her while she was looking up a flight of our other friend, Jen, who was supposed to be flying out of Tokyo at the same time we were. We went to the other concourse in search of Jen and ended up running into 2 other ICS teachers! How fun it was to see all of them and catch up briefly - not to mention it made the layover "fly" by (pun intended!). The 3 other girls where on one Tokyo-Bangkok flight and Emily and I were on another. Although I was not seated beside her, it was nice to have someone to travel with and when we arrived in Bangkok 6 hours later, another teacher was there to pick her up (which she had arranged previously), so I was able to also ride with them back to my apartment, instead of traveling by taxi alone. Seeing familiar faces was a blessing for all of us, I think, as we were all a bit emotional about leaving home. I continued to be amazed at the Lord knowing and meeting even my smallest needs.
Please continue praying for me in the upcoming weeks, though. I told Carol Wilkening a few weeks ago that I've discovered that I am typically happiest wherever I am, which is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing for obvious reasons, but a curse because it makes leaving that place of happiness very painful. The weeks before leaving a place (especially home) are usually filled with dread, panic and tears (which I experienced off and on the last few weeks) and the weeks following in the new place are also very hard and emotional as I adjust and the "felt" separation is very real. God has given me so many gifts in Bangkok, I know I'll grow to be content here once again in a few weeks or months, it's just this in between time that's so hard. Thank you for lifting me up before the Father!
At the beach
My last two weeks in the States are being spent vacationing at the beach: first with my immediate family (excepting Jason, who will come later) in St. Augustine, then with my extended family on my mom's side in Myrtle Beach, SC. 4 days now into the first week, I can definitely say that I am LOVIN' this beach life! Days where my hardest decisions consist of what book I'm going to read (I'm rotating through 3 at the moment), what game to play and with whom, and whether I should swim in the ocean or the pool. The resting and lack of schedule has been
super refreshing and it has been so fun having our whole family in the same place for meals and play. So many laughs and good conversations and fun memories!
Special
Sunday, my last Sunday at Pinewood for the summer before returning to Bangkok, was a very special one for a number of reasons. God granted several precious gifts in terms of my church family - playing beautiful, almost "blue-grassy" type music with my string trio collegues, Warren and Rick, and a cello/piano offeratory with our wonderful accompanist, Susan. Also in terms of my sweet students and children's choir kids - of which 3 of my favorite girls presented me with a
beautiful "music" quilt after the service that they had purchased with their own funds at the missions auction! I was so honored by their gift and generosity.
It was also a special time for our family, my older sister and her children just having arrived in FL late the night before, we were all there to worship together. Joanna pointed out after the service that it's probably been years, if ever, that Mom and Dad have sat together on the same pew with all 5 of their children (for the sermon at least!) - of course, part of the reason for that is that it takes a long pew for us to all fit! But it
was an unusual treat. And I was blessed by having my seven-year-old nephew sitting next to me during the sermon. Each time I see my nephews and niece, I am struck anew by what an amazing job my sister is doing in raising them to know the Lord and His word. During the sermon, Joanna helped Gabriel find the sermon passage in a Bible, which he read quietly as Pastor Phil read out loud. Then when our pastor asked us to turn to another passage, Gabe found it on his own (1 Cor.) and read along again, after which he sat quietly during the remainder of the sermon. It's so neat to see him growing, not only in his reading abilities but also his knowledge of the Bible.
Sweet
I've been getting a little emotional about leaving home again in a few weeks and last night I came home from a string rehearsal at Pinewood crying. Only the boys were home for the evening and Clint saw me crying when he opened the door. He made a face like "Uh-oh - better not say
anything!" and went back to playing Gamecube with Will. After I had calmed down and wiped my tears, I went to fix myself dinner and called to the boys in the other room...
"Would you guys like to play a game with me?" Something between a grunt and "I dunno" came from the den. So I pushed a little further: "We could play Yahtzee...Monopoly...RummyKub...Taboo..." No response. A few minutes later I said in a somewhat shaky voice, "Um...if you guys don't play a game with me, I'm probably going to cry again" (which was true; I was not trying to be manipulative!).
Immediately both brothers paused their video game and said "We'll play Monopoly!" They hopped up and hurried into the kitchen. Clint gave me a hug while Will set up the game. I was touched. : ) We had a super fun, goofy evening together!
Lest I give the impression, however, that my brothers are all sweetness...
Today I was exercising in the den, lifting weights, etc. and Clint walks up with a big grin, pats me on my tummy and says, "Trying to work-off your belly fat?" After a shocked and slighty hurt gasp, I proceeded to give the old "Don't you EVER say that to your girl-friend (or she'll dump you) or your wife (or you'll be sleeping on the couch)" lecture. A few minutes later Will came in and I shared what Clint had said, hoping for some sympathy (Will is
generally more encouraging). Will shrugged his shoulders, smiled a "positive" (otherwise encouraging) smile and said, "Well, you're on the right track!" Sigh...
