Goodbye to the South, Hello to the North!

the Thai flag

Today, our Internet gets disconnected.  The last of our things get thrown into a box or bag, and we will be turning in early to prepare for our 5am wake-up to get ready for the truck's arrival at 6am. 

The sun came out today - an answered prayer!  Moving in muggy weather would not be a cake-walk...so I have been praying for a sunny weather until Sunday (AFTER all our stuff gets moved off the truck!).  Run and Huy finally got to play outside today after a week of rain.  They are in bliss.  Run caught no less than 5 toads and is quiet for the first time since I can remember.

Some of teenagers we've been investing in are coming over tonight to be here for the early move tomorrow.  *enters the Hallelujah chorus*  Also, a doctor friend of ours is staying the night as well to help lift things and probably hold my baby while we put all our belongings onto a 6-wheeled truck and trust God that it all will arrive safely up north.  

Pray for us.

Pray for good weather.

Pray for happy, cheerful, obedient hearts.  Not just for our kids, but for us as well.  :)

Pray for the two-day trip to seem like two hours. 

Pray for the grace to leave our "home" to enter a new one.

Pray for fruit to remain here and multiply 100-fold!

Pray for Thailand.  That is why we're here, after all!

Alina

Busy Bees



Go, John, View, Huy, Alina, Kyla and Run before we started off on a boat ride together!  We have loved growing close in friendship with this family - and they are awesome followers of Jesus!  We will miss them terribly.



The cave we visited.  It was spectacular.



Up the coast, we stopped at a restaurant, had fruit drinks and checked out the "fish farm."  Can you believe this blow fish!?

Wild monkeys on the edge of the water.  The driver threw them some rambutan and they posed long enough for some pictures.  We love monkeys!

In a word, we are busy.  Busy packing.  Busy visiting.  Busy cleaning, arranging, throwing away, and selling.  Busy eating, hugging and saying goodbye.

But, thankfully, we're not busy pulling out our hair! 

Yet.

In two days, we will be packing all our things on to a moving truck (oh why, oh WHY did they choose to come at 6am?  they first suggested 4am...I'm not kidding.).  Then, we will say a tearful goodbye to our home, our friends and our dinky little town.  I will be honest to say that I will miss this place SOOO much.  Moving is exciting, but the unknown feels a little unstable sometimes.  Other than our close friends, the S-clan, we know only two other families who live there.  That means that basically, we're starting over again.  New city (we've actually never even been there yet!).  New house.  New neighborhood.  New vision for work.  And, even, a new dialect of Thai to learn. 

When I choose to look at things more optimistically...I can describe this move as so:

New opportunities.  New friends.  New adventures.  New people who have never heard of Jesus.  New, excited, ready, open eyes and hearts in our family.  Moving does that to you.  It awakens you.  It is no longer walking up the same stairs in your house, the same aisle in the grocery store or market, saying an apathetic "hi" to your same neighbors.  Moving causes you to be more alert, more expectant, hopeful. 

I am ready for that!

Kleenex Addiction

This isn't the most eco-friendly post.  There, I said it.

With moving in full-swing, packing tape and scissors out, the dust in our house is deciding to show it's ugly face.  Without fail, when we re-organize or prepare for a house guest (you know, the kind who actually sleep in the guest room/office/storage room/extra nap room/place to hide room)...our noses drip.  I know, gross.

I cannot tell you how many boxes of tissues we've been through in the last few weeks.  An obscene amount.  What did people do before Kleenex?  Have an embarrassing drip running down their noses during allergy season and/or a heart-attack inducing pile of snotty rags?  Disgusting.  I would rather think of my rapidly increasing carbon-footprint due to using disposable face tissues than even imagine how it would add to my laundry pile right now.  *Shudder*

I think back to one of my cute hippie friends in our post-college days.  Our one-child days.  I had lots of opinions then.

My cute hippie friend had me over one day to hang out in her garage apartment, and she was suffering from allergies, too.  Except, when she went to blow her poor, red nose, she grabbed for a hip handkerchief instead.  Who still uses those?  My family certainly didn't.  It was so old-school, yet actually, "green," that I was impressed.  My friend was really short on cash in those days, so I just thought she was being thrifty.  I asked her about it.  She shrugged, "Oh, this?"  Like I was the odd one.  And, in that moment, I did feel odd.  Because, who in their right mind would pay so much to blow their nose once and then throw the evidence in the wastebasket instead of the washing machine.  Uh, ME! 

The experience got me thinking...but not enough to go out shell out more cash to buy new handkerchiefs!  (Like they cost that much anyways!)

Since then, every time an allergy attack hits our house, dust flying in the air and tissues quickly filling every available trash can available, I think about my friend.  It is funny how we attach very small, insignificant interactions with events that continue well into the future.  

I think that one day I might be one of those nostalgic people who carry around handkerchiefs and recycle my rainwater to hand wash my organic cotton little squares that rescue my aching nose from eternal dripping.  One day.   When I have a clothes dryer.  Or, a child who can finally do the laundry for me. 

One day. 

10 Things I Like Today

P. View and Huy sword-fighting.  All in good fun, of course.

1.  Extra time with P. View.  View has been an awesome, faithful friend and worker here in our city.  She's not moving with us up north because God has something else in store for her.  She is staying at our house until we move, and the boys and are LOVING it!  This morning, they needed an extra sword-fighting partner and View was up for it!  We. love. View.

2.  It was my turn to sleep-in this week.  Treav and I take turns so we can at least sleep-in twice in one month.  If you don't have kids, you might be wondering why this deal is so glorious.  Just you wait.  And, all the parents might be a little jealous.  Dare you to try out this deal with your spouse...it is wonderful!

3. Still not certain about where we'll live when we move up north. In less than two weeks!  But, honestly, we're not stressed.  "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."  Matthew 6:34

4.  KFC soft-serve ice cream. 

5.  A roast in the crock pot.  Have I ever told you that I am in love with it?  The crock pot.  I could even marry it.  Well, maybe not.  But, if it had a self-cleaning function I might.  Just maybe.
 

The S-clan with View in the center

6.  These guys (pic above) - I miss them already! 

7.  Long emails from my sister.  I love her.  I can't believe we fought so much when we were kids.  How could I not appreciate how terribly wonderful she is?  I guess you don't think about your kid sister that way when you're 10 and she's getting into your Barbies and is, frankly, waaay cooler and better dressed than you ever could be.  Almost 20 years later, she's still better dressed - but now I don't care!  And, it shows.  ;)

8.  Long emails from anyone, really.  There's almost nothing I enjoy more than someone spending several precious moments downloading their thoughts, ideas, wonderings, and/or ramblings through email.  For me, less is definitely not "more."  More is "more." 

9.  Living in a place people dream to vacation in.  Thank you, Jesus.  Every day I wake up surrounded by beauty.  Thank you for making it that way.

10.  You.  I like you today.  Anyone reading this.  You're awesome.  Thanks for stopping by!

Frog Surprise!

Today I went out to get Kyla's diapers off the clothes rack outside and found this cute tree frog nestled in one of them.  I love living here.  Surprises around every corner!

Goodbye Bananas, Hello Uncertainty

Some of our banana trees fell over two days ago.  Gale-force winds were blowing furiously the night before and we woke up to quite a mess in the front yard.  The rain had water-logged our lawn and everything looked crazy and prophesied of hours of work cutting, raking and burning to clean it up.  I was sad for about two seconds until I realized - hey, we're moving in two weeks!  I wouldn't even be around to miss them!

And, then, I realized that I didn't even know WHAT my next yard would look like.  Or, if my new dwelling would even have a yard.  I wouldn't miss *attempting* to help keep up with yard work, but then again, living in a concrete jungle again would almost certainly drive me bonkers.

Having space.  Green grass.  Fruit trees (10 plus!).  Endless species of wildlife (welcome and unwelcome).  A small garden.  These are things I have gotten used to over the past year.

We're knee-deep in the (online) house hunting process, and hope to decide next week.  Until then, it is a good distraction trying pack up our things, say goodbye to friends and disciples, while still trying my best to manage a household.

But, as we plan a move to the north of Thailand - and look ahead to the next few years, I have no idea what's in store.  Then again, who ever really does?

I was blown away with the space of my first house, filled with peace and rest upon settling into the second house, and I am sure that there are great surprises in store for the third.  

So, goodbye bananas and, hello...something better!

A Guessing Game

Quick!  Guess our big announcement by creating your own caption for this picture!  (comment below!)