Thoughts from a Overseas Drama Queen.

Wait a second....I have a thought.... What if we learned to be content in every situation! That would be amazing! Is it even possible? Being content here in Thailand is one of the things I have been struggling with. I had taken to complaining, wishing things were different, or better. I wanted to just be content.... but how?
I decided the first step to trying to reach this goal is to give thanks in every situation. It was been amazing how my attitude has changed. Yes, I still complain, but I catch my self and be sure to think of something to be thankful for.
I am learning contentment is not just a state of being. It is a choice you have to make everyday.

Friday Night Out!

International friends! Back row R to L: Me, Bal (thai), Annabel (Nicaraguan)  Front row R to L: Daisuke (Japanese), Geait (thai), Janna (German), and Qwan (thai)

Bal acting like a bear, Janna and Qwan looking cute!

The three guys. L to R: Geait, Diasuke, and Bal.

Attempting to use chopsticks! :)

The lovely ladies! L to R: Annabel, Janna, me, and Qwan.

Friday Night was a blast! My Friends and I decided to go out and hangout at a place called Mega Bang Na. It is a huge Mall! One of the biggest I have ever seen! Our group was made up of an assortment of people.

Janna is from Germany. She goes to my language school, and has become a wonderful friend! We study the bible together and encourage each other so much! Diasuke is from Japan. He is in my class at school. We always have alot of fun talking in and befor class! I have been teaching them American slang.
Annabel is part of my church group. She just arrived in Thailand about 2 weeks ago. Bal, Geait, and Qwan are friends from KBU university.

Annabel and I met with Bal early to help him shop for some clothes. That was alot of fun. When everyone had arrived we decided to go get Japanese food. It was so good. We sat at a table with a big pot in the middle. It was filled with two kinds of soup juice. Beside the table was a conveyer belt that carried different types of meat and vegetables around to the tables. You simply picked out what you wanted and put it in the soup to cook. There was also a buffet you could go to and get other food. It was so delicious! But what made it even better was the company.

 We laughed and talked the whole time. We all filled ourselves to maximum capacity! When we could eat no more we walked around, talked, danced a little, and played in some water. Then we went home. I am so blessed to have the friends that I do. I came out of that night feeling refreshed. Praise God for blessing me with such wonderful friends!  

Speaking of Jesus....

Speaking of Jesus... Have you heard about him?

He is a pretty cool guy. He loves hanging out at the bar and on the streets.
He is friends with anyone and everyone. He accepts you just the way you are. The more messed up you are, the better. He takes the ugly in this world and makes it beautiful. This is Jesus and he is my friend.

This guy is so faithful. He provides for all my needs. One of the best things about him is that I just have to fallow him. He came to love the world not create a religion. Getting to know him is as simple as touching his robe or going to the well. He freely heals the sick and gives life to the dead. He cast out the darkness and fills the empty places with light.

He has the power to give life and destroy. Jesus is all human and all God. This guy just blows me out of the water!

There is life in Jesus. People are drawn to Jesus. 

Christianity is all about fallowing Jesus, right? How many times do we talk about Jesus in our daily lives? Church? Bible studies? Could it be that we lost this guy in all the mumble jumble of our religion?

I encourage you all to read through the gospels again, asking Jesus to reveal himself to you. I did, and I am making a amazing friend.

General update:
Module 1 of language school is done. Today was the first day of Module 2.

I have been making friends at my apartment where I live and at school. I love hanging out with them all.
May you all have a blessed day! 

A Peek in to My World

Hope you all enjoyed the video!

Here is a little update since I last wrote.
I am still going to school. Module 1 is almost over, Module 2 starts on Thursday. Overall I have been enjoying language school. It has been a challenge, but God has really blessed me with my previous knowledge of the language and thai people to practice with.

Life here is becoming normal. I am beginning to love the sights and smells of Thailand. There is nothing more thrilling then riding on the back of a motorcycle. Every day going out to get food or going to school in an adventure. You never know what will happen.

People in my area know me as Tukta, which means doll baby. They gave that name to me when I was here two years ago and still call me it.

The market is always the happening place. Many times there is a merry go round for the kids to ride on. Venders line the aisles. There are tons of fruits, vegetables, and meats. Smells of raw and dried fish fill the air. Thai and sometimes american songs play in the background. One of my favorite things to get at the market is corn. Corn is considered a sweet. They mix it with butter, sugar, and sometimes sweetened condensed milk. It is very delicious!

Rhonda and I have been getting to know some collage guys in our apartment building. They want to practice english with us. We usually sit out in the hall outside our door and talk. It is a good way for us to practice thai and them to practice english.


That is all I have for now! God bless!


  

Apartment tour!

Hope you enjoy this! Right now I am just in language school. We leave the apartment at around 6 in the morning. We have a 5 minute walk to the Song Taow. From there we Ride the Song Taow for about 30 minutes to the sky train. The sky train is a train that runs above the city. We have about a 45 minute ride on it. I like the sky train alot. It has air conditioning which is super nice.

School has been hard but has become alot easier. At the beginning we learned tones, vowels and consonants. Now we are focusing on simple words and phrases. I know most of the words and phrases, but it is good review for the tones. There are now 4 people in my class. There are two guys from the states and a guy from Japan. The class is spent mostly of us practicing the words and sentence structures. There is also lots of laughter.
One guy has alot of trouble remembering what to say after someone says thank you. In thai when some one says thank you (cup koon ka), you respond by saying no problem (mai been lie). One time, when the teacher said thank you, he responded mai baan tat which means ruler. Another time he responded mai chi, which means no. We like to tease him about that.

After school we come home, work on home work, and hang out with our host family. Things have been good with them. There are 4 in the family. A mom, dad, and two daughters. The youngest daughter was as shy as all get out. If we even looked at her she would hide behind her mom, and she hardly ever spoke. But since coming here she has warmed up to me alot. Now she actively tries to get me to play with her and she is hardly ever quiet. She is my little bundle of joy, and a huge distraction, especially when I am doing home work.

Speaking of home work I should go do it. Have a good week! God bless!

The Detailed God!

Hello everyone!
I have made it here to Thailand Safely! Praise God, because we sure had a bumpy ride!



 My family and I arrived at the airport a little over an hour before my plane would take off. We unloaded all my bags and went to check in. I gave the attendant all my information and waited. The attendant looked up and said, "I am sorry but unless you have a returning flight you can not go."

My world just froze. What?! So i tried as calmly as I could to take my bags back to my family and tell them what happened. Some how we had to get a hold of the  travel agent that booked the flight. Praise the Lord I had my phone! (I had planned on leaving it at home, but decided to take it so I could call if I needed help while I was at the Washington airport.) So I called a friend who gave me the number to call the contact the person who could call the travel agent. After making several calls and lots of stress we figured it all out. I got on the plane and flew out. Thank goodness for my family who helped out so much!

The flights went well. Over 23 hours latter we arrived at the Bangkok airport. Rhonda* and I went through immigration (so they could check visa stuff) and then went to pick up our baggage. I grabbed my carry-on that I had to check in and waited for the rest of my baggage to come. But it never did. So I went and filled out the necessary paperwork. We were told it would be delivered to my apartment by Friday. Only when I got home did I realize how God had looked after me. Praise the Lord, that in the carry on that I had to check in I had clothes to wear, and things to shower with. I was not planning to have more then one change of clothes with me, and not any of the shower stuff.



I am just blown away at how God provided for all the details because he knew what would happen. If I had not had my phone with me, I would not have been able to call the right people. If my suite case had not been over weight I would not have had enough clothes until my baggage came. God is so awesome!

I want to give a big thank you to my sister who packed my bags and my mom who talked to the people when I could not! I love you!

Until next time!

 *: God provided me with a room mate and a travel companion named Rhonda. She will be here one year helping out the families on the team with their children. She has been a lot of fun to hang out with and a huge support to me! 

I am Blessed and Highly Favored!

I had a friend who, every time I asked him how he was doing, would promptly reply, "I am blessed and highly favored."

Wow! How many times do you here that in a day? How many times do we even look at our lives like that? What a way to look at life!

It took me leaving my home in Columbus to realize how blessed and highly favored I really am.  I had so many friends who wanted to hang out and talk to me. Some traveled all the way from Kansas and others lived right in my house.

Almost all of them took me out to eat. I had all foods ranging from exotic Turkish to the all-American Sonic. That last week was probably the biggest fat joke of my life! Thanks to all of you who contributed to it! :)

One of the places I was truly blessed was at Donatos, the place where I worked for the past year and a half. Many of my co-workers told me how much I would be missed. My boss threatened to kid nap me so that I would stay. :) And to top it all off, they gave me a kindle fire, so that I would stay in contact with them! I could not believe it! 

The favor that I felt was over whelming! Not because all these people gave me things or bought me food. But it was because of the love they showed me from their hearts! I was and still am blown away by how loved I was and am.

We so often get caught up in out lives that we loose sight of the blessing and favor we receive and have as a child of God. God loves to bless us and give us his favor. Someone once said we should live like a child much loved. A child much loved knows he is favored and sees and accepts his blessings and walks in that confidence.

Here is some food for thought:
How are you favored by God? What blessings has he given you? How can you give God's blessing and favor to others?

ps. I leave for Thailand on June 11! oh man, only 12 days left!