God is Good!!

Bring the Rain

I can count a million times

People asking me how I

Can praise You with all that I’ve gone through

The question just amazes me

Can circumstances possibly

Change who I forever am in You

Maybe since my life was changed

Long before these rainy days

It’s never really ever crossed my mind

To turn my back on you oh Lord

My only shelter from the storms

But instead I draw closer through these times

So I pray

Bring me joy, bring me peace

Bring the chance to be free

Bring me anything that brings You glory

And I know

There’ll be days

When this life brings me pain

But if that’s what it takes to praise You

Jesus Bring the Rain

I am Yours regardless of

The clouds that may loom above

Because You are much greater than my pain

You who made a way for me

By suffering Your destiny

So tell me what’s a little rain

Holy, Holy, HolyHoly, Holy, Holy

Is the Lord God Almighty

Is the Lord God Almighty

Written by MercyMe© 2006 Simpleville

Music(ASCAP) / Wet As A Fish Music(ASCAP)

All rights administered by Simpleville Music, Inc.

All rights reserved.

The Lord has once again asked me to wait. I have become accustomed to these periods of waiting on the Lord. When I begin to rush ahead with my own plans without consulting Him and His perfect plan that is when He often closes the door to allow me time to back up and look at what I am doing, how I am thinking. Often I can see quite quickly why He has put a hold on MY plans and it is usually so that His plans can be layed out. Sometimes I wonder how many times He needs to close the door in my face before I will listen, before I will get it. Sigh!!! I have a sinking feeling this will go on until the day I die. Such is the nature of mankind...to never quite learn its lesson. However what I have come to learn is to get over my disappointment faster and look up to Him quicker instead of wallowing in my own self pity. My favorite line from 'The Grinch" goes something like this. "6 o'clock Wallow in self-pity, 7 o'clock stare into the abis, 8 o'clock solve world hunger...and tell no one, 9 o'clock have dinner with myself...I can't cancel that again." These lines although humorous also have a deeper truth of how we deal with disappointments if we do not immediately turn to Lord and wait on Him. So often I in the past have taken a good long time to see what God wants to do in me, the reason behind what at the time seems to me the unfairness of His apparent abandonment of me. And yet each time in the end I see He had a much better plan in mind for me all along. He really is good. And when it comes right down to it the song is right. If my life's desire is to follow and honour Him than setbacks and disappointments become opportunities for Him to bring Glory to His name by the manner in which I deal with the situation. My 'suffering' is a mere shadow of what He endured for me on the cross.

Many Apologies

Ok...so I do have an excuse for why it took me so long to update my blog. Up until just a few days ago my sight was in Thai and I had no idea how to switch the language to English. At first I just did it from memory but with everything else that is running through my head that knowledge was amongst the first to go. Hmm... for any of you that have been recieving my updates. My team and I are becoming relatively well settled into Lopburi which will be our home for the next year as we study Thai together and get a clearer vision of what the Lord is leading us into and becoming more inculturated. Although, that has proved to be a bit difficult as we are very much constantly with other foreigners. I think this has been the most frusterating thing for me since last time I was here I lived and worked and hung out nearly 24/7 with the Thai people and it is hard for me not to have that here. I treasure the interactions I do have with them however and look for ways to coonect whenever I can. This last Sunday I went to a wonderful church full of relaxed fun Thai people that I felt an immediate connection with and so I have decided to make this my home church for the duration of my time here in Lopburi. These next couple weeks are going to be quite busy as I will be transitioning all over the place. Tomorrow I leave for Bangkok where I will catch a flight to Penang, Malaysia becasue our RA visas have come in which means we can now apply for workers visas. This will be a very different trip from the last time I went as we have a long weekend and I intent to use it to return to Pattaya to see my friends. It is so great that they are near enough that when I have a few days I can go down and spend time with them. I know as I build a community here I will travel down less and less but right now I need that emersion into Thai society. Following that trip I will have a few weeks to trip and get as much Thai in as possible and then I head for Singapore first and then Indonesia to attend the 50th anniversary of the Bible school my grandpa started in the jungles of Borneo. I cannot wait as it will also be the last time I see my dad and sister for a long time. So I intend to treasure it. All things with my nephew are going well. My mother is perhaps a bit too doting as you can see from the picture but apparently there have been no permanant injuries to the baby. Other than that I think I am looking forward to September when I can finally settle into Lopburi and nuckle down to Thai and really start going intentionally to places I can begin building relationships, get involved in my church and just be. I have not unfortunately taken many photos for you to see what Lopburi looks like but I promise to be more diligent in the future. Life has been a bit fast paced at the moment. Well I'm not sure I have anything else of interest to say so I suppose I will sign off for the time being. Feel free and drop me a note to tell me how your doing. I feel a million miles away from most anyone reading my blog. So.....

Monkey Buisness

I am writing this from an OMF guesthouse in Bangkok as we are in the middle of transitioning betwen being with team 2000 and going up North for a few days to check out where we will eventually be located after langauge school. After that I will be returning to Pattaya for a long awaited reunion with my friends who I have not seen for over a year. Here are a few pics from the few days we have been here in the land of Smiles so far.

I am making up for the fact that I can't hold my new nephew.

Because I am now officially the auntie of Benjamin Matthew Warkentin who was born on May the 15th at 7:25 pm.

Yup that's him.

We celebrated Jason's, the Davises 7 year old, birthday by taking him to the pool. We managed to make friends with all the Thai kids in the kiddie pool and these where two that seemed especially fond of me:)

Here he is with them. He is a trooper and is settling right into the life here.

I will keep posting pics and stories as often as I can.

Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me!!!!!!, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me!!!!!!, HAPPY BIRTHDAY dear Bitsy, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me!!!!!!,

Family Buisness

When I was asking the Lord why I couldn't go back to Thailand right away one of the things that was spoken over me was that this would be a time for me to invest in my family. At the time I brushed it off but that truth of that statement has hit me over and over again over this last year. I have been so blessed to realize how precious my family is to me. This last week specifically was both trying and great at the same time. My car has been in the shop for some repairs and so I have had to spend more time at home and when needing to go out havebummed rides off my parents and they have been nothing but gracious. Friday I was able to spend a beautiful sunny day with my cousin and sister in Fort Langley, having lunch and then wondering through the shops.

These times are precious to me because it will be at least 3 years before I am able to do things that for so long I took for granted. I am trying to capture every moment with the people who are close to my heart. The reality is really starting to hit me and I'm so excited and yet I want to sqeaze every last moment full of activity and friends. Yesterday my parents and I gardened all day which hasn't happened in years. I loved it. And then today we had our last big meal together before I leave. I am so thankful for this time at home. God is Good.

Oh God, My God

I Will Lift My Eyes

God, my God, I cry out

Your beloved needs You now

God, be near, calm my fear

And take my doubt

Your kindness is what pulls me up

Your love is all that draws me in

I will lift my eyes to the Maker

Of the mountains I can’t climb I

will lift my eyes to the

Calmer Of the oceans raging wild

I will lift my eyes to the

Healer Of the hurt I hold inside

I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You

God, my God, let Mercy sing

Her melody over me God, right here all I bring

Is all of me

‘Cause You are and You were and You will be forever

The Lover I need to save me

‘Cause You fashioned the earth and You hold it together,

God So hold me now

Bebo Norman

What Draws Me?

This past Sunday we watched a video in church from Thailand. With all the buisiness that has been going on over the last few months I have had little time to sit and think about why I am going back. When I speak to people the automatic response is most often a head response. I know what the right answer is, I know what is being asked of me and I give the appropriate answer. But I think I have forgotten truly why I have fought so hard to get to this point of returning to Thailand. What draws me so steadily back? And then I saw their smiles, their laughter and most meaningful of all their worship. To see their hands raised while singing songs to the Lord brought back a flood of memories from my time in Thailand. Time of laughing and eating and fellowshipping. I remembered the late night volleyball and going to the beach at 12am with a truckload of Thai young people to avoid the tourists. I remember sitting on the floor sharing a meal at 9 pm not understanding hardly a word and yet feeling like my heart had found it's home. I remember the first time I sat down with one of the guys I had befriended and understood his life's story he was pouring out to me in Thai.
The video showed a baptism that had just occured at the beach in the city of the missionaries and my thoughts went back to baptizing former prostitutes in a pool in one of our friends homes and what a joyful day that was. I remembered why I longed to return so much my entire body ached when I came home a year ago. It is for the people. Not the food, not the sun, not the adventure. Although all those things are an added blessing and I can't wait to experience them all again. But it is the stories that draw me to return, the tears, the smiles, the hopes, dreams, and fears in the peoples eyes. The joy on their faces inspite of their lostness. These are the brothers and sisters I want to see beside me in heaven raising their voices in unison praising the Lord. I remember why I have fought so hard to return.