Home away from home

Our Papa is so amazing. He knows what we need and when we don’t ask him and just assume we know ourselves, he just forces it on us. I see that happening more and more in my life. I have also seen how he enables us/ shows us how to make good out of difficult circumstances or unfortunate situations. Though I am not sure if you could call this a difficult or unfortunate situation, maybe just unexpected... 

Being stuck in Thailand for a week longer than we thought at a very inexpensive place with other ‘family’ members constantly streaming through would not be considered, by most, an unfortunate situation. However, it was a little stressful up to the point which I wrote this (which was last Saturday morning when all of this was still fresh) 

We just weren’t sure how visa stuff would work out, and of course it did, but when it did we realized that the start date for our new visas was actually a week later than the tickets we had booked to go home. (home being Overseas) Long story short we ended up paying extra to change the date of our tickets, but we had to jump through some hoops to get there and at first it was looking a lot more expensive than it ended up being. 

The way it turned out seemed nothing short of miraculous because it looked like it was going to be around a $1,000 mistake, plus possibly two extra weeks here, which is another few hundred dollars, but it ended up being less than half of that and only one extra week here! If it would have started off at that price I wouldn’t have been half as excited about it, but since it was looking so very bleak and miraculously when we called back later in the day two economy class seats had opened up on exactly the flight we were hoping for, we were blown away by Papa’s hand in it all! 

So now we have a week to relax and be thankful that Papa knew what we needed. We thought 8 days was plenty, but He said no. We thought we were ready to go home on Monday and he said wait. He has blessed us with two beautiful weeks at a guest house in Dolphin Bay which is run by family. It’s super inexpensive and nice because it was made to bless people who do the kind of work that we do, and what a huge blessing it is! 

It’s literally across the street from the ocean, but practically on the beach. This is the view from inside! 

And this is the beach across the street... 

I LOVE THIS PLACE!

Here are some of the other awesome accommodations of this place.

Beautiful Room with a balcony and seating outside (perfect for morning quiet times) 

There are so many things to do, yet no pressure to do any of them. 

Bike Rides. My first ride was solo. 

Soon became a tradition to go together every morning and stop at this beautiful lookout before turning back... 

Before we knew it we were enjoying our last Morning bike ride. Till next time at least ;) 

Moped Rides! Most of them were spent with this view since I rode on the back.. 

But we both went solo a few times too... 

Curtis was really into it, so he spent more time on the moped than I did

Cicada Night Market

Really beautiful and fun, live music, amazing Thai food

and great company

Exploring caves was not my favorite. But It was an adventure.

 

Curtis loved it and went back for more later

This was not my favorite adventure... 

Crawling out of the hole where the vent was in the bathroom door after being locked in there for about 10 minutes. It was funny in the end, but super hot in the meantime.... 

So this extra week has been filled with a lot of time doing nothing and everything we possibly wanted. We could have done a lot more, but we really just filled our days with activities that we desired to do, nothing more, nothing less. 

    

There a lot of little things to do in the area and some big outings that you can take as well. You can ride elephants, go to a national park, go out to the night market in a city about 45 minutes away, take a boat ride, go fishing and several other fun activities all under $20. We mainly stuck to the small activities which are predominately under $5. These include kayaking, biking, motorbike rides and going next door for a smoothie made from fresh fruit. ;) 

Smoothie Bar

There are also some free things we did including swimming in the pool and the ocean, playing volleyball on the beach and in the pool, reading/watching something from the big library of books and movies or just simply sitting and relaxing someplace with an amazing view, which is easy to find. 

Most days the only decisions we needed to make were where to sit and enjoy a book, where to take the bike or moped and/or what fruit we wanted in our smoothies. 

On top of all of this, the community here is really great. We have gotten so much encouragement and met so many others doing things similar to what we do. We've formed bonds here that we didn't expect and met some really inspiring and totally humble people. 

It's been a serious time of relaxation and fun. We have soaked up every minute and plan to continue soaking it in through the weekend, I have a massage and a mani/pedi planned all for under $15 before we go. 

We will get back rested and refreshed and ready to serve in the place we have been called to serve. We have really enjoyed this time, but we feel ready to get back out there and do another year. We are really thankful for this time and can't believe that this is where he brought us. We are so very blessed to be walking this road, though hard at times, he has given so many good gifts! 

Bangkok

How great and scary it is to step into the unknown. Into a completely strange and foreign land. We live in such a beautifully diverse world and though I knew that before, I am strongly reminded of it now. 

When I was younger I had no desire to travel. I was fine with just staying in my home town forever. It is a great place after all and I had no problems with the thought of never leaving. 

But our Papa had other plans. Plans I could never have imagined. Ones I didn’t even realize that I would like. He showed me the taste for adventure that I never knew I had. The hunger to meet new people and see the complexity of the world outside of the box I was living in. 

There is nothing wrong with staying put, but that was not what he had for me, and for that I am grateful, because through it I have learned so much about myself and about others. 

Stepping into Bangkok was that indeed, another world. It’s a city, like any other, with high rises and wealth, yet streets lined with poverty, beggars and people just trying to make a buck or a baht in their case. 

Chaos bustling all around, mopeds flying by, pink taxis, tuk-tuks, sweaty muggy heat, dark skies one direction sunny skies the other. Tourists caught up in the mix, short shorts, flowing dresses, sandals, backpacks, cameras dangling, iphones at the ready, backpackers, serious travelers. 

Vendors selling flowers in bunches, strands and rings for temple gods, smell of incense lingers in the air. Women carrying baskets of flowers on their heads into the temple. 

Stepping outside I become part of the chaos. Vendors selling ripoffs, good ones and bad ones. Everything is so cheap. Sweat. Always. On everyone who isn’t sitting in an air conditioned vehicle. 

Exotic fruits. Some I’ve only seen in photos before. Fresh squeezed juice, ice cold and refreshing. Coconut juice served fresh, watch the lady chop of the top in seconds when you order it. impressive. Not my favorite, but interesting. 

Hungry for lunch. Local lady leads us to some plastic tables and serves us a noodle dish. Air condition = fan blowing in your face. 

After lunch they offer a boat tour. Air condition = locals fanning us with plastic boating expedition advertisements. We take the tour. 

Cruising and sometimes roaring down the river sipping on fresh squeezed mango juice. 

Feels a bit like a tropical Venice with houses built on stilts lining the water, bunches of leaves gathered up along the edges of the canal, giant coconuts in the water looking like floating heads. Our driver grunting every so often to get our attention as he points out something interesting. 

Yeah, our time in Bangkok went something like that littered with trips to temples, amazing and exotic food, souvenir shopping and the occasional Starbucks run. Sometime soon I'll tell you about our surprising time in Dolphin Bay. 

Just Keep Swimming...

So, you know how I said in my last post, hopefully I won't need the pool in the winter time. I lied...

I need the pool EVERY day! In the past few weeks, swimming has become like an addiction, a passion that has enveloped me and I just can't stop thinking about. I feel like I belong in the water. It's a feeling that I have longed for. I have always wanted to have a sport that I was this passionate about. I didn't think it would happen at 30. But it has. It has shown me that it's never to late to fall in love with something new.

I have absolutely fallen in love with swimming and not JUST as a summer sport. It has transformed my body and my whole perspective on life! I have been doing it for probably about eight weeks now, regularly about six weeks and the past two weeks, since I have been on vacation, I have been at the pool practically every day and you couldn't convince me to do otherwise!

I haven't felt forced to swim because I feel a strong urge to lose weight quickly or anything like that. I did however set my mind to swimming and counting calories about five weeks ago and have lost a happy amount of weight in that time. I am very pleased with the results and the absence of feeling deprived or forced to work out. But that is just an added plus to this newfound passion!

Swimming really has a way of clearing my mind like nothing else. When I first started I liked going with friends, but now I really prefer doing it alone. I can swim at my own pace and it just feels good to do something on my own.

Now that I have fallen in love with swimming I started to look into the benefits and I have realized that it is actually the healthiest form of exercise! Check out these benefits:

If you want to read more about the benefits of swimming check this article out! I found it on pinterest ;)

I guess I may have heard some of these things before, but there isn't really as much buzz about swimming as I feel there should be. In one article it says that “habitual swimmers are biologically up to 20 years younger than their actual age.” 

The idea of getting into your bathing suit and showering up at the gym every time can be intimidating, but now that I am in the routine of doing it, I just don't feel like it's worth it to stop and do something that's not as good for my body or worse, do nothing...

The funny thing is at first when I was starting out, I would get discouraged about not making much progress and I would say to myself "just keep swimming, just keep swimming." Of course I thought of Finding Nemo. But now I hope that it's something that I can continue to say through the years about life  and that my love for swimming would grow and develop over the years.

Summer Favorites

Swimming as a Summer Sport

This is the pool we went to yesterday just to relax

I have never been a good swimmer. But this summer I was forced to use swimming as my form of exercise because of an injury that happened this Spring. 

I have completely fallen in love with swimming as a sport! Though I love the sweat of a good workout, I love the feeling of getting in the water and working hard and not even breaking a sweat ;)  Swimming is a great choice for summer sport, it cools you down for several hours and makes you forget about the heat and the pool I go to is outdoors which is a plus in the summer time, doesn't sound too fun for the winter, but hopefully I won't need it by then. 

This Journal 

(From my Sister Angela)

I love this little thing. I started writing goals in it when I got it and committed to writing at least a little bit everyday. I find that I get more creative when I have a cute journal to write in. That is very true with this one. Thanks for thinking of me and  knowing what I like Fanny! 

Les Miserables and Audio Books

After Grandma Angell (Curtis' Grandma) sent me the movie for my birthday I could not stop watching, listening, obsessing! I naturally was drawn to the novel, but I had a hard time imagining myself sitting through a book like that so I downloaded the audio book from librivox.org. I am on Volume 4 of this incredibly epic novel. But I am LOVING it! You should check out librivox too for a recording of basically any classic you can think of! I will probably continue to keep an audio book on my phone from now on since I love listening to this one any time I get a chance, even on the bus :) 

Friday Nights in the Cafe

The atmosphere is so great! The cafe is always buzzing and I love working behind the register with our amazing cafe staff. It is the one night that I get to put the apron on and work behind the bar and for now, I am loving it! 

Watermelon

It's the perfect summer snack and it is plentiful and cheap here! 

Green Wednesdays (Zelyonaya Creda) 

We spend about half of Wednesday every week doing maintenance work around our site together as a team. This really promotes team work and community which are core values of our organization. I am enjoying getting outside and painting with the different short term volunteers that have come through and also with our long term team members.

The Weather

I never expected to have a summer like this. The other day it was 66 F at noon! I couldn't believe it. It's been cloudy and breezy and perfect lately! I never thought that I would be so happy to have cloudy weather, but when you are expecting a summer of days over 100 degrees, this weather is so preferable! Generally it has stayed in the high 80's and low 90's which is not that hot compared to 100-110, which is the usual weather in June/July. It also cools down a lot at night which makes it super easy to sleep and is usually the biggest problem during these hot parts of the summer. The forecast continues to show these low numbers, I am one happy girl :) 

Our Drive in the Country

It just happened once, but it was amazing! The countryside here is beautiful and we had a view of the tienshan mountains to top it off. We drove out to do one of the life experience games, but it did us good to get out of the city and breath some fresh air and see animals running and playing. We have a creative Papa. 

Espresso

Did I mention that I love coffee? Espresso is so amazingly rich and creamy when it is first made and we roast our coffee fresh at the English Cup. Lately we received a Brazilian roast that is sweet and choclatey and perfect!

Last and definitely not least...

These Kids!

They are gorgeous and precious and such a joy to me! I can't wait to see them again tomorrow when we go back to the Children's Home! 

Leadership

Recently I found myself saying to Curtis that I wish I could just be a person who follows instead of someone who leads...

Leading is one of the hardest things. Leading in a cross-cultural environment can seem impossible at times.

But it's not, especially with Gsus. More specifically because His ways are higher than our ways.

His way says go lower to be lifted higher. His way says to be first you must be last. His way says serve the least of these. His way says if someone slaps you on one cheek turn the other cheek for them slap also. 

I was able to witness some of these truths in my own work. It was so very hard. But I got through it and did it His way and I am so very satisfied.

All glory to the king who makes it possible for me to work and even thrive in this sometimes foreign environment.