Holding a bible for the first time

I don't think I can remember the first time I held a bible in my hands but I actually still have the first bible given to me by a fellow U.S. Navy Seabee some 23 years ago. I remember reading it and feeling like I was digging through a treasure chest full of wonderful things, some of which I recognized, many I did not. Watching Cambodian Army officers asking for help finding passages and seeing them discover these treasures brings me back to my early days of learning about the Lord. What a special time that was. I still dig around in my very first bible often and I have long since lost count of how many sermons I have preached out of it but the treasure is still as wonderful as ever. As a matter of fact it has become more valuable to me each year I follow Him, the treasure that grows with knowing Him deeply. 

Brothers in Arms

It's funny how much joy animals can bring to a family. Really, our two kittens are like little friends that bring so much levity to our home. They run and play all the time then crash on top of each other and sleep. Both Shasta and Snickers have very loud purring motors and they are easily pleased to start them. When all around seems to be going crazy, I can pick one of them up and be transported to a simple exsistence where pleasure is obtained with just being with each other. Cat theology of a different kind?

Monster Bug

We are not sure what in the world this thing is but it looks like a giant fly. This bug must have flown too close to a nuclear power plant somewhere. I feel like a little kid here sometimes being so facinated with bugs, smells, and crazy looking food items. Who can blame me though when creatures like this keep showing up at our doorstep?

Fathers, Sons, and Fireflies

Every once in a while Tyler and I have one of those breakthrough moments in our relationship that just seem to open up a passage to deeper things between us.
Tonight, on the front porch of our house, we had one of those conversations where we really connected and it left me longing to know him more.
It really is amazing that even though these moments are often short and sweet, they can have such an impact on us.
While we were talking we began to notice the fireflies coming out, and being guys, we were naturally drawn to try and capture one of these incredible creatures. It took us a few minutes but we finally we able to catch one and decided to try and photograph it. Because it is pitch black dark out I had to leave the shutter on the camera open for a long time to capture the light coming from the fireflly. Seems a little prophetic that, given the chance, even the smallest of lights can impact its environment. 

Rainy Season in Thailand

As you can see, we are making the most of the rainy season here in Thailand! The kids had a blast today riding their bikes in the rain. Last night, we had a major lightening and thunder storm. We turned off the lights, turned on the music, and watched the show! It was beautiful.

On Saturday, we moved into our new home! We've gotten quite a bit done already--it's livable and I can cook--but there is still much to be done. Of course, everything is much more laborious due to the language barrier. But that's all part of the adventure!

Our partners have given of themeselves above and beyond the call of duty to help us get settled and find our way around. I ventured out alone today to a western market in town that someone told me about. I only got lost twice and returned with just a few of the things I had on my list!

Thanks for your prayers. Please pray specifically for the Lord to open doors for our kids to meet and make new friends. Kahprun ka! (Thank you)

Sandra for all of us 

We made it.

This is a picture of Jared doing his Tom Sawyer impression on Cash Creek near my sister's place in the Capay Valley of Ca.

Greetings from Chiang Mai!

We made it! After a long trip that was somewhat reminiscent of the movie, “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles,” we made it to Chiang Mai. We were greeted at the airport by a welcoming committee—a whole gang of folks that made us feel very loved. We’ve been doing some initial settling in (as much as can be done without being in our home yet), waiting for our luggage to arrive (it never made it out of San Francisco!), and having some fun cultural experiences. We took the kids to the local market a few days ago. We tried some unusual looking fruits and saw fried frogs, live eels, and other interesting things.

Paul is flying down to Bangkok today for a quick trip to get our container of household goods through customs. We’re hoping to have them by the end of this week, and then we can move into our home!

We will only have spotty internet access until we get settled into our house. Once we get in and DSL installed We will be blogging as often as we have fun things to share with you all.

Thank you all for your prayers of these last days.

Sareth, our Cambodian country leader, came from Phnom Penh to greet us as well and said that the new church up in the northern province has now added another 100 people making the total somewhere around 500.