Something new every day...

Almost every single day holds something new for us. It is an exciting journey we are on as we experience different sounds, tastes, and smells every time the sun rises.

And, as the sun rises, I feel like I at the San Diego Zoo every single morning. There is a particular bird that nests outside our apartment. At sunrise, he makes the same exact sound as some of the birds I remember hearing at the Zoo - it was the only place I ever heard that particular chirp. No doubt about it - we are not in Kansas anymore...

The one thing that has been the most difficult for us to adjust to is the fact that it just takes a long time to get something done - even if it is a very simple task.

For example, Sunday morning, we were scheduled to be at Lighthouse Church. It is maybe 4-5 miles away. In Roswell, to travel that far, I would hop in the car and be there in a matter of minutes. Here in Bangkok, we left an hour and a half early. We took a tuk-tuk (3-wheel taxi) from our apartment to the Rachetewi skytrain station. From there, we took the skytrain to the Asok station. There, we caught the metro (subway) at the Sukhumvit station and rode it to the Huai Khwang station. After disembarking, we caught another taxi and had the driver take us to the church. It took about forty-five minutes for this relatively short distance jaunt.

We needed to get some stuff for the apartment last week and it took us forty minutes just to get to the store and it is only a couple of miles away! (By the time we got there, I was ready to head home!)

But, as in everything, the Lord is using the process to teach us something - that being patience.

On another note, we have made several acquaintances with people we see every day as we walk to school or the mall or just 'explore' the area around our apartment...the man who sells newspapers on the corner, the young woman who sells fruit drinks at the skytrain station, the young women Kay buys her daily DQ oreo blizzard from, the vendor from whom I buy chicken-on-a-stick, the receptionist and attendant at the health club, the security guards at Siam Paragon who give us rides in the golf carts, as well as many, many others. We have been very open and friendly with all these people and I always see a big grin come to their faces when they see us coming.

All of these beautiful people are lost, most not understanding they can have a personal relationship with God. As we continue to develop these relationships, pray that the Lord may bless them so, when the time comes when we can share the Lord's love in their heart language, their ears and hearts may be fertile to hear the good news.

We appreciate your prayers and words of encouragement.