Merry Christmas!

 Merry Christmas from the other side of the world!!  Friends, we're excited for you to catch a glimpse of what the Lord is doing here, so take a look:

Christmas party with the ladies group:
I spy one little guy who spied food and wooed the ladies into
giving  him whatever he wanted.

Fresh coconut water at a friend's house.  The woman with the machete in the
background is one of my closest friends and helps me with translating at Bible study.

Celebrating this kid after his choir performance.
Do you think they look alike?

While Ken was out of  the country for 5 days, I took the kiddos to school and took a 4 day (all day)
course to learn to be a Doula.  It was so helpful as I prep to have this baby.
I had some anxiety with Ken away, but God grew me through this time.

God gave me the idea to do a Jesse Tree project for the ladies in Bible study.
Many of them want to share Christ with their families but need some equipping.
I recruited 14 friends to make ornaments, one for each of the Bible stories, starting in the Garden of Eden
and ending with the nativity story.  

This was such an exciting day, when everyone brought what they made and
we exchanged ornaments so that we each got a complete set. 
10 sets were set aside for the Thai women as a surprise.

I didn't take any pictures of them opening their box of Jesse Tree ornaments but it touched my heart to see their joy.  They were also given the Jesus Storybook in Thai, so that they could read the story of the day and see how it all works together to tell one story.

  Each bag contains an ornament to represent the story of the day, from Creation to Christ. 
 Ken built the wooden trees and Callie and I stamped the bags and filled them. 
Thank you to our supporters! Part of the money you give goes to evangelism and outreach like this.

It came!  The Jesus Storybook in Thai has been backordered for months, but it arrived close to the time of
starting our advent.  

We played  some fun games and they laughed so hard!  I had a prize box they could pick from.  One woman who struggles between the religion she grew up with and the truth of the WORD chose this book. 

 It's a book I had when I was a kid and it folds open like a star, telling the story of Jesus entering the world as a baby.  What's amazing is that I had this book on display, near the prize box.  She assumed it was a gift option and took it, not even knowing the content.  I love that she left with the this truth for a friend to read to her later.  She told her friend that she felt it was a sign, because she had asked God for a sign.  Isn't that amazing? 

Will you thank God with me for the work he is doing here?  We have many praises this month!  The ladies in Bible study have began asking questions!!  This goes against the ways of the student here, but it's so beneficial when they ask the things they don't understand.  Today's question was about Isaac.  One of the women asked if he was God.  (She cannot read or write so she comes to listen; Thai is her second language).  We were able to explain to her how Christ would come through that chosen family and how we can be grafted into that family as well.

Prayer Requests:

Safe delivery of baby Mungle  (There are no epidurals in Chiang Mai, and only narcotics for pain).

Supporters:  Our family grew this year, with the addition of an older child to our family, and a soon-to-be- here baby.  With that, come more monthy expenses.  Please consider being a monthly supporter or giving as you are able.  

Here's the link: http://www.letsopenthewindow.com/donate.php 

Mail:  (Not necessarily a prayer request, but) If you have sent us mail we may not have received it.  We have lived here over 4 years and have received 4 or 5 cards.  Recently someone told us they have sent us 2 cards that never arrived.  I'm so sorry, friends!  I wasn't aware that this was a problem.  

Disclipleship: We see such need for Thai believers to be discipled.  Please pray that we are able to cross cultural gaps to clearly explain the Word to brothers and sisters here, so that they can grow and teach others.

Pumpkins, Piercings, and Poetry

 Happy Thanksgiving!
We have so much to be grateful for!

Baby dedication at church.  The 5 year old is my buddy.  He likes
to come sit and speak English with me.  He's getting really good!  The mother is my friend
and attends Bible study with me, and the dad attends with Ken.

We came across this amazing tree on a family hike.  

Max attends 1/2 day kindergarten.  It's exhausting, but he loves it.

I love finding shirts that get "Lost in Translation."

He really wanted Pokemon gloves and I had some yarn.
He's pretty excited.  I guess they make him feel fierce or something.

I had a group of Thai teens over for a sleepover.  We crafted until nearly midnight.

Here's their sock creation kittens (before tehy added the eyes).

The next morning we went out for breakfast. 
It was really yummy and so filling!  

My parents came to visit!!

Fearless boys at an exhibit. They drew a crowd and many people took
selfies with them.

Milestone: Callie got her ears pierced!  She worked towards being responsible and
felt such accopmlishment when she was rewarded with earrings.  

Bookbinding tutorial!  I kinda love that she's
a crafty kid. :)

Since my parents were in town, we were able to stay in the city, kid-free
for a few nights.  I still love this guy!  We don't get away, ever, so
this was a treat.

Goodbyes are hard, but this time was a bit easier.  They have
already booked tickets to come back whent he baby is born.  We are thankful!

This is one of our thrift stores.  It's outdoors, (no A/C) and you can't wear shoes,
so you walk on tarps on the ground. I use the shirts I find as fabric, or
scarves as table runners.  

And this is fabric shopping.  It's a huge market with many stores.
The fabric is piled everywhere and with a big pregnant belly it's hard to
fit through the aisles!

About 20 families gathered for a trunk or treat.  This is really special for the kids for a couple reasons:
They get candy and they can get creative.  We did a magic show at our trunk.  Jack is getting really good and the kids
were intrigued.  It was a great opportunity for Jack to shine as he often avoids the spotlight.

These are a few of my Bible study friends. I love these ladies!!

He just loves his baby brother.  

This girl is an acress in the making.  Her class
had a poetry recital and she did so well!  She really
wants to get involved in acting in a play one day.

PRAISES:

• I have made it to 31 weeks!  The baby seems healthy and is measuring on track.
• We moved to a different house.  Friends, we have a yard, a yard where the kids can actually run a bit, and climb a tree.  It is such a gift and I feel so undeserving of our house.  We want to use it for God's glory: we have Bible study here, mom's group, and will host Thanksgiving and a church Christmas party.
• Bible Study: Ken and I both have groups that meet throughout the week.  We're thankful for people eager to study the Word with us and be discipled.
• We moved a Thai college student in with us.  We love her and the transition went well.  We're learning from each other and laugh often at how different our cultures are.
• We have around 50 homeschooling families this year that Ken get's to support through his work as Director of the program.  They are serving throughout the country, making our Father's name known.
• Jesse Tree: I'll do a blogpost on this soon, but God gave me (Summer) the idea of making ornaments to correlate with the stories of the Jesus Storybook.  14 other women joined me and we will gift theses handmade advent sets to the Thai women in Bible study, along with the "Jesus Storybook" in Thai.  
  

Changes

It has been a season of change for our family.  God is growing a baby to join our family, we're moving to a different house (to better accomodate a baby), and the kids started school.  The Lord has given us clarity in sometimes uncertain circumstances and He has used other people to encourage us and share their wisdom.  Women are growing in the Lord through Bible study, and our group is growing!  Our church recently celebrated it's first birthday, and slowly, people are coming.  

Let me recap our summer (we homeschooled through most of it, but here's the fun stuff).

Even though we're in Asia, we still celebrate the 4th of July.  We played games

and attempted to make our favorite American foods.  Check out

the cake my friend made!

 
Check out Max's cross-handed feeding of these piglets.

For the month of July we met in homes for church.  I really loved this
time of fellowship over food in homes.  Simple and beautiful worship together.

He falls asleep for most naps looking at this Thai picture dictrionary.

Each week have a special day where we check to see how big the baby has grown.  The website
usually compares the size to a fruit or vegetable.  Sometimes they see the same produce at the store and smile.

No one wants to find a scorpion in the dark after Bible study while all the ladies are getting their shoes on outside!
But, my friend saved the day and killed it.  It was big, y'all!  Praise God no one was hurt.

Callie had a birthday and we planned a Spy Academy for her and her friends.

She's getting taller!  Fun story: I bougth this shirt on clearance when we were stateside and tucked it away because it was big.  Well, the day before her birthday party I came across it in her closet.  The theme of her party was a special fox being taken from Spy Academy and her detective friends needed to find and solve clues to find her.  This shirt has a fox and says something like "clever genius".  If you know me, you know I love themes, so have to have a shirt for such a party just made me feel loved by the Lord.  He gives even the simplest gifts that seem silly to others.

This is a typical snack at our Bible study.  The women bring fruits from their
gardens or the market and we all share.   I usually bake something, but they always
prefer fruit to sweets.  

This was a day of uniform shopping for school.  Could we find a khaki skort
anywhere in the city to fit Callie?  No, no we did not.  We ordered it from China.

And this little guy turned 5.  He still loves all things dinosaurs.

Halfway through grocery shopping we found this in our cart..assumed it was dead, until it moved.
It kept to its corner, so we just left it alone until check-out and showed the cashier.  She freaked out and
called a manager, who called a janitor, who killed it, but not before it scurried across the floor to attempt escape.

Ken teaching a group at church.  "I am the vine.."

This kid doesn't like too many pics taken or shared, but here is one with Oscar.  Remember a year ago when
we got him and he fit in Jack's hand?!  

Pregnant me.  Not the best picture, but oh well.  Baby seems healthy!

This is our church.  Ken is up there preaching.

First day of school.  I didn't cry (I spent part of my summer doing that). 
They are all doing well in school so far.  I'm thankful God has provided
a place to have other people speak into their lives and live out the Gospel in front of them.

Our birthdays!  They are a day apart, so we spent a few days eating cake.


PRAYER REQUESTS:

1. Ladies Bible study: We started a 7 month study of the book of Genesis this week.
2. God has grown in us a desire to bring another person into our home, so pray that our family feels unity in this decision.  We are praying about a particular college student.
3. Support: With a baby coming, (and the above prayer request), a big increase in our healthcare, and an increase in rent, we need more financial supporters to join our team.  http://www.letsopenthewindow.com/donate.php
4. Men's Bible study: Pray for Ken as he asks God to bring Thai men to study the Word.
5. Unreached people:  Even though there is a Gospel presence here, the resistance is strong and prayer is needed!

Thank you, friends for praying.  Please write us and let us know how we can pray for you.