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. 

BIG NEWS!

I am pregnant.  Maybe you're asking the same question our daughter did:
 "How is this possible....You're so old....I mean, obviously it's possible..."

Well, this was a wonderful surprise and true, I am not young, but God is the giver of life and we praise Him for this gift!  It is early and a few people have expressed their concern that we shared the news so soon(7 weeks along), but this is our son or daughter, and a part of our family.  We'll thank God for as long as He allows this child to grow and live.

 It's also a chance for all of our friends to pray with us, thank God for this gift, and to know what we are walking through. It's a chance for our kids to learn that human life has value from the beginning.  So, please pray with us for a healthy baby.

 As our family grows, so do the need.  Please also pray and consider joining our team of supporters.
 Here's the link: http://www.letsopenthewindow.com/donate.php

The past few months have been full in great ways.  I continue to teach a ladies Bible study in our home.  This has stretched me and humbled me, asking God to teach me how to teach them.  I am understanding more of how culture seeps into every area of life, including our view of God. Studying the Word isn't common practice for believers here.  The thought is, "You are the teacher, so I'll believe what you say."  Culturally, they don't question a teacher.  I am instructing them to be like the Bereans of Acts 17:11,"... they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so."
  My desire is for them to know the Word, to live it out, to know false teaching when it's spoken, and to know voice of the Holy Spririt.

A student at the kid's Thai school couldn't return because he couldn't afford the tuition.  But, through the monthly giving of our supporters, (we set aside money each month for ministry opportunities),
the bill has been paid!  Thank you everyone!  This child has the chance to hear the Word taught daily at school!



I'll let these pictures give you a glimpse into the last couple months....

This is my Thai neice.  She asked if I'd plan a birthday party for her.
She requested a cheesecake!  So, I made one....and hopefully never again.  It aint easy!
But, everyone had so much fun together.  

For Thai New Year's, people mix powder and water and smear on on each other.  This happened to Max
at a restaurant.  He was not amused...until they let him repay the deed and he was thrilled!

A Mangrove forest in Southern Thailand.

A view from above.  I've never seen anything like this place! 

This is above the forest.  Do you see how tall Jack is getting?!

We had a terrible storm (some called it a typhoon) come through!  Our trees in the front yard were bent to the ground, the power went out.  In some parts of town they had hail!!  The local said they had never seen anything like it.  Our friends trampoline was lifted out of their yard and landed 3 houses away!  Thankfully no one was hurt.

This is my buddy at church. He holds my hand when I teach kid's class and likes to follow me.
  I gave him a Pixie Stix from the USA.
I forgot to tell him not to eat the paper!  Ooops.

This was our drive to a remote village 5 hours from our home.
 A cliff on one side and no escape on the other!  The mountians were
beautiful, but our brakes were hot!

Here's the lovely bride!  Well worth the long drive. (She comes to Bible study sometimes).

Reception Dinner.  They prepared several pork meals with rice.

The view from the house...

At one point Max disappeared.  He never does this!  We found him under the house playing.

A celebration for Ken and his co-workers.  He works so hard, friends.  You'd be proud of him! 

First day back at Thai school.  While American kiddos are on break, ours are starting up again!





Thanks for following along with our lives here.  Thank you for praying.  We need you to keep praying!  There is a strong hold in our community, made clear by a recent string-tying ceremony that connects houses to the temple.  It's a visual reminder to lift the people of our village up.


Oh, how we miss you all! 
We plan to visit in the summer of 2019.