Resurfaced

Well, since everyone is convinced we've dropped off the planet, I've decided to post while I have a few minutes and an internet connection. I've only just read all your most recent posts as our internet connection has been terrible lately. We're considering going to the phone company to beg for DSL again. I suppose you all know from our lack of communication that we're pretty busy, but I always feel guilty saying we're busy, because really, who isn't? I guess it's just been even more busy than usual and it seems like events sometimes conspire against us to make the simple complicated. To give an example: Our starter stopped functioning on Saturday night when Eric was about to take me out for dinner. Thankfully, our next-door neighbors saved the evening by lending us their car, but we were without a car until Wednesday afternoon. This isn't as dire in Thailand as it would be in the States, but it's still inconvenient. On Tuesday, I was scheduled to have lunch with someone that I absolutely could not cancel on and had scheduled to have a someone watch Gabe at the office while we were at lunch. At the last minute, a friend called me to say that she wouldn't be home in time and could I take her son with me to work where she would pick him up. Our boys spend every day together and we regularly help each other in these situations so I wasn't really stressed by this. However, I realized I had no money to get transport to the preschool. I rode my bike to front of the moobaan where the motorbike taxis wait and I asked one of them to take me to the preschool where I would get money to pay him. He agreed and after we arrived I asked the first person I saw for 10 baht to pay the unfortunate man. Unfortunately, she had no money, so I raced up four flights of stairs (so much for my shower:) ) where I ransacked a purse that had been abandoned for months (don't worry, I'll pay it back) for 20 baht. I raced back downstairs to pay the man shouting to Gabe & Stanley on the way down that we had to leave quickly. Gabe and Stanley followed me, but unfortunately, Stanley had no shoes. This is a common occurence for him, and normally, it's not a problem. Today though, I was unable to figure out how I was going to be able to hail a songthaew while carrying a very heavy 4-year-old and with no money. Thankfully, I saw one of the parents who I knew would be driving past Lotus. "A-ha," I thought, "if he can drive me to Lotus I can get money and buy Stanley some 15 baht shoes and hire a maniac driver and we just might get to the office in time." Thankfully, he was much more generous than I gave him credit for and drove way out of his way to take us to the office. We arrived on the stroke of 12, much to the relief of my co-worker who had been planning a surprise party for me. Whew! What a day, and it was only noon.

Life has felt this chaotic pretty much since we got back from America, and it's taking it's toll. I still stick to my schedule of only going to work during preschool and in an afternoon or two when Gabe is at Stanley's or another friend's house, but besides my set-in-stone schedule with Gabe, every other time has seemed filled with things that Eric and I both feel we should do. Pray for us that we'll hear from God clearly on how to simplify our lives. It can be hard to drop things when everyone else around you is living sacrificially for the benefit of others. I've always been good at saying "no", but it's hard to say "no" to someone who's given generously of themselves for me, suffering refugees and forgotten orphans. Every time I think of saying that my busyness is taking a toll on my personal life, I remember that the person I'm talking to lost their child to a horrible tropical disease, was imprisoned for the gospel, or had to wander in the jungle for 10 years fleeing an army bent on their destruction. I feel like such a wimp.

At the same time, we're still surviving, we have a great community around us that helps us out in every trouble and God seems to carry the slack that we can't pick up. In spite of the busyness we still have the joy of watching our son grow up. He has learned to ride a two-wheeled bike and write many letters and he is becoming quite the little man. Yesterday, we were at a lunch meeting with some board members from our sister organization at a very posh restaurant. Gabe was behaving very well and Eric was talking to someone about post-modernism. Gabe let out a sigh of frustration and said, "Papa, don't talk about post-modernism!" The other quote for the month is "Papa, I can't believe you made it this long!" when told that Eric was turning 35. The above picture is of me opening the first birthday card that Gabe has ever written on his own. The next day, for Leah's birthday, he wrote the his first birthday card ever with the words in the right order:) In case you wonder about the yellow shirts, Google "Yellow shirts, Thailand".