At conference

We thought we wouldn't have an internet connection here at the spartan Wangtarn Resort, but this year we have acquired a large number of new computer guys and they were determined to get us an internet connection out here. As a result, we have wireless out here in the country. It's pretty slow, even for us, but it works. The childcare team here from America can't believe anything could be so slow and pretty well think it's useless.

Conference is both a fun time & a stressful time. I usually have quite a lot to prepare for and I sometimes find the crowd a bit much, but on the other hand, there is a family feeling here and lots of quality time with friends. Here is a picture of game night.

Gabe loves conference very much. We have a childcare team that comes regularly to our conference from a church in the States. They love coming and we love them too. They have cared for Gabe three times now and they are one of the highlights of his year. Here is a conversation from this morning:

Me: Gabe, what's this drawing you did?

Gabe: That's Jesus healing the panthers.

Me: The panthers?

Gabe: Or maybe the leopards.

Me: When did Jesus heal the leopards?

Gabe: I saw it in the play they did this morning.

Me: Did they have leopards in the play?

Gabe: No, they didn't look like leopards because they had leprosy and their skin came off.

Though he has only been out of school for a week, and he played with someone nearly every day during that week, more kids is always good news for him. When playing outside gets boring and he's had too much sun, he can go to the meeting hall where this photo was taken. The few toys there are lame and old, but with so many other kids, it hardly matters.

We had a great service this morning where our speaker talked about filling water pots in preparation for Jesus' miracles (from the water into wine story). He talked about the hard work of daily living cross-culturally as the hauling water. To be honest, I don't always feel like daily living is that hard, but it was an appropriate sermon for one of our members. A girl who teaches at the school was moving out to a village near the resort in an attempt to be a light to the community and also get a chance to learn Thai a bit better. It is an unusual move for a teacher; most of the teachers like to have their summers to rest. I and a few others went out to the house where she will stay to pray for her and the house and the other members of the household. As we pulled up, Gabe said to the teacher, "Why would you want to live here?" Even he could see that her new living situation would be a significant step down in comfort.

One aspect of the visit to the village gave me a new insight. This teacher and another teacher who came to pray are the most diligent of all the teachers I know in Thai studies. However, I could easily see that in spite of all their efforts, they still have a hard time conversing in Thai. It gave me new compassion for Eric's struggles in Thai. I see now that it must be very difficult to find the energy to study when you have such a demanding job. As I said above, I don't always find living here to be so stressful, but I have had the time and space to learn the language and culture, a luxury Eric and his fellow teachers don't have. I would hope that if we do another term, Eric could have some time for this.

Luke 9:24

Thanks to Kevin and Jen, Brian and I managed to have a night out on the town last night. (Holland, that is. We actually do have some sort of night-life here, now.) Ran into several people we know downtown and ended up at Lemonjello's for entertaining music done by someone half our age. We felt like chaperones among the "next generation" swarming around us. A few people we talked to last night commented on "how nice it must be to be out without the kids." Don't get me wrong, I need breaks from them. But, in answer to my repeated prayer of the season, this morning I found myself enjoying them so deeply. Even though they were fighting over who moved Mr. Monkey from the tea party circle...even though they were angrily defending their carefully contructed creations....even though they really were quite grumpy, I didn't want to be any where else. Maybe it was just because we stayed up too late and I was too exhausted to do anything but play tea party, but my heart warmed at realizing how I really am finding myself by loosing myself...in my kids...in my Calling...in becoming a better person by admitting how imperfect I am. Who knew? Oh, yeah , Jesus.

Williamsburg

Here are a few more photos from our trip to Williamsburg. The first is Elinore and I at some of the ruins at Jamestown Island. It is so crazy to see these bits of homes left and imagine that people lived here. This is where our culture really began. And, oh, what a beginning they had...hard winters, disease, shortage of food, skirmishes with Indians. All because they followed an ad in the paper that promised a true paradise.
It was great that Mom and Dad made it down for a night. We all enjoyed the company, and played tour guide just a little bit (even if we had no idea where we were going). They got a quick taste of as many places as we could squeeze in around Elinore's sleeping schedule before they continued on to DC. Really, we owe our whole trip to them. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for sharing your timeshare with us. It really allowed us to go on a vacation we would, otherwise, never have been able to afford. We had so much fun.
This last photo is just a few of the swords displayed on the wall in the Govenor's Palace at Williamsburg where many of the colony's weapons were kept. Imagine walls covered in shining swords, pistols, bayonettes, and many other things I don't know the names of.