Adieu To 2008... Moving Forward To 2009!

I had to laugh when I read this post that Amy linked to. Apparently I'm not the only one who is reading through the Bible "in a year." One of my friends was pretty surprised I had never read through the Bible, so I suppose I should qualify that with the fact I've never read it straight from Genesis to Revelation. After spending years in Bible Institute (where the main textbook is the Bible - who would have thought?!?), I know I've read the Bible through. My Old and New Testament classes come to mind, especially having to give a chapter heading for each chapter of each book in the Old Testament. :)

But even still, in my personal devotions I've always wanted to read the Bible the whole way through. Every January I would start off in Genesis - never mind the fact that by the time December rolled around I was only in Isaiah or Jeremiah.

So January of 2007 I decided to (once again!) read through the Bible and started off in Genesis, like I usually do. Only this time, I continued on in January of 2008! Now as we approach January of 2009, I am happy to report that I am in the book of Acts - chapter 14. My goal is to be finished by April. :)

It has always been easy for me to get caught up on one or two verses and spend a big chunk of time on them. It's been said before: "it's a marathon, not a sprint!" and I'm applying that to my Bible reading:). There are too many gems and diamonds in the Word of God, and I don't want to miss them!

A new year is always a time of goal-setting and resolutions. My pastor preached an amazing message on Sunday night (Monday morning my time - thank you internet!). I've probably heard this message a half dozen times over the course of 11 years, and yet this is the first time I'm actually applying it. He calls it "year-end inventory." Since I didn't really set any goals for this year outside of this missions trip to Thailand, I really don't have anything to inventory from this last year. But this new year - what an opportunity!

Here in Thailand, it's already New Year's Eve. I'm really excited about 2009 and all that the Lord is going to do!

Happy New Year!!!

A Little Help Please.

I could use a little help. Seriously. I feel like I'm being eaten alive by mosquitoes. (Hello, cool season!)

So in an all-out effort to ditch the itch, I am turning to you guys. What do you do to prevent bites or scratching?

Garlic???

Onion???

Spray???

Something has to give. And I'm trying to forget the fact that mosquitoes carry dengue fever.

Soooo, any ideas?

The Neighbors? They're In Stitches:).

This certainly has been the week for goof-ups! It all started on Monday night when Pookie suggested a motorcycle ride. Carolyn and I quickly agreed and soon she was wheeling the motorcycle out onto the street. As we prepared to jump on, I noticed that the shopkeeper across the street seemed to have an abundance of people hanging out with him outside - all the more to laugh at us! Pookie started the motorcycle which immediately caught their attention. But what kept their attention on us was the fact that Carolyn and I hopped on behind her. The chuckles were loud as poor Carolyn (who is rather tall) folded herself onto the motorcycle while my feet were swinging rather freely:). I'm sure we were quite the sight!

On Tuesday afternoon I was cleaning my turtle's tank when Sharon walked by with the Lange children. After exchanging a few pleasantries, Jon asked me, "So, Anne, where is your turtle?" I glanced up from cleaning the turtle tank and said, "Jon, he's right..... oh no!!!! Where did he go?" Here, my rather determined turtle decided he would rather be smashed to smithereens than kept alive in the tank, so he took off running for the street. Again, the neighbors were completely amused by our shouts and rightly so. My turtle dashed for the street (and believe me, turtles dash!), Sharon stopped traffic, I tried to run out the gate after the turtle, realized the gate was locked, and quick darted out the Gaudets' gate, all the while my turtle is running for the road. The poor driver of the truck was looking so confused at what the farangs were doing. I'm glad to say I reached the turtle before the wheels did!

The next amusing moment came on Christmas Day....and it involves that little rodent that is pictured in the post below. As I already mentioned, our door was wide open so when I went out to check on the grill, I was pretty surprised by the sight of the rat just sitting there. Of course I did what most girls do and started to shriek:). This time the shopkeepers across the street and the food vendors down the street all looked our direction with much curiosity. Thankfully the rat had more sense than we did and ran off for the sewer!

I suppose today's escapade wasn't really seen by the neighbors, but I'm throwing it in there for good measure. Carolyn and I were sitting in the living room chatting when we suddenly heard a loud popping sound. As we looked around, Carolyn said, "something must have backfired." I looked at her incredulously and said, "from our kitchen?" We ran to the kitchen and smelled the worst burning smell. Here Carolyn had some eggs in a pot boiling....and, well, boil they did! The popping sound was three eggs exploding in the kitchen, leaving behind a rather charred pot with egg whites and yolks decorating our floor and wall. We took the burnt pot outside where I believe it is still residing. Who knows, maybe the rat will eat it:).

They say laughter is the best medicine, so our neighbors must be pretty healthy:).

Some Pictures.

I've decided to share a few pictures from the past couple of weeks.... Christmas-time in the tropics!

These cookies were absolutely scrumptious! Now don't laugh, but they were bought at the hospital:). Bumrungrad Hospital is apparently a shopping center/resort/hospital all rolled into one. We're going tomorrow morning (Krinny and Carolyn have appointments) so I'll get my first glimpse of the inside... and hopefully get another cookie:).

Those would be fried grasshoppers.... I wasn't here when this was brought out; someone else had my camera:).

My sweet Thai co-worker Bunga and her 10 month daughter Hadasseh (her nickname is Hannah).

These two little girlies are definitely a must for my auntie heart! I'm so thankful that there are kiddos here that I can love on since I'm so far away from 8 (soon to be 9) precious nephews and nieces!

This morning the door bell rang and we were pleasantly surprised with a sheet cake... mmm, mmm!

Of course Christmas in the tropics wouldn't be complete without a visitor... in the form of a rat. The funny thing is we had our door wide open and as I went to check on the grill, this guy was just sitting there. Both Pookie and I shrieked, slammed the door, opened it to take a picture and he still just sat there. I'm glad we got that scare out of the way early in the day:).

Pookie grilling the shrimp and steaks...

What a blessing to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ with brothers and sisters in Christ!

A Quiet Christmas.

The Christmas tree lights are shining brightly while the banister lights are twinkling their little hearts out. The street has turned to its nighttime routine, with motorcycles whizzing by and food vendors shutting down for the day. The fan is quietly blowing as a movie plays in the background. I sit here on this Christmas Eve thoroughly enjoying the moment. My December has been very care-free, and I thank the Lord for this Christmas I get to spend in Thailand.

Lest I be construed as a kill-joy, I definitely am not. Let's just say I needed this. I tend to get caught up in all the "hustle and bustle" of Christmas at home. But it's been very refreshing to have no plans for this entire month; well, no plans outside of the normal plans:). Our plans for tomorrow are very simple ~ a picnic-style lunch with our team members.

But the most important plan I have for tomorrow is to reflect on the birth of Christ - my precious Lord and Saviour. I know He was not born on December 25th, but this is the day we set aside to celebrate His birth. My mom used to make a "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake and that is the true meaning for tomorrow.

So I wish all of my dear blog readers a hearty and merry Christmas. Wherever you may find yourself tomorrow, be reminded that the birth of Christ truly is the reason for the season!

Ah.... Life In Thailand!

Just thought I would pop in and say that I'm completely satisfied with my $6.00/1 hour foot massage I had this afternoon.

*Blissful sigh*

:)

WFMW - Chocolate-Covered Pretzels.

I had to laugh when I read Shannon's ground-breaking information.... such a good tip:). Make sure you check out Rocks In My Dryer for more tips!

I'm going to add my own little works-for-me tip because it's so fresh on my mind... and on my hands! I decided to make chocolate-covered pretzels tonight - my first time ever. So I wasn't exactly up-to-date as to how to do it, and the first little try of melting chocolate in the microwave brought about a little, um, smoky smell that soon cleared out of the house:). But I soon got the hang of it. One reason why is because I added milk to the chocolate that was melting and it turned out marvellously!

A second tip I have involves pulling the chocolate-covered pretzel out of the pot. My roommate brought with her "cheater chopsticks" ... which is good for me because I still haven't figured out how to use real chopsticks. It worked so well and was terribly easy:).

Pretzel anyone?!?

Christmas Thai Style!

My roommates and I decorated for Christmas last Tuesday evening (almost a week ago!), but I wanted to wait until today to join up with BooMama's Christmas tour of homes 2008. I'm completely amazed that I practiced that much restraint. Actually I'm practicing restraint in another area right now. I received a big ole Priority Mail box this afternoon from my parents (THANK YOU Mom & Dad!) and I haven't opened it yet... impressive, I know:). But that's because I wanted to get this post up.... :).

We were very blessed to have all sorts of decorations already here at the house - left over from previous girls who came to work with the missionaries. So, using what we had, we managed to decorate our house in two hours! I've never been able to do that before:).

Anyway, welcome to my humble home in Thailand. Come in, make yourself at home, and kick your flip flops off at the door....:)

Our very cute (and artificial!) Christmas tree:)

Oh hello there... just a friendly little lizard paying us a visit!

The wreath on our screen door... even if the weather outside is in the 80s, we're enjoying the snowflakes on our wreath.

Our dish cupboard with garland and one lone Christmas card... we're hoping to fill up the entire top with cards:).

An overview of our downstairs.... we even found an appropriate tablecloth:).

While not the best picture, this certainly lights up our evenings. I guess it's nostalgia, but I love to sit in the living room and just look at the lights:).

The birth of Christ isn't celebrated by many in Thailand...of course the commercial aspect of it all is. Just one more reminder to me as to why I am on the mission field!

Well, I'm off to go help decorate the missionaries' house:).

Emptied.

During the song service this evening, we sang the song "Channels Only." The third verse convicted me as I meditated on the words:

Emptied that Thou shouldest fill me,

A clean vessel in Thy hand;

With no power but as Thou givest

Graciously with each command.

Chorus: Channels only, blessed Master,

But with all Thy wondrous power

Flowing through us,

Thou canst use us

Every day and every hour.

The challenge in the verse was so clear: emptied that Thou shouldest fill me. Empty of what? Pride. Dreams. Self-preservation. Bitterness. Selfishness. Vain pursuits. Laziness. Hopes. Anger. Expectations. The list goes on and on.

I can never be filled until I am first emptied. It's like Elisha and the widow woman. He told her to borrow empty vessels (2 Kings 4:3) so he could fill them with oil. What would have happened if the widow woman brought full vessels? Talk about unusable.

And so the challenge resounds in my heart tonight. Before He can flow through me and use me every day and every hour, I must first be empty.

Desperate For Chocolate:).

You know you are desperate for Peanut M&Ms when you pay $1.40 for a little bag that should only cost $.50 in the States:o). But, boy, those 28 pieces of chocolate were good!