Graciously Tenacious

I cant help but take a second to talk about the food that I have been eating here in Thailand. Let me start off by saying that no the spider isn't food...at least I think it isn't. But I hope you do enjoy the picture of it, I get to see this spider up close and personal as it has decided to move into my house...Yay!!! Anyways from the moment I got here I have been trying interesting new foods and having a history of not liking spicy food it has been interesting for me to try to stay away from the many spicy foods that cook on the streets of Bangkok. So far about 99.9 % of the food I have eaten is street vendor food and I wouldn't have it any other way. Many people back in the states told me either to eat the street food or to stay far from it. In the community that I live in (samaki) there isn't a grocery store nearby (unless you count 7/11, which are everywhere and you can get bread and other things there) and its alot cheaper to by from vendors. So street vendors ...

Even though Bangkok is an urban city, there are glimpses of nature everywhere, whether it be in the greenery growing between the houses of the long flowing canal nearby. It may not be the beach I'm used to back home, the hills covered in grass or the fields of produce but I still see the beauty and appreciate God's creativity in all that I see. My favorite thing to do back home is walk on the beach, praying and thinking over life. I could spend hours at the beach, whether at night or during the day, there is something about the warm sand, ocean breeze and sound of waves crashing that puts me at peace and opens up my heart to hear God. Singing songs about God's grace if it were like an ocean. Praising him for making such a beautiful place for me to live at. Today in thailand as I went to seek quiet time with the Lord, I ended up sitting by the canal. It is dirty, smelly, and not really a beautiful place to spend time at. It may not be the beach but if I close my eyes and blo...

Ok so where to start, there is so much I want to tell you about Thailand!!!! The people, food, house church, transportation and city are all so different but I will try to tell you a few stories. So the community that I am living in is called samaki which is about a 15 min bus ride outside the area of bangkapi. The Servant Partners office is in Bangkapi. Those are the areas that we mostly are in except on saturday nites when some of us go to Newsong church, which is an international church in the downtown area. I love how we get to all of these places, on boat, motorcycle taxi (my favorite), bus, skytram, taxi and walking....lots of walking. The city is crowded, the traffic is sometimes crazy and the weather is hot. The weather is something to get used to but it makes me very thankful for the cold bucket showers I get to take, never thought I would be thankful for no hot water. Right now its rainey season so out of no where it will start raining and then stop, then start back up again ...

My favorite verse for the last two years or so has been Joshua 1:9 which goes, " Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." I have looked to this verse for encouragement in times when I felt weak, remembrance that He is with me wherever I am and that God has made me for a time such as this. On Thursday I will gather my bags, say bye to my family and get on a plane to fly halfway across the world. "Do not be terrified and do not be discouraged".....OK God you told me so I will trust in you. These next ten months are going to be amazing, awesome and wonderful but at the same time I know that they are going to be tough, lonely and challenging. I feel like this is going to be a time where God breaks me down, down to a point where I will be unrecognizable and then build me up into the woman that He has created me to be. Things and people that I depend on or look ...