What do People Think of Your Face

***You Are a Newborn Soul***


You are tolerant, accepting, and willing to give anyone a chance.
On the flip side, you're easy to read and easily influenced by others.
You have a fresh perspective on life, and you can be very creative.
Noconformist and nontraditional, you've never met anyone who's like you.

Inventive and artistic, you like to be a trendsetter.
You have an upbeat spirit and you like almost everything.
You make friends easily and often have long standing friendships.
Implusive and trusting, you fall in love a little too easily.

Souls you are most compatible with: Bright Star Soul and Dreaming Soul

***You Are Lilac***


You are a very innocent and pure person. Ethics matter to you.
Your friends consider you a great listener, and you often play therapist to your friends.
You are good at drawing out truths in conversation, however painful they may be.
Non judgmental and patient - people feel like they can tell you anything!


What Color Purple Are You?
http://www.blogthings.com/whatcolorpurpleareyouquiz/

***Your Personality Is***


Idealist (NF)

You are a passionate, caring, and unique person.
You are good at expressing yourself and sharing your ideals.

You are the most compassionate of all types and connect with others easily.
Your heart tends to rule you. You can't make decisions without considering feelings.

You seek out other empathetic people to befriend.
Truth and authenticity matters in your friendships.

In love, you give everything you have to relationships. You fall in love easily.

At work, you crave personal expression and meaning in your career.

With others, you communicate well. You can spend all night talking with someone.

As far as your looks go, you've likely taken the time to develop your own personal style.

On weekends, you like to be with others. Charity work is also a favorite pastime of yours.


The Three Question Personality Test
http://www.blogthings.com/threequestionpersonalitytest/

What Kind of Soul Are You?
http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofsoulareyouquiz/

***The Keys to Your Heart***


You are attracted to those who are unbridled, untrammeled, and free.

In love, you feel the most alive when your lover is creative and never lets you feel bored.

You'd like to your lover to think you are optimistic and happy.

You would be forced to break up with someone who was insecure and in constant need of reassurance.

Your ideal relationship is open. Both of you can talk about everything... no secrets.

Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment.

You think of marriage as something precious. You'll treasure marriage and treat it as sacred.

In this moment, you think of love as something you thirst for. You'll do anything for love, but you won't fall for it easily.


What Are The Keys To Your Heart?
http://www.blogthings.com/keystoyourheartquiz/

Life is Good...

Wow! I haven't posted for awhile. I'm in the swing of things...Life is pretty normal:) I do miss the kids sometimes...I'll get a pang and miss Thailand. Like the other day I was at the Jr. High and was looking at Art Work hung up on a bulletin board and missed Thailand. Or I'll talk about one of the kids and get a little emotional...They are an emoti0nal thing for me:) This is kinda hard to express...I hope you understand.:)

I've been subbing. Tomorrow I believe I sub for a Graphic Art/Photography teacher. I have also been going to an Acrylic/Oil painting class. I'm painting "Sunset in Venice" it's either by Van Goph(how do you spell his name?!) or Monet. It's kinda scary but it's evolving...someone already offered to buy it from me...and I'm only on Day 2 with it...not sure if she was totally serious...she was like "how much do you want for the painting..." she's in my class.

Right now I'm "dog-sitting." Taking care of my friend Angela's dog. Shelby, Angela's doggy, is very old. She is blind and deaf...but really cute. Shelby is a golden retriever I think...but rather a small dog...you'd probably call her medium sized for a dog.

Right now I'm an another friend's house, Brianna and we're gonna talk more about our churches Christmas play. She wants me to be incharge of the set...like set design...kinda scary and big! But we can do it. I'll be getting alot of help! And Brianna will know what she wants in alot of ways. Brianna is also going to write the play. It's "The Christmas Carol" but adapted...if you're in the area when we put it on you should come out! It's gonna be awesome! So I have Shelby here with me an she's sleepin' next to the fire...Shelby is rather lazy, she is an "old girl."

Well I'm gonna get goin'...Briana put her kids to bed and we'll be able to discuss more. I have a wide range of friends...from age 14 to fully grown ladies with kids:) I like people:) and they like me!

Right now life is good:) And I've been busy lately so that helps to make me happy:)

one step at a time...

I've been home almost exactly 2 weeks. I haven't done much these last two weeks. I took them off! For awhile I had bad jet lag...a coupla times I'd wake up tired after getting a nice amount of sleep, than a number of evenings I'd be really tired at like 6/7/8...weird... I think I'm over or at least mostly over jet lag.

My plan at this point is to start substitute teaching again, hmmm....
I have a job on Wed. and Fri. Friday I'll be an Art teacher at the "Rhino" school. That's the school's mascot. The ages there are kindergarten to 5th...and the lunches are really wimpy...anyways. I'm looking forward to that:) teaching Art...last time I taught Art I was teaching it at the Refugee camp.

My dream/goal is to study Art/Art Education in college...Where and when and how I don't know:)

I'm probably going to pick up an Oil painting class that happens on Wednesdays! That will be fun! I've never had any training in oil painting cept when I painted a pic and my grandma sat through the whole thing and she'd coach me along. It came out better cause she was there:)

Sometime this week I want to take the Art work the kids did to CFI. Some of the stuff they did was excellent!

I was hit by emotion last night when I was thinking about people I left back in Thailand...plus I had Nat King Cole goin' in the back ground.... it was rough...

This weekend I helped my youth leader and her family move. And so did ALOT of people. Before I left she and some of us prayed that they'd be able to move to B___ (not my town)...before I left when we prayed, it was like it was impossible. When I came back I heard there was a house they were looking at...and then they moved...Guess it wasn't impossible huh:)

It's a sweet house. About 150 years old, a log cabin...there daughter prayed since she was 2 that God would give them a house with a fireplace...they got one... at the house they'll be able to have a dog too. They have ALOT of land! It's such a beautiful area. They are renting, but they were renting before and now they are only like 4 mins. from church instead of 30mins. BIG answer to prayer for their family. Yeah!

Marie's movie reviews:

An Affair to Remember-Don't be mislead by the title, there's nothing adulterous about it:) It's about 2 people engaged to other people and they fall in love with each other instead, oops. It's one of those good wholesome love stories... if you're the right person it will be a tear jerker or a lump in the throat maker:) It's an oldie with Cary Grant in it. I think I can say I'd recommend it:)

A Night with the King-Queen Esther's story brought to the BIG screen. We went and saw it...and enjoyed it. The costumes are beautiful... influenced by India. If's fun cause it's a story about a girl close to my age from a "normal" everyday back ground that is chosen and fallen for by a king. It's a sweet story...and they also talk about God in it. She is a Jewish girl and her upbringing comes out in who she is...a good story:) I'd recommend it.

It's kinda weird cause 2 weeks ago I was in Tropical weather now we're in Autumn...and sometimes it's COLD out there and cold in HERE!

If you want to pray for me pray that I'll have more of a spiritual perspective while subbing... that I can make a difference in some of these kids lives...that I'm not just killing time but I can be an influence...that there is a spiritual dimension to every body and to every job I have...even though I may not love it or like them:)

And pray that I will follow my dream, my goal to study Art/Art Education...and that I'll be guided however God wants to guide me...maybe I won't study Art the way I think I will...one step at a time right?

Back to normal?

I wrote this Oct. 18...enjoy

ahhh, feel kinda yucky. I'm back from Thailand. Got home Monday...had to think about which day I came in a bit. Went to bed Monday night late, 3ish maybe and slept in till 7 the next day. Well 7 pm, without hardly waking up! When I woke up I thought it was morning! For real. Went to bed last night like close to 5 am. Got up when it was still day today like 1:30...I'm improving with my sleep cycle.

It's weird being back. Thailand was my life for 3 months. Those students at the school were my life. It was hard to say goodbye to them. I've cried a number of times since....

Now it's like what's next. It's weird being back in American culture. I came home and the house felt small and it was like we have so many things. The school I was at had like 12 foot ceilings and there wasn't tons of extra stuff there.

The students were like refugees...they don't own alot. I also went to one of the Refugee camps 3 times. They live in bamboo huts. There's almost no furniture, well ok maybe one chair or one table in the differnt families homes. Makes me think, "What is important?" Haven't figured it out yet.

Hmmm....kinda confusing. I felt really good over there alot. Some of the best time of my life. But there were times where it was really hard. Moreso at the beginning. Alot of americans came through which was a huge help and blessing. Otherwise I was the only English as a first (and only language) person at the school.

The school was surrounded by Rice paddies on the edge of Thailand about one mile from Burma. The kids are from the Karen and Karenni nations. They are people that the Burmese milatary has been fighting since WWII. It's an internal civil war that tons of people don't know about. I think alot of the fighting, killing raping, razing of villages happens more in the jungles, away from cities.

Some of the kids lost parents because of this war. A coupla sisters, Moo Nay Paw and P'zaw Paw's parents were killed by the Burmese Milatary. Moo Nay Paw and P'zaw Paw or Andrew and Joy are beautiful young woman. Ahhh, they make me smile as I think of them.

so I have to figure things out to an extent...where do I fit into this life. I want to make my life count and not just stay in one place treading water.

I am dealing with jet lag, new culture, new weather. Thailand is like a tropical climate.... 3 months of humidity and heat...thins the blood. I was shivering at the Ca. airport from the AC. I was COLD....

I like to write alot. I also keep a journal. I have many journals...even one filled up Thailand journal and another that I started over there, volume II.

My brother just called from Tx. He told me to take a walk. He said inactivity weakens the spirit...ok...hmmm....I agree with him I would benefit from a walk:)....

oh I am sluggish today.....adjusting......pray for my adjusting to "normal life." I wonder if eventually I'll just fall back into normalancy...I want to be changed..... I think deep inside I'll have changes.

I do love 31 kids in Thailand. They may not belong to any country but they have a place, in my heart.

"It's time to say good bye."

This is my last post in Thailand:(... I fly out tomorrow morning, Oct. 13th at like 6:45 am. My flight is 25:07. Twenty-five hours and seven mins. Yikes! I have a lay over in Japan and one in Ca. I leave Thailand on Monday and get to the US on MOnday. I loose a day going back.

Right now I'm at the Dynasty hotel in Bangkok. Day-Day came with me cause I'm bringing with me a BIG bag and a big box for the org. back home. The big bag is very BIG. The height hits a little below my waist. So Day Day needed to be here to help me with that:)

I said good bye to the kids on Friday. It was very hard. Andrew said it's so hard to say good bye because we are made for eternity. Like we were made for relationship and for them to last forever.

It was weird cause some of the kids I'm closet to I didn't cry saying bye to but some I wasn't so close to I did...

When I was saying goodbye to Joy my head was right next to her head my ear right next to heres...she started singing, "It's time to say goodbye...." which made me cry, but it was very special.... It was like she the youth was comforting me the "grown up." It was very special...I know I said that already, but it was. I love her so much. I gave alot of love to these kids but they also gave me alot too.

When were were taking the truck-bus back to Mae Sot after saying good bye.... I cried many times.... While I was sitting there quietly it'd hit me or I'd remember something about one of the children and start to cry. No one could hear me...but if they looked at my face they'd see tears falling down it....It's like a grieving a cutting off to say goodbye. Some of the students asked me if I'm coming back next year.... I just don't know.

My dream would be to study art in college and go back and teach what I learned maybe.... but maybe this was a once in my lifetime season. Someday, some years down the road I'd like to see them again. See them more grown up.

I asked them to write me a letter with a beautiful picture, if they wanted to. I told them I wouldn't read it until I was on the plane or in my country. I might just read them when I'm on the plane. Yeah that might make me cry again...

This time here was some of the best time of my life. I was made for it...for this experience for these relationships. To teach, to impart to these wonderful and beautiful children.

When I said bye to Timothy he said, "bless you" it made us americans laugh, cause in a short video the kids made he was a king with many daughters. At the beginning he blesses each of his daughters and says, "bless you" as he lays his hand on their head. By the way his nick name is now "King."

It's kinda sad cause after I left Mae La camp,I remembered like 3 or 4 kids I didn't say good bye to. hmmm...

I had a chance to spend alot of time with Mindy. A volunteer my age who has taught at hte school for a year. She came back this last week. It was good to "debrief" with her. She speaks english, she's an american! So it was good to "compare notes" and talk about my experiences. She was good cause I did most of the talking.

I realize when I come back to the US, most people there won't fully comprehend my experiences. I believe I'll be doing alot of talking about my time and the kids. I hope I don't bore or annoy any one. :)

They, the 31 Karen and Karenni students, were my life for the last 3 months. I went to the school to teach Art and completed my task. They also became part of my world...they stole pieces of my heart. Part of my heart will be left here....

This experience has been unlike anything I've ever experienced.

I'll write more later.... need to get off. We're getting up I think at like 3:30 am....yikes. If you read this as I'm en route pray for my protection and that I'll sit next to a christian... any one that I need to sit by... that I'll sit by the right people.

Wow! I'm coming home. I feel like crying.... "It's time to say good bye."

Good bye my babies. I love you so much. Ya En Na (I love you in Karen.) Bye...

School is almost over...

Sawadee Ka! From the sunny land of Thailand! It's Saturday morning. I had to go into Burma via Friendship Bridge to get my visa stamped, I believe it's the last time. So it's legal for me to be in Thailand, phew! I than walk back across the bridge and a Thai authority stamps it.

Today is a very sunny day. I put alot of sun block on before riding to Friedship bridge on the little motorcycle. There was a very nice Burmese man who walked with me as I crossed to Burma and as I came back. His name was Win. I'd guess he's in his thirties. Probably my height too. THere was a moment where he wanted to give me his umbrella and he reminded me of Tomnas in Narnia... the fawn guy with the umbrella...Win used his umbrella to block the sun and he also shared it with me. He has a one year old daughter. He said he's looking for a job. We had some good conversation.

One of the last conversations we had I basically told him God sees what happens in Burma and he will use people like me, even though I am so small to make a difference. Also that many people in the US know about Burma...not just the Karen/Karenni problem but also that Burma is so poor.... I felt like I connected with him somehow... maybe he's hungry for God. He was wicked nice:) I told him I'd been here for the last 3 months teaching Karen and Karenni children and some have had parents killed by the Burmese military. (I was in Thailand when I told him this, the safer side:) and also that I believe there are alot of very good Burmese people like him. The military government just has BIG problems.

Well, Friday was my last official day to teach ART at the school. The kids go back to one of the camps on the 9th or the 11th.... we'll know when it actually happens. They go back for 3 weeks. My plan is to also go to the camp and teach ART at the orphanage. Ben and Andrew will be going in too to follow the kids...they've been doing a documentary on the life of a Karen student. As Americans we won't be able to spend the night at the camp but during the day we can be there.

I've been to this camp only one time. The kids are glad that I'll be teaching ART at the orphanage. I think kids live there sometimes even if they aren't orphans. The students from other camps will stay at this one camp because the distance to the other camps.

My church sent money over to buy the students special sport shoes. So the girls got sneakers and the guys got soccer cleats. They have never had shoes like these shoes. The kids really like them. Thank you Emmaus...and the students Thank you! Awesome gift! Many have already used them! I've taken pictures and will take more! We were able to get shoes for the girls that were less than the budgetted money so we also got flip-flops for all the students, shorts and cheap necklaces for the girls. We got each student 2 or 3 pairs of socks too.

Boy I'm tired. It's been one of those times recently where I've had less energy than usual and too I've been out in the hot driving the motorcycle....so when I get back to the school if the kids aren't banging on the drums I think I might take a nap:)

I called my parents today... when I was on the phone with them three of the girls came in at differnt times. I had each talk to my parents. My dad asked each of them to sing a song, and they did! "Amy", Silver Paw, was nervous talking to them. Joy wanted to talk to my mom. I had her talk to my mom one other time and since then she keeps talking about her:) So she got to talk to my mom again. And She wants to talk to her again! One time on the phone cause she didn't know what to say or something she stuck her tongue out. She and Amy were especially cute while they talked to my parents... and Joy got to talk to Adam too. Htee Ku was pretty poised as she chatted with my mom and dad and Adam was listening in:)

I'm here at an internet cafe in Mae Sot. And the two guys running it, like early 20's have their shirts off. What's with the guys in Thailand taking off their shirts! Thanks to all the American Christian guys I know who keep their shirts on;) for real. I appreiciate it:)

Talk to ya later....:)

Also Ebenezer, Hser Wah and Hser Gay, the staff that care and teach the students got new sneakers. They play sports with the kids on the new sports field. Ebenezer is 27, Hser Wah 22, Hser Gay is 21. They like em too:) That's so cool that the kids and staff got some really nice new sneakers!

Safe and Sound...update on the military coup

I am safe and sound. Yes there is a military coup that took place last night in Bangkok, Thailand. The military is in control because they do not like the Prime Minister, Thaksin. The military are "better" than Thaksin. Many Thais do not like the PM, if I'm not mistaken there's been corruption surronding his re-election etc., I think even some dealings with Burma that haven't been very good either. Check him out on the web.

So last night like at 1:20 am I was awakened from my peaceful slumber to my ringing cell phone. I slipped out of bed looked at the number on the phone and thought maybe one of the students parents or something were calling. It was Andrew and Ben's mother. She'd just seen on the news that a military coup had taken over power in Thailand that there were tanks in Bangkok and that Americans would be moved out of the country... boy was that a crazy call to get in the middle of the night... I was disoriented some too....ahhhh!

so I went downstairs and woke the boys up and let Andrew talk to his mother. My heart was pounding and my hands were shaking.... I was scared also scared for the kids... after talking with his mom we prayed... we tried to watch some news but all the stations 'cept the Kings channels have been shut down. I was imagining the worst...

Almost all that she said was true....

There was a military coup that took over the government while Thaksin, the PM was in NY actually at the UN-UN meeting... they had tanks in Bangkok, they the military are supportive of the King, which is good, they don't like Thaksin... it was a non violent take over of power.

I talked to one of the key staff over here this morning. She is a Christian Thai and said that she's been praying for this. That Thaksin would be removed from power. This is a good thing. I am safe over here. I believe the militaries plan is to get someone else as PM and give the control back to the government in Nov. around the elections. The person acting as the PM is a military guy. I believe named to head of state right now is the King. Which sounds good to me.

I even asked her sister if it'd be safe to go to a gas station to get a news paper... she said it was. I"m in town right now checking out the internet getting NEWS! I was like I want news! May try to find a newspaper but I already looked at articles on the web. If you want to know more check out the Washington POst newspaper, the US Embassy in Thailand had an update also about the situation. They are telling americans to keep an eye on the events but they are not telling us to leave.

So today all Thai schools are shut down, our school isn't having "school" but the kids are studying all day. The banks are closed too and alot of shops.

So last night I didn't need to be afraid it's safe over here and it's a pretty good thing actually that happened. I called Tad S__ last night and actually didn't wake him up, he was watching the news. He was not concerned. He is a Christian Pastor working over here. That helped me feel better:)

Just pray that God WILL be in control. That the right thing will happen and no freak thing will happen. Pray for our safety and that the military will give back the control.

I'm safe and sound and my authorities over here aren't concerned. So do not worry.:)

I SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM!

Here's a coupla pics from Ice Cream Day. I mention in the previous post. If you wanna know more read the post under this post:)!!

Americans, Ice Cream and Motorcycles

Sawadee Ka from the beautiful country of Thailand. The top picture was taken of me on Sunday on the porch at the school. You can see the beautiful countryside of Thailand behind me. The second picture I took today at this very unique and gorgeous outdoor restuarant that I ate at by myself. I had my class this morning cause I thought I might be able to go into town with a coupla americans that are here...but they are going into B___ and there could only be 2 americans...I thought I could go, but I couldn't...sigh...so instead I took the bike to the really cool exotic restaurant, (the food's not great, but the scenery is) and now I'm here in MaeSot doing internet. Yeah for a changup of the schedule:) Some verity is great. At the resturant most of the tables have a roof over them but there's little waterfalls and all these plants, tropical plants, like orchids and palm trees and palms, and even water, like a lake and there were even 2 big white birds making themselves at home on one of the patios where people could eat...one was roosting on a table actually:) that part was "closed off" I think cause of the birds. Since Thailand is soo mild in temperature they can have an "outdoor" restaurant like that. I was like if I ever got married in Thailand this is where I'd want my wedding reception to be (laugh at me now:)...it was soo cool! Right now I have the pleasure of serving with 2 young americans over here. They are 2 brothers from North Carolina, Ben 19 and Andrew 24. They are here making a documentary on the life of a Karen Student. Last week they worked with the kids making short little movies. They had each kid write a fiction story and then they choose or combined stories to make a "movie" and added and subtracted some stuff. One storey was the storey of Sa Ba. One day Sa Ba was out in the field with his parents working, they are a poor family. Three Burmese soldiers come up to them and attack them while they are taking (that's how the kids refer to eating:) lunch... the mom and dad are murdered and Sa Ba gets away. Sa Ba is very upset, he comes back when the soldiers leave. He looks at his parents and knows that they are dead, he cries. Then he tries to get some rice off a table at a rich womans house. She runs him off her land. He than sits on the side of the road crying. A nice woman comes along sees him crying and has compassion on him. She gives him food and a new shirt. She takes him home and he becomes her son. The kids did a good job on the movies... they aren't finished yet but I think will be before too long:) Someday I hope to get a copy of the documentary. :) and maybe the "movies." Andrew came here a few years back for a conference held at the school for like 3 days. This time he and his bro are here for like 2 months. I thought they were comeing in Nov. but it's been really nice having people around that speak English as a first language. There are so many words the students understand and so many they don't. Also I will loose the ability to speak English correctly cause I shorten things down and leave out words (I'm exaggerating, but I am choosy what words I speak with cause there is alot they don't understand:), so I can still speak English like normal and get all the practice I need! So with Ben and Andrew I can use my full vocabulary! and I even understand when they are talking to each other! Yeah! Andrew had his 24th birthday a few days ago, I think Saturday. In Art class the kids made him Birthday Cards. They actually put more time into them than just my class. They are excellent workers. So at dinner one of the girls brought the cards up, in this huge envelope and he looked at them, before eating actually. He said he'd be keeping these for a while....they were very special. Ben and I bought him this tiny cake that had big candles put on it:) and he got mango for breakfast...he likes mango. It was fun celebrating a birthday in Thailand. Htee Ku (Tea Coo) brought the cake out for him with the candles lit. When I asked her to bring it out and showed it to her waiting in the refrigerator she got excited:) Tad led us in an enthusiastic singing of Happy Birthday! My coming home time has changed since I last updated. I'll be flying home on October 16th. That is my plan at this point. Boy it will be strange getting back into the swing of things in the US. I've been living in a "Thailand/Karen" bubble for over 2 months now. I've eaten tons of rice, I think this is actually the heallthist (sp?) I've ever eaten in my life. Rice and veggies and greens... every day and eggs too and some pork and chicken, but there aren't really preservatives in alot of what I eat.... Wow not eating rice every day for breakfast and dinner....know what's funny, I went to that resturant today, first I ordered a salad with chicken, wasn't enough protein so I got RICE with chicken. Can't escape the rice:) I like rice, what can I say. My parents sponsered an Ice Cream day. So I had Day-Day order this home made ice cream from this place. So on Friday she brought this HUGE canister of ice cream. The height of it hits a bit below my waist. It was enought ice cream for at least 100 people. So we had it for lunch...with sticky rice and bread. If you order it from this place it's served with sticky rice and bread. (They would even put bread in the bottom of the ice cream cone and top it off with ice cream...strange....but tasted fine.) Also we had these dried out little fish.... and then a number of the kids had seconds and some had thirds and fourths and fifths, etc.... (not alot at one time...small helpings) but it was amazing HOW MUCH ice cream there was! It was awesome. The flavor of the ice cream was coconut ice cream. The kids don't have ice cream alot. It was fun being a part of that. It was THE Ice Cream day. We had it for lunch on Friday than later after school they had it again, and again and than on Sat. for lunch. Yeah! Extravagant ICE CREAM! Thanks mom and dad! I asked them how much they liked it. And some kids would put there arms out and even behind them and say "this much." One of the kids wants my parents to send me back next year and more ice cream;) (he was joking, but if that happened he'd be happy.) Keep praying for God's blessing for the rest of my time here...the kids go back to their camps I think on the 9th. I don't have many more classes with them... I'm goin' to go into Mae Sot, the town part and do some errands with my trusty little blue motorcycle. Yes Lisa Lou, I'd enjoy giving you a motorcycle ride:) I actually drove a very short distance with a passanger on it. It totally changes the balance of the bike....don't have a lot of practice with passangers:) I wouldn't mind more practice. Thai people get 1-5 people on one bike...you might see 3 adults on one...thai people are smaller too, when I saw 5 people some of them were kids:) Man there have been some American men over here doing missionary stuff and some of them are BIG...one of the boys had just seen a doc. that volunteered over here a coupla weeks back and he commented on the doc's size. Philip, the boy is a small boy even thought he's like 15/16... and the young american men, Andrew and Ben are very tall too. Actually I'm taller than almost all the kids:) I'm "tall" in Thailand. Ok! I'm off to MaeSot soon:) Cheerio!

I'm in the Lord's Army-YES SIR!

I have basically 3 weeks left, than I'm coming home. Right now looking toward the future it seems like a let down to go back...but I'm ready to be in my own land. Where I know the food, the language, the culture. I know I'm gonna bawl when I leave these kids. I love them. They will have been my life for 3 months. Let me tell you a bit about the pics... The first pic. is at a Karen School that we visited when the group of Americans were here. It's an asian thing to take off your "shoes, or should I say sandels, before going inside... it's a common sight. The next one is me, of course holding a gun! He, the short Karen dude, by the way he's a medic, gave me the gun to hold and I was like, "yikes" but it was fun. Boy am I sooo cool;) Riding a "motorcycle" and holding a gun...(snicker). The kids go back to their camps on Oct. 2nd I believe. I'll be flying home around that time. Three weeks will fly by... The weather has been very warm, and humid recently. We haven't had rain for like 4ish days. So at night we've had some awesome Sunsets! Very beautiful. Bright orange and dark orange, pink and purple....behind the school is where it's really beautiful. Actually it's above Burma....there's this huge cloud that's not moving day in and day out that's the central cloud... it's the size of a mountain....it's cool cause recently I've been painting sunsets with the kids with black silohettes and God's giving us sunsets in the natural.:) I'm having alot of trouble uploading more pictures...maybe I'll post another blog. Anyways thanks for praying for me when I was sick. My legs are healing up... Tad anointed me and prayed for healing and also for wisdom, when I was having my unidentified "problems." I believe God directly answered the prayer for wisdom by having one of the CFI staff here say, you need to go to the hospital (to see a doctor). I went and they were like it's "herpes" same thing that Chicken pox and shingles comes from and he put me on meds. like penicillan and it's healing really good. Just keep praying for health protection while I'm here...and for the kids. It's great cause none of the kids are sick right now. Ever since I was here from the start someone's been sick....there's been no sickness with the kids/staff here for like 3 weeks. YEAH! I don't feel very blog eloquent right now.:) I'll probably go into Maesot and do a bit of shopping:) by myself. Oh yeah I rode the motorcycle all the way here! It took me maybe 40 mins. to get here. Here being the Principles house in Mae Sot. I get out and ride the motorcycle sometimes. It's actually fun. It's a little blue motorcycle. Everyone rides them here. Sometimes you'll see up to 5 people on one! For real! It's the "family car.":) Pray for my last 3 weeks here. That I'll fully accomplish what God wants me to and that I'll make the most of it and really connect with the kids in some special special ways.

My first doctor's visit...

I'm in an internet cafe on Sunday. I have a monk in brillant orange sitting on my right and a young man who is at least part Indian on my left.... anyways....

Today I went with 17 of our kids to First Church in MaeSod. They were baptised there so they went today for communion. I haven't had communion forever.... It was actually kinda special to me. Me and God can have it together in my heart.:)

I went to the Hospital on Friday. Basically it's the same as going to the Doctor. I have these welts on my legs and CFI staff here thought I should go. I thought they were from bug bites, even wondered if they were from poison ivy.

It's strange cause it's actually a form of herpes.... (sounds pretty gross huh!) like cold sores on my legs. Some of them are big, like big blisters. I guess my immune system is weak right now and I have an infection. You know sometimes people get cold sores when they have colds or are sick a little, that's what it's like. They don't feel very good. At first they didn't bother me much at all, now they bother me some. I have one big one on my right leg and than a little. On my left leg I have alot of blisters way up on the back of my thigh.... Pray that I'll heal quickly and that I'll stay strong physically.

My doctor's visit and the meds cost me under $20. I went to a private hospital so there actually weren't many people around, like patients at all.

The last 2 days I got over 25 hours of sleep. Trying to get stronger. I'm not very sick just some....

Right now none of the kids are sick, only me:) Someone's been sick the whole time I've been here.

Pray for me to have energy and great ideas for classes this week. Tomorrow I have ESL....

I need to go and get some food. My rides picking me up at the Bai Fern, a nice restuarant that catars to Westerners, at 2:30...I have about 25 mins.

Things are pretty good.... just need emotional and physical energy. Oh yeah a group of 10 American doctors/dentists are coming today. They will check out the kids today, than go to a camp tomorrow and into Burma later.

Just keepin' you updated! Ne la gay!

Snapshots into the life of a "Farang"

I think, I will give you some snapshots of my life here.

Sometimes in the morning I will be awakened by 30ish children singing in the worship room next to my room. They sing at around 5:30 every morning. They sing at least one song.... than I go back to sleep.

Sometimes I help the students with English during the study time. Last night I was helping Htee Ku (Tee Coo) with saying words. She had the hardest time saying, "conscientious." The last syllable was a doozy... "shis"...she kept forgetting the last s... and we kept laughing. It was great. I also taught her the word "doozy" cause this word is a doozy. I love that word,"doozy:)" You haveta say the oo part with a Minnesota accent.:)

At night sometimes I "doctor" the boys. Last night I put ointment on an almost healed wound that Scott had on his foot. I think a soccer wound. And before that I said my good night to the girls.

When I was saying good night one girl, Debbie, told me about a dream she had. She was on the back of a man and they were swimming very fast in the water...he kept her safe. Alot of people were dying around her. Later he became her father. I don't think she recognized this man in her dream.

I almost wonder if that was actually God.... there was a time when she didn't know God, he has kept her safe and now He is her father.

Today and yesterday I worked with one of the girls on her life story. I actually ended up "co-writing" it with her.

It was a sad story. She, Joy, and her sister are orphans. Both of her parents were killed by Burmese soldiers. Her parents, sadly were animist. Joy is now a christian. She is a very special little girl. She actually had polio and was a cripple for a long time. CFI ended up sponsering surgery for her and now she can walk:)

At the end of her story, and I quote her, "God will be my ma and daddy." Special....

I have fun trying to learn Karen from the lady staff. One phrase I have learned, but am still working on the pronunciation is "Na La Gay," which means, Good night. When they were working with me one time, I said, "Na La Key" which basically means , "Good bottom," as in your posterior....they thought that was hilarious:)

These people here at the school, the Karen and Karenni staff and students are very special to me.

Today I did "P.E." with the students. We played Red Rover....my word these kids are strong. There weren't that many times where people actually broke through! When they said, "Red Rover Red Rover...." the boys were soooo loud....and the students would laugh and squeal as people tried to get through. Some of the girls are squealers when they play games with running. They are so cute!

The girls make me feel good. They are always complimenting me. All Asians over here want to be lighter...they even have "xtra whitening" stuff in their deodarant! Today one of the girls told me as I was working with another student, "You are so cute!" In here own cute girly voice.:)

The other night I was in the guys study room. Htoo Eh Paw wants to learn more English. He is soo expressive and gets excited about things. He's maybe 15. He was the student that was sick when I came here at the beginning.

He wanted to know the word for virbrato. Than, after he learned the meaning, he would act out vibrato as he made his voice "vibrate" by manually making his throat vibrate by jiggling the skin on the front of the neck. (Boy does this feel strange explaining, it'd be easier to SHOW you but I can't) And also some of the other boys would act out the aforementioned word, by also singing sillily.:) These boys are great!

They were also telling me about different things that they eat. I think they eat elephant, mice, rat, snake, dog, some people eat cat... anything basically that they can find, oh yeah people here also eat frogs and eel. Ewww!

Ebenezer, our only guy staff that lives at the school, had some dogs when he was at a camp, or the family did where he stayed and one of the dogs ended up biting. The neighbors, the ones that the dog bothered, asked if they could eat that dog. Ebenezer was upset about this. He didn't give them that dog:) They don't eat their PETS.... well maybe if they had too....

I met a teacher at a boarding school down the road from us in the village. She is Karen, and she is a little petite lady. She is very sweet. Her Karen name means "cold silver." Her title is Pee, which means Grandma:) She whispered to me that she was 79 years old, which was so cute. She has taught at the school and taken care of these Karen kids for 3 years. She is a sweet heart. Alot of her english was excellent, but she didn't speak much:) She is a believer.:)

Well I hope you enjoyed looking at some of my "mental snapshots" with me this evening. Come back again and tune in at this little window into the life of your favorite world traveler! Journey Girl 4 God! (enough of the sap... thanks for listening!)

p.s. Farang means Foreigner!

Marie on a Motorcycle

ThiS has to be really quick. I drove all the way to MAE SOT on the motorcycle today. I was following Tad. YEAH!!!! I'm glad and happy and feel good about it. For me it's like a 30min ish ride. I need to get goin' to go back to the school on the motorcycle... BOy am I cool now!;))

The sick kid is getting better. Love ya'll....keep keepin' in touch.

Big Love

Well I'm here at the principal of the school's house doing e-mail. Ummm....what do I talk about.
Well we have a journalist staying at the school right now who will be doing a/some articles for the org. I'm here with. He's done some traveling around talking to people.

There are 2 of our boys who are sick so pray for them. And pray that none of the other kids will get sick. I have a minor sore throat....

Pray that God's will, will be done for this school. That the right people will be here, that the best will be done for the kids. That this school will lead to what God wants next for the students.

I've been teaching the students Pen and Ink drawing recently. Some are better at it than others. It can get messy too:)

Um, I'm tired and sweaty right now, it's humid here. Sometimes uncomfortably humid. The students adn staff have thinner blood so slight changes in weather can effect them more than it does me. Like some time it was raining and one of the girls put a sweater on, I was still in a short sleeve shirt and something like capris.

I'm thankful for the rain cause it's cooler that way:) But it may be harder for the kids.

One of the things many of the students need is more teaching in ESL.... there is someone coming for the next year who has had training in teaching ESL so I'm glad about that.

I'm getting to know the staff here better. THey let me into their world by gracing me with their English. Karen/Karenni people are touchy people at times. One of the staff, she'll be talking to me and keep touching me on my side.

I don't know if God will lead to any more time here later in the future or not...

I'm planning on coming back sometime at the beginning of OCt to the US.

One sweet thing that happened was one night I gave all the girls, after they were in bed, a kiss, a hug and an I love you (cept for the ones already asleep)...you know saying Good night to them... and one girl said, that this showed I had Big love for them. That it made her feel encouraged for me to hug and kiss her and tell her I loved her. It made her feel very special. It really blessed me when she told me that. Her telling me I had big love for the kids was humbling.... It's hard to fully convey the meaning of what she said to me. But I have it in my heart.

I was talking to one of the girls that night and she wouldn't get goodnights like I gave from her family. Kinda sad. So I think I'll try to say good night alot, with a hug and a kiss and an I love you....

I've done it like 2 nights already.

I do wonder why I'm here and what good it does. I know loving on the kids is important. Everyone needs love... the ART that I teach them is good, for them to broaden their horizons.

One of the girls ...the big love girl is so hungry for knowledge. She wants me to start teaching her, starting in Genesis. One night I was teaching her stuff that I have learned about the Jewish story. She loved it. I even took notes for her and wrote down some words that she didn't know.

Alot of what I said I believe she understood. She's one of the smartest if not the smartest with English here at the school. I have mentioned her earlier.

The lady staff here... have been introduced to my perfume. They really enjoy it. I have some small vials of free samples I got back in the US, some bath and body works body spray and another small perfume. They got excited about putting some on today. One of the lady staff mentioned being able to smell me ... she could smell the aroma that I left behind, it was a good thing:)

There was a singer coming to the school to teach the kids some songs... I guess the singers are kinda famous, like in Karen/Karenni circles...in Burma. The singers are from Rangoon.

If any of you get a chance you should try to come here to THailand to understand the Karen/Karenni people. Many are christians.... in Thialand there are many, many that live in Refugee camps. The do not have their freedom. They are IDPs, Internally Displaced People. Thailand doesn't want them and Burma definately doesn't want them.

They are special people.

I wish I could understand the language so I could understand better what goes on...

Talk to ya later.

Karen Camps

This will be a quickie post. I have to meet up with AMERICANS in 5 mins. A group of americans have been here since THursday, they leave tomorrow:( They were here to see what the Organizations I"m working with is doing in B____ and Thailand.

We went into B_____ the other day. It was fun.... and quite a walk. We ended up riding a long boat across.

Yesterday we went to Mai Lay, a refugee camp the largest in Asia. This camp is where most of our kids come from. It's also where Ebenezer our male staff has lived for 14 years before working at the school for 2.

It's just very differnt how they live! So close together too and they live in huts, it looks like nifty club houses that you'd make for your kid, or kinda like swiss family robinson.... without the furniture...

There were hundreds of houses built on the side of a mountain, surrounded by very lush trees...and we had to walk up the big hill to get to the church service. There was some slippery mud we had to get through...we had like 3 people fall... it's not always easy to walk in. I wore my wonderful rain boots I bought here. They are great for Karen camps!

Pray for me as I get back into the swing of things as the Americans leave and Gods direction and peace as I look toward the future. I don't know how and where GOd is leading through this opportunity.

Gotta run. Thanks for all ya'll's support.

Oh yeah I was glad to see where my kids came from.

Take care:)