From the Book, "River Crossings"

First Week in Bangkok

Well, as I write this blog, I’m sitting at a desk, with my OLD computer hooked up, almost feeling like I’m at home.

The week started off with us being dropped unceremoniously at our new digs, way way out in a neighborhood we’d never been to when we lived here before. It’s much more of a suburb than when we stayed here for a short time last year, and so we don’t have the same way of relating to our environment. Yes, there’s a big store like a ‘Walmart’ just a few blocks away, but where is my satay man or the fruit lady? How will I get clean clothes with no maid? (don’t laugh). It’s amazing how you can feel so lost when you never really ‘had’ it before.

The mission had graciously put some random furniture in for us to use and as we started working I almost cried when Tony unpacked a box and found our missing Oswald Chambers devotional book. We had accused family and friends of mislaying it for us, when as usual, it was our own over-packing that had ‘lost’ it. Tony said, “Well, since we finally found it, let’s see what he says for today”. And here’s what he said,

“Over and over God has to remove our friends in order to bring Himself in their place, and that is where we faint and fall and get discouraged… Before I can say “I saw also the Lord,” there must be something corresponding to God in my character. It must be God first, God second, and God third until the life is faced steadily with God and no one else is of any account whatever… Keep paying the price, Let God see that you are willing to live up to the vision”.

I don’t know about you, but that hit me right between the ‘starting to want a nice wobbly cry’ eyes! So we ‘pulled our socks up’, got busy de-mystifying the life at THIS END of  Bangkok, (we could tell you stories!) and started our pre-school sound pattern lessons. Now we can say we’ve eyeballed all 44 consonants and 24 vowels, and Tony’s happy to find that a few can’t be pronounced without SMILING. The teacher assures him that he can smile, but he has to lose the Texas drawl. The teacher also says I need more confidence, because I end every sound with a rising “question” tone and that, of course, changes the meaning of the sound completely. Heaven help us!

We will start formal study this Wednesday. Who can say how we’ll do? Only God knows, but then we have to remind ourselves, “only God matters”.

Keep the faith, and hopefully we’ll check in next week!

Marsha

 Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62)