It's been a while

So its been a while since I've blogged. Things have been pretty busy here in Thailand. We have a team in this week from Australia. I'd have to say that one of my favorite things about living where I do is that I get to meet a lot of people from different parts of the world. It's great to meet new people and learn new ways of thinking and new words. It's been fun having them here and It will be sad to see them leave tomorrow. The team is from a school and they come every year so we'll get to see them again next year.

Other than the team, not too much going on...mainly school. I have a few more things to do to finish up this term. How did this term go for everyone?

My birthday was this past week. It was pretty uneventful compared to how these celebrations usually go. This weekend should be fun though. I'm going out with some friends. There isn't too much going on in my life. At this point, I'm pretty much consumed by school. I enjoy it though.

I'm going through a bit of a challenging time as I'm really missing the States. If it were up to me, I'd be moving back in the next 6 months. We'll see what God has planned. Not much I can do except stay where I know He's planted me until He says, "go!"

Like I said, there's not much going on and I'm starting to ramble so I'm going to end with a question.

If your house was on fire and you only had time to save one thing, what would you save?

So, it's been a while since I've blogged. Not too much going on here...just school stuff mainly. So far, I'm enjoying my classes. I've been out of taking college courses for 3 years. I was a little concerned about the adjustment, but so far so good!

I'm pursuing my major in global business with a minor in international relations and public policy. I realized after re-reading my blog, that I haven't mentioned that yet. I also forgot to mention a little about myself that people usually like to know...

Age: 27 (will be turning 28 this month)
Status: Single
Location: Thailand
Originally From: Arizona

So, I want to start a "question of the week" to hopefully encourage interaction on this page. My purpose and goal for writing this blog is to get to know some of the other students at Regent. I'm an online student so I don't have much interaction (if any) with people from the school outside of the Blackboard Discussion Questions for class. So anyway, I want to talk to people! :-)

Here's my question for this week...

If failure was not an option and you had all the resources you needed, what would you choose to do?

I'm sitting in my friends' cafe right now. It's nice. There's worship being played on a guitar and being sung in Thai. The atmosphere here is peaceful...a break from the sometimes noisy chaos of living with 23 kids.

Lately I have been thinking about God's goodness. His faithfulness and love in my life is amazing...much more than I can put in words. There hasn't been anything this past week that's stood out...its just one of those things that one reflects on every once in a while.

Here's a couple of passages I read in my devotions this morning...

Psalms 127:1-4

Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it;
Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; For so He gives His beloved sleep.
Your children like olive plants all around your table.
Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.

1 Chronicles 29:28

So he (King David) died in a good old age, full of days and riches and honor; and Solomon his son reigned in his place.

Reflection:

As we move into this semester, I pray that we remember the purpose for which we toil. That it is God building things in us that we might be of use to His Purposes. Let us not strive in vain, but submit to the process of the Lord in our life that when our time on earth is finished it can be said of us like it was of King David.

It's rainy season here in Thailand. Which means a few things...
1. Unreliable internet service (MAJOR frustration as an online student) :-)
2. Frogs
3. Lizards
4. Snakes
5. Beautiful Sunsets/Sunrises
6. And lots and lots of water.

Although this year has been "drier" than previous rainy seasons, it's still a lot of rain for my native Arizonan self to handle. I enjoy the rain though so I look forward to this season (minus numbers 1-4 as listed above).

This morning I led devotions with the kids here at the Children's Home. We have devotions four days a week with them and Thursdays are my day to share. I was teaching out of 1 Timothy 6 verses 11 and 12 where Paul encourages us to "flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called..."

I find it shockingly easy to turn away from the things I know I should be pursuing and instead pursuing the things of the natural realm. As I prayed with the kids, I asked that God would help me focus my attentions on pursuing these things and that as I did, that he would take care of the "other" things in my life. I find that as I involve Him with every area of my life and talk with him as if he was there with me (which he is), it helps me stay focused on pursuing the things he wants and provides less temptation for me to wander off into my own desires.

What are some things that help you stay focused on pursuing the things of God?

I'm amazed

God's goodness in my life never ceases to amaze me! His hand of direction and provision, as I submit to it, is comforting, encouraging, and more than enough. God has been bringing Proverbs 3:5 alive to me these past few weeks.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding."

You see, I love to figure things out and rely on my brain to help me with the reality of things going on around me. I'm learning to enjoy it when God says, "go for this/work towards this" and I have to trust on Him because I know in the natural it just doesn't happen that way.

That's how Regent was for me. I love school and I love learning. I know the dreams I have in my heart will require me to be as knowledgeable as I can in many areas. For a while, I was holding on to the verse in 1 John where it says, "His anointing teaches us about all things." I figured that if I wasn't supposed to finish school, then I would have to just trust Him. However, it was still a desire in my heart.

About a month ago I stumbled onto Regent University's web site. I was interested to see what online degrees they offered. I became very happy and hopeful in the same moment as I found out that they offered my "dream" degree online. I immediately requested more information.

That same afternoon I was walking around a lake here and was praying. I asked God to confirm that me going to this school was his will by allowing me to be accepted into the fall term. I knew it would take a miracle because I live in Thailand and I can't just go into my old school(s) and request transcripts, everything had to be done online and a day apart because of the time difference. I was told that I wouldn't make the August deadline but could probably enroll in the October classes. I still held on to hope. A couple of days later I got an email saying that because of the associate degree I already had, they were recommending me to be able to start in August. Confirmation #1.

I still had the whole issue of financial provision to work through in order for me to start. Now, here I am a week before classes start and everything is in order and has come through. I know that God's hand is moving in my life. And even though in the natural, I've never had an application/acceptance/registration/financial aid/enrollment process happen this quickly or smoothly, I know that because I refused to focus on how it "wasn't possible" God was able to work a miracle on my behalf.

I am extremely happy and thought I'd share :-)

Other than that, not too much going on here in Thailand. This Friday I am going over to my friend's cafe. It's their music night and they invite students from a local University over to sing and hang out. I'm looking forward to it! God has blessed with many things. One of the things that I thank Him for daily are the friends that He has blessed me with here in Thailand. After I got here, I realized quickly that "long-term" missions isn't what I thought it would be. It's great, but it's a lot harder than I expected. But that's another blog.

Be blessed and I'll write again soon!

Hello from Thailand!

Hi Everyone! This is my first blog on this site. I am very excited to be blogging for Regent. I am currently living and working in Thailand. I have been here since October 2005. I work and live at a children's home. I will be here at least through October of 2008 and then we'll see what God has in store for me! The past year and a half has been a time of growing as an individual and as a child of God. I am enjoying (most days) the process and am happy to invite you along.

As far as Regent goes, I am glad to be back in school. I finished my associates degree before moving to Thailand and am now working on finishing my Bachelor's. I enjoy studying and my only wish is that I could be on campus to meet new people. Plus, I really miss young, Christian American people. :-)

I look forward to getting to know some of you better and pray that my life will be an encouragement to you.

Here are some pictures from my life here in Thailand.


This is a picture of me, my brother, and some friends of ours.


These are some of the girls I live with at the children's home.


This is Dtern. She's another of the girls I live with here.

That's all for now. I'll talk to you more later :-) Have a great day!

"There are many things that capture your eye, but few that capture your heart; pursue those!"