A Visit From Family

It has been a few weeks since I posted, but we have been busy having fun!!! Randy's Mom and Aunt were able to come and visit for two weeks! As I type, Randy has taken them to the airport and they should be boarding their plane sometime within the next hour. We hated to see them go, but as I told Cynthia last night, "If they don't go, they can't come back!" They are already planning another trip.

It was such a surprise for the children. We didn't let them know that Mama and Aunt Mary were coming. Lee overheard Randy telling someone that his Mama was coming but missed the part about Aunt Mary so he was still surprised. What fun we had watching their faces that Wednesday morning as they came downstairs as saw Mama and Aunt Mary sitting in our dining room! I was going to post the video I took, but apparently, my camera didn't record when I pushed the button! I was so sad when I realized this morning that the video didn't work. :(

While they were here, we were able to take them to some of our new favorite restaurants, went sightseeing, visited a temple and the Grand Palace, and, of course, we went shopping!!!

Also, William turned one year old! It is amazing how fast the time flies. Just one year ago, my mother-in-law was with us for his birth - in Mexico! This year, she had to fly half-way around the world to be here for his 1st birthday!

Please pray for them as they have a long flight ahead of them. And then, there will be jet lag as they get adjusted back to their time zone. We are now counting down to the next visit from family in the States. My parents are coming for two weeks in October and my Daddy will be here for his birthday! We are hoping to keep this visit a surprise from the children also but it is going to be hard considering how long it is until their visit.

God bless you all and thank you for your prayers.

Trusting In God Even When You Don't Understand

This was the theme of the Ladies Retreat that I went to last weekend with the church we are going to here in Bangkok. I was asked to be one of the speakers and was told the theme and immediately I thought, this should be easy! Seems like I have had to do a lot of trusting and not much understanding. My second thought was, maybe I haven't really learned whatever lesson God wants me to learn since I am still doing a lot of this! I got my lesson ready and when we got to the motel, I went to my room to go over what I had prepared. Then I realized that with such a hectic morning, I hadn't done my devotions. So, I pulled out my book and went to the date for that day and this is what jumped off the page at me: "When things seem to be going all wrong, stop and affirm your trust in Me. Calmly bring these matters to Me, and leave them in My capable hands. Then, simply do the next thing. Stay in touch with Me through thankful, trusting prayers, resting in My sovereign control. Rejoice in Me - exult in the God of your salvation!" The lesson I was going to teach went out the window and God gave me a different one. I meditated on Proverbs 3:5&6 and the fact that the verse says "Trust in the Lord" with an understood "all the time". Not just when things are going good or when I can handle things but trust all the time in the Lord. If my trust is in the Lord, "I can do all things" because He will enable me to do what He wants. This is something we all know but I believe there are times in our lives when we have to be reminded of these seemingly "easy" things. The devil knows what can distract us from our walk with the Lord. Just as we always need to be in a mind of prayer, we always need to have an unquestionable trust. He will do the understanding for us. I made a list of all the "bad" things that have happened in my life. There were many on the list and I shared most of them with the ladies. I told them, "I am not telling you this so that you feel sorry for me, but all of us have problems, and what I thank God for is the fact that my circumstances haven't been worse than this. I thank God for teaching me something through each situation that He put into my life." Many times I have asked God, "Why me?" or "Why now?". Isaiah 55:8 says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord." How true! There are things that have happened in my life that I wouldn't have chosen but the lessons I have learned and the knowledge I have gained have allowed me to help others through some of the same situations or just helped me deal with other problems that came along later in my life. Some of the reasons I may never know. One thing I know for sure, my faith in God has increased. No matter what I may be going through in my life right now, God is there and He will help me IF I trust in Him. I have learned that if I ask "Why NOT me?" and "Why NOT now?" I will have a clearer judgement on issues and even though I may not have the understanding, it reminds me that God knows what I am going through and that there is a purpose to what I am facing. Life is not always easy but having the understanding that HE does the understanding, makes it so much easier!

Ashcraft Children

The children have had a wonderful idea of having their own blog! To see what we have created, you can go to http://www.ashcraftchildren.blogspot.com/. Please subscribe to their blog to keep up with what goes on in their world "through their eyes."

Last History Lesson

As our History month of July came to an end, our last history lesson was about Uncle Sam, the bald eagle, and our national flower. I didn't know we had a national flower! It happens to be the rose. President Ronald Reagan declared the rose our national flower on November 20, 1986.

The bald eagle has been our national symbol since June 20, 1782. Did you know it is only found on the North American continent? Also, you can find them in every state except Hawaii but about 80% of them are found in Alaska! And as we all know, bald eagles aren't bald. So, why do we call them bald? An old English word "balde" means white. Something I found quite interesting about eagles is that they can only lift 4 pounds of weight! When the bald eagle was chosen as our national symbol, there were quite a few people who didn't like the idea because they said the bald eagle was a bird of bad moral character because they steal a lot of their food instead of catching it on their own. Believe it or not, one of them was Benjamin Franklin. So, what was the bird he suggested instead? The turkey!!! Can you imagine our Great Seal having a turkey instead of an eagle?! Ultimately, the bald eagle was chosen because of it symbolized freedom and independence. By the way, another who disagreed with having the bald eagle as our national symbol was John James Audobon.

(The children had a great time making bald eagles. They made the body out of their footprint and the wings are their handprints. Naturally, Caleb had to get involved because he loves tracing his foot!)

Uncle Sam has been a symbol of the USA since the World War I "I Want You" Army poster. Actually, Uncle Sam "was born" most likely during the War of 1812. There isn't an exact origin, so to speak, but most believe he came about as the result of the initials U.S. A man named Samuel Wilson was the inspector for meat purchased by the government. There are several different story beginnings but they all end with the fact that there were barrels of meat sent to the soldiers during the War of 1812 marked with the initials U.S. Someone asked what the initials meant and the facetious reply was "Uncle Sam Wilson, our meat inspector." A resolution was passed by Congress in 1961 recognizing Samuel Wilson as the inspiration for "Uncle Sam." Interestingly enough, many of the portrayals of Uncle Sam strongly resemble Samuel Wilson. However, Uncle Sam hasn't been the only symbol of American government. Before him was "Brother Jonathan." British loyalists used this term to describe the Revolutionary Patriots. Jonathan Trumbull was the governor of Connecticut in the 1700's. When George Washington was faced with a difficult decision, it is recorded that he would say, "Let us consult Brother Jonathan." Brother Jonathan and Uncle Sam were used interchangeably for a while. At the beginning of the Civili War, Brother Jonathan was predominately used, but by the end of the War, Uncle Sam emerged the more popular and Brother Jonathan has basically become a forgotten symbol.

The last day of the month of July was a wonderful day for us. Some friends of ours from South Carolina came to visit!!! They have family that live in India, so our friends flew to Bangkok to meet up with family that was flying in from India. Although we only had a few hours together, we had a great time! The kids all received a bag with games, puzzles, and toys and we were given Kool-aid, taco seasoning, more school supplies, and various other little things we had asked for. We thank the Lord for His many blessings, but most of all this week, fellowship with special friends and good Christian fellowship!