Another Visit From Family

What a blessing to have had my parents come for a two-week visit! For those of you who know my parents, you know how difficult this is. My Daddy owns a funeral home and is the director so it is very hard for him to get away. While they were here, we celebrated his birthday. What a fun time we had!

During that time, many parts of Bangkok were experiencing flooding and we thought we were not going to be able to visit the temples we wanted to take them to see. By the end of the time, however, the flooding had gone down and we were able to go!

We were also able to take them several hours out of the city down south to a place called Cha'am. They enjoyed being able to see more of the country than just the big city. Cha'am is on the east coast of Thailand next to the Gulf of Siam. Of course, since we were at the beach, we had to have a meal of crabs and shrimp!

The children had an especially fun time, starting with the fact that they didn't even know their grandparents were coming! It was so much fun to watch their faces while they were playing when they looked up and saw their grandparents walk out of the bedroom the morning after they arrived. The highlight for them was getting to have Christmas early.

After having made several trips to Mexico, Thailand was very different for my parents. Seeing the temples and the monks walking around amid lost people who aren't aware there is a Saviour, my Daddy commented, "This makes you want to go to Israel and visit the Holy Land!" Yes, it makes one very sad to be in a culture where they don't believe in the One True God. How exciting it would be to visit the place where Jesus was born, lived, died, and resurrected!

If it wasn't for my parents' love for missionaries, I don't believe I would be where I am today. My parents have always been involved with missions in every church they have been in. They housed missionaries in their home many times. They allowed my brother and I to stay up late at night even though there would be school the next day so that we could hear their stories. We learned many things about many countries, and from a little girl, I wanted to be a pastor's wife or a missionary's wife. My mother, many times, allowed missionary wives to do their laundry at her house. I believe that my mother's willingness to help in an area that was never known about was rewarded through me while we were traveling in the States on deputation and furloughs. I have always been offered a place to wash clothes or at the last minute, found a roll of quarters in a missionary basket I was given, in order to wash clothes at a motel when needed. God watches out for us in every area, no matter how insignificant it may seem to others. Thank you, Daddy and Mom, for allowing me to have the influence of other missionaries in my life. God has used you both in a tremendous way through my life. Who knows how He will also use my children?!