Give My All

This is the poster I made and placed on my wall today to remind me every morning to give my all in everything I do every day, in every way, no matter what may come my way. The Lord HAS to build our house or in the end we will have regrets. We aren't perfect, that's true, but we should always strive to do our best and be as much like Him as we can be. With His help, we can all do better.

I always wanted to have five children while I was growing up. God gave me my wish and loaned Randy and I five children that we could nurture, admonish, love, and rear for Him and His glory. Whatever they decide to do with their lives, as long as it is what He wants for them, they will be truly happy, no matter what their job. There were also two special children that never lived with us. In the past, I would ask and wonder why God would allow us to go through the heart-breaking experience of losing those two babies. As I have grown through my sorrow and loss, I have been able to help others who have experienced the same thing. Although the hurt hasn't totally gone away, I now look at it from this perspective: God taught me many things about Himself and me. I learned to trust more fully in Him and my faith grew. It wasn't necessarily that there was something wrong with them. They were just so "perfect" that only God could have them! They were specifically placed into my life at a specific time that was perfect in God's eyes for me to learn the lessons He needed to teach me. As Psalm 127:3b says, "...and the fruit of the womb is his reward." The desire of my heart is that He will have all of my children - that they will give all of themselves fully to Him to be used by Him for His glory. I also pray that I will allow God to help me point my "arrows" in the right direction. Our quiver is full and we are so very thankful for the opportunity to have them in our lives. May they go straight and far in His service - wherever that may take them.

Vacation Fun With Family

The highlight of our last few weeks was having Randy's Mom come to visit again. And this time, Randy's sister, Rebecca, and her little girl, Madison, came along! We were all very excited to see them, especially Rebecca and Madison since we hadn't seen them in over a year. We went to the beach in Hua Hin, visited an Elephant Village, visited a few temples, and of course, shopped and shopped and shopped and shopped! We all had the chance to ride elephants at the Elephant Village for 30 minutes. Everyone was somewhat nervous at first but after getting used to it, it wasn't too bad. A few of us had ridden an elephant before so we knew what to expect but the ones that hadn't are at least glad they did because now they can say that they did!

Somehow I missed getting a picture with Andrew the day we went to the temples. :(

We thank the Lord for allowing most of our family to come and visit us. We have had visits from family almost every three months! We understand that it is unusual for most missionaries to receive visits as frequently as we have. It has really helped us with homesickness, especially the children. The hardest part, of course, is the few hours after visitors leave. This time was harder for Caleb for some reason. He wanted me to take him to the airport and catch up with them. Several days later, we had some of the childrens' friends over for most of the day. When they left, Caleb again wanted me to take him to the airport. I guess now he thinks that all Americans who come to visit (even if the live in Bangkok) go to the airport when they leave! Poor baby. He will figure it out soon when his friends come to play again. Now, we are almost ready to have another countdown for when my parents come for another visit. YAY!!!