Home Again!

My Asian Adventure was truly amazing! I learned that I can trust God even when I am venturing into the unknown, and that He is with me, even when I had to trust that the Taxi Driver who didn't speak a word of English could read the map I gave him in Bangkok, or that someone would actually be waiting to pick me up outside the Manila airport in the dark! God is so faithful!

I arrived home Sunday afternoon in time to celebrate Matt's birthday with the kids! I love these two pictures of Aidan with his Auntie Heather and Uncle Matt. Aidan loves them both as they love him. It is so much fun to watch them interact with him so I decided to share these with you as well.


Aidan has definitely discovered the camera as you can tell from this picture with Heather. He smiles as soon as he realizes you want to take a picture!



Matt and Aidan have a special bond.....he loves it when Matt gets down on the floor and plays with him and makes animal noises! Boys will be Boys!

Glimpses of Bangkok

Today was our last day here in Bangkok and I must say that it has been the most amazing time! I have seen God's faithfulness in sooo many ways...answered prayers every day and a constant reminder of God's strength in my weakness.

I have made many new friends as we joined together with over 100 staff from 26 countries. Some are kindred spirits that I am sure will be lifers! :-)

On Wednesday we had a chance to spend the afternoon touring Bangkok and I chose to do just that instead of the shopping tour. I revisited the Grand Palace which I had seen three years ago when I was here, along with a Boat Trip which was awesome. Here is a picture of just one of the temples at the Grand Palace.



It was around 100 Degrees out so this picture of me and my monkey friends was taken at the beginning of the afternoon, before we all were red-faced and very hot.

I had hoped to post more pictures but the internet connection here at the hotel is really slow. I had to show you how they cut the lawn here in Thailand! Yes, those are clippers.....the old fashioned kind! And there are two more men waiting to rake up the grass after these two were finished!

Tomorrow I fly to Manila where I will be teaching four more workshops. Thank you for carrying me on the wings of your prayers!

Buzz in Bangkok

Just wanted to post a short post here so you all know that I am alive and well! God has been so good, and I know that I am being carried on the wings of prayer in a big way!

We were all shocked by the news yesterday about the Virginia Tech shootings and I was excited to see this morning(Wednesday) as I logged on to our websites that we have got some great articles there about dealing with grief, and tragedy and disaster. If you are having questions or talking to friends that are, here are some great articles that you can pass on to them. Use this tragedy to share the hope that we have within us in the middle of tragedy.

Disaster & tragedy blog : Tell us what you think
The face of grief - There can be healing
Talk to us - Talk to one of our trained mentors will personally respond to your concerns or prayer request

I've arrived!

Yes it is true, I am in Bangkok, Thailand and everything on my Blogger Dashboard is in Thai! Crazy I tell you! Thank you all for praying...the flights were great, and I even slept on both of them(for a little while anyway) I had two seats to myself on the Vancouver-Manila portion which was awesome and even wrote this Devotional(that I will submit when I have time) while waiting for the sunrise to finally appear!

The Journey of the Endless Night

My body tells me that it is almost noon but the darkness outside the airplane window begs to differ. We have already crossed the International Date Line and I have lost an entire day. I am reminded of the verse from Psalm 139:12, "Even the darkness is not dark to You,And the night is as bright as the day Darkness and light are alike to You.”

How often do our lives parallel this journey of the endless night. When God says ‘Go!’ we easily say “Yes, Lord, I’ll go.”. But then our journey seems to head into the darkness away from the light and the promise of a new day.

“Are you sure God? Was that really your voice I heard?”

“Is this really the direction You want me to go?”

“But it is so dark Lord. Where is the hint of the sunrise? Shouldn’t it be light by now?”

It is exactly in these times when we cry out to our Heavenly Father that He reminds us of His promise:

“If I rise on the wings of the dawn[that is before I see the light],
If I settle on the far side of the sea[this qualifies Lord as we fly somewhere over Japan],
Even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast.” (Psalm 139)

It is you and me Lord, on an airplane where I stand out as the long Caucasian woman. “Why are you going to the Philippines?” they ask.

Because God told me to go.

Where are you at today my friend? Has God asked you to be a woman of faith and go into the darkness?

What fears are holding you back from following His voice today?

Say “Yes, Lord, I’ll go, “ and you will see that His hand will indeed guide you and His right Hand will hold you fast!

Lord thank you that I am not alone because you are right here beside me, and together we can face the journey of the endless night. Even here your right hand will indeed hold me fast and I am content to rest in that promise. Amen.

From Florida to Thailand

As many of you know, Dave and I just arrived back from Florida where we spent 11 days enjoying life in the sun! The first part of the time was spent at a Conference in Orlando where our International Headquarters is located! Once that was finished we drove down to the Gulf Coast to visit an aunt of mine and spend Easter with her! We were so encouraged by her hospitality. She is a widow who loves the Lord and was such a blessing to us! We enjoyed relaxing, reading, swimming(for me) and time in the sun! Just what we needed. On Monday we drove to Sanibel Island, where this lighthouse was located.

The beach was amazing, but along the way we also some creatures that we a total surprise! Like this turtle who was racing thru the sand...he was in a hurry! Not sure where he was going...

Another neat thing about the Island was a Wildlife Refuge where we saw this Alligator! It was mating seaon so we were all told to be careful! He didn't look like he was interested in much of anything!
Today I have repacked and tonight I fly to Thailand where I will be speaking at MinistryNet 2007: Bangkok, an International Campus Crusade for Christ Internet Conference! It's me and God! So as you read this, do pray for me as I travel over there, and then from there to Manila next weekend to teach another all day workshop! We serve an amazing God! I am still almost in shock at these opportunities...He said 'Go' and I said 'yes'....so I am off!