Trip to "Big Mountain"

We have a busy few days ahead of us. Tomorrow, the new mall opens in Khon Kaen. This is a big deal. For some crazy reason I have agreed to go with 3 of my friends, toting two children, to the opening day of this mall. My biggest objective is to find out whether or not they will be selling Christmas trees. I am desperate to get a Christmas tree up but I'm not yet desperate enough to spend $50 on a short, gappy, sparse, plastic tree. Watch, I may be eating these words after tomorrow when I can't find my dream artificial tree. There is just nothing like bringing home a nice, big, full, Fraser Fir that smells up your whole house. Those were the days. But its also nice to have all your windows open enjoying nice, perfect temperature weather on Christmas Day also. The blessings and the sacrifices- life is full of them.

Ok, so on with our busy week. After our mall outing on Thursday we will have a Women's Christmas Fellowship on Friday night. This is a party that our team puts on every year for our staff women and missionary women from other organizations in the area. I'm really looking forward to this. We're having a appetizer buffet, lots of dips, chips, cheesiness of every kind and cookies. Can I handle it? Thanksgiving already left me with 1.7 extra lbs. I'll just have to do a few extra laps around the neighborhood this week, and a few hundred more crunches (not).

Lastly, the reason for this whole post in the first place, Saturday morning I will be leaving to go to Khao Yai (pronounced 'Cow Yie). The Thai staff girls are putting on a small women's evangelistic retreat. There will be 16 Thai college students (12 of which are unbelievers), 2 Australian college students, and 6 of our staff women. This is really a big opportunity that we would love for you to be praying for. The majority of the students are girls that our two single Thai staff women at NEU have been building friendships with over the last few months. We are asking the Lord to prepare their hearts to respond to a clear presentation of the gospel. We are convinced that it is the gospel that is "the power for salvation". Please pray these things for our weekend:

1. Safe travel as we take 3 vehicles on a 4 hour drive (one way).
2. Snow and Honey would have clarity and boldness as they teach and share the gospel.
3. That the Holy Spirit would remove the blindness and chains that keep these young women in bondage to idol worship and seeking satisfaction and happiness in the things of this world.
4. That, I personally, would be able to build some relationships with these students. Being at home with Sophie, I have little opportunity to go on the campus and enter their world. I would love to maximize this opportunity in order to build trust with them so that they would feel free and comfortable to come to "my world". How I long for my home to be a refuge, a safe, warm place that when unbelievers walk in, they know there's something different and they want to know why. I want more opportunities to use hospitality as my medium for evangelism.
5. Lastly, pray for Marc and Sophie as they will be home alone for 3 days. I know Sophie will miss me but she LOVES extended quality time with her Daddy.

I look forward to posting lots of pictures from our weekend and maybe even share about another soul being redeemed!

Love,
Sherry

Thanksgiving

happy thanksgiving from thailand from marc lewis on Vimeo.

A scarf in Thailand?

Can you believe that I'm sitting at my computer wearing a jacket and a scarf? I also have a throw blanket wrapped around my legs. The temperature is right at 60 F this morning. I know that doesn't sound cold to many of you but I might as well be sitting outside in the 60 degree weather. We have no insulation and all granite/ tile floors so its pretty much the same temperature inside as it is outside. I walk with a good friend of mine at 5 am and I have NO long exercise pants here. So I'm out there with running shorts and a jacket. Our Thai neighbors don't mess with the cold weather, everyone we pass (the 3 other people walking at that time) are bundled to the max- sock caps, scarves, gloves, etc. I'm sure they think I'm crazy. But, with all that said, I LOVE IT!!!!!! There is nothing better to aid in getting in the holiday spirit than cold weather- well, playing Christmas music always helps.

Sophie and I made a couple of Thanksgiving crafts. There is one with a poem writen on it that involves writing things you are thankful for. I asked her to tell me things she was thankful for and she started her list: God, Daddy, Mommy, a few family members, and then she said holiness. "Holiness?", I asked. "What do you think holiness means?". She answered, "I don't know. God told me to say it." Was that a message for me?



We are also getting ready for our big Thanksgiving dinner at the church. We were going to have the meal at our house but with the unpredicability of the weather, we thought it best to have it at the church. We have no AC in our downstairs and its predicted to be 90+ degrees on Thanksgiving day. Sitting around sweating while trying to enjoy a big plate of hot mushy casseroles would not be fun. Whoohoo, I cannot wait for a plate of hot, mushy casseroles all piled up together with just a corner reserved for a heaping spoonful of cold, crunchy broccoli salad. While we may not have access to all the holiday trimmings, we certainly make do. It also usually turns out that someone is making a trip to Bangkok and can make a grocery run for everyone. This year it happened to Moe and Git. Git had a long shopping list that included stuff like: pecans (which cost about $5.50 for 1/2 cup), corn bread mix, canned pineapple, cranberry sauce, karo syrup, etc. The only thing that will be missing this year is a turkey. Yes, thanksgiving without a turkey. We actually have access to butterball turkeys here but they are outrageously expensive. So, we do rotisserie chickens from a local grocery store. Honestly, I can take or leave the meat (although I do love my Daddy's perfectly moist smoked turkey), just give me that plate full of hot, mushy casseroles with a little crunchy broccoli on the side and I am blissfully content.

I look forward to posting pictures of our Thanksgiving spread from this Thursday. I will be assisting our resident decorator, Mary Jo Ray (missionary teacher) with the festive decor. I know we will have a wonderful day of eating and talking, two of my favorite things. The upcoming month holds lots of other holiday activities. We'll be making a trip to Laos, Bangkok and Khao Yai. I'm sure we'll have lots to write about then. We also have a group of Australian college students coming to help meet Thai students on the campus. I'm looking forward to all the Lord has planned for us over this Christmas season. We're praying that many hearts are opened and that the gospel would pierce and bring freedom. Joy to the World!

Lewis Family Disco Throw Down

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Sophie's Song

Sophie's Song.

Singing at the table. Breaking all the rules. I was trying to get some footage of her talking but she decided to sing. Don't read into her song...she is a happy girl who knows who she is and also knows her stuffed animal flopsy.

Ballet Class

Today Sophie took her first ballet class at the Hug School in Khon Kaen.



Here they are warming up.













Working on positions.




We are very pleased that there is now a ballet school in our city. Sophie had a great time!

Waiting

I wanted to blog about "waiting" this morning. I just googled, "wisdom from waiting" and I ran across this website, someone interviewing Lewis Smedes. These are the bullet points of his interview:

I. We all have to wait sometimes.
II. Nobody likes to wait.
III. Waiting is the hardest thing we ever do.
IV. Waiting can be a beautiful experience.
V. People who cannot wait almost always make things worse.
VI. The strength to wait comes from faith.
VII. In fact, waiting for God is the supreme test of faith.

These are all great reminders for me right now. We turned in the paperwork for our second adoption, here in Thailand. Initially, I was told that the wait time would be one year. The social worker casually informed me that it would now be at least 2 years. This waiting time will not even begin until we have finished our homestudy. I don't know when that homestudy will take place, I just have to WAIT for someone to contact me.

This is not how I had things planned. Isn't it interesting how we don't even realize we are making plans until we find out things aren't going according to that plan. I definitely agree with point VII. "... waiting for God is the supreme test of faith." I struggled HARD while waiting for Sophie Mei. Many days of crying and disappointment, not understanding why it was taking so long. But God was patient with me as I was impatient with Him.

Sophie just woke up and is laying her head in my lap. Wow, looking into these dark eyes, that I love beyond words, how can I question God's wisdom and timing? I can't. Thankfully, He is always patient with me and I will pray that He will give me the grace to wait and be patient in response.

"Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD."- Ps. 27:14

"I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope."- Ps. 130:5

"I say to myself, 'The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.'"- Lam 3:24

We are waiting and we are open to whatever opportunity God might put before us in the meantime. The more babies, the merrier the home. Please pray with us.

Sherry, Marc and Sophie