Yesterday was quite a sweet day. It started off a little rocky when I couldn't put Sophie's carseat back together. I had taken it apart so that I could wash the cover but there ended up being one piece whose original place I could not find. I love putting things together so it became especially frustrating when I couldn't do it. I searched all over the internet for a diagram on how to put the carseat back together but couldn't find it. I had tried not to bother Marc b/c he was working on something but finally I put out my distress call. Thankfully, it only took him looking at it for about 30 seconds and he told me where it went. My hero. This small crisis put us way behind going to the grocery store. It was 11:30 and I knew Sophie would be way too sleepy to make it through the grocery store without falling apart. I decided that my chances for a successful shopping trip were a lot better if we ate lunch first. There's a small Thai "food court" upstairs at Lotus (grocery store). We ordered Khaw Mon Guy (baked chicken and rice) and Phad Thai (stir fried noodles). We ended up sharing the Khaw Mon Guy as the Phad Thai was inedible for me, full of fatty pork and tiny dried shrimp. Because I generally eat anything, it has to be pretty bad for me to leave a full plate of it.
Well, to my surprise, Sophie was an angel all through the grocery store. She was quite content, just talking to me the whole time. We were even serenaded by a man from Whales, seriously. He was a character. We got finished in record time but I knew that a good nap would be ruined if Sophie fell asleep in the car. So, there began "Operation Keep Sophie Awake". It wasn't as difficult as it has been on other occasions. I have even resorted to feeding her candy to keep her awake. This time I just talked to her, asking her all kinds of questions. I could tell she was getting sleepy when all of a sudden she just yelled out, "my tummy hurts... I eat too much food around here." Where did that come from? Sophie is a very sweet child but it just seemed that she was especially sweet that day. Or was it just that I was in a good mood, able to appreciate her sweetness? I just couldn't keep my hands and lips off of her. I probably told her I loved her 85x's. She replies with "tank you, mom."
We get home, get a nap and all is well. Later that night I made spaghetti and invited a friend over. My friend, Blaa, is Thai and she used to be on staff with our ministry. Now, she has opened a Christian bookstore in the city. She asked if a friend could come with her. The guys were on campus for dinner so, for me, the more girls at my house the merrier. Her friend was a sweet girl from Taiwan. She was a Christian who was here teaching Mandarin at an elementary school. Her name is Wendy and she is very homesick. She just walked into my Blaa's bookstore looking for a friend, for fellowship. I was so glad she came. We ate dinner and talked for while. She told me how she became a Christian 10 years ago. She had been looking for meaning in life, her purpose. She asked her teacher and she gave Wendy an encyclopedia and told her it would have the answers. Sad. One day she went to get a new haircut, hoping it would make her feel better, less depressed. The hairdresser was a Christian and Wendy could tell there was something different about her. Long story short, Wendy heard the gospel and placed her faith in Jesus. I was very encouraged. I hated to cut the conversation short but I needed to give Sophie a bath and get her to bed. You could tell Wendy didn't want to leave. I went upstairs, gave Sophie a bath and then came back downstairs. They were leaving and Wendy asked if we could all pray together. It was precious. Sophie sat in my lap for about 10 mins. while we prayed. I prayed in English, Wendy prayed in Chinese and Blaa prayed in Thai. A beautiful picture of heaven, people from every tongue, tribe and nation gathered around the throne of God. I love that praying is such a normal thing to Sophie already. She would never let us forget to pray before we ate. She's precious. I know all mom's think that about their children so I make no apologies :-). 
Blaa, Wendy and Sophie
It was a sweet day with Sophie Mei.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Lovely Day with Sophie Mei
Monday, June 29, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
A French Press in Amazing Thailand
Another week in "Amazing Thailand". This has been a description for Thailand used by the Ministry of Tourism for atleast the last 10 years. Now, its commonly and affectionately used by most Thais and foreigners (that's us) living here. It really is a pretty amazing country. I think our sweet little house guest is loving his visit (Slade would probably prefer not being called "sweet" and "little" but since this is my blog I will proceed with overly feminine and maternal language). We love watching someone "fresh" enjoy all the things to look at and observe. The mama and baby cow travelling in the bed of a truck, and another truck loaded down with plastic chairs at least 6 ft. high with a man sitting on top calls out to a newcomer as a great photo-op, but to us feels very normal. The first couple of weeks that we were back felt like a shock to my system- culturally- but its been encouraging that all those things quickly returned to feeling familiar and normal. I'm sitting here on my bed, Sophie napping beside me, with my laptop- everything feels very normal- but then I think, "Wait, I'm in Thailand, on the other side of the globe, and I LIVE here." Strange.....but wonderful. It can only be the Lord to give this kind of peace being so far from home. We were just reminiscing today at lunch. We let ourselves dream sometimes, picturing the beautiful drive to Marc's mom's house in N. Caroline, the geraniums on the square in McDonough. The other day I was watching a video of the procession that took Sgt. Beale's body from the airport to the funeral home. The video took me down all the familiar roads from Fayetteville to McDonough. My heart did ache but still it had peace. Its been neat explaining to Sophie why Daddy and Slade go to "campus" everyday. I want to keep before us all, even Sophie, why we're here. Here's our conversation,
me: "Sophie where is Daddy and Slade?"
Sophie: "campus"
me: "Why did they go to campus?"
Sophie: "tell friends about Jejus."
me: "what do they tell them about Jesus?"
Sophie: "Jejus loves them. Jejus died on the cross."
me: "If they believe in Jesus where can they go?"
Sophie: "heaven".
Marc likes to clarify and keep us on track, "Sophie, who will be in heaven?" Sophie: "Jejus... and P'Honey (one of the staff girls whom she loves.)
Anyway, I was going to talk about our week and went off on a tangent instead. Sophie and I have had a few friends over for dinner while the guys were on campus. Marie and her boys came over on Tuesday night and I made spaghetti pie, then on Thursday night we kept little Rae Rae (Moe and Git's daughter) while Moe was in the hospital (he had nose surgery after a minor soccer accident). Sophie had fun playing with Rae, except for the few times that she couldn't quite make herself share her toys. She had to get a little discipline a couple of times but other than that they had fun together. Finally, on Friday night Sophie and I were able to attend our first ministry event on campus. She had a really good time as long as she was stuck to her Daddy's side. That was nice for me too as I was able to get to know a few students. We have a retreat in a couple of weeks that Sophie and I will go on. I'm looking forward to that so that she and I both can spend more time with everyone.
The last bit of exciting (though insignificant) news from this last week is that I got a french press coffee maker. I've been drinking instant coffee for the last three months and since its already not easy to find a good coffee maker for a decent price, I bit the bullet and bought a french press. I'm still trying to figure out how to make a good cup of coffee with it but I'm hopeful that I can master it and wow my mom and dad with a superb cup of coffee when they come to visit in September.
If there are any french press experts out there, please feel free to instruct me.
Sherry
Monday, June 22, 2009
critters and such
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| Misc. 6.23.09 |
Life is seeming to get to a "new normal" for us. Marc has been really busy since the Cross Cultural Project students have been here. We were spoiled having him home everyday when we first got here as everyone was out for summer break and the staff had "down time". Slade Adams is also staying with us this summer and we have loved it, especially Sophie. Every morning she says, "Where Daddy is? Where Slade is?". Then when they leave she always cries and says she wants to go with them. She has even referred to Slade as "my Slade", then she randomly looked at me one day and said, "I'm Slade's baby". Wow, we're going to be a mess when Slade has to leave.
Sophie and I are at home on most days. Its much different than the first time we were here. We have gone on campus a few times to eat with Marc but there's really not much opportunity for us to get around the students right now. We have three Thai staff women who are on campus everyday and I look forward to opening my home for them to bring some of the students they are ministering to. I love being at home with Sophie, she is growing so fast. She's talking a lot. She LOVES puzzles and painting. We have a little fish pond in front of our house and she always wants to go "catch the fish". We have a net and she splashes around in the water quite often, poor fish. I'm so thankful for the house that the Lord has provided, it is quickly becoming our home away from home.
One thing I've had to get reacquainted with is the abundance of "critters" that are inevitably going to find their way into your home. Ants in abundance, ginkgoes (aka. geckos), tuk-kae (lizard a little larger than a gecko), frogs, spiders, mosquitoes, roaches and occasionally snakes. I will be sure to include a picture of most of these as they have been much obliged to pose for my camera. The most disconcerting visit we had was from a friendly garden snake. Sophie and I were sitting in the living room, I was reading as she was playing. She started to walk into the dining room and I heard her say, "What's him doing?" "What's who doing???!!", was my response as I sprung from my chair. And sure enough, there's a little green snake slithering across the floor. Now, I'm not particularly scared of snakes, I kind of like them. But there's something about one crawling into your house that is quite unnerving. I scooped Sophie up and we ran upstairs to get Marc. He was able to catch it and dispose of it. Initially, I wasn't going to offer this information to my mom as I didn't want her to worry but she recently told me that she and my dad had a 5' king snake in the house, wrapped around the base of my dad's recliner. So, I figured this little garden snake would be nothing to her :-).
The only other exciting thing that has happened around the Lewis house is that Sophie was able to feed a baby elephant on the side of the road. It is very common to see a man walking an elephant down the street trying to make money. He sells small bags of sugar cane or bananas (20 baht a bag) for you to feed his elephant. Sophie (and Slade) were very happy to give the baby his breakfast. She hopes to see a mama elephant sometime soon.
I might try to take a power nap now as the princess is sure to wake up from hers any minute.
Until Next Time,
Sherry, for the Lewis'
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Long Time, No Blog
I'm not sure if anyone ever looks at our blog anymore but I think I'm ready to use it again. Yay!!!! Next week marks our 3 month anniversary of being back in Khon Kaen, Thailand. Originally, I named this blog "Sweet Journey" referring to our long, but sweet, journey to our first child, Sophie Mei. Now, I would like to keep the title but have it represent our family's daily "sweet journey" with Jesus as we live a relatively normal life as Americans in northeastern Thailand. I would love all you precious people that we love so much to occasionally see and hear what's going on in our daily lives. Marc has a blog where he keeps everyone updated with the ministry on the college campus, this blog will be more about our life at home, where Sophie and I spend most of our time. So, stay tuned and I'll try to come up with everyday musings to keep you involved in our lives. We love ya'll!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Two Years Old
Saturday, December 27, 2008
4 videos of gorillas, tricks, hip-hop and santa...with Sophie
Atlanta Zoo
Our day at the zoo this summer.
WARNING--Sophie shows some aggression in this one...and a gorilla passes gas.
Skilz
Just having some fun at home on Thanksgiving night.
Sophie Dancing
Hanging out with the family one night turned into a dance party.
Santa 2008
Now when Sophie sees or hears about Santa she says, "scared".
