Boxes of Love

I'm still slow on the typing but am so grateful that the casting of my 3rd and 4th finger together seems to be doing the trick and I won't require any surgery at the moment. Thank you if you prayed for me and my pinkie, I really covet your prayers. Only another month in the cast and then pinkie rehab! I'm writing today to just send out some additional thanks for each of you that played a part in our receiving several boxes of love over the last two months because I don't know how long it might be before I can send out a handwritten note that might be legible.

Aunt Lola has already cashed in some of her life savings (the postage is so expensive!) to send over two care packages, she is amazingly creative in wrapping Pop Tarts to prevent breakage on the long trip from the states. Grace Church of Gainesville blessed us so much with their Christmas boxes filled with all kinds of wonderful things. They sent over some much needed Christmas paper goods, I tried not to hoard any of it and used it at some of our holiday gatherings. I was so excited about the gift bags and tags-decent wrapping paper is no where to found in these parts, you can only buy small pieces of wrapping paper here. The gift bags got me through Christmas. Somehow in our moving over, none of our board games made it, we have had some Sequence withdrawals for sure! We received a new Sequence game, Bible Scattergories, and a puzzle-what a blessing to our family. Another thing that didn't make it over is pot-holders, Grace also sent over some of those and an apron-woohoo. I'm enjoying my new stationery and scented sachets so much-it just smells like home. I still have the little glass snowman out on my kitchen counter just to jog the memories of cold weather! The CD's we received have been such a blessing. I have really missed Christian radio and now only listen to the CD's we have accumulated over the years, I was needing some new tunes for sure! I told someone that Grace is partnering with us, planting seeds of the gospel through those CD's in our car.

Many times as they are playing I pray that those words would become alive to Songkran, our driver. I know that God can speak through language barriers and I ask Him to reveal himself to Songkran. It's hard to know what he really understands. Last week he was taking me to a shopping center that I frequent and as we were driving down beach road for the hundredth time, I thought surely there has to be another route. Beach road is vile, much nakedness, drunkenness,perversion-it's so sad, offensive and really starts to weigh you down. So I asked, "Songkran, another way we can go to shop? Do we have to come down this road every time?" He is looking confused so I attempt to explain to him my problem with Beach Road and just decide to lay it all out there, explaining it like he could understand everything I was saying. "Songkran, do you know what sin is? This is sin! It's like if Khun Mark had girlfriend-that is sin. If Khun Da wants to kill someone, that is sin. If boys don't obey us-sin. Songkran this is sin all around us, no one has any thought of God and His Word, they are all worshipping self and their indulgences, Christ had to die because of this. It offends me to see this everyday, because I love God..." Songkran looks like a deer stuck in the headlights, he keeps saying, "Okay, Okay, no come this way again." I imagine he was thinking Khun Da was losing it! I've often wondered what he thinks about us and how much he comprehends?

Anyway, back to the love boxes. Today, we received another one of those special boxes-this time from Uncle Tommy and Aunt June. It such a joyful thing to see that pink motorbike outside our gate with a box, to rush in, gather around the opening and discovering all the treasures hidden within. There was much excitement over the Dr.Pepper and what a great find in the Dr. Pepper jelly beans-those were a huge hit! I'm so excited about the Rotel tomatoes and vegetable soup mix. Thank you so much.

The Pop Tarts, the jerky, the gum, the stationery, the cute socks, the decorative paper plates might seem like such simple things to you but they are things that remind us of home. They serve to remind us that we aren't forgotten over here, they speak much love to us and are extension of God's provision and care for us here. Thank you to each of you that sacrificed your time or money to make sure those boxes of love reached us. (Lavon, I'm still keeping my eyes peeled for your box and will let you know when it arrives!)