Village Life

These are photos taken while visiting some rural believers in Northern Thailand this past week.
I took lots of pictures and it is always hard to choose which to share but these, I thought, captured the people and their lives .

This young lady was doing some weeding near her home

and had such a beautiful smile.

~ Karen lady & her baby I was delighted to hold  ~  

~ lady with a tub of clothes to hang up  ~

These believers have very little in material possesions

but they have the joy of the Lord.

~ Typical village home ~    ~mother & child~

~ Larry helped dig a hole where they are putting up a new home ~ 

 ~ the pastor and his family ~

Meeting new brothers and sisters in Christ.

The Lord used these visits to challenge my heart in many ways again.

I needed to be reminded of how much I have and thank the Lord for blessing me with comforts so many do not have.

"for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Matthew 6:21

Foto Friday ~ Sowing Rice Seed

This is my first entry in Foto Friday... after some urging from my daughter, Jennifer.

We live in Chiang Mai, Thailand and can enjoy seeing the rice fields in nearby rural areas.
I took this photo of a farmer sowing rice seed. Notice behind him is rice already growing.

This is a wide view photo showing more of the area and how the field is sectioned off for planting the seed.

Rural Village Visit

We recently made a visit to a village in Northern Thailand near Chiang Mai where many Karen people live. They sell products they make by hand to earn a living. There were some really beautiful scarves and table runners along with a lot of other things for sale. Several of the ladies spoke English and many of them were Christians.

Making some beautiful fabric.

This sweet lady gave me a real "bear hug" she had me come in and see her home.

Larry is shooting a crossbow and he hit the apple target right on!

Notice her enlarged ear lobes.

A typical home.

A nice lady.

 

A longneck Karen lady in her shop.

A young lady weaving fabric to sell.

Looking out from village at the rice fields.

Colorful Umbrellas

Today we stopped by a shop that made umbrellas along with many other really beautiful things. With all the rain we are getting I think I could use one of these really large umbrellas to try and stay dry under.

These smaller umbrellas are painted on silk fabric and are quite pretty. I am thinking my 5 year old grand daughter might like one of these :-)  They also had some with white tassels on the edge that I liked.

Rain and more rain...

Our yard was filled with rain water ....

and the street by our house looked like a small river flowing by.

It seems to me that the rainy season is upon  us a little early this year.

Elephants spraying us!

We had fun today showing some friends around Chiang Mai...

the spray of water just missed me...:)

then we were off to see some long necked guys trying to get food from us.

.

This is the closest I have ever been to a giraffe

The Night Safari was a lot of fun and I can hardly wait to take our grandkids if they can come visit us here.

This & that...Here & there

I have included a lot of pictures here from the past several weeks since my return to Chiang Mai......

Royal Gardens...there are many beautiful orchids to enjoy.

A garden area with large "rabbits."

I thought this wall area was pretty.

Larry in one of several meetings we had over the past weeks.

We enjoyed a traditional Thai restaurant for a lovely meal together with friends.

Lots of great food and great fellowship too.

Kumpee - Ann - Praise

Dancers at the restaurant...notice the extra long finger nails:)

These are huge china pieces at the entrance.

I always enjoy the orchids added to the ice tea.

Barb & Sieralynn having cheesecake dessert.

Htay & Larry checking out the swords and knives.

Being silly!!!

The beautiful soap carvings.

A lady selling jewelry.

Larry chatting with a little girl.

This seller was very tired :)

Shops

We finished this evening off with dinner on the roof top restaurant.

Songkran Festival

We ventured out today to do some shopping before our guests arrive on Friday... it was an adventure to say the least.

Songkran is a Thai festival that is celebrated from 13-15 April each year. Here in Chiang Mai it is extended out to last up to 10 days. It is an important festival when families and friends gather to celebrate the Thai New Year, honor their elders, and, of course join in the fun of splashing each other. We were riding in a taxi and I tried to stay dry and capture pictures of some of the people throwing water as we passed by them. The quality is not the best but maybe you can get an idea of what our ride to the shopping mall looked like:)

These guys were actually using a hose to spray people passing by.

These guys had just been drenched by the girls with green and pink buckets.

This little guy is using a monster squirt gun to  spray people with water.

There were many people in the backs of pickup trucks with large containers of water and they would throw it at you as they passed by. We had our umbrellas with us since it had rained all day. It was a good thing because  this container of water that was thrown at us by the guy in black hit the umbrella Larry held up to the open back of the taxi.

Another big water gun.

This was our adventure for the day. My only mishap was when I sat down on the seat of taxi on our drive home...it was sopping wet so I had wet pants on the drive home. It was fun to see people having good fun together.

The Weaving of My Life

"My life is but a weaving, between my God and me.



I do not choose the colors, He worketh steadily.


Ofttimes He weaveth sorrow, and I in foolish pride,


Forget He sees the upper, and I the underside.


Not till the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly,


Will God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why.


The dark threads are as needful in the skillful Weaver's hand,


As the threads of gold and silver in the pattern He has planned."

(Copied from" Each New Day" by Corrie ten Boom)

A special place always in my heart!

My mom and I had a great relationship and I will always hold a special place in my heart for her.

Today she has gone home to be with the Lord. I will certainly miss her but I am also so thankful for the precious memories I can always hold close to my heart ...from my youngest childhood memories...until just this past week that I chatted with her on the phone. Always such a joy to me to hear her say, "I love you." You were such a good mom and I thank you for your love and encouragement to me.

Your grandkids and greatgrandkids were such a joy to you and I know they will cherish the times spent with you.

 

"Death is swallowed up in victory."

"O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting?"

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

But thanks be to god, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

1 Corinthians 15:55-58 (ESV)