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)

A desire to help....

Our granddaughter Ellie, who just turned five, has a burden to pray for the TWR minstry in Myanmar and she wants to help them financially too. She decided to sell her art work to earn money she could then donate to them.


Here she is painting one her pictures...

I was so encouraged to hear of her plan of action ... I bought one of her pictures and here is what I received in the mail today.

 This beautiful picture of a monkey by a coconut tree.

and grandpa received the picture of a cross tree with lots of dots.......

Little brother, Owen, likes to paint too .....so we were happy to receive one of his drawings.

If you are interested in a painting by Ellie to help her earn money for this ministry please let me know and I  will give you her contact information. 

Chiang Mai old city wall

and a beautiful water lily..............

We made progress this week...

We made progress this week...

Larry was able to get a work permit for Thailand and now we can begin the process of getting a 1 year multiple entry visa.

The Lord is gracious and has given us several people that have been willing to help us with this process.

A helpful hand...

Today we were given a helpful hand by several workers to weed trim and mow our grass. They did a great job and it was finished in a couple of hours. We still have to look into finding a small mower and weed trimmer and since the yard needed attention, we hired this group of workers. We had fun trying to communicate with them. The small booklet you sent us Jennifer helped :) a little. I was trying to ask if some plants in one area were weeds and if they should be pulled...later we found out they were not weeds but since I was asking about pulling them out they decided I must have wanted them out. Oh well, some will grow back I am sure.

There is actually a gal in the bushes pulling weeds...all you see is her hat:)

That is it for our yard work today...I didn't have to do much this time but there is always another day.

Visa journey

We are still working on acquiring a visa that will enable us to stay long term here. These pictures were taken while in Singapore last week and our adventure at the Thai Embassy. The Lord is opening the way for us and we are waiting on His perfect timing for this process to be completed now in Chiang Mai. Please pray with us for good results this week.

These cute little fellows greet you at the entrance......

The Rose Apple Tree...

The week we moved to Chiang Mai this is what our Rose Apple tree looked like .......................

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The blossoms were so beautiful and the bees were very busy every day for several weeks.........

I was amazed at how quickly the apples formed and were ready to eat.

This is one of the first apples we picked and it was delicious................................

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My friend Ann is enjoying an apple.

This is what the inside looks like. These are really good and actually taste like a rose.

Interesting tile designs

We have some interesting tile designs in some of the bathrooms...this first one is my favorite one.

I didn't put the ones from kitchen and the laundry area...quite funny actually. Maybe another day:)