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Thanksgiving

It was another lonely Thanksgiving for me -- not another American in sight and a husband who is on lock-down at the Air Force base because he has to be ready to be deployed to Bangkok at any time.

However, I made the most of it. I had been planning all month to make mashed potatoes. When I got to Lotus (a Super Wal-Mart look-alike), I had the brilliant idea to get a whole chicken. The lady who sold it to me thought I was a little weird when I told her that she didn't have to chop it, but it looked like a miniature turkey on my table.

I also decided I would make an apple pie -- there were actually some Granny Smith's at the store yesterday. When I got home, I chopped them up nicely and added sugar and cinnamon. Only once I began measuring out flour for the crust did I realize that I did not have any shortening. So, it turned into cinnamon apples for dessert -- which was quite good.

I've got so much to be thankful for. It turned out to be a good day!

Pictures from last time Boy was home:

September:

- Boy got to be home for 3 weeks in September. It was great to be able to experience "real life" with my husband!

What a great husband I have!

- The semester ended with a bang. Students were breaking down the walls of my cubicle, trying to get late work in and then trying to see their grades and complain if they failed -- even though they never came to class and never did any work! Thankfully, Boy was able to help calm the masses and help grade homework from my listening/speaking classes.

Yes, ONE day of grading!

I decided to bring the craziness outside!

Check out the amazing salad I got at a restaurant we will not be going back to!

October:

- Mom came to visit. We spent several days in Chiang Mai where I could get my "big city fix" and see old friends. Then, we drove the 15+ hours to Ubon where we filled our days with fun and more shopping! It was so great to have Mom here! Thanks for everything!! :)

- Boy is such a great football (soccer) player that he was asked to play on one of the two Air Force base's teams. He is the only soldier to be playing -- the rest are leaders and commanders. Mom and I got to go see his first game while she was here. The following weekend, he had another game that I got to go see. He has had trouble with his leaders because he's leaving and he's the only one who gets to. However, it's been great that he can feel like a true human for a moment!

- The new semester is starting next week so I am not pushing to get ready. It's exciting having things to accompish during my usual-boring days in the office!

- Mom got me a sewing machine so that's keeping me busy at home. Look what I got done... :)

No, I didn't do the duvet cover or the teddy bear, but I did do the little pillow. Thanks, Brad and Karissa for picking the cover out and Joey for bringing it to Nigeria and Mom for bringing it to Thailand! :)

- I will get more pictures up once the new computer can get on the internet (just waiting for McAfee to arrive).

A quick update on Boy and the problems in Bangkok: I'll let you read/hear the general news yourself. As far as Boy's concerned, he's on lock-down again at the base and they have to be ready to be deployed at any time. Thankfully, however, Ubon is quite a ways away from Bangkok so this base is in the third and final group (of the country's military) which will only go if absolutely necessary.

Please pray for Boy -- that he won't have to go, and that he will be able to make it even longer without a break - both physically and emotionally. He hasn't been home for longer than 40 hours in 3 months. It's really taking a turn on his body and our emotions. Also, of course, please pray for Thailand! Thanks for all of your support!

My August update

I know it's been a while again. I'm sorry that time keeps slipping away from me. The first semester is almost done -- one month until the last final is done. That means that my life is getting crazy with grading because I've just given students their current grades. Panic has set in and make-up work is being turned in almost hourly. Boy hasn't been able to come home for his promised 'week off every month' in 3 months but at least this month, he's been able to come home on the weekends. As of today, he's got 431 more days left in the Air Force.

Yesterday was my birthday. It was a good day, for my current situation. I got many messages and happy wishes. And, I got to go into the Air Force base to have lunch with my husband. Of course, I had to be the one to go buy the food but it was very special to actually get to see and spend a little time with the man I love on my birthday. I taught 2 classes during the day and spent the evening having a blast with Macchi and watching a stupid movie on TV. Oh well, at least it was one I had never seen before.

Happy Birthday, Mommy!

Boy and I had celebrated last weekend -- he took me to a nice dinner and bought me a cake. Here's a picture of my amazing husband earlier that day when we took Macchi to the park.

Some random pictures:

The other day, Boy called me to tell me that there was a rainbow. It's so nice that he's close enough to share these things, even through the phone.

Seriously, I think one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time: who rides their bike to the park so that they can exercise on the bikes?!?!

Friends

We thank God for the amazing friends that we have. However, the closest of my friends are at least 800 kms away. It's been a difficult past 10 months without having friends around me. Isaan people are much, much, much more reserved and shy than other Thai people. This has made it difficult to make friends. Even Christians of Ubon have been reluctant to start a friendship. Therefore, church has also been a struggle area.

I got a phone call a couple weeks ago from a Singaporean missionary (he was Boy's supporter while at DTS and did the mini message at our wedding). Josh came to the university to meet with me.

Josh has really been feeling led to start a YWAM base here in Ubon, with a focus on university students. He (and others) feel like they need to start with the university where I am teaching. Josh kept seeing my face as he was praying about it and believes that God wants me apart of the work -- seeing that I'm 'tent-missionarying' it with my 'field' being the girls I teach.

So, as long as it's okay legally, my name will be the university contact person for the club. It was really exciting to talk with him and share all of the doors that are slowly beginning to open up:

- I talk (sometimes through email or Facebook) with one of my 3rd year students daily. She has told me many times how much she loves me and is thankful that I'm her teacher and helper.

- Every week, I eat lunch with a bunch of girls from my mid-morning class of first year students -- we get out right before lunch time so it works out perfectly. They're not scared to talk with me because I speak Thai but push them to speak English for things they know (or help them say something random that they want to learn). But, the Thai makes it more comfortable to talk.

- A girl I don't even teach hangs out with me any chance she can.

- etc. etc.

Josh also told me that there's a group that meets for worship, prayer, message, etc. on Sundays. I've gone the past 2 weeks and it's been great! I've been able to make some friendship bases -- with Josh, his wife Margaret, his 3 kids, Kennie (she's a missionary from India), P'Nu (she's Thai), and Chris (an American). It was great to be able to worship together and then just talk just for the sake of talking! We went to Pizza Co. together this past week.

Please pray for Boy. Can't share the details on here.

Football

**There are four new blog entries today! Enjoy the quick update on our lives!**

Boy has been able to escape for a couple hours in order to join his team in two games of a local football tournament. The first game was last weekend at 12:30 am, so this was the only game that I could get pictures of.

Out of the 51 teams who started in the tournament, Boy’s team is now in the top 8. Both games were shut-outs. In the first game, Boy scored the final (of 4 goals). In this game, Boy scored the first and the third (of 3) goals. He’s so amazing!!



My husband was responsible for 3 of these goals. (Yes, they’re a little slow at changing the scoreboard!)

Boy's Birthday

It was my amazing husband’s birthday a couple days ago. I am so thankful for having him in my life. However, we weren’t able to even see each other on his birthday – just a few short phone conversations. Thankfully, we celebrated while he was home for his week’s holiday. So, here’s some pictures from the celebration.

His dinner of choice – macaroni noodles with red meat sauce.

His cake of choice – a pizza filled with meat and overflowing with cheese! It was my first successful run at a pizza crust, although I didn’t totally think through the wax candles before I put them in! Needless to say, we had to cut out those sections of the pizza!

The “traditional” picture of the birthday honoree with the gifts.

Happy Birthday, my Love!

Students

Most days, I am loving teaching! My students are great! I’m building relationships with many of them. The ones that come to class regularly are making progress already. As this is my current ministry, please be praying for these girls. They’re in rough situations as university students here. And, they all need Jesus.

In order to get to know their names, I took pictures of each one. Here’s a sampling from each of my classes (except the one I had last year).

First year students – I teach Listening and Speaking 1. There are 150 registered for these 3 classes and most of them are regulars. Because they’re just starting on their English journey, they don’t speak or understand much, so I teach in Thai a lot. I use a lot of humor in my teaching and it breaks down the walls when I use humor in Thai! It’s fun building relationships with students who will be around for several years. They are really catching on to the lessons we’ve covered so far and most of them are working hard at memorizing things.

Third year students – I teach Features of Extended Writing. Because this is their last year before internship year, I try to only speak English. We just finished a two-week unit on friendly letters. I am quite impressed with their finished product. We’ve started into our news article unit. These students are fun because many of them know enough English to converse semi-well. They are excited to practice their English with a native speaker because many of them want to work in the tourist industry. They are also fairly “grown-up” so it’s more as if I am talking with peers, rather than students.

Macchiato

Macchi keeps growing bigger and bigger. He’s still the hit at the university. He even comes to most of my classes with me. He still has just as much energy as ever. As I’m writing this, he’s enjoying his new Kong toy from my grandparents – Thanks, G and G!

This is one of his new favorite positions in the car – it’s as close as he can get to mom but it’s oh so uncomfortable!

Here he is with one of our new friends – Jiew. She’s a student but not one of my students. She’s a sweety and enjoys hanging out with us whenever she can!

Mr. Cool Dude!

NOT a good way to start the new school year!

Well, the new school year has officially begun. (Or has it??) But first, I must provide some background information.

2.4 was one of my classes last semester. They started out being fun but quite ditsy. As my half of the semester went on, the ditsy-ness grew into huge frustration. While my other two classes took advantage of my availability for extra help, this class did nothing. While my other two classes took advantage of my lenience for late work (half-credit, but really helpful if they turned nothing in the whole time), this class did nothing. As a result, only a handful passed the final while many failed the class as well. It also left me very frustrated.

So, last week when I found out that I was going to be teaching the same students (now 3.4), I had the bitter taste in my mouth return. I have spent the past few days trying to convince myself to have a good attitude but they have been difficult self-discussions.

All morning today, I was trying to balance the excitement for the school year beginning with the dread of my first class being 3.4. I thought that the excitement was winning out and when the top student called me to see if class was meeting today, I was able to smile.

Lunch finished, I made copies of my syllabus (because the ones I had ordered weren't done yet) and I made it up to the classroom. No one was there. I called the top student to check that we had the same room numbers on our various schedules. Same. So, I asked when everyone was coming and she laughed and told me that they had decided not to have class today. I was appropriate for Thai culture but still made it clear that I was very frustrated and that I am the one who decides if, on a school day, we have class or not! Definitely not a good way to start the school year!

• Boy had a week off (8th-14th) which was great! We were able to go to this great resort on the border of Laos, overlooking the Mae Khong River, for 2 nights. And, we stayed in a villa! It was a gorgeous break from reality for both of us.


• Boy is back full-force at the Air Force now. His emotions and feelings toward the place go back and forth at least once a day. But he's there. He's made some great friends who have supported him against the beat-up/death threats.


• I am getting ready to start real work. Classes start at the beginning of next month. We still don't know what we're teaching but somehow, the students do! One of the other foreign teachers had a student come to him all excited because he was going to be teaching one of her classes. All he could do was stare and say "Really??" I have cut back on my private teaching because school at non-university levels has started. I am going to start teaching an adult student now as well.


• Macchiato is getting so big. He's getting his shots weekly. He's not much of a complainer and is very much like his daddy and the culture around him -- "whatever" is his favorite word. He's learned how to sit on command and is now working on understanding the difference between that and 'lay down'. He's still coming with me to the office and he really loves sitting quietly on my lap or helping me type. Right now, he's opting for the quiet, peaceful life.

Macchi's new favorite position to sleep when I'm teaching. How could this possibly be comfortable?!?!?!Boy, working on the yard at home.

Once again . . .

Please Pray! Boy and I are both finding our current lives to be very oppressive spiritually. Boy is the only Christian in a camp full of Buddhists. Every night (except Wednesday), they all worship Buddha. He doesn't participate but he is required to be there. The church has not been supportive of either of us so I am without Christian support as well. The only Christian contact we have is with each other and I talk with my mom (sometimes my dad) every night. Boy talks with some DTS friends every once in a while as well.

It is also hard to understand (and remember) why God has us apart for another year and a half. Most of the time, it doesn't make sense and the yearning takes over rather quickly. In our minds, it sure would make sense to spend our first years of marriage being together, living like married people, not like singles. But God doesn't have the same opinion. That's been a problem, too. We've both struggled with anger towards God and depression.

Every once in a while, we are reminded of the great opportunity Boy has to share Jesus with Air Force soldiers. After all, not many people get to do that.

I have started listening to messages online for some feeding but Boy doesn't have that luxury -- both with time and with language and culture. So, we both ask for prayer for our relationships with God. And, that we will be able to trust God for this path that He has chosen for the next 18 months. Pray that we will be able to be lights in this very dark place!

New jobs . . .

For Jeri: I'm still teaching at the university but now I am also teaching privately. It helps greatly with our finances and also provides me something to do -- it's summer break and all I've been doing every day is sit at my desk and try to waste time on the internet.

For Boy: He's not working in that office anymore (which is great news). There was no leader and one of the older soldiers made himself leader and only wanted gophers to do his work while he played games on the one computer all day. But, he is starting a new office job -- at the big base office. There's hope of him having someone to talk with there as well as being able to leave on errands and 'accidently' bump into his wife!

For Boy's commander: He's getting new training in Bangkok and it is unknown if he will return to the same position once he's done. Boy's new commander also leads another third of the guys and is known for being really scary. Everyone is afraid to even talk with the guy -- including Boy's next-in-command leader. This guy is not allowing Boy to go home on weekends so he is now in the second group to leave for 7 days a month. (As soon as a new month comes, the first group is allowed to leave. Once they return, the second group has the possibility to go. Things always come up so it's great that he's not in the fourth group because -- like Apri l -- they weren't allowed to go home at all!)

Some pictures

A month or so ago, we took a day trip to Khong Jiang (on the border of Thailand and Laos).

Macchi is getting so big! Oh, just to clear up any confusion -- his name is pronounced mak-ee-ah-toe -- it's one of my favorite coffee drinks (a caramel macchiato).
This upsidedown seal is another favorite sleeping position.
He's in this pouncing phase -- usually his rear is in the air before he jumps. This time, I don't think he was patient enough to wait!
He loves posing for cameras and has become the hit at the office because he's just so darn cute!!

A new member of the family

We got a puppy last weekend! This is my first chance to get on internet since then because I took the week off to stay home and take care of the little one.

His name was just decided upon seconds ago. It's Macchiato -- Macchi for short. Here we've been talking for a week about a name. I've spent time looking. Even my mom spent time looking. And, Boy just called him "Macchiato" inadvertantly and then we decided that we actually liked it! So, it's official. Allow me to introduce you to Macchiato . . .