By the Sea...

I don't remember exactly when the brainstorm was first kindled. 

Somewhere in the midst of the busy schedules of daily life, the humidity of hot season, and the realization that turning 28 is nearly upon both of us, we thought that a little getaway by the beach would be in order. Who says you can't celebrate 

the milestone of "Turning 30" two years early? :) 

We picked a place. Penang, Malaysia. Neither of us had ever been there or knew anyone personally who had, but flights were cheap, it was along the coast, and the location was outside of Thailand so it would count as a visa run as well. 

The trip had been planned several months ago, but the timing of it couldn't have been more perfect. The past month has been hard in the terms of needing to make some weighty decisions, and I was feeling pretty drained. In retrospect, this 4 day trip was a precious gift from God, & here is a photographic tribute...

Yay for budget airlines like Air Asia. Except for when they charged to rebook us for our connecting flight because we checked in 8 minutes late :(

Our hotel by the beach, compliments of Mel's thrifty travel agent skills on agoda.com :)

The stairway going down to the beach from our hotel's bridge access. 

Sunsets by the sea... God's handiwork takes my breath away... 

Our secluded spot on the beach where we spent a lot of quiet time reading and journaling.
The sea, the sand, and the salty air are so refreshing to one's soul...

Times like these are always better when shared with a friend...
[and being asked by strangers if we are sisters? I'll take that as a compliment. :)]

On Friday, we decided to rent a motorbike to tour the island and the historic city of Georgetown. One tour guide tried to convince us that hiring a taxi and tour guide would be the better, safer option for us. We appreciated his concern (or his sales pitch to get us to rent the hotel's taxi service), but we preferred to blaze the trail on our own. The experience was every bit as adventurous as it sounds. 

Our rental bike and fearless driver. This is after we figured out that Malaysia does not have full-service fuel pumps like Thailand. :)

Yes, I am directionally challenged. But armed with a detailed map, on the look out for some specific landmarks, and we got around just fine.

The waterfront view from downtown

Georgetown is the capital city of the Malaysian state of Penang, and was first colonized by the British in 1786. Due to that influence, many of the buildings have been preserved in their original colonial architect as a World Heritage site. A simply charming city that is a fascinating cultural melting pot of Malay, Indian, and Chinese people, 

as well as other ethnicities.

I don't consider myself a photographer by any stretch of imagination. But even I was giddy at discovering all this quaint Old World charm... 

Georgetown is famous for their rich and creamy blend of white coffee. We were not disappointed. :) 

There were many evidences of different religions here with numerous Mosques, Hindi temples, and
Buddhist statues.

 

More colonial architecture...

Old Meets New: Pedal-bike rickshaws shared the streets with luxury vehicles.

Have I mentioned the beautiful architecture we saw on every street? :)

 

Props to a passerby on the street who offered to take our picture when we were struggling with self-timer
camera settings. :)

The waterfront yacht clubhouse

I have a weakness for old churches with steeples and was delighted to find one in Asia! 

Too many different ethnic restaurants to choose from? "Let's get a dish from all of them, " she said.
This was the Chinese dish, Laksa, I believe it's called. Made of fish and noodles in tomato curry.

And this was the Indian food, complete with authentic Chai tea, tandoor chicken, roti, and dahl. You have to taste it for yourself to understand the deliciousness of that plate. 

The following afternoon, we opted for a countryside route, winding up and down the mountains.

At one point, the actual road did not match my trusty map. But we bravely motored on and discovered the scenic route is sometimes the best one of all. :)

Last stop of the biking expedition was to purchase some real White Coffee.  

[And this is one of those "footsie" photos that I find strangely disturbing when I see them all over
 Facebook & Instagram].
But instead of buying boring "I Love Penang" tourist T-shirts, we opted for a much cuter and more lasting souvenir. Mine are the red, hers are the navy. :) 

"One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood."
-Lucius A. Seneca

Thanking God for the gifts of kindred spirits, sunshine, sand, and the salty ocean air...

Less of Me...

My biggest enemy is myself. 

The most daunting battles are the ones where it is my flesh pitted against my spirit. 

Right now, I want to climb down off the altar, run away from the sacrifice, and demand an answer to all my "why's?" 

You parted the Red Sea for the children of Israel, You raised to life the dead son of the widow woman, and You fed 5,000 people with mere loaves & fishes. You are able. You came through for them... What about me? What about others who I know are hurting and confused? 

So I agonize and I weep and I don't feel like the strong warrior woman that so many think that I am... 

But-- there is that still, small Voice. The One who invites me to wrestle with Your Goodness, the Voice that whispers when I want signs & wonders from heaven, the Voice that woos me to trust in the very character of Emmanuel {God With Us}. 

You are still there. You are the One who draws me closer to Your heart even when everything within me screams to run and take my own way. 

You are still good. You continue to perform miracles before my eyes every single day. Your timing is perfect even when it makes no sense to my earthly snapshot of the here & the now. 

I will choose to praise You, even when I can't see one step beyond where I am right now. 

I do love You. Like Job, the man who was stripped of absolutely everything and everyone he held dear, I want to say, "For He bruises, but He binds up: He wounds, but His hands make whole." [Job 5:18]

It is worth it. For You are Worthy...

PRAYER of DETACHMENT

St. John of the Cross (1542-1591) 

Deliver me, O Jesus... 

...from the desire of being loved 

...from the desire of being extolled 

...from the desire of being praised 

...from the desire of being preferred 

...from the desire of being consulted 

...from the desire of being approved 

...from the desire of being popular 

Deliver me, O Jesus... 

...from the fear of being humiliated 

...from the fear of being despised 

...from the fear of suffering rebuke 

...from the fear of being forgotten 

...from the fear of being wronged 

...from the fear of being ridiculed 

...from the fear that others may be loved more than I 

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire... 

...that others may be esteemed more than I 

...that in the opinion of the world others may increase and I may decrease 

...that others may be chosen and I set aside 

...that others may be praised and I unnoticed 

...that others may become holier than I provided that I may become as holy as I should.

Snapshots of Life [May - June 2013]

Statistics don't lie. Interestingly enough, the stats of my blog show that the post with the most pictures had nearly three times as many views as the other posts that were merely writing. Popular opinion rules in this case, so rather than tell you about my life, this time I thought you might prefer if I show you instead.

Ah, Monday Nights. 

They are our girls' night out once a week to talk, to share, to laugh, to cry, to drink coffee, and to pray with each other. What a gift those Monday nights have been with you, Melanie! 

Of course, those Monday nights usually involve coffee in some form & flavor.  :) 

Street scene from downtown Chiang Mai with Tuk-Tuk's parked in the foreground.

2nd Term was the "Month of the Foot Problems." 

One of the guys severely split open his toe while playing ping pong. Another one of the students developed a stubborn skin infection on both of his feet. Then there were various hives of the feet, swelling of the feet, & foot pains from going barefoot on concrete floors all the time. I was quite in my element getting to bandage, sanitize, medicate, and diagnose, but I was just sorry it was at the students' expense. :) 

Treating the split toe. I spared you the close up shot of the injury. 

Then there was THE KIDNAPPING. 

I thought I was going out for supper with one of the girls. They had all ganged up on me and had completely different plans for the evening. I was promptly blindfolded as soon as I came down the steps, led to the waiting songthaew (taxi), and hurried off to an unknown destination. 

Surprise! We had arrived at the beautiful Waterfall Restaurant for dinner

All the lovely ladies who joined us for the evening

Me & "My Girls''  ~ I think they are just pretty splendid. 

We had a few empty pots & planters around here that I wanted to use to add some color to the exterior of the school which is mostly concrete. Barb Yoder, the administrator's wife, and I went to a nursery one afternoon and filled the truck with lovely flowers. It was so much fun to get my hands in the dirt again. 

Now it's the challenge of keeping the plants alive.  :)

 

Three of my friends who had been students with me in 2010 returned to Thailand to visit and do some traveling. It was really special to have them over here and we even had a mini 2010 Reunion with them and those of us staff who had been here all together. 

Coffee shop with Yony who traveled all the way from London to visit.
Love how we can pick up right where we left off! :) 

Those of us 2010'ers on this side of the world. Good memories with these people!

And then, there are the daily routines and moments that my days consist of. Just in case you wanted a glimpse of some of my surroundings... 

Khau pad guy - One of my many favorite Thai dishes of
fried rice with chicken served with a tomato broth and a spritz of fresh lime. 

I have to keep five bathrooms and the girls' dorm stocked with paper supplies.
Believe me, we go through a lot around here! 

The cafeteria/dining area

The downstairs lounge where studying, reading, guitar-playing, games, and conversation take place.
Sometimes all at once. 

The Study Hall. Or where studying is SUPPOSED to take place. :) 

Classroom. The students spend between 4-5 hr/day in class.
(yep, that was me too not that long ago. :))

Every morning we have a chapel service, and on Fridays, a group of students are in charge. They have done a great job of planning those chapel services with a variety of activities. Sometimes, that includes skits to
act out Bible verses. 

Chapel Service 

Three women with a scales, a mirror, a black sweater, a silk scarf, and plenty of exaggerated expressions. I believe we got our verse of "do not compare yourselves among yourselves" across quite well. :) 

And sometimes, skits bring out unknown talents among us. Even in our administrator.  :)

Saturday night cook-outs at the Pastor's home.
We love the Barkman's. And we love Mr. Barkman's grilling. :) 

One day I found all these sticky notes from the girls on my door.
They certainly know how to make me laugh & cry all at once. 

And then, I find these random jokes hanging in the shower behind my towel.
Did I ever say I love a good sense of humor?? :)


After three weeks of classes and exams, the students leave for a 10 day ministry trip. That is my time to recoup, to refresh, to sleep, to catch up on never-ending projects, and to plan for the coming term.
It is also the perfect time to spend with friends who have a spare room in their house with A/C. [grin]

Practicing my culinary skills with Jana, Second-in-Command of the Kitchen.
(For the record, First-in-Command would be her mother. Not me) 

Lunch with Mae Wan, our faithful laundry lady and Thai Grandma

A 4th of July celebration for Val's 60th Birthday (with the gift of a hand-drawn picture of his children).
I feel so blessed to work under the leadership of this man of God. 

After the Month of the Foot Problems, we had a bout of Dengue Fever that took it's toll on one of the students and two of the staff. All three of them had to be hospitalized for several days due to very low platelet counts. The fever is spread by infected mosquitoes who are striped black-and-white and are most commonly active during the day, unlike most other evening-biting mosquitoes. 

We praise God for the healing He brought to those three and that so far, the rest of us have been spared. 

Visiting one of the students, Sandra, in the hospital.

Life continues to be a journey of the mundane and the extraordinary.
Yet in it all, He keeps giving me purpose, teaching my skittish heart to trust Him, and multiplying my meager offering of loaves and fishes in ways that make me stand in awe of how chooses us to do His work here on earth. 

May we all be in such a condition of soul, such an attitude of heart as will fit us for any little work in which our gracious Lord may be pleased to use us — not seeking a place for ourselves, but lovingly serving all. The Lord, in His great mercy, grant that thus it may be, with all His beloved people!" 

~C.H. Mackintosh

The Pied Piper of Prostitution

The slogan has haunted me since nearly three years ago, I first saw the alcohol advertisement plastered all over the streets of Chiang Mai, Thailand. 

"Give 100% to Live 100%"

Tonight, I went prayer walking once more past the bars of familiar streets. Ladies lined the sidewalks in front of windowless, three-story buildings, neon signs and pulsing music beckoning to the night crowd. Primping themselves and powdering their faces, 

their eyes were heavy with dark mascara. 

It's just another night on the job. 

The black spiked heels, the rich red mini skirts, the sheer, lacy tops. This is the life isn't it? Men, a sensation of power, money, pleasure, iPhones, beautiful clothes ~ what more could a woman want? Yet the emptiness in their eyes is a cynical testament to the reality of where "Giving 100%" has lured them to...

I notice the Girl in the Corner, sitting on a bar stool apart from the others. She is 19, she tells me. She has been in Chiang Mai for a year already, separated from her family. She smiles sweetly, accepts the invitation to English Class that I offer, and politely carries on a conversation with me until we exhaust her English and my feeble Thai. We part ways, and I wonder, "What brought her here? What is her story? How did she first buy into the lie that to literally give everything she is will reward her 

with the life she always dreamed of?" 

It's the Pied Piper of Prostitution, and its luring sound is to the tune of cash. Scripture tells us that "the love of money is the root of all evil." [I Timothy 6:10].  After an evening on the streets, I cannot deny the truth or the power of  that statement. The sex trade has many faces - that of the runaway teenager looking for love, the pimp, the club owner, the child whose innocence was stolen, the customer seeking for a thrill and fleshly pleasure, the girl working "the Track" in your own city, the father who sells his daughter for a flatscreen TV,  the drug addict desperate to buy the next shoot up of cocaine, and the young hill tribe woman who is obligated to make the most money possible to send home to her poor family. 

The stronghold of the love of money holds millions captive. 

Actually, make that billions. 

It is a lie that the Enemy has used to manipulate both victim and perpetrator. It is a lie that drives these ladies to work the bars of Asian cities, even as they tell you that they hate the things they have to do. In reality, the shame is overwhelming and the price tag attached is enormous. "Why don't they leave, why do they do this to themselves?" we wonder as we shake our heads in disbelief or point a judging finger. No, for many of them, there may not be physical chains holding them here, forcing them to do what they don't want to do; but they are bound by the lie that money is the answer and 

they have no better choice. 

You have to do whatever it takes to make the most that you can. 

So tonight they do it all over again. Give what they don't want to give - what they shouldn't have to give -  in order to keep up with the Pied Piper's tune. 

I want to run after her. To tell her that it's all wrong, that the catchy slogan

 is not what it seems to be. 

But what of us? What lies have we blindly followed, what precious things have we sacrificed to the god of money, what voice have we chosen to heed over that of our Savior's ~ and what makes us think that 

in return, we will "Live 100%"?