Moving Out Already?

In less than 24 hours, I'll be moving out of A's house...and back to my old house which I share with Beth. I can hardly believe this experience of living with a Thai family is coming to a close!

This month was full of growth for me. Not only did living with A allow me to practice my Thai a lot more than normal, but I also had the chance to witness Thai family life. Things are different here. Family does not just consist of parents and siblings. Rather, you'll often find grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins living under the same roof as well. Family is big.

And family is close. We spent most evenings all hanging out in the same room together...watching Thai TV or admiring the oh-so cute puppies. When it came time for dinner, Bong (A's 15-yr. old nephew) was usually in charge. And I became his frequent su-chef, chopping vegetables...or handling raw meat (never one of my favorite activities). Of course, we always made something to eat with rice. That's the thing about Thailand...there's always rice in the rice cooker. In fact, the family got a huge laugh one night when Bong and I finished cooking and went to the rice cooker to find it empty! Everyone burst out laughing and kept saying, "no rice! No rice!" It was like something complete incomprehensible had happened.

Tonight's dinner will be different, however. Instead of making food at home, I'll be treating the family to a meal. A little gesture of thanks for their warmth and hospitality this month. I was going to take them out to eat. But A's parents would rather eat at the house. So, A and I will make a trip to a nearby restaurant and order bunches of food to bring back to the house. I hope I'll be able to communicate how much I appreciate all of them. May the words not fail me.

Tomorrow (Friday, April 28th) morning I'll move all my stuff back to my house. The rest of the day will be spent getting ready to leave for Chaing Mai. Yep, I've got another conference (why do I always feel like I'm talking about travel?). This time it's the Mekong field reunion (May 2-7)...an annual conference for everyone in our organization working with unreached people groups around the Mekong river. It will be great to see some of the people I met earlier this year at the Mekong orientation. Not to mention to have the whole Shan team together again. As you know, many of my team members work with the Shan in outside Thailand. For us to all meet together in one place is a treat. And I hope God uses this time for His glory!

Expect pictures soon.