I will be off to Thailand in a matter of hours…leaving tomorrow morning! I will be heading to Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Maesot with a team of five other women and we will be gone from 3/28-4/12.  We pretty much lose Saturday in transit and will arrive very early Sunday morning (the middle of the night, really).   The first leg of the journey will be in Bangkok where we’ll be praying and ministering in the redlight district (check out the website for NightLight, one of the ministries we’ll be partnering with: www.nightlightbangkok.com/ ).  We’ll also be visiting a house of prayer just outside Bangkok (Southeast Asia House of Prayer-SEAHOP: www.seahop.org) and will also spend some significant time praying at the Grand Palace.

From Bangkok we’ll head north to Chiang Mai where we’ll be stopping by a Tribal Children’s home–Baan Phraporn  (translated House of Blessing, www.blessedhome.org)   These are the same kids we packed up and took all the way to the beach (about a 10-12 hour bus ride) two years ago.  We only get a couple of days with them this time around, but we can’t wait to see them!

Our final ministry stop will be in Maesot, which is near the Burmese border.  Maesot is about a five hour drive (over a very bumpy road!) from Chiang Mai.  I haven’t been there for nearly three years. The Karen tribe Baptist churches will be holding a large conference and they have asked us to participate.  We’ll basically do whatever is needed, some of which will include praying, teaching, playing games with the kids, and, in general, just helping out in whatever way we can.

We are VERY excited to see what the Lord will do during this time. Although we have several ministry activities planned, our main “activity” is prayer.  Thailand has always had open borders and there has been a significant Christian witness there for over 200 years…yet still only a miniscule percentage of the population are Christians.  We believe it is high time for that stronghold to be broken and for Jesus to have His inheritance among the nation and people of Thailand! I just know the Lord is moving and that breakthrough is coming to Thailand.

Isaiah 56:1 Thus says the Lord, “Keep justice and do righteousness, for My salvation is about to come, and My righteousness to be revealed.”  And to that I say, Amen!!  

I’ll try to post some updates to this blog along the way if time and internet access allows.  We are very thankful for all who are willing to partner with us in prayer! 

Hopefully I’ll be back with an update soon, until then…

La Gon Kha! (See you later)

…And I think I have been in a “season” of transition for a very long time! 

This week a chapter is closing as I take a leap of faith by leaving a job I love so I can pour more time into prayer and other avenues of ministry as the Lord leads.  I will, I think (nothing is set in stone right now), ultimately start doing some consulting here and there within my field (human resources) to have some form of income while still having the flexibility I need for the ministry.   

Another adventure and another opportunity to trust Jesus!  Most of the time I do look at it that way :-) (Other times I simply question my sanity…but best not to go there too often!)

Much will change in the next few months, but I know that as decisions need to be made, the answers will be there.  I am, I think, finally learning to trust in today’s provision and have not been worrying quite so much about tomorrow.  After all, if He is faithful today—and if He has been faithful in all my yesterdays—doesn’t it make perfect sense that He will be faithful in my tomorrows?

So instead of pondering what the future might hold, I am simply grateful for today.  God is good and His mercy endures forever.  And despite the changing seasons, I choose to rest in the unchanging truth of His faithfulness in every season!

Speaking of today (or at least today and the next several)…I am leaving for Thailand soon!  This Friday to be exact….from 3/28-4/12.  Lord willing, I’ll post more on the trip before I go!

John 13:1 Having loved His own who were in the world, He now showed them the full extent of His love.

If Jesus showed His disciples the full extent of His love by stooping down to wash their dirty feet–how much lower should I stoop to show the full extent of His love in me?  If the very King of Heaven emptied Himself and took on the form of a servant, should there be any act of service that is too menial or lowly for me?  So often we want to show God our love by reaching ever higher and doing some “great” thing for Him.  And that is great–but it’s not the greatest.  Jesus said that whoever wanted to be the greatest should be the least–the servant of all.  Jesus showed the full extent of His love not when He was lifted high and exalted, but when He bent low in humility.  That’s when I best show Him my love, too.

Lord, help me to go lower, so You can be lifted higher! 

Psalm 23:5 You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies.

It is in the presence of our enemies that the table of Your abundance has been set.  When we hide in the shadows trying to avoid the battle, we also miss the bounty! 

Lord, give us the courage to come out of hiding and sit down at the table of Your blessing–right smack in the middle of the battle.  Amen.

John 15:9  As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. 

How much do you suppose the Father loves Jesus? Jesus, the Beloved Son in whom Father God is well pleased.  Jesus, the Son who only does what pleases the Father. Can you imagine a more perfect love than the love of the Father for the Son? And yet, Jesus says He loves us with that very same love.  Jesus loves me…He loves you…the very same way the Father loves Him! That’s what I call amazing love!  

Lord, help us to comprehend the height, the width, and the depth of Your love!

Hi to all …

Some of this is posted on the homepage, but surprisingly more people seem to read this blog than any other page on the website, so I figured I’d post it here too!  

The “Simple Faith” class originally scheduled for Saturday 3/15 has been canceled due to a conflict with our Thailand team schedule.  However, I will be doing a class on prayer called, “Lord Teach Us to Pray” the following evening, Sunday 3/16, at Yucaipa Valley Presbyterian Church.  The church is located at 34558 Avenue E, Yucaipa and the class will be held from 5pm - 6:30.  The church is located at the upper part of Avenue E in Yucaipa (close to Bryant) and they have graciously opened their doors to allow anyone who would like to participate.  

If you’d like further info or more specific directions, please send an email to: Info@waitingatthewell.org.  Hope to see you there! 

Exodus 35:3 Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.

Oh that we would have a day set apart to gaze solely upon the beauty of Jesus!  That for one single day a week we would refrain from building fires in our own dwellings and would instead purpose to enter the Holy of Holies to stoke the flame of eternal love found only in His presence!