Growing Pains

     Not much has happened this week. Glynn had a busy weekend trying to get ahead at the school. He has a lot coming up in the next couple of weeks. He would also like to apologize to any teacher he was ever a pain to. Some of the kids at his school are driving him a little crazy. Bum and Winter have also been having a rough week. Winter is getting over a head cold and has ben really moody the last couple of days. We think it might be leaving him now so hopefully he will be back to his old energetic and happy self.

     We are in need of prayer right now. We are just having some adjustment woes. We are having difficulties adjusting to life in Bangkok. Bum is also feeling kind of lonely because she was surrounded by so many great and godly ladies while we were in the states and now she has very few close friends. She wants to have a mentor that can disciple and grow her as a godly wife and mom. Pray that God would meet this need in her life. Glynn is needing about the same thing only with a man and learning to be a Godly husband and dad. 

     Our devotional time together has been lacking but we are getting it back together. We have been praying and reading together more and we hope to increase the frequency with which we do both as a family. Finding time together for devotions and worship is difficult enough but with all the emotional stuff we are going through it is making it all that much harder. We both feel that it was God's timing when we moved back to Thailand and that he is teaching us something in what we are facing now. Pray that we would be patient and humble enough to see the lesson he is trying to show us.

God Bless,

Glynn, Bum, and Winter.

Church Search

     This was the longest short work week ever. As we mentioned last time, Mother's Day was last weekend and so Glynn did not have to work on Monday. This was a good thing. But unfortunately we both had diarrhea all week long. Anyone who has traveled internationally knows the joys of having to adjust to new foods. Some take the cautious road of eating only prepackaged meals or only eating at nice clean looking restaurants. Glynn tends to take to eating with a certain gusto that he should probably rein in at some point. If he sees someone else eat it he will eat it. And at times as long as you tell him someone has eaten it before he will still eat it. Bum tends to be a little more cautious and eats what she knows. She being Thai and this being Thailand means that there should not be much of an issue there. So when Bum's aunt brought us some Som Tom (a Thai salad with a sour papaya base) last Sunday we did not think anything about it. We both love Som Tom and usually have no problems in the digestive arena after eating it. But this was no normal Som Tom. It was a kind of hodge-podge mixed up crazy salad. It was mostly bean sprouts (no problem here) with a little papaya and a lot of hoi (Pronounced like you substitute the "c" in coy for an "h". Hoi means "shell" and refers to any of a number of shell fish. In this case I think they are usually river muscles.) and a big hand full of little crabs. Glynn is blaming the hoi for this extended bout of the runnies. On Friday Glynn had a crazy head ache all day at school, which was probably due to dehydration and Bum was stuck at home with stomach cramps and Winter keeping her on her toes.
     We are happy to say that all is well now in the belly department. We have recuperated and are starting to feel ourselves again. Bum still has a head ache but that could be because Winter, and in therefore Bum, has not been sleeping very well. Pray that what ever was infesting our guts is gone all the way now and will not come back to visit any time soon.
     We went to a new church again today. It was largely western and missionary filled. From the time we entered until we left no one said a word to us. This took us both by surprise. We want to find a church home to be a part of here we are just not finding what we are looking for at any of the churches we are visiting. I think the reason is that Kenwood spoiled us. We loved being at that church and with those people so much that we feel like nothing is going to compare. We talked a while today about this and know that we are just going to have to find the place that we think we can be of most use and learn the most about what a "Thai" church is like and start serving and ministering there. Perhaps we can instill some of the love and fellowship that we felt at Kenwood in what ever church we decide to join with here. Pray that we would find a church home soon.

God bless,
Glynn, Bum, and Winter

Still looking.

Thai Mother's Day

     Hello all, this is going to be a short post. The power went out yesterday evening and stayed out for the better part of the night. Therefore Glynn did not get to do the blog on Sunday like he has been doing. And today he felt bad and was just lazy.
     Last weekend was Buddhist lent. For us that meant a long weekend. Bum's parents got to come up for a visit and spent the night with us on Thursday night. They left on Saturday morning and we rested up after that. It was a good visit and mom and dad had time to visit and play with Winter.
     This weekend was Mother's Day in Thailand. Mother's Day is extra special here as it is the queens birthday. August 12 is the actual day but we devoted the weekend to it. Friday night we went out to eat at Sizzler with their friends Karen and Ramon. Everyone had the salad bar, even Winter (we kept feeding him green beans and carrots and he kept throwing them on the floor). Ramon also had the mushroom hamburger which looked amazing. Saturday we went to the mall and walked around a little and bought Winter a big foam floor mat so he can stop whacking his head when he falls down. Then we went to Makro (kind of like Costco or Sam's Club) and got registered for a member card. Sunday we just rested and caught up on sleep and our bible reading plan. Winter and Glynn worked on Bum's mother's day card and Glynn and Bum worked on little animal cartoon posters to hang up in Winter's room. Today was probably one of the laziest days Glynn has had in about three years. He did almost nothing all day. This is partly because he just needed a break and partly because he woke up this morning with the back side of his sinuses totally raw and aching every time he thought about swallowing. Please pray that this does not turn into anything more serious.
     Hopefully we will be able to write another little update during the week. But if not talk to you next Sunday.

God Bless,
Glynn, Bum, and Winter.

The Surprise

     So last week we mentioned our surprising Bum's parents and how it did not go quite according to plan. Well, what had happened was: (queue the smoke and dramatic lighting, it's time for a flash back)
     When we got to Thailand we had already received news that one of Bum's mom's best friend's mothers had died. What we did not know is that the viewing was the night that we planned to go to their house. On the way to her parent's house, Bum called her mom and pretended to have just a normal conversation so that we could find out where they were and what their plans were for that evening. Turns out they were going to be going to the viewing about the same time that we were going to be arriving at their house.  You may be thinking to yourself that that is not a big deal. Her parents will go to the viewing and be back in no time. That might work in America, but in Thailand the funeral process is somewhat different, including the initial viewing of the body. Here parents were going to be there for quite a while and we had to decide what we were going to do. Our options were to sit at the house until her parent's got there (we have no keys to go in and wait for them and they could be hours. And this is topical Thailand with its crazy heat and hungry mosquitoes and we have an infant with us) or we can go to the viewing and surprise them there. Needless to say we take option number two.
     So we get to the viewing and park but there is no sign of her parents. Now we have to call again and see where they are. We are not sure if they have come and gone already (this would be weird but you never know), rode with a friend, changed their mind and not come at all, or what. So Bum calls her mom for the second time and asks where they are now. This is odd because she generally would not call them twice in one day while we were in the states. So her parents are going to be wondering or worried why she is calling again. So Bum just tells them rather matter of factly that we are waiting for them at the viewing and we need the keys so that we can go to the house and wait for them there.
    There is now total confusion in her parents vehicle. Her mom swears that it was Bum talking on the phone. Her dad said that is impossible because we are in America. They do not know what is going on. A few minutes later they pull up at the viewing and park on the other side of the road. We see them in the rear view mirrors so Glynn does a u-turn and pull up right behind them as they are getting out of their truck. We are in a rental car and they do not recognize it and we think that they refused to believe who their eyes were telling them was driving up behind them. We are just smiling and waving as we pull up and they are looking more and more confused. Then we get out of the car and everyone erupts into laughing and hugging and gleeful greating. Everyone but little Winter. The long drive, strange surrounding, and now all these new people and noises were just too much for the little guy and he broke down. He was balling as he was being passed around between the grandparents and a great aunt. Finally Bum got him back and he started to calm down. We sat and talked for just a few minutes then we got the keys and went to their house to rest.
     So not exactly as we had planned but still pretty good. Till next time.

God bless,
Glynn, Bum, and Winter