Ramblings

The post below was while we were still in Bangkok. I have no idea why I didn't publish it....I have to say I think I'm the worlds worst blogger.

My lack of consistency could be why I still only have 18 followers after 7 years!! However, this fact alone is kind of discouraging. Sometimes i think, "Why write? No ones really reading it anyway." Then I think well, it really a journal for yourself. Keep going!

I started this blog years ago when I wanted to let Nonnie (Clinton's mother) and my Aunt Dee Ann to see and know what we were doing here. I had NO idea there was a whole world of bloggers out there.

In fact, you'll never believe this but I JUST figured out last year how big blogs were and that there are people who actually make money from blogs and are famous because of blogs!!! I was pretty clueless.

Shifting gears a little, this pregnancy has been so difficult for me and is one reason I haven't blogged too much. I haven't been on the computer too much, period. Once we left Bangkok I was 29 weeks pregnant and all the aches, pains, and fatigue began to set it.

I've suffered from horrible pelvic pain and back pain. For the last four weeks I've been unable to go on any outings what so ever. The extent of my walking is to the bathroom or from one chair to another one, or to the truck. When we do shopping, i either stay home OR sit in the truck while Clinton makes a quick grocery run. It's been hard! His tasks have multiplied and he's been a real trooper! He's been mother/father/cook/care giver/teacher/nurse/missionary/pastor/and loving husband! He's gonna need a vacation once this baby's born. ; )

37 weeks

So what have you been doing you might ask??? Well, iTunes TV has been a source of entertainment for me in the evenings. I've discovered many TV shows that I didn't know existed. Living in Thailand keeps us pretty sheltered and we usually have no idea what America's watching, which isn't a bad thing. I've watch Season 1 and part of Season 2 of The Pioneer Woman Cooks on Food Network, both Clinton and I have watch all of Season 1 of Swamp People, which is hilarious!! Being a cajun myself this movie  really brought me and Clinton back to our "roots" Now I wasn't raised this way BUT my grandparents were. When we would have family reunions, it would always be in Louisiana. When i would go with Clinton to visit his family, who live in Homa, Louisiana, that was always a REAL experience.

So watching Swamp People has been a trip down memory lane and just plain old laughing material.

I also watched all of Season 1 and 2 of One Born Every Minute, which is a show recorded live in a hospital in Ohio. Every show has three birth stories on it. Talk about intense!! Being pregnant and seeing all of these women labor was...well.......interesting!!! Some where amazing, some were scary, some were comical! But all in all i feel like I have a better grasp on birth. ;)

I've also made good use of the iBethel.tv which is what's fed my spirit all these weeks. Thank God for Bill Johnson. What an encourager!!! Last night I listened to a message Sustaining a Move of God that was so powerful! He explained from Hebrews 13:15-16 what we need in order to sustain a move of God. 1. sacrifice 2. good works 3. fellowship
I really recommend this message!!

When we got back from Bangkok, we were in the middle of a heat wave!! I mean HOT!!! The temp IN our house was 90 to 95 on a daily basis!

This is a picture of Cayden by 11am from playing IN the house.... red cheeked, wet head

I was MISERABLE coming back to Hat Yai after spending two months in central air. SO my precious husband bought us a 3ft Intex pool for the balcony off our bedroom. Talk about saving grace!!! This pool and little garden area has been our refuge two times a day for two months!!

In the last two months that I've been absent from blogging so much has happened. Joseph turned 6, we got lots of fun boxes from America, ultrasounds of the baby, and much more. I'm going to try and catch up a bit before baby Chandler's arrival.

For those of you who still read my blog, thanks for being such faithful friends!

Love
Amber

What we're doing while Daddy's gone

It's always so hard when daddy's gone! And it's even harder being pregnant and having him gone! 

Thank God, the Stubenrauch's stayed over in Bangkok a few days to keep us company.

The first day, we went to Funarium! A wonderful in door kid place, with bikes, scooters, jungle gyms, art, and yummy food. It's where we spent Cayden's 2nd birthday. 

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures.

On day two, we hung out in the room and played cars. Clinton bought this set for the boys the day before he left to ensure they wouldn't get too bored in a two bedroom apartment! They've had a blast playing with this set!! 

Well, I should say, Joseph has had a blast. Cayden just walks around, over it and winds up stepping on the pieces and making the bridges fall down....

4 Dozen Roses?!?

Clinton left for Indonesia early Wednesday morning. 

Before he left, he bought me 4 dozen roses!! 

Two dozen red.

Two dozen pink.

He said he wanted me to think of him while he was gone.

Easter Morning

It's been ten years since we've celebrated Resurrection in an English service. We haven't been home during the Spring since we've lived in Thailand! 

Since we're in Bangkok, on our furlough, we decided to try and find a church for ex-pats to visit on Easter morning. We passed this beautiful church that caught my eye every time we drove by it. Very old and ornate looking. I finally looked it up online and found that it was a church for foreigners, us being the foreigners. 

Christ's Church. 

Anglican. 

Traditional. 

The liturgy. 

Never been to one like this. Yes! I want to go! 

When I walked in, I immediately felt the presence of the Lord and tears filled my eyes.

The communion table.

 Silver goblets.

Crystal wine flasks.

Stained glass windows

Candles.

Silver cross.

Ornate wood work.

Linen table cloth.

I could hardly get a hold of myself!

When I knelt at the altar and took communion my heart was swollen with thanks. Tears streamed down my face as I thought on all that God has done for me. For us.

During communion they started singing In Christ Alone. The power of the words in that song!

"There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ. "

If you've never experienced "church" outside your normal setting, I highly encourage you to do so! Moving!!

God is everywhere. His beauty is in everything if our eyes are open.

Majestic.

Love
Amber

Our Baby Boy Turns 2!

It's hard to believe that Cayden Truth was born 2 years ago! What a special blessing from God he has been!! He's brought lots of joy, life, and patience into our lives. ; )

I thought I'd add some of the pictures from his birth and the first week of his life so I could reflect on God's handiwork.

Only a couple of hours old

One day old

A very tired mamma with her new baby

Joseph's been kissing this baby since he was in the womb

1 week old sleeping on daddy's lap

Now here HE is at 2 years old! My they grow so quickly! He's been sleeping with his hand on his face since the day he was born. I hope I never forget.

He had on white in this picture and the sheets were white and his precious cheeks are white....I couldn't resist!!

This baby is an angel from heaven

All he kept saying was, "Whoa! Look my hair! Awesome!" Daddy has put sunscreen on his fair head and this was the result! He liked it!!

He loved his hair

If you've never heard a two year old ask, "I play iPad?" You simply MUST!! It's the cutest thing EVER and we have a reeeeeally hard time resisting.

He knows how to play on the iPad! What?!?

Here are some pictures from Cayden's 2 year birthday party on March 17! 

These two are buds!!! Can you tell?? How they've both grown. 

The resemblance is uncanny! I've never had a child that looks THIS much like me! I LIKE it. 

Unfortunately, he got my strong will too....ugh! *being changed*

We spent Cayden's birthday at a place called the Funarium...FUN it IS!!! Sliding down slides, riding bikes or roller blades, climbing, jumping, playing in balls, basketball, punching bags! You name it they have it! 

Our very serious bike rider trying desperately to keep that darn helmet on.

Cayden still has the balls confused! He thinks the basket ball is a soccer ball. 

We're working on it. Okay!

The menu had a great variety of both Thai food and Western food. And it was GOOOD! 

Our Thai boy got Western food, but his Western Mamma and Daddy got Thai food.

hot dog and chips

nuggets and fries

 Yes, I know, I've been here waaay too long! The choices of Western food were endless, but what can I say, I went for the Green Curry with Chicken and a fried egg. And it was a gooood choice! Very good!! Not like the food you except at a children's play land.

Thais eat fried eggs with their rice. It's offered at every meal and can be a meal in itself as well.

When the funds are low, we too, opt for rice with a fried egg on top with a splash of fish sauce. YUM

This was Clinton's choice Pat Krapaw Moo (spicy stir fried pork with Thai Holy Basil leaves) AND a fried egg.

Bank had an egg omelet with pork over rice. You can't see the rice but it's there. 

They (we) eat this dish with catsup. Actually Thais eat catsup with EVERYthing...even pizza. And, for inquiring minds, we do too. ; )) 

Things that once seemed so strange are very normal to us now. 

Baby boy turns 2

Cheeese

Love

Amber

Amazingness

Before we came on furlough, God encouraged us with some of His amazingness!!

Two of the children in our "children’s home" got their birth certificates after 2 looong years of trying. Please bare with me as this next part is long, but I promise it's worth it!

Two lives chained because of a piece of paper.

I’ve written before, Thak has taken in seven children. Clinton and I have been overseeing this work and helping out in the many areas where help is much needed. 

Five of the eight siblings didn’t have birth certificates when we met them and we helped to get three of them right away.  But we’ve been trying to obtain the other two birth certificates for the last two years!!! We’ve knocked, begged, pleaded on the doors of many government offices to no avail. Because the children are much older now (4, 7) there was no proof that the children we were bringing into the office was the same children who were on the birth certificates. They don’t finger print the children at birth like in America so there’s lots of underhanded things that go on as you can imagine. So they wanted the parents and the children to do a blood test, among many other things  to prove that they were in fact related. This is impossible, as the state of the mother and father has deteriorated in a most disturbing way.

            

In any country, if you don’t have a birth certificate you don’t “exist”. You can’t go to school, get medical treatment, open a bank account, and the list goes on……… it would be like an American not having a birth certificate or a social security card. For the Thais it’s one and the same.

            

SO!! On March 2, we went to the highest man in the city’s office and prayed God would give us a voice with him. Now imagine with me for one minute, a pregnant whitel lady with a Thai lady and 7 children some without shoes on, waiting outside this man’s office. We were a sight!! He invited all of us(kids included) into his large beautifully decorated office and has us sit at the 12 person table and tell us why we were there. After we told our story, he said he couldn’t help us, but then got on the phone. A few minutes later several people came into the office and he began to relate our story to them. He told them emphatically that they were to help us to their fullest capacity, but assured us that it would take several months before we would have the birth certificates because we had to go by the book.

            

They walked across the street with us to the Municipality and took us to another office in which we shared the story of the children.  This man was less concerned with technicalities and more concerned for justice, and he told us that after lunch we would be questioned by another man, but not to worry that we would leave with the birth certificates that day. I began to cry!! I could NOT believe this man’s mercy!!  Thailand is SOOOO corrupt and people who are trying to do the right thing are always the ones who have to biggest problems with the government. However, if you’re scandalous and have some money to put under the table, then you can get help even if what you’re trying to do isn’t right……. However, this man believed what we were saying and said, “I’m not afraid of anyone. I believe you two ladies and I’m going to help you! We’re not going to try and tack the mother down and do all the silly things they want you to do. “ What a relief.

            

He sent us downstairs and paid for our lunch. After lunch we were questioned by another man who clearly was NOT going to help us!! He began to talk about things 1 to 9 that we must do to follow the laws and do it the right way.

            

I sent Thak back upstairs as we were both in tears and couldn’t NOT believe how cold, and uncaring this man was. The other man(the Mayor) was FURIOUS and told him that whatever he had to do that we WOULD LEAVE WITH THE BIRTH CERTIFICATES!! (Because the Baw Yai was already 7 years and 3 months, the computer wouldn’t issue a birth certificate without the Governor’s signature) SOOOO the Mayor told them, “EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO CHANGE THE CHILD’S BIRTH DATE THEY WILL LEAVE HERE WITH BOTH BIRTH CERTIFCATES!!!!”  So that’s exactly what they did!!!!! Can everyone say with me, “This IS Thailand!”  We listened as they all collaborated what Baw Yai’s new birthday would be and WE WALKED OUT OF THERE WITH TWO BIRTH CERTIFICATS!!!!!!!  To God be the GLORY!!!!!!! 

           

The next amazing thing that happened this month is Thak got her car driver’s license!!! At 43 years old, she learned how to drive, got a truck and got a driver’s license!! We were celebrating with her on this big day!! 

43 and a first time driver's license holder for a car/truck

Our little village church has grown from 1 adult and his child to 23 adults and 15 children!!! AND we just sent out our FIRST missionary the week we left!!! 

Our first church disciple from this village and his son

Our church today!!!

 Here's our precious Nan. We were privileged to live right in front of her when we lived in the village. We quickly became an aunt/uncle to her and began to disciple her. She was one of our Bible school students from the first graduating class. Now she's ready to give her life as a missionary working in Northeast Thaialnd with the Stubenrauchs, the family that we moved to Ban Pru with and started the village church.

First missionary from our village church

 And lastly, the fact that God has graced us with another baby!! I'm 19 weeks in this picture and that's a reason celebrate as I've had two miscarriages in the last three years. God is sooo good to give us another baby!!!

Me 19 weeks pregnant!! 

These may seem like minor things, but for us they are HUGE victories, miracles and testimonies of his goodness!!!! 

I still lie in bed at night in awe and wonder about the birth certificates!!!

And when I think back on Thak's past, 18 years of prostitution, totally consumed with her self and a lifestyle full of selfishness, and what she is today,  I cry!

E V E R Y  S I N G L E  T I M E!!

Now here she is laying her life down for children, driving not only a motorcycle but also a truck all that God provided for her!!! Wow! God is sooo good!!!!

When I go to church each week and see God growing our community despite our weaknesses....I'm like, wow! 

So Praise Him with me as I ponder HIS amazingness!!!!! 

Love

Amber