O, it's the time of year when we all run around and find fun gifts for those we love.  Long, long ago, God invented this tradition of gift giving when He decided it was time for us to have the ultimate-never-get-bored-with gift--the Lord Jesus Christ.   He's the gift that continues to give over and over and over.  We have all we need through His mercy.  We have more than we can even comprehend.  We have a future beyond earthly description.  Amazing. 

For us, the Robinsons, it only seems right to give thanks to Father in heaven for His indescribable gift.  We've had an incredibly difficult 8 weeks dealing with Jackie's blown out knee and all the emotional and physical trauma it has brought into our lives.  Our only reasonable response is to pray and give thanks because God is good.   Job said it this way:   "...Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" In all this, Job did not sin in what he said."  I sure wish I could say I'd never sinned in what I said!  Job 2:9-11.

We have to also say thanks to so many of you.  I wish we could do it in person.  We are thankful for the many meals that were brought over (Jackie didn't have to eat my dinner cooking!); we are thankful for the multitudes of people who are praying for us; we are grateful to you who have sent us money to help with the bills.  We haven't gone in debt!  So all around, we are going to end 2007 as people who are more thankful than they have ever been and it's all because of God's tender care and the care of family and friends.  By the way, Jackie's knee is still blown out and she is still crutching around.  She can't go back to work until she is 100% stable on her feet (work's rule for their teachers).  We pray for a miracle healing and with thanks await for God's timing.  Tomorrow would be fine with us!  Ha. 

From left to right:  Leah's kids, Elijah, Jake and Zach


Last time we celebrated Christmas in America was December 2002.  Those 3 guys above were a lot smaller and I could out run them all.  Not any more.  What a blessing to be here with all of them and Leah too!   And we'll even catch up with Nathan and Lauren before they jet off to New York (their Christmas adventure) at Jackie's mom's house where the rest of the clan will gather.  It's been a challenging year for our extended family.  Pray that we will be a reflection of what it is to be in Christ to everyone at the get together. 

There's Leah down below with the 3 guys.  What an awesome year it has been for her:  her faith is renewed and she's firmly planted at St. Justin's Orthodox church.  We really enjoy going to church with her once again.     
Nathan and Lauren have a photography business  going along with their other jobs and Nathan told me last night he'd get me some new photos over to put in the blog so you guys could see him.  I guess he sent them snail mail!  So we'll skip his photos for now and move along to a few special Thai people you haven't seen for a while.   

This is Duncan and Tip.  (I know--Duncan isn't Thai.)  Duncan is old, very old and a true saint and friend of ours who somehow talked this beautiful Thai girl, Tip, into marrying him.    They are planting a church in New Zealand and are on our blog because I want everyone to know what a blessing they are to us.  Duncan has led 100s of people to Christ (maybe even 1000s actually) as an evangelist and pastor.  Tip came to Christ a few years ago and was such a blessing to us when we were together in Thailand.  She was Jackie's hairdresser and has two shops in New Zealand now.   

Here's a couple faces you might remember:  Glynn and Bum.  They are getting married in a couple of weeks.  We are so sad we won't be there.  We made it to their Thai wedding and that was super.  This wedding is their "official" Christian wedding.  How we miss our wee little Thai daughter.  The girl below Bum and Glynn is Tahn.  She's been in YWAM and numerous other minstries.  We first met her when I taught at her Discipleship Training School in Thailand a few years ago.  She got into our heart and is constantly encouraging us with her prayers.  When she writes us it always begins with "Dear Mommy and Daddy."  How can we not melt?  She has a big group of folks in India praying for Jackie's healing.  There are many other Thai folks we miss and love and won't get to see this Christmas.  That's the only sad part of our being in America right now--we miss our thai friends as well as Chuck and Janet who always came over to have breakfast with us Christmas morning. 


Check back in a few days.  I'm sure Nathan will get around to sending some new photos and I'll put them in.  Meanwhile, you can gaze at us as we close by saying how much we appreciate all of you who have been our friends for so many years.  What a joy for us to know you all and to have experienced your fellowship in your countries and ours.  How we long for heaven where we will all celebrate our Savior, Christ the Lord, with all those who have gone before us and with you.  With much love...

Bob and Jackie

THE JACKIE ROBINSON STORY

Who did you think I was talking about? Obviously, not this famous baseball player. How many of you young guys even know Jackie is so famous?







So, how do you go from a healthy, young, vibrant and beautiful girl like Jackie to the one, still beautiful of course, in a hospital? It's easy--go get an MRI on your knee. This Blog is the story of trying to put together for all of you who have read bits and pieces from my emails what happened to Jackie and continues to this moment. Might take a while but here's where we are at right now. I'm giving you a very edited version. So many crazy things have happened it would be cruel to you to make you read through it all. Most of what I'm leaving out is about mess ups.




Jackie had a knee operation in Thailand October '06. Her knee was still hurting so we went to the doctor here in St. Augustine to have it checked out. He did. He said he needed an MRI with dye injected to give better contrast. Sure, you are a doctor so you should know what's best. (He didn't tell us about the down side of using dye.)

At 4:00 AM the next morning, Jackie was in tremendous pain, throwing up and crying because her knee was giant size. We called the doctor's office when they opened for a prescription for pain pills and the nurse told Jackie since she had migraine medicine to use that. Guess what? It doesn't work on knees. A few hours later we called again and promised we'd put away the migraine medicine if they'd just prescribe pain pills. They did. That was a Tuesday. On Thursday the pain was too intense again so we went in (took 3 phone calls and a refusal to not be sent to a voice mailbox to get permission to come in) and the knee was drained of a clear, yellowish fluid. 25 cc of the gunk. Her knee still hurt but the assistant (Doctor wasn't in) said it would be fine and to go home and rest. Great words, but not true. Friday the knee was again as big as ever so Jackie called (I had gone to work) and was sent to a voice mailbox and she left a message to please call her. They never did and Jackie wasn't in a state of mind to deal with it. I called Saturday on the emergency line and they told me to come in and they'd look at it. They did. They then drained out about the same amount only this time the fluid was bloody. He told her she could go and Jackie said it still hurt. This time we had the doctor so he reexamined her knee and found another load of fluid and drained that one too. It was also bloody. With nothing else to do, we went on home. I told you this was long. How about a photo break: Here's Jackie dancing after she got off crutches in Thailand last January.



We went home, parked Jackie back in the bed (she couldn't walk without crutches and then the pain was so great she only walked to go to the bathroom) and began waiting for healing. By the way, many of you have been praying for Jackie and have sent us emails and I simply haven't answered them because it's too crazy right now. We will get to them eventually (maybe!). Her knee never quit hurting; the swelling never went down and the knee was hot to the touch. She had gone to physical therapy once and the therapist asked her what she was doing there with so much swelling? Her response, which is her standard one, "I'm the patient. I'm just doing what I was told to do." We kept waiting and waiting for something to change, but it didn't. On Friday Leah, our daughter, called a doctor friend and told him what was going on and he told her to get Jackie to the emergency room--immediately. I had called our doctor but he wasn't in so his nurse talked to us and said he would come in at 2:00 in the afternoon and see what was going on. When I told her what our other doctor said to do, she said she'd call us back. When she did, we were told to get on up to the emergency room and find out what was going on. We spent 11 hours in the emergency room but only 2 of those in a chair. They finally got Jackie into a bed and a doctor came by, took fluid out of the knee and said it looked like infection and he'd send the gunk to the lab. She went into the hospital Friday night at 11:00 PM or so. The next day our doctor called me and said he wanted to do surgery on her around noon to find out what was going on. We said OK to that and on Saturday at 1:00 she went in for a 45-minute procedure that took 90 minutes. When they got into her knee they found all sorts of stuff going on, the most distressing was inflammation. After the surgery, we again were hoping that now things would get better. A very fun doctor, Dr. Igor, came in to the room and he is a specialist about infectious diseases. He hung out with us for about 30 minutes and when all was said and done, he thought that the infection that was found was not from Jackie but maybe from a lab worker. That sounded good to us. Look, that cute little teenager is Jackie on her horse, Jenny.



With this good news, we were encouraged. Sunday Dr. Igor came by and said things were growing from her samples that didn't look good, but maybe it wasn't a problem and only contamination. Monday evening, Dr. Igor came by again and said we could go home. Yea! Tuesday our doctor called and dropped a bomb on us. He told us Jackie had a serious infection and needed to go to the hospital and get a "pic line" put in. Look it up on the Internet for details, but it's a permanent port for pouring antibiotics in. That turned into an incredible hassle because the doctor told her where to go so being a good patient, off we went. It was to be a 1-hour procedure and Jackie was there 7. Fortunately, Leah was with her and was able to sort out all the problems that happened because of our doctor not sending the paper work in, ordering the drugs, etc. etc. etc. When she came home, she was in such pain she could only lay in bed and cry. I can't believe how strong she is. I would have killed myself by now.

The infection? This is the best part. It came from either the doctor's office or the surgery at the hospital and it is a nasty little guy that will eat your heart out if the antibiotics don't kill it. That's just what a heart patient needs to hear (Jackie has heart disease).

So what do we think about all of this and the doctor? Well, we like him. We know he's given it a good try to fix her up and he's not out to get us.

Today is Friday and she's had 2 antibiotic treatments and has 26 to go--they are daily doses that take about 90 minutes. It's a challenge to get her to the hospital for the treatments but we have friends who have been amazing in helping us keep up. My job will allow me to make adjustments to my schedule if I need to take her.

Jackie hasn't worked for 3 weeks and I missed at least one week so this is not good. The most amazing part is, God has provided for us somehow to stay ahead.

What will we do next? Wait. The knee is still swollen, Jackie is still in lots of pain and it's still hot to the touch. Jackie had a temperature last night of 101. Dr. Igor's nurse called today to check on her and seemed a bit concerned about the temp reading. Our doctor said it was normal since she was getting antibiotics. We can't seem to get the 2 doctors on the same page.

The big question: Will you sue? We've been counseled by people we respect and trust that we should. We've been counseled by people who we don't respect that we should sue. The consensus is, sue! I don't want to. What I would love to see is for our doctor to accept the responsibility that we came to his office basically healthy. Prior to that appointment with him, we'd been on a bike ride. Now, 3 weeks later, Jackie has a life threatening infection (pretty remote, though) and a knee that is no better than when she started and far worse with no end in sight. If he'd just say, "Hey guys, I'm sorry. I'll pick up this bill," I'd be thrilled and forget about what all has gone down. I don't need a gozillion dollars--I want and need my wife to be better and not to have to pay for someone else's possible mistakes. However, whenever we go to his office, he bills us. Yesterday at the hospital, we paid. Something doesn't seem right but maybe I don't understand the medical "practice."

What would we like for you to do? Pray. We know that God loves us and that in ALL things we are to give thanks. We are even giving thanks in this, though it's through clenched teeth at times. What comes our way, has come by Father first and He knows our needs and strengths and how much we can endure. He is compassionate above all else and merciful beyond comprehension. Whew, that was quite a story, wasn't it? In closing, let me just again say "THANKS" to all of you who have written. Do they bless us? SURE DO! Today we received this email from Tahn, one of our Thai girls:

Dear Daddy,

I believe that Jesus heals mommy. I praise him in advance for that. And I expect to hear good news from you soon.


She even sent us the rose! What a blessing to have friends as far away as Thailand and as near as Saint Augustine praying for us. Because of that, I can say with confidence, "Your will be done." Whatever that may be, we give thanks and end with another thanks to all of you.

Bob and Jackie

COMING HOME

My friend, Rick, and I lived together on the surfing trail about 37 years ago. That was back when hair was long, work was infrequent and drugs were fun. I converted to Christ and Rick and Bruce, my other roommate, considered me quite nuts. I told them about Jesus and shortly after that we all went separate ways. Bruce died of a drug overdose and Rick was an addict for about 20 years or so. I prayed for Rick probably weekly and often more to come to Christ. After about 20 years, on Easter day he gave his life to Jesus. Those 20 years took 20 years to go by, but after Rick became a Christian, it didn't seem that long. Now Rick is an evangelist and has led 100s of people to Christ.


When Leah, our daughter, turned 18, we were leading a YWAM team on an outreach and she was beginning a very long party that lasted for about 11 or 12 years. I'm getting old so these dates all kind of run together (ha!). Jackie and I prayed for her all the time to come back to Jesus. In the photos and video (if it worked), you can see the answers to those prayers. Last Sunday, September 30th, Leah was joined to the Orthodox church and Jacob and Elijah were baptized. It was all Leah's doings and choices that got her back. Prayers influence, God gives strength, but Leah made the choices to make the Lord Jesus her own again. Do you think we are very happy? Ecstatic might be a better word.



So, are you wondering about those guys in the robes and carrying crosses that baptized them? They are Fr Ted and Fr David, who have become our good friends. As I said, they are Orthodox. If you are wondering if that is some kind of Catholic, you can find out by going to www.oca.org. In a nutshell, this is how they sum themselves up:

It's Orthodox - But not Jewish

It's Catholic - but not Roman

It's Evangelical - but not Protestant

It's Scriptural - but not Fundamentalist

It's Predenominational - not Non-denominational

The dark-haired guy is an old friend of ours, Cameron Thorpe.

As part of the service, they honor saints of old. This week was Hieromartyr Gregory the Bishop of Greater Armenia. Wondering who he is? I'll tell you. His life is amazing:

In order to atone for the sin of his father, who had murdered the father of Tiridates, Gregory entered into the service of the latter and was a faithful servant to him. Tiridates loved Gregory like a friend, but he was intolerant of the Christian confession of faith. After ascending the Armenian throne, he began to demand that St
Gregory renounce the Christian Faith. The steadfastness of the saint embittered
Tiridates, and he gave his faithful servant over to cruel tortures: they suspended the sufferer head downwards with a stone about his neck, for several days they choked him with a stinking smoke, they beat and ridiculed him, and forced him to walk in iron sandals inset with nails. At the time of these sufferings St Gregory sang Psalms. In prison the Lord healed all his wounds. When Gregory again stood before the emperor cheerful and unharmed, he was astonished ordering the torments repeated. St Gregory endured them, not wavering, with all his former determination and bearing. They then poured hot tin over him and threw him into a pit filled with vipers. The Lord, however, saved His chosen one: the snakes did him no harm. Some pious women fed him bread, secretly lowering it into the pit. A holy angel, appeared to the martyr, strengthening and encouraging him. St Gregory remained in the pit for fourteen years. During this time the emperor Tiridates executed the holy virgin St Rhipsime, the aged abbess Gaiana and another 35 virgins from a monastery in Asia Minor. As punishment for this horrible deed, the king's face became disfigured. St Gregory was released from the pit, and buried the relics of the holy virgins with honor. Then he began to preach to the people, urging them to turn away from the darkness of idolatry and toward Christ. The people came to believe in Christ, and wished to build a large church. When it was completed, St Gregory had the relics of the holy nuns brought into it. Then he brought King Tiridates before the bodies of the saints whom he had slain. He repented, and immediately his face was made whole. Soon all of Armenia was converted to Christ. The temples of the idols were destroyed, and churches for the worship of the true God were built. St Gregory ordained priests, established schools, founded monasteries, and provided for the good order of the Church. St Gregory went into the wilderness, where he departed to the Lord. His son Aristanes was made a bishop in Cappadocia, and was one of the 318 holy Fathers at the Council of Nicea. (That's where we got the "Nicene Creed.")

Next time you are having a tough day, think about St Gregory. Our problems, however big, are never bigger than our Father in heaven. Like St Gregory, we too have His care. If it's His will, we will continue. If not, I guess we move on.... Regardless of your day, remember these words from 1 Thessalonians 5:

Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit.

The quickest way to ruin your day is to "quench" the Holy Spirit, or in other words:

whine all the time, don't pray, in everything gripe....

Us, on the beach...

Well, that's enough from us. How about a couple of prayer reminders?

Jackie: Starting round 2 with her heart and knee. Her first appointment is October 2nd and we'll have more info after that is over. Her heart is probably fine but there's been some weird feelings and blood pressure issues. Her knee needs help. She can still walk but that's with pain.

Bob: Hmm, how about work? I have a job but there hasn't been much work and I work on commission. Not a good combination. Pray for more work to come my way or perhaps if God might have another direction for me to be going in. I'd hate for my boss's business to sink like Jonah's boat was doing if I'm the problem. ha(?)

Friends: Penny, life-threatening cancer; Kenny, getting a new liver; Burt and Theresa, just pray for God's mercy and healing for them; Rich, hepatitis C and losing the liver he has; Toby, Parkinson's disease.

WHAT IF...

...you were born blind. All your life your friends and family told you what the sky, mountains, oceans, colors, people and cities looked like. In your mind you would associate "pictures" with the words. When someone told you the sky was blue today, perhaps in your mind that was a trolley car going down the tracks in San Francisco, rumbling, rolling and ringing down the hills. Not accurate, but no matter--it works for you.


Plato, that old time philosophizer dude, put it this way. All of mankind was tied to poles inside a cave, facing the back wall. Everyday when the sun came up, the pole people saw their shadows and knew beyond a doubt that the dimly lit shadows were indeed what was known as "light." One day, some of the braver folks freed themselves from the poles and went outside to the cave entrance and saw the sun. They were overwhelmed by the brightness and warmth that flooded their senses. They EXPERIENCED the light first hand and were so excited they went back to the pole people and told them what they saw.

The pole people said that they were nuts because everyone knew that the shadows were the reality and they were misled. No matter how hard the sun worshipers tried, they couldn't convince their friends that the true light was outside the cave.

I sometimes wonder if I'm one of the pole people. You see, I've read my Bible for 37 years and formed an opinion of who God is. Some have told me I was misled and some have agreed with me. I've been all around the world a couple of times and carried my perception with me and surrounded myself with those who agree (at least most of the time!). I've told others about "my" God and how He loves, cares, feels, thinks and acts. Those who disagree with me I simply feel sorry for because they are obviously delusional. It couldn't be me that's confused, could it? Don't worry, I haven't denied Christ. All those things I've read in Scripture, they are true and they penetrate my life with wisdom and revelation. Yet there are times I periodically do a check up to see what I believe and why I believe it. I think with the transition from Thailand to America and the uncertainty we are dealing with right now, I'm again asking myself questions that are difficult to answer.

All of what I believe has come to me through my personal study and church affiliations, which have been many. Jackie and I were thinking about that one day and started naming all the churches we've been in. The list is something like this: home groups, 4 Square, charismatic non-denominational, (Bob gets married now), Presbyterian, "shepherding movement," Presbyterian again, Calvary Chapel, 4 Square again, charismatic Anglican, non-denominational charismatic, Lutheran, Baptist...and probably others I can't remember. The reason there's been so many is because we were in YWAM for so many years and moved all over the place, including Hong Kong and Thailand. So, you could say, we've been exposed to about everything the Protestant world has to offer and teach. The discovery I've made is that it seems to go round and round and round and round with new movements that are actually dug up old movements that end about as poorly as they start and leave more people disillusioned and staying at home because they are tired of "church." Does this all sound hopeless to you? Have I lost my mind? If so, where did it go? What if someone else finds it and tries to use it? God help them.

The point of all this rambling is that we love Jesus. We love our lives and we love all that has happened to us over the last 34 years we've been married—even the tragedies and our failures. Jackie and I want more and more to become as Jesus is. We want our friends and those who we pray for to know Him and become like Him. We want to be a part of His Kingdom on earth and we want to be ever filled with His light and life. It takes struggle to do that. And, it means we have to come down off our poles and open our eyes to the sun of righteousness.

Those are just a few random thoughts that pass through my mind in the course of a day. In addition to random thoughts and good books that challenge me (The Mountain of Silence this week), we find ourselves working and going about life in Florida just as you are working and going about life where you are. Jackie enjoys her kids most of the time, though she finds that her HIV/AIDS Thai orphans were much happier and content than the little American jewels she has now. Adjustments. I’m powering along with my job and had 4 out of 5 days off last week because there was no business. That’s not good when you work on a commission basis, but it was good for surfing! Ha.



I had my 58th birthday celebration and, instead of feeling old and crusty (as my good friend, Chuck of Thailand, likes to call me) I felt more like Star Trek. We who are “old” are boldly going where the young dare not—we are age astronauts, exploring the ever expanding expanses of physical pain and inabilities!
To close, let’s just say we are fine. Perhaps a bit confused, perhaps a bit homesick for Thailand and our friends, but boldly going on and anticipating all God has for us as we make our way through yet another adventure. As we go, perhaps you will keep on praying for us and we also love to pray for you so if there are things you’d like someone to join you in praying, let us know. Let us encourage one another—the day draws near.



Blessings on you all from Father above…

Bob and Jackie

Back in America

…we woke up and looked around and thought, “Where on earth are we now?”

That’s what you feel like after 35 hours of traveling. That’s what it took this time. Not bad actually.

Last time I wrote we were wondering where we’d be living, what we’d be doing and here we are already looking back. All I can continue to say is, “God is good, way too good to us.”

So we left Thailand and felt the cracking and crunching of our hearts as we hugged our friends who came to the airport to see us off (perhaps making sure we got on the plane and left!). We flew down to Bangkok, only one hour, and then waited for 8 hours to catch our flight to New York City. We caught that one, flew for 16.5 hours and there it was—America. Customs, Immigration, piece of cake. The Immigration guy asked us what we’d been doing in Thailand and when we told him he just stamped our passports and said, “Welcome home.” Then the Customs guy asked us, who was just as polite, and never even opened a suitcase to see what we had—and we had a ton of luggage. Another 5.5 hours layover and we caught the Jet Blue flight ($59 each!) to Jacksonville. What an awesome airline they are. I know who I’ll be flying with whenever I have to go somewhere.

We got to Jacksonville and Paul (a friend from church) with Leah and the grandkids were there to pick us up in the church bus. That’s the only thing anyone had that could carry us and our luggage.

We stayed with Leah for about 2 weeks in all. After we’d been there a few days we drove to Jackie’s mom’s house, 5 hours south of here, and stayed there a week. We took the 2 older boys with us and had a great time visiting and catching up।

Jackie, Lauren (Nathan's wife), Nathan, Zachary, Alexis (a friend, laying down) and Jake and the dog in the front.

When we got back we made it to church for the first time and enjoyed that immensely. It was a bit weird because when we left we knew about 75% of the people who attended on Saturday nights and this time we only knew a few of them. The service had grown a lot and we were strangers in our own home. Oh well, guess we’ll have to make new friends. Today is Sunday (Father’s Day in America) so we went to the Sunday morning service and felt even stranger. We saw a few faces scattered across the building that we knew, but when the service was over everyone took off. We were in our home church, maybe 750 people in attendance, and when we stood out by the doors to see who might be around that we knew, we didn’t know but about 3 people. Talk about culture shock. We came home but we don’t know anyone anymore।

Housing: We weren’t sure where we’d live and Leah had been looking and gave up. The houses she found for us were too expensive or kind of scary (neighborhood not so safe) so we were a bit concerned. However, one family in our church remembered us (there’s more than one of course), Billy and Phyllis Robshaw, old friends, and they had a house they wanted someone to live in. We took a look at it and were stoked. They’d been renting it to college kids that go to our church but all but one had moved out. The remaining one, Bo, still lives here and the three of us share it. He’s a great guy so it’s a good situation. We can share expenses. When I say God is good (so are the Robshaws) I’m making an understatement. The house is a 5-minute bike ride to the beach (where I used to surf all the time) and a 5-minute bike ride to the church where Jackie works. We are blessed! In fact, Jackie and I just came home from the beach on our bikes.

Father's Day and Leah's birthday in our new house--note the unpacking mess and wonder boy, Elijah, Leah's youngest.

Jobs: Jackie starts at the church day care tomorrow (Monday) at 7:00 AM (God help her) and has the 3-year olds. She went in a couple of times just to get reacquainted with the place and was amazed that everyone understood her when she talked. Everyone over here speaks English! Hurray. She will be working 7:00 – 2:00, 5 days a week, so she’s stoked with that schedule.

I have a knack for getting jobs I don’t know how to do. My last job was a mystery to me and the one I now have is also a mystery. A friend has a business and he goes to car lots and does things like painting bumpers that are all faded out, dying interiors that are messed up or fixing up the outside when they are all scratched up. He does most everything. For some reason, he thought I’d be perfect for this job and offered to train me. So, for the last 2 weeks, I’ve been riding around with him doing these things and, sure enough, I do know how to do such things. It’s kind of fun but my back concerns me quite a bit. My back does OK until about the last couple of hours of the day and then it just kind of quits on me. Friday it was cramping and seizing up or something and I wouldn’t be able to walk for a few seconds. It hasn’t done that one before. But after a good night’s sleep it only hurt on Saturday. By the end of the Saturday (we are unpacking stored boxes and moving stuff around) it was cramping up again. I went to the doctor before we left for Thailand and just before we left Thailand to come to America and they tell me the same thing—“looks good to me.” Prayer appreciated.

So, all in all, we are doing fine. We are still a bit lost in America and really missing Thailand, but one thing that came to me was this: 2Co 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory…. God didn’t bring us here as a demotion—He brought us here to be transformed more and more into the likeness of Christ. Our goal stays the same and we embrace our time here in the States knowing that God has a future for us. We are grateful to have our kids and family around again and await the coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ—King of kings….

We have mobile phones (no land line cause Bo works from the house and needs it) so if you have Cingular, we can talk day and night for free! Our phone numbers are…

Jackie 904 315 7734

Bob 904 315 7528

If you don’t have Cingular, we pay 10 cents a minute to talk to you and you know what? We want to talk to you. We’d love to talk to you. Our e-mail stays the same: bobandjackie@gmail.com Our mailing address is now:

Robinsons

43 Willow Drive

Saint Augustine, FL 32080

As always, we are grateful for each of you and look forward to hearing from you. Thanks for being our friends. Blessings to you all…

May is here and that means we are on the final countdown to jetting out of here for Florida. How strange it seems to be packing with a one-way ticket to fly on. We are truly excited about getting back to see our kids and friends but we will be missing a lot of “family” and friends over here too. I wonder what it’s like to be so rich you can just fly around the world whenever you like to see the people you miss? One of the drawbacks of missions is the good byes.

Since this is the last entry from Thailand (I think), we want to express our thanks to all of you who have so generously prayed and supported us financially to be here. I know that many of you have given when there wasn’t much left for yourselves. We are not worthy—but the Lamb, He is and He knows your generosity.

We’ve received “care” packages, special cards, bookmarks, books and all sorts of things from around the world—THANKS! We are humbled by all the generous friends we have and humility is good. I’ll be proud when I’m even more humble! Ha.

In 1987 when we first joined YWAM, there was a married couple about 40 sitting in front of the dorm with their suitcases sitting next to them. They didn’t have jobs or a home but were on their way “out” to go somewhere and live. I remember thinking, “I wonder if Jackie and I will ever be like that?”

Well, we made it past our 40s and are now into our 50s (60s aren’t that far ahead for me) and all I can say is that God has been way too good to us. We’ve lived over here and always been able to financially keep up with our responsibilities and ministries. We’ve lived in a cute little house and been blessed to even have friends come and stay with us. Jackie took a couple of major health hits last year but has since recovered and is powering along again at ¾ speed. You prayed us through those times. When she quit her job and began volunteering at the orphanage, your financial support went up and we never missed her income. How blessed we are to have such a caring and providing God.

As we return this time (there’s been many going and coming times for us), Leah is feverishly at work trying to find us a rental and it looks like Jackie will have her old job at ABC childcare, which she loved and missed while over here. I’m still wondering what I’ll be doing but haven’t hit the panic mode yet. We’ve bought our airline tickets so that’s no problem. We’ve paid our rent and are disposing of our household stuff here (Bum and Glen will get most of it for their wedding present) and making our house ready for Ron and Jeanette Brewster to live in. They are close friends from Montana. We’ve even managed to save almost $2000 to get set up in Florida once again. We are hoping to rent something where they won’t require a first, last and deposit. If we don’t, we’ll be writing for more support! Ha.

So this is our blog of thanks to all of you who have gone with us these last 4 years. Your prayers, support and especially e-mails have been such a blessing. Here’s what’s coming up as we try and leave for you to pray with us about.

May 4^th: Bob goes to Chiang Mai (3 hours from here) for an eye appointment to find out if his eye can be fixed (cataract).

May 5^th: If the doctor says “go for it,” he will have the surgery. By the way, he can hardly put eye drops in his eyes so this should be quite a challenge for him.

May 6^th: Return to Chiang Rai. In the evening, Bob speaks at the international fellowship for missionaries.

THE BIG ONE

May 14^th: We go to Bum’s hometown for the “Thai” wedding. It’s about a 7-hour ride and we should have a great time.

May 15^th: Bum and Glen get married “Thai” style. This won’t be their official wedding—that comes in December and they will be married in the church. Bob gets to give a 5-minute speech about Bum so pray it turns into an opportunity to share what God has and is doing in her life.

May 20th: We say bye to our church and all our good friends who go there. Thanks to all and to the Johnsons (pastor family).

We fly from Chiang Rai to Bangkok and have a 7-hour wait for our flight that goes from Bangkok to New York, non-stop. Yay. It’s only a 17-hour flight.

May 23^rd

We get to New York at 6:30 AM, go through customs and immigration (God help us please) and then fly to Jacksonville at 1:30. Someone with a truck will need to pick us up because we are bringing back 4 big suitcases full of our junk and 4 carry on bags.

May 24^th: We wake up and begin looking for our minds.

What will we miss here in Thailand? You know the answer. People. Here's a few of them below.

Jackie letting them know who's in charge...

Here's a few of her wee friends.

This was a friend of ours who lived in Pattaya. Her name is Angel and that's what she is.

In a land far, far away, there were elepahants and friends: Neng, Bob, Tduk and Ngok...





...and geysers too. Art and Dow with Bob



Mae, Bum and Nan

I really wish I had the space to put in all the photos we have. But then you might get terribly bored. So, I'll not do that and do this instead: Thank you once again. Jackie and I are so grateful for our Thai adventure and all that God has done to us, through us and for us. He alone is worthy.

Our home church, Anastasia Baptist, must have a special thanks. What a blessing they have been to us. We have been so looked after, prayed after and supported that we can hardly believe it. We look forward to seeing all of you again....

WHAT CAN I DO?

How many times have you asked yourself that? Or maybe this question: How can God use me? Well, wonder no more. I want to share with you a very simple and profound way how God used a friend of ours.

About a year ago you saw Sheryl in our blog. She came to Thailand, alone, to spend her vacation doing something for God. We didn’t know Sheryl. She was coming to spend her time with Chuck and Janet. Change of plans. Janet had to go back to the States and for Sheryl, a married woman, to spend 2 weeks with a married man, Chuck—doesn’t look too good.

We have an extra room so she came and stayed with us. Guess who won? We did. We had a wonderful time with her and made a friendship that has been cemented together by God Himself. Sheryl had a great time here and continues to e-mail us to tell how much her life was changed just by coming.

Nui and the wild monkeys...

Here’s a secret for you. When you take a leap of faith like Sheryl did, you quickly learn that God wants to bless you more than you could ever imagine. You think you are on a work adventure, and you do work, but it turns out you are on a blessing adventure.

Here's Nui with Bam looking on.

A couple of months back, Sheryl e-mailed us and said she wanted to send a box full of goodies for the kids where Jackie volunteers. But there was a catch. She was going to get her 6th graders to help; pay the shipping to get the box over here (considerable) but we couldn’t tell the kids that the gifts didn’t come from us.

Thirsty? Bam has cold water for you.

Foon, right, is a builder. Leah and Nathan say we should adopt him. Hmm, I'd be 100 when he gets out of high school.

When you give, you get back 100 fold. Bam and Nui are taking good care of Bob (left).

Party time!

Mae, putting on the finishing touches of her creation.

So last week Jackie wrapped all the gifts and we put them in the back of our car and I got to go to work with her cause my school is on summer break (kind of). I brought the camera along cause I wanted to send the photos to Sheryl and her students to see the blessing we got. So, here are some of them for you to see too.

Jesus had this to say: Mat 10:42 Truly I tell you, whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple will never lose his reward."

Sheryl and her students didn’t give cold water, but they sure made the day for these “little ones.” So if you are wondering if there’s anything YOU can do...the answer is yes. All it takes is a little bit of faith, some initiative and a willingness to give out cold water or maybe help a homeless guy or maybe even go somewhere overseas to paint an orphanage or play with the kids. Better yet, paint the kids--they like it. Jesus also said this: Mat 25:40 The king will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, in that you did it for one of the least important of these my brothers, you did it for me.'

FUN! We got to have fun. Here are some photos of a 5-day holiday we got to have because we were given the money to do it and ordered to use it on a holiday. Thank you, YWAM/Montana!
We went to the beach. Surprised? It was hot and beautiful.

Getting there was as much fun as being there. We rented this motorcycle for $7 a day and found all kinds of fun places to explore, including frightening traffic jams and beaches that were remote and beautiful. No waves but great snorkeling.

When riding motorcycles,
it's always wise to check out
the international traffic signs.
Who knows what might be
around that corner?

Here's a few of our fellow beach seekers.
We didn't stay here cause it was a bit too crowded.
There's a better beach just around the corner.

Finally...we are in the last couple of months of our time living in Thailand. As we are making the preparations to move , we are looking back first. Why? Because it’s too scary looking ahead! God brought us over here 4 years ago, gave us a nice

Phuket (southern Thailand) is a beautiful island and we sure enjoyed our time there.

house to live in, good ministries, new friends, met all our needs and even saved Jackie’s life when she had the heart attack. He has been so faithful to us.

Moving back is scarier than moving here. Sound strange? It does to me and I just said it. We are going back without jobs or a place to live (today as I write) and excited about what God wants to do to us next. Ha. His plans are good and His future for all of us is good. Please be praying that we make this transition smoothly and with minimal culture shock. Culture shock tends to slow things down and I can tell you that after 4 years away from America, we are in for a shock!

OK, that’s about it. One last “Thank You” until next month’s blog update. Thank you, Father, for taking such good care of us. Thanks for our friends too that have stood with us through a lot! Blessings...

Bob and Jackie

P.S. I'm not a perfectionist, but when things are a bit out of whack, like the captions, it drives me crazy. I published and republished this thing for a long time until I finally gave up and went to bed. The preview would show everything was in the right place, and then it published like this. I'm sorry. Write Blogger and complain. Ha.

Here Comes the Bride...

There are numerous, uncountable blessings we receive from our heavenly Father. We grow up, get married, have kids and the next thing you know, they are having their own kids. This time last year we were getting ready to fly to Florida for Nathan’s wedding that happened May 14^th. We were excited and really looking forward to such a celebration. And, we weren’t disappointed—our son and daughter know how to do a wedding.
Pornpimon (Bum) on the left when she was much younger. She's old now--23!

This year, on May 15^th, another blessing is coming into our lives: Pornpimon Noinamkum is getting married. Wondering what on earth a Pornpimon could be? Well, it’s none other than “Bum,” our Thai daughter (that’s her claim at least and we are glad to have her). About 3 years ago I had a teacher’s assistant named Glynn and he was in the right place at the right time cause Bum was my student then. There was obviously some sparks flying cause they will be married. After Glynn’s time as an assistant was up, he went home, made some money and raised a little support and came back over here and enrolled in school. He’ll be a 3^rd year student next semester.

Here's what Bum looks like now. A lot older and for sure crazier.

Jackie and I are really happy about all of this. It’s kind of like our going away gift I suppose. To see what God has done in Bum’s life the last 3 years has been incredible. She’s working on staff at the church and regularly translates for English speakers coming through and helping teams too. She’s really smart, though she says she’s a buffalo. Smart. Very cute and loves God—Glynn wins! Glynn is a man we’re really proud of too. He’s gone through a lot to live over here and go to school. It isn’t easy to be a full-time student and live on support and be involved in ministry. He’s done very well.

My last paid day of work is April 19^th so we were planning on being out of here as quick as we could to save money but then the wedding blessing exploded in front of all of us so we will be here until May 22^nd. Bum’s parents want Jackie and I to be something or other in this event so we get to go to their house, about 7 hours from here, with Bum and Glynn and do something in relation to the engagement. Marriage over here is kind of like what you read about in American history books: You gotta pay a dowry (they don’t want farm animals—they want cash!) and go through a few rituals before you get the daughter. So, we’ll be going over in April to help (if we actually can). Then we’ll go back in May for the 1^st wedding, which is a traditional Thai wedding.

There they go, Glen and Bum on the way to Birmingham, AL.

Herein lies the challenge. Bum’s parents insist on this type of wedding or it’s no deal. So, in a Thai traditional wedding you have lots of Buddhist-type things going on you have to navigate your way through. We are praying that God will change Bum’s parent’s hearts and allow us some freedom to kind of Christianize it. I don’t have a problem with the Monk praying a blessing over them. However, some of the other stuff is kind of strange and Bum’s really uncomfortable with it, but wants to honor her parents. So, please join us in praying. We are thinking that perhaps God could use this to minister to the parents and bring them to salvation. 2.5 years ago they disowned Bum but now she’s their #1 daughter and has led her middle sister to Christ. Seeing the parents come to Christ would just be so awesome. Please pray for that to happen. There are no Christians in Bum’s village.

The 2^nd marriage ceremony won’t be until December and that will be in the church and is the one Bum considers the real thing. We'll miss that one, which makes us very sad. Glynn and Bum are in America right now with Glynn’s parents in Birmingham, Nathan’s birth town by the way, visiting his family and church and they will have an “official” engagement party there.

Hope Prayer Update: Hope came home from the hospital in a cast that kept her sort of immobile. Unfortunately, the medical care here in our town is a bit sketchy at times and the bone setting didn’t actually work. So Hope has been taken to another hospital 3 hours from here and they will reset the femur and probably put her in traction for a couple of weeks. Or, if they are unable to deal with the problem, Hope will be taken to Bangkok where the health care is world class. Please keep praying for this little one. We were very fortunate that an American doctor “happened” by a couple of days ago and after looking at Hope took her to the hospital for more x-rays and discovered how wrong everything was. God blessed Hope. Pray now for more blessing and healing.

We are slowly winding down, though we still have about 3 months before we leave. Please ask God for His mercy as we try and separate ourselves from Thailand. Besides being home (2^nd longest place we’ve ever lived!), Thailand has a part of our hearts that will hurt to be removed. And, we gotta get ourselves and our household junk back to the States. We called a shipping company and they told us $2800 would do it, no problem. We laughed. So we are looking for boxes and are slowly putting stuff in them and will put them in the mail. It’s about a 3 month transit for the mail to get there via surface and each box is $90 so please pray they actually get to Leah’s apartment. She’s the collector of our junk! Often things kind of get “lost.” It would be cool if ours actually gets there.

Ever wonder what's going on in the mind of a cat? Probably nothing. But this one that moved to our house with her kittens a couple of years ago must not like her picture being taken.

So that's about all the news from our part of Thailand. Actually, there's more, but this thing is long engough and we just wanted to get the news about our "daughter" getting married out to the world--at least that part of the world that we know. Thanks for sharing with us your emails and stories. We love to hear from you and we also love praying for those in need. Be sure and let us know of any prayer requests. There's nothing better'n spending time with Father giving thanks and making intercession. Blessings to you all...