WHICH WAY....

Before the Word came into the world, the sages sought Him out in every place. They saw Him not, but sensed His presence everywhere. They found Him in living beings, in mountain crags and flowing streams, in seas and winds. He was not these things, but He spoke in these things, guiding them. All things followed His Course. Therefore the sages called Him also by His other name: The Way (Tao). The Course that all things are to follow.

The trees, the birds, the rivers and winds: These had no choice but to follow the Way. Man alone is given choice; Man alone can follow or go his own way. If he follows the Way, he will suffer with the pain of the world, but he will find the Original Harmony [Trinity]. If he follows his own way, he will suffer only with himself, and within him will be chaos. from CHRIST, THE ETERNAL TAO, by Hiermonk Damascene

So which way are you going? There's really only 2 directions to go: Toward God or away from Him. I trust you are moving toward Him. For some, to move toward God means to be "doing" more. While we haven't rolled over and quit, we have discovered that moving toward God often means being still and allowing His presence to change and challenge, to flow into our hearts making them more and more like His. Our hearts are very much like the curtain in the Temple that was torn in two when Christ died. He comes into our lives and our hearts are ripped in two. Part wants to be His and another part wants to seek after every new thing it desires. Those few broken pieces that cry out to Him are to be continually offered up as a sweet smelling sacrifice. Those broken, scattered pieces that are charging after what the passions drive them to, they can be healed in the quiet place, inside the closet where we can find the Lord. We pray you find the peaceful place where you can spend hours of time sitting with Him and being nourished by His holy presence.

How about a picture update blog? Sounds good to me. I'll just throw a few new photos in here and give you some news to go with them. First off, that one in the top left corner is something I found in the book I'm reading. A group of Chinese artists got together, I think in the 20s, and decided to paint from the Bible. They weren't Christians, but when they finished they had all accepted Christ. So, now you know what a Chinese gospel looks like!

On the right is my wonder woman with Bam. We get to play with the kids at our house every now and then and this is Bam. Kind of reminds me of THE FLINSTONES, only this one is very quiet, unlike the Flinstone's Bam Bam.








And on the left is Jackie with Foon. He was looking at some photos and came across this one of Jake (our grand son) and said he loved him. A couple of days later he drew a picture for us to send to Jake. Jackie wants to sneak this little guy into our suitcase and bring him home. He's unadoptable so he will continue to live at the orphanage, which is actually a great place. We were out there in the evening a few days ago and the kids were just going nuts playing ball and running around. It's like a huge family.

When they color, they stay in the lines. On the right are Bam and Foon showing me how. I can use the help!












One reason I've been so busy is it's the time of year for graduation and final exams. They happen at the same time. Over there on the left is a shot of the front of the campus. The school has grown so much since Chuck and I started working here. It's amazing. The campus has become a major tourist destination in northern Thailand due to the gozillions of Baht spent on landscaping and flowers.


Here's Foon again with one of those exercise balls you get in America. He saw it in the house and just had to play with it. He and Bam were kicking and pushing each other all over the yard on it. What was really fun was to stack the 2 kids on top of each other and then bounce them.

Below is Jackie's boss from the Buddhist kindergarten, Chamrieng. Jackie still goes to the school once a week and teaches dance for her. They get together for lunch now and then too. She had to go to school again to get a Master's degree in education.

She already had one in accounting but the government changed the law after she opened her school and required the extra degree. How would you like to find out you had to go back to school for 2 years after you had already opened your business? Thai law can be baffling.



Chuck had another party at his house for our
students. The highlight of this party was
Bum (Boom). We asked her if she'd come along and give her testimony. In the past Chuck and I have shared and that's always good, but to get one of their peers was even better. I sat and watched the students as Bum talked and they were on the edges of their chairs, listening. Plant, water, plant, water, plant and water. Whew, but it's worth it.



Jackie is still walking to keep her heart beating. I insist that it continues to beat! One of our favorite walking spots is in a nearby college and it has these giant, women-eating bugs. Jackie tried to pet this one and it got her. OK, she's a ham and just wanted to be in the blog.




"Do I want to be your valentine? Let me ask Jackie about that one." One of the big bonuses I have is the students like to bring me stuff. Valentine's Day was a good day. I'm sure they bring the gifts because I'm so kind--it wouldn't have anything to do with bribing me for a grade. Of course not! That's about all the photos and time I've got for now. I have tons of grades to reconcile and final grades to publish. This is the time of the year when my students are all in a panic. Here's a cool story to end with. Today, like maybe 3 hours ago, one of my "bad" students came by to see me. She really messed up the 1st semester, totally missed the mid-term exam cause she was goofing off and was making some really bad choices. I talked to her a couple of weeks ago and demanded she make an 86 on the final exam or she would not pass the course. To fail is bad. To fail in Thailand is life threatening. So she was curious about her grade and relieved to hear that her score was a 92. I told her how proud I was of her for making some better choices and then started another sentence with, "You are a Buddhist and I'm a Christian..." when she interrupted with, "I want to be a Christian!" To say the least, I was taken by surprise. I gave her all the Christian material I had in my drawer and after the finals we are going to get together and explore this intent of hers. Please pray for her if you think of it. Her name is NAWARAT. So, that's about it from Thailand. OH, also pray for Hope. Hope is one of Jackie's kids and broke her femur Wednesday. It was very traumatic but she came home today and now has a cast covering the entire broken leg and across her lower abdomen/hips. She's 6 and not a happy camper. Please pray for her recovery and that it would be speedy. Also, if you don't mind, keep praying for us as we are in the beginning of moving back to America. It's expensive and intensive and heart breaking.

OK, for sure, that's it. Thanks to all of you for being with us on our journeys. We do appreciate the prayers and support.

Go here if you'd like to see where Jackie works: http://www.ywamthai.org/chiangrai/openheart.htm