Sabbath Rest

It has come.

I knew it would sneak up on me quicker than I anticipated.  And it did.

School has a way of doing that to you.

I can't believe it.  I'm actually in the program I've been pursuing; the program I've been aiming at for over 3 years now.  My goal is becoming a reality.  And I'm still dazed.

I was walking across campus today from having spent a few hours studying in the library, when I happened to look down and notice the scrubs I was wearing.  How can I describe the excitement that bubbled up in me?  Wow.  I'm in my dental hygiene program.  I'm actually in.

God is good.

But now I must add that this isn't any easy program I've begun.  Never did I realize how much anatomy is hidden in the oral cavity.  And trying to learn each tooth by a numeric system is incredibly challenging.  Just wait till I learn all the facial bones, muscles, circulator system and nerves.  And how about trying to learn all that, while also trying to learn how to take a perfect radiograph (x-ray) of the teeth, probe around your patient's mouth without jabbing them, and hold a mirror in your non-dominant hand.  Oh, I know it's possible.  Lots of hygienists have done it in the past.  My respect for them has tripled, to say the least.

My 5 other classmates - all girls ranging from 20 to 26 - are just as excited.  Yet, our enthusiasm seemed to quickly get smothered under the heavy load of books to read, assignments to complete, and exams to take.  I hear more sighs; I see more yawns; I hear more groans.  I try to remind myself of how blessed I am to be in this program.  Of how blessed I am to be learning all this.  Of what a help I'll be to people who need oral care.  Then, the book load isn't so heavy, the assignments not so burdensome, the exams not so tedious.

And, once in a while, when my screensaver kicks on as my computer dozes, I see pictures of India.  Then, I'm reminded of why I'm doing this.

Already, I've learned so much in the program (and it's only been two weeks!).  So many things I would do differently if I were to be in India again.  I can't imagine how much I'll know after two years of this!

How happy I am to have the Sabbath.  I really need it after an exhausting week of school.

Yet, I had two exams to complete online this weekend.  When I got out of class Friday at noon and realized that I only had a few hours till sundown and that I had hardly had enough time to study for my two exams and that the Sabbath was smack in the middle of my weekend, a sudden feeling of panic enveloped me.  Realizing my predicament, I internally freaked out.

But then, I remembered something.

Before school began, I emailed my lead professor and explained to her about my Sabbath and my desire to honor that day by abstaining from doing or thinking of school on my rest day.  I politely asked if there were any exams, assignments, field trips or the like that would fall on my Sabbath and would she please let me know ahead of time so I could make arrangements if necessary.  She replied sweetly that they would do their absolute best to work with me.

She then forwarded my email to several of my other online professors.  I then later found out that all the professors had gotten together and planned out their schedules to that all the exams and assignments would not be on Saturday, or would be over a two-day period so as to allow me to make each deadline.  Wow.  Isn't God good?!

So, I was talking with one of my classmates Friday about the weekend.  I made mention of how I would have to leave the library at 3 to get some things done before sundown and wouldn't be able to study till Saturday night.  She is familiar with SDA's and she asked me, "is it because of your Sabbath?"  I replied the affirmative.  She commented, "that's so cool that you just take a whole day of your week and not even think about school.  You must feel so refreshed after it."

I opened my mouth to respond, but closed it feeling a bit of shame.  How could I ignore the beautiful truth of the Sabbath rest?  She was right.

So I laid my plans for the weekend at His feet, knowing that He would bless my desire to keep His Sabbath holy.  I claimed His promises and entered into the Sabbath hours with nary a burden.  And I had a wonderful Sabbath indeed.

And guess what?  I got both my exams done Sunday morning bright and early.  What a relief.

"The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath..." 

A Much Needed Update!

Wow.  It’s amazing how busy I’ve been without having a chance to blog!  Or maybe, it’s because I’m enjoying myself so much I find other exciting things to do.  Maybe it’s both.  Probably so.

Mango Sticky Rice!

  Either way, I’ve been enjoying myself immensely and have started having feelings of sadness that I’m leaving so soon (tonight!).  Several people have mentioned that there’s an option that I can stay longer because Korean Air offers the first flight change free of charge.  So I could change my departure until one of two weeks later!  I can’t help but chuckle!  Aunt Lynette, Lisa Sharon and Mrs. Steck have all hinted at the idea (or maybe more than hinted… suggested strongly).

At the Night Safari!

  Yet, I am ready to go home.  I miss my family, especially my dad whose health hasn’t been the best since my leaving.  He caught pneumonia, which is a scary thing with his immune system being shot from his recent surgery.  So I’m anxious to get home and see him and help my mom.  If I stayed here longer, I’d want them to come here too! :)  I’m jealous of my time with them.

Riding a huge tortoise... not.

  What have I been doing since being here in Thailand?  Well, I swam in the pool with the kids almost everyday last week.  I’ve helped cook and clean.  I went to a Sunday night market, which was pretty awesome since I could get mango sticky rice!  That made the whole thing worthwhile!  I hope to go back this Sunday night.  I went with the family and the Mackins (a dear women and her adopted Chinese daughter) to the Night Safari, which was pretty cool!  We got to see all these neat animals in their nocturnal states!  I saw an albino raccoon, which was so cool and a giraffe stuck its head in the tram we were in and begged for food.  I never knew giraffes were so BIG!  That was my favorite part of the whole Safari!  I was only disappointed that I couldn’t take any pictures because it got too dark.

  Let’s see… oh! And we went to a sticky waterfall!  That was incredible!  The water has a lot of calcium in it, so the calcium has deposited and created this awesome cascade of waterfalls!  And you can walk right up the face of the falls, which made things even more interesting and exciting.  We found two freshwater crabs.  That generated a mix of excited shouts and nervous chattering.  Some were poking curiously at the creature while others watched nervously perched atop a safe location away from the action (Can you guess which group I was in?).  After walking around on the waterfalls a bit, we had a fabulous picnic lunch.

At the Sticky Waterfall!

Our picnic lunch

Micah looking for fish

 

Looking at the freshwater crab

 A freshwater crab!

  This last weekend, there was a retreat held here in Chiang Mai for missionaries in the south Asian countries (Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, etc.).  It was at a fancy hotel in downtown Chiang Mai and quite a number of people came.  I was able to see the Sharons, who I haven’t seen for years!  And the Stecks!  What fun it was to see all these missionaries come together!  The main speaker was a huge disappointment, so we didn’t attend any of his meetings, but rather stayed in the hotel room and read our Huguenot story and drew.

  I’ve taught Elyssa and Micah a little bit about shading techniques in drawing.  Elyssa’s really gotten the hang of it!  She’s into horses so we’ve practiced drawing horses and making them as realistic as possible.  She’s done really well, although she claims it’s mostly me.  But I disagree… I help her, but she’s learning.

A foal.

Elyssa's second drawing.  Incredible!

Destiny, Lisa's Karen baby

  Right now, the “Rawling hotel” has no vacancy!  There are a total of 26 people here!  That includes all their babies and us, but still, that’s a lot of people in one house!  The Stecks (4), Lisa Sharon and her baby (2), Myers (4), Adams (or, at least some of them) (8), Sunny (1), Mackins (2), Rawlings (4), and me!  Pretty full.  Babies crying, fingers typing on computers, boys swimming in the pond behind the house, girls making lunch, mothers chatting… it could easily be called chaos.  I’ve done my share of babysitting.  All the Karen babies are so cute!  Several of the missionaries have “adopted” them.  There are a total of 6 adopted Karen babies here.  My favorite is Lisa’s, who is such a happy little girl!  It doesn’t take much to make her smile!  I just love her!

  Well, I leave tonight.  I have mixed feelings, but mostly, I’m excited to get back to my family!  I miss them so much!  And my friends… I miss them too.  I look forward to catching up with some of you as soon as I can get back! :)

Introducing...Thailand

Mosquito bites.  Walking barefoot.  Eating mango sticky rice.  Trying a new exotic fruit.  Drinking coconut water from the coconut.  Sweat.  Great friends.

...Thailand.  It doesn't get much better than this!

  I'm here with the Rawlings family, enjoying my two weeks of warm weather, swimming and sightseeing.  It's truly a vacation from the cold weather of northern India and all the hard work I exerted during that time.

  But you know what's so funny?  Although I'm really enjoying my time, I am intensely drawn to the remote villages with their small huts, dirt floors, dirty children and rummaging dogs.  This last Sabbath, as we were leaving the academy (the only Adventist academy with a high school in all of Thailand), Steve took us on a little tour of the village nearby the school.  As we bumped along the rough road, my eyes were glued to the car window.  Everything was so familiar that it felt like I was home... in this filthy wisp of a village.  And yet, I wanted to jump out of the car and throw myself wholeheartedly into living these villagers' life.  I never realized how strongly this lifestyle tugged on my heart.

  Sure the living conditions aren't the best.  Most people in these 3rd world countries don't have clean water.  They don't have sanitary ways of washing dishes or bathing.  They sleep on the ground.  They walk barefoot and get parasites.  They contract diseases that usually don't cause a problem in the U.S., and yet they'll die from them.  What on earth would be so appealing about this life to a young girl from the States?

  It's so simple.  It's so un-extravagant.  It's so unpretending.  And it pulls on my heartstrings.  If I lived in conditions like this, I would do all in my power to stay clean, safe, sanitary and sane.  But, when you love something, you're willing to sacrifice comfort and security.  I realize... I love these people.  Not the Thai specifically (although, they now have a special place in my heart), but every "underprivileged" group of people.  Why do I put underprivileged in quotes?  Because, really...are they underprivileged?  Some may think they are, but they possess some of the greatest qualities in life... contentment, hospitality, thankfulness, selflessness, happiness.  Who's to say they are underprivileged?

   Driving through that "underprivileged" village, I was reminded of my time in India just a week back. My heart got heavy as all the memories of my time there with the girls came flooding back.  I miss them.  I really do.  I've come to the conclusion that I love - and I mean love - working with young people, be they small orphans or blossoming young ladies.  Either way, they absolutely steal my heart away.

  Steve interrupted my thoughts when he mentioned that Pastor Phamor had 12 young ladies (I think it was 12) who he [Pastor Phamor] was sponsoring to attend the Adventist academy.  They are Karen girls from Burma, all high school age.  Pastor Phamor has worked hard to train these girls to be proper Adventists.  The problem is, the academy has a strong Buddhist influence because of all the young people attending there who aren't converted.  Phamor is nervous to have these young ladies swayed from their beliefs, so he keeps them in a small "house" off of the campus (it's a boarding academy).  Problem is, he hasn't found a "housemother" to care for the girls (what he's doing now, I'm not sure).  Steve has discussed this predicament with Pastor Phamor and has been on the lookout for a suitable lady.  He brought the issue up to me to see if I was interested.  And I am super interested... except that I have committed myself to finishing college.  If I was done with college, I would jump on the opportunity.  But I feel led by God to finish what I've started.  Plus, being trained in dental work will help me be of better service.

  But, oh! how I want to be done with college!  I want to get on with my life, be of better help to mankind, throw myself into service.  But I'm yanked back to reality every fall when I sign up for another year of school.  Bother.

  But, then I remind myself, I can still find my mission field while in college.  They could be a neighbor, a VBS kid, a single mother, a group of young people, a classmate.  Why wait to be a missionary till I'm done with school?  Why can't I start now?

  And I am.  This trip has helped me refocus on my mission.  It's helping my eye be single to what God has planned for me.  And I'm ready to go wherever and whenever He calls me.

Random Thoughts

Note: This was written Monday, the 23rd.  Due to internet being down, I had to write all this on my computer and save it.  Enjoy!

They say that mind power is incredibly powerful (maybe that’s why they call it mind power?).  I’ve seen it work.  It’s pretty incredible.  I just wish I could use some of it now!  It doesn’t seem to be working!

  I’ve told myself several times that I’m not going to get sick while I’m here.  I’ve taken all the precautionary measures to assure that I not get sick, but alas!  They did scarcely a thing!  I had a sore throat a couple mornings ago that lasted all day.  The next day it was gone, but in its place was this dry cough that is threatening to get worse.  Yesterday I had a runny nose, and today, I have a stuffed-up nose.  I have no intentions on getting sick… but some things you just can’t help. 

  We had a nice Sabbath, besides the fact that I was fighting a sore throat.  They have quite the extensive Sabbath service here in Mungpoo.  First, we spend an hour in the pre-Sabbath school (which has it’s own song service, nature nugget, special music, testimony and offering), and then we split into groups for the actual Sabbath school time.  Krystle and I usually go to the English one, but there was no one there, so we did our own… watched David Ashrick!  After an hour of that, we get back together for the church service, which often lasts 1 ½ to 2 hours long.  We don’t get out of church until around 2 usually.  That’s 4 ½ hours of being “in church!”  It seemed to go faster this time then last week, though.  Sandra Miss translated everything for us, since it was all in Nepali.

I joined a group going for a Sabbath hike.  That was enjoyable!  A heavy fog had rolled in; it was so thick I could almost feel it.  It gave the whole landscape an enchanted look.  Reminded me of the Enchanted Forest in Pilgrims Progress!  We hiked for 2 hours and boy, do my calves feel it!  I haven’t worked them hard since I’ve been here!  Haven’t had time to do much exercising.

Dahn Kumari, Jemima, Me, Sarah, and Seth

My Enchanted Forest

Our group again, but this time Seth's taking the picture and Sandra Miss took his place

   

I loved the hike! 

  Krystle and I spent probably 2 hours doing laundry this morning.  Everything here takes longer than you think.  At home, when I say I’m doing laundry, that means I opened a washer, placed the clothes in with some soap, and pushed a button.  And when they’re done, I put them in the dryer and an hour later pull out nice clean and dry clothes.  Here, you spend 2 hours just washing the clothes… by hand.  Sure, that’s not too big a deal, yet you really have to pay attention to how you use your clothes!  It takes several days for some things to dry because of the cold.  Like my wool socks.  It took them 3 days to fully dry… and I only brought three pairs (one of which I’ve designated as my “bedtime” socks.).  And your hands get so cold washing in frigid water.  Thankfully, we warmed our water! :)