Update from the coast!

Good afternoon everyone! You all are snuggled up and snoring in your beds, while I'm writing from one of Thailand's coastal cities, Cha-am. The hotel where we're staying doesn't have wi-fi, but you can use one of their computers for 60. baht an hour, so I thought, hey, why not.

Though I'm over jet lag now, I haven't slept well the last two nights, so I was really feelin' it this afternoon. Lisa bought us an iced mocha, so that's helping me stay awake at the present.

The Caynors are moving their ministry to Cha-am here in a couple months, and so they are doing a lot of prep right now. They want to use our team kind of as the "pre-launch" team. I guess you could say we're "cultivating the soil" for ministry right now. This morning we went to the government office and offered to help the community in whatever way they needed... so we ended up helping pick up trash and stuff on the beach with some of the usual clean up workers for a few hours. After being out on the white sand and the sun for a little bit, Lisa wanted me to go back in the shade so I wouldn't get burned again [for those that didnt know, a week before I came to Thailand, I got 2nd degree burns...], so walked back to the car, drank some water and got my camera out and started snapping pictures of the work team from the shade. I DID have a moment of panic however. [Ahem, hold your breath.] I was digging through my Kata Focus Q bag and could not find my wide angle lens [18-55mm] for the life of me! I was like, "O.h. N.O." I knew no one would've stolen it, as my telephoto and 50mm lenses were there, and those wouldn't been the prime targets for theft. Sooo, I looked around in the car and on the floors. Nada. Nothing. I tried to calm down and to my great joy and relief, I t.h.a.n.k.f.u.l.l.y. found the lens in my duffel bag back at the hotel, PTL! Yeah, the 18-55mm lens is really cheap, but it's the only wide angle lens I have. Sorry, I hope this story didn't scare you too bad, Dad. ;-) Other than my little scare this morning, things have gone super so far with all of my gear. =) :grins:

[Haha, guess what I just did? I was typing away and all the sudden I pushed a button and the keyboard starting writing in a bunch of jibberish - aka. Thai. So, I had to go up to the front desk and ask someone to help me fix it back to English. Hehe. Kind of embarressing...]

Yesterday in our devotions together, Rick was talking about how Jesus said that His food was to do the will of God and to finish His work. Likewise so it is for us as believers. We may not always have physical food... or all of our physical wants and needs, but what really matters is that we're doing the will of God for our lives - and doing the will of God is where we'll be happiest. [I had to think of Hudson Taylor and his wife Maria... how there were times when they had no rice for the next day, and then God provided at the last minute.] Rick went on to say that isn't it amazing when we're doing the will of God, sometimes we get weary and tired while we're doing it, and God just seems to give us this special, inner strength and "umph" to keep going, when we feel like we can't go anymore.

Well, it's time to sign off. I'm going to go take a little power nap before supper... ;-)

Thank you all for your prayers thus far! God is indeed working and doing great things. He's even doing alot in my own personal life too -- it's been fantastic. Yesterday I was able to spend some special, quiet time alone in prayer about something specific God has been pricking on in my heart... It was really great. Continue praying that Jesus would be the One living and working in and through our lives. I have been reminded over and again: It's not for us, it's all for Him!