Saturday, June 21, 2008

kids




Although, I often think that this journey would be so much easier without three children under 5 , they are the greatest blessing of the trip. All three children are getting really used to the university students that we live with and all have picked up a little Thai. My daughter obviously has been hanging out with me (I am a pro shopper) because she grabbed some stuff that she liked at the mall and asked that lady how much it was in Thai. The baby can say fish in Thai, but not in English. He has also learned"Hello" and "Thank You." My son is also doing great and trying to speak to everyone in Thai.
So, I have had to struggle with getting the children to sleep on trains and motels. I have had to chase the baby down sidewalks, remove him off of tables. I've picked up juice and food off of every inch of our tiny room and washed clothes at 11 pm so that my daughter could have just the right leggings. Despite that fact that these things often slow me down, my children bring so many opportunities to meet Thai people and to bless others. My boys love hanging out with other people and will talk to all of the Thai people. I always hope that the Thai people will see Jesus in the way that I love my kids and allow others to play with my children without being over protective. Despite the fact that my daughter is more introverted, she has made friends with a few of the university girls that live at our house. I know that it is a blessing to them to have her come and hang out with them. They say that quality time is one of the best ways to show love to Thai people, so I am glad that my kids are accomplishing that.
Tomorrow night, when I travel 12 hours on a train at night, I will remember how thankful I am for the friends that my kids are making. I will be grateful that I have made contacts because of them. I will think about the people who work at stores and stands and speak to my children by name whenever we walk by. Although, I have to plan my days differently because of having children, they share love with others in a way that I can't.

Now, I always like to share something humorous that happens because of living in another culture or learning another language. I can't say a lot of things that I want (I can't really say anything that I want to), but I really want to reach out to the girls at our house. So, I decided that I would pray for the girls, especially for the ones that didn't have a relationship with Christ. So, last week I decided to spend some time praying for a girl that I was sure needed Jesus. Whenever I thought about it, I would ask God to bless her and to touch her and I would pray that the other girls would reach out to her. Well, on Thursday, I found out that she actually is a Bible school student, I hope all of my praying blessed her anyway. I used to think that I had the gift of discernment, I am not so sure anymore.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Jen! Thanks for doing the blog - it's so fun to hear how things are going there. I have always loved your honesty and "telling it like it is" with life with kids! Thank you! Please know we're praying for all of you. Say hi to Grant and the kids from all of us? ~Jen Olson

joetrice said...

Jennifer
SEnd me your phone number
Daddy

Sandra Barkley said...

Hey, Jennifer! Thank you for keeping the blog. You should write a book about your experiences and let Jordan illustrate it. We pray for your well being and success each and every day. Love, Cousin Sandra