Gettin' Baby Fever

Yesterday we went to the doctor for Tawm's monthly check-up and the doctor said everything looks good. Tawm is almost at the 7 month stage. The baby weighs 1.1 kilos or 2.42 pounds. We still don't know if it is a boy or a girl yet which makes buying certain things a little more difficult but keeps the fun going.
As we approach the due date, both Tawm and I are getting more and more excited. Next month we will be going to a prenatal class at the hospital and everytime we see a baby, both of us smile and get more excited. We have bought a few things and everytime we go somewhere that sells baby stuff (there aren't that many places in Thailand, mainly department stores only), we browse through everything saying, "How cute". I guess that is what it feels like to be a dad.

A Great Book

I just finished reading Ravi Zacharias's book, Walking from East to West and I highly recommend it. It was very inspiring and made me think about many different things. The book is Ravi's reflections on his life so far. Growing up in India, he talks about many of his experiences and a number of them remind me a lot of life here in Thailand. Unlike Ravi's other books, this is an easy read.

Constitution Results

In this past Sunday's election, the Thai people decided to adopt the new Constitution that the interm military government proposed, although it didn't pass by as much as the military government hoped it would. Even though it passed, it showed that the Thai people are ready for an elected government to come into power. The reason that most people approved of the new constitution was because it was the first time that they had a say in adopting a constitution (even though no one had a say in composing the constitution). Please continue to pray for this issue and pray that a real election will be held soon.

If you want to know more about the election, you can read this article:
bangkok post

Pray for Thailand

This coming Sunday will be an important day in Thai history. This Sunday, Thai people will vote whether or not to accept the proposed new constitution that the interm military government has proposed. There is much indecision about this new constitution. From what I have heard, university students and educated people don't want it to pass but no one knows how other people will vote. Please pray that God's would be done.

Thank you to an Honest Person

Thank God that there are still honest people around. Whenever we work out at the gym, I listen to music or a sermon on my ipod. When I get on the treadmill though, the bouncing causes my earphones to pop out of my ears and so I set my ipod aside to run. Two days ago, I forgot about to grab it and I didn't realize it until we got home. When we phoned to see if someone had found it, a person at the gym said someone had turned it in. It would have been easy to take, especially since an ipod is an item that most Thai people don't have. So, I wanted to thank the person who turned it in even though I don't know who you are and thank God for helping with my negligence.

Bye Bye Bob :(

Last week, we finally concluded that our dog Bob had been killed because he killed another chicken. We had tried everything we could to stop him from killing chickens, but nothing worked. In the end, his luck ran out and someone (not sure who) killed him (at least that is what we think). In the past when Bob had killed other chickens, we were able to negotiate with people. Some people were willing to accept some money in return for their dead chickens. Others asked permission to kill our dog, but we refused. Sometimes Bob would kill chickens on Buddhist holidays and no one was willing to kill him on that day as it was bad Karma.

Bob had a much longer life than anticipated as he was nearly dead when we got him. Since then he has brought us many memorable memories. Here are a list of the few I can remember.

1. Always being so excited to see us when we came home, even after a year absence in the States. He never forgot his "parents".

2. He was clever. As already noted, he knew that he could get away with killing chickens if he did it on a Buddhist holiday and he did that a few times.

3. He was sneaky. While we were in America, he took Tawm's dad's cell phone and buried it. Tawm's dad finally figured it out by calling the phone and hearing its ring from underneath the ground. A couple weeks later, we suspect the same thing happened, however, this time the battery was dead. Tawm's dad still hasn't found that phone.

4. I was known as the foreigner that had the Thai dog in our village. Most Thais want purebred dogs and think it is strange that a "rich" foreigner would settle for a Thai mutt.

5. After we got him, he tried to go upstairs while Tawm was sleeping. When I met him on the stairway, Bob knew that I had caught him somewhere he wasn't supposed to be. As a result, he scurried up the stairs, leaving a trail of poop and pee all the way up into the bedroom.

The Bourne Adrenaline Rush

For those that know me well, you know that I am a pretty easy going guy. I am very even keel. When I watch movies, I never jump in my seat or get so into a movie that my adrenaline starts pumping. However, last night we went to watch the "Bourne Ultimatum" and I really got into it. There were times that I hurt Tawm's hand because I was squeezing so hard. If you like intense movies, they don't get any more intense than this. It is definitely worth paying the 3 bucks to see it in the theater!!

Figured it Out

Here is another pic of Mother's Day at our church. Since Mother's Day is a national holiday, many of our regulars were out of town spending time with their mothers.

PS. I think I have figured out my uploading problem...

Mother's Day

This past Sunday was Mother's Day here in Thailand and I wanted to start off by wishing my mother a belated Mother's Day too. You are the greatest. We had a mother's celebration where everyone sang the traditional Mother's Day song. The kids made their mothers cards in Sunday School and they presented their pictures to their mothers after the services. All the mothers really enjoyed their time. After that, all the families got their pictures taken together and Tawm and I also got our pic taken as Tawm is the newest mother in the crowd, even though she doesn't think she's a mom yet.

Problems...

Sorry that I haven't posted anything on my blog lately. I have been trying to upload different pictures to the blog but for some reason this site isn't allowing me to do it. I'm not sure what is going on. I have tried some other ways of doing it, but once I upload the picture, the website won't allow me to make any changes to the pic. Hopefully I can find another way to get past the problem

Even Better News

This past Sunday we praise God that 3 of our young people made decisions to follow Christ. A number of our regulars were missing and as a result, we only had a few kids in Sunday School. Normally Tawm has in the low teens but this past Sunday she only had 3. As a result, she took the opportunity to share the gospel with them. Normally they play games, but last Sunday, Tawm didn't do any of that. Tawm was so surprised that the kids stayed still for so long. After Sunday School, one of the girls said that that was the most fun she had had in Sunday School. Tawm laughed as all she did was share the gospel. Please pray for Ken (8 years old), Pring (10 years old) and Vespa (11 years old) and their families. Ken and Vespa are children of long time members, Pring is the daughter of Tip who was saved a couple months ago.

Good and Bad News

A couple days ago, a sad day happened in sports, Barry Bonds broke the home record. I couldn't believe the hooplah and press this received, who actually cares that someone that cheated could beat a long standing record. Every record book needs to have a big * beside Bonds name so that future generations know that although Bonds has hit the most home runs, he cheated doing it. Hank Aaron looks like he will be the true home run king for a number of years to come.
On the other hand, I read on espn.com that Reggie Miller is contemplating a comeback at the age of 42. Unfortunately, the comeback won't be with the Pacers because they don't have a chance at a title this year, instead it will be with the recently loaded Celtics. Although, I've never been a Celtics fan, I might have to cheer for them if Reggie does come back because he the greatest Pacer and one of the greatest ball players of all time.

 

Is that English???

 It is always amusing traveling in foreign countries where English isn't the mother tongue of country's residents. However, English being the language of the world, many signs are often bilingual. It is amazing at how horrible some of the translations are, even signs from internations corporations. I often expect to see these bad signs in Thailand since English is just developing here, but I haven't seen it that much. However countries like Japan, Korea and Taiwan, countries known for their international business, are filled with them. While we were in Taiwan on our layover, I took some time to stroll around the airport when I saw this sign. It made me laugh and thought it might amuse you too.

Here's a closer look at what is says so you don't have to squint... Don't want to wreck your eyesight.