Watch Out! Cute but dangerous

Yesterday was an adventure to say the least. We are so thankful that Owen is already eating on a pretty regular schedule. It is almost like clock-work, every 3 hours, Owen wants food. Tawm takes care of that job, my job is a little dirtier, I get to change diapers. Usually its not a problem but yesterday afternoon, I jumped the gun a little and began changin Owen's diaper before he was done his business. As I was removing the diaper, Owen gave a good push and like a medicine coming out of a syringe, his business came squirting out all over my hand and the table where I was changing him. Having a boy, I have been preparing myself to get pee in the face however I didn't expect to give handful of poop.
Since Thailand is pretty hot, the doctors and nurses at the hospital recommended that we use cloth diapers in the afternoon because they breathe better. Later on in the same afternoon, I was holding Owen and all of us sudden I found a warming sensation going up my leg. When I lifted Owen, I saw that the cloth diaper did a great job of funneling Owen's pee right onto my leg. As a result of that incident, I made a veto decision, no more cloth diapers. One they don't hold anything and two, I have to clean them. Thank God for diaper diapers and that they have them here in Thailand too.

Owen's Video Debute

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I am not sure how many words a video is.

Since my side of the family is so far from us, I figure I will try to regularly upload video of Owen. To the outsider, the video may seem a little dry and boring. I tried sending video by email but the attachment was just too big. That meant my only other option besides mailing DVD's home was YouTube. A few months ago, YouTue was censored here in Thailand, unaccessible, but thankfully it is now uncensored or what ever you want to call it. We are so thankful for technology that allows us to share our lives with people halfway acrosss the world.

Since Owen is only a few days old, he still isn't doing much. However hiccups are always entertaining... hence the video.

Dad in Training

As you drive around in Chiang Mai, new drivers are required to put a sign in their window indicating that they are new drivers. Before Owen came into the world, I had never held a little baby. However I've been practicing. A few times a week for the past few months I've been carrying Dao Huu, Tawm's parent's shih tzu around the house. Whenever I did it, people laughed but the practice has definitely paid off. Holding Owen has been no problem (although it didn't hurt that he weighs 9 pounds. If Owen had only weighed 6 or so pounds, that might be a different story.) Actually carrying him around has been quite enjoyable. I look forward to doing it more. As you can see from the picture, there is no need for me to wear a sign that says New Dad. We will see what happens when it comes to changing a diaper!

Another Pic

Time to Introduce...

Tawm and I are the proud new parents of 9.1 pound baby boy. Braan Owen Rosendal was born on Thursday, November 22 here in Chiang Mai. Thailand requires mothers to be in the hospital for at least 3 days after birth, so that is where I am emailing from. Will be posting lots more pics over the days and weeks for all the fam and friends to see.

Books - Know any Good Ones?

Living half way across the world, there isn't many Christian bookstores and the one or two we do have have very limited selection. I look online from time to time, but it is hard to know if a book is as good as its cover. Early next year we have a few people from America coming to visit. My hope is that I can buy some books and get them to bring them with them. You have any must reads? I am looking specifically for some books to help with teaching or preaching, or just books that will challenge my thinking. Any genre will do.
Please let me know of any good books you've read, it will help me out a lot.

Another Member of God's family

A few weeks ago, we asked you to pray for Gai who wanted to know more about salvation. Gai works at a wood store next to our church. Tawm spent several hours talking to Gai about Christ and what He had done for her. At first she was very interested but as it got closer to making a decision, she was kind of apprehensive because her father is not doing well and when he passes away, she worried about the funeral and how she could take part if she was a Christian. This is a common barrier to being saved here in Thailand. On Monday however, Gai made the decision to follow Christ.
Please continue to pray for Gai as she grows in her faith. Pray also for her husband. Praise God that he doesn't have a problem with Gai being a Christian. Pray that he would remain that way (as many spouses change their thinking later on). Also pray that he would be open to the gospel too. Gai said that last week he asked Gai where the Bible was because he wanted to read it.

Craziness

What is going on with the world around us? Sometimes the things that are going on are just so crazy that you have to stop and think who is thinking this junk up. Although I am not really a history buff, but ever since prayer was taken out of schools, I have seen society steadily get worse and worse.
The year before last, when we were in America, we couldn't believe the push there was for people to stop saying Merry Christmas. Many businesses were forcing their employees to say Happy Holidays instead. I just couldn't believe it. Yesterday I read on yahoo that businesses want to change Santa's slogan of "Ho! Ho! Ho!" to "Ha! Ha! Ha!" Why you ask? The answer: because they don't want to offend any women. Come on, who is it going to offend. It's Santa! Sometimes when I hear this stuff, I don't know whether to laugh or cry. What is happening to the world around us?

All I can say is that I am so thankful that Jesus called me and I had enough sense to follow Him! He truly is the only hope we have in this decaying world.

Natural Born Killer

This morning, I was sitting at my desk, chatting on MSN with my mom when all of a sudden, I heard a sound like fhluhp! fhuluhp! I swiveled in my swivelly chair and saw Leah, our inherited cat, carrying a dying pigeon in her mouth a few feet behind my chair. No, my office isn't in a barn, the cat brought the outside world inside. The cat ran past my chair and put the bird underneath the Buddhist shrine in Tawm's parent's house. Thankfully the cat didn't play with the dying bird, but she was pure business and finished the bird off quickly. I didn't want to watch the cat's playtime or have to finish the bird off myself. As I kid I wanted to be a zoologist and am still fascinated with animals (from afar moreso than upclose). It was amazing that Leah could kill that bird because the pigeon was almost the same size as the cat. After the bird was dead and feathers scattered everywhere, I grabbed a broom and dustpan and took the bird outside so that Leah could tear it apart without making a mess near the Buddhist shrine or in my office.

As I was dispersing of the bird outside, I thought to myself, what next. What other kinds of animals am I going to have to deal with in our house. The list is growing...
We have dogs, a cat, have had spiders, cockroaches, ants, termites, frogs, salamanders, a crab, a rat, and now a bird. Maybe I do live in a barn and was just mistaken!

Twins!! ... ;)

NOT REALLY, however everyone we meet, wherever we go, the question people is, "Are you having twins?" The other day, a young mother told Tawm that she felt sorry for Tawm because her belly was so big. All Thais think that Tawm's belly is huge whereas most foreigners don't think it's very big. Since being pregnant, people always stop to talk to Tawm and many ask if they can touch her belly too. Everyone we talk to gives us their opinion of whether the baby is a boy or a girl. Being pregnant has been a great conversation starter but we hope it will end soon because yesterday was the baby's due date. We are at 40 weeks and counting.

I can't do ANYTHING!!

Have you ever come to points in your Christian life where it doesn't matter what you read or who you talk to, it always seems that God is hammering the same message into your head? That's what's been happening to me the past few weeks. The message that God is hitting me over the head with is, you can't do anything apart from me.

I just finished reading the book, The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee. This book is what got God working in my heart about this issue. This was my 3rd attempt to read this book. The first 2 times I just couldn't get into the book but now I know why. I needed to be at the right place in my Christian walk in order to understand. I thank God for this book. I thank God for verses like Leviticus 20:7-8 which confirmed this same message.

I'm a normal person and have struggles and my solution to fix them is this... Do better, try harder and the end result is always failure. Mr. Nee says that the key to becoming more like Christ is to draw closer to Christ. The closer we are to Christ, the less we will want to sin and the greater the hatred we will have towards sin. I've known this concept for sometime but it just beginning to become a heart reality rather than knowledge in my head. I cannot be holy on my own efforts, only God can make me holy. Only God can produce the fruit of the Spirit in me. I cannot do anything.

There is one quote in the book that sums this all up and it hit me hard...
"'What do you mean when you say you can do nothing apart from Him?' He answered, 'The Lord has shown me that I can do anything but that He has said, 'Apart from Me ye can do nothing' So it comes to this, that everything I have done and can still do apart from Him is nothing!'"

I don't need to try to do great things for God, God will do great things through me as I grow closer to Him. Praise God!!

Still Waiting...

We are still waiting for the birth of our little one.... Tawm is now in her 39th week and as a result the doctor wants to see us every week. At the last check up, the doctor said that the baby's head hasn't dropped as much as he'd like for this point in the pregnancy. His remedy - walk, walk, walk. Since then, Tawm and I have been taking evening walks. The doctor said that if the baby's hadn't lowered more by our next check-up, he might have to jump start "mother nature" so to speak.

Guess the little guy or little girl (still don't know what we are having) is enjoying life in Tawm's womb.

Thai Beliefs and the King

Thought this article in the Bangkok Post was interesting. Since coming to Thailand, one thing I have learned is that Thai people are very superstituous. You can see it a little in this article:

People rushed to Phufah shop in Bangkok even before it opened on Saturday morning to buy pink shirts featuring the latest collection of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn's drawing.
It is the first day that the shop, under the Princess's patronage, sell the collection.
Demand for pink shirts has skyrocketed, after His Majesty the King was seen leaving Siriraj Hospital after treated for his illness in a pink shirt and blazer on Wednesday. Pink is also believed to bring good health.
Many enthusiastic shoppers queued up at Siam Discovery Centre, where the shop is located, since 7am. They said they are happy to wait to buy the shirts to show their loyalty to His Majesty.
Demand for the pink shirts is expected to continue for at least one month, when His Majesty celebrates his birthday anniversary on Dec 5.

Last Sunday's Update

I know it is almost Sunday again but I wanted to give a quick update on what happened at church last Sunday. We had our second annual business meeting where the church decides on all the major issues (mainly budget). We are happy because offerings have almost doubled in the past year. Also, Antioch voted to start supporting two missionaries here in Thailand. The church here will be paying over half of both men's salaries. We are very excited.

Dream Season is Ending

My hopes of an undefeated season are gone. Not only that, the Pacers are now looking like the team of old. Whatever happens, you're still my team.

One of the Best "Christian" Movies

Yesterday, we watched the movie, Second Chance. The movie is about a pastor in a large church who is trying to make a name for himself. However the church board at his church forces him to go and spend some time at a church they supported in the worst part of town. At the beginning he resents having to do this but in the end he begins to realize that he had lost touch with God. Rather than doing ministry, he was building his image. Although the inner city church was small, he saw what true ministry looked like. The movie challenges our thinking about church politics and motivations. I thought the movie was well done. Many Christian movies have good messages but are kind of cheezy. This one isn't like that. The movie stars Christian singer Michael W. Smith.

Although the movie is probably labeled a Christian movie, it does have a little bit of bad language in it.

Make that 3 and 0 :)

Pacers 2 and 0!!!

nuf said...

Couple days ago you might've thought I was crazy, but look who is laughing now!

Evangelism Team

Last week I asked people to pray for our young adults group that was going out to do evangelism. Here is a quick update.
After lunch on Sunday, 11 of us went out to a neighborhood about a 3-4 minute drive from our church. We divided into groups of two and went out talking to whoever we met. Some people went into people's yards, one group went to a restaurant and talked with the owners. My group talked with people that we met on the side of the road. The one thing I love about Thai people is that if you speak Thai, they are willing to talk to you about almost anything. Although they may disagree with you, they will pay you respect and listen to what you have to say.
Many people in our group were surprised that the people that they talked to had no ideas about Christ. Most people think that "city people" have some concept of Christ and only people in remote areas haven't heard but it was a good wake-up call for the young adults to see people's needs. Everyone really enjoyed themselves and are excited to do it again. That made me really happy.