My small thoughts and His big plans

As you may have seen, I just got back from a jam-packed 12-day sales tour of the UK with Thai Village. This whole trip was a leap of faith for me - buying the ticket to go when our finances were tight, not knowing whether I would have enough events booked to make it worth it, leaving the family here for 2 weeks in a busy intense season etc etc. But in it all, I had a peace and following that turned out to be a whole adventure in learning how God's ways are so far beyond our small human understanding.

The whole thing actually started off with a big diversion from my original plan as I had initially thought to go to the US instead of the UK. Despite making some inquiries there however, it clearly wasn't the time as doors weren't opening and then some friends in the UK suggested I come there instead. From there, the ball was rolling and I ended up with 14 events booked in 12 days. The doors were clearly opening elsewhere.

Honored to have a table (top right) at the Healing Space, Storm Church, Worthing

My hopes for this trip were to raise some support for my work with Thai Village and to expand our market for our handcrafted products, which had previously been mostly in the US and Thailand. Seemed like a pretty good plan to me but I realized fairly soon that God's plans were much bigger than just that. I felt foolish in the end that whilst I was focusing on the numbers, He was focusing on the people (of course - duhh!). I was amazed at some of the conversations He led me into, and the way that some events turned out to have a different purpose than I had imagined. Oh how small my plans seemed in comparison! In addition I got to be with my Mum again, just 3 months after the loss of Len, her husband, and that turned out to be really well-timed too.

With my Mum at one of the many events she helped me with

Wonderful time at Zara's house

Another thing I learned was that even when it came to sales of our products, God was turning my expectations on their head! My two "big" events with lots of foot traffic actually made little sales and my best event by far in terms of numbers was at the house of my ever-faithful godmother in London with her neighbours and church friends. We reflected afterwards how the event had more than surpassed any of our expectations. After this, I was actually so low on product, I had to order more to be express shipped from Thailand!

With my godmother, Juliet 

Finally, I want to end with a fun story that illustrates this lesson of my limited human understanding so well. As I said, I had a jam-packed schedule for this whole visit, thanks to the many friends and family who helped me set up events and hosted me. Unfortunately one of my larger fairs on my first Saturday in the UK fell through at the last minute. I should have known to trust and not to worry but I was disappointed and frustrated that all the other fairs for that day were now fully booked and it was too late to organize a private event.

On the morning of that Saturday, I woke up with such a drive to find something and I prayed one more time for God to open a door, before quickly scrolling through a local events listing on my phone. The only thing I saw that I hadn't already tried was a church bell-ringing fundraiser being held about 20 minutes from my Mum's house. I wasn't that hopeful that they would want to have a random lady from Thailand at their fundraiser at the last minute but I tried the phone number just in case. No answer. Not sure why, but I wasn't in the mood to accept a closed door that morning, and after breakfast, I decided to just fill my car with all my stuff anyway and drive over to the church and wait to ambush the organizers! 

So when the bell-ringing ladies arrived that morning with their cakes and raffle prizes for their event, there I was accosting them at the gate with my story of plans falling through and hopes for a venue. God was at work and they were very gracious! I was able to give a few items towards their fundraising raffle and they welcomed me with open arms to share their space, giving Thai Village a little table in the corner of the church! That day I got to ring bells for the first time in my life and also met many lovely people from churches all over Worthing. Sales were not huge but the people were huge-hearted and since many churches were represented, I got several invitations to other events locally and I'm excited to see where this will lead for Thai Village! 

Thai Village at Findon parish bellringers fundraiser 

This was one of the lovely ladies that I ambushed outside the church door!

 All in all, it was an incredible trip . .. and my family back in Thailand survived too, despite coming home to a house with no power and water because I had forgotten to pay the bill before I left!! Oops.

Today is Thanksgiving in one of my adopted countries and today I want to thank all of you who helped make this UK visit such a success - especially my Mum for her huge efforts (and for keeping the heating revved up way above her comfort level the whole time I was there), but also Sue, Zara, Juliet, Susie, Jon and Elma, Janet, Ginny, Lynn and many others at New Life and of course the bell-ringing ladies! Above all, I give thanks to our God who works so far beyond our small human mindset to bring about His good purposes in all of our lives. 

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways.' declares the Lord.

As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts."
Isaiah 55: 8-9 

P.S. If you haven't checked out our gorgeous Thai Village products yet, you can do so on our website www.thaivillage.org. US folks can order through the website but UK orders need to come through me for now! Thankyou!

That other country - Our summer in the UK

When our youngest son was about 5 and we were living in India, we had a dinner discussion about life back in the USA and he described it as "when we lived in that other country!" He was 3 when we moved from the US so he didn't really remember many of the details of our life there or even apparently what the country was called!

For me, it's been even longer since I lived in my country of birth - about 18 years ago, I did a year in the UK but have not lived there for an extended period since I was in college. 

Being away from your passport country for a long time can give you a new appreciation for a place that as a child, you once took for granted. This past summer we got to spend the whole summer in the UK. It had been 3 1/2 years since we were last there and it was wonderful reconnecting with friends and family and re-discovering the beauty of my country of origin.

Since I wasn't blogging back then, I thought I would write a retrospective post about some of the things that I re-discovered and savoured last summer about "that other country" where I used to live.

1. So green - It's a classic stereotype I know but "England's green and pleasant lands" are really some of the most verdant landscapes I have seen in all my travels. I was overwhelmed during this trip with the beauty of our rolling hills and interlocking fields. These scenes are truly something that I took for granted until I left the UK and I see them with fresh eyes every time I go back.

Had to pull over to capture this vivid scene in the Yorkshire Dales

2. Camping - I know people of many nationalities enjoy camping. Somehow though we seem to camp more when we're in the UK. There are campsites everywhere (from converted farmer's fields to the more fancy caravan parks) and it makes me very nostalgic for our annual family camping holidays when I was a child. Building camping memories for our kids with the cousins this past summer was one of the highlights for me.

Camping in Devon with my sister's family and swimming in the stream. The best!

3. Gardens - Another cultural past-time which I really appreciated this visit was the simple pleasure of the British garden. Not simple at all when you realize how much time Brits typically put into their gardens, but simple to sit out and bask in other people's hard work. Grandad's garden was such a place of recreation and joy and beauty!

Playing swingball and feeding fish with Grandad.
Just two of many ways we enjoyed this beautiful space.

4. The Wind - this sounds a little random but bear with me! Growing up on the coast of England, fighting the wind on my bike on the way to school and having that weather-beaten feel to your face when you got home every day was just normal for me. It wasn't 'til I moved away from England that I learned that not every place is as windy. In fact, I have never lived in any place which rivalled the UK in it's capacity to induce air movements of gale force proportions on a regular basis!! It was fun to see the kids enjoying that this past summer.

Leaning into the wind at Chichester Cricket grounds

Flying a kite on the South Downs 

5. Coast - Being an island, you're never far from the sea in England, Ireland, Scotland or Wales. I grew up in the beach town of Worthing, where my Mum still lives and the kids love walking to the beach from Grandma's house. This trip, we also visited a lot of coastal beauty spots in our travels and I found it overwhelmingly beautiful (even if a bit cold for swimming). Hard to select just one or two pictures here!

Beautiful Dorset coast at Lulworth Cove, England

Body-boarding with cousins on the Pembrokeshire coast, Wales. We refused to buy wet suits which we would never use in Thailand so they just braved the cold.
 

6. History - Those of you who know me well will know I'm not big into historical details. I get bored easily with facts and dates and have bad memories of history class as a kid. But being away from the UK for so long has made me appreciate the huge impact that history has had on our landscape - not present in the same way in America for example. To be honest I can still give or take all the details (much to my mother's disgust) but it's really quite incredible that we get to explore such beauty that has been around for hundreds even thousands of years.

Visiting Bodiam Castle (AD 1385) in Kent with friends

Walking the beautiful landscape of Avebury Stone Circles
(erected between 3000 and 2400 BC)

7. Talking of walking, that is another past-time that British people do oh so well! The UK is a warren of public footpaths varying from the more well-trodden byways in the national parks to woodland country paths and hedge-lined short cuts in your local neighborhood. We enjoyed many walks with friends this summer. There is always a new corner of my country to explore on foot.

The stunning Pembrokeshire Coastal Path in Wales

Oh and just to prove our true British heritage, here's one of us
walking with friends in the rain in the Yorkshire Dales.
Turns out my kids haven't grown up in this culture
and are not as hardy at this as I had hoped!

8. Picnics - I don't know if it's because we Brits are skin-flints or because we just love the outdoors but whereas family outings in the US or Thailand usually involve eating out in restaurants, in the UK, we prefer to have a picnic! We enjoyed some wonderful picnics in picturesque places this past summer, but this one with a good friend on the sloping ground above Lulworth Cove in Dorset was probably the most memorable!

Nice view - bit hard to sit and eat though!

9. Canine companions - In many countries where we have lived, dogs are for guarding your house, catching rats and/or keeping the stray dogs away. In the UK, none of these are usually a factor - dogs are for companionship and back to point 7, walking! We are lucky that my sister is a dog-walker by profession so we got to join her on some of her hikes and enjoy her lovely four-legged friends. 

Walking 6 dogs with Auntie Janet on the Downs above Worthing

Enjoying the dog cousins - Jacob and Crumble.
 

10. The grass! - This one takes us back to my first point but in more detail. We really enjoyed the feel of the grass in England this past summer. Rolling down hills or just walking barefoot in the back garden - it's such a wonderful sensory feeling that you don't get in some places around the world. I know we really missed it in India and I've noticed that the type of grass that grows here in Thailand is much coarser and less pleasant to the touch. So, thank you UK for having the best grass I know!

Rolling in the grass with cousins outside Durham Cathedral

So there's my top 10 British gems. Of course the real riches on any trip to our "other home" are the people and those memories of friends and family are still pondered often and cherished in our hearts. I've enjoyed this bit of nostalgia though for some of the cultural and geographical treasures of my country of birth. Hope you did too. . . and if you live in the UK, please don't take your grass for granted!