My first snake!

I was so excited to spot my first snake in Thailand this morning! This beauty was climbing on the electricity pole directly outside our bedroom window.

It's a golden tree snake apparently. Mildly venomous but harmless to humans. Gorgeous! I have since discovered that these are also known as flying snakes for their capacity to glide through the air. I'm thankful I saw it first in climbing mode and not gliding towards me! Hoping it might stay around until the boys get home from school but probably unlikely.

While I'm here, thought I'd add a few more nature discoveries we've made recently. We found these cicada molts resting on trees on a recent trip to the beach.

It was weird because I would wake at 6 am to really loud cicada singing and then by 6.10 am, it had stopped and I went back to sleep. Not sure if they sing right before they molt but it was fun to discover anyway.

And one more discovery from this morning as well.. . .  a heart-shaped fig found on the ground at a local market. 

Now isn't that a beauty?! Enjoy the nature around you today and take the time to stop and look! Thanks for clicking!

(Click here to read about more wild things we have encountered here in Chiangmai.)

Thai Village home visits - a volunteer's perspective

Only a handful of our artisans at Thai Village work out of our small office in Pa Daet, Chiang Mai. The majority come in for training and to pick up materials, and then take their work with them to complete at home. It's for this reason, that home visits are a really important part of taking care of our Thai Village team.

Occasionally I get to go with our Thai managers on one of their home visits, as I did this week. We sit on the floor together over lunch and hear our artisan's struggles, their hopes and dreams and how we can support them. We hope it's an encouragement to them. It certainly is to me and here's why:

1. Purpose: A lot of my work at Thai Village is paper-pushing behind the scenes. I actually quite like it and I'm happy to do it but the home visits remind me why I do what I do. On home visits, I get to see in person the impact of a stable income on our artisans, on their families and on their communities. We hear how it is enabling them to climb out of difficult situations and how it has brought hope and dignity. For me, this is the "why" of the number-crunching on the inventory and the following up of sales contacts. That "God is Good" banner that I just sold is more than just a pretty decoration; it's a livelihood; it's a medical bill paid or school fees covered; it's a true symbol that God's goodness has reached a small cement room in a corner of Chiang Mai. That is what spurs me on. 

2. Inspiration: So often, I find that visiting our artisans leaves me inspired and motivated by their example. It's a challenge honestly when I meet a young Mum, working multiple jobs, barely sleeping to provide for her family or a Christian convert so passionate for Jesus that he is spending all his spare time and money visiting neighbors and villages to share the good news. I often leave with renewed vision to live my own life with more faith, more perseverance and more gratitude. 

3. Perspective: It is too easy for all of us to live a life separate from those who are different to us, who have not had the privileged life we have. Here in Chiang Mai, my kids go to an international school, we have air conditioning in our home and access to health care and travel opportunities. This is a privileged life for sure but if I didn't see first-hand the paths that my brothers and sisters have to walk, I could easily forget that. I could feel hard done by that we can't travel to the US/UK as often as we would like or that our car is old and falling apart. I'm so glad for work that adjusts the lens on my view of the world and helps me keep things in perspective. 

4. Responsibility: On that same note, it is being with our artisans that reminds me of the responsibility I have to use what I have to serve those less privileged - to give, to pray, to volunteer, to buy ethically, to speak out for justice. We know the command to "love our neighbour" but we don't always know how to do it. I often stall at this. But the home visits help me see tangible ways to help, to hold hands in prayer, to encourage and to help sell our products so our artisans can make a living. You can make a difference too. Our customers are a hugely important link in the chain of self-sustainability here at Thai Village. We all have a part to play.  

5. Connection: Finally, I love home visits because it gives me the chance to connect, to build relationships across the lines of culture, language and economic status. To be honest, it is not easy or fast. My language acquisition is slow. I don't get a lot of what the conversations are about over our lunch and I rely on our bilingual team members to fill me in, but I am learning, I am growing, I am present and that bond is somehow powerful. I feel a connection with these new friends and I hope they feel it too.

Today I got to meet this lovely family. 

Jalern is a skilled carpenter and is currently working on a new Easter design for Thai Village. He and his engaging wife are hard-working, talented, creative, humble and kind and the visit hit all five of the above points for me. I know many of our team left inspired, encouraged and energized in our work. These are salt of the earth people and we are so honored to be partnering with them.

On behalf of Jalern and many others, thanks to all of you who support Thai Village with your prayers and purchases. It makes a difference. 

An important piece of paper - part 2

I've been hearing good things about Chiangmai immigration recently - less waiting, less paperwork and even stories of immigration officials bringing out Birthday cake for people celebrating their day by waiting in line!

This is good news because honestly, if you live overseas, you spend a lot of time at immigration. It's one of the less glamorous parts of an overseas life . . . . 90-day check-ins, visa renewals, applying for re-entry permit before we leave and updating our residence every time we get back. I have not added up the time spent filling in forms for a family of 5 or waiting in line for someone's important piece of paper but it has been a lot. 

As some of you may know, I have been having a bit of drama with my visa recently. When I started work at Thai Village I switched my dependent visa linked to Tyler's job to a volunteer visa of my own. Thanks to a lot of work by my Thai Village team-mates, I was able to get a 1-year work permit on this visa in November last year! A big answered prayer as work permits had previously been disallowed for holders of volunteer visas. 

The checklist of papers for the work permit is pretty extensive!

Jessie and I are holding the papers but really Jade (front right) did all of the work!

This was a huge high point on the paperwork journey . . . but there have been many low points too like being denied visa renewal recently and having to leave the country unexpectedly at short notice.

So far, in the past 9 months, I have done 3 visa run trips to neighbouring countries - Vietnam, Malaysia and Laos - plus obtained one visa during a planned trip to the UK. If you know me, you'll know that I love to travel so it's not the worst burden ever, but honestly visa runs are costly and are mostly all the boring bits about travel and not much of the fun stuff, unless you have time and money to add on some extra days. In Vietnam we did (see this post) but not so much the other times.

Our most recent visa run to Vientiane, Laos was 2 days spent mostly waiting at the consulate and working in coffee shops but I enjoyed a few walks around the city and snapped this pic outisde Wat Sisaket

Tyler and I are very lucky that we have colleagues at our places of work who prepare most of our immigration paperwork for us. With rules often changing and officials being very strict about how forms are filled, we are so glad we are not on our own in this and we're very grateful for the hard work of our team-mates. Thank you!

I am writing this post now, because my visa obtained in Laos will be up for renewal soon and together with my colleagues at Thai Village, we are hoping to successfully extend our visas for a full year, thus eliminating the need and expense of more visa runs. I would be grateful for your prayers in this process. The pile of papers required will be even thicker than for the work permit!

In the mean time, I will be going to immigration next week to do a 90-day check-in for two of our kids (don't ask how the five of us got on four separate 90-day schedules!!) and maybe, if I'm lucky, someone near me will be having a Birthday that day! 

The in-between-ness of Advent

This year, the hope of Advent is holding particular meaning for me because I am waiting for something, aching for something for one of our children. It has been intense and really hard at times. But thanks to the wonderful Jesus community here, I have had lots of people point me towards hope and encourage me in the waiting. I wrote this poem recently and thought I would share it with you all.

There is a dawning between the darkness and the light

and that is where I am

Sometimes falling back into the dark

Sometimes leaning towards the light

But in the dawnlight nevertheless

It is dim but it is coming

I see it and I know

I will not be consumed by the darkness.

Photo credit Ned McNair, Hilton Head, North Carolina

There is a sprouting between the dry ground and the verdant pasture

and that is where I am

Small shoots, vulnerable and fragile

but a sprouting nevertheless

Tender unfurling of new growth

Becoming, emerging

 I feel it and I know

We are not yet what we will be.

Tropical ferns unfurling, Chiangmai, Thailand

There is an in-pouring between the emptiness and the fullness

and that is where I am

A slow drip, sometimes hardly noticeable

But a pouring in nevertheless

A puddle is made from tiny drops

An ocean is made from tiny puddles

I hear the raindrops and I know. 

Streams will flow in this desert. 

Rainy season droplets, Chiangmai, Thailand

There is a restoring between the brokenness and the wholeness

and that is where I am

Not overnight, not on my timeline perhaps

but a restoring nevertheless

I cling to the dream of shalom, 
peace, wholeness, harmony

And then I glimpse it when I least expect it

It surprises me but I should know by now

My brokenness is where he works best.

It's messy here in the in-between

Things are not yet as they will be

We wait, we hope, we groan with creation

How long, O Lord?

But we are not consumed

Beauty is coming from these ashes

Dawn is coming

He is coming

He is making all things new.

I pray this will be an encouragement to any of you who are also hoping for something this advent.

"But hope that is seen is no hope at all.

Who hopes for what they already have?

But if we hope for what we do not have, we wait for it patiently."

Romans 8:24-25

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

Romans 15:13