East to West By: Casting Crowns

Here I am Lord and I’m drowning, in Your sea of forgetfulness
The chains of yesterday surround me, I yearn for peace and rest
I don’t want to end up where You found me
And it echoes in my mind
Keeps me awake tonight
I know you’ve cast my sin as far as the East is from the West
And I stand before You now as though I’ve never sinned
But today I feel like I’m just one mistake away
From You leaving me this way

Chorus:
Jesus can you show me just how far the east is from the west
‘Cause I can’t bear to see the man I’ve been
Rising up in me again
In the arms of Your mercy I find rest
‘Cause You know just how far the east is from the west
From one scarred hand to the other

I start the day, the war begins
Endless reminding of my sin
And time and time again Your truth is drowned out by the storm I’m in
Today I feel like I’m just one mistake away from You leaving me this way
I know You’ve washed me white
Turn my darkness into life
I need Your peace to get me through
To get me through this night
I can’t live by what I feel
About the truth Your word reveals
I’m not holding on to You
But You’re holding on to me You’re holding on to me

Moving :D

Hello to everyone! I have some exciting news! I went to Bangkok 2 weeks ago to interview for a new job because I miss the city so much. I applied at Kasetsart University and I got the job :D. I will be starting in October, so I will be quite busy. I have to finish teaching here in September, get a new visa, move my things to Bangkok (where I'll hopefully have an apartment), and begin teaching in October (still not sure the actual date yet). I would GREATLY appreciate all of your prayers for all of these changes. Here's a few pictures from my trip to Bangkok. We didn't take a whole lot of pictures, but it was a blast.

I've always liked pictures in parks with the city in the background.

Skate boarders

The pretty park where we ate lunch. Kao khai jeaow for 10 baht! Great deal!

So, a new grocery store opened in Chiangrai. It's called Tops and it's great. You know you've been in Thailand too long when you get this excited over these products.


Yes, count them. SEVEN kinds of salad dressing! Ranch dressing, Thousand Island, Italian, French, Fat Free Italian, Ceaser, and one that I can't read!














Three kinds of instant mashed potatoes. Yes, the actual mashed potatoes are better and they do sell potatoes at the market, but these are so much easier. Plus, Hungry Jack . . . what a name from home. :)











Campbells soup! Look at all the flavors!!!!













I'm not a Spam fan, but I posted this for all my friends who are. Have you ever seen hot and spicy spam in the states?












More kinds of cereal! We now have Rice Krispies, Honey Rice Krispies (which I don't think exist in the states), and Fruit Loops!!!! I like 2 of them and haven't tried the Honey Rice Krispies yet. I'll keep you posted. haha.





















Real Cranberry juice mixed with nothing! Mom, I know how much you love cranberry juice . . . now we have it!














Tortilla chips! 3 kinds of tortilla chips! YEAH!











Large, orange oranges (most of them are small and have green skins here), green apples, and pears!

















We could get most of this cheese here already, but they have parmesean in a bag! It's on the bottom far right. You can't read it, but it's something I won't forget. haha. The day they get orange, cheddar cheese, I'm throwing a party. Right now, we have several varieties of white cheddar, but not orange cheddar.









Check out these HUGE bottles of REAL pancake syrup. The Thai pancake syrup is okay, but Log Cabin syrup is MUCH better!













Last but not least, reduced sugar (an amazing thing in Thailand) Rasberry Jam! My friend Rachel tried this and she said it's amazing. Another thing on my list to sample.















On a more serious note, I had a great time with my students last Friday. They successfully polished off the 2 bowls of pasta and devoured the 5 plates of fruit. The discovered alfredo is wonderful and learned how to play Uno as well. I shared with them my true reason for coming to Thailand, but didn't have an altar call (haha). I pray they will think about what I said and call it to mind later. Thank you for your prayers. We all had a great time!

Rain, rain, and more rain

Hello to everyone! I decided my bro and sis-in-law had a good idea, so I decided to copy them. ;) I'm going to try to update this once a week so that I'll be able to keep in touch with everyone better. Some weeks it could simply be . . . "I taught this week" or whatever, but I'll try to keep it interesting. :) With the upcoming months, that shouldn't be a huge problem 555555.

It has been wet and cold on this side of the pond. It has rained (and I mean poured) at least once a day for the last 3 days. It has been about 23 degrees C (maybe 60ish F), which has caused me to wear a jacket or sweater. Definately haven't needed an air conditioner or even a fan for the last several days. It's kinda strange.
This past weekend, I got to be a part of Aim and Beth's wedding. It was an interesting time as they mixed American traditions with Thai traditions. The rehersal was interesting because everything had to be explained to everyone in two languages, plus you had all of the differences that had to be explained to everyone. However, it was a BEAUTIFUL wedding and went off without a hitch. ;) One of the exciting farang traditions was the fact that EVERYONE got cake. Many times at Thai weddings, they will have a fake cake with about 8-10 pieces of actual cake that are served to the parents, bride and groom, and a few other special people there. However, at Aim and Beth's wedding, everyone was served a piece of cake. There were even choices of chocolate, red velvet, or vanilla. If that wasn't enough, Beth had a farang make cream cheese icing for the cake. It was wonderful. 555555

Aim has been a friend of mine for several years. I met him the first time I came to Chiangrai in 2003 and we've kept in touch ever since. Beth and I became friends when I arrived in Chiangrai last Aug. I had the privilege of being a candle lighter in their wedding. They were the first Christian and farang/Thai wedding in Nan (Aim's hometown) so they created quite a stir. :) Enjoy the pictures :).

In other news this week, my students and I are getting together for supper tomorrow night. It will be a good time to hang out with them. This is the last term I will be able to teach them, and it is actually winding down to an end. I will give them their final exam next week. They will finish thier term here about a month and a half early because they must prepare to go to China in the beginning of September as well as prepare their internships after they are finished with their term of study in China. They are really busy right now, but we're all happy to have a chance to party and hang out before they go. Please pray for this as I am planning on sharing about Christ with them.

To enhance your knowledge of Thailand, and make it easier to read my posts, I'm including a glossary of common Thai words that I use on a regular basis and sometimes forget to translate :).

1) farang: white person/foreigner
2) 55555 : hahahaha (the Thai word for 5 is "ha", so I have used this as slang for several years and sometimes it slips)

More to come soon :). May God bless you and keep you always. Thank you for everything you've done.