High's and low's

Well, the last several weeks has been filled with high's and low's. Arm and I both had interviews, but neither of them panned out. Arm got an e-mail this past week saying the position had already been filled, and my interview never actually happened due to technical difficulties. I could now reschedule my interview, however I don't think I will because the only way for me to be able to teach also includes 10 college courses which would mean a long commute (1hr 30min), 50 hours of work minimum, lesson planning, grading, teaching and then school includes studying, homework, classes one night a week in downtown Memphis, and not seeing Arm very often since I would probably leave at 5:30 or 6am and not get home until at least 5pm at night and then have school and teaching duties. So with our first big possibilities not working out, we're moving forward to see what God has for us.

This past week, I had a meeting with a family that I could nanny for. They are Christians in a nearby town and have four boys ages 7, 5, and 9 month old twins. I would definitely have my hands full, but from our meeting, the mother seems very well organized and laid back. I just contacted her about babysitting once before fully accepting the job to see if my personality works with their kids.

Arm also just applied for a position in Memphis as a labratory technician. We got a tip from a friend who also works there and it would be great if he could get this position! He would get a lot of experience in his field as well as recieve benefits and good pay. This company is also looking for quite a few people as opposed to the last opportunity where they only wanted one person.

Please pray for God to work in these situations according to His will as we want what is best for our family.

Many of you have probably also seen what is going on in Thailand. The government seems to have the current violence contained, but there is a long way to go to reunite the country and for foreigners to have confidence in Thailand and begin travelling there again. Please pray that the Christians will boldly stand up for what they believe and come up with creative ways to help the country and share Christ with those around them.

Implosion

(One of the standoff scenes in a major shopping area in Bangkok.)

Many of you have heard of the violence going on in Thailand. It is more than I ever thought that this conflict would amount to, however, now that I think about it, I simply feared it would come to this, but didn't want to believe it. This conflict between the yellow shirts and the red shirts has been going on for at least 4-5 years and it seems this may be the climax of it because I sure don't want to think it will get worse. The scariest part is we (Arm, me, and our Thai friends) always knew that the red shirts were willing to die for their cause. Thai people are saying they've never seen anything like this before. An American friend of mine who is living in Bangkok described this situation as "Bangkok is imploding".


(They burn tires to create very thick, dark smoke to keep the soldiers from being able to see.)

While I could take the time to explain the situation, I feel that doesn't hit the heart of the matter. People are dying without Christ. To live in Thailand, most of the time you have to forget that fact to cope through daily life, but the fact is if the rapture happened, not many people would realize it and life would go on as normal. This ugly fact of life always hits me in tragedies small as car accidents, funerals I had to go to, or in big tragedies like this.


(A woman is trying to take cover using the first thing she got her hands on.)

Big tragedies don't only remind me of this reality in Thailand, but in the USA as well, however, the knowledge of God is very different in these two places. It has been refreshing and a blessing to be in the USA for this time and I know God has called us to be here for this period of time, however, this clash in Thailand has also renewed my heart for the Thai people and I know we will be back one day.


(Red shirts took over a military truck and assaulted the soldiers.)

In closing, I ask you to pray. Pray for God's Word to give the Thai people the answer they've been looking for in the midst of all of this craziness. Pray the churches will stand stronger and become more bold in sharing their faith. Pray that the prime minister and the government will be able to find a peaceful ending to this horrible situation that will spare people's lives and most of all that God would be glorified in this situation.


(These civilians are running for cover when they heard shots fired.)

Keep on keeping on

Well, we have now been in the states two months and we have seen God's provision over and over again. One thing we're very excited about is our one year anniversary is on Sunday! Yes, it is the same day as Mother's Day, which worked great last year because I was able to see my mom on Mother's Day. This year, my mom told me not to worry about it and for Arm and I to enjoy our anniversary, however she's not going to get off the hook that easily, but we will enjoy our anniversary. Arm is planning something and won't tell me what it is yet, so I'll have to let you know what we do next time.

In addition, God has been faithful to us in several ways. First, Danelle has been working at Gordmans department store and she was given the shoe position, which is wonderful because it gives her more hours and allows her to work in an area by herself with a great manager. Arm has been landscaping for some friends of ours for the last 4 weeks, which has been a great job for him and allowed him to make a good bit of money. God has also provided us a great car that gets really good gas mileage, which has helped us save some money as well and we were perfectly on budget for the car. Arm also passed his written driver's test and road test with flying colors the FIRST time he took them! We were very excited about that and he felt more independent and like he had a life in the USA after getting his driver's license. We praise God for how well Arm is adjusting to the states.

We would also request prayer for finding full time jobs. Danelle is looking for a teaching position in ESL or Bible. She has met several important people, but so far only has one lead in Memphis City Schools. She has a phone interview with them on the 13th of May at 8pm at night, so if you could please pray for that time, we would be very appreciative. Danelle is also taking her certification test on June 12 and if she doesn't pass, she won't be able to get a teaching job. Please pray that she will study well and will pass with flying colors.

Arm is looking for a veterinary technician or a veterniary assistant job and has put out probably 30 or 40 resumes, but only 3 places have actually said they're hiring and we haven't recieved any calls yet. He also has to take the TOFEL (English proficiency test) in order to take the veterinarian certification exam. This is quite a challenge since the TOEFL is a college level English test, but Arm and I believe he can do it if given enough time to study. We're hoping to find some full time jobs first and then give him time to study so that he'll do really well on his tests.

Please pray that we will not get tired and discouraged of looking for jobs and that we will trust in God's faithfulness and that He has a perfect job for each of us.

Thank you all for your continued support and prayers for us. We appreciate them more than you know. May God bless and be with you all.