Wow! It has been a very long time since I last blogged! I think the biggest news is that we FINALLY moved out! We searched for 11 months for a house to buy, however God slammed that door and locked it with about a million locks. We had 6 different houses we were interested in and they all fell through for various reasons. However, some friends in our small group found a house, bought it, and closed in 3 weeks. Then, we found out they would be renting out their old place, which is 3 miles from my parents' house. That makes it very convenient with my mom watching Kelsey. We were very thankful for all the help my parents provided us, but we were also thrilled to be moving into our own place at the end of July 2012. Arm has been working at Gordmans as a full time lead over the men's department for about a year. We were very excited about this as we have enjoyed him having steady hours at work and at home. We get to spend more time as a family since he only has one job and he is working at a place where he is respected and has friends. It has been a wonderful transition and has made it a lot easier with me studying and teaching and taking care of Kelsey. Danelle is still teaching, but is no longer at two schools. This school year, I was able to move to Winchester Elementary and I work with kindergarten students. I have about 20 kindergarten students that I teach every day and I have about 10 others that I help once a week because their English was pretty good when they arrived. It has been so wonderful to focus on one grade level and only plan one lesson for every day instead of teaching kindergarten through 5th and planning 4 or 5 lessons every day. We have really enjoyed a brief break from my studies as scheduling would have it. However, I have to begin my last class on January 31st. I will be writing a 40 page paper and will be completed on May 18. Pray for our family as my studies bring an added stress to all of us. We are very excited for my graduation and to put this behind us! Kelsey is our sweet little girl! She is now 19.5 months old. She is talking more and more everyday and I have lost count of how many words she says! She is nicknamed Ms. Hospitality at our church because she says hi and bye to everyone she passes. She brings many smiles to everyone she passes whether we're at church or out shopping. She loves playing with baby dolls, reading books, watching Elmo and cuddling with mommy and her blankie :D. I truly apologize for not blogging for quite some time and I hope it will never be this long again before I update everyone. I pray everyone had a Merry Christmas celebrating the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ. May God bless you all.

It's a girl!

Arm and I found out (a bit before Christmas) that we are having a little GIRL! Her name will be Kelsey Brooke Singhanart and we are SO SO SO excited!

In additional and more current news, I (Danelle) have become very busy, but is very thankful for having a job again :D. At the beginning of February, I started classes at Union University to get my teacher's license. I am almost finished with my first 6 weeks! The good news is that I have 2 classes right now in a 6 week period, which means during the next 6 week period, I won't have any classes. While I'm very busy right now, I think I will enjoy 6 weeks that I can focus on teaching. The same day that I started classes, I got a call from Memphis City Schools to say that I was hired and that I had a background check the next day, orientation on Thursday, and I started at my school on Friday. Talk about dizzy! I am currently teaching at Graves Elementary School and I have 5 little African children that I am teaching ESL to. Three of them are kindergarteners, I have 1 first grader, and a 2nd grader. They are cute with their own individual challenges. It has also been a HUGE jump from university to elementary school, but I'm adjusting pretty well.

Arm is still working hard at the vet clinic and at Gordmans. As usual, everyone loves him because he's so nice and such a hard worker.

And then there were 3

Hello! My it has been quite some time since I have updated this blog, however, there has not been much going on until the past several weeks. We'll start with the good news. . .

Danelle is pregnant! We were quite surprised as we wanted to have a child, but we did not expect to get pregnant so quickly. I am 15.5 weeks pregnant this point and our baby is due on May 17(ish). I have had a very easy pregnancy. I didn't even know I was pregnant until I was 10 weeks along! I know more surprises will be coming, however so far I've been craving free, not sick, and not eating everything in the house. I think I am beginning to show a little bit, but some people still wonder where the baby is. Arm and I are getting used to the idea of being parents, but somehow I think it will be a much bigger wake-up call in May and the months following that. We are excited and Arm's parents are through the roof about their first grandchild. We are keeping pictures on Facebook and chatting with them so they feel involved and connected. Pray with us for this little one. Pray that he/she will continue to grow and develop normally and will grow into a strong baby and child that will learn about Jesus and seek to serve Him in whatever capacity God sees fit. Pray that Arm and I will seek God as we think and prepare to raise this child. . . and then even more after the child is here!

Now on to the not so great things. Now that I am pregnant, the woman I nanny for became very nervous and she has decided to put her children in daycare. She feels that is more reliable at this point. Therefore, I will only be working for her until December 10. I am currently trying to get things worked around where I may be able to have a teaching position by January or February. I have applied to Union University and I have been in contact with an ESL director. Hopefully this next week will bring good news as I hope to hear from both Union and the director this week. If this does not pan out, I'm sure God will provide something else for us. This was a setback we were not expecting, so it took us by surprise. Also pray for Arm's jobs as we don't know how much he will be working at his current positions in January. He has been trying to find something more permanent for several months, but nothing has come up.

Also, Arm was in a small accident in our car. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but the insurance company would not fix our car. Therefore, we are now car shopping which is a task neither of us enjoy. Please pray that God will provide a good car for us. If anyone knows of a car that has around 100,000-130,000 miles on it, is no older than a 2000, and is about $5000, we'd be much appreciative!

In happier news, Arm and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving. My entire family was in one house for Thanksgiving for the first time in 4 years! It was nice to see my nieces and nephews playing so well together and enjoying each other. We also took family pictures on Thanksgiving morning because it was the only time we could all meet up to do it. They turned out great. My new profile picture is one of them. I will add some more for you to enjoy at the bottom of this post.

Thank you so much for all of your prayer and support. We will find out if our baby is a boy or a girl in about 4 weeks. We are so excited to know, so pray the baby cooperates! May God bless you all!

Been awhile

Hello to everyone. I apologize for not writing for some time, but we did not have a whole lot to write about. However, there have been some new developments in the last week. First, my amazing husband has gotten 8 more hours a week at the vet clinic he's been working at. While this may only be a temporary job through the end of the year, we're so thankful for the invaluable experience he's getting through this opportunity. In addition to the 8 more hours at the vet clinic, he also has another job interview. This job is at PetCo. as a groomer's assistant. If he works there for 6 months, they'll train him for free to be a certified groomer, which will open up more doors for him as well. I'm so proud of how hard he's been looking for a job and we're so thankful for God's blessings.

As far as Danelle, I am still enjoying being a nanny for 4 busy boys. They're ages are 7, almost 6, and 1 year old twins. The big boys just started school today (Thursday) so my job just got a bit easier. I have also decided on going to Union University so that I will be able to get my teacher's certification, which is much more complicated than I thought. I hope to start at Union in February. Arm and I are also starting to work with the youth group at Lifepoint Church. The youth pastor really wants to begin a student leadership team and has asked me to assist him since I have had experience on a student leadership team. Pray that God will give us wisdom on what kind of team to develop for this group so that the students will be able to grow.

Arm and I would like to thank all of you for all the love we have recieved since we've moved back to the states. This transition has been very easy for Arm and a lot of it is because of how great everyone has been in accepting him and treating him like an old friend or even family. We are truly blessed.

Things are developing

Hello to everyone! Things have been developing for Arm and I. I have accepted a job as a nanny for 4 boys. I know it sounds like a lot, but I have talked with the mom a lot, met the whole family and even babysat for them one time. The family is a Christian family and their kids are really good. The mom and dad have done a great job. Their ages are 7, 5, and 9 month old twins. Their mother has planned tennis camp and VBS, their members at a country club for swimming time, they have season passes to the zoo, they live down the street from a park and the library, and they have a big front and back yard. The twins are on a good schedule and putting them to bed is fairly easy. I'm sure there will be days when they're not perfect little angels, but I'm expecting it and I know there will be good days as well. Pray for me as the kids and I get used to each other and their schedules. I look forward to having fun with all 4 this summer and then the older two will go to school. I start nannying next week.

Arm also has had an opportunity open up fairly close to where I'll be nannying. I think it's only a couple blocks away. A very nice veterinarian is now willing to give Arm a chance. The vet has asked him to come in from 9-11:30 every day next week as a trial week and after that, if they work well together, he will increase Arm's hours. He had to hire Arm for insurance purposes and so we are very thankful Arm is getting this chance. I know Arm will do well, but, as anyone, he's a little bit anxious. Please pray for him to be calm and enjoy himself and trust in the things he learned in school and in his experience as a vet.

In another twist, we got an order for puppies we haven't even had yet. Arm met a woman from Sweden in Thailand and they somehow just got back in touch. Arm told her we brought Thai Ridgeback dogs from Thailand to breed in America and she breeds them in Sweden, so she was interested. Arm sent her their Pedigree Certifications and she really wants them, so she told us to keep in touch with her and let her know when we breed the dogs because she may want a boy and a girl. She even talked about flying from Sweden to come here and get them. I knew Arm picked good dogs, but I didn't know how good. We have an almost pure blue line dogs and that is apparently very rare. Please pray that we'll be able to get the puppies certified and she'll actually follow through with her interest. We can't breed our dogs for another 4-6 months and she'll be pregnant for 2 months and then we have to keep the puppies to feed from their mother for another 2 months. Arm will also be working on our advertising website, so pray he'll learn how to do that well and that he'll be diligent to get it done. We want to do it ahead of time to generate interest and get some hits on it before we actually have the puppies.

Thank you so much for your support and prayers as it's been hard to see what God's going to do, but He is working and helping us always. Thank you again for everything.

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.

Made it to the states

Hello! This update is quite delayed, but we've been moving! We made it safely to the states and both of our puppies made the trip and were VERY happy to get out of their carriers. I think they played for 4 hours straight when we let them run around during the day. During the first week, Arm and I were watching the sun come up every morning since jet lag was hitting us. We generally got up around 5:30am and starting to feel sleepy around 7:00pm and fighting to stay awake by 8:30 or 9pm. We're very thankful that jet lag is over!

Since then, we've been visiting some people, learning how to live in America, trying to stay warm (the temperature difference is about 40-50 degrees between Thailand and America), and finding Asian markets.

Arm has found a fishing buddy and has enjoyed going fishing a couple of times a week and we've been eating his catch. We've made fried rice with fish and we also fried some of it. There's actually some in the fridge right now that we have to cook. We're hoping fishing will put off the getting bored stage. He gets a social security card and a green card with his visa, but we're hoping it'll get here this week. He can't get a job or even a driver's license until he has a social security card, so please pray for all of that to work out quickly as he's kind of anxious to drive. He's also made a doghouse with my dad and I think he and I are going to do the other one tomorrow. We also took a day trip to Memphis and found out Arm enjoys BBQ, which is almost a must for living in Memphis, TN.

My parents also allowed us to turn one room upstairs into a mini living room for us so that we can have some more privacy, so it's like we have most of the upstairs, which is a huge blessing! and kept us busy with something else this week.

Please pray that we'll be able to find at least part-time jobs fairly quickly. I'm supposed to have an interview at the store my mom works at this week, which will be nice to keep some money flowing in. Pray that God will provide for all our needs and Arm will adjust well to the USA. The first month is probably the easiest.

Thank you all for all of your support and prayers. We really appreciate them. If you know of any part-time jobs or ESL positions, please contact us!

Last Day

Hello! This is our last day in Thailand. We will be leaving tonight around 11:30-12:oo at night for the airport where we'll check all of our things in and say goodbye to a lot of friends/family and then board the plane for America. 24 hours and 4 planes later, we will be landing in Memphis, TN around 5pm on Saturday. It has been a very tiring week as Arm and I were waking up around 7 am and going to bed around 1:30 or 2 am most days this week. We just packed everything up and sent it to his parents' house at about 1:15am last night. We'll probably be pretty quiet our first week home as it's been tiring and we'll just want to rest and spend time with family, but we are looking forward to meeting everyone and talking with everyone in time. Thank you for all of your prayers and support. We ask that you continue to pray for Arm and his family as they will be having the most adjustments. Pray for my reverse culture shock as well, since I've been gone for so long, I'm sure there will be things I've forgotten and it will take me a little while to readjust, but not as long as Arm. May God bless you all!

Gettin' some R&R

Hello to everyone! I apologize for the late update. Arm and I have had a very relaxing week at his parents' house. The university was closed this week since there is a very large flea market there right now. It comes every year and pretty much takes over the entire school, so we thought it was a perfect time for us to come spend time with his family. Since his parents are teachers, we were alone during the day, but then his parents would come back at night. I think his mom has had fun spoiling him one last time because she was buying a lot of food and desserts for us to eat everyday. Arm and I haven't gone many places. Basically we've been staying at home with our dogs and going to the market everyday. The market is quite an affair every evening since everyone is getting their food for the evening. It's kind of fun and I really wish I could get used to all the staring. hahaha. We've also been having fun with our dogs as well. They really enjoy being out in the country, so I know they'll LOVE my parents' house as well.


(This little guy is Colonel. He's my favorite and he's going with us to the states.)

Yesterday was our "big" travel day. We went to a dam in Arm's home province. It was actually pretty and since it was so hot yesterday, it felt nice and cool when we went down by the water and put our feet in. Then we went to Arm's high school, which he enjoyed, but I didn't like having a couple hundred eyes on me with people screaming "Hello!" "Bonjour!" and laughing because they're nervous that a foreigner has come to their school and it makes me extremely shy. However, for one day, I made it hahaha. If we had gotten married in Arm's home province, I think half of the province would have come just to see us. They might not even know Arm. We also went to see Arm's grandmother who is 86 years old. She's such a sweet lady. We also some some of his aunts and uncles and cousins. I played with one of his cousin's kids and he was so cute. We played peek-a-boo and ran around the truck and I surprised him and then I would throw him up in the air. It sounds basic, but most little kids are scared of me for awhile because I'm white hahaha.


(I just can't resist that little face!!!)


Today we are returning to Bangkok and his parents will be coming tomorrow to take more stuff back to their house to store for us. We also have a very busy week ahead of us. We have a goodbye party at church on Sunday, Arm is being interviewed on Monday night to help a Christian organization, Tuesday night I teach, Wednesday night is a goodbye party with a few friends, Thursday night I teach, and I'm sure we have something on Friday hahaha.


(This is Dutchess. We love her, but she's just not pretty enough for breeding, so she'll stay at his parents' house. She likes it here.)

Please continue praying for us as we make this transition. Pray for Arm's family to learn about trusting you more (even though his parents aren't Christians yet) and pray for Arm during this transistion.


(Some of you may be wondering about Duke. He's growing and doing well. He only had one surgery and his leg is doing much better. However, we're nervous to take him to the states, so he'll stay with his parents too.)



(This is Dixie, our beautiful, sweet, and sometimes easily scared girl dog. She and Colonel get along well and she'll be coming with us to America.)

The boxes have arrived

Hello! The packing has begun! We have already sent 3 pretty big plastic boxes to Arm's parents' house and we have 3 or 4 cardboard boxes here waiting to be filled. I'm actually not sure if we'll fill all of them up or not, but we'll see how many we get in the end. As usual, I'm waiting until the very end to take the few pictures off the walls that we have since I HATE bare walls. Once we get a house, I don't want ANY white walls hahaha. Things have been going fairly smoothly and it's caused me to start thinking of how our lives are going to change when we're in the states and I've come up with some pretty funny reverse culture shock aspects of American culture that I'm going to have to get used to. I'll share some of them with you for a funny note on this blog.

1) Grocery Shopping: You have NO idea how easy it is to get good, healthy food on the street in Bangkok, especially around our apartment, plus, it's all cheap! There's a restaurant on the first floor of our apartment, one at the top of our street, and two more one street over from us. If we get tired of that, there's several places in the grocery store where our church is. Plus, if we need any toiletries, etc. Arm is at church every day which is in a store that carries all of that, so he just picks it up on his way home. I think my mom's going to have some teaching to do as far as the basics to keep in a refridgerator as well as saving money techniques and websites. If you have any great coupon websites or any money saving techniques, please share them!

2) 13 million to 10,863: That's quite a jump in population! We're used to having 7-11s, public transportation, walking everywhere, movie theaters and a large variety of restaurants within 20 minutes of us and lights on all the time. That's definitely going to be an adjustment! Arm really enjoys the country life, but also really enjoys the convenience of city life, and ever since college, I've been a city girl, so it's going to take us a little while to adjust, but I think it will be a breathe of fresh air at the same time.

3) Spirit Houses to Crosses: A change that I feel will be very welcome is we will be leaving behind living in a Buddhist culture and moving to one where Christianity is well known. While I know churches, etc. have their problems and no one's perfect, I'm not dreading the fact that we won't have to attend anymore Buddhist ceremonies or funerals because I can't think of anything more depressing. There's also other aspects of Budhist culture that will be nice to leave behind as well.

4) Left to Right: In Thailand, we drive on the left side of the road and in the USA, we drive on the right side of the road. Since I don't really drive in Thailand, I'm always sitting in the same seat. I remember the last time I was in the states in May 2007, I drove on the wrong side of the road 3 times, but never got in an accident (Praise God!). It's a little confusing when turning hahaha. This will be more of a battle for Arm, however, he might do better than I will. hahaha.

5) 1 to 4: While there are slight changes in the weather from burning hot, to wet, to bearable, it's not quite as much of a change as we have in the states, however, even though I'm not a fan of cold weather, I'm looking forward to some more changes in the weather, because many days it seems like every day is the same here, even if it really is Christmas or Easter, etc.

6) Apartment to house: Currently, Arm and I are living in a one room apartment and to be honest, the walls are closing in hahaha. It will be nice when we get to my parents' house and eventually in our own apartment/house and be able to go to another room if Arm wants to watch a movie I don't want to watch or not trip over cords that stretches from our "living room" to our washing machine or to have to pick everything up all the time or else we can't walk easily. We love spending time together and it's not horrible, but it will be nice to have some extra space and a kitchen to cook in!

7) Selection: Shopping will definitely be more fun in the states because although there is a wide selection in Bangkok of many things, there's only so many that I can wear or buy. At least half of the lotion here is whitening lotion, which I really don't need, my feet are about 1/2" too big for the shoes even in high scale department stores, and even though I'm a size 6 now, clothing is still a challenge. Oddly enough, it seems as if I'm either too big or too small for all the clothes here now as well as it's all a bubbly style that isn't even slightly form fitting, which just doesn't flatter me. I'm SO excited to hit the clearance racks and Payless Shoes!

I hope you've enjoyed a little windown into our world as you see how our lives are going to change. Please pray for us as we're going through all of these changes and even more than we can see right now. We know God is walking through us in all of this and we trust Him and we covet your prayers and thoughts as well. Please pray for us to sell a few things that we're trying to sell. May God bless you and keep you in His ways.

1 month to go!!!

Hello! I can't believe it's almost one month before Arm and I will be starting a new chapter of our lives. As you can imagine, we have SO many mixed emotions, and yes, some surprises are still coming up. The biggest one is that Duke's hip became dislocated and while we THOUGHT he wouldn't need surgery, Arm talked to 2 more veterinarians who say he DOES need surgery. We know God provided for us once, and we know He will again. We have saved up a good amount of money in Thailand so that we can have a pretty good start in the states, but all of the surprises are causing a bit of extra stress. Please pray for Arm and I that we will trust God and (especially me) just calm down. I think I'm the one who gets more stressed then Arm does, but we both have our moments.

However, enough talk about stress and problems! Time for some fun!!!! I thought I would share some things Arm and I have both enjoyed from being married.

1) Having a friend with us at all times.
2) Having someone accept us for the good and the bad.
3) Having someone to challenge us to be better.
4) Having someone to be nerdy and silly with.
5) Having someone to walk into a new, exciting, and scary adventure with :D.

Well, those are a few things about us for something fun :D.

Finally, some prayer requests. Obviously, please keep praying for Arm and I, however, there are a few other things I would like you to pray for.

1) Jan has seemed to find a church that she likes! Thanks to the recommendation of a friend of ours, she has found a church which is younger and they do a LOT of singing. Jan is an amazing singer, so it fits her well. Please pray that she will continue to find friends there and that she will be plugged in. She really needs a community to support her, especially since I'm leaving. It's been hard on her, but if she can get plugged in at this church, it could be like having 10 people like me, which would be amazing for her to grow!

2) A lot of the students in Arm's group at church are having various problems, but thankfully not personal problems within the group. Please keep Kat, Nicky, Bun, Oo-m, and Dang in your prayers.

3) One of the major problems within the church is the desire to be married. Thais already think about getting married late (around 28-32) and your options are significantly reduced, so a lot of them think a lot about getting married. Please pray they will entrust that to God and focus on getting to know Him rather than figuring out how to get to know other guys/girls in the church. Even singles in the states struggle with this, but there are less than 1% Christian, so Thai Christians sacrifice when they become Christians and it is on their minds.

4) Pray for the church. They are having to move out of their current location and the mission organization made a good decision and decided it's time for the church to stand on their own, so all the support money has been slowly phasing out over the last 2 years and they just recently recieved their last check. They only have about 2 months left in their current location and they're still not in agreement. There's a lot of feelings going on right now and it's kind of stressful for them. Pray that God will use this to strengthen them as a team and they will be refined as gold.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. Arm and I really appreciate it! Please send us e-mails and prayer requests so that we may know better how to pray for you all as well. I miss you and can't wait to reconnect and Arm is very anxious to meet everyone. May God bless you all!

2010. . . What a doozie!

Hello to everyone! Well, 2010 has been qquite a doozie for Arm and I. I hope it has been better for you. We've had quite a few surprises pertaining to our dogs. First, Arm's favorite dog, Duke, the one we've had the longest, got out of the gate and was hit by a car and broke his femur bone and needed surgery. Praise God that a guy that Arm knew from college helped us out a lot and gave us a discounted rate! It was SUCH a blessing.

A few days after that, we got a call from Arm's dad. Arm had a red Thai dog that was a very good breed and we bred her. She was supposed to have her puppies this past week. However, when Arm's dad called, we found out someone had poisoned her and she died. This hit Arm and his family pretty hard since they really loved this dog. We were also planning to sell her puppies and one of them was already promised to someone.

Our third surprise is Duke again. This past Sunday, we noticed the leg he had surgery on was hurting him again and so we took him to the same vet as before. We found out he dislocated his femur bone, but his previous surgery was fine. We didn't think he would need surgery again, but Arm talked with another vet and he said he should have surgery. We really don't want to put him through surgery again, however we will talk to a few more doctors and see what the majority say.

Through all of this God has been gracious and continually providing for us through friends, encouragement, and each other. We definitely know it could be much worse and we're thankful for everything God has given us. God is also preparing the way for us in the states, which is a wonderful confirmation that we are following His lead. If you've ever moved even in the USA, generally as time moves closer, you wonder if you're doing the right thing. Well, moving to the other side of the world is an even bigger jump and God has continually confirmed us over and over again that this is what He wants us to do.

Things to pray for:
1) Moving schdule: I'm a planner, but most Thai people are not. Please pray that things will go according to plan so that it will be as low stress as possible. For those of you who have moved, you know moving is anything but low stress. If we can stay on target, it will make everything easier on Arm and I and we will be able to enjoy our time here.

2) Jobs: My mom has been wonderful and is looking for starter jobs for us in different places and things look good, but also pray for that God will provide more permanent jobs with insurance, etc. for us.

3) Housing situation: My parents have graciously allowed us to stay with them, which is more than we could've asked for. They're even turning an upstairs bedroom into a living room for us, which is so sweet of them! Please pray that everything will work out. Arm and I are hoping to stay there for 6 months to a year. Pray that this will strengthen all of our relationships and our marriage.

4) Arm: Changing cultures is a huge change and Arm's never been away from home more than 2 months when he stayed in the USA. I'm so thankful that Arm has gotten to know my parents, especially my mom since she was able to come here for a month before our wedding, as well as a couple of my family members through e-mail and skype and 2 of my parents close friends. I'm also happy that we're living with my parents so that he won't be home alone if I get a job first. However, continue to pray for him. It will be a big adjustment for him, but we're both ready for the new adventure God is bringing our way.

God has continually provided for us thus far and we have confidence and faith in Him that He will continue to do so and we are so thankful and encouraged by knowing all of you will be lifting us up before His throne. May God bless you all and continually provide for all of your needs.

Christmas has come and gone again

Hello to all! I hope you had a wonderful time with family and friends remembering the amazing thing God did for us when He sent His son to earth.

Arm and I had a more non-traditional Christmas this year, which made us a little sad. We didn't get to go to church for the annual Christmas party because we had to go to his cousin's wedding, so we weren't able to see the Christmas play. I've never appreciated how easy it is to see a nativity scene or go see a Christmas play in America as I appreciate it now. May we never let anyone take that ability away from us no matter how loud they yell.

I was given one opportunity to talk about the true Christmas story in my upper-intermediate conversation evening class that I took on this term. On Christmas Eve, there were three students all from very different backgrounds. One is a master's student, another woman is an employee, and the third woman is getting her PhD in science. I was able to share the Christmas story with them and find out their opinions. They all said they had never heard it before, even though they had heard bits and pieces before. Some thought it was strange, which is understandable, while others thought Buddhism had stranger stories than this, so they thought it was a good story. Later, we got into a conversation about God's peace and how it's difficult for non-Christians to understand. I was able to share several stories from my own life where circumstances looked bad, but I knew God wanted me to move forward because of the peace He gave me. We also talked about how faith without works it dead. It was an interesting night.

After teaching, I joined most of the people from our church at a M's house for a Christmas Eve service. They exchanged gifts, which is probably the only gift they would get since their families don't celebrate Christmas, sang songs, listened to the Christmas story, and prayed for one another. It was a good way to spend Christmas Eve. It's nice to see how many churches in Thailand are truely a Christian family because most of their own families are not Christians, so they have two families, their biological family and their Christian family.

Please continue to pray for his sister, Eff. She met a "Christian" at school who told her she doesn't have to go to church, and so she hasn't been going. This isn't good for her at all since she isn't connected to anyone who can help her grow and learn about God. Pray that God will help her get connected with some good Christians who will take her to church and help her grow. She's also having problems with friends at school and she feels like they've all abandoned her. It's hurt her pretty badly.

Next, please pray for Jan. She's had a few more problems with her friends at school, which makes her feel more lonely than she already feels. Gossip is pretty bad in Thailand and things get blown out of proportion pretty easily, which causes problems between friends and they won't talk to each other anymore, even to find out if the gossip is true or not.

Finally, please continue to pray for Arm and I as we are preparing to go back to the states. There are so many things to prepare here as well as people to see, followed by a long plane trip (about 24-26 hours) and then more preparations and jobs to find, etc. Our heads might be dizzy by the end! Please pray that God will give us wisdom in all of our decisions and peace about everything we decide to do. Pray for:

- spending quality time with people here
- packing or selling what we own (it isn't much, which is a blessing hahaha)
- the travelling
- the dogs to survive the journey to the US
- jet lag
- jobs in the U.S.
- settling in to our new place
- friends for Arm and I
- Arm to not get too homesick. He's used to talking to his parents every 3 days and seeing them at least once a month. We've hooked them up with internet and we'll be giving them my phone so they can call us, but it will still be an adjustment.

Thank you so much. We'll be leaving on Feb. 20th EARLY in the morning (about 5am) and then arriving in Memphis 24 hours later on Feb. 20th at 5pm (no, I'm not kidding). Time changes are a little crazy haha.

I pray you all had a wonderful Christmas and are anxiously looking forward to what God has for all of us in the coming year!

Busyness!!!

Hello to you all. We have had an extremely busy month from church activities, festivities, and health problems in our family. First, we got our second dog to take to the states so that we can breed them. Her name is Dutchess and she's really sweet, but Duke is still a bit jealous. We had to move them to a new place so that they could be together, but that means Duke left 4 cute kids and his beagle friend. So, he didn't get as much love and he had an energetic puppy to deal with hahaha. He's doing pretty good now with her and I really think he does miss her.



Next, my sister-in-law, Cara, had a pretty tramatic experience as she found out she was pregnant and then found out she was A) miscarring her baby or B) had a tubal pregnancy. After a week of tests, praying, and an emergency exit to a better hospital, she said goodbye to her little baby of 8 weeks and had surgery to remove her little boy from her fallopian tube right before Thanksgiving. God has helped her and comforted her a lot as well as Joel and family and friends from the states. Please continue praying for her.

Next, we had Thanksgiving with some missionaries around here. It was a lot of fun! Everyone made something and brought it and enjoyed each other's company for quite awhile. It wasn't home, but it was close.





Next, Arm just preached at church. He talked about how bitterness can destroy your heart and encouraged people to talk together and work out problems in the church so that there will not be any divisions among us as a body of Christ. He used Joseph as an amazing example of real forgiveness and a soft heart by seeing that in the end God is the one who orchestrates events for His purposes. This is not always easy to do, yet I agree with Arm and think if we could do this, we could truly be a family in Christ.

Next, my grandma (my mom's mom) was also taken to the hospital because she was getting dizzy and they thought she might be about to have a stroke. She was in the hospital for a couple of days, but thankfully she was not having a stroke. She had a vein in her neck that was 60% blocked, so she had a stint put in it and she is home and healthy today. At the same time, my grandpa turned 80 years old.

Also, Jan is once again having problems in her family. Her mother is very discouraging towards her and her marriage is weak. I think they stay together simply for their kids. Anyway, her mom had a fortune teller come and tell her children's fortunes. Jan's fortune was bad. The fortune teller said she would never be successful or go abroad, etc. Jan says she doesn't believe it, but I think it has shaken her a bit. Plus, now her mother is even harder on her since she doesn't think Jan will amount to anything. I encouraged Jan that with God, she can do anything and that she doesn't need to listen to the fortune teller because I believe Satan uses fortune tellers to make people think they can't change the future. However, I think it is affecting her quite a bit. Especially since I am one of the few people in her life who encourages her. Pray she will find a church that welcomes her that is near her house. She has gone to a couple, but she always feels out of place and our church is quite far for her to come, even though she really enjoys it. Her mother doesn't always let her come. Pray she will continue reading her Bible as well and continue to trust in God. Her home life is very difficult, however, God never leaves her.

Finally, pray for Arm and I as we are getting ready to move back to the states. Our feelings are obviously very different. Arm is slowly getting ready to leave his home, while I'm almost chomping at the bit. Pray that we will both spend our time here well and that God will prepare us at the proper time to return to the US.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support. Arm and I really appreciate all of them and it is encouraging to us here to know that so many people are praying for us. May God bless you and keep you safe as we travel on this road together.

Eff's story

Well, I thought tonight would be a good night to tell you about Arm's sister, Eff. She has been interested in God even before Arm and I met. She would pray to God (as many Thai people do before the accept Christ) and she has seen Him answer her prayers many times. Two weeks ago, she went on a trip to help around a temple for 7 days and she paid respect to a spirit house every day. During 5 of those 7 days, she had bad dreams. She only shared 3 of her dreams with us, but they had her pretty frightened. In her first dream, she went inside a spirit house and saw the spirits doing traditional Thai dancing and Eff joined them. Then, the spirit turned and looked at her and said "Don't come and make merit or ask me for anything because I won't forgive you". The second dream was about a tiger chasing her, which in Thailand it means someone will come and harm her. She also had one more dream similar to the tiger dream. Something was chasing her and Thais believe if they have that dream, someone will harm them.



She called Arm last Sunday night and while I was listening to the phone call, it sounded out of the ordinary. Arm just listened to her for awhile, and then said something that perked up my ears. He said, "Eff, you have to choose God or Buddhism". He then proceeded to read a few passages of Scripture to her and told her if she trusted God, God would protect her and she wouldn't have any bad dreams anymore. He continued to share about God's work in his own life and she finally decided to accept Christ.



The next day, Arm called a Christian lady, who is a friend of his and goes to our sister church, in Khon Kaen (the city his sister goes to school in) and asked her to call his sister and find a mentor for her.

Arm talked to his sister this past Sunday. She has been reading her Bible, she hasn't paid respect or looked at spirit houses, and Arm's friend called her once, but she doesn't have a mentor yet and she didn't go to church this past Sunday because she says she doesn't know where it is. She also said all of her bad dreams are gone. Praise God!



Please pray that she will continue reading the Bible, find a way to church, tell her parents, and that God will provide her with a mentor and Christian friends in her school. Also, please pray for Arm and Eff's parents that they will accept Christ. Thank you for all of your prayers and support. God is working through them. May God bless you and keep you.

Church camp and vacation

Arm and I went on a church camp with 22 other churches (including ours) from Thailand. The theme of the camp was "Let's Go Forward" and encouraged everyone to continue walking ahead in their walks with God as well as moving the church forward in Thailand and reaching out to those around them in their communities, etc. There were about 300 Christians there and the nicest thing were there were families, older people, young children, as well as high school and college students.



This is Arm with Kat and Dang, who are two students in Arm's group at church. They're great guys who are really growing in Christ and wanting to serve Him.



During the morning session, we split up into adults, youth, and children. Arm and I split up our time between the youth and adult sessions, since he's working with the students, but still wanted to hear some of the adult session. This is a picture of the youth session.



This picture had a representative holding a sign with the name of the church they were from. . . 22 in all.



This is Arm and I while we were eating with the students.



These are 3 of the girls who came to the camp with us. Ple is on the right and Oom is in the middle. They're both students in Arm's group at church and Oom is taking a class with me this term after waiting for a year and a half. She finally got a chance and I'm so excited. I love her!


LAKE HEAVEN: OUR VACATION


This was our bungaloo on the lake. It was actually a huge resivor for a hydroelectric dam. It was so fun to stay in a bungalo on the lake. However, Arm hated the jetskis because they kept making the bungalo bob up and down.



This was a trampoline over the water. This was the first trampoline Arm had ever jumped on. It was fun, but really slippery!



The second day we were there, we rented a motorcycle and drove around a bit. We found a sunflower field and I was SO excited! I always wanted to see and take pictures in a sunflower field.



We also went to see a waterfall. This was the most beautiful one we had ever seen! There was 7 different levels, but we only got up to number 4 because we were running out of time. This picture above was level 2.



The picture above and below is level 3. We got in the water and it was SO COLD!!!!! It kind of shocked my body a bit, but it was fun :D.





We went swimming on level 4 as well. Some other foreigners who were there turned those huge rocks into their own personal water slides. I thought he was going to break his neck the frist time, but he enjoyed it.



A beautiful sunset!



This is another picture of all the bungalos. You can't see ours. It's the Maldif of Thailand. A great affordable vacation!

I hope you enjoy looking at our pictures, etc. Thank you so much for all your support and encouragement. It means a lot to us!

Practicing Evangelizing

Arm's been doing a great job with his "Growth Group". It's a group of students who have come to Christ within the last year. He taught them about the Bible and who Jesus is so that they'll know their faith and what they believe well so they can communicate and share with other people. Now, this past term he moved towards sharing with friends and people around them. He's taught them how to share the gospel and how to ask people if there's anything they can pray for.

The pictures below are from the students I was with. I'm sorry they're not close up, but I didn't want to scare the people the students were hanging out with.



Nicky and Ple were playing basketball with three other kids and I sat down and talked with their mom. Sadly, there weren't a lot of people in the park because it had rained. However, we simply wanted to build a relationship, so the students played basketball while I made small talk with the kids mom.



I did ask the mother if there was anything I could pray for her about (in Thai), but she thought I was asking her to convert to Christianity. I explained to her that I simply wanted to help her by praying for her and that I was not asking her to be a Christian and explained what it meant to pray, but I didn't want to push her to share things with me. We spent about 30-40 minutes with these people. We hope to see them again as they come often.

This is the second time these students did this. They went to Kasetsart University the week before to do this as well. It has given the students more confidence in sharing their faith and God has used Arm to equip these students to share their faith clearly and well.

This week, we're going to a camp from the 22-24. Several churches are going on one camp together, so it will be a good time. Will post pictures and information when we get back. Then, from the 25-27/28, Arm and I will be on vacation at a place called Lake Heaven. We're excited about it! Our bungaloo floats on the water and Arm's looking forward to fishing. There's also kayaks and other activities for us to do. It will be nice to get out of the city and enjoy the good deal we got on a fun vacation :D.

May God bless you all and we thank you for your encouragement and support. Feel free to drop us notes and updates about you as we LOVE reading them!

Growing family

No, I'm not pregnant. haha. Arm and I just bought a new puppy! He's a Thai Ridgeback and his name is Duke.



Yes, we're taking him to the states. We're also going to buy a girl dog so that we can breed and sell them in the states. We figured it would be a way to make some extra money.



He's a really good dog and he's great with the family's kids who are taking care of him right now. Since we're in an apartment, we had to keep him at a friend's house until we go to the states. However, we visit him twice a day and take good care of him.



He doesn't bark much and he finally made friends with the beagle. It took 2 days, but now they play well. It's so much fun to see him run up to me when I go through the door. He's 2 months old and he'll be a pretty big dog when he's full grown, but not like a German Shepherd. Looking forward to many of you meeting him when we come to the states. I'll post pictures of the girl dog when we get her too. I never had a puppy before, so this is fun :D.



Also, since my birthday is on Oct. 3, Arm's sister's b-day is on Oct. 4, and his dad's b-day is on Oct. 6, I made a cake and we took it to his parents house to celebrate. Sadly, our camera battery died right when they were about to blow out the candles, but I have pictures of the cake. It turned out better than I expected.