These past three weeks have been quite a learning experience for me. I was slammed with a sinus infection upon landing and have been fighting it ever since. This past week my ear finally popped and save for a few morning bloody noses my body seems to have adjusted, thank goodness!
People here have been fantastic with having Barrett and I over for dinners and lunches to get to know me and ask us questions. We started our pre-marital counseling right away and have had about a half dozen married couples sit us down to give us advice as well! We’ve been going to class, fixing finances, getting insurance, calling banks, trying to get my luggage, moving boxes and books at Betsy’s to make room, driving to OH to meet more people and get our invitations, putting the invitations together, getting cell phones, visiting the nursing home, helping the youth, went to a wedding, choir, filling out scholarships, completing the order of service for the wedding, designing the bulletin and trying to breathe. =0) Tonight we are singing and Barrett is doing magic tricks for some women’s arts club or something, Im not quite sure what it is! Should be quite a show though!
I’ve been so encouraged by the teaching I’ve been getting as well. We are in a Sunday school class that is teaching about marriage and the roles of men and women. Its been incredible, why? Because at the end of each lesson, they keep reinforcing the fact that the purpose for marriage is to glorify Christ and not to find or give pleasure to our spouse. That the way I act towards Barrett is not because I want him to see how great I am or to show him that I love him, but because I love Christ and want Barrett to see how much Christ loves him through me. Man, it has blown my mind how easy it is for me to move my focus from honoring and seeking God to seeking to honor and please Barrett…or the other people in my life.
I’ve also been challenged to remember to look through my circumstances in the light that 1) Christ died for me…the wretched worm I am which should lead me to give grace to Barrett and the other people in my life and also fill me with joy. 2) That God is sovereign and my situations and others don’t surprise Him. 3) God is Holy and deserves my honor…that life isn’t about me. You know, they are simple truths that I have known, but just haven’t applied to my daily activities…like how sitting and listening to Betsy can honor Christ because Im doing it not for her to say how nice a person I am, but because Christ is honored by my loving her with time.
Phew, there have been a lot more lessons as well but I’ve written a lot already. Some great surprises have been the amount of Thai people I have met…even one from Nonthaburi and lots from Bangkok! Its been great to speak Thai and talk about Thailand as well as catch up with students that have emailed. We also had a neighbor give us free tickets to a play which was fantastic as well as a chance to sit on a roof of a warehouse to watch fireworks over the river! So the hard times have made me grow, the lessons are still coming, and the fun surprises keep me smiling even through the pain of change.