Seek the Lord and His strength;
seek his presence continually!
Psalm 105:4
This month, the ladies from Firecely Rooted and Magnetic Light joined to form Fiercely Lit. I know, great name right?! The 8 of us lived in Chiang Dao, Thailand and worked with the Fountain of Hope Home. Pii Sri (pronounced PC) and Pii Aaron live in their home with their two children (ages 3 & 5) and 6 other children they have taken in between 7 and 13 years old. These children have already lived through so much and it was beautiful to see the ways that Pii Sri and Pii Aaron try to model and share the love of Our Heavenly Father.
The first weekend we were there we went to a Lahu Village and celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the opening of a new building for the church. Then we began life with the kids; we woke up to do chores with them before school, had our own English classes (at 21 years old I can say I had my own 5th grade English class) and then did chores and hung out with the kids after school. We also spent two days at Pii Sri’s village where we harvested black beans.
Our Christmas was filled with finding new ways to make Christmas special. It was not only our first Christmas in Thailand, but it was Pii Sri’s first away from her village. The days was filled with gift exchanges, special meals, decorating the house as best we could (paper trees and snowflakes), and acting out the Christmas Story. This year, being away from department stores and the busyness of the holiday season, it became so easy to celebrate with Jesus at the center. We got the time to set everything else aside and celebrate Him and all that He is and the true gift in that.
The Race has taught us to make the most out of what we have.
Memorable moments:
Pickin black beans
Teaching my first class. By myself.
Hannah reading a chapter of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, each night leading up to Christmas
Riding an elephant
Sights:
Smiling faces waking us up
Bamboo houses
Flannels (it’s cold in Chiang Dao)
Temples
Buddha statues
Shoes lined up
Sounds:
Roosters
Screaming children
Thai
Christmas music
Tastes:
Pad Thai (so good!)
Rice, a lot of rice
Instant coffee
Spice. My mouth has been on fire more than once this month.
What I’m learning:
This month was a big one for me, so I’ll be posting a blog in the next week about it.
Financial supporters:
Gloria Jiménez
The Ferguson family
The Graham family
The Burroughs family
Mr. & Mrs. Prince
A huge thank you to everyone that has helped to support me financially! I was able to make my deadline because of your generous donation, and I pray God blesses you for the ways that you have blessed me and I’m sure many others!
