My sister, my brother and me (good times in Warrensburg)...

I'M GOING TO THAILAND!!!

I've been waiting to update for the past month to see if I can make it a year between updates, but I thought I'd go ahead and post something since no one has a reliable way to contact me right now... so I will try to keep ya'll updated this way since the email doesn't always get through!

Thailand is very beautiful, and the kids are absolutely amazing--I want to take them all home with me! They are so happy to see us and so eager to love and be loved that it is humbling. When I consider the abusive situations most of them came from, I am so awed by God's grace and mercy, and the way He is working through the staff here. The kids were so quick to trust us and love us that it is obvious they are being healed both physically and emotionally every day. I hope I can post some photos soon! They have so little and are so grateful for receiving the smallest things--we brought a suitcase of toys from the states and they just went wild, and days later they still treasure every little thing that they received. They are so smart, too--I think some of the boys can run my digital camera better than I can! Every time we come through the gate they all come running to hug us and greet us and they hang on until we leave again. It gets harder to go back to the hotel every day, and I don't know what I will do when it is time to go back home... Something amazing happened this morning, though, when we discovered that starting this Wednesday, they will have the week off school for a holiday (New Year, I think), so we can spend all our time with them instead of just in the evenings! We will be going to Burma and possibly Laos tomorrow, and after that we'll get to take the kids swimming, visit the waterfall, ride elephants, etc. for the next week! God is great, and it is so good to know that He is working here through us--please keep praying!

And once again I kinda forgot to update for the past few months...Anyway, the job is going well and I like it so far, except that I'm so busy I have absolutely NO time to read. I finally finished the first book in Stephen King's Dark Tower series, and hopefully I can get the rest of them from the library in the next few months, but it'll be next summer before I'm done if they all take me as long to read as that one did. I'm in the middle of the rather hilarious novel _English as a Second Language_ that I borrowed from Lyssa awhile ago, but she's not getting it back anytime soon since I've only made it about three chapters in. I have about thirty books on my "to read" shelf because I just can't resist bookstores--they draw me in, and I can't leave without purchasing something. Unfortunately, I have about three hours total during the week that I can just sit around and read, so the supply of books always exceeds the demand--something I never expected to be true in my life. Next on the list is the final installment of Cecilia Dart-Thornton's Bitterbynde Trilogy, followed by a collection of essays by my favorite Italo Calvino and a volume of Madeleine L'Engle's poetry that I bought over a month ago and haven't touched yet. I did, however, find the time and money to buy the first season of "The O.C." on DVD, and I love it! I'm thinking of asking for Gilmore Girls for Christmas. The best thing about working? Shopping! I now own more jackets that it should be permissible for one person to have. I've also taken up crocheting again, so all my relatives can expect more scarves for Christmas this year...although I'm going to try to learn to make hats, too...No fanfic to report, since I spend all my reading time on actual books (I really hate dial-up internet). Sorry it's such a short update, but I really have to get to bed...