our biggest fan.

A few months ago, Thida found out she had a cyst in her uterus. I don’t know what the standard is stateside, but she was told to wait three months and come back for a followup. At that point they said it would either be smaller or have disappeared, and thus be nothing to worry about; or it would be larger and likely cancerous.

She was nervous, for obvious reasons.

Meanwhile, she’s one of my best friends here. We talk all the time, about so much these days. We’re often chatting about faith–what Stephen & I are praying for in the community, some of the challenges of living here, some of the challenges of working in the community. We’ve talked about the church giving money and how things like The Breakfast Club happen.

She told me recently that her nine-year-old son, Jor Gee, wants to be a pastor, just like our pastor Ah Tee, and he asked her if that would make her proud of him. She said yes, she’d love that. He’s one of the sweetest kids and is always looking out for the younger kids, the one who doesn’t have a snack, and anyone underprivileged. He’s always helping out.

Oh, and he’s always copying Stephen, because he’s his hero. Just recently Thida said he’s been praying for Stephen & I to have lots of money, and she asked him why (i.e. why pray for them to have money rather than our family?!). He said, “Stephen and Kelli give money away to all the Burmese people, so it’s better if they have a lot.” 😭

Thida and I have been talking through all these things–what the future holds for her kids; why we gave her daughter Mwei Mwei a job; why her oldest daughter hasn’t had kids yet.

She’ll teach me new recipes when I ask and helps me learn new words in the market. If anyone asks about me speaking Burmese (nearly every week) she uses it as a moment to brag on us. She tells random folks how great we are.

She’s probably our biggest fan around here, and we’re definitely hers. She’s one of our best gifts over the past year in particular.

So when she’s had this concern, I’ve been praying. And as we drove to the hospital on Wednesday, I asked her if I could pray with her. She seemed grateful, and said she was so scared. I prayed while I drove, and honestly, it was adorable how she folded up her hands so tight and placed them right in front of her face. It was like a Precious Moments kid. (Did anyone else’s grandma take them to the Precious Moments chapel as a kid? Anyone?)

And guys, when I saw her that afternoon at Playhouse, she was giddy. It’s gone, and she was just thrilled. She said thank you for praying. She said it was because we had been praying.

Honestly? I don’t know what God is doing in her; in that family. I have no idea how they view this faith thing.

Honestly? I don’t know why he answered that prayer so apparently, and not others. We’ve been praying for Aung Moe to have his vision back for years; or even just a plan for him. We’ve been praying for Daw Ma Oo for nearly a year, and while she’s improving, she’s back in Burma for another round of treatment and followup.

Honestly? We love that family so, so much. And I’m so thankful that God answered such a big prayer for her!