It was a long Monday, and I didn’t even realize it was Valentine’s Day until about 2:30p. We had our first staff meeting today, which went well, but we had quite the hassle getting there. We went to rent bicycles this morning for 40B each, only to find that they also require a 2000B deposit per bike. So after we went back to the guesthouse to get the money, found breakfast, stopped to go to the bathroom in between…finally made it to the Partners office just as the meeting was starting.

All in all, it’s been draining to be so unsettled. We’re in a guesthouse and living out of a bag still, having to eat meals out constantly, and find transportation everywhere you go. Since we left Oklahoma City, we had plenty of meals cooked for us (thank you, Gena & Cindy!), but we also ate out plenty of times, plus ten days of eating out in Chiang Mai, and now here in Mae Sot (…with fewer options).  We’re still in limbo, hoping to order our motorbike tomorrow and receive it as soon as possible, but likely at least two weeks. And looking for house, but still not sure when we’ll find a place to rent and how long it will take to actually move in, let alone find some basic furniture to sleep on and cook with.  Thus, there is this long process in front of us.

Meanwhile, we’ve waged a full war with the ants in our lovely little Green Guesthouse. We must have gotten the worst bathroom in the place, which we now spray daily with ant killer and come back to wash away the hundreds or thousands dead. Luckily, I’ve only killed three on the bed. And really, there’s no telling how many bugs we’ll end up eating in our sleep in this country. The number has to be higher than the average.

We had our first Karen lesson today, which was both exciting and overwhelming. It’s going to be a very, very busy month of studying. We have no idea what’s in store. If you think of it, pray especially for Stephen in this. Languages come harder for him than me, and it drains him quickly.

And please do pray for a home for us to open up quickly, as well as a motorbike to come fast. We’re ready to plant ourselves here for just a little while.

And as you read this, obviously pray for patience. It’s not exactly flowing freely.

After quite a long day of taking on lots of responsibility in our job and discovering the mountain in front of us with learning Karen, I had the joy of having a package arrive for me at the Partners office!  My parents sent a Valentine’s Day gift ahead for me, and arrived exactly on Valentines Day before we headed home.  It was a really lovely surprise.

Stephen and I also had a fun evening together, enjoying fresh pineapple & watermelon off the street, delicious Indian from a local vendor, and some ice cream from 7-11. And now we’re back at the guesthouse to study Karen for the next few hours! Oh my.

On another note: there are quite a few of you reading this blog, according to our stats, and I have to say–I feel a little popular. Also, it’s hard to go up and down Thai steps quickly. No more skipping steps; they’re much too steep.

We’ve discovered some wonderful things about Mae Sot, and the first is our Partners team. In particular, we have so much respect for our boss, Sonya. She is an amazing woman of God and longs to see the Partners team impacting the kingdom. It’s beautiful to hear her passion for prayer, for community among the team, and for one common purpose.  It was encouraging to have her tells about the value of prayer in our work, our marriage, and every aspect of our lives here in Mae Sot.  We really feel that God answered so many prayers in this team particularly. We’re excited to experience staff meetings, team bible studies, and a women’s bible study throughout this week.

We visited a growing little home church on Sunday. It was really lovely-just a little bigger than our Celebration community in Little Rock.  There are between ten and forty people each week, we hear.  The little glimpse we saw into it this week was very encouraging.  It is a variety of Westerners from around the world working with various organizations and NGOs in the city, longing for community, encouragement, and family.  It was also encouraging to tell people we had just started with Partners and see people’s reactions! We feel so blessed to be a part of a team that is truly impacting the local and more global community positively. Altogether, the church was really lovely.

We begin Karen lessons tomorrow at 1pm!  We’ve been reviewing what we know all weekend and excited to be learning. We also loved what one supporter emailed us today: “If God can change the languages of all the people at the tower of Babel in one day, then He can teach you and Kelli Karen in a month.”

Please continue to pray for wisdom as we plan to purchase a motorbike this week and continue to look at housing. We long to be exactly where God wants, spending His money wisely, and glorifying Him in our actions & lifestyle here. Please pray as we make many of these initial decisions.

We can really see God’s faithfulness in so many of the small things we’ve already encountered.  Thank you for continuing to pray!

We are currently staying at the Green Guesthouse in Mae Sot, which is unfortunately located just feet from the holding cell where the police take illegals in Mae Sot. This is quite likely the most unfortunate location in Mae Sot, and really just opened our eyes to what is most likely the most depressing part of being here.

We’ve had to watch illegal Burmese, Karen, etc. led into the holding cells. We’ve watched truckloads of illegals being taken back to the border, where they will either a) escape into the jungle, at best b) be taken as porters or c) if ever involved heavily in resistance, they will face harsh torture most likely leading to death.

I was processing through this yesterday. It’s difficult to be among the hurting, and go on to eat lunch and look for a motorbike to purchase. It feels selfish and extravagant to do most anything: eat, sleep inside, rent a place to live, drive a motorbike, get ice cream at the 7-11. It’s hard to live among the hurting everyday. But as I think about this, it’s because then you cannot forget.  It’s easier to forget and move on to eat my meal, drive our new motorbike, and find a fridge for our new house. But I shouldn’t forget: I suppose that’s the point.

We woke up this morning and went into the bathroom attached to our hotel room to find ants swarming our toilet. The toilet? Yes. Isn’t that repulsive?

They were all in the toilet and under the rim and around it.  Thousands of them. Luckily, the shower with a detachable head was close by, so we just drowned them and flushed them. The pressure is quite weak, though, so it took awhile. And it was just gross.

And again, despite my six current mosquito bites, ants are still my worst enemy here.

We can’t tell you how much we’d appreciate your prayers over these next 32 days.  Please pray with us!

3 months of praying through the decision.

7 months raising support.

14 weeks of packing and unpacking.

48 hours of flying.

10 days in Chiang Mai.

6 hours by bus.

And we’re here.

The bus ride wasn’t wonderful: we were the lucky riders of 3C and 3D, with 3B throwing up and 2D crying. Either way, we’re here.

And it hasn’t changed much at all. I was fearful it would. Everyone kept telling us how much Mae Sot was changing. In some ways it is, but not too much. It is a little less shady than I remember: perhaps because I’m more adjusted to shadiness, or because it is actually less shady.

We went to Dave’s for dinner tonight–one of three main Western restaurants in Mae Sot. The best part was really that he recognized us from coming before! And now we’ve moved.

There’s something very different about Mae Sot than Chiang Mai, and I love it. I’ve definitely left a piece of my heart here that it feels so wonderful, and so right, to return to. There are fewer foreigners here and fewer Westernized things, but somehow I feel much less foreign here.

It’s wonderful to be here, and we can’t wait to see what God has in store. Thank you so much for any prayers you’ve offered–God has been good!  We’re excited to call this home for awhile.

This is quite disconnected.

I would love for this blog to be, well, everything. I would love to be able to keep people up to date, but I want them to see be able to see what we are doing. I want this to create a picture of life for us here–with actual photos at times, stories of hope. I want people to laugh.  I also want it to cause readers to think introspectively: about how they live, what they value, what they love. But then I want it to be honest, and I don’t think inspiration is my strong point.  And if we’re going for honesty, then there have to be days of frustration or pain.  And then I think of how open some people are on their blogs, and I don’t want to be that open. Or what about those who share every detail of their lives while everyone’s thinking that’s really too much information?

Thus, it will ebb and flow, I think.  Right before we left for Thailand, it was quite a depressing blog. There were so many goodbyes, so many fears, so many unknowns. And then now we’ve gone through a few weeks of pure joy and excitement, celebrating relationships, enjoying a new place, and discovering.

And, poor transition: new topic.

I was talking with my friend, Mallory, the other day and she said a few wise words that have stuck with me: “Home is an illusion we all chase.” I’ve been thinking through how true this is.  We are constantly using the phrase “feels like home”, saying we have adjusted to a new place and it “feels like home” or we’ll visit for the holidays and say it just didn’t “feel like home”.  What does that even mean?

I’ve been thinking through the idea of “home” and how much it has changed over the years. It was a much more concrete concept when all of my sisters were at home.  But once the first one went to college, got married, and this continued for all of them, it began to change quickly. Each visit became a new definition of home. And as I began to move from my parent’s house to a college apartment to Thailand to Tennessee and Oklahoma, my heart was left in each place and with that a little piece of this “home” concept.  It’s odd how a particular house can hold the title of home, as well as a whole city, and eventually even specific people. And now that we’re in Thailand, a whole country claims the name “home” and we’re trying to add this current one!

I think my sister Jennifer has this beautiful ability to celebrate the moment she is in.  Perhaps it’s due to her living overseas for a few years and making “home” elsewhere, but whatever has created this, it’s admirable. She is wonderful at celebrating each moment she has with a person, in a place, or with a situation. She simply enjoys it and lets it go freely, maybe in some ways honoring the piece of “home” that it is.

This is what I would like our lives in Thailand to look like, however long that may be. I’d love to somehow learn how to celebrate Thailand and the home we make here, while honoring it just as the time that it is and never belittling the home we’ve left behind. I want to somehow love all that we’ve come to know as home already–in Little Rock, Sherwood, Oklahoma City, Smyrna, and Roanoke. I want to celebrate each visitor we are privileged to welcome to Thailand, and love every moment we get in America.

Just thoughts. (That was poor transition two.)

We’re leave in about an hour for Mae Sot! We’d love your prayers, for our bus ride, meeting staff we’ll be working with day in & day out, finding a place to live, purchasing a motorbike, purchasing whatever else we need for a house, learning more about our job, starting language learning…the list goes on. Please pray for most everything!

And as a praise, we did get Stephen’s work permit today!  We should be re-applying for a different visa next week and then we’ll be officially here for a year.  We also had a wonderful welcoming party thrown for us & another new staff couple last night by the Chiang Mai team! It was fun and we got plenty of time to laugh and talk with everyone.

[And I never know how to end these.]

We met three fabulous couples this evening.  All three compose a team that are beginning a ministry project here in Chiang Mai. I’d love to introduce you.

Couple 1 moved to Chiang Mai with their three kids seven weeks ago…from Conway, Arkansas. For the past few months of raising support, we’ve had their name mentioned countless times, with everyone telling us how wonderful they are and how we should meet them. So we did, and they are lovely. They have a wonderful heart for missions.

Couple 2 moved to Chiang Mai on Tuesday, just like us. They are also from Conway, Arkansas, and one graduated from UCA. Further, a friend of mine’s dad just married them and is their mentor; and they know both of my college roommates. And she has curly hair, so we chatted about that. They are lovely, too.

Isn’t it crazy that two of the couples were from the small little town of Conway, Arkansas, allowing us to know so many of the same people?

It gets better. Weirder.

Couple 3 just arrived in Chiang Mai on Thursday from Roanoke, Illinois. Roanoke, Illinois–the small town of 2,000 that I grew up in before my parents moved to Little Rock.  They, too, are a wonderful couple, and we are excited for their ministry here in Chiang Mai. But it was crazy: to hear the husband describe to his wife where his dad’s fields were across from my dad’s and to talk about how we know so many of the same people (well, pretty much everyone in that little town).

Really, we had a wonderful evening. (Or so we thought. They could have just thought we were weird.) It was a little piece of familiarity, and even more than that. It was God giving us a little picture of his goodness to us. Or maybe just me.

Obviously we will be living some distance from these couples, but we really are looking forward to continuing to get to know them as we are up in Chiang Mai for visas, work, and weekend trips. It sounds like such a gift to have couples both our age and older that are outside of Partners, but dealing with similar challenges of making Thailand home. It sounds like such a gift to have people who know what B98.5 is and who the Lemans are (or for that matter, how to pronounce Leman).  I suppose it was just a little glimpse into the things God is orchestrating that we could never imagine.

It was a good day. And it’s a very small world.