photos – Page 16

on the sidelines.

November 9, 2016 by Stephen & Kelli Spurlock Filed Under: house calls, house church, housewares, kelli, photos, playhouse 1 Comment

These are the {many} sidelines and side stories of the past few weeks.

It is still one of my favorite things to see the kids pour over books in our house.

Castles have taken on popularity: in drawing, in building, in discussion. I also love how freshly showered and tanaka-ed kids look a bit scary!

Go Fish is still extremely popular. Since they can’t read or pronounce the fish names in English–and in Burmese it gets challenging to describe the type of fish–we simply hold out the card we want and say, “{Name}, do you have it?”

This week, 8-year-old Jorgee decided to switch to English, without asking how to say it in English. He now holds up his card, and asks, “ARE YOU OKAY?” If they shake their head no, he shouts, “I DON’T KNOW!”

This is enough to make me shake with laughter while we play.

We have also had more and more women joining for Open House in the afternoons. Sometimes they come to let their young babies play, and sometimes they come to play themselves! We had a group of four moms and grandmothers playing Go Fish on the floor the other day!

We added Minecraft to the computers, and the kids love it! It’s pretty cool to see them learning the mouse and how to get around; and problem-solving themselves since we don’t know much about it.

We also had three broken arms in two weeks!

One was an older woman from a falling coconut; another was this little boy playing at his house. Sadly, yet another was a young girl playing on our playset, when the tire and wood bar fell on her. When I found myself back at the orthopedist for the third time in two weeks, I gave the name and age, and where they live:
“Really? The same? All near you?”

I got to visit these two cuties every morning for two weeks while changing bandages in the family. Noted: when you need to change bandages on gruesome wounds for days on end, make sure there are cute kids to brighten your day following.

We are trekking off to Burmese church each week still, which is in fact an event! We have a family attending regularly and a steady group of teenagers that are interested. And some weeks–like this one–we are nearly half the church. We had thirteen older kids, six adults and two babies! I also had a meeting that evening about an upcoming friends’ wedding I’m helping to coordinate, so Stephen drove and coordinated all 21 attendees himself 😳

They still do such a great job with the kids’ program in the afternoon, and this week was one of my favorites. It was a song about helping each other and giving hugs to each other, and it was adorable.

He was pretty adorable, too.

Flour & Flowers is exploding, and we are finding ourselves looking at how to handle the growth in coming months. For now, we are starting earlier in the days (7am most weeks; 5:30am on cinnamon roll weeks!) and going later into the evenings with deliveries. It is pretty amazing to see, because we certainly can’t take credit for it and just didn’t know it’d grow like this. But God is providing ideas and people and words and capacities, and we are thankful.

And then this week it truly exploded: while we were making cinnamon rolls, the honey on my shelf exploded. ALL OVER. As if our kitchen wasn’t crazy enough!

The rest of house stays pretty crazy, too, while the “older kids”–aged five to eleven–help with the babies. Sometimes it involves putting them in baskets and taking them for rides around the tile floor!

And recently we’re having trouble keeping the new walkers away from the ovens! Two tiny burnt hands that required popsicles to ice them down 😞

We still make plenty of trips to the clinic (Mae Tao, or MT for Stephen & I), & sometimes it goes smoother than others. Here was our text string the other day, admiring timely patients!

And then we found ourselves at a new dentist this week, to take our friend to get a tooth replacement after the recent domestic violence. It was quite an adventure that involved us meeting the dentist on the side of the road to follow him out to his house, which is why Stephen join the two of us women! And thankfully Stephen was there to take the baby, as I was asked to fill in for his dental assistant that was away.

😳😳😳

Our lives are so ridiculous. Sometimes in the middle of a situation I find my mind reeling backward to sort out how exactly I found myself here. {Was it when I agreed to pick up the water-sucker-tool? No, no; you were in long before that…} But, it was a great way to have a hand on her shoulder in the midst of challenging season and uncomfortable morning.

The sidelines are crowded, folks! Too many stories to tell 😀

finding her.

November 8, 2016 by Stephen & Kelli Spurlock Filed Under: kelli, on the house, photos, playhouse Leave a Comment

A few weeks ago I wrote about sweet Musana moving away to Bangkok unexpectedly. Since we had our anniversary trip to Bangkok already scheduled, we started thinking about the idea of finding her.

We’ve tried this before with another young girl in the community, and it didn’t work. Because of this, I tried very hard to hold it at arms length–leaving a day for it in our schedule, thinking of gifts to bring her, hoping to see her; but allowing for a day spent going nowhere, making sure the gifts could go to others, and know that it might be a disappointing day. And also knowing that even if we found her, it might be hard–for her, for us.

But we knew we had to try.

We have a phone for her and chat with her sometimes, so we called before we left and had our friend Nu translate for us. We learned they lived outside of Bangkok, either in Ratchaburi or Lopburi, which in Burmese sound the same and are three hours in opposite directions outside of Bangkok. We knew a few key words, but we were unsure where to go first and how best to get there.

Once in Bangkok, I went to the front desk at our hotel and asked for help. I explained that we were looking for our Burmese friend, who lived in one of these two places. The women said she’d be happy to help–she was from one of those areas and her boyfriend was from the other, so she knew them well. I called Musana and asked in Burmese if her mom could speak to the front desk and explain in Thai where they live and how to get there. The sweet lady talked a few minutes and then spent over an hour with me, mapping it out and explaining each step. She wrote out the directions in English and Thai, and was such a huge help.

We left the hotel at 7am. We grabbed some gifts at a Tesco down the street, and then got on the elevated train at 7:35am.

7:35am – 8:30am on elevated train
8:30am – taxi to bus terminal
9:00am – 10:15am in van to a nearby province
10:15am – walked to a nearby pharmacy, because I had yet another eye infection; had lunch, since we weren’t sure what was coming
11:30am – motorcycle taxi to another bus terminal

*Here we were told the next bus leaves at 12:45pm, which seems a long time to wait for what we have ahead of us (getting there and getting back!). We ask if there are other options and they say no, so we sit down and pull out our books. In less than five minutes, they come over, rushing us onto the bus–Come on! Going!–and we get on without paying, and we’ve left within a few minutes. Not sure if they told us wrong, or if they changed the bus schedule for us?!

We arrive into the town at 12:45pm, and bus drops us off at the hospital, where we are supposed to meet Musana’s mom. Instead of meeting us, she gives instructions to a motorcycle taxi driver, who refuses to let us take two taxis, putting all three of us on the same little motorbike. We looked absolutely ridiculous.

He drives us down the road a bit and into a nearby community–a wealthy community. There are nice new Mercedes and huge new houses; we’re not sure where we’re headed. We turn around the corner and see them waiting–Musana and her mom; and Musana starts jumping up and down.

So much fun.

It worked! And I’m not sure any of us could believe it. We were hours from anything any of us know, in a little shanty town community in the middle of this newly constructed neighborhood, and here was Musana with her mom, step-dad, and step-sister.

I’m confident her mom was very confused as to why two white adults spent five hours finding her daughter, and why we brought coloring books and puzzles with us. But we chatted about the neighborhood and what they did for a living; how long we had lived in Mae Sot and how everyone was doing. Musana told her mom I was 28 and I’d be having a baby by the time I was 30; she hadn’t forgotten yet!

We made a puzzle doll house together, and played the rock game that Musana loves.

I’m not sure I can explain how good it was and how much of a gift it was to all of us. We had such fun seeing her and laughing with her; seeing her smile. It was so good to see her in what is really a more stable situation, with some meat on her bones and a fridge full of fruits & veggies (and a fridge itself!).

We also loved just letting her know we loved her enough to find her; that she isn’t forgotten or lost. That she can call and we can visit; and that it’s all going to be okay. We showed her pictures of her cousin and family in Mae Sot, and then took pictures of her back to Mae Sot, which the whole community loved.

The past few weeks have been hard. There is so much instability anyway, and when things shift like this, you can see everyone questioning it. We see her cousin, who won’t let his grandmother out of sight, but then panics when we are. We see him cry when we say we are going to Bangkok, which to him is just a black hole that eats people he loves.

We see the other kids wonder if she’ll be coming back, or who will be leaving next, or even if they’ll have to leave what they know. We see the parents and grandparents wonder when their worlds will shift and if they can do anything about it.

And then we got to let everyone see that it’s okay. While Musana is somewhere else, she can still call and we can visit. She is still okay and with family.

Sometimes I am amazed how much of our life is long, extensive, weird efforts to say: You are seen. You are valuable. To us, yes, but ultimately to Christ. So many miracles had to have happened for us to get to Musana, and yet they did. They all fell into place, because He wanted all of us to know that she is seen & valuable. He hasn’t forgotten any of us in this blender of brokenness.

Thankfully, the ride home was shorter. The first time, we were basically sent to the state capital and then on to the town, which was considerably out of the way. On the way back we went directly from the town she lives in to Bangkok, which made it a little over two hours, and hopefully much more possible again!

So, $33.47 in gifts and $27.18 on five forms of transport and one long day in “Bangkok”–priceless hours with a friend.

a river to skate away on.

November 8, 2016 by Stephen & Kelli Spurlock Filed Under: kelli, photos 1 Comment

Last week, we skated away to Bangkok for a few days to celebrate our anniversary (7 years!) and breathe.

In case you haven’t noticed, we need some space in our lives for breathing, and we’re working it in. {Not without effort! Last week we attempted an escape to camp one night away, but found our tent flooded before 3pm and we ended up at home drying off sleeping bags, a tent, and all our gear that was yet unused and wet. Apparently rainy season is not yet over.}

Bangkok is becoming our friend, offering anonymity, delicious Western food, coffee shops, used bookstores, clothes that fit…

We also visited IKEA, which I love and hate. I usually love it when I first walk in, because the possibilities are endless. By the middle, I wonder why I live where I do, when I could live in a house and country that allows for such nice, soft things and an item to creatively solve every minuscule problem. And by the end, I just want out and to go back home, to little mom and pop stores and real world problems that new pillows won’t solve. And IKEA really is that big, that I can experience this slew of emotions in one stop and have it autocorrect every time I type it in lowercase letters. Wow.

We did both nearly lose it in the Christmas section, because we might be the most homesick we’ve ever been right now. So we took a picture of the warm coziness that is Western holidays. Because sometimes the river you skate away on is just Christmas decor in a superstore!

For our anniversary gift, we went on a 60-kilometer bike tour outside of Bangkok. It started as we biked through the city in the midst of morning traffic–us and our guide on three bicycles on a six-lane roundabout at one point; at another point Stephen looked back and saw just a bus, who had squeezed into the bike lane between us. It was not for the faint of heart.

We made our way to the train station and then caught a commuter train out of the city to Mahachai.

Trains are such a great way to see a place! I loved seeing the variation of rural & urban; the wealth in Bangkok compared to the poverty.

Mahachai is a fishing town along the ocean, full of fisheries and farms, often worked by Burmese laborers, we learned.

It was a really beautiful bike ride along the ocean and on trails outside of the city. We had fresh seafood for lunch. We also took a ferry somewhere in there, which is another very fun way to make your way around a city.

In the afternoon we stopped at a sea salt farm, where we got to see and learn how they gather sea salt from the ocean.

This is all done by Burmese workers, who we got to chat with and loved that we knew Burmese and live in Mae Sot.

And it looked like snow!

We really loved the tour, loved meeting some more Burmese friends, and loved seeing more perspectives of Thailand.

We also took a night out in Bangkok to listen to live jazz! It was such a fun trip to celebrate seven years together, with six spent here in Thailand!

new games!

October 8, 2016 by Stephen & Kelli Spurlock Filed Under: kelli, photos, playhouse Leave a Comment

It’s a very small world, folks.

Nearly ten years ago now, when I was in university, I worked at a local church, Family Life Bible Church, a few days a week. I helped with some different childcare needs they had, and then led a small group for the sixth graders. One of the girls in this sixth grade class had back surgery that year, so I spent some extra time with her and brought her some things to do at her house while she was on bedrest. I kept in touch with her throughout high school and in our move to Thailand.

This year she wrote me to say that she, now in college, was also leading that same class. They were trying to a service project each week, and they wanted to put together a box of things to send us. I told her how much we’d love things for the kids–games & activities.

This week, we received such an amazing package from them!

It was stuffed full of Uno, Go Fish, Twister, Connect Four, and Jenga. They put in markers and colored pencils; journals; a Spirograph!

And an Etch-a-Sketch, which the kids are just amazed at. They shake vehemently and love that it all disappears.

The students also included notes for us and a picture of all of them, where I realized that one of the kids was in my 3-year-old kids’ childcare back years ago! He’s now huge and writing letters. What a small world.

And what a kind world!

I’ve been pulling out a new game or two every day this week, and the kids are loving it. Thida asked me on Thursday where they all came from. I told her about a church in the States sending it to us, and she went on to say that Americans are just so nice. They are just giving so much! I said the church does try to do that, like the Bible says.

What a sweet picture of the Church she’s getting to see! And us, too. Thanks so much, Family Life Bible Church, and Brooke, Hack, Katherine, Shamuel & Cade, for blessing our little community!

new wheels.

October 4, 2016 by Stephen & Kelli Spurlock Filed Under: house calls, housewares, kelli, photos Leave a Comment

As of today, we are the proud owners of a new car! Well, new to us. And free to us, too!

Some friends of ours are just now transitioning back to life in the States. They have loved our community well in many ways–coming to play with the kids in the afternoon, helping us to set up the community computers, employing one of our friends as a house help, and faithfully supporting Flour & Flowers every single week.

Phil also played bass for nearly every OneHouse worship night since we started, and they’ve been sweet friends to us.

And now, they’ve gifted us their car!

This is a photo of us with their family.

I’m not sure Daw Ma Oo or Pyo Pyo could have been more excited to now have a delivery vehicle with four doors! Daw Ma Oo kept telling me that she is praying for God to bless them for their gift 🙂

Here is our last Flour & Flower deliveries in Zuk, complete with three adults, two kids, 23 loaves of bread, 160 tortillas, and 11 bouquets of flowers filling this four-seat vehicle. We also took a trip to the clinic last week with eight adults and three kids squeezed in. I’m pretty sure all the neighbors know a bigger car is a gift to them, too!

And let me tell you, it’s an upgrade.

We gained a car ten years newer! We also now have these privileges:

Four doors. This is an incredible upgrade–for bread, for pregnant women, for women in labor, for old people, for people with broken knees and legs, for stab victims.

Aircon with multiple settings. Zuk was either on full blast or off. Or if you put it on a lower setting, it added humidity, which heaven only knows this country does not need more of. Also, the cold setting is the blue one that says cold.

Automatic windows. And even better, the handle isn’t made out of bolts, like in Zuk.

3.0 liter engine, compared with 1.3 liter: you make it up those hills quite a bit easier.

And, we still have leather seats (a big plus for vomit, fish paste, and blood) and four-wheel drive (a big plus for rainy season & flooding). What can we say? This is a pretty idealistic car for us. Not too new or flashy that it can’t be roughed up a bit; instead, rough enough to handle our lives and neighbors.

I do feel a bit like a soccer mom with all those seats behind me, but they are usually full. By the toys filling our house and huge SUV, you’d never guess it was just the two of us! But it rarely is, I suppose 🙂

sunshine.

September 25, 2016 by Stephen & Kelli Spurlock Filed Under: kelli, photos, stephen Leave a Comment

Honestly, this week was one of the bigger waves we’ve had in some time, and the beach already feels so far away! But as my mind reels, I want to remember this time we had–it was such a gift. We really couldn’t have asked for more. It was full of walking on the beach and swimming in the waves and enjoying the one place where this much heat and sun is a good thing!

We were on the southern portion of the island of Phuket. You can see three beaches here, and we spent most of our time on the middle one and a few days on the further beach.

A fifteen minute drive south takes you to a beach on the southern-most tip of Phuket and the most beautiful beach we’ve ever seen. The water is so vibrantly blue and green; it’s indescribable. We drove here on a few different days to soak up the views and sunsets.

We weren’t really looking for sunny days and dark tans as we spend much of our lives in the sun. Most mornings we’d head to the beach by 8 or 9 to wear ourselves out in the waves until the sun came out in full force. Then we’d head inside until the later afternoon, when it was cloudy and shady for reading by the ocean and jumping in more waves as the sun slowly set.

And then sometimes we could get in another walk along the beach after dinner. Really, we soaked up as much of the beach without the sun as we could!

We had so much lovely food! Above is a Turkish coffee we had with a lunch of Turkish breads & cheeses! We had some delicious crab, cooked Thai style and the best lobster bisque I’ve ever had. We also had some amazing Indian twice, and the second time had enough courage to ask if the waiter was Burmese. It turned out all the staff were and they loved that we could speak Burmese and worked with Burmese people. The waiter ended up sitting down with us for the evening as we chatted about everything you could possibly think of; and we are now connected on Facebook and have swapped phone numbers so he can visit us next time he passes through Mae Sot to visit his family in Burma!

One morning we woke up at 4:30am to drive to the other side of the island and watch the sunrise.

At this point we weren’t sure if it was going to be worth it. We were on a shelly, rocky beach defending our coffee and juice from street dogs.

Turned out to be completely worth the effort! It was a beautiful sunrise and a lovely walk along the pier in the morning light.

One of the things we love about Phuket is that it is a bit developed: there are lovely restaurants and even a Starbucks! We really enjoyed a few cups of coffee there through the week. Stephen commented that he always thought it was annoying that Starbucks was so regulated in the US: everything–from the coffee beans to the pumps to the type of cups and seating–was the same from shop to shop, not allowing for creativity or uniqueness. But he realized that now living here, he loves that he knows whenever he sees a Starbucks he’s guaranteed a delicious cup of coffee, comfortable seating, and a cozy atmosphere where he’s free to sit for hours. Suddenly that predictability is oddly appreciated!

We were really thankful to be away over Stephen’s birthday, and our hotel even surprised us with a cake! When we came back from the beach that evening, a group of staff came to the door with a cake and lit candles to sing him happy birthday!

Obviously action shots aren’t my specialty, but it was amazingly sweet of them!

Thank you to so many of you who sent cards and packages for Stephen’s birthday! It was so much fun. I brought the cards with us and he opened them through the week. It was a great way to celebrate him!

On his birthday, we went to a lovely restaurant along the beach that had live jazz. It was a beautiful restaurant and just the perfect blend of casual live music, not to mention the amazing food.

The entire trip was just such perfect rest and was such a great way to celebrate Stephen. We met eleven years ago & began dating ten years ago this month; we began spending every day together seven years ago. We moved to Thailand and really began to spend every day together six years ago; we just spent ten days without a minute apart. And with what this past week has held, I can’t believe how happy we are spending all these moments together. He’s the best gift I’ve ever been given, and it was so fun to celebrate his thirty years!

baking bread, chasing goats, & then some.

September 11, 2016 by Stephen & Kelli Spurlock Filed Under: house church, housewares, kelli, photos, playhouse Leave a Comment

Some seasons are just too full for too many words. But I do still love the photos!

We have been baking so much bread as of late! Flour & Flowers continues to grow at amazing rates. Most weeks we are baking over twenty loaves of bread and rolling out 140+ tortillas. They are also getting particularly stunning at rolling out beautiful, round, huge tortillas.

We sell cinnamon rolls once a month; and in just our fourth month, sold 20 pans! So many friends, neighbors, and organizations in Mae Sot have been so supportive to purchase, and we are loving seeing it grow. We are also really excited to see a savings account growing for all the staff to split at the end of the year.

We are constantly working to keep the littles away from the hot ovens, particularly as they both mirrors.

Some of our neighbors recently purchased goats. And since we live very communally, if they have new goats, so do we! There are at least three spend most of their time in our yard. In some ways it is a free lawn service; in other ways it is a liability for bread business!

Last week I had cinnamon roll pans out on every table and bench, then turned around to find three goats half way into our house and making their way toward bread! They may be our biggest challenge for leaving our doors open all day.

Our Open House hours through the week are still such fun. This week the kids starting making snowflakes, which quickly turned into crowns–perhaps since they don’t know what snowflakes are?

I love our street in the evenings. The sun sets so beautifully on the horizon of the mountains and the community comes out to buy roti and play games and climb on motorbikes and unwind from the day. Its like block party–every night.

This particular night we had given out photos: a few times a year we print copies of the photos we’ve taken of the community. If there are three kids in a photo, we make four copies–one for each child to have in his house, and then one for our community photo albums. We group them all together and give each household a stack of photos to paste on their walls–y’know, next to the old photos of us in college or of our families that we threw away!

It always fun to see them cherish the photos so much!

Zen Yaw goes to church with us every Sunday afternoon and most Sunday evenings. Despite falling asleep in my lap nearly every time, he loves it. He asks most days if we’re going today (as we’re still sorting out which days are which).

He came back from a different church last week–another local church had picked the kids up for a Saturday program–and exclaimed, “Kelli, you didn’t come to church!” I told him I went to a different church, but we’d go together on Sunday. Did he like it? Yes. What did you learn? We ate snacks! 😂

The best is that he’s learning to pray, and instantly folds his hands into mine and ends with the most adorable Amen I’ve ever heard! So sometimes I try to sneak a photo of his little praying fingers.

And then this morning we had one last little homework help session–with the littles giving high fives on the side– before we left for vacation. While I’m so thankful to be walking on the beach, I’m also thankful we have all of this to go home to.

baby tricks.

August 24, 2016 by Stephen & Kelli Spurlock Filed Under: kelli, photos, playhouse Leave a Comment

This little lady on the right loves her brother. And since last year, when he was delivered into our community from Bangkok, she’s been his caregiver. They live with their grandparents, who care for them and two other cousins while the parents work in the city.

She loves to come visit and show off his newly learned skills: she taught him to give high-fives and clap. And this week, the newest baby trick?

She says in Burmese, “Zwe, do you love Kelli? Do you love Kelli?” He nods his head yes and then holds his arms wide as she says, “SO much! SO much!”

😍

life in photos.

August 24, 2016 by Stephen & Kelli Spurlock Filed Under: house church, kelli, photos, playhouse Leave a Comment

Sometimes I love the way photos capture the life that fills this little community.

This is the church truck on its way back from children’s Sunday school.

Due to rainy season, all the games have been moved into our covered yard. In this game, there is a string of rubberbands stretched between two kids, while the others run and jump, trying to snatch it with their toes and other tricks. It’s like our own Olympics!

Another new baby! The family that attends church with us regularly just had their third little boy.

birthday cakes.

August 23, 2016 by Stephen & Kelli Spurlock Filed Under: kelli, on the house, photos Leave a Comment

So it’s been re-discovered that I can make cakes.

I’ve found an easy recipe—the “Great Depression cake” or “dump cake” or whatever not-so-great-term you want to use—basically, it’s ridiculously cheap to make, so that I can make one or two for about $1. I’m still sorting out the icing and trying to find dairy items on sale, but either way, it’s a pretty reasonable task. And a small investment is worth putting some weight onto these kids and celebrating their lives.

We’ve decided that we’ll make them all as a gift to the family at least for this first while—A year? A few months? Certain families? We’re playing it by ear until it gets out of hand!

It does mean that I’m now making two to three cakes a week and we’re attending a number of birthday parties. At least they’re adorable.

A few notes on birthday parties: they often involve us sitting at the honored spot. They also generally include excessively loud Burmese music on blown speakers. Cake is a very shared commodity—sometimes it is plated and given to a pair or a group to share.

We attended this party last year, when there weren’t enough spoons to go around; so we snuck some in our pocket and added them to a collection on the table.

At this party, the birthday girl was the only one with a plate and spoon. She would put a large piece on the plate and give a bite to each guest one at a time—starting with us, then to her parents, then to all the children and adults…then one bite to herself. Then we started all over the cycle again. By the third bite that came to me—and thus the spoon being reused some forty times, many to children I had give medicine to this week for fevers, coughs, and stomachaches—I said I was full. Between shared spoons and multiple parties, I’ll admit I’m a bit tired of cheap cake!

This family particularly liked the feeding-each-other model, and I turned around twice to literally have a cookie or bite of something shoved in my mouth|nose|cheek.

Birthday parties involve so many people in one {tiny} house. Everyone gathered, singing for someone, sharing food {& spoons}, and laughing. When we’re often dealing with fighting and injuries and sickness and hunger, it’s fun to see mouths full of sugar and faces full of smiles. It’s recently become a highlight of the community living!