Picture of the Week: Thailand

One of our visa-government-forced vacations. (not that I'm complaining!) We took a little mid-week trip to Thailand. But I'm surprised at what makes a vacation "good" to us now. Is it the stage of life? Place we live? I don't know. But we had fun.

Meeting up with good friends.

Burgers and milkshakes. Dwell on that just a minutes. BURGERS and MILKSHAKES. But, yeah, this is cute anytime.

A bathtub. I'm not kidding. They could have spent all three days here.

Lydia Turns 4 (and shares the Gospel)!

She wanted a "flower" tea party. I convinced her that 15 children with hot tea and dainty cups would not be as fun as she was imagining. Thankfully, she settled for Sprite. 

We had ribbon crowns for the girls and princely pipe cleaner crowns for the fellas. 

Face painting was a huge hit! My friend, Maggie is an artist, thankfully. Because if I had painted we would have had to settle for q-tip shaped petals and a wavy stem. 

Yum, cups of dirt. (Pudding and Oreos)

And cake! 

She wanted flowers in lieu of other gifts. I loved the idea! And our little hostess greeted each guest, ooohed and ahhhed over their flowers and made sure everyone had what they needed. 

Lydia even asked if she could tell one of our neighbors (in attendance) about Jesus. What do you say but "of course"? She walked right over to Hari (a practicing Hindu) and said "Stop believing in pretend gods. Jesus is the true God and He saves you from your sins." We'll work on tact perhaps later, but in the meantime, I am so proud and convicted by her boldness.

We named our firstborn after the Lydia in the Bible (Acts 16) of whom it says "the Lord opened her heart to respond" to the gospel she heard preached and then opened her home for her community. She boldly used her gifts for the expansion of the kingdom of God. I think this 4-year-old is living up to her namesake and trusting in her One True King. 

The Epic of BillyBong

Chicken Noodle. That was Molly's belly name. We found out I was pregnant around Christmas time and I said, "Oh, my little snickerdoodle!" (don't judge...you know you call your kids funny names). Anyways, Lydia thought I said "chicken noodle" and well, it stuck.

This go-round, I thought wouldn't it be nice to have a little "Asian" belly name. Chipati? Babu? Choti? (which by the way...mean "tortilla", "baby" and "small" respectively) Nope. Lydia trumped me again. "BillyBong" is here to stay (for another few months at least).

Lydia got the name from a Richard Scarry book.

My mom knit right along the storyline.

And here she is...not at all kangaroo-like (aside from the kicking). Adorable and a precious gift from our God!

My First Pooja

She had to face east. It had to be on an "auspicious day" in her 7th month of pregnancy. The priests had to be called, the family invited, the calendar searched. The "lap filling" ceremony could then commence. And I was invited.

The bundle of goods...a filled lap.

My friend and neighbor, Anshula is pregnant. We joke there must be something in the water for our building! She came to my door a few weeks ago to invite me to a pooja. Now, a pooja is a Hindu worship ceremony. "Will I have to sacrifice a goat?" I [almost] jokingly asked. "No, no," she smiled. "It's just going to be a little blessing and appeasing for the baby's good fortune. Then we'll have cake and games."

So I went. I watched and asked lots of questions. Her family members filled her lap with dried fruits and money and blessed her with oil. They lit incense. They took lots of pictures. Her mother-in-law danced. And then...we were done. Off to "baby word boggle" and samosas and chai.

I won the game (English is my only fluent language...so I kinda have an advantage). I got a Buddha idol as a prize...which, sorry, Anshula...went in the trash.

Truly I was nervous, but also very curious. I am glad I went. It some ways it seemed like nothing more than a cultural tradition. Yet, I know it's more than that. And despite my "modern" friend's attempts to discount it ("It's just to appease the in-laws") there is serious spiritual warfare happening next door. For Anshula, for Sumit and for their little baby.

I pray my eyes are open and my heart keeps breaking for baby showers that start with a worship ceremony to a false god, for jewelry and markings that say something about what you give praise to, for money given to "sacred" cows, gurus or temples. I pray I do not get immune. I pray I throw every idol in the trash (literally and metaphorically) and trust God that it's not "god" but it's more than a blob of porcelain...and I am weak. He is strong. And He fills more than our laps. He fills our hearts, our souls, our lives. Oh, let Him fill this building!

Picture of the Week: Containment

Sometimes you just have to put your people under a laundry basket.

Ever have one of those days? Actually they did this to themselves while I hung up laundry. It was cute. It was comical. It was...dare I say, helpful?