My Pictorial of my Day at the ZOO with Commentary of Course!

Okay, so there are a few things you should know before you move forward: 

 #1 I HATE animals, it's just true, write PETA or PITA and tell them I not care! 

#2 My co worker LOVES animals and knows a lot of dumb facts about them, I have to keep her from petting street dogs and cats so this was a true act of love and sacrifice to take her to the Zoo

 #3 Once you've been to Africa on a legit Safari and seen lions in the wild, a cheetah chase down a gazelle and rip it apart before your very eyes, and had to put your vehicle in reverse because the mommy elephant was not happy you were getting too close to her baby elephant, you are ruined for zoos FOREVER!! 

#4 However, if you're going to the Zoo, International Zoos are the way to go and I have to say Chiang Mai Zoo is nothing to sneeze at unless you're allergic to animals and all things outdoors like myself! What makes them so much better? How do I put this?  I think it's a lack of safety regulations, like if you WANT to stick your finger in and pet the tiger it's totally doable! 

To start the day off, there was this really cool sign I think it's translated: if you're old and wrinkled or a cute little girl you get a discount

Then you pass the pink flamingos, normally a pink flamingo in the front yard screams TRASHY or TACKY or WHITE TRASH (We can still say that one right?!) I mean last I checked it's okay to bash whites and Christians and it not be considered a hate crime right?! Wow! Where did that come from? But live pink flamingos in the front yard are CLASSY, COOL even, but I did feel real bad for this ugly duckling in the front! I hope he has a great personality and good sense of humor!

Like I said, she wants to pet ALL the animals and thanks to the international zoo standards, she gets to pet this Lemur, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't thrilled about it!        
Then we got to hold the birds! He nibbled on my ear! I was NOT thrilled!

It's totally normal for elephants to hang out behind my bamboo posts right?

Here  she goes again with the petting!
While the safety standards are a bit subpar, they are serious about NOT smoking! The penalty is time with the lion.  However, it's no so offensive in the Outback part of the zoo and you get rewarded with Koala time if you engage in smoking!

I almost bummed one off the rude British guy in front of me because seriously how cute is this guy!?
 
You see the TWO lizards?  One has sense to use sunscreen and sit in the shade, the other is going to be needing some aloe at the end of the day! It's common sense guys, it's a jungle out there!

This pretty pretty peacock better be so glad it rained on my mama when we came to the zoo because she would've had all his tail feathers in her suitcase bound for our Christmas tree!

I will admit I could have watched the monkey's all day! And if you've ever wondered what a woman scorned sounds like press play on the video below!

Okay, so I couldn't resist his cuteness. Notice what's standing between me and him, NADA! I captured this great lil cameo of Gratiana's head shot! 
And I'll admit I think that the penguins are pretty cool and kind of can't wait till they open the arctic exhibit because they're going to have cold weather penguins and a polar bear!

This is a southern elephant, he's drinking straight from the hose pipe! I wish I had it on video because when the guy tried to order him to give it back to him, the elephant just kept turning away from him and kept on drinking! I secretly love it when the animals don't do what the trainers say. I mean what's more entertaining watching tigers jump thru hoops or grab a man's head in his jaws?!

About those safety regulations! haha! Seriously, could have gotten a bear hug! And he was super cute I mean for an animal!

And last, but not least my favorite pic of the day, a tribute to all my tired mommy friends, which is unfortunately not clear at all, but see this sweet mama monkey breast feeding the lil baby monkey?  Her eyes are closed and she looks worn all out! The male monkey goes off to do a lil swinging and she let him know with some hollering and some arm swinging of her own that she was NOT happy!  Unfortunately I was far too enthralled with her look of exhaustion and irritation to catch it all on video!  Come see me and I'll take ya to the zoo!

Oh the Places They'll Go!

I've always loved working with young people! ("always" meaning on the average day, some days youth ministry, counseling, and leading interns gave me a run for my money, I can admit that! and "young" meaning people under 30 like myself!)   There's just so much LIFE and POTENTIAL and excitement, the possibilities for their futures are endless!

I'll be the first to admit that when Convoy of Hope decided to shut down their internship program that I was bummed, angry, sad, disappointed, and a bit lost and confused.  I LOVED doing life with those interns, watching them soak up life lessons, and Jesus, and new cultures, missions, and watching them give until hurt!

Being a missionary to Thailand was never on my radar, especially not without young adults in tow! I was always taught never to do ministry alone, you should always have a "Timothy" along with you learning and replicating.  Plus, what on earth would I fill my time with without 20 interns in tow?! (Naps, movies, hanging with friends that I don't have to count when we get into a vehicle to go home, some more questionable adventures that I just couldn't bring myself to do because the possibility of having to notify someone's family that their kid died while crawling across a dilapidated rope bridge over a raging river!)  Needless to say I've figured it out to a degree!  But it's still part of my DNA, I still wish my chickens, my sweet lil minions were here with me.

A few weeks ago, myself and some fellow missionaries went to visit a new university that has over 20,000 students in its first year! It was bigger than any school I've ever seen.

In the near future, we are hoping to start an English center and church here. We spent the morning doing a prayer walk around the campus.  I ventured in and out of the dining area that was buzzing with students, I peeked in class rooms to see that Thai college students aren't much different than American students, as there were a couple sleeping, several on Facebook, or texting on their phones, and some were even engaged in learning! 
 






Like most places here in Thailand, the classroom is a place where you discard your shoes outside the door before walking in! I actually LOVE that part of the culture here because it means I get to teach and sit in church barefoot! The only thing better could be wearing my cowboy boots!  Even though it's a sight I see everyday now, I was struck by all their shoes.

I kept thinking about Dr. Seuss' , "Oh the places You'll Go!"
Here's an excerpt from the good Dr. , but if you have time google it and read the whole thing!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own.  And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.

On the one hand I am so excited for them because they have so much ahead of them and on the other hand they have SO MUCH ahead of them!  So many choices to make, so many roads to navigate, and so many mountains to climb.

Life is hard; life without the help and hope of Jesus; I shudder at the thought!



I see all their shoes lining every hallway and stairway and I know statistically speaking over 95% of them do not know Jesus. I sigh at the thought, but hope fills my soul as I think about the coming English center and church or churches to follow, I think about the feet that will fill these shoes learning of Christ and choosing to follow Him and oh the places they'll go, the people they will take Him to! I immediately think of the verse that says, "how beautiful are the feet of those who bring Good News," and get excited that some of the shoes in front of me could belong to such feet. The Lord shifts my gaze to my own feet in my Yellow Box flip flops, I crinkle my toes at His imply, it may be the only time I've ever wished for bigger shoes.

I realized then that Thailand was not just a "blip" on the radar of my life and that I may never have another blonde "Timothy" in tow, but how beautiful would a long line of dark hair and brown eyes be when I stand before the Lord? I LOVE my students and hope that when you pray for me that you will pray for them!

This time the Lord didn't send me WITH young people, but TO young people and Oh the Places They'll Go!

"I hope he picks me up!"

I'm not sure what has spurred this post on, a number of things I think, of which teaching English would not be at the bottom of the list.  Parents if you ask your kiddos what they want to be when they grow up and they say, "An ESL teacher!" (English Second Language) then you need to help them RIGHT NOW begin to hone their charades and Pictionary skills because a lot of days that's what I do in both my elementary teaching and my university teaching! You're welcome students!

We've also determined that our students at TLC should probably specify if they want to speak Northern English or Southern English as these are obviously two different dialects! No worries my students will be fluent in southern before my term is up here! Complete with the knowledge of what GBO means, the ability to sing Rocky Top, how to appropriately use the term ya'll, the word soda is only used when preceded by the term baking, and the term pop is something that happens to your behind or mouth if you use any of the words on the No Fly List, coke makes the world go round, and that thing you put your groceries is in is most definitely a buggy! You're welcome America. 

I think there are things we say that we have no idea what they mean. Myself and a couple other missionaries were taking the Harvard Dialect Survey and the question was what do you say when it's raining outside and the sun is shining! Myself and my Alabama colleague said without missing a beat, "The devil's beating his wife!" Our Texas counterpart was appalled and wanted to know why we said such a thing. We shrugged and defensively replied, that's just what it means! 

One time I was telling my California friends about keeping someone's kids. Grabbing their kiddos a little tighter they looked at me puzzled and a bit horrified. Evidently if you keep someone else's kids in California it means kidnapping?! Where I come from it means babysitting! (California Criminals!)

We missionaries especially AG missionaries (Assemblies of God) definitely have our own lingo, just listen to any MK (missionary kid) talk about kicking their STL (Speed the Light) truck into 4wd and using the snorkel to cross a river to get to a village, or how when BGMC (Boys & Girls Missionary Club) sent them the new projector for the church and their parents put a sheet on the wall and used it to let them watch movies! 

I never think too much about it until I make a statement to a friend like, "I'm having lunch with a pastor today I hope he picks me up!" 

Depending on the friend they could think many things:

You want the pastor to physically pick you up off the ground. (Creepy)

You want the pastor to hit on you like with pick up lines. (Creepier)

You want the pastor to pick up the tab. (Not as creepy and likely truth, but not the meaning)

You are depressed and want the pastor to encourage you. (Maybe not Creepy, but definitely needy)

I don't really know why we say it, but when a missionary says they want a pastor or someone else to pick them up, they mean support them monthly financially.  Which I guess, in a way,  could mean many of the above: physically move me to the nation of my calling, pick up the tab, and encourage me by helping me get to where my heart is! But definitely NOT the pick up lines, ew!
Disclaimer :Unless he's cute and single and has a heart for missions and then the pick up lines are welcomed.

Sooo if you'd like to PICK ME UP:  CLICK HERE

My SIL wrote a blog this week about stuff my niece says, my favorite was when she evidently told my brother to, "Sit down!" and her mother yelled from another room, "Niah, we don't demand people to do things, what do we say?"  And Niah whispered to Matthew, "I not say please!" hahahahah! So proud!

But another was when her lil brother was crying in the floor and Niah went to him and said, "It's okay, don't cry, Mommy will probably come pick you up!" (Not sure where the probably comes in, I mean maybe my SIL often lets that sweet little boy cry in the floor unattended to, who knows, but Niah at least had some faith that Cara would indeed pick him up!) Which is what we all need sometimes when we find ourselves lying in the floor crying, to be picked up!!!

I can't help but be grateful on this first day of November, for all those who have picked me up with monthly support and made it possible for me to be here in Thailand.  For the friends whose photos line my walls who pick me up with prayer and encouraging words and silly texts.  For my family, who often picks up the tab for me and who I know I can count on to pick me up

out of any hole I might dig.  But ultimately for my savior who has picked me up time and time again when I've fallen, when I've been knocked down, or when I've just laid down in defeat. Countless times, He's picked me up. Praying for each of you that have picked me up in any way, that He'll do this for you today. Thankful!

Isaiah 41:10
"For do not fear for I am with you, do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you (pick you up :)) with my righteous right hand."