Your taking care of a what?!

That's exactly what my grandma said when I told her we had found an orphaned rat that was only a few days old. It didn't even have its' eyes open yet, so it was very tiny. Our cats did not like the new visitor. Our Christmas cat, named Junior, thought it was a yummy treat for the little orange rascal. Since we knew that Junior and the Girls were interested in the baby rat we kept him in the bathroom with my fish. I was tempted to keep it in my room, but my parents wouldn't let me. They were not sure if this rat had any diseases, and didn't want us to get sick if it did. I took good care of the baby, feeding it with a eye dropper, and keeping it warm and snugly. I even checked on it during break time and lunch time while at school. I had done research about how to care for orphaned rats.

That was almost a week ago. It seemed to be getting stronger, and more eager to eat. It was even squeaking at us. My mom was even getting attached to him. She kept him in her shirt pocket to keep warm and he really liked that. He just slept and slept between feedings, and seemed very content.

This morning he was eager to eat and greet us. I fed him, and then he took his last breath while laying in the palm of my hand.

Bees in my gate

One day when I was going to school, I opened the gate. There were little pesky black flies swarming all around the gate latch. I thought they were very annoying. Later, I found out these annoying flies were actually tiny little black bees. These native Thai bees were looking for shelter from the rain so they decided to live in our gate latch and in the fence post! I'm not sure what kind of bee they are. We have not seen any honey yet. They have stung me a few times, but it felt more like a mosquito bite.

We have tried to encourage them to leave and go find a new home. But they are determined to stay. I guess they like our gate latch, so for now, this is their home.

Cleaning Bangkok Black

Today I helped at a new church plant. I was helping to get ready for evangelistic meetings starting tonight. I helped clean the bookshelves with my mother.

It was all covered with “Bangkok Black”. You may ask, “What is Bangkok Black”? Bangkok Black is the pollution that comes from the vehicles – gasoline cars, diesel buses. This pollution falls like snow from the sky, and covers everything. I dusted the bookshelves so they were nice and clean.

Jesus wants to clean our hearts from the pollution of sin.

Isaiah 1:18
“ Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD,

“ Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool."

Pray for the boys and girls from this neighborhood. So that they can have Jesus clean their hearts from sin's black pollution.

Questions for my blog readers:

1. How do you clean the "Bangkok Black"pollution in your house?
2. Is your house clean as crystal?
   
3. Have you asked Jesus to clean your heart?
   

My Day Behind Bars

On Sabbath I went to a Thai Prison in Saraburi, with my friends and family. We gave out bags that included; toothbrushes, sandles, soap and shampoo, and sang songs to the prisoners. They really liked it. Another fun thing that we did was hand out prayer request cards. They wrote down their requests and gave them to us. We also had a medical team with us. We passed out glasses to the prisoners, gave out medicine, and pulled out teeth. Yuck! (But I did not do that.)

I learned what Jesus talked about in Matthew 25:36-40 that we should visit the people in prison.

³⁶ I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? ³⁸ When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? ³⁹ Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

For My Blog Readers:

1. Have you ever visited Jesus in prison?
2. Have you visited a prisoner?
   
3. Have you ever shared Jesus with a prisoner?

The Ancient City

We went to the Ancient City today. The Ancient City is a huge park that is shaped like Thailand. It has 320 acres of land with copies of the ancient buildings from all around Thailand. There are over 116 buildings to explore! I liked the King's Palace the best, because it's pretty!

We ate popcorn and other snacks for lunch. The Ancient City has all kinds of trails, and we rode bikes around the park. We rented bikes for the whole day for only 50 THB (1.50 USD)! Some of the trails are hidden, and I had fun exploring these. We raced with our bikes and I won.

It was so fun I would like to go back again.
Questions for my blog readers:

1. What's the most interesting park you've gone to?
2. Why do you like it?
   

You can explore the Ancient City online by going to their website at www.ancientcity.com/en

My Chore Chart

I have a chore chart so I can help around the house. I learn how to do things. Some of my chores are taking out the trash, cleaning my room, and many others.


The chore that I dislike the most is taking out the compost. Because it smells bad and I have to walk through the tall grass.

I really have a good time doing my other chores. When I’m done with one chore, I check it off on my chore chart.

Questions:
1. Do you have a chore chart at home?
2. How do you help around the house?

Happy Mother’s Day

It is funny that there are no advertising, no highlights on the calendar, or any kind of reminder about Mother's Day here in Thailand. There are no Hallmark stores to lure me to “show my mom how much I love her by buying the perfect card”. In Thailand, Mother’s Day is celebrated on the Queen’s birthday, August 13.

I suppose that I shouldn't need a reminder to tell my mom how much I love her and appreciate all her love, care, sacrifice, advice, and nurturing over the past 42 years. Any day can be the perfect day to tell someone how much you love and appreciate them. So don’t wait until a day that is designated by our calendar and culture, share your words and actions of love freely and often to those you love!

So Mom, please know that this Mother’s Day message comes from my heart without any media promptings. As it well should, for you never needed a reminder to shower your children with love. Like God's love which flows freely from His heart. I love you mom!