Sometimes I am a slow learner and the fact that I am awake at this very moment proves that.   Lots of coffee late at night is not a good thing for me.  

I can't believe it's almost Christmas.   Last Christmas I was half a world away from here thinking that 55 degrees was downright cold and trying to get all of Jazz's gifts wrapped.   Life has sure changed alot since then. 

I love Christmas.   I love the lights, the songs, and I confess I even love the gifts ( I know I'm supposed to have outgrown that but really I do....).   But I think the thing I love the most about Christmas is the hope it brings.   The reminder that God has not forgotten us, that He sees us and at just the right time will send us our deliverer.     Our world today is not so different from the way things were the first time Jesus came - evil still seems to overwhelm the good sometimes, there's fighting, quarreling, anger, and jealousy.   Famine and war and floods devastate the world and we long for a deliverer.     I can't even imagine how the shepherds must have felt when the angels told them that their Messiah had come.  What they had hoped for their whole lives long had finally come true.    And that hope is what gives us the strength to go on.   The baby in the manger grew up, walked among us, died for our sins, and rose again.  The price of our redemption is paid, death has been defeated, and Jesus has sent His Spirit to live in our hearts.    Still now we again long  for His coming, to see Him, to worship at His feet and like the shepherds of long ago we hope that maybe, just maybe, it will be today.......... 

 Come thou long expected Jesus,  Born to set Thy people free,  From our fears and sins release us,  Let us find our rest in Thee

Well perhaps the caffeine has worn off by now and I shall get some sleep.  

Merry Christmas!

 Hmm thinking back over all that's happened since my last post I'm feeling a little dizzy and a little bit like I'm on an emotional roller coaster.  

I had a really really great week with Jazz's family.  Thanks so much to everyone for your prayers and support.    I know I should be used to it by now but still I was amazed again at how good God is and how much He cares about all the little things.     Jazz did so good with them and almost right away was having a blast with his two sisters.  By the end of the week it seemed like he'd always been part of their family.    Since he's been home I've had a few emails from his mom and she says he's doing great which makes me very happy.    As hard as it was to see him go somehow it just felt right.   

A few days after Jazz left Dorothy and I headed up to China to do some traveling.   We met up with three other people in Chengdu and then trained and bussed our way north and west ( i think ) to our final destination.  Well actually we had to hike to our final destination but the train and bus and van got us fairly close.   We ended up in some of the most awesome country ever, like really close to Colorado country.    We spent a few days camping and hiking around the area,  we got to see some beautiful wildflowers, meet some tibetan nomads and experience their hospitality, eat some great food (no tsampa, yay!), and we really had a great time.  I forget how much I like being in the mtns until I'm actually there again and then I walk around with this permanent dorky grin on my face cuz i'm so happy to be there.   Kinda hate to post pics cuz really they don't even come close to reality but maybe it'll tempt someone else to do a trip like this.   Have I mentioned it was great?  

Now I'm back home in Chiang Mai once again but not for long.  In one very short week from now I will be flying home.   Sometimes I am quite excited about this and simply cannot wait.   And other times I really want to whine about how much I really and truly hate change and love my comfort zone.   Still it could be an exciting adventure you never know............

I still remember the first time I saw it over two years ago - it was overgrown with vines, the front door was hanging open, the side windows broken.  The fence around the outside was crumbling and the place looked like it'd been deserted for years.   Still it had a charming look to it and I fell in love and used to think to myself how much fun it would be to fix it up and repair it or to see someone else do it.  When Heidi and I would walk past we would make plans to sneak in the open door some night and see how it looked on the inside but we never got around to that.   Then one day on my walk I noticed all the overgrown trees and vines had been taken away and soon workers started remodeling the house.   I wondered who would live there and what the house would look like when it was done.   I never dreamed that one day it would be me living here.   Yesterday after we'd moved all our stuff over and I was sitting on the front porch watching the boys having a blast playing in a new place and discovering all the cool new things in the yard I had a moment of supreme happiness and wished for just a little that I could pause right there and be in that moment forever.