A Final Glimpse of My Week in Thailand

Before April ends in a couple of hours (here...it has already ended where some of you live), I want to at least record a few great moments or memories from my time in Thailand earlier this month. 

First, I was there for Palm Sunday and that was a great blessing in many ways. 

Second, the group gathered for the conference was divided into a few smaller groups which met a number of times through the week to update each other about life and work over the past year and then to pray for those who had shared on that day. Again, a huge blessing for me to be able to participate in this. I am often amazed by the goodness of praying with people -- and the extreme goodness of God who had made the way for us to come directly to Him with our everything.

Third, I got to meet and then spend some time with a new friend of a friend who was a new friend last Spring. (Don't worry, there won't be a quiz.) We emailed this photo (I hear they are called "selfies" when you take a photo of yourself or yourself with others) from my phone of the two of us drinking a coffee toast to Julie who was in southern California working on her PhD and kicking butt in a battle with melanoma. 

Fourth, I had a chance to actually get to know April who I'd first met at a Conference in Orlando in 2007. (Filbert got in on this photo -- silly creature that he is.) She lives and works in a country that is on my "I'd like to go there" list -- so visiting her there is one more reason why I should. 

And finally...

This locus was captured by one of the children at the Conference who was playing with it. It was brought to me at the breakfast table as an illustration of the type of treat we'd discussed the night before as being a delicious snack. I did NOT eat this winged creature. To my knowledge, no one did. 

So, the summary of my week in Thailand is that it was a great time of being blessed and of connecting with people and of seeing some beautiful things.