Advantages to living in the Nana- You get a front row seat to the Songkran festivities!

Yesterday my roof became the perfect place to hang out after I'd had enough water activities! Six stories up on our top deck we have a very long garden hose. The hose came in handy to spray unsuspecting "passers-by" in true Songkran style! Got a lot of laughs and the guy across the way decided to do the same from his roof. Who says you have to be fluent in language to influence people- just kidding!

Songkran

The view from our front door. Across the street the crowds are beginning to gather for a Songkran water fight!

No one is safe from the water and powder "blessing", but we did have a slight advantage over our neighbors.....we put our garden hose to good work from our roof top. Look out below!

I am drenched from head to toe, but luckly I wrapped my computer in plastic before leaving the house.

What can we learn from the Thai and their Songkran Festival?

Right in the middle of heated RED Shirt demonstrations, killings and blood curses against the government....the Thai people take a three day "time-out" to celebrate Songkran.

For the next three days most of the waring in the Kingdom will come to a halt. It's such an odd thing. The atmosphere has shifted from angry fighting mobs with knives and guns...to laughter, dancing and water fights in the streets with giant plastic guns.

Maybe EVERY WARING NATION should consider such a "time-out". They should consider taking out their aggressions with giant orange and green plastic, semi-automatic water guns. It's hard to stay angry at each other when you're being chased down the street by someone in miss-matched flip-flops, a flower printed shirt and a hot pink wig!

This little guy is getting an early start to the Songkran Festival. Songkran is some what like our New Year’s Celebration in the US. Songkran is celebrated from April 13-15th. It's a three day, Kingdom-wide block party, water fight! Lots of celebrating, dancing and usually excessive drinking- not water!

Although the origin of the Songkran festival is embedded in layers of ancestor and idol worship; there are some redemptive analogies to observed in this culture. This Songkran, may the people of Thailand draw their attentions to the One, True God, who washed away all our sins and made us clean through Jesus. May they hunger and thrist for truth and come to know what it means to drink of the Living Water.

The Songkran is a time for Thai people to honor those who are older. A blessing of appreciation is given to them by pouring fragrant water over their hands and feet.

Our girls at the ministry center prepare for Songkran by gathering water, consecrating it by means of prayer and then adding some fragrant flowers. Next, it's time to gather all the "older" people- yes, as you can see by the picture below, I qualified.

The pouring of water begins. As we sit in a long row of chairs outside, all the younger women come through on their knees (one by one) and pour water on us and speak a short blessing.

Towards the end of this ceremony the water then gets poured everywhere else- Oh, accidentally down your back, on your head or with ice water etc. It is expected and all in goods fun! This is the subtle que that the water fight is about to begin! In a few minutes EVERYONE IS GOING TO GET DRENCHED.

For the next three days, anyone, anywhere is a target. If you step out of your house, chances are you will get very wet. After you're soaking wet, someone might come by and throw powder on you. Then you look like a ghost! Sorry, no Songkran photos of myself in this lovely condition as my camera is not water proof! So enjoy these photos of others getting soaked.

Young, old, native Thai or Foriegners- everyone is in on the action. School and most major businesses are closed. which is good because you can't get to work without getting totally wet!

In the North of Thailand, even the elephants get in on the Songkran action!

Who has captivated your heart?

Like most Holidays, Valentines Day arrives packed with memories and emotions that can easily cause me to become too melancholy. So I decided to use the Holiday to celebrate God's heart for the Nations. I invited some friends to my home for a special evening, we decorate Valentines Day cookies! Actually, it was just a wonderful excuse to gather some amazing women together for the purpose of building relationships! It turned out to be quite an international event.

My guests were varied in ages from 23 to 60 years and had differing economic backgrounds, ancestors, cultures and languages. Most of them had never met each other until that night. One of the women just arrived in the USA three months ago and is still learning English. What a great joy to see these beautiful women from Buddhist, Muslim, Orthodox, Christian and non-Christian worldviews, interacting together as if they had known each other for years.

Valentines Day is all about LOVE. This year I was blessed to have Syrian, Armenian, Burmese, Assyrian, Jewish, European and American women all laughing and sharing stories together in my kitchen! What a great opportunity to love people with the love of Jesus. Building friendships and creating fun memories turned out to be a perfect way to celebrate Valentines Day. God’s heart is for all the Nations and lucky for us, He continues to place plenty of internationals right on our doorsteps! These are people who God cares about and He expects us to be kind and gracious to them. Will they know we are Christians by our love? As followers of Jesus, we are called to LOVE people with the supernatural, irresistible love of our Heavenly Father!

St. Patricks Day. Did you know that...

Chicago River dyed green

St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was actually born in Wales! At his birth in AD 385, he was given the name Maewyn. In his younger years St. Patrick was far from being a saint, in fact he considered himself a pagan.

At the age of 16 Patrick was sold into slavery by Irish bandits who pillaged his town. It was during his captivity that he became closer to God. After six years of slavery Patrick escaped and ended up in a monastery under the training of St. Germain, bishop of Auxerre.

Eventually Patrick returned to Ireland to convert many native pagans to Christianity. Patrick was quite successful at winning converts, setting up schools and establishing churches to aide the conversion of the Irish country to Christianity. This fact greatly upset the Celtic Druids who had Patrick arrested on a regular basis. He, however, managed to escape his captors each time!

Patrick’s mission in Ireland lasted about thirty years. He died on March 17 in AD 461. We have been commemorating St. Patrick's Day ever since.

Today most people celebrate the day with big parades, partying, the wearing of green and drinking of MUCH BEER… interesting.

Picture taken on the way to Irish Beach in Mendocino County

One traditional icon of the day is the "shamrock". The Irish tell of how Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Trinity. He used it in his sermons to represent how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate elements of the same entity. His followers adopted the custom of wearing a shamrock.

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me....one golden Buddha

It's almost Christmas! This is such a transitional time for me. This is likely to be my last Christmas in the states for a while. Although next Christmas I may be in Thailand, and as for today, I decided to join the Holiday frenzy!

I am not much for shopping, but I braved the crowds to make a small purchase, a Buddha statue! Yes, that's right. How strange? Christmas caroles playing, nativity scenes marked down for clearance, shopping carts overflowing with gifts, employees in red hats with fur trim, and there I stood in line holding my one small item, a golden Buddha statue! I felt a little sacrilegious. Needless to say, I was getting some odd looks from those around me, that is until I got to the Cashier...

Tonight I would be given a chance to meet with the AWANA children (not not an African tribe) but a christian evangelistic/discipleship program for 6th graders and younger. I wanted to use the Buddha as a simple visual aid to help them understand prayer. (little people have such an honest approach to spiritual matters.) I wanted to explain to them that some people pray to statues that have eyes and ears, but they can not help them, they cannot see, or hear, or love them. That is a sad thing. They, however, have a God in Heaven who loves them and sees them. He is not made of plastic, wood or gold. He is alive and He enjoys hearing their prayers!

Anyway, back to the Cashier... She smiled at me, gently took my little golden Buddha, spoke to it tenderly then brought it to her lips and kissed it!

It is not just the children who need to know there is a God who is alive! There is a deep longing in ALL of us for a connection, a relationship with the living God! Try to remember that as you rush around this Holiday Season.

Need a little Holiday Cheering up? This version of the "12 Days of Christmas" will make you smile!

(click on Link below)

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=mikado95