Friday, April 13, 2007
Songkran = WET
Wow, Thais don't mess around when it comes to celebrating. Songkran, the Thai New Year, is celebrated for three full days ... and day number two is just starting. Yes, we're back in Thailand - up north in Chiang Mai this time. Which just so happens to be the main hub for celebrating Songkran. We're not talking party hats and noise makers, but all out water warfare - with a smile. Pretty much if you go out during the day you're going to get soaked ... and I mean SOAKED. We spent 11 hours on a boat in the Philippines (not the best idea we've ever had) which was basically Big Foot Rapids on steroids, but I think we got even more wet during our thirty-minute tuk-tuk (rickshaw taxi) ride yesterday. It's pretty amazing. People literally line the roads armed with buckets of all sizes and large bins full of water - some clean, some not so clean. Beds of pick-up trucks are converted into mobile water-launching machines when 5-10 Thais of all ages crowd in with squirt guns and buckets. But the absolute best part is the constant grins that you see everywhere you look. This is just a FUN festival. It's like a youth group event that the whole country joins in on for DAYS. Even when someone nails you with a bucket of ice-cold or river-warm water, once you wipe the water from your eyes and catch the smile, you can't help but smile back.
Monday, April 09, 2007
God - the Magnificent Artist
I read a quote the other day and I don't remember it exactly but I can fake it enough to get the point across ...
Nothing pleases the creater more than to have others explore his creation.
This has not hit so close to the heart as this past week. For some reason it is easy to believe that anything we enjoy is "selfishness" and not of our creator. Yet plainly we serve a God who delights in being delighted in. Swim his waters and see the myriads of colors and shapes. Walk his shores and see the rugged coast contrast with smooth perfectly white sand. Sit beneath his sky and watch the deep blue explode into pinks and yellows as the sun sets for the day. The attention to detail speaks of an artist who takes pride in the beauty of his craft. One who takes pleasure in the praise, awe, and wonderment of those who behold the work of his hand. During this easter week I didn't read much of his story written on paper, but I heard his witness shouted through a thosand voices of fish and island, rock and water, hue and scape. We have run along his canvas, swam in his aquariam, bathed in the beauty of his creativity.
Who can fathom the depth of our God? Our Magnificent artist?
Nothing pleases the creater more than to have others explore his creation.
This has not hit so close to the heart as this past week. For some reason it is easy to believe that anything we enjoy is "selfishness" and not of our creator. Yet plainly we serve a God who delights in being delighted in. Swim his waters and see the myriads of colors and shapes. Walk his shores and see the rugged coast contrast with smooth perfectly white sand. Sit beneath his sky and watch the deep blue explode into pinks and yellows as the sun sets for the day. The attention to detail speaks of an artist who takes pride in the beauty of his craft. One who takes pleasure in the praise, awe, and wonderment of those who behold the work of his hand. During this easter week I didn't read much of his story written on paper, but I heard his witness shouted through a thosand voices of fish and island, rock and water, hue and scape. We have run along his canvas, swam in his aquariam, bathed in the beauty of his creativity.
Who can fathom the depth of our God? Our Magnificent artist?
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Incommunicado
Just wanted to give everyone a heads up that we don't expect to have internet access for the next week or so. We're headed to Palawan - our bodies and minds are so ready for a week of pure and simple holiday ... well, it does include a 9-hour bus ride, so maybe simple isn't the right word ... well, we'll let you know next week!
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