MicahJohn

Yesterday was a good day.  Rather Sabbathy. I think in general Christians today are too ready to throw out the Sabbath baby with the legalistic bath water. Jesus didn’t tell people to stop obeying one of the ten commandments, he just pointed out that (like all the other commandments) the call to cease for a day is a gift from God to us. It should be a source of life, not a source of added legalistic toil. I don’t mean to indicate that I wholly entered into Sabbath yesterday. I’m just saying that the partial taste of Sabbath I experienced yesterday encouraged me to better honor this commandment. 

For readers in Waynesboro, part of my good day yesterday included a dinner with Lexie. We live in rather different parts of Bangkok, so visiting is not an entirely simple proposition. It was good to hear some of one another’s experiences. It was good to sit down and talk in English for a while with someone who looks at the world through a similarly informed set of eyes.

I finished up my first half week of language school. I am enjoying the class (excluding most of the current material composed of basic sounds (consonants, vowels, and tone) that I had already done much to learn prior to the start of class). It’s a fun class with an entertaining mixture of cultures. The class is composed of a Thai teacher, two Americans (including myself), two Nigerians, a French-speaking fellow, a guy from Singapore, and a piano teacher from Korea. 

Listening to each other attempt to produce sounds not found in our own languages can be quite entertaining. The one guy has taken to recording the worst of us and playing the recordings back during break time. Some of us sound like dying sheep. 

Wednesday night into Thursday my health dipped. By Friday morning I was feeling strong again. I thank God for my quick recovery. Your prayers for my health prevented my needing to miss any language school.

Last night I went to care team again. It once again was a great time with peers. At 9:45 I realized that the gathering wasn’t wrapping up, and even if it was I wasn’t going to make it home by 10:00 if I took a bus. (The place where I am staying locks its gates at 10:00). So I excused myself in the middle of the current discussion and hailed a cab. I made it back in time to call to the guy who locks the gate and ask him to let me in. I got in! 

Today was day one of language school. Most of what was covered today I have learned by now. I’m looking forward to getting past the basic sounds of the language to actual words, sentences, etc. I chased my four hours of classroom learning with another two hours with a tutor. Whew! My brain is done. I’ll write again later.

For my readers who, like myself, are unexperienced in keeping their own house: place your drying rack so the silverware is on the side opposite the sink, or don’t put knives point up in the drying rack. Experience has now taught me that it is rather easy while reaching down into the sink to set your arm down on a knife that is in the drying rack point up over the sink. As for damage done to my arm: negligible. God is good.

I was walking on my way to eat lunch when all of a sudden I became aware that the people walking beside me were no longer beside me. They had stopped. About that same time I realized I had just been hit. I turned around to find that what had just run into me was a cart being pushed by a motorcycle. The good news is I’m fine. I’ve got very slight abrasions on my right arm, and an insignificant bruise on my right hip. The story is well worth the injuries. 

I mailed two letters today. The cost of sending two letters from Thailand to the US was less expensive than sending three letters within the US would have been. Hooray for the Thailand Post!