First - a highlight to share. It’s having the kids ‘working’ at Hands of Hope during their month-long school break. Now that I can actually speak some Thai, we have more fun playing the games I lead during their breaks. For me, a highlight was playing 'memory,' drinking soda, and clinking glass bottles together with three of them. There was a lot of laughter.
Agricultural improvements in the Garden.
Unfortunately, Brad - a producer at Hands of Hope who I wrote about last week - lost the fight to cancer. He passed away on Sunday morning. His sister-in-law reported that he said that he was at peace with his impending death, and we’re all heartened by the fact that he’s not suffering anymore. Along with the thirty-some producers who were working at Hands of Hope on Monday, I attended his funeral.
I was honored that I got to know him - even for just a short time.
Other than that, our week was fairly typical. We began our it by hanging out with the youth of the Garden as we do every Sunday night. We’re in the movie mode lately (thanks to our friend Patrick’s purchase of some inexpensive Thai movies). The kids were totally into it this week. Before the day came, they kept on asking me what time we would meet up and if it was still happening. They all showed up.
That was a big deal. Most of the time, many of the teenagers had pretended to be disinterested and showed up late at times. But that was not the case this Sunday! John and I found some cheap, individual-size potato chips to share with them, too. I must say, it was a win.
A tokay: a large lizard. See its size compared to the door hinge.
John and I didn’t exercise quite as much this week because it continued to be stifling hot for most of the week. In the 100’s most days. We have started to adjust a bit, so I had some motivation to do some cleaning. I now require multiple showers per day - like our Thai friends.
The fish pond outside our bedroom window is slowly drying up in the - wait for it - dry season.
There was finally a breeze on Thursday afternoon, so John and I took advantage of the opportunity and went for a bike ride after work. That was another highlight for me. I love having that time with my husband, chatting about our week and what we’ll do on the weekend - casually sharing over the course of the bike ride - while checking out the beautiful Thai countryside.
Now we have a booked weekend to look forward to. After our overnight shift on Friday night, we will head straight to an outreach event on Saturday. Then, on Sunday (Easter), we will celebrate with a service at the convent (since Sr. Mary is still bedridden) and a brunch with the sisters and Antonia. Then we will wrap up our day with running errands and hanging out with the kids once again.
The new building is in the final stages