Week one...getting organized!

Well we've been here for about three days so far...seems longer than that for sure. Jen and I have had several Thai meals so far and loved them all..and our first wonderful encounter with the biggest roaming spider I've ever seen. Jen found it in our bathroom last night and Birdie, one of the helpers in the nursery (on the left), came in and killed it for us. :) Usually spiders don't bother me alot and I can kill them, but this one was too big. When we got here we had nothing to unpack our things into, like a dresser or wardrobe or anything, so Tutu ordered wardrobes for us and they came today. Debbie took us out shopping for all the basic things like cleaning supplies, laundry baskets and detergent, hangers, baking goods, pots, pans, knives, etc...so now that we have all of that we feel much more at home and comfortable. I really like being organized, so I feel much better. And our kitchen is well stocked now, so I can cook and bake :). You would be very suprised at all you can get in Chiangmai - from laptops computers to Jif peanut butter to dried squid. Fascinating, really. We love our wardrobes and got most everything unpacked. I put up alot of pictures from back home in mine. I'm gonna miss home alot but I am really happy where I am here. We met with Dave (Asia's Hope director), Tutu (Thailand director), and Mike and Debbie (American missionaries that work here) this morning to discuss what I would be doing these next ten months. This week will be kindof different than normal because its the first week and Dave's first week back. Starting next week, I will go home with Mike and Debbie after church, spend the night at their house and have my day of rest on Monday. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I will be teaching the staff English with Debbie. On Fridays Debbie and I will be teaching English to the pre=schoolers. Four days a week in the afternoon David (Tutu's youngest son) will be teaching me Thai for two hours instead of me going to the university to study. He is very good at English and it will be easier for him to come here and he will get paid as well. Saturdays we have English with the grade school and high school kids and then Debbie takes the older girls to her house to cook and sew. I will be helping her teach cooking/baking! The kids are so wonderful, happy, and polite. They love Jesus and are so thankful for what they have. The newest baby that we got about a week-and-a-half ago is three months old. She lives down the road at Doi Saket 2. We had her naming ceremony tonight and named her Rachel. (I will post the video later). The naming ceremony is a big deal in Thailand. The children are expected to live up to the meaning of their name. Thank you all so much for the prayers. Please pray for wisdom and direction for the staff and directors. They are trying alot of new things with this orphanage and as they work out the bugs, they will take thier tactics to all of the other Asia's Hope orphanages. Praise the Lord for the work He's doing here in the lives of these orphans. Many of the kids have been sick (and I feel like I'm starting to), so pray for their health to be better. God bless you as you serve him back home!