My mullet curls and my food comes on Leaves...

Sawatdee kha! (hello)

Well. I'm in Thailand. Who would have thought. I'm trying to learn less is more so this is an attempt at a summary...let's see if it happens.

Things you should know:

1. Squat-tay Pot-tay...aka toilet on ground with feet marks on each side that you squat over. Did I mention Thai's don't use toilet paper? So I've been fortunate to have had a large enough bladder to hold it till we get home to the western toilet that lives in our room, so I've refused to use one yet...but I'm sure my luck will run out soon enough. But don't think I'm safe yet...you can't flush toilet paper...even in our precious western toilet. So there is this nice little waste basket that lives next to it and yes we put it in there....SO GROSS. But its ok.

2. Miniature Ants...Everywhere!!! Yesterday we were laying on our beds talking and all of a sudden I look down and see that the corner of my bed and half my pillow are covered in Ants. OMG I almost died! But PTL for wet wipes...

3. Food. We go to the market and eat every meal. Its awesome! Imagine cooking an awesome meal at home...then imagine showing up at a stand and having the same meal for less than a $1 and no clean up. Yes sometimes you're not sure you are eating chicken, but other than that its great. Yesterday I ate noodles for breakfast and they came wrapped in a leaf. Last night I ate something off a stick that was supposedly chicken but from the size of the spine, ribs and what I swear was a full wing, I'm guessing bat. We saw a Thai Chicken in a pen on our walk yesterday and they are really skinny...but really tall, so there is not way that was chicken. Other suggestions from the team were Rat, Hamster, and dog.

4. Dogs and cats. You know how we have foxes that run around or mice? They have dogs and cats. Wild cats! Millie and Calli would never be able to tough it here. Cats literally just wonder through the market and dogs are just chillin' on the side of a road. The only "pet" I saw was a pig chained up and I was informed that it wasn't probably a pet. I chose to ignore that its leash chain was connected to the side of a restaurant. So for my sanity and the innocence of heart I am saying pet.

4. Markets...why don't we have these? You can get a pile of cooked duck heads (don't worry when they serve you it they cut it up and throw out the beak) or you can go for the pig leg with all the shin and hoof attached or some live eels or roasted insects or my favorite tiny hot peppers (see ssection labled peppers below). Right next to all of this in the next tent are some of the cutest clothes I've ever seen (don't worry mom they only come in a size zero (so I can't buy them)...remember I'm in Asia. Seriously everyone is so tiny). But what I could buy was a Cath Kidston purse!!! Yes that's right. I kept seeing them everywhere and then I found it! So instead of $110 I got it for $25. It was a beautiful day. And very practical...I needed a day bag that went across my body ok? It just happens to be my favorite designer and floral.

5. Transportation. So we get picked up from the airport (ps the coolest building ever...how is that in a 3rd world country?) in a covered truck...aka a truck with a bench on each side, a roof, and a gate across the back. Don't worry of course there were no seat belts and it was all open on the sides. It reminded me of a ghetto version of the tram we took at universal studios. We got taken to the night bus in this too...in rush hour for 2 hours...I'm not sure how we didn't die from the fumes. So the buses we road around town? No one talks! Seriously. It is rude to talk on a bus! And we had like an hour ride to the train to take us to the temples. We got shushed a lot by our tour guide. Thank goodness Thai's have a lot of grace for "farangs" aka foreigners. We rode a boat too. The water is Brown. Brown. This is probably why we can't drink any water from the tap. Its crazy most of the people that live on the water are in extreme poverty. Like metal scrap houses. So different from the US. To drive from Bangkok to Chiang Mai we took a 10 hr night bus. Let me tell you something, the Thai's know how to make a bus. Seats that recline fully, have a pop up foot rest and come with pillow and blanket provided. It is so strange, I'm in a third world country with extreme poverty and extreme luxury.

6. Rain...You think you know rain until you come to Thailand during their rainy season. Flash flood has an entire new meaning. Rain drops so big that in less that 5 mins you are wading through the streets up to your mid-calf. The adorable little floral raincoat from Target is not totally waterproof I found out. Better than nothing but...i was still soaked. Dad that plastic rain suit...GOLD here. The first time it rained we were on a prayer walk going to a bunch of the Buddhist temples in Bangkok. The second was Yesterday in Chiang Mia. Our dirt road to our house was flooded and we had to wade through it to go get dinner. The streets were so flooded that when cars drive by you can only seen half of their tires and I have no idea how all the motorbikes drive in it.

7.(which should be #1) Heat. OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG it is sooooo hot and humid here. Everything sticks to you all the time. My hair is so curly and with my horrible hair cut I got...it looks like a mullet. I change clothes probably 4x a day and shower at least 5x. I know...you are all so proud. I have never felt so gross in my life. And guess what? Culturally they don't wear shorts above their knee or tank tops!!! 99% of everyone I've seen has been wearing jeans and 60% of those are SKINNY JEANS...can you imagine? And girls were wearing cardigans. And they weren't sweating...so weird. I'm intrigued. But my SPF 50 is doing its job. I don't even have a tan line (side note...they sell whitening cream! You know where we would look for self tanner...they have whitening cream. The whiter you are the higher your class and the more beautiful you are. So sad, b/c we all can't get over how beautiful and tan they are.) Oh and dad thanks for all the bug spray...we will use it all and the bug relief stick is in high demand...Brynn's bug bites are the size of silver $$.

8. Housing...Ok so one thing I love about Thailand is that there aren't "bad" parts of down exactly. Its all mixed in which gives it a much safer feeling. There will be a beautiful sky scrapper apt building and right against it are scrap metal houses. There will be a nice shopping center and right in front of it people have stands selling chicken. There are luxury cars driving next to rusted old work trucks. It is so beautiful. They live life together.

9. Everything is soooo Cheap...The average meal costs the team 250 Baht. That equals a little over $7...That covers our entire team! There are 7 of us! That means that each of our meals is about $1. Its crazy!!! And a 2L bottle of water is like 25 cents. Its crazy. And the food is AMAZING and the portions are perfect and normal.

10. Peppers. OK so Bik, who was our tour guide in Bangkok is from the south and said that all he has eaten is spicy food since he was born...so remember he has a crazy spicy tolerance. So he takes us to dinner at the market and orders a bunch of dishes for us to try. He says one is on the spicy side. I'm eating it and go to take my last bite of it and pick up what appears to be a red and green pepper. I think to myself, I shouldn't eat this, but naturally put it in my mouth. I'm chewing and swallow and think that wasn't bad. About 2 secs later I can feel this heat rising in my mouth...OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG my tongue had knives stabbing it. I almost died. I was shaking and crying and laughing and screaming all at the same time. I was chugging water and eating ice cream and nothing would make it stop! Apparently the smaller the pepper the hotter it is well I had not 1 pepper but 2, 1 inch long peppers. It burned for at least 20mins. I had to suck on ice cubes to keep it numb the entire rest of the meal. Then Bik who was dying laughing informed me they were for decoration not eating...who puts decoration in a sauce? He then jokingly ate one to make me feel better, but chewed it twice and spit it out! Now if he can't eat it who can? Well me apparently. Don't worry I'm alive, just a few taste buds and brain cells short.

OK so much for that summery. You are probably wondering, isn't she on a mission trip? Where is all the ministry she's doing? Well we start tomorrow when our translator gets here :) These last few days were spent learning about the culture and praying and team bonding. So the next blog post will probably be more ministry focused. Don't worry donors you didn't pay for a vacation! ;) Also I'll tell you about fisherman pants next time too.

Oh one more thing...You know how I'm short and well my feet don't touch the ground...imagine flying for over 17 hrs with your feet dangling...OMG my Kankles are insane!!! My feet and ankles were so fat that I couldn't even put my TOMS back on. They've gone down a bit but are still fatty. After the bus ride they were so bad again I couldn't get my Chacos on...Thank goodness for adjustable straps...

OK so my nicknames so far are lil pepper, lil flasher (oh I walked all over Bangkok with my skirt caught up in my backpack...not once, but twice...thank goodness for spandex shorts.), lil kankles/lil fatty foot, and more to come I'm sure...

Ok well we are off to the market for Lunch! Oh one more thing...I get up by 7am every morning! Can you believe it? I was the first one up this morning!!! Love you all and miss you dearly!

Love from Thailand! xx
Lil Blogger

The Beauty of the Cross

This song spoke to my heart on Sunday. I really realized how unworthy I am of God's love. I can't ever compare to His beauty, but he still chooses to Love me, and not just Love me, but LOVE me. Like let his son be killed b/c He loved me. Who does that? Who am I to deserve that Love? I am messed up and ugly, but he brings the beauty to my life. He is so beautiful. And he loves me!!! Me! and you! Pretty awesome right? We aren't deserving. We might think we are pretty great, but you put us next to Him and we are ugly...ugly... We are so unworthy, but still He loves us. And really loves us. He Loves all those insecurities we have about ourselves; He loves it all. His opinion is the only one that matters. Let's not take for granted the Joy we have that someone so mighty and beautiful loves us, all of us, all the good parts-the bad parts-the ugly parts. Let's not forget His majesty that we stand in front of. Let's not forget what He did for us. Let's not forget How unworthy we are. But let us also not forget that we have been redeemed by Him, that we have been made beautiful before Him, that His grace takes us just as we are, that we have freedom in Him, that He has rescued our souls. So give Him the glory. Don't take credit for your life. Nothing is yours. You earned nothing. Everything is a gift. You couldn't breath without Him. You couldn't find means for food, clothing, a car, a house, a family, without Him. None of this life is ours. We sometimes forget where the credit is due. Always return things back to praise. Humbling right?

Here are the Lyrics to the song The Beauty of the Cross by Jeff Johnson:


At the cross I find the beauty of the your matchless grace

At the cross I see a King who died to take my place

Its the moment that you made me clean and pardoned my soul

Amazing grace that I would be alive unto Your throne

Not by my own will but solely by Your will alone

I'm unworthy of this love you are showing to me

I see my desperate need


The beauty of the cross is that there's one who has redeemed my soul

The beauty of the cross is that I'm finally free and letting go

The beauty of the cross is that Your grace has found me just as I am

Verse 2:

Not by my own words that I may boast or I may come

But simply through your Son the sinless and Exalted One

Only through the cross am I made clean to draw near to you

Saved so that you would receive all glory due Your name

Everlasting God from age to age you never change

A true love story remains for all eternity

That all the world would see


The beauty of the cross is that there's one who has redeemed my soul

The beauty of the cross is that I'm finally free and letting go

The beauty of the cross is that Your grace has found me just as I am


My sinful soul could only be

redeemed by the blood of a sineless King

So you came to the world that You had made

Conquered sin on the cross and you rose from the grave


The beauty of the cross is that there's one who has redeemed my soul

The beauty of the cross is that I'm finally free and letting go

The beauty of the cross is that Your grace has found me just as I am



Intense right?!
<3 Kitty

God's Childlike Poetry...aka God talking to me on my level...

So the week before last was one of those weeks where your head is filled with doubt and you look in the mirror and think, why am I doing this? You know everything going through your head is a lie, but you can't seem to stop them. So the Monday in Staff Prayer our time was spent journaling and dialoging with God. Most people I think would write a situation and and work through it with God. Mine, came out as a 7th grade poem. I couldn't stop writing it just flowed... When I finished I looked back and was amazed at what had come out. Every lie in my head, was challenged and God discredited. After I was done I felt a since of freedom. My heart felt so light and next time I looked in the mirror, I knew why I was here. So here is my cheesy but heart changing poem...

It's called "God...let's dialog" (so we did)

My heart is filled with doubt oh Lord
Why don't I trust you?
My heart is found not in you
but in non lasting places

Immediate gratification must be broken
My heart must be open
Those things I love need to be put to rest
My body and soul re-broken

Only I can put you back together
Only I can make you whole
I take time because I care
my love will always overflow

You say you cannot hear me
You say you cannot feel me
But when do you listen
when do you stop
when do you ask

You say you are tired
but you don't ask for rest
You say I'm not here
But you never come.

You say you feel fake
But you have met me
Come meet me again
But stay for longer
Stay for always
Stay for forever

Stop trying to do it on your own
I will fill you hearts desires
I will go grocery shopping
I will sew
I will be there
What if you just invited me?

You are never alone
so stop depending on people
I'll take the critics and the looks
I'll show them one day that I
Always loved them and never left them

Love.
What is love
Who is and has love
I AM, I do
let me love you

Let me calm your soul
Let me lift your eyes
When you don't have enough
Strength to do it yourself

Stop being me
Stop being God
Only I can be God, not you
You don't need the responsibility
You can't take the pressure

I want you to live life
Intentional, but care free
Stop trying to be perfect
Let me do that and you just be you
Just be you.

You, Kat, be you.
Be Kat, be Katherine, be Kate
I will be God
I just need you to be you.
Just you.
Because I will use you, not someone else
You try to be
I choose to use you
My child, my princess, my creation
You.

The Crazy thing was He used all of these throughout my week. It was awesome. I would highly recommend journaling with God when you have some time. Actually make time. It's great b/c all those thoughts get written down and are tangible so you can reread them and be reminded of God's goodness and greatness in your life. Also it is a way to organize your thoughts and frustrations as well as to seek counsel on pressing issues filling your thoughts.

Night Night everyone.

More later xx
-KL

Sabbath

So today is suppose to be my Sabbath. I'm not going to lie...its not as easy as it seems. I've never taken time for a Sabbath in my life. A day with just God and I and limited interaction with others. I need to lock my computer and phone up somewhere...they become more of a distraction than people.

Last night at mid-night we launched the 24-hr prayer room on WSU. I got there to set up at around 10:30 and then stayed till 1:30 The last hour I spent in the prayer room praying. As I was driving home I thought to myself, "wow what an awesome way to start my sabbath." I got home and knew I needed to sleep but I some how convinced myself it was a good idea to watch a show on Hulu first...not a good idea. So I didn't go to bed till after 3am! Not smart. Then I woke up around 10:30 with a massive head ache...I think it is the worst migraine I've ever had. I couldn't even open my eyes. So I didn't get out of bed till 1:30! All day I've had the head ache. I took meds, drank water, everything, but nothing is taking it away. I thought to myself, I'm not going to let the rest of this Sabbath be ruined. I I tried to read a chapter of a book, but it was so painful. So I just laid in bed. I checked facebook, my email, and a bunch of other time wasters. Then I just felt lazy and exhausted. See a Sabbath isn't just a day to "rest" it is a day to rest in Christ. All these activities I was doing weren't really resting. Yes, my body is rested, but my heart isn't, my mind isn't, my spirit isn't. How am I suppose to pour into people the 6 other days of the week if I only let facebook and email pour into me, not God? Pastor Keith said this Sunday, Jesus is always better. I'm trying to teach myself that. Today as I laid in bed I should have prayed. My headache might have gone, my spirit would be more joyous, but no now it is worse from staring at a computer screen and I just feel depleted.

I guess what I'm trying to say is. I don't have everything figured out. I still struggle keeping up my relationship with God. I need to learn how to spend "quality" time with him before I can effectively invest fully in others. I have no excuse. I have an entire day dedicated to spend with him, not everyone has that luxury in these crazy lives we live. But I have to change my mind set. I have to start with square one. My sister said something quite brilliant the other day (ironically on facebook...), she said, "Learned today that I may have a smile on my face, but I'm a mess inside...." That is such a statement of truth. We make ourselves look so good on the outside, but inside we have no clue what we are doing. God has been speaking to me that I need to change from the inside out...not the outside in. When we try to change from the outside first we don't have time to work on the inside. If we are to work on the inside first the outside will happen naturally.

I feel like i'm starting from scratch. So if you all would pray that I will learn to spiritually discipline myself. That sounds so harsh, I don't like the thought of the word discipline, so I guess I mean that I would learn how to spend my time wisely and with Christ. That it would be a natural relationship that I crave to partake in. Not a time I want to spend but let other distraction easily fill.

My prayer for all of you is, that you find a time to cut out of your schedule to spend with Him. Because Jesus really is always better. Always. Everything else in life will let you down and never fully fulfill you. But Jesus will always lift you and complete you. "Creation was not meant to fulfill what only the creator was meant to provide."-a quite brilliant line by Pastor Keith the other Sunday.

What is the solution to all this? The Gospel, Worship. We worshiped our way into this lifestyle....we need to worship our way out.

I realized I need to make my life a prayer tent. I'm not always going to have to have a place dedicated to prayer. I need to be dedicated to prayer, I need to say no to hulu, facebook, cell phones, etc. It's not that those are bad, its that they have become ultimates in my life. I choose them over Christ. Let's fix this...:)

Happy rest of my Sabbath...now I just need to apply...

Lots of Love,
KL

The Off Button...

So do you know that feeling when someone turns off the radio and all of a sudden a peace just cascades over you? There was so much energy coming from you with all the music and you were completely oblivious. Then it turns off and its like wow...rest. I think we need to do that with God sometimes. We just need to turn life off and rest in Him. It's not like the music or life was a bad thing, it just makes us feel like the energizer bunny. We forget how good it feels for our spirit to just stop for a second and refill/recharge. Then we can turn the music on and resume. If we forget to turn it off occasionally, then I find we get frustrated, stretch ourselves thin, and without realizing it we burn out. Our souls need time with just God and no one else every now and then. We weren't designed to keep going and going and going and going and going....

Today I was meeting with my new Ethos group (my smaller small group...2-3 people). We had been sharing and growing and talking and it was incredible, but then we decided to end and pray. Zanna turned off the radio, and my mind went wooowwaa...it felt so good. As did that prayer. I was so distracted by life, I didn't even realize it had become a constant buzz in my ear and all I needed was for someone to hit off. Let's let God hit our "off" button this week and rest in Him for a bit now and then.

What I learned today from my Ethos group...We need to learn to trust in the nature of God, not the plans of God. We can't trust in what will happen, because we don't know what He is planning to do. We need to trust in who He is and His nature. If we trust in His plans, we are trusting in what we think His plans are (which we don't actually know, so they are our planes, not His). So trust in Him and Him alone. :) Good stuff right? I can't wait till we meet next time.

Well I have a big day tomorrow, so I better be off to bed! I did bike to Pullman and back this morning. It was fabulous. I'm thinking of maybe starting to bike to work...it would solve my parking issue and I would be getting my exercise in! :) That hill up campus is going to kill me though...WSU...built on a hill? Why? Why? JK :)

Lots of Love.
Kat

Swick time....

I'm just running on Swick time as usual, so I know none of you are surprised I haven't written in a bit. Speaking of Swick time...life has decided I am always just going to be the "late" girl. I leave my house at 8:35 to get to Pullman at 9am for my meetings on Mondays and Tuesdays. That gives me 25 minutes to go 7 miles at 55mph and about a mile at 25mph. That should take me what 15 minutes total? That gives me 10 minutes to be early. Then how was I 12 minutes late on Monday?! Oh b/c WSU has decided there is never going to be any parking open behind the K-house and than since I don't have a parking pass I have to park in the Adams Mall parking, oh wait that's full sometimes too so I have to drive to the Pullman Presbyterian Church to park. So by the time I run across campus and come heaving into the meeting I get "that look." The "gosh is Kat always late? I mean this is like the 4 time this week." And then when I was on time on Tuesday, Josh gave me a high five like I had just won the novice on time award. So its inevitable. I'm the "late girl."

Really the underlining issue is parking...WA Parking hates me...UofI parking? Loves me. I drove up to drop stuff off and pulled into a metered spot...10 mins still on the clock. Now Pullman...I finally park in the Presbyterian parking lot and I get back to my car with a note saying that they had had a funeral today and that not everyone could come b/c they didn't have enough parking b/c my car was in the lot...So now Betty Sue didn't get to say one last goodbye to Eleanor her college roommate in 1932, b/c I took her parking spot. Feeling guilty? check.Then on Tuesday I pull into the K-house to see jacob stealing the last spot! Parking is so ruining my reputation...my uber cool points are going way down...not to mention my WSU bitterness has increased.

So I can totally hear people saying well just go earlier...well first off its so not fair b/c I'm the only one living in Moscow so I have to drive twice as far which means I already get 1/2 the sleep time in the am...then when I do decide to come early, for example I leave my house at 8:10, then I get a parking spot, but I then am ridiculously early at 8:25 and once again miss out on 35 minutes of sleep. Its a loose loose situation... I need to see if inception is real and then maybe I can plant the thought in everyone's mind that all Pullman Staff should ride their bikes...

Wow that was a lot of negative energy....glad I got that off my chest....it's probably been there since birth...oh wait I was probably late to that too...

My life? Pretty fabulous. We had Village tonight...25 Freshman again! woohoo! Awesome. We also made 250 PB&J sandwiches afterward. It was quite the party. I had jelly even on my walls! So tomorrow we will hand them out for free on campus from 11-1pm. My favorite is throwing them at bikers as they ride by...they either catch them and ride on and we all think wow he's soooo cool, or they crash.

Today I went looking for a stand alone coat rack at all the thrift shops b/c we need one for service on Sunday. None exist in Moscow. Who would have thought they were in such high demand? I mean don't people have built in coat closets now? I guess someone else discovered my brilliant idea of hanging bags and purses off of them. So if anyone finds one for under $10 that is quirky and old school, let me know I'm looking for a purse hanger. I did find a SUPER cute read suitcase for $3.77 at the Hope Center. It's perfect for a vintage weekend trip. I'm pretty sure it is from the 70s (some may argue 80s). But the tag says it was bought from "Betty's World of Travel- One call does it all" in Lewiston. So naturally Jordan, Jacob, and I called the the number....and the answering machine was not someone's new home line like we thought...Betty still exists...well at least the world of travel, we didn't get to speak to Betty herself, just her answering machine. I also got some earrings to make into hair pieces for 94 cents and one pair 50% off. This is what I call shopping on a budget and buying the necessities

Speaking of 50% off...I bought 28 plates for $3.50 They were originally 4 for a $1...but they were in the Walmart 50% off section...now at Village we can be green (well pink in this case...they were a little limited on color selection in the 50% off section) so Freshman Village now has its own set of cups and plates! Can you image throwing away 25 paper plates and cups every week! Gross!!! By the end of the year that would have to be at least 7 trees...

Wow well that was a usefully way to spend your time. I know how you must feel as if I'm changing lives and God is teaching me all these huge life lessons.... Well if it makes you feel better He is. I just can't process it all yet b/c its all so much and over whelming. Maybe after my days off this week I'll tell you all the incredible things God is doing on the Palouse. As for now you get to hear about my life in between! Feel blessed I didn't complain about the dog poo/pee/garbage strewn by dogs across my house...for another time...

I'll end with the cheesiest joke I've learned this week....its progressed....

Why is God's electricity bill so high? B/c when ever he closes a door he opens a window...

which progressed to...

Why is God's electricity bill so high? Because He's shining His light on you...

which progressed to...

The real reason God's electricity bill is so high is because he lives in a big big house with lots and lots of rooms....

which progressed to...

You would think that His electricity bill would be way cheap since His place is solar powered... (powered by the SON)!!!!!

which progressed to...

b/c He saved you...money last month on your bill b/c he let you have His son...

(I know the last ones the worst...that was my contribution...Alli, Josh, and Drew are much more creative...)

Tomorrow I try to find a ride home to see my sistas and mommeeee for women of faith....pray I find one please...:) xx

Lots of Love,
from one worn out Kitty Kat. xx

God's Art Collection

I was so tired earlier, but now I cant sleep and so I'm laying in bed being taunted by this giant blank canvas sitting on my wall. Its been blank for 2 years. Sometimes I feel like it represents my life. I have so much potential and so many ideas, but they end up not being used and 1/2 finished. I'm tempted to not paint it, b/c I feel it represents the struggle of my life. But then another part of me wants to paint and show who I am capable of being.

I realized I need God to paint it for me. I can do all things, the impossible, because he really does give me strength. I heard someone say the other day (i'm)possible. Cheesy right? But sometimes nerdy sayings say it best. I can change. I can finish my big ideas. I'm possible.

God designed us to be masterpieces and not just to sit blank on the wall. We need to let him paint our story with strong colors, lots of life, unique character, emotion, and a little TLC. We choose if it gets painted. Ask God to help you find and use your talents. We don't want our painting of life to be blank at the end. Let him paint your purpose. Love Him, love people, and love life, but always always bring him glory through it all...let him get the artist credit.